[John King:] A defiant North Korea launches a rocket designed to reach as far as the United States. President Obama calls it a provocative act and calls for swift international sanctions. Pyongyang says it was simply launching a satellite, but its neighbors call the launch threatening. We will check in with CNN correspondents around the world covering this breaking story. And what are the U.S. options going forward? We'll ask a veteran diplomat who has met North Korea's unpredictable leader face-to-face, and two members of the United States Senate. President Obama is calling on world leaders to step up on the economy and Afghanistan, and this morning a new poll challenge to rid the world of nuclear weapons. Senior White House Adviser David Axelrod joins us to talk about the president's overseas debut. That's all ahead in this hour of "State of the Union." We begin with the breaking news out of North Korea. The reclusive communist regime defied the United Nations resolution and ignored international threats of sanctions and launched a long-range rocket. The Taepodong 2 missile, which passed over Japan, was launched Sunday morning in Asia about 10:30 p.m. Eastern time Saturday here in the United States. The goal for the North Koreans was to launch a satellite into orbit and to test the reach of its long-range missile program, but U.S. and Canadian aerospace officials say the mission failed. They say one stage of the rocket landed in the Sea of Japan. The remaining portions, along with the satellite, landed in the Pacific Ocean. Still, the launch was in violation of a United Nations resolution passed after a previous North Korean test firing in 2006, and the Security Council is scheduled to meet later today to discuss a response. President Obama is traveling overseas, and earlier this morning in the Czech Republic, he had strong words for North Korea.
[President Barack Obama:] Rules must be binding. Violations must be punished. Words must mean something. The world must stand together to prevent the spread of these weapons. Now is the time for a strong international response. North Korea must know that the path to security and respect will never come through threats and illegal weapons. All nations must come together to build a stronger global regime, and that is why we must stand shoulder-to-shoulder to pressure the North Koreans to change course.
[King:] Our senior White House correspondent Ed Henry is traveling with the president, joins us now from Prague. Ed, let's start with how the president found out on this overseas trip.
[Ed Henry, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, John, it was White House press secretary Robert Gibbs who informed the president and woke him up around 4:30 this morning here in Prague. We're six hours ahead of Washington. Robert Gibbs says that initially, the president expressed no surprise at all. He has been briefed on this. He's been prepared. In fact, the president had several high-level meetings back in Washington even before they went on this trip to go through the various scenarios. So today here in Prague he already had high-level briefings from his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel; his national security adviser, retired General Marine General Jim Jones, traveling with him as well. The president also reaching out by phone to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, military officials as well. And I can tell you, the U.S., as you know, pushing for strong action by the U.N. today when they have that emergency session of the Security Council. That's why Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is traveling here with the president, she has been working the phones as well, reaching out to her counterparts from China, South Korea, Japan, as well as Russia, trying to make sure that this response is coordinated, John.
[King:] And Ed, as we await the Security Council meeting, how about the timing of this? The North Korean leader is known to act to get attention. He picked a pretty good moment here. The president giving a dramatic speech in Prague, trying to talk about a pledge to rid the world someday of nuclear weapons. Does the White House believe the timing was on purpose?
[Henry:] Top aides are saying, look, we can't get inside the mind of the North Korean dictator. We don't know whether they planned it, but the White House is insisting they were not planning anything on this side of things, that this speech had been in the works for weeks. They were going to move ahead on this speech about ridding the world of nuclear weapons, regardless of what North Korea did. They say they just can't get inside the head of that regime, but they believe, at least right now, that it was all coincidental. What the president was trying to do in this speech today here in Prague was to try to put this whole situation in a broader context and say that the threat, the nuclear threat around the world is much broader than just North Korea. It also involves rogue nations like Iran, and the president made some bold promises. He said he wants to push now for a comprehensive test ban treaty all around the world, that the U.S. would be willing to sign, and he also wants to rid the world of the loose nukes, nuclear material that's available around the world that could get into the hands of terrorists. He promised he would rid the world of that in his first four years in office, so some big promises today from this president on a very dramatic day, John.
[King:] Ed Henry, keeping track of the president's trip and the dramatic surprise or not-so-surprise from North Korea in Prague. Ed, thanks very much. Let's turn now to CNN correspondents in the region. Sohn Jie-ae is in Seoul, South Korea, and Kyung Lah is in Tokyo. Kyung, let me start with you. Japan had mobilized some military resources just in case. Obviously no military threat from this launch, but what is the reaction in Tokyo?
[Kyung Lah, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, the reaction has been that now that nothing on Japanese soil has been struck by any loose debris or any falling objects from this rocket, what they want is diplomatic action, strong diplomatic action. Japan's prime minister saying that today's actions simply cannot be overlooked. So Japan immediately called for and then was granted by the U.N. Security Council that emergency meeting. All eyes here in Japan looking forward to that meeting now, six hours away. They are hoping out of that emergency meeting, John, that there will be a strongly worded statement, and then follow-through, but no specifics on what exactly Japan is hoping for. John.
[King:] And Kyung, in terms of the United States and Japan working together, any hope you say no specifics as to what to work on. In the past, sanctions have simply not worked against the North Korean regime. Is there any hope this time that you will get anything more than a symbolic resolution out of the United Nations?
[Lah:] What Japan is saying is it's a hands-off approach. They are really waiting for the U.S. to take the lead. They keep using the words "appropriate steps." These are words that the president has used, and they are hoping for a similar measure. But what we are seeing behind the scenes is a lot of diplomatic action. Japan really pushing the U.S. for some strong, strong movement, but at this point, Japan is really just waiting to see what the U.S. is going to do.
[King:] Kyung Lah, joining us there from Tokyo. We'll check in with Sohn Jie-ae in Seoul a bit later in the program. But joining us now is retired Air Force Lieutenant General Henry "Trey" Obering III. He's the former director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency in the Defense Department. General, thanks for joining us. I want to take a closer look at what we have. This is a simulation built from satellite images, and let's go in to where we know this took place here. Let's come on in here. This is the launch pad area here. You see residential areas, dormitories essentially, on the military facility. Let's come in and look a little bit closer here, this simulation. Looks pretty familiar. I know you've seen this many times before. The control bunker here. Over here, this gets a little finicky sometimes this is the assembly. You see the road, so they can take the missile out. They put it together in here. And this of course, what we are most concerned about, is the rocket right here. Taepodong 2 missile on the platform. The North Koreans have been working on this for some time. It's a two-stage missile. Payload on the top. What do we know about the capabilities?
[Obering:] First of all, this could be an intercontinental ballistic range missile. That typically means it has more than one stage, two or three stages. We know that it is basically built on the old Scud technology that they improved. They made the engines larger and more capable. There may be advanced engines that could be used in the upper stages. We don't understand or know that. That is one of the things that we were very concerned and looking for. But this represents basically the ability to range certainly the northwestern portions of the United States, if it is a two-stage missile. If it is three-stage, with some of the advanced propellants and lighter materials, it could range the majority of the United States.
[King:] I want to take a look at the neighborhood. We can switch out to a different shot here. This is the neighborhood here. You mentioned the potential range, so let's start at that point, let's start from the range of this. What they are hoping with this missile you see North Korea is here. The west just west of the Hawaiian islands, the residential parts of the Hawaiian islands. But up here, of course, this missile, if it makes that range, could reach Alaska, some of western Canada, and dangerously close to the West Coast of the United States. Are they capable of doing that yet?
[Obering:] Apparently, because this did not succeed, they have not been able to achieve that yet. But it does show the dogged determination by the North Koreans to continue this development program, in spite of the intense diplomacy and the sanctions that have been placed against it. One thing I would like to show you, if I could, John. If they were aiming for a space launch, what you would see them do is try to take advantage of the earth's rotation. So that's why you see the trajectory the way you see it, headed in this manner. So we are looking for any azimuth in this direction that would be a threat to the United States. That's one of the things that we were looking at, with respect to any threats to the United States.
[King:] Let's break down what happened. Because we do know, as predicted, first stage hit in the Sea of Japan, to the west of Japan, from our perspective in the United States. But the second stage, this orange area is where a successful missile launch, based on everything we've been able to put together they thought the second stage would hit here. Instead, we are told by NORAD that the second stage of the missile, along with the satellite payload, hit the drink somewhere in here. What does that tell you about what happened, what went wrong?
[Obering:] It says that, first of all, they had successful first staging, and they were able to control that rocket through staging. That is a significant step forward for any missile program, because oftentimes those missiles become unstable as they go through these staging events. The fact that they did not get apparent separation of the payload from the second or third stage means that they have more work to do there in terms of being able to achieve that. But the bottom line is they are continuing to advance in their ranges, and I think it's why it's important that we have the ability to defend against these types of threats.
[King:] And help our viewer at home understand that this is not just to snub the nose thumb your nose at the international community. North Korea does this because it is in the missile business.
[Obering:] Absolutely. In fact, in 2006, they launched seven missiles in addition to or six in addition to the long-range Taepodong 2 they tried then. Those other six were very successful, and they showed ranges of being able to range Japan, for example. They were successful. The one thing in their brochure they have not been able to demonstrate is the very, very long-range weapon, and I think that was one of the primary intents of this launch.
[King:] And in terms of the marketing, Iran, Syria, Pakistan, anywhere else?
[Obering:] Yes. Well, anybody else that they can that is willing to buy the missiles, they'd be willing to sell to.
[King:] General Obering, thank you so much. We'll continue to talk to you as this develops. And as you see the map, right here, again, just to show the neighborhood you understand the nerves South Korea here, Japan here, China here. We'll continue. Thank you for the military perspective. And when we come back, much more on the North Korean missile launch throughout the next four hours. CNN reporters around the world, getting the latest details on this story. And up next, you'll want to watch this. We'll talk to a top U.S. diplomat who has actually sat face-to-face with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-Il. And later, we'll got to Prague for a conversation with one of President Obama's closest advisers, David Axelrod. "State of the Union" will be right back.