Former acting and deputy director of the CIA says that North Korean leaders have a history of provocative acts on July Fourth
There are no good options—diplomatic or military—to end North Korea’s nuclear program after the regime claimed its first ICBM test-launch, CBS News senior national security contributor Michael Morell told „CBS This Morning“ on Tuesday.
Pyongyang on Tuesday claimed it launched an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States. Whether that claim is true cannot be determined immediately, said Morell, the former acting and deputy director of the CIA.
„It will take several days for the intelligence community to make an assessment of whether this was an intermediate-range missile or whether this was an intercontinental. That matters here. An intermediate range would not be able to reach Alaska or Hawaii, an ICBM of the type we just saw tested would, “ Morell said.
Asked to assess the significance of choosing to perform the missile test on America’s Independence Day, Morell said that North Korean leaders have a history of provocative acts on July 4–including the nation’s first nuclear test in 2006.
“ (Kim Jong Un) seems to think that it has a particular psychological impact on us doing something on July Fourth. It obviously does not. It probably gets less news than he would like on July Fourth. We used to joke at CIA that the only thing doing this on July Fourth does is ruin the holidays of a lot of intelligence analysts. The message he’s trying to send is: I can deter the United States of America from attacking me. I can deter them from trying to change the regime. That’s the message he’s trying to send, “ Morell said.
In terms of a U. S. response, Morell said there really aren’t any without serious implications.
„There is no good option here. There is no military option here to destroy his nuclear program, his missile program. There is no option to do that wouldn’t start a second Korean war and wouldn’t raise the possibility of him using nuclear weapons against his neighbors. He’s got short range missiles, he has had a lot more time to work to mate a nuclear weapon to those missiles so the risks are extraordinarily high in a military standoff. There’s also virtually no diplomatic action here, “ he said.
What the U. S. can do, Morell said, is focus on missile defense .
„I agree with the sentiment that there is no way that he will ever negotiate away his nuclear weapon program. So there’s very little you can do except sanction him every time he does something and build our missile defenses as we’re doing in South Korea, in Hawaii, in California, Alaska, to defend ourselves. That is about all we can do in the situation we face here. There are no good options.“

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Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner made good on his promise to veto a $5 billion income tax increase as part of a $36 billion budget plan Tuesday, even though lawmakers have enough votes to override…
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner made good on his promise to veto a $5 billion income tax increase as part of a $36 billion budget plan Tuesday, even though lawmakers have enough votes to override it and help Illinois dig out of the longest budget crisis of any state since at least the Great Depression.
Rauner acted about three hours after the Democratic-controlled Senate’s 36-18 vote to hike the personal income tax rate by 32 percent, from 3.75 percent to just under 5 percent. Corporations would pay 7 percent instead of just over 5 percent. The Senate later voted 39-14 to approve the spending plan.
Rauner promised to veto the measure because Democrats who control the General Assembly have yet to agree to resolve his pet issues, including statewide property tax relief, cost reductions in workers‘ compensation and benefits for state-employee pensions, and an easier process for dissolving or eliminating local governments.
The measure cleared both houses with three-fifths majorities, enough to override a gubernatorial veto. In the House, 15 Republicans jumped ship and put „yes“ votes on a 72-45 tally in favor. One Republican, Sen. Dale Righter of Mattoon, put the Senate over the top with 36 votes.
„We are at a moment in time. We are faced today with the fierce urgency of ’now, ‚“ said the tax increase legislation’s sponsor, Sen. Toi Hutchinson of Olympia Fields. „We don’t have any more time. And too late is not good enough.“
The Senate followed with a 39-14 vote to approve a $36 billion spending plan that Democrats have crowed is $1 billion less than even Rauner floated last winter.
Tuesday was the fourth day of the third consecutive fiscal year that Illinois has begun without an annual budget agreement because of an ongoing dispute between Rauner and the Democrats. He has insisted that in exchange for a funding plan, he should secure business-friendly „structural“ changes, such as cost-reducing restrictions on the compensation program for injured workers and state-employee pensions. He wanted a four-year statewide property tax freeze matched by a temporary income tax increase.
But the income tax increase headed to his desk is permanent.
„It’s regrettable that I stand here today not capable of being able to support this package, not because what’s in the package is bad, but because it’s incomplete, “ said the Senate’s newly minted minority leader, Bill Brady of Bloomington. „We need a comprehensive budget package with reforms.“
If Rauner doesn’t like the tax plan, the financial world does. On Monday, two of the nation’s top credit-ratings agencies signaled it would be a good idea for Rauner to accept the results. Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings, having earlier threatened to move Illinois‘ creditworthiness into „junk“ status without swift action to approve a budget, smiled favorably on the financial outlook.
Democrats and Republicans have negotiated the issues that Rauner considers outstanding in the two weeks since the special session began. But the GOP claims talks broke down over the weekend in advance of Madigan calling the budget votes. Madigan said Monday that those talks were ongoing.
„We’ll continue to work with the Republicans on those issues until they’re resolved, “ Madigan said.
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The budget bills are SB6 and SB9 .
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Contact Political Writer John O’Connor at https: //twitter.com/apoconnor. His work can be found at https: //apnews.com/search/john%20o’connor
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