Erin sat down with Gordon Chang, author of "Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes on the World," and retired U.S. Air Force Col. Cedric Leighton, who is a former intelligence officer and North Korea expert, to discuss the revelation that North Korea might be close to mounting a nuclear weapon on a missile.
On the same day North Korea fired a short-range missile in to the sea of Japan, defense secretary Chuck Hagel announces the U.S. is boosting its missile defense system.
"The United States has missile defense systems in place to protect us from limited ICBM attacks but North Korea in particular has recently made advance in its capabilities and has engaged in a series of irresponsible and reckless provocations," Hagel said.
Last month, the rogue nation conducted an underground nuclear bomb test. Just this week, the North Korean government threatened to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike on the U.S.
The government also scrapped the 1953 armistice with South Korea that ended the Korean war.
OutFront tonight: Former General James "Spider" Marks and Gordon Chang, the author of , Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes on the World.
After a filibuster that lasted 12-hours, 52 minutes and 11 seconds, the man who staged the "rand-page" finally got the answer he wanted from the White House.
"Does the president have the authority to use a weaponized drone to kill an American not engaged in combat on American soil? The answer is no," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said.
In return, the White House got what it wanted. John Brennan was confirmed Thursday as CIA Director in a 63 – 34 vote in the Senate.It was Brennan's nomination that Paul was holding up with his filibuster.
Paul: America is not a battlefield
But not everyone in Senator Paul's own party is celebrating his win.
"All II can say is I don"t think that what happened yesterday is helpful to the American people," Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said.
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) joins Erin Burnett OutFront.
North Korea is threatening to launch a pre-emptive nuclear attack against the U.S. It's on the same day that the U.N. slapped the rogue nation with new sanctions targeting the country's nuclear program.
But international condemnation and punishment has done little to deter North Korea's dictator Kim Jong Un.
In 14 months of being in power, Kim has launched two long-range missiles.
Once last April, then again in December. Last month, the country with a million man army conducted a third nuclear test.
How dangerous is the 30-year-old Kim Jong Un? And could he be worse than his father?
OutFront tonight: Victor Cha, a nuclear weapons expert and the former director for Asian Affairs at the National Security Council under President Bush and Gordon Chang, author of "Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes on the World."
In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday, Attorney General Eric Holder said he is not ruling out the possibility of the federal government ordering a drone strike against Americans on U.S. soil. Holder said such a scenario would only be considered in an extraordinary circumstance.
In a letter sent to Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) by Holder on Monday he said the government has no intention of carrying out drone strikes with in the United States.
Holder wrote, "It is possible, I suppose, to imagine an extraordinary circumstance in which it would be necessary and appropriate under the Constitution... for the president to authorize the military to use lethal force within... the United States."
No President has the right to say that he is judge, jury, and executioner. #filiblizzard c-span.org/Live-Video/C-S…
— Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) March 6, 2013
Paul fires back at Holder's letter with a statement saying the Obama administration is attacking the constitution.
"The U.S. attorney general's refusal to rule out the possibility of drone strikes on American citizens and on American soil is more than frightening. It is an affront to the constitutional due process rights of all Americans," Paul said.
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