1 00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:04,240 Okay , 2 00:00:08,340 --> 00:00:12,210 are we ? Good , Cool , we're 3 00:00:12,210 --> 00:00:15,610 fine . All right , just a couple of 4 00:00:15,610 --> 00:00:18,860 things to start with everybody . Um As 5 00:00:18,860 --> 00:00:21,260 the president mentioned in his remarks 6 00:00:21,260 --> 00:00:24,630 yesterday at his direction , Secretary 7 00:00:24,630 --> 00:00:26,797 Austin ordered the additional movement 8 00:00:26,797 --> 00:00:28,630 of some U . S . Forces that were 9 00:00:28,630 --> 00:00:30,650 currently stationed in europe to 10 00:00:30,650 --> 00:00:32,810 continue our support for NATO allies 11 00:00:32,820 --> 00:00:34,987 and the defense of the eastern flank . 12 00:00:35,860 --> 00:00:39,080 These forces comprised of aviation 13 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:41,740 element and some ground forces will 14 00:00:41,740 --> 00:00:45,310 move within inside the european uh area 15 00:00:45,310 --> 00:00:47,700 of operations to NATO's northeastern 16 00:00:47,700 --> 00:00:49,811 and southeastern flanks in the coming 17 00:00:49,811 --> 00:00:51,978 days and we expect them to be in place 18 00:00:51,978 --> 00:00:55,060 later this week . They include An 19 00:00:55,060 --> 00:00:56,893 infantry battalion task force of 20 00:00:56,893 --> 00:00:59,004 approximately 800 personnel , will be 21 00:00:59,004 --> 00:01:01,282 moving from Italy to the Baltic region . 22 00:01:01,340 --> 00:01:04,120 It's a movement of up to eight F 35 23 00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:06,370 strike fighters from Germany to several 24 00:01:06,370 --> 00:01:08,481 operating locations along the Eastern 25 00:01:08,481 --> 00:01:11,030 Flank . A battalion of attack aviation , 26 00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:14,530 specifically 28 64 helicopters from 27 00:01:14,530 --> 00:01:17,280 Germany again to the Baltic region and 28 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:20,220 an attack aviation task force Which is 29 00:01:20,220 --> 00:01:24,060 12 H 64 helicopters will move 30 00:01:24,060 --> 00:01:26,320 from Greece to Poland . Uh The 31 00:01:26,320 --> 00:01:28,380 additional personnel are being 32 00:01:28,380 --> 00:01:30,269 repositioned to reassure our NATO 33 00:01:30,269 --> 00:01:31,936 allies to deter any potential 34 00:01:31,936 --> 00:01:34,180 aggression against NATO Member states 35 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:36,311 and trained with host nation forces . 36 00:01:36,311 --> 00:01:38,670 And of course they'll report continue 37 00:01:38,670 --> 00:01:40,892 to report to general todd Walters , the 38 00:01:40,892 --> 00:01:43,114 commander of U . S . European command . 39 00:01:43,114 --> 00:01:45,226 These moves are temporary . I want to 40 00:01:45,226 --> 00:01:47,930 stress that they're temporary In nature 41 00:01:47,940 --> 00:01:50,051 and they are part of the more than 90 42 00:01:50,051 --> 00:01:52,940 now 90,000 U . S . Troops are already 43 00:01:52,940 --> 00:01:54,773 in europe that are both there on 44 00:01:54,773 --> 00:01:57,170 rotational as well as permanent orders 45 00:01:57,530 --> 00:01:59,641 and of course as you know the U . S . 46 00:01:59,641 --> 00:02:01,863 Maintains significant numbers of combat 47 00:02:01,863 --> 00:02:04,960 capable forces in europe related li U . 48 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:06,904 S . Army europe and Africa will be 49 00:02:06,904 --> 00:02:09,071 kicking off exercise . Saber strike 22 50 00:02:09,071 --> 00:02:11,127 later this month . The exercise will 51 00:02:11,127 --> 00:02:13,182 run through March with approximately 52 00:02:13,182 --> 00:02:15,800 13,000 participants from 13 countries . 53 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:18,136 Saber Strike has been held every two 54 00:02:18,136 --> 00:02:20,247 years since 2000 and 10 . This is the 55 00:02:20,247 --> 00:02:22,191 next year for it . It is scheduled 56 00:02:22,191 --> 00:02:23,950 during the wintertime to help 57 00:02:23,950 --> 00:02:26,061 demonstrate the ability to operate in 58 00:02:26,061 --> 00:02:28,117 austere conditions . The Fifth Corps 59 00:02:28,117 --> 00:02:30,228 Army Fifth Corps will provide command 60 00:02:30,228 --> 00:02:32,061 and control for the exercise and 61 00:02:32,061 --> 00:02:33,894 conducting Saber strike . Now we 62 00:02:33,894 --> 00:02:35,783 believe demonstrates that U . S . 63 00:02:35,783 --> 00:02:37,783 Forces in europe can simultaneously 64 00:02:37,783 --> 00:02:39,506 support ongoing operations and 65 00:02:39,506 --> 00:02:41,561 regularly scheduled training without 66 00:02:41,561 --> 00:02:43,728 any degradation in support to our NATO 67 00:02:43,728 --> 00:02:45,839 allies and partners . Training events 68 00:02:45,839 --> 00:02:47,950 like Saber Strike are planned well in 69 00:02:47,950 --> 00:02:49,783 advance and this one was and and 70 00:02:49,783 --> 00:02:51,617 demonstrate that NATO allies and 71 00:02:51,617 --> 00:02:53,783 partners are are stronger together and 72 00:02:53,783 --> 00:02:55,894 through training and interoperability 73 00:02:55,894 --> 00:02:57,783 exercises get stronger together . 74 00:02:57,783 --> 00:03:00,080 Lastly , I think you may have seen that 75 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:02,191 the Secretary did approve a couple of 76 00:03:02,191 --> 00:03:04,700 requests for National Guard support 77 00:03:04,710 --> 00:03:06,821 here in the capital region . Approved 78 00:03:06,821 --> 00:03:08,654 that request yesterday . There's 79 00:03:08,654 --> 00:03:10,321 request came from the D . C . 80 00:03:10,321 --> 00:03:12,450 Government um their Emergency 81 00:03:12,450 --> 00:03:14,728 Management Agency as well as the U . S . 82 00:03:14,728 --> 00:03:17,180 Capitol Police . All told among the two 83 00:03:17,180 --> 00:03:19,410 requests , it's about 700 guards 84 00:03:19,410 --> 00:03:21,960 personnel and about 50 vehicles . They 85 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:24,610 are designed for traffic support uh in 86 00:03:24,610 --> 00:03:27,740 anticipation of potential challenges to 87 00:03:27,740 --> 00:03:30,880 traffic here in the DC area uh were 88 00:03:30,890 --> 00:03:33,230 surrounding um some , some potential 89 00:03:33,230 --> 00:03:35,390 protest activity . I want to stress 90 00:03:35,390 --> 00:03:37,970 again that uh , that it's it's a 91 00:03:37,980 --> 00:03:40,036 relatively small number here , about 92 00:03:40,036 --> 00:03:43,300 700 they will be supporting traffic 93 00:03:43,300 --> 00:03:45,300 support needs , that's that's their 94 00:03:45,300 --> 00:03:47,467 goal , that's their mission . And with 95 00:03:47,467 --> 00:03:50,450 that , we'll take questions , john , 96 00:03:51,140 --> 00:03:53,470 the people are talking about this 97 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:57,190 potential invasion by Russia 98 00:03:57,200 --> 00:04:00,030 of a large scale being imminent . Can 99 00:04:00,030 --> 00:04:02,030 you talk about what the U . S . Has 100 00:04:02,030 --> 00:04:05,970 seen today ? That may be different than 101 00:04:05,970 --> 00:04:08,260 what it has seen in recent days ? Why 102 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:10,807 this has become sort of now imminent ? 103 00:04:10,807 --> 00:04:13,860 Have you seen Russian troops move into 104 00:04:15,340 --> 00:04:17,920 Luhansk in and grotesque ? Have you 105 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:19,920 seen them and move into that Donbas 106 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:22,140 region ? And have you seen them moved 107 00:04:22,150 --> 00:04:24,420 further into Ukraine beyond those two 108 00:04:24,420 --> 00:04:27,860 regions ? Okay , a lot lot there on the 109 00:04:27,870 --> 00:04:30,650 Donetsk and Luhansk , as you've heard , 110 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:33,262 administration administration officials 111 00:04:33,262 --> 00:04:35,318 say before , we do believe that that 112 00:04:35,318 --> 00:04:37,651 that marks the beginning of an invasion . 113 00:04:37,651 --> 00:04:40,550 We we certainly believe that Russian 114 00:04:40,940 --> 00:04:43,860 additional Russian military forces are 115 00:04:43,860 --> 00:04:46,010 moving into that region , Not beyond 116 00:04:46,010 --> 00:04:48,177 that region that we have seen , but we 117 00:04:48,177 --> 00:04:49,788 can't confirm with any great 118 00:04:49,788 --> 00:04:51,960 specificity the numbers and and what 119 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:53,627 the formations are , what the 120 00:04:53,627 --> 00:04:55,627 capabilities are . But we certainly 121 00:04:55,627 --> 00:04:58,090 believe that that's happening . Um , as 122 00:04:58,090 --> 00:05:01,270 for your larger question lida without 123 00:05:01,270 --> 00:05:03,270 speaking to specific timing because 124 00:05:03,270 --> 00:05:05,437 only Mr Putin knows what the timing is 125 00:05:05,437 --> 00:05:07,659 here . What I would tell you is that we 126 00:05:07,659 --> 00:05:11,390 continue to see him uh 127 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:13,600 form his capabilities in such a way 128 00:05:13,610 --> 00:05:16,780 that that that leads us to believe um 129 00:05:16,790 --> 00:05:19,290 that that we are potentially close to 130 00:05:19,290 --> 00:05:21,512 some sort of action , again , what that 131 00:05:21,512 --> 00:05:23,512 action is gonna be , and exactly on 132 00:05:23,512 --> 00:05:26,760 what timeline we can't be sure . But 133 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:31,220 but what we see is it , 134 00:05:32,340 --> 00:05:35,930 mhm Russian forces continue to 135 00:05:35,940 --> 00:05:39,570 assemble closer to the border um 136 00:05:39,570 --> 00:05:43,100 and uh and put themselves in uh an 137 00:05:43,100 --> 00:05:46,620 advanced stage of readiness to act to 138 00:05:46,630 --> 00:05:50,160 to conduct military action in Ukraine 139 00:05:50,170 --> 00:05:53,400 again , uh at virtually any time now we 140 00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:57,160 we believe that and that they are 141 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:01,400 um they are they are ready . I'll just 142 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:03,400 put it , leave it at that . They're 143 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:06,360 ready . Yeah , there are reports of a 144 00:06:06,370 --> 00:06:08,570 chemical plant in Crimea that's been 145 00:06:08,570 --> 00:06:11,760 evacuated . This is the kind of 146 00:06:11,770 --> 00:06:15,340 location that was described to us by 147 00:06:15,350 --> 00:06:17,960 Secretary Blinken as a possible uh 148 00:06:17,970 --> 00:06:20,210 stage provocation . Are you seeing 149 00:06:20,210 --> 00:06:23,020 reports of any sort of preparations 150 00:06:23,030 --> 00:06:25,160 either for an attack on a chemical 151 00:06:25,540 --> 00:06:28,960 plant or what are what are you seeing ? 152 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:31,470 I don't have any specifics on that 153 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:34,610 claim , but it is of a piece of the 154 00:06:34,610 --> 00:06:37,040 kinds of ridiculous claims that we have 155 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:39,040 seen the Russians make in in recent 156 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:42,730 days of alleged provocations , or 157 00:06:42,730 --> 00:06:46,380 assaults and attacks unprovoked on 158 00:06:46,380 --> 00:06:49,140 their on their people . Um so again , 159 00:06:49,150 --> 00:06:51,261 no knowledge of this particular one . 160 00:06:51,261 --> 00:06:54,070 But but again , we we've been seeing 161 00:06:54,070 --> 00:06:56,292 this over now recent days . These these 162 00:06:56,292 --> 00:06:58,459 claims of whether their acts of terror 163 00:06:58,459 --> 00:07:01,130 or acts of violence unprovoked 164 00:07:01,140 --> 00:07:04,670 shelling of uh of Russian 165 00:07:04,670 --> 00:07:07,400 forces or or Russian separatists ? All 166 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:09,289 again , that is of a piece of the 167 00:07:09,289 --> 00:07:11,456 playbook that we that we have seen the 168 00:07:11,456 --> 00:07:13,511 Russians use time and time again . I 169 00:07:13,511 --> 00:07:16,330 have no specific knowledge about this 170 00:07:16,330 --> 00:07:19,340 particular report , but again it fits 171 00:07:19,340 --> 00:07:20,840 perfectly into the Russian 172 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:22,951 disinformation playbook . The U . S . 173 00:07:22,951 --> 00:07:25,400 Government help protect the Ukrainian 174 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:27,567 government from this denial of service 175 00:07:27,567 --> 00:07:29,860 attack . The cyber attack . Did you 176 00:07:29,860 --> 00:07:32,200 help them with preparations for how to 177 00:07:32,540 --> 00:07:36,060 rebut to get back online quickly after 178 00:07:36,060 --> 00:07:38,060 such an attack ? So first , I don't 179 00:07:38,060 --> 00:07:40,227 think we're in a position to attribute 180 00:07:40,227 --> 00:07:42,449 uh these cyber disruptions , these that 181 00:07:42,449 --> 00:07:44,338 you that you're talking about . I 182 00:07:44,338 --> 00:07:46,560 assume you're talking about the various 183 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:46,230 websites , the government websites that 184 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:50,030 that were taken offline . Um what I 185 00:07:50,030 --> 00:07:52,086 would just tell you broadly speaking 186 00:07:52,086 --> 00:07:54,030 jen , is that we have provided 187 00:07:56,230 --> 00:07:58,580 some cyber resilience training and 188 00:07:58,580 --> 00:08:01,350 assistance to the Ukrainians . Um and I 189 00:08:01,350 --> 00:08:03,920 won't go beyond that in terms of in 190 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:06,560 terms of these specific attacks . Again , 191 00:08:06,740 --> 00:08:08,462 not in a position right now to 192 00:08:08,462 --> 00:08:11,500 attribute them to any one entity , I 193 00:08:11,500 --> 00:08:14,360 would just say that again , this is of 194 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:17,360 a piece of a Russian playbook which is 195 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:21,240 to disrupt in cyberspace . Uh let's see 196 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:24,330 anybody else jenny , Thank you , Jonah , 197 00:08:24,340 --> 00:08:28,000 I have two patients on the Ukraine and 198 00:08:28,010 --> 00:08:31,520 naked with Korea . And if if 199 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:35,010 Russia uses nuclear weapons to 200 00:08:35,010 --> 00:08:38,490 invade Ukraine , what would you do us 201 00:08:38,500 --> 00:08:41,980 do secondly if 202 00:08:41,990 --> 00:08:45,590 Russia were to use nuclear 203 00:08:45,590 --> 00:08:49,010 weapons in this invasion , what would 204 00:08:49,020 --> 00:08:52,560 be the impact on the korean peninsula ? 205 00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:56,380 Because there is a fear that North 206 00:08:56,380 --> 00:08:58,250 Korea will copy this . 207 00:09:00,550 --> 00:09:02,772 I'm going to avoid speculating here and 208 00:09:02,772 --> 00:09:04,383 getting into hypotheticals , 209 00:09:04,383 --> 00:09:06,439 particularly about the potential use 210 00:09:06,439 --> 00:09:09,170 use of nuclear weapons jenny . Um what 211 00:09:09,170 --> 00:09:11,900 we've said all along two things . One , 212 00:09:11,910 --> 00:09:14,220 Mr Putin has a lot of capability at his 213 00:09:14,220 --> 00:09:16,109 disposal right now , as I've said 214 00:09:16,109 --> 00:09:20,020 earlier , they are ready to go . Um and 215 00:09:20,020 --> 00:09:22,470 number two , if he decides 216 00:09:23,580 --> 00:09:25,160 to conduct 217 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:29,990 a full scale invasion here again , 218 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:33,940 um uh bigger than what we've seen in 219 00:09:33,940 --> 00:09:36,162 just the last few days , this will be a 220 00:09:36,162 --> 00:09:39,240 war of choice , that he will be doing 221 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:41,990 so with , you know , with diplomacy and 222 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:44,560 options still left on the table . Um 223 00:09:44,570 --> 00:09:48,300 and it won't be bloodless . There will 224 00:09:48,300 --> 00:09:50,356 be suffering that will be sacrificed 225 00:09:50,356 --> 00:09:53,230 and all of that must and should be laid 226 00:09:53,230 --> 00:09:55,660 at his feet because he's doing this by 227 00:09:55,660 --> 00:09:59,250 choice . How he does this when he does 228 00:09:59,250 --> 00:10:02,460 this , we don't know for sure . But if 229 00:10:02,460 --> 00:10:05,590 he does this , uh this will be a war of 230 00:10:05,590 --> 00:10:09,260 choice and totally unnecessary and as 231 00:10:09,260 --> 00:10:11,482 for the impact in the in the region , I 232 00:10:11,482 --> 00:10:15,120 just I I couldn't begin to to speculate 233 00:10:15,130 --> 00:10:17,241 nothing's changed obviously about our 234 00:10:17,241 --> 00:10:19,186 commitment to our our South korean 235 00:10:19,186 --> 00:10:21,241 allies . And we noted that the south 236 00:10:21,241 --> 00:10:23,074 Koreans also came out publically 237 00:10:23,074 --> 00:10:25,186 yesterday with a statement of support 238 00:10:25,186 --> 00:10:27,352 for Ukraine that was certainly noticed 239 00:10:27,352 --> 00:10:29,519 by the whole international community ? 240 00:10:29,519 --> 00:10:31,680 Yeah , the back there , Abraham ? A 241 00:10:31,690 --> 00:10:33,857 couple of parts to this question ? You 242 00:10:33,857 --> 00:10:35,746 just described a lot of different 243 00:10:35,746 --> 00:10:37,968 forces moving to the Eastern flank . Is 244 00:10:37,968 --> 00:10:40,190 there any consideration of those forces 245 00:10:40,190 --> 00:10:42,468 going under NATO command ? And why not ? 246 00:10:42,468 --> 00:10:44,690 Also there's the word is temporary , is 247 00:10:44,690 --> 00:10:47,940 is pretty prominent there is there is 248 00:10:47,940 --> 00:10:50,560 there a time frame for temporary ? And 249 00:10:50,560 --> 00:10:52,727 is there any talking of the NATO rapid 250 00:10:52,727 --> 00:10:54,949 response ? Those U . S . Forces getting 251 00:10:54,949 --> 00:10:57,116 activated ? Okay , yep , there's a lot 252 00:10:57,116 --> 00:10:59,227 there right now . They're going to be 253 00:10:59,227 --> 00:11:01,449 under the command of general Walters in 254 00:11:01,449 --> 00:11:04,250 his U . S . European command hat . Um I 255 00:11:04,250 --> 00:11:06,420 don't know of any changes to that . Um 256 00:11:06,430 --> 00:11:09,390 temporary . I don't have an exact time 257 00:11:09,390 --> 00:11:11,446 frame on this . I want to remind you 258 00:11:11,446 --> 00:11:13,550 that they were already in europe . 259 00:11:13,560 --> 00:11:16,540 They're simply repositioning elsewhere 260 00:11:16,550 --> 00:11:18,810 in europe . I don't have a time frame 261 00:11:18,810 --> 00:11:21,032 on how long that repositioning is going 262 00:11:21,032 --> 00:11:23,199 to be except to say that it will be as 263 00:11:23,199 --> 00:11:26,230 long as we believe it's necessary and 264 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:28,407 the host nation's the new host nations 265 00:11:28,407 --> 00:11:31,930 that will be hosting these the these 266 00:11:31,930 --> 00:11:34,041 units are willing to continue to have 267 00:11:34,041 --> 00:11:35,930 them . So this will be a constant 268 00:11:35,930 --> 00:11:38,041 discussion with each host nation that 269 00:11:38,041 --> 00:11:41,040 that they end up in about where they go , 270 00:11:41,050 --> 00:11:43,050 how long they stay and what kind of 271 00:11:43,050 --> 00:11:45,050 training opportunities are going to 272 00:11:45,050 --> 00:11:46,994 conduct . This is really all about 273 00:11:46,994 --> 00:11:49,230 reassuring allies and partners uh and 274 00:11:49,230 --> 00:11:51,452 and demonstrating that in tangible ways 275 00:11:51,460 --> 00:11:54,210 on your I lost . Your third question , 276 00:11:54,220 --> 00:11:57,950 dang it . Oh , that's a better 277 00:11:57,950 --> 00:11:59,950 question for for for NATO Abraham . 278 00:11:59,950 --> 00:12:02,006 That's not a question for the United 279 00:12:02,006 --> 00:12:04,172 States . Um that'll be up to the knack 280 00:12:04,172 --> 00:12:06,117 to decide . North atlantic council 281 00:12:06,117 --> 00:12:08,339 decide not , not just the United States 282 00:12:08,339 --> 00:12:10,506 unilaterally . Of course . What I will 283 00:12:10,506 --> 00:12:12,617 tell you is that , that as you know , 284 00:12:12,617 --> 00:12:15,220 the secretary has put on a shorter 285 00:12:15,230 --> 00:12:18,450 alert . Tether our contributions to the 286 00:12:18,450 --> 00:12:20,960 Nrf , the NATO response force . Um , so 287 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:22,960 they are more ready to go if called 288 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:25,160 upon . So what ? Well , I can't give 289 00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:28,900 you any sorts of of timing or certainly 290 00:12:28,900 --> 00:12:31,000 about whether the NRF is going to be 291 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:33,056 activated . What I can tell you with 292 00:12:33,056 --> 00:12:34,889 certainty that is , if it is our 293 00:12:34,889 --> 00:12:37,056 contributions to the Nrf will be ready 294 00:12:37,056 --> 00:12:39,222 to go and will contribute fully United 295 00:12:39,222 --> 00:12:41,389 States , correct , correct Yeah , Tony 296 00:12:41,780 --> 00:12:43,669 discussion within the pentagon or 297 00:12:43,669 --> 00:12:45,724 within the National Security Council 298 00:12:45,724 --> 00:12:47,891 about whether all of Putin's maneuvers 299 00:12:47,891 --> 00:12:50,002 in the force build up is a grand game 300 00:12:50,002 --> 00:12:51,836 of brinksmanship and he's got no 301 00:12:51,836 --> 00:12:53,947 intention of invading . He just wants 302 00:12:53,947 --> 00:12:56,350 to show as much show his muscle , get 303 00:12:56,350 --> 00:12:58,461 the U . S . And NATO to commit to not 304 00:12:58,690 --> 00:13:01,340 entering letting Ukraine into the , the 305 00:13:01,340 --> 00:13:03,118 alliance and others . A game of 306 00:13:03,118 --> 00:13:05,400 brinksmanship , bluffing , but not 307 00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:07,511 really an attempt to invade . We have 308 00:13:07,511 --> 00:13:09,733 seen no indication of that , Tony . Let 309 00:13:09,733 --> 00:13:11,900 me ask you though . It's been , has it 310 00:13:11,900 --> 00:13:13,956 been Groupthink here though ? You're 311 00:13:13,956 --> 00:13:13,860 all thinking just assuming he's going 312 00:13:13,860 --> 00:13:16,560 to do this or have you actually 313 00:13:16,570 --> 00:13:18,681 skeptically . Look at whether this is 314 00:13:18,681 --> 00:13:20,870 just a bunch of Bs brinksmanship , 315 00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:23,070 albeit on a grand scale Tony . We've 316 00:13:23,070 --> 00:13:25,400 been looking at this now for months and 317 00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:27,233 we've been talking to allies and 318 00:13:27,233 --> 00:13:29,289 partners four months . The secretary 319 00:13:29,289 --> 00:13:31,456 was just in brussels last week meeting 320 00:13:31,456 --> 00:13:33,511 with all his counterparts and in the 321 00:13:33,511 --> 00:13:35,511 alliance , it's not just the United 322 00:13:35,511 --> 00:13:37,567 States who is deeply concerned about 323 00:13:37,567 --> 00:13:39,622 the potential for war in Ukraine now 324 00:13:39,622 --> 00:13:41,678 that that other NATO allies feel the 325 00:13:41,678 --> 00:13:43,900 same way . We've we've all been looking 326 00:13:43,900 --> 00:13:47,750 at this . I hope we all hope that we're 327 00:13:47,750 --> 00:13:51,090 wrong about this . But every indication 328 00:13:51,090 --> 00:13:54,860 we have is that his poise to attack 329 00:13:54,860 --> 00:13:58,790 Ukraine again and this time with what 330 00:13:58,790 --> 00:14:02,360 could be significant Military 331 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:04,590 force . Um , I mean , we are talking 332 00:14:04,590 --> 00:14:07,320 about more than 150,000 troops that he 333 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:09,680 has arrayed against that border ? Um , 334 00:14:09,690 --> 00:14:11,950 and uh as I said earlier , we believe 335 00:14:11,950 --> 00:14:13,728 that they are now at a state of 336 00:14:13,728 --> 00:14:15,783 readiness where they could attack at 337 00:14:15,783 --> 00:14:18,060 any time . That's what we're seeing . 338 00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:20,440 And that's what we've been saying . 339 00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:22,384 We've been talking about this very 340 00:14:22,384 --> 00:14:24,607 openly now for weeks we've seen sadly , 341 00:14:24,607 --> 00:14:26,990 and unfortunately no indication that 342 00:14:26,990 --> 00:14:29,157 he's willing to de escalate move those 343 00:14:29,157 --> 00:14:31,212 troops back home and actually get to 344 00:14:31,212 --> 00:14:32,990 some sort of serious diplomatic 345 00:14:32,990 --> 00:14:35,212 solution . Every indication rather that 346 00:14:35,212 --> 00:14:37,323 we see is quite the opposite in china 347 00:14:37,323 --> 00:14:39,101 related question , Is there any 348 00:14:39,101 --> 00:14:41,157 indication that presidency has given 349 00:14:41,157 --> 00:14:44,990 his tested or explicit approval to put 350 00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:47,660 for a force foreign envision you recall 351 00:14:47,660 --> 00:14:49,960 the speculation that innovation 352 00:14:49,960 --> 00:14:52,182 wouldn't happen until the olympics were 353 00:14:52,182 --> 00:14:54,530 over the olympics are over now . Any 354 00:14:54,530 --> 00:14:56,530 indication that china has given its 355 00:14:56,530 --> 00:14:59,080 wink and nod ? Well , I mean , I would 356 00:14:59,090 --> 00:15:01,090 point you back to the February four 357 00:15:01,090 --> 00:15:03,201 statement that that she and put Putin 358 00:15:03,201 --> 00:15:05,257 puts out was certainly we took as as 359 00:15:05,257 --> 00:15:08,300 Tacit approval for what Mr Putin is 360 00:15:08,300 --> 00:15:10,660 doing . Uh you could point also to 361 00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:14,910 uh concerning comments by the chinese 362 00:15:14,910 --> 00:15:18,220 Foreign Ministry yesterday that made it 363 00:15:18,220 --> 00:15:20,053 clear that they weren't going to 364 00:15:20,053 --> 00:15:22,164 support any what they called unlawful 365 00:15:22,164 --> 00:15:24,387 unilateral sanctions against Russia and 366 00:15:24,387 --> 00:15:26,450 then blame the United States for 367 00:15:26,980 --> 00:15:29,070 contributing security assistance to 368 00:15:29,070 --> 00:15:31,070 Ukraine somehow blaming us for this 369 00:15:31,070 --> 00:15:34,530 issue . No mention whatsoever in their 370 00:15:34,530 --> 00:15:37,180 statement about the 150,000 plus 371 00:15:37,180 --> 00:15:39,370 soldiers uh and the and the threats 372 00:15:39,380 --> 00:15:42,580 that uh that Mr Putin has been lobbying 373 00:15:42,580 --> 00:15:44,910 against Ukraine now for for many weeks , 374 00:15:44,910 --> 00:15:48,490 including just just just yesterday . Um 375 00:15:48,500 --> 00:15:49,560 it um 376 00:15:51,930 --> 00:15:55,350 we wonder can it really be 377 00:15:56,040 --> 00:15:59,550 uh the chinese policy now uh to 378 00:15:59,550 --> 00:16:03,250 support uh separatist movements 379 00:16:03,260 --> 00:16:07,180 over over the sovereignty of nation 380 00:16:07,180 --> 00:16:09,291 states ? That's that's an interesting 381 00:16:09,291 --> 00:16:11,560 twist , isn't it ? Zoe 382 00:16:13,140 --> 00:16:17,140 thank you , john , is there any I would 383 00:16:17,140 --> 00:16:20,130 like to go back to the movements of U . 384 00:16:20,130 --> 00:16:22,930 S . Troops , to the Baltic states and 385 00:16:22,940 --> 00:16:25,620 to the eastern plank . Is there any 386 00:16:25,620 --> 00:16:29,510 consideration of sending more U . 387 00:16:29,510 --> 00:16:33,460 S . Troops if there is an invasion 388 00:16:33,840 --> 00:16:37,210 and on a permanent basis on this 389 00:16:37,220 --> 00:16:41,020 eastern flank of NATO . There's 390 00:16:41,020 --> 00:16:43,840 nothing , there's no expectation at 391 00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:46,380 this time . Sylvia that that we're 392 00:16:46,380 --> 00:16:49,240 gonna uh move to more permanent . 393 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:52,080 Basing on NATO's eastern flank , Uh 394 00:16:52,090 --> 00:16:54,312 what we're what we're talking about now 395 00:16:54,312 --> 00:16:56,680 are are short term temporary rotational 396 00:16:56,690 --> 00:17:00,060 uh redeployments if you will . As for 397 00:17:00,060 --> 00:17:02,282 your first question , whether there's , 398 00:17:02,282 --> 00:17:04,393 I assume what you're asking is are we 399 00:17:04,393 --> 00:17:04,100 going to send more troops from the 400 00:17:04,100 --> 00:17:07,710 United States to NATO's eastern flank ? 401 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:11,660 And I have I have no such announcements 402 00:17:11,660 --> 00:17:13,882 or movements to speak of today . But as 403 00:17:13,882 --> 00:17:16,320 I have said repeatedly , we're going to 404 00:17:16,320 --> 00:17:18,542 keep all options on the table . I'm not 405 00:17:18,542 --> 00:17:20,598 going to rule out that the secretary 406 00:17:20,598 --> 00:17:22,653 might want to consider that , should 407 00:17:22,653 --> 00:17:24,764 there be a need ? Uh we're looking at 408 00:17:24,764 --> 00:17:26,987 this day by day and just yesterday , as 409 00:17:26,987 --> 00:17:28,931 you saw , we did reposition inside 410 00:17:28,931 --> 00:17:31,180 europe and and uh there are lots of 411 00:17:31,190 --> 00:17:33,357 options available to us to continue to 412 00:17:33,357 --> 00:17:35,301 look for ways to to reinforce that 413 00:17:35,301 --> 00:17:37,960 eastern flank . But this will be 414 00:17:38,340 --> 00:17:41,910 uh temporary . You don't think about 415 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:44,200 changing your posture in case of an 416 00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:46,530 invasion right now . We're focused on 417 00:17:46,540 --> 00:17:49,600 reassuring the allies . Um and and 418 00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:51,711 we're going to be in constant contact 419 00:17:51,711 --> 00:17:53,822 with them and consultation about what 420 00:17:53,822 --> 00:17:55,933 that looks like and how you do that , 421 00:17:55,933 --> 00:17:57,933 how you do that . Given the current 422 00:17:57,933 --> 00:18:00,250 tensions on the continent , it's too 423 00:18:00,250 --> 00:18:03,390 early to tell whether any of this is 424 00:18:03,390 --> 00:18:06,090 going to lead to some other longer term 425 00:18:06,090 --> 00:18:08,210 posture changes . We certainly were 426 00:18:08,210 --> 00:18:10,154 just not at that point right now , 427 00:18:10,340 --> 00:18:14,320 Barbara , you mentioned before that if 428 00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:16,542 this conflict breaks out , it would not 429 00:18:16,542 --> 00:18:18,800 be bloodless . So I assume that's also 430 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:21,022 somewhat of a caution to Russia that it 431 00:18:21,022 --> 00:18:23,022 would not be bloodless for them and 432 00:18:23,022 --> 00:18:25,570 their troops . Can you be any more 433 00:18:25,570 --> 00:18:29,050 specific as this is assessed ? Or is 434 00:18:29,050 --> 00:18:30,828 the Russian military to use the 435 00:18:30,828 --> 00:18:33,420 expression really 10 ft tall ? Or do 436 00:18:33,420 --> 00:18:35,531 you see some vulnerabilities for them 437 00:18:35,531 --> 00:18:36,640 here ? Mhm . 438 00:18:39,540 --> 00:18:42,000 So clearly , 439 00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:46,060 if he chooses war , mm hmm , 440 00:18:47,740 --> 00:18:51,600 he chooses violence . Which means 441 00:18:52,340 --> 00:18:55,170 um he's deliberately 442 00:18:55,640 --> 00:18:59,600 choosing to put lives 443 00:18:59,750 --> 00:19:02,040 at danger . Soldiers lives , civilians , 444 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:04,580 lives and he's gonna have to bear the 445 00:19:04,580 --> 00:19:08,340 responsibility for that . And I 446 00:19:08,340 --> 00:19:11,500 think I would hope that that he 447 00:19:11,500 --> 00:19:13,722 understands that some of those lives at 448 00:19:13,722 --> 00:19:16,056 risk are going to be his soldiers lives . 449 00:19:16,056 --> 00:19:18,056 And he's going to have to answer to 450 00:19:18,056 --> 00:19:21,010 Russian moms and dads about , they're 451 00:19:21,010 --> 00:19:23,010 soldiers that aren't making it back 452 00:19:23,010 --> 00:19:26,660 home alive or making it back uh , with 453 00:19:26,660 --> 00:19:29,160 injuries . Um , he's gonna have to 454 00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:31,510 answer for that . Um , and as for the 455 00:19:31,510 --> 00:19:33,788 10 ft tall look , I I think , you know , 456 00:19:33,788 --> 00:19:35,843 getting into qualitative assessments 457 00:19:35,843 --> 00:19:38,240 here of military is probably not the 458 00:19:38,250 --> 00:19:41,960 best exercise for me right now . Um , 459 00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:46,370 they have , as we've said for a long 460 00:19:46,370 --> 00:19:48,600 time , significant combined arms 461 00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:50,656 capabilities arrayed against Ukraine 462 00:19:50,656 --> 00:19:53,740 right now and they are ready to go 463 00:19:54,340 --> 00:19:57,580 right now . Should that be the way that 464 00:19:57,580 --> 00:20:00,410 Mr Putin wants to go and 465 00:20:02,340 --> 00:20:04,562 we would obviously like to see that not 466 00:20:04,562 --> 00:20:06,729 happen and we would like to see him de 467 00:20:06,729 --> 00:20:08,729 escalate , we would like to see him 468 00:20:08,729 --> 00:20:10,784 make a better choice here , which we 469 00:20:10,784 --> 00:20:12,896 still think there's time to do and de 470 00:20:12,896 --> 00:20:14,840 escalate move those troops back to 471 00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:18,040 garrison , moving back home , keep them 472 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:21,400 safe and not pursue a war of choice 473 00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:25,170 uh totally on on what is his whim 474 00:20:26,140 --> 00:20:29,600 as we sit here today ? Are there are 475 00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:33,310 there still active functioning 476 00:20:33,310 --> 00:20:37,080 channels of us Russian military to 477 00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:40,450 military communications ? Are you able 478 00:20:40,460 --> 00:20:43,560 to is you know the secretary the 479 00:20:43,570 --> 00:20:45,737 chairman , are you able to pick up the 480 00:20:45,737 --> 00:20:47,920 phone and will your counterparts talk 481 00:20:47,920 --> 00:20:49,920 to you ? Well , I would point to 482 00:20:49,980 --> 00:20:52,180 conversations that we've read out in 483 00:20:52,180 --> 00:20:54,700 just recent days . The secretary spoke 484 00:20:54,700 --> 00:20:56,756 with Minister Shoigu just a few days 485 00:20:56,756 --> 00:21:00,110 ago . Chairman Milley , I know I'm 486 00:21:00,110 --> 00:21:02,332 getting their chairman . Milley has had 487 00:21:02,332 --> 00:21:04,110 many conversations with General 488 00:21:04,110 --> 00:21:08,110 Gerasimov , his counterpart . Um and we 489 00:21:08,110 --> 00:21:10,110 have seen no indication that those 490 00:21:10,110 --> 00:21:12,166 lines of communication between those 491 00:21:12,166 --> 00:21:14,480 two leaders are closed . I don't have 492 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:16,591 any additional phone conversations to 493 00:21:16,591 --> 00:21:18,702 talk about today or to announce . But 494 00:21:18,702 --> 00:21:20,813 we have seen no indication that there 495 00:21:20,813 --> 00:21:22,924 won't be that communication should it 496 00:21:22,924 --> 00:21:25,670 be necessary of course . How about more 497 00:21:25,670 --> 00:21:27,920 of like a tactical uh line of 498 00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:30,142 communication ? You know , I don't know 499 00:21:30,142 --> 00:21:32,309 if the deconfliction is the right term 500 00:21:32,309 --> 00:21:34,642 to use here because there's not a U . S . 501 00:21:34,642 --> 00:21:34,220 Military component to this ? Like 502 00:21:34,220 --> 00:21:36,164 they're not gonna theoretically be 503 00:21:36,164 --> 00:21:38,260 flying over the same skies . But but 504 00:21:38,260 --> 00:21:40,482 what about something that might be like 505 00:21:40,482 --> 00:21:42,482 deconflict tactically on the ground 506 00:21:42,482 --> 00:21:44,649 once Russia moves in it seems that you 507 00:21:44,649 --> 00:21:46,816 know we keep hearing about the U . S . 508 00:21:46,816 --> 00:21:48,871 Military moving more and more assets 509 00:21:48,871 --> 00:21:50,704 into that region ? Is that is it 510 00:21:50,704 --> 00:21:52,760 appropriate for General Milley to be 511 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:54,704 the one calling general grasp when 512 00:21:54,704 --> 00:21:56,760 we're talking about like potentially 513 00:21:56,760 --> 00:21:59,093 very quick tactical moves on the ground . 514 00:21:59,093 --> 00:21:58,890 I don't think we're at a point right 515 00:21:58,890 --> 00:22:01,430 now we're um where that's needed , 516 00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:03,440 right ? Because there hasn't been a 517 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:05,662 large scale invasion yet of Ukraine and 518 00:22:05,662 --> 00:22:07,551 hopefully there won't be court so 519 00:22:07,551 --> 00:22:09,662 hopefully there won't be any need for 520 00:22:09,662 --> 00:22:11,718 that kind of communication . But you 521 00:22:11,718 --> 00:22:13,940 get to a really good point which is the 522 00:22:13,940 --> 00:22:17,760 potential if he decides to go in big in 523 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:21,140 Ukraine that puts Russian military 524 00:22:21,140 --> 00:22:23,240 forces right up against the eastern 525 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:27,100 flank of of of of NATO , his 526 00:22:27,100 --> 00:22:29,350 western flank . Um and that's an 527 00:22:29,350 --> 00:22:31,350 eastern flank by the way that we're 528 00:22:31,350 --> 00:22:33,572 going to continue to reinforce and make 529 00:22:33,572 --> 00:22:35,683 more ready . And so you do get into a 530 00:22:35,683 --> 00:22:37,930 potential there for miscalculation uh 531 00:22:37,940 --> 00:22:40,051 and miscommunication , we're just not 532 00:22:40,051 --> 00:22:42,273 there yet that we can speak to specific 533 00:22:42,273 --> 00:22:44,440 deconfliction mechanisms and hopefully 534 00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:46,860 there won't be a need for that . Um but 535 00:22:46,870 --> 00:22:49,350 but it does raise a larger issue . Your 536 00:22:49,350 --> 00:22:51,294 question does of the potential for 537 00:22:51,294 --> 00:22:53,461 miscalculation here and given the fact 538 00:22:53,461 --> 00:22:55,461 that this isn't , again , I know we 539 00:22:55,461 --> 00:22:55,460 talked about deconfliction ? I think a 540 00:22:55,460 --> 00:22:57,627 lot of us think of Syria but this is a 541 00:22:57,627 --> 00:22:59,793 very different situation ? There's not 542 00:22:59,793 --> 00:23:01,904 U . S . Military component inside the 543 00:23:01,904 --> 00:23:04,127 potential invasion area , Right ? Would 544 00:23:04,127 --> 00:23:06,293 it be more appropriate for D . O . D . 545 00:23:06,293 --> 00:23:08,460 Or General Milley or state , like what 546 00:23:08,460 --> 00:23:10,682 would that mechanism ? Who would be the 547 00:23:10,682 --> 00:23:10,300 one who would be responsible for 548 00:23:10,300 --> 00:23:12,411 establishing that mechanism ? Again , 549 00:23:12,411 --> 00:23:14,522 we just we're not at that point right 550 00:23:14,522 --> 00:23:16,744 now Kourtney . So it's , it's difficult 551 00:23:16,744 --> 00:23:16,190 to answer that question and I'm not 552 00:23:16,190 --> 00:23:18,301 dodging it . It's it's just we aren't 553 00:23:18,301 --> 00:23:20,412 at that point right now . I mean , um 554 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:23,760 so I'd rather not speculate about who 555 00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:26,407 would be in communications with whom . 556 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:29,662 Again , as at my answer to Barb , there 557 00:23:29,662 --> 00:23:31,662 hasn't , there's no indication that 558 00:23:31,662 --> 00:23:33,884 we've gotten that there still isn't the 559 00:23:33,884 --> 00:23:33,480 ability at the strategic level for 560 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:37,080 leaders to talk jim John you talked 561 00:23:37,080 --> 00:23:39,640 about the to build on Sylvia's question . 562 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:42,890 You talked about the F- 35 And I guess 563 00:23:42,900 --> 00:23:46,860 32 apaches . Well , it's not just an 564 00:23:46,860 --> 00:23:48,749 aircraft and the pilot , how many 565 00:23:48,749 --> 00:23:51,260 people are associated with that with 566 00:23:51,270 --> 00:23:53,740 those moves ? All told if you , if you 567 00:23:53,740 --> 00:23:56,600 added up , you know , the the infantry 568 00:23:56,610 --> 00:23:58,832 battalion that we talked about , that's 569 00:23:58,832 --> 00:24:00,888 about 800 then there's about another 570 00:24:00,888 --> 00:24:03,560 200 crew pilots maintenance that would 571 00:24:03,560 --> 00:24:05,782 go with those aircraft elements that we 572 00:24:05,782 --> 00:24:08,170 talked about . So all told the 573 00:24:08,180 --> 00:24:10,124 President's announcement yesterday 574 00:24:10,124 --> 00:24:12,291 equates to about 1000 people . Again , 575 00:24:12,291 --> 00:24:14,402 I want to stress two things . They're 576 00:24:14,402 --> 00:24:16,347 being repositioned inside europe . 577 00:24:16,347 --> 00:24:18,513 They're not coming from the States and 578 00:24:18,513 --> 00:24:20,513 two . These are temporary moves and 579 00:24:20,513 --> 00:24:22,458 just build on Courtney's questions 580 00:24:22,458 --> 00:24:25,430 doesn't general Walters in his NATO hat ? 581 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:28,670 Can't he speak to Gerasimov ? 582 00:24:29,940 --> 00:24:32,051 I would suspect ? Yes . A secure . He 583 00:24:32,051 --> 00:24:34,520 certainly , he certainly could I know 584 00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:36,760 of no reason why he wouldn't be able to 585 00:24:36,760 --> 00:24:40,330 do that . Um , General Gerasimov is the 586 00:24:40,330 --> 00:24:42,163 Chief of Defense . So he is more 587 00:24:42,163 --> 00:24:43,997 appropriately , General Millie's 588 00:24:43,997 --> 00:24:46,440 counterpart . Um but I can't imagine 589 00:24:46,450 --> 00:24:48,680 that there would be a reason why if if 590 00:24:48,690 --> 00:24:50,857 general Walters wanted to speak to him 591 00:24:50,857 --> 00:24:53,190 that he couldn't in his NATO had . Yeah . 592 00:24:53,210 --> 00:24:56,290 Based on given the fact that Russians 593 00:24:56,290 --> 00:24:59,510 have brought a variety of capabilities 594 00:24:59,510 --> 00:25:02,640 to the to the area , including cruise 595 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:04,810 missiles , ballistic missiles . Do you 596 00:25:04,810 --> 00:25:07,320 still think that the arms provided by 597 00:25:07,320 --> 00:25:10,040 the United States would help Ukrainian 598 00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:12,207 to defend themselves against all these 599 00:25:12,207 --> 00:25:15,340 capabilities because we are providing 600 00:25:15,340 --> 00:25:17,507 again lethal and non lethal assistance 601 00:25:17,507 --> 00:25:19,830 to Ukraine . They have expressed their 602 00:25:19,830 --> 00:25:22,052 gratitude for that assistance . I would 603 00:25:22,052 --> 00:25:24,108 remind you that . Well , a couple of 604 00:25:24,108 --> 00:25:26,441 things 650 million just this year alone . 605 00:25:26,441 --> 00:25:28,608 Um and we're still in discussions with 606 00:25:28,608 --> 00:25:30,663 them about what kind of support they 607 00:25:30,663 --> 00:25:33,220 might need going forward . Um and uh 608 00:25:33,230 --> 00:25:35,230 we're in constant consultation with 609 00:25:35,230 --> 00:25:37,397 them about their needs and what we can 610 00:25:37,397 --> 00:25:39,563 provide . It's not just us . That's my 611 00:25:39,563 --> 00:25:41,563 second point . Other nations are as 612 00:25:41,563 --> 00:25:44,100 well stepping up to provide both lethal 613 00:25:44,100 --> 00:25:46,267 and non lethal assistance to Ukraine . 614 00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:48,440 Let me go to the phones here . I 615 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:52,210 haven't done that yet . Uh let's see . 616 00:25:52,220 --> 00:25:55,900 Um , Mike breast Washington examiner . 617 00:25:57,540 --> 00:25:59,484 Thanks for taking my question . Mr 618 00:25:59,484 --> 00:26:01,850 Kirby a little bit out of left field , 619 00:26:01,860 --> 00:26:04,830 but the 90 day period that General 620 00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:07,130 Michael Garrett had to look into the 621 00:26:07,130 --> 00:26:09,530 serious strike from 2019 expires this 622 00:26:09,530 --> 00:26:13,090 weekend . Would you details or take the 623 00:26:13,090 --> 00:26:15,880 question , uh , you know what you broke 624 00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:18,480 up there mike . Uh , can you just 625 00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:20,702 repeat the last part of your question ? 626 00:26:20,702 --> 00:26:22,970 Yeah . So the 90 day period for his 627 00:26:22,970 --> 00:26:25,070 investigation into the 2019 serious 628 00:26:25,070 --> 00:26:27,910 strike expires this weekend . Could you 629 00:26:27,910 --> 00:26:30,243 provide any update or take the question ? 630 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:32,860 I know that he's wrapping that up . 631 00:26:32,860 --> 00:26:35,690 Mike . I don't have a specific timeline 632 00:26:35,690 --> 00:26:37,680 of when , when that's going to be 633 00:26:37,690 --> 00:26:40,490 turned in and reviewed . I will take 634 00:26:40,490 --> 00:26:42,601 the question and we'll , we'll see if 635 00:26:42,601 --> 00:26:44,657 we can't get you a better answer . I 636 00:26:44,657 --> 00:26:46,546 joined the afternoon , I have two 637 00:26:46,546 --> 00:26:48,657 questions , one on Ukraine and one on 638 00:26:48,657 --> 00:26:48,290 the guard deployment , which would you 639 00:26:48,290 --> 00:26:51,960 like First you , you can decide tom 640 00:26:52,100 --> 00:26:53,989 The , the guard deployments , the 641 00:26:53,989 --> 00:26:56,060 easier one . Perhaps . Uh , there's 642 00:26:56,060 --> 00:26:58,150 been reports from and complaints and 643 00:26:58,150 --> 00:27:00,206 concerns by the District of Columbia 644 00:27:00,206 --> 00:27:02,261 government and capitol police . They 645 00:27:02,261 --> 00:27:04,594 don't have the ability to remove trucks , 646 00:27:04,594 --> 00:27:06,761 tow trucks were just remove any trucks 647 00:27:06,761 --> 00:27:08,761 that impede traffic situations . Is 648 00:27:08,761 --> 00:27:10,761 there any Defense Department assets 649 00:27:10,761 --> 00:27:10,500 that could be made available to help 650 00:27:10,500 --> 00:27:12,722 them in this situation ? You know , I , 651 00:27:12,722 --> 00:27:14,722 I don't , I don't really know tom I 652 00:27:14,722 --> 00:27:16,889 mean , the request that we got was for 653 00:27:16,889 --> 00:27:19,710 some Personnel and uh , and 50 vehicles 654 00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:21,590 to help with traffic flow . Uh , 655 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:23,670 there's been no request of the 656 00:27:23,670 --> 00:27:26,420 department for tow truck capability and 657 00:27:26,420 --> 00:27:28,580 frankly , I'm not sure that we Have a 658 00:27:28,580 --> 00:27:32,380 lot of that to be honest with you , I 659 00:27:32,410 --> 00:27:34,632 don't know how many tow trucks we own , 660 00:27:34,632 --> 00:27:36,743 but I don't think it's very many . So 661 00:27:36,743 --> 00:27:38,799 again , we're focused on meeting the 662 00:27:38,799 --> 00:27:40,910 requirements that they laid forth for 663 00:27:40,910 --> 00:27:42,966 help again , roughly . 700 guardsmen 664 00:27:42,966 --> 00:27:45,021 and 50 vehicles . What's your second 665 00:27:45,021 --> 00:27:47,132 question on Ukraine ? You've talked a 666 00:27:47,132 --> 00:27:49,299 lot and others have talked about . But 667 00:27:49,299 --> 00:27:48,900 the Russians doing is out of their 668 00:27:48,900 --> 00:27:51,011 playbook . In other words , they're , 669 00:27:51,290 --> 00:27:53,290 everything they're doing is sort of 670 00:27:53,290 --> 00:27:55,960 doing their playbook . Yet the massive 671 00:27:57,610 --> 00:28:00,210 development of the forces on the border , 672 00:28:00,460 --> 00:28:02,682 the type of overall attack that's being 673 00:28:02,682 --> 00:28:05,310 projected possibly for Ukraine . That's 674 00:28:05,310 --> 00:28:07,199 not the blunderbuss approach they 675 00:28:07,199 --> 00:28:09,088 usually have taken if you look at 676 00:28:09,088 --> 00:28:11,310 Georgia and the Crimea in other areas . 677 00:28:11,310 --> 00:28:13,366 What playbook are they emulating for 678 00:28:13,366 --> 00:28:15,532 this possible attack on Ukraine ? When 679 00:28:15,532 --> 00:28:17,810 we talk about the playbook as you will , 680 00:28:17,810 --> 00:28:19,810 we're talking about the preparatory 681 00:28:19,810 --> 00:28:21,977 moves that we have seen them do in the 682 00:28:21,977 --> 00:28:24,310 past in 2014 is a great example of that . 683 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:26,873 And when we look at the kinds of 684 00:28:26,873 --> 00:28:29,190 pretextual things they were doing , it 685 00:28:29,190 --> 00:28:31,301 seems to me like they haven't updated 686 00:28:31,301 --> 00:28:33,412 their playbook in a long time because 687 00:28:33,412 --> 00:28:35,357 it's the same kind of stuff . It's 688 00:28:35,357 --> 00:28:37,246 claiming that they're the victims 689 00:28:37,246 --> 00:28:39,412 creating false events or even not even 690 00:28:39,412 --> 00:28:41,523 creating events , but simply claiming 691 00:28:41,523 --> 00:28:43,579 that things happen that never did to 692 00:28:43,579 --> 00:28:45,690 paint themselves as the victims As if 693 00:28:45,690 --> 00:28:47,634 Ukraine , which has never attacked 694 00:28:47,634 --> 00:28:49,468 anybody is all of a sudden gonna 695 00:28:49,468 --> 00:28:51,830 spiritually attack Russia and threaten 696 00:28:51,830 --> 00:28:53,886 their national security when there's 697 00:28:53,886 --> 00:28:56,052 150,000 plus troops along the border . 698 00:28:56,052 --> 00:28:58,386 I mean , it is ridiculous , but that is , 699 00:28:58,386 --> 00:29:00,608 that is exactly the kind of place we've 700 00:29:00,608 --> 00:29:02,941 seen them run the preparatory plays now , 701 00:29:02,941 --> 00:29:05,270 what To your point ? And it's a fair 702 00:29:05,270 --> 00:29:07,103 one , what we've seen them array 703 00:29:07,103 --> 00:29:09,326 against that along the border more than 704 00:29:09,326 --> 00:29:11,790 100 and 50,000 troops and significant , 705 00:29:11,790 --> 00:29:14,068 as I said , combined arms capabilities . 706 00:29:14,068 --> 00:29:16,234 That is something we haven't seen them 707 00:29:16,234 --> 00:29:18,401 do before . Where do you think they've 708 00:29:18,401 --> 00:29:20,512 gotten that tactic from that strategy 709 00:29:20,512 --> 00:29:22,734 France and they've never employed it in 710 00:29:22,734 --> 00:29:24,679 their past adventurism ? That is a 711 00:29:24,679 --> 00:29:26,790 great question for Vladimir Putin . I 712 00:29:26,790 --> 00:29:28,846 mean , I , I I'm not trying to dodge 713 00:29:28,846 --> 00:29:30,901 the question , but I don't , I'm not 714 00:29:30,901 --> 00:29:33,012 trying to dodge the question , but we 715 00:29:33,012 --> 00:29:35,234 don't know , I mean , we can't possibly 716 00:29:35,234 --> 00:29:37,457 get inside his head to figure out , you 717 00:29:37,457 --> 00:29:39,568 know , why he's doing it the way he's 718 00:29:39,568 --> 00:29:41,734 doing it . And again , tom at the risk 719 00:29:41,734 --> 00:29:43,846 of sounding like a broken record , it 720 00:29:43,846 --> 00:29:46,068 doesn't have to be this way he can make 721 00:29:46,068 --> 00:29:48,123 another choice of all the options he 722 00:29:48,123 --> 00:29:50,123 has available to him . The one , he 723 00:29:50,123 --> 00:29:52,346 still has his diplomacy , if he chooses 724 00:29:52,346 --> 00:29:54,512 and we just haven't seen an indication 725 00:29:54,512 --> 00:29:56,234 to do that . Hey , don any two 726 00:29:56,234 --> 00:29:58,320 questions . First off , any idea 727 00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:00,542 whether or not Russia has also used the 728 00:30:00,542 --> 00:30:02,653 Wagner group , mercenaries as part of 729 00:30:02,653 --> 00:30:05,620 this invasion force or is it strictly 730 00:30:05,630 --> 00:30:08,640 sort of mainline Russian army troops , 731 00:30:09,540 --> 00:30:11,873 I have not seen any indications of that . 732 00:30:11,873 --> 00:30:15,470 I can't , I haven't seen indications of 733 00:30:15,470 --> 00:30:18,000 the Wagner group being used . But um , 734 00:30:18,010 --> 00:30:20,232 again , that's really , um , that might 735 00:30:20,232 --> 00:30:22,288 be a level of detail . We , we don't 736 00:30:22,288 --> 00:30:25,250 have , uh , go back a little bit in 737 00:30:25,250 --> 00:30:28,110 history . The Soviet Union conquered 738 00:30:28,110 --> 00:30:30,450 Hungary in 56 , roll through 739 00:30:30,450 --> 00:30:33,050 Czechoslovakia in 68 . The us 740 00:30:33,050 --> 00:30:36,160 complained and made a lot of noise , 741 00:30:36,160 --> 00:30:38,493 but nothing really happened . What's to , 742 00:30:38,840 --> 00:30:41,200 how will this turn out different from 743 00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:43,200 what's already happened in the past 744 00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:45,200 with their satellite , their former 745 00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:47,470 satellite countries ? I was a history 746 00:30:47,470 --> 00:30:49,303 major at the university of South 747 00:30:49,303 --> 00:30:51,526 florida , but I don't know that . I can 748 00:30:51,526 --> 00:30:53,581 answer that one . Well , let me just 749 00:30:53,581 --> 00:30:57,090 put it this way , what we hope 750 00:30:57,090 --> 00:30:59,730 happens is that he de escalates , 751 00:31:00,340 --> 00:31:03,360 uh , and and this war of choice doesn't 752 00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:07,090 occur . It's difficult if he , 753 00:31:07,180 --> 00:31:09,402 if he chooses to go ahead . And again , 754 00:31:09,402 --> 00:31:12,460 every indication is that he will . Um , 755 00:31:12,940 --> 00:31:15,900 it's the one thing any student of war 756 00:31:15,900 --> 00:31:18,122 will tell you . It's unpredictable once 757 00:31:18,122 --> 00:31:20,990 it starts , it's the old adage . I 758 00:31:20,990 --> 00:31:23,101 think it was Eisenhower , right , And 759 00:31:23,101 --> 00:31:25,530 no plan survives first contact . Uh , 760 00:31:25,540 --> 00:31:27,707 it's difficult to know where this will 761 00:31:27,707 --> 00:31:30,860 go . What we believe 762 00:31:31,540 --> 00:31:34,750 is that it will involve significant 763 00:31:34,750 --> 00:31:38,740 casualties and destruction , um , 764 00:31:38,750 --> 00:31:40,960 and um , that it will 765 00:31:42,440 --> 00:31:45,660 only , but cause 766 00:31:45,660 --> 00:31:48,400 instability on the european continent 767 00:31:48,550 --> 00:31:50,800 rather than the stability that , uh , 768 00:31:50,810 --> 00:31:52,866 that I think most of the world , and 769 00:31:52,866 --> 00:31:55,190 certainly the West wants to see where 770 00:31:55,190 --> 00:31:57,412 it goes beyond that . I just don't know 771 00:31:57,412 --> 00:31:59,579 mike because we don't know really what 772 00:31:59,579 --> 00:32:01,950 what he has in mind here . I mean he's 773 00:32:01,950 --> 00:32:05,020 pretty much in terms of military action . 774 00:32:05,030 --> 00:32:07,252 That's what I mean . If you look at his 775 00:32:07,252 --> 00:32:09,363 speech , he was pretty clear , wasn't 776 00:32:09,363 --> 00:32:13,330 he about the the disdain 777 00:32:13,330 --> 00:32:16,960 he has for Ukrainian sovereignty and 778 00:32:16,970 --> 00:32:19,720 and the false claim that , you know , 779 00:32:19,730 --> 00:32:22,410 Russia created Ukraine . I mean there's 780 00:32:22,410 --> 00:32:25,860 a , it's pretty obvious that um as as 781 00:32:25,860 --> 00:32:27,860 the Ukrainian foreign minister said 782 00:32:27,860 --> 00:32:30,120 just when he was here , that that Putin 783 00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:33,990 wants to erase Ukraine as a as a nation 784 00:32:33,990 --> 00:32:37,230 state , what that ends up looking like 785 00:32:37,230 --> 00:32:39,990 long term is difficult to know . And 786 00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:42,056 again , at the risk of sounding like 787 00:32:42,056 --> 00:32:44,278 I'm dodging and I'm not , I truly don't 788 00:32:44,278 --> 00:32:46,500 know the answer to your question . It's 789 00:32:46,500 --> 00:32:46,160 a good one . And I don't know , anybody 790 00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:48,610 could know that . Um but it doesn't 791 00:32:48,610 --> 00:32:50,940 have to be that way . It just doesn't 792 00:32:50,940 --> 00:32:53,051 have to be that way . He can choose a 793 00:32:53,051 --> 00:32:55,107 different path here , which is still 794 00:32:55,107 --> 00:32:57,218 open to him . And that's what I think 795 00:32:57,218 --> 00:32:59,440 all of us would like to see him do . Um 796 00:32:59,440 --> 00:33:01,551 I get time for a couple more . Yeah , 797 00:33:01,551 --> 00:33:03,384 go ahead . A country is invading 798 00:33:03,384 --> 00:33:05,530 another country just because that 799 00:33:05,530 --> 00:33:08,560 country wants to be part of an alliance 800 00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:10,671 that the United States , he's leading 801 00:33:11,130 --> 00:33:14,090 like NATO isn't that an indirect threat 802 00:33:14,100 --> 00:33:16,267 to NATO and the United States national 803 00:33:16,267 --> 00:33:18,100 Security at the same time , well 804 00:33:18,100 --> 00:33:19,933 prominent , it's a threat to the 805 00:33:19,933 --> 00:33:22,100 Ukrainian people . And I think again , 806 00:33:22,100 --> 00:33:24,322 if you go back and look at his speech , 807 00:33:24,322 --> 00:33:26,100 uh certainly he's groused about 808 00:33:26,540 --> 00:33:28,762 potential NATO membership for Ukraine , 809 00:33:28,762 --> 00:33:30,929 no doubt about it . But uh but he laid 810 00:33:30,929 --> 00:33:34,160 out uh and even more sweeping uh 811 00:33:36,540 --> 00:33:40,260 alternative reality in his speech uh 812 00:33:40,270 --> 00:33:42,770 that it isn't just about whether or not 813 00:33:43,740 --> 00:33:45,910 Nate Nate , you know , NATO Ukraine 814 00:33:45,910 --> 00:33:47,770 joins NATO . Um 815 00:33:49,640 --> 00:33:53,050 and as for whether it further threatens 816 00:33:53,050 --> 00:33:55,460 NATO , I think that remains to be seen 817 00:33:55,470 --> 00:33:59,170 clearly , uh we are making it very 818 00:33:59,170 --> 00:34:01,870 obvious that we take our obligations to 819 00:34:01,870 --> 00:34:03,759 NATO seriously . That's why we're 820 00:34:03,759 --> 00:34:05,648 sending these additional forces , 821 00:34:05,648 --> 00:34:07,926 that's why we're bolstering our allies . 822 00:34:07,926 --> 00:34:07,860 That's why Secretary Austin was in 823 00:34:08,240 --> 00:34:10,880 europe just last week to deliver that 824 00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:14,860 message . Um So that Mr Putin knows and 825 00:34:14,860 --> 00:34:17,830 quite frankly our allies know too what 826 00:34:17,830 --> 00:34:19,941 President biden said . We will defend 827 00:34:19,941 --> 00:34:23,400 every inch of NATO territory again , we 828 00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:25,622 don't want to see it come to that , but 829 00:34:25,622 --> 00:34:27,567 if it does come to that the United 830 00:34:27,567 --> 00:34:29,678 States will be ready . Okay , you are 831 00:34:29,678 --> 00:34:32,011 really saying that the open door policy , 832 00:34:32,011 --> 00:34:34,122 you are stick to the open door policy 833 00:34:34,122 --> 00:34:36,178 of NATO . It is up , it is up to the 834 00:34:36,178 --> 00:34:38,011 alliance and the Nation state in 835 00:34:38,011 --> 00:34:40,344 question to determine future membership . 836 00:34:40,344 --> 00:34:42,511 It is not something that Mr Putin gets 837 00:34:42,511 --> 00:34:44,360 to veto period . Okay , thanks 838 00:34:44,360 --> 00:34:44,760 everybody