North Korea Puts Rockets on Standby; Boy-with-Gun Photo Sparks New Probe
BLITZER: Happening now, breaking news. North Korea's leader has just put rockets on stand by to fewer at U.S. targets.</s>BOLDUAN: And a tiger attacks. We will have the latest on the victim and we will have a live report.</s>BLITZER: We will also drive home the dangers of texting behind the wheel. As it turns out, get this, adults are the worst offenders. They are worse than kids.</s>BOLDUAN: I'm Kate Bolduan.</s>BLITZER: I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in</s>THE SITUATION ROOM. ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.</s>BLITZER: Let's get to the breaking news right now, another provocative move by North Korea's strong man who has been stepping up his threats of war against the United States.</s>BOLDUAN: CNN Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence is following this breaking news. So what's the latest, Chris?</s>CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kate, right now we've learned that the Korean, North Korean state TV has announced that North Korea's leader has signed off on a plan to put his rockets on standby for firing at U.S. targets, both in the Pacific, and right here in the U.S. mainland. Well, forget about the mainland. North Korea can't reach here. But there are tens of thousands of American troops in places like Japan, Korea, and Guam that are well within reach of North Korean rockets and artillery. This is just the latest escalating move in sort of a tit-for-tat measure between the North Koreans, South Korea and the U.S., and it seems like no one is willing to back down.</s>LAWRENCE (VOICE-OVER): Pentagon officials were in no mood to back down, Hours after flying a stealth bomber over the Korean peninsula.</s>CHUCK HAGEL, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We will unequivocally defend, and we are unequivocally committed to that alliance with South Korea.</s>LAWRENCE: The bombers can carry up to 20 tons of conventional and nuclear ordnance. On Thursday, two B-2's took off from an Air Force base in Missouri. They flew more than 6,600 miles to a training exercise and dropped inactive payload on a South Korean island. (on camera): Why do you think it's wise for the U.S. to respond and poke back at some of these North Korean provocations?</s>HAGEL: I don't think we're poking back or responding. The North Koreans have to understand that what they're doing is very dangerous.</s>LAWRENCE: But even the defense secretary admitted the U.S. is not sure how its actions are being interpreted in North Korea.</s>HAGEL: There is uncertainty in that government, and in their leadership, and intentions.</s>LAWRENCE: Pyongyang recently released intimidating new photos of its army and artillery. These are real enough, but North Korea is known to exaggerate its abilities. This shot of a beach landing exercise appears to be PhotoShopped. Some of the hover craft looked exactly alike. But there is genuine concern over a new missile North Korea unveiled at a parade last year.</s>SCOTT SNYDER: That rogue mobile missile would have the capacity to reach the United States. That's a different type of missile from the one that was tested back in December. And because it's road mobile, I think that it has raised concerns.</s>LAWRENCE: Raised concerns, but yet North Korea has never tested that missile. So there's no proof, and really, no clear idea of exactly where they are in the development process. No one thinks that that missile was ready to go. But it is something to keep its eye on over the next several years -- Kate.</s>BOLDUAN: Chris, every day this week, there's been another threat from North Korea, news coming out of that region. How serious are Pentagon officials taking this latest threat this evening?</s>LAWRENCE: They take all these threats pretty seriously. Not so much some of the far-fetched ones, about you know, sending a nuclear bomb, or nuclear rocket into the United States. But localized attacks, they take very seriously. And I can tell you, amongst South Korean officials, after North Korea torpedoed that ship a couple of years ago and shelled some of those border islands, the calculus changed in South Korea. They would, a lot of times, let some of these provocations go. They're much less willing to do that now. And the U.S. officials are very invested in making sure that you don't see an escalation from one small attack around the Korean Peninsula.</s>BOLDUAN: Yes, especially in recent comments from South Korea. They've shown no sign of backing down from their position either.</s>LAWRENCE: No.</s>BOLDUAN: Chris, thanks so much.</s>BLITZER: In New Jersey right now, questions are being raised about an investigation that was sparked by this photo. It shows a boy holding a military-style rifle. His dad posted it online, and then authorities showed up at their door. Now the governor, Chris Christie, says he's concerned about the way the case was handled. Mary Snow is digging deeper into this story for us. What are you finding out, Mary?</s>MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, a New Jersey man and his lawyers say police went too far. But police say it was their responsibility to investigate a tip raising concerns about the safety of a child, and others that child may come in contact with.</s>SNOW (voice-over): When Shawn Moore gave his son a rifle for his 11th birthday, had posted this photo on Facebook. What happened after that is now under investigation by New Jersey state officials. Police in the small town of Carneys Point say they received an anonymous complaint about the Moores, and so did the state's Division of Children and Families. A police report states, "The caller believes the children in the home may be in danger from having unsecured firearms they could access." Moore took this photo when he arrived home and said police and agency workers were at his house, asking to see the firearms in his safe. He had his lawyer on speaker phone and refused to open the safe with no warrant. He expressed his outrage online and then went on "FOX & Friends" with his son to tell what happened.</s>SHAWN MOORE, FATHER: The Department of Child Services, also known as DICUS, started threatening to take my kids if we didn't do that. And they were asking if I had anything to hide. If I didn't, why wouldn't I open the safe? And they kept telling me they were going to come back with a warrant.</s>SNOW: Moore says after an hour of arguing, the police left.</s>CHIEF ROBERT DIGREGORIO, CARNEYS POINT POLICE: In light of some recent school shootings across our nation, the Carneys Point Police Department takes these types of calls seriously.</s>SNOW: The Carneys Point police chief declined CNN's request for an interview, because the matter is now being investigated by the state attorney general. That came after Governor Chris Christie wrote the A.G., saying public reports about the investigation of Moore raised, quote, "troubling questions concerning the facts and circumstances surrounding the investigation, the manner in which the investigation was conducted." Moore's attorney specializes in Second Amendment rights issues and hasn't ruled out a lawsuit.</s>EVAN NAPPEN, MOORE'S ATTORNEY: This was such an overreaction, and it really taps on a lot of fears that law-abiding gun owners have, that they'll be subject to an irrational raid by the government. It taps right into that.</s>SNOW: Now, the police haven't filed any charges, nor does it say it intends to. And the police chief says he, himself, is a hunting sportsman and that the department is not out to infringe on anyone's constitutional rights. I also should add that the calls to the Department of Children and Families for comment weren't returned -- Wolf and Kate.</s>BLITZER: Thanks very much. When we come back, a zoo caretaker attacked by a lion. We'll have the latest on this terrifying incident. That's next.