Gates To N. Korea: We Can Destroy Missile

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is expressing confidence that the United States can shoot down any North Korean missile fired toward America.

Gates told U.S. lawmakers at a hearing Tuesday that the U.S. would have a "high probability of being able to defend ourselves" if the North fired a long-range missile.

He says U.S. missile interceptors "are fully adequate to protect us from the North Korean threat for a number of years."

He says that if the North Korean "threat" should change, the United States could easily expand its missile interceptor force.

North Korea has announced that it tested a nuclear device and is apparently assembling for a long-range missile test.