Page 21 - Lower 48 News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

>> and yes, it is 15 or 20 weapons at at this particular time, but we also thinkidly inc producing enriched uranium to give them perhaps two or three or fourer or five weapons a year. so they are in a position to produce, develop the weapons at an industrial scale. >> so what do we know about the systems? how far can they go perhaps to the united states? >> well, with a missile, i think that they have got at least three missiles that can reach the lower 48 states, and the taepadong 2. some of them have not been tested at all, but all based on the proven technologies, and in the absence of th...

Clearly the north koreans are trying to change political calculuses. one thing people have remarked and i think it's true that the united states and china in the last three or four days have been very much on the same page and for kim jong-un it's important for him to separate these two countries because if he can do that, then perhaps he can craft a solution which basically spells long-term survival for the regime. right now i believe that north korea has three missiles that can actually reach the lower 48 states. now, the first one hasn't been adequately tested at range and the last two have...

So, yeah, they want to continue this. and they will put pressure on north korea, but only when we put pressure on them. when we become distracted and look somewhere else, we know that the chinese are then going to go back to their default position of supporting pyongyang. elizabeth: you know, obviously, it's no secret the u.s. has shown its military might over the past two weeks, and i'm curious as to the fine line the united states has to walk between provoking north korea and deterring them. and how does the trump administration do that? >> well, this is very difficult, because the kim regim...

Heat shielding for their longest range missiles. >> you've said off camera this could feasibly hit the lower 48. >> the new one, yes. it could probably reach someplace like seattle or so. we just don't know. at this point, we've got to be concerned that they are making much more progress than we've given them credit for. >> what would north korea want from the u.s. in order to de-escalate? >> north korea wants deterrence. it's unlikely that kim jong-un would give us his nuclears and missiles. but north korea is more than just kim jong-un. the regime is about 300 or so people. the one thing tha...

To cause trouble in a non-kinetic way. it's going to be very difficult for the united states to respond. and you know, essentially, this -- four years from now the north koreans will have a missile that will reach the lower 48 states. it will have a nuclear weapon at the tip of it. that's not very long and we don't have very much time to figure that out. >> general mccaffery, you get the last word. god forbid it ever becomes germane to our conversation but remind the folks watching at home, what do we mean when we say a carrier battle group. how much defensive fire power is included in what is...