The United States already has missile interceptors in California and Alaska that can supposedly stop any ballistic threat coming over the Pacific, but Harris said these systems need strengthening.
Richard Ellings, the President of the National Bureau of Asian Research, along with others, firmly agrees that North Korea doesn't have the capability for its missiles to reach Seattle yet, and likely won't in the immediate future. With each provocation, North Korea jeopardizes stability in Northeast Asia and poses a growing threat to our Allies and the USA homeland.
A targeted US attack to take out North Korea's nuclear weapons program could spark a wider war on the Korean peninsula, lawmakers and experts have warned.
The point was that the US was so preoccupied with Iran, Syria and other Middle Eastern problems that it could hardly afford to pay enough attention to the North and therefore Pyongyang was trying to use "shock therapy" to get Washington into negotiations where it can extort economic aid and other concessions.
At a House Armed Services Committee, Harris rejected reports that the Carl Vinson group is vulnerable to North Korean attacks.
Hundreds of people took to the streets in South Korea on Wednesday to protest against the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile defence system in the town of Seongju amid heightened tensions over North Korea's missile and nuclear weapons programs.
"Kim Jong Un is clearly in a position to threaten Hawaii today, in my opinion", Harris said. "One of these days soon, he will succeed", Harris said.
The latest signal from the Trump administration comes on the heel of warnings that USA military action is an "option on the table" as tensions spike over a series of missile launches by the volatile North.
All 100 senators were invited to attend a rare, closed-door briefing by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis at the White House Wednesday so the administration could communicate "the seriousness of the threat posed by North Korea".
Sanders said such briefings are typically held at the Capitol in a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) room, which is a specially and securely designed room for highly classified congressional briefings.
Hardly a single day passes without President Donald Trump or other top officials or lawmakers talking or tweeting about the seriousness of North Korean threats.
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In 1994, Kim Il Sung, the then-President of North Korea, "believed that the United States was prepared to take military action, and that played a big role, I think, in his calculus", he said.
President Donald Trump aims to pressure North Korea into dismantling its nuclear, ballistic missile and proliferation programs, and is engaging the global community to achieve that and persuade Kim Jong Un's government "to de-escalate and return to the path of dialogue". The officials weren't authorized to speak publicly about plans for the closed-doors briefings and requested anonymity.
It's also moving military assets to the region - including the USS Carl Vinson Navy strike group, though there was some confusion about the timetable, and one of its most powerful submarines - in what analysts say is a show of force.
Washington and Pyongyang have flexed their muscles in recent days.
In Pyongyang's latest display of its military capabilities, leader Kim Jong-Un oversaw the country's largest-ever firing drill to mark the founding anniversary of its military, state-run media said Wednesday.
Unspecified parts of the THAAD defense system also were installed.
Past efforts have failed to halt North Korea's unlawful weapons programs and nuclear and ballistic missile tests.
But China says the system's advanced radar can penetrate deep into its territory and undermine its security, while it will do little to deter the North, and is adamant in its opposition.
In Berlin, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said through an interpreter that all sides had obligations and "we don't want to see any cherry picking".
"China will firmly be taking necessary measures to defend our own interests", Geng added.
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