Stephanie Ruhle lead a discussion this morning on the new U.N. Security Council sanctions against North Korea -- sanctions that got an angry response -- and whether they'll deter further missile testing.
Ruhle asked David Rothkopf, former editor of Foreign Policy magazine, about the last missile test from North Korea could theoretically hit the United States.
"How much time do we really have here?" she said. The response wasn't reassuring.
"Well, I think we only have months," Rothkopf said.
"I think it will soon be very clear to everybody in the United States, possibly within the year, that North Korea will have the ability to deliver a nuclear weapon that would hit a major population center in the United States. When you think about it, that's probably the most destabilizing event that's happened in global security since the end of the Cold War."
"Say that one more time, because so many people who go, 'I just care about my paycheck, my health care,' don't realize how important this is," Ruehl interjected.
"Well, I can say it again, that it's the most destabilizing event that's happened in U.S. national security since the end of the Cold War," he said.
"But let me emphasize, we are no closer to stopping that threat today than we were last week. There have been seven sets of sanctions against North Korea over the years. We don't stop them. We have very little leverage over them. I don't think Kim Jong-In wants to give up these weapons because the last person he saw give up weapons like this was Moammar Ghadhafi, who is now dead."
She asked if U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley unanimously getting Security Council vote means anything to Kim Jong-Un.
"It means something, it means a little bit, but I think the economic pressure is minimal," Rothkopf said.
"If China put pressure on North Korea, that would have an effect. But over the first six months of this year, as this crisis has escalated, Chinese exports to North Korea have gone up, not down. The Chinese have shown no appetite for really turning the screws on North Korea. And without them doing it, we will get nowhere."
