cnn has learned security military and diplomatic officials will discuss what options are available if it s confirmed that north korea did in fact conduct an intercontinental ballistic missile test. if that is confirmed an official tells cnn the goal would be for president trump to approve a measured response. joining me is charles cupchin, former senior director for senior affairs for the white house council under president clinton and also with the council of foreign relations. the first question is, this is yet another test, the 11th test from north korea since president trump took office. how significant is this? it s particularly significant if as north korea has suggested this say missile with a new change, an icbm which could lit alaska, if not the continental united states. we don t know if that s the case. one of the reasons the nsc is
sort of for me difficult to believe they d go that far alone without chinese help. the north koreans are capable of marching south. we have troops there. they would be in seoul, in no time at all. so there s been a lot of reasons we ve not used true military, you know, power against north korea, and also because north korea is so unpredictable. the chinese have a very difficult time corraling them. they ve tried, the north koreans detest the chinese. this is a tlem ma for the administration. if this was an icbm, the north koreans are making enormous progress and they will be able to hit the mainland in a couple of years. whether they get a miniaturized nuke and put it on the end of an icbm is another question. i don t know the answer to that. john kirby, what do you make of trump s response on twitter asking if kim jong-un has anything better to do with his life, especially considering the seriousness of this potential test.
the surface of the earth. nasa s international space station is about 240 miles above the earth. that means north korea s missile traveled so high it theoretically passed the space station by 1000 miles. they say the missile launch today had us shorter range than the one tested last week. military officials say a traveled about 300 miles. it did not pose a direct threat to north america. this is the 11th test carried out by north korea this year. last year they tested seven in the same timeframe. kelly: thank you. mike pence is back in his home state of indiana delivering an address at notre dame s commencement ceremony. why his return might not be as welcoming as hoped. today is a day of celebration
agency partners on a more detailed assessment. the u.s. pacific command stands behind iron plaid commitment and leland, this is the 11th test carried out by north korea so far this year by this time last year they had done seven. leland: you have to point out at this time that you have the thaad missile system, defense system in korea, do you intercept or do you not. clearly the pentagon saying they are not going to, ellison, thank you. liz. liz: we want to give you a live look inside. the ritz carlson in saudi arabia. we are waiting the president to hopefully teenage the stage, social media event and a counterterrorism event bringing together some young people inside the region. we are keeping an eye on this, of course, if the president does take the stage, we will take you there live n. the meantime, we will take a short break. thing. choose your trio with any 3 of 9 selections for $15.99. thing.
south korean military officials say traveled about 300 miles. it did not pose a direct threat to north america. this is the 11th test carried out by north korea this year. last year, they tested seven missiles in the exact name timeframe. leland? great perspective allison, thank you.liz? this is the general chairman of the institute for the study of war. from the vice chief of staff of the military and fox news analyst. thank you for being here. thank you. we heard secretary of state rex tillerson say that he feels that could be acting out there feeling but then we also hear that they also launched their most successful test missile to date one week ago. what is your reaction to this? the north koreans continue to pursue, they re very aggressive testing program. despite diplomatic efforts,