U.S. Prepared to Charge WikiLeaks' Julian Assange; North Korea Says U.S. Engaged in "Decapitation Operation; U.S. Defense Attorney Meeting Netanyahu in Israel.
SESAY: The Trump administration has set its sight on prosecuting WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange. Assange is out of reach right now inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London. The U.S. wants him arrested and charged for publishing classified U.S. materials. CNN's Pamela Brown has our report.</s>PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: U.S. authorities have prepared charges to seek the arrest of WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange. U.S. officials familiar with the matter tell CNN that the Justice Department probe of Assange and WikiLeaks dates back to 2010 when the site first gained widespread attention for posting thousands of files stolen by the former U.S. Army intelligence analyst, now known as Chelsea Manning. Prosecutors have struggling with whether the First Amendment precluded the prosecution of Assange, but now they believe they've found a way to move forward. During President Barack Obama's administration, Attorney General Eric Holder and officials at the Justice Department determined it would be difficult to bring charges against Assange because WikiLeaks wasn't alone in publishing documents stolen by Manning. Several newspapers, including "The New York Times" did as well. The U.S. view of WikiLeaks and Assange began to evolve after investigators found what they believe was proof that WikiLeaks play an active role in helping Edward Snowden, the former NSA analyst, disclose a massive cache of classified documents. WikiLeaks has defended itself as accomplishing in the public's interest and compares itself to media organizations. As we know, Assange is sitting in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. So this move is seen more to be a political message now more than anything we're told. Pamela Brown, CNN, Washington.</s>VAUSE: North Korea went into it United Nations on Thursday to warn that any hostilities on the Korean peninsula would be the fault of the U.S. And Pyongyang accused the United States of engaging in a decapitation operation to overthrow the regime of Kim Jong-Un.</s>SESAY: After decades of relative calm, Beijing is now worried another armed conflict is about to break out on its doorstep. In response, the Chinese military is on high alert. Barbara Starr has the details.</s>BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): China has put some bombers capable of carrying cruise missiles on a high-alert status, a U.S. defense official tells</s>CNN. COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: The reason they have their bombers on alert is they can respond should there be a kinetic strike against North Korea.</s>STARR: The U.S. also has seen an extraordinary number of Chinese aircraft being brought up to full readiness through intensified maintenance, all preparing for what the U.S. says is a North Korea contingency, but officials can't say what that contingency might be.</s>LEIGHTON: They see that possibility, if North Korea were to implode, as their biggest geopolitical worry.</s>STARR: As tensions rise across the region, the "USS Carl Vinson" strike group is expected to arrive within days. Its planes will conduct visible flight operations. U.S. submarines will be able to remain covert under sea conducting surveillance of North Korean communications if ordered. A joint U.S.-South Korean exercise named Max Thunder now underway, the second-largest air exercise held on the peninsula. All aimed at ensuring the security of South Korea and the 28,000 U.S. troops there.</s>STARR: No letup in the militaristic rhetoric from Kim Jong-Un's regime. North Korea's state newspaper issuing a dire threat saying, "Our preemptive strike towards U.S. and its followers will be the most merciless strike aiming for complete destruction." And at the underground nuclear test site where the world awaits a sixth North Korean nuclear test, a curiosity. The latest commercial satellite imagery shows a volleyball game in progress. (on camera): No one can say how long the Chinese alert status will last, but U.S. officials say they still believe North Korea could conduct a nuclear test at any time. Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.</s>VAUSE: We'll stay on that region a little longer. Ivan Watson is in Seoul, South Korea; and David McKenzie is in Beijing. David, there was a time when Beijing described the relationship with North Korea as being as close as lips and teeth. We've seen those days are over. But the question, how far is China prepared to go to rein in North Korea.</s>DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORERSPONDENT: That's a good question. That's what the U.S. administration is trying to push China to turn the screws on Kim Jong-Un's regime to try and slow the development of nuclear weapons they could face towards the U.S. allies or the U.S. itself eventually. But there has been this shift in recent years. In years past, you did have this very close both political and trade relationship between the two countries. Now it's a little different. Kim Jong-Un has repeatedly ignored the pleas from Chinese leadership to stop the nuclear program. That's a big slap in the face for Chinese President Xi Jinping. So there's a lack of trust between the two allies. But you will probably not see China going the full move towards cutting off trade with North Korea. That could be a way for them to really put the pressure on, because they don't want the collapse of Pyongyang regime of Kim Jong-Un because that would really cause a major headache for China. So they're walking a tight rope right now -- John?</s>VAUSE: If they're not going to go all the way with trade, that raises the question about how far are they to go militarily. There's an assumption in the U.S., especially the White House and the Pentagon that China has put its military on alert and that's directly related to the situation in North Korea. If it's not related to the situation in North Korea, is it simply a show of force or is there something else going on that we just don't know. What are the options?</s>MCKENZIE: It could be something we just don't know. At this stage, the ministry of defense is not responding to our queries about that state of high alert according to U.S. officials. From a political perspective, there's no real reason China would be setting up its bombers, certainly not to bomb North Korea, its ally. Who else would they want to bomb in this scenario? I think China is looking to keep this far away from a military operation as possible. And until we get really word from the Chinese, which is unlikely, we'll have to play this kind of speculation game, which appearance at some level, what the U.S. officials are doing. They are looking, both with their comments about the carrier strike group in the region and otherwise, to try to push the pressure on Pyongyang. China's trying to diffuse it.</s>VAUSE: David, in Beijing, thank you. Let's go to Ivan Watson in Seoul. Ivan, the U.S. president finding out that words matter and words about history matter even more. There seems to be unhappiness after President Trump told "the Wall Street Journal" that Korea was once part of China.</s>IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That has rubbed a lot of Koreans the wrong way and it's gone all the way up to the foreign ministry which on Thursday said it was reaching out to both the U.S. and China about these remarks through diplomatic channels, going on to say according to a foreign ministry spokesman here, quote, "The international community unequivocally acknowledges that Korea was never a part of China in its thousands of years of history, and no one can deny the facts." A day later here, Friday, in Seoul, the foreign ministry spokesperson saying there still hasn't been a response from the Chinese or the Americans about this request for clarification. Meanwhile, take a listen to what seem people here on the streets of Seoul had to say about this claim that the U.S. president reportedly made.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): It is unreasonable to say that. It is nuts. Nonsense.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): I was furious to learn the news this morning. He lacks understanding of the Korean peninsula.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): I don't know what President Xi actually said, but I think Trump has misunderstood Korean history.</s>WATSON: John, it's election season here. This is something that candidates are talking about, too. You've got some of the candidates over my shoulder here on those posters. One of the front-runners in the polls was asked about this last night, and he said, if he's elected president, first, he'd have to clarify whether or not Xi Jinping actually claimed that Korea was once part of China. But he went on to say if he has a meeting one on one with Donald Trump that he will, quote, "explain history to President Donald Trump and correct this mistake." Where the frustration? Well, Korea is a relatively small country sandwiched between China and Russia. This was a country that was occupied by Japan for decades during the early 20th century and is fiercely proud of its independence and doesn't like heads of state incorrectly reporting what happened in history to this country -- John?</s>VAUSE: It could be something as simple as a mistake in translation or a misunderstanding or it could be a deliberate attempt maybe by the Chinese president to mislead Donald Trump. We don't know. Maybe we'll find out. Ivan, thank you. Ivan Watson there in Seoul. Also, before Ivan, David McKenzie, in Beijing. Appreciate it.</s>SESAY: Quick break here. Just ahead, a look from the front lines of the fight against ISIS.</s>UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPODNENT: There, in the distance, is the reason the fighting so hard in these dense winding streets to hold the Iraqi police and military back. That is the mosque.</s>VAUSE: Much more from inside Mosul after the break.