1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:00,000 2 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:15,360 okay , a couple of things here before , 3 00:00:16,940 --> 00:00:19,720 before we get going . I think you know 4 00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:22,290 that earlier this afternoon , Secretary 5 00:00:22,290 --> 00:00:24,234 Austin welcomed his royal highness 6 00:00:24,234 --> 00:00:26,570 Salman bin Hamad bin ISa al Khalifa 7 00:00:26,690 --> 00:00:29,360 Crown Prince of the Kingdom of bahrain . 8 00:00:29,740 --> 00:00:32,080 Welcome to her to the pentagon . The 9 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:33,858 two leaders met to reaffirm the 10 00:00:33,858 --> 00:00:35,747 strength of the U . S . Bilateral 11 00:00:35,747 --> 00:00:37,802 defense relationship and partnership 12 00:00:37,802 --> 00:00:39,802 with bahrain , which is a major non 13 00:00:39,802 --> 00:00:41,913 NATO ally of the United States . They 14 00:00:41,913 --> 00:00:43,747 also discussed the importance of 15 00:00:43,747 --> 00:00:45,636 expanding regional cooperation to 16 00:00:45,636 --> 00:00:47,858 confront the full scope of threats from 17 00:00:47,858 --> 00:00:49,913 Iran including strengthening air and 18 00:00:49,913 --> 00:00:51,858 missile defense and bolstering our 19 00:00:51,858 --> 00:00:54,080 maritime security Secretary thanked the 20 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:56,302 Crown Prince for bahrain's longstanding 21 00:00:56,302 --> 00:00:58,469 hospitality of the US forces including 22 00:00:58,469 --> 00:01:00,469 of course hosting US Naval forces , 23 00:01:00,469 --> 00:01:02,580 Central Command and the U . S . Fifth 24 00:01:02,580 --> 00:01:04,610 Fleet . He also underscored us 25 00:01:04,610 --> 00:01:06,443 gratitude for the Crown Prince's 26 00:01:06,443 --> 00:01:08,554 personal engagement in supporting the 27 00:01:08,554 --> 00:01:11,780 2021 to Afghanistan evacuation mission 28 00:01:11,780 --> 00:01:13,891 which of course exemplified by reigns 29 00:01:14,540 --> 00:01:18,170 dependable partnership . Now 30 00:01:18,330 --> 00:01:22,300 moving on . Um I often come out 31 00:01:22,300 --> 00:01:25,040 here and uh I'll tell you what what we 32 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:27,870 have done both in terms of exercises 33 00:01:27,870 --> 00:01:30,710 and operations today . I want to talk a 34 00:01:30,710 --> 00:01:32,821 little bit about something that we're 35 00:01:32,821 --> 00:01:35,043 not going to do . And I want to explain 36 00:01:35,043 --> 00:01:37,266 why last weekend , as you saw President 37 00:01:37,266 --> 00:01:40,580 Putin directed a special alert of 38 00:01:40,580 --> 00:01:43,530 Russian nuclear forces now in this time 39 00:01:43,530 --> 00:01:45,530 of heightened tensions , the United 40 00:01:45,530 --> 00:01:47,308 States and other members of the 41 00:01:47,308 --> 00:01:49,308 international community rightly saw 42 00:01:49,308 --> 00:01:51,419 this as a dangerous and irresponsible 43 00:01:51,419 --> 00:01:51,020 and as I've said before , an 44 00:01:51,030 --> 00:01:54,190 unnecessary step . Both the United 45 00:01:54,190 --> 00:01:56,412 States and Russia have long agreed that 46 00:01:56,420 --> 00:01:58,170 nuclear employment could have 47 00:01:58,170 --> 00:02:00,950 devastating consequences . And we both 48 00:02:00,950 --> 00:02:03,172 agreed most recently this year , in the 49 00:02:03,172 --> 00:02:05,117 context of the P5 statement that a 50 00:02:05,117 --> 00:02:07,530 nuclear war cannot be won and must 51 00:02:07,530 --> 00:02:10,940 never be fought . Such provocative 52 00:02:10,940 --> 00:02:12,840 rhetoric and possible changes to 53 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:14,784 nuclear posture involving the most 54 00:02:14,784 --> 00:02:16,560 consequential weapons and our 55 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:19,260 respective arsenals is unacceptable . 56 00:02:20,330 --> 00:02:22,330 The United States has not taken any 57 00:02:22,390 --> 00:02:24,990 similar steps . And so in an effort to 58 00:02:24,990 --> 00:02:27,940 demonstrate that we have no intention 59 00:02:28,450 --> 00:02:30,880 and engaging in any actions that could 60 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:34,320 be misunderstood or misconstrued . The 61 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:36,487 Secretary of Defense has directed that 62 00:02:36,487 --> 00:02:38,542 our minuteman three intercontinental 63 00:02:38,542 --> 00:02:40,764 ballistic missile test launch scheduled 64 00:02:40,764 --> 00:02:43,760 for this week to be postponed . And we 65 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:45,816 did not take this decision lightly . 66 00:02:45,816 --> 00:02:47,982 But instead to demonstrate that we are 67 00:02:47,982 --> 00:02:51,120 a responsible nuclear power . This is 68 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:53,342 not a step backwards in our readiness . 69 00:02:53,940 --> 00:02:55,662 Nor does it imply that we will 70 00:02:55,662 --> 00:02:57,496 necessarily cancel other routine 71 00:02:57,496 --> 00:02:59,718 activities to ensure incredible nuclear 72 00:02:59,718 --> 00:03:01,940 capability . We remain confident in our 73 00:03:01,940 --> 00:03:04,218 strategic posture as we've said before , 74 00:03:04,218 --> 00:03:06,384 and our ability to defend the homeland 75 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:09,880 and our allies and our partners remains 76 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:13,880 fully intact and ready . We recognize 77 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:15,769 that this moment of tension , how 78 00:03:15,769 --> 00:03:17,769 critical it is that both the United 79 00:03:17,769 --> 00:03:20,350 States and Russia bear in mind the risk 80 00:03:20,350 --> 00:03:22,350 of miscalculation and take steps to 81 00:03:22,350 --> 00:03:23,517 reduce those risks . 82 00:03:26,170 --> 00:03:30,100 And lastly , um he's 83 00:03:30,100 --> 00:03:31,360 not sitting here . 84 00:03:33,940 --> 00:03:37,130 But I want to just take a moment um to 85 00:03:37,130 --> 00:03:40,750 wish the department's best wishes to mr 86 00:03:40,750 --> 00:03:42,990 bob burns . He is just as I think , you 87 00:03:42,990 --> 00:03:46,910 know , announced that after 45 years 88 00:03:46,910 --> 00:03:49,570 of reporting that he's going to that 89 00:03:49,570 --> 00:03:52,080 he's going to retire and really finally 90 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:54,136 get a chance to spend more time with 91 00:03:54,136 --> 00:03:56,302 his family . As you know , he's been a 92 00:03:56,302 --> 00:03:59,620 staple here for decades . The Dean of 93 00:03:59,620 --> 00:04:02,700 the Press corps . Um and without 94 00:04:02,700 --> 00:04:06,520 question a gentleman in 95 00:04:06,530 --> 00:04:09,450 every sense of the word , a great 96 00:04:09,460 --> 00:04:13,090 dogged reporter but a gentleman and I'd 97 00:04:13,090 --> 00:04:15,146 like to just take a minute to read a 98 00:04:15,146 --> 00:04:17,257 little something from a book that was 99 00:04:17,257 --> 00:04:19,257 written by one of my predecessors . 100 00:04:19,257 --> 00:04:21,201 It's called confirm or deny , it's 101 00:04:21,201 --> 00:04:23,257 written by Phil golding and he wrote 102 00:04:23,257 --> 00:04:25,146 this book after he left after the 103 00:04:25,146 --> 00:04:27,257 McNamara administration . But he says 104 00:04:27,257 --> 00:04:30,300 something here about the pentagon press 105 00:04:30,300 --> 00:04:33,880 corps that I think suits not not just 106 00:04:33,890 --> 00:04:36,112 all of you but certainly bob Burns to a 107 00:04:36,112 --> 00:04:38,440 T . So if you just indulge me for a few 108 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:42,300 minutes and the responsible members of 109 00:04:42,300 --> 00:04:44,189 the underrated press corps of the 110 00:04:44,189 --> 00:04:46,680 pentagon sit in their grubby room on 111 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:49,070 the second floor of the big building 112 00:04:49,110 --> 00:04:51,110 and pore over the statements of top 113 00:04:51,110 --> 00:04:54,060 defense officials checking them against 114 00:04:54,060 --> 00:04:56,840 the outstanding files . Many keep their 115 00:04:56,840 --> 00:04:58,840 dog eared copies of the huge budget 116 00:04:58,840 --> 00:05:01,110 book . The posture statements and 117 00:05:01,110 --> 00:05:03,054 dozens of volumes of congressional 118 00:05:03,054 --> 00:05:05,510 testimony are underlined and indexed by 119 00:05:05,510 --> 00:05:08,070 their own work . And the margins are 120 00:05:08,070 --> 00:05:10,600 annotated while they do not understand . 121 00:05:10,610 --> 00:05:12,777 I'm sorry while they do understand the 122 00:05:12,777 --> 00:05:14,943 hardware of weapons systems . The good 123 00:05:14,943 --> 00:05:16,832 ones are also experts on the NATO 124 00:05:16,832 --> 00:05:18,943 alliance or the Middle East Tinderbox 125 00:05:18,950 --> 00:05:20,950 and several of them know more about 126 00:05:20,950 --> 00:05:22,839 nuclear strategy than some of the 127 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:24,920 academy editions who write on the 128 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:28,370 subject ? I think that is a perfect way 129 00:05:28,370 --> 00:05:30,592 of describing Mr bob burns particularly 130 00:05:30,592 --> 00:05:32,426 that stuff about the the nuclear 131 00:05:32,426 --> 00:05:34,426 strategy . He spent an awful lot of 132 00:05:34,426 --> 00:05:36,340 time reporting on our our nuclear 133 00:05:36,340 --> 00:05:38,173 capabilities and our our nuclear 134 00:05:38,173 --> 00:05:40,229 posture , our nuclear training , our 135 00:05:40,229 --> 00:05:42,396 nuclear readiness . So with everything 136 00:05:42,396 --> 00:05:44,690 going on today , stuff that we just I 137 00:05:44,690 --> 00:05:46,746 just opened with and the tensions in 138 00:05:46,746 --> 00:05:49,630 Ukraine , the meeting with the crown 139 00:05:49,630 --> 00:05:51,852 prince of bahrain and the Middle East . 140 00:05:51,852 --> 00:05:54,019 The Tinderboxes Mr Golding wrote about 141 00:05:54,019 --> 00:05:56,019 all that happening today . Uh , and 142 00:05:56,019 --> 00:05:58,186 then to be able to to talk about a guy 143 00:05:58,186 --> 00:06:00,510 of , of Bob Burns caliber uh , fixing 144 00:06:00,510 --> 00:06:02,820 to retire after 45 years , I think just 145 00:06:02,820 --> 00:06:04,990 really , really appropriate . Um , and 146 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:05,760 personally , 147 00:06:10,840 --> 00:06:13,410 I'm going to miss him . I'm actually 148 00:06:13,720 --> 00:06:16,080 really , really gonna miss bob burns . 149 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:18,540 So with that we'll take questions and 150 00:06:18,540 --> 00:06:20,707 bob . I think I got you on the phone . 151 00:06:20,940 --> 00:06:24,160 Mm hmm . Thank you , john . Um , 152 00:06:24,940 --> 00:06:27,107 and thanks for those very kind words . 153 00:06:27,107 --> 00:06:29,329 I appreciate that kind words , not just 154 00:06:29,329 --> 00:06:31,551 about me , but about the whole pentagon 155 00:06:31,551 --> 00:06:35,260 press corps . Thank you very much . Um , 156 00:06:35,940 --> 00:06:38,162 I do have a couple of questions for you 157 00:06:38,162 --> 00:06:40,880 about the situation in Ukraine . Um , 158 00:06:40,890 --> 00:06:42,946 you've described the last few days , 159 00:06:42,946 --> 00:06:45,620 the status of this large Russian convoy . 160 00:06:45,620 --> 00:06:48,220 That's north of Kiev . I think you've 161 00:06:48,220 --> 00:06:50,220 described that . He's either bogged 162 00:06:50,220 --> 00:06:53,490 down or stalled . Um , can you 163 00:06:53,490 --> 00:06:57,100 explain um , hasn't moved at 164 00:06:57,100 --> 00:07:00,190 all in the last day or so have 165 00:07:00,190 --> 00:07:02,630 Ukrainian forces began attacking any 166 00:07:02,630 --> 00:07:05,780 part of it ? And then as a second 167 00:07:05,780 --> 00:07:08,260 question , can you give a picture of 168 00:07:08,260 --> 00:07:11,440 what's going on in the south , um or 169 00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:13,940 the Russian forces that made the 170 00:07:13,940 --> 00:07:16,190 amphibious landing ? Um , are they 171 00:07:16,190 --> 00:07:18,412 expanding or extending that part of the 172 00:07:18,412 --> 00:07:20,770 campaign ? Thank you very much . Yes , 173 00:07:20,770 --> 00:07:23,370 sir . So on the convoy , what I would 174 00:07:23,370 --> 00:07:26,950 tell you is , uh , we still assess that 175 00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:28,920 uh , that that convoy , but more 176 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:32,430 broadly speaking , The northern push by 177 00:07:32,430 --> 00:07:34,430 the Russians down towards the south 178 00:07:34,430 --> 00:07:37,350 towards Kiev remains stalled . They 179 00:07:37,350 --> 00:07:39,517 haven't , from our best estimates have 180 00:07:39,517 --> 00:07:41,780 not made any appreciable progress , 181 00:07:41,790 --> 00:07:44,090 geographically speaking , uh , in the 182 00:07:44,090 --> 00:07:47,260 last 24-36 hours . Um , and again , 183 00:07:47,260 --> 00:07:51,120 nothing , nothing very significant . It 184 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:53,287 is difficult for us to know with great 185 00:07:53,287 --> 00:07:56,630 specificity all that is going into this 186 00:07:56,640 --> 00:08:00,210 stall , if you will . Um but in general , 187 00:08:00,210 --> 00:08:02,210 we believe that there's a couple of 188 00:08:02,210 --> 00:08:04,940 reasons for that one . We believe the 189 00:08:04,940 --> 00:08:06,884 Russians are deliberately actually 190 00:08:07,060 --> 00:08:10,670 regrouping themselves and um , and 191 00:08:10,670 --> 00:08:13,120 reassessing the progress that they have 192 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:15,680 not made and how to make up the lost 193 00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:19,340 time too . We do believe that they have 194 00:08:19,620 --> 00:08:22,900 experienced Logistics and 195 00:08:22,900 --> 00:08:25,010 sustainment challenges , challenges 196 00:08:25,010 --> 00:08:27,320 that we don't believe they have fully 197 00:08:27,330 --> 00:08:30,020 that they fully anticipated . And three , 198 00:08:30,030 --> 00:08:32,200 they are getting resistance from the 199 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:34,670 Ukrainians . We have some indications 200 00:08:34,680 --> 00:08:37,090 that nothing that we can 100% 201 00:08:37,100 --> 00:08:39,156 independently verified , but we have 202 00:08:39,156 --> 00:08:41,800 some indications that uh , that the 203 00:08:41,800 --> 00:08:44,460 Ukrainians have in fact tried to slow 204 00:08:44,460 --> 00:08:47,440 down that convoy . Um , uh and we have 205 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:49,607 no reason to doubt those reports , but 206 00:08:49,607 --> 00:08:51,718 again , we can't we can't speak to it 207 00:08:51,718 --> 00:08:53,996 in in great specificity . In the south , 208 00:08:54,390 --> 00:08:58,190 the Russian forces appear to 209 00:08:58,190 --> 00:09:02,010 be experiencing in general less 210 00:09:02,010 --> 00:09:03,954 resistance than they are up in the 211 00:09:03,954 --> 00:09:07,950 north . That said the the 212 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:10,016 town of Kherson , which we knew they 213 00:09:10,016 --> 00:09:12,071 were moving on out of Crimea towards 214 00:09:12,071 --> 00:09:13,904 the northwest . That is , in our 215 00:09:13,904 --> 00:09:16,071 estimation , at least from what we can 216 00:09:16,071 --> 00:09:18,127 see still a very contested fight . I 217 00:09:18,127 --> 00:09:20,127 know the Russians have claimed that 218 00:09:20,127 --> 00:09:19,630 they've got the town of Kherson , we're 219 00:09:19,630 --> 00:09:21,797 not in a position to to call it either 220 00:09:21,797 --> 00:09:23,852 way , it appears to us that the that 221 00:09:23,852 --> 00:09:25,963 the Ukrainians are certainly fighting 222 00:09:25,963 --> 00:09:28,130 over that town coming out of Crimea to 223 00:09:28,130 --> 00:09:30,297 the northeast . We knew that they were 224 00:09:30,297 --> 00:09:32,074 advancing on Mariupol , a major 225 00:09:32,074 --> 00:09:34,186 population center in the south . Um , 226 00:09:34,186 --> 00:09:36,519 we believe that that advance is ongoing . 227 00:09:36,519 --> 00:09:38,574 They that we don't believe that they 228 00:09:38,574 --> 00:09:40,686 are in the city center . Um and we do 229 00:09:40,686 --> 00:09:42,686 have every indication that Mary and 230 00:09:42,686 --> 00:09:44,741 Paul will be defended . Uh , so they 231 00:09:44,741 --> 00:09:46,852 are they are sort of branching out if 232 00:09:46,852 --> 00:09:48,741 you look at Crimea and go north , 233 00:09:48,741 --> 00:09:50,963 they're branching out to both the north 234 00:09:50,963 --> 00:09:53,186 northeast and uh and the northwest . Um 235 00:09:53,186 --> 00:09:55,019 but they are beginning now , our 236 00:09:55,019 --> 00:09:57,990 assessment is as they get closer uh , 237 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:00,210 to these these to population centers 238 00:10:00,210 --> 00:10:02,043 down the south in the south , we 239 00:10:02,043 --> 00:10:04,321 believe they're facing more resistance . 240 00:10:04,540 --> 00:10:06,760 Yes , anybody here , Tara 241 00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:12,090 on the change , have any other 242 00:10:12,090 --> 00:10:14,146 changes been made to U . S . Nuclear 243 00:10:14,146 --> 00:10:16,810 forces to put them on a higher alert 244 00:10:16,810 --> 00:10:19,730 ready miss level . And then secondly , 245 00:10:19,740 --> 00:10:23,040 um while the convoy is stalled , uh 246 00:10:23,050 --> 00:10:25,161 there are some indications that maybe 247 00:10:25,161 --> 00:10:27,383 the window is closing to be able to get 248 00:10:27,383 --> 00:10:29,494 aid into cities that may become under 249 00:10:29,494 --> 00:10:32,080 siege . Uh What is the U . S . And NATO 250 00:10:32,090 --> 00:10:34,190 and NATO partners doing to maybe 251 00:10:34,190 --> 00:10:36,412 maximize the amount of aid that can get 252 00:10:36,412 --> 00:10:38,579 in while there's still a window open . 253 00:10:38,579 --> 00:10:42,120 Um So on the on the second question , 254 00:10:42,130 --> 00:10:45,260 um I would just tell you that security 255 00:10:45,260 --> 00:10:47,990 assistance continues to flow not just 256 00:10:47,990 --> 00:10:50,212 from the United States but from many of 257 00:10:50,212 --> 00:10:53,780 our allies and partners and As recently 258 00:10:53,780 --> 00:10:56,620 as even just the last 24 hours . So we 259 00:10:56,620 --> 00:10:59,950 we are we are making um every effort 260 00:11:00,740 --> 00:11:03,130 to get as much security assistance as 261 00:11:03,130 --> 00:11:05,340 we can to the Ukrainians as fast as we 262 00:11:05,340 --> 00:11:08,170 can . And on the humanitarian side 263 00:11:08,180 --> 00:11:12,180 again uh we're going to continue 264 00:11:12,180 --> 00:11:13,680 to work with international 265 00:11:13,680 --> 00:11:16,370 organizations and Ngos to try to stem 266 00:11:16,540 --> 00:11:18,750 and assist in whatever way that not 267 00:11:18,750 --> 00:11:20,972 from a military perspective I'm talking 268 00:11:20,972 --> 00:11:22,583 about from an administration 269 00:11:22,583 --> 00:11:26,120 perspective , we We estimate we have 270 00:11:26,130 --> 00:11:29,370 seen numbers coming out of the U.N . 271 00:11:29,380 --> 00:11:32,470 you know , more than 500,000 people now 272 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:35,060 um uh leaving the country as well as 273 00:11:35,070 --> 00:11:37,270 perhaps tens of thousands if not more 274 00:11:37,280 --> 00:11:39,750 internally displaced . So clearly Mr 275 00:11:39,750 --> 00:11:41,972 Putin is causing humanitarian crisis as 276 00:11:41,972 --> 00:11:45,620 well . Oh I'm sorry . 277 00:11:45,630 --> 00:11:49,500 Um ah So first I'd say this 278 00:11:49,510 --> 00:11:53,160 delayed test is not affecting our 279 00:11:53,170 --> 00:11:55,059 strategic nuclear posture and our 280 00:11:55,059 --> 00:11:58,260 deterrence . Just not it's not canceled . 281 00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:00,640 We're just moving it to the right a 282 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:03,250 little bit . Um And I won't talk about 283 00:12:03,250 --> 00:12:05,560 the specifics of our deterrent posture 284 00:12:05,560 --> 00:12:08,680 except to repeat uh what I've heard the 285 00:12:08,680 --> 00:12:10,970 secretary say many times that that he's 286 00:12:10,970 --> 00:12:13,026 confident that he's comfortable that 287 00:12:13,026 --> 00:12:15,081 that the strategic deterrent posture 288 00:12:15,081 --> 00:12:18,930 that we have in place is is 289 00:12:18,940 --> 00:12:20,760 up to the task of defending the 290 00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:22,640 homeland and our allies and our 291 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:25,790 partners gen john what will the U . S . 292 00:12:25,790 --> 00:12:28,350 Government do if President Putin's 293 00:12:28,350 --> 00:12:30,640 soldiers kill or harm President 294 00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:32,751 Zelensky ? What will the consequences 295 00:12:32,751 --> 00:12:35,500 be ? Well look , I I I'd rather not get 296 00:12:35,500 --> 00:12:38,720 into um individual hypothetical 297 00:12:38,720 --> 00:12:41,690 scenarios , jen clearly we know that Mr 298 00:12:41,690 --> 00:12:43,801 Putin wants to topple this government 299 00:12:43,801 --> 00:12:47,450 and replace it with his own . Um And 300 00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:50,860 he's already caused the loss of life of 301 00:12:50,860 --> 00:12:54,260 innocence ? He's already caused 302 00:12:55,140 --> 00:12:59,130 destruction of of of 303 00:12:59,130 --> 00:13:02,660 civilian infrastructure and um 304 00:13:04,340 --> 00:13:07,880 all that blood is on his hands and any 305 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:10,520 more blood that's shed . It's still 306 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:12,742 going to be on Mr Putin's hands . But I 307 00:13:12,742 --> 00:13:14,576 won't speculate about particular 308 00:13:14,576 --> 00:13:16,242 outcomes here with respect to 309 00:13:16,242 --> 00:13:19,000 individuals . These videos that are 310 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:21,750 circulating of Russian soldiers who are 311 00:13:21,750 --> 00:13:23,840 being held as POWs . Do you have any 312 00:13:23,850 --> 00:13:26,250 candy ? We can't I'm sorry . We've seen 313 00:13:26,250 --> 00:13:28,472 the same videos that you have , we have 314 00:13:28,472 --> 00:13:30,639 no reason to doubt to doubt them . But 315 00:13:30,639 --> 00:13:32,694 we can't independently verify them . 316 00:13:32,694 --> 00:13:34,639 I'm wondering , are we heard a lot 317 00:13:34,639 --> 00:13:36,639 about false flags leading up to the 318 00:13:36,639 --> 00:13:38,639 invasion ? Are you still seeing any 319 00:13:38,639 --> 00:13:40,750 indications that of false flags ? One 320 00:13:40,750 --> 00:13:42,750 specifically that sort of out there 321 00:13:42,750 --> 00:13:44,861 today is a local mayor in Luhansk who 322 00:13:44,861 --> 00:13:46,917 was allegedly kidnapped and killed . 323 00:13:46,917 --> 00:13:48,861 There's some speculation that this 324 00:13:48,861 --> 00:13:50,972 might be another attempt at a Russian 325 00:13:50,972 --> 00:13:53,139 false flag . I know it's difficult for 326 00:13:53,139 --> 00:13:55,250 you to talk about specific cases like 327 00:13:55,250 --> 00:13:55,060 that , but have you heard anything on 328 00:13:55,060 --> 00:13:57,171 that case ? And then also more in the 329 00:13:57,171 --> 00:13:59,338 false flags ? I haven't heard anything 330 00:13:59,338 --> 00:14:01,449 about that particular one . I'm happy 331 00:14:01,449 --> 00:14:03,504 to go take a look and see if we have 332 00:14:03,504 --> 00:14:05,504 anything on that . But I that's the 333 00:14:05,504 --> 00:14:04,730 first I've heard of this particular 334 00:14:04,730 --> 00:14:08,310 report . Um We did see false flags . I 335 00:14:08,310 --> 00:14:10,532 mean , you know , car bombings and that 336 00:14:10,532 --> 00:14:12,754 kind of thing before he launched his uh 337 00:14:12,754 --> 00:14:14,866 um his invasion . Not to mention just 338 00:14:14,866 --> 00:14:16,921 the ridiculous ludicrous claims that 339 00:14:16,921 --> 00:14:19,143 they were making in their own state run 340 00:14:19,143 --> 00:14:19,140 media about Ukraine being a threat to 341 00:14:19,140 --> 00:14:21,270 their security . Um and you know , 342 00:14:21,270 --> 00:14:23,326 claims of being shelled by Ukrainian 343 00:14:23,326 --> 00:14:25,159 forces in the joint in the joint 344 00:14:25,159 --> 00:14:27,640 operations area to the east . So we did 345 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:30,380 see them run that play on false flags . 346 00:14:30,390 --> 00:14:33,990 I'm not aware that there's any such 347 00:14:34,150 --> 00:14:36,150 false flag operations ongoing . Now 348 00:14:36,150 --> 00:14:38,372 that's not to say that they couldn't or 349 00:14:38,372 --> 00:14:41,030 wouldn't do it . But he's already uh 350 00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:43,890 tried and failed to create a pretext to 351 00:14:43,890 --> 00:14:46,001 go in . So he just decided he's going 352 00:14:46,001 --> 00:14:48,223 to go in uh and he's and he's done that 353 00:14:48,223 --> 00:14:50,760 now . The I . C . B . M . Test . Um 354 00:14:50,770 --> 00:14:52,770 should we take anything from that ? 355 00:14:52,770 --> 00:14:54,548 Whether that was some sort of a 356 00:14:54,548 --> 00:14:57,010 reciprocal action in that you saw any 357 00:14:57,010 --> 00:14:59,232 indications that that was what Vladimir 358 00:14:59,232 --> 00:15:01,232 Putin may be planning here . Is any 359 00:15:01,232 --> 00:15:03,288 kind of a missile launch , a nuclear 360 00:15:03,288 --> 00:15:05,343 missile launch or anything like that 361 00:15:05,343 --> 00:15:08,000 isn't ? No . No . Um obviously we would 362 00:15:08,010 --> 00:15:10,410 uh as I said in my opening statement , 363 00:15:10,420 --> 00:15:12,460 we'd certainly like to see Moscow 364 00:15:12,460 --> 00:15:15,650 reciprocate by taking the temperature 365 00:15:15,650 --> 00:15:18,690 down on rhetoric about nuclear posture . 366 00:15:18,700 --> 00:15:20,811 We certainly would like to see him de 367 00:15:20,811 --> 00:15:23,640 escalate by by coming to a cease fire 368 00:15:23,650 --> 00:15:25,740 and de escalating and moving those 369 00:15:25,740 --> 00:15:27,740 forces back home and getting out of 370 00:15:27,740 --> 00:15:30,650 Ukraine . But this decision was the 371 00:15:30,650 --> 00:15:32,761 Secretary's decision and was based on 372 00:15:32,761 --> 00:15:34,761 making sure that we were being very 373 00:15:34,761 --> 00:15:37,800 clear about our responsibilities in the 374 00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:40,530 nuclear realm . Um and so no it was not 375 00:15:40,540 --> 00:15:44,200 it was not tied to a specific um action 376 00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:47,620 or inaction by Mr Putin , but rather a 377 00:15:47,620 --> 00:15:50,810 decision by the Secretary um to make it 378 00:15:50,810 --> 00:15:52,921 clear how responsible we are going to 379 00:15:52,921 --> 00:15:55,350 behave in the nuclear space . Let me go 380 00:15:55,350 --> 00:15:58,790 around Dave Russian forces have been 381 00:15:58,790 --> 00:16:02,720 described as risk averse . How does 382 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:04,750 that translate on the battlefield ? 383 00:16:05,140 --> 00:16:08,070 What does , what does that mean ? This 384 00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:11,380 is the you said that the Russians are 385 00:16:11,590 --> 00:16:14,260 encountering less resistance in the 386 00:16:14,930 --> 00:16:17,950 south . Is that the only reason for the 387 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:20,900 the fact that in the south they it 388 00:16:20,910 --> 00:16:23,500 seems to still be making progress or is 389 00:16:23,500 --> 00:16:25,833 there something else about the southern . 390 00:16:26,470 --> 00:16:30,060 Yeah , so on the south , I mean 391 00:16:31,270 --> 00:16:33,437 you also have to remember they started 392 00:16:33,437 --> 00:16:37,050 out on that on those two to southern 393 00:16:37,050 --> 00:16:39,217 legs , they started out in Crimea . So 394 00:16:39,217 --> 00:16:41,328 their lines of supply and sustainment 395 00:16:41,328 --> 00:16:43,217 are are short and they've been in 396 00:16:43,217 --> 00:16:46,270 Crimea since 2014 . Uh so they had 397 00:16:46,270 --> 00:16:48,650 already built up a pretty sophisticated 398 00:16:48,650 --> 00:16:50,650 and healthy architecture to support 399 00:16:50,650 --> 00:16:52,650 their operations . I would also add 400 00:16:52,650 --> 00:16:54,770 David and that , you know , a quick 401 00:16:54,770 --> 00:16:56,714 look at the map will show you that 402 00:16:56,714 --> 00:16:58,770 they're not that far from from their 403 00:16:58,770 --> 00:17:00,826 base of operations in Crimea . So so 404 00:17:00,826 --> 00:17:02,881 we'll see how this goes . Uh they're 405 00:17:02,881 --> 00:17:04,770 meeting resistance in Kherson and 406 00:17:04,770 --> 00:17:06,937 they're gonna meet resistance in Mario 407 00:17:06,937 --> 00:17:09,159 pole . Uh So I think we need to need to 408 00:17:09,159 --> 00:17:12,430 uh see how this plays out . Um you know , 409 00:17:12,430 --> 00:17:15,130 and I saw the the comments about risk 410 00:17:15,130 --> 00:17:17,850 averse here , I would just say um 411 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:22,090 that uh and you can see it for yourself , 412 00:17:22,090 --> 00:17:24,257 I mean this is not stuff that you guys 413 00:17:24,257 --> 00:17:26,423 aren't seeing in imagery of your own . 414 00:17:26,423 --> 00:17:28,920 I mean we're seeing vehicles abandoned , 415 00:17:28,930 --> 00:17:32,560 uh we're seeing um 416 00:17:33,340 --> 00:17:37,320 um sustainment problems and 417 00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:40,020 fuel , not not just fuel but in but in 418 00:17:40,020 --> 00:17:43,950 food . We're seeing um 419 00:17:45,340 --> 00:17:48,910 indications here early on that though 420 00:17:48,910 --> 00:17:50,260 they though they have 421 00:17:52,540 --> 00:17:54,096 sophisticated combined arms 422 00:17:54,096 --> 00:17:56,096 capabilities that they're not being 423 00:17:56,100 --> 00:17:59,670 necessarily fully integrated . So they 424 00:18:00,340 --> 00:18:03,550 they have made some missteps and 425 00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:06,151 and they're working their way through 426 00:18:06,151 --> 00:18:08,860 that I want to um , 427 00:18:10,540 --> 00:18:12,970 I want to be clear as we've been before , 428 00:18:12,980 --> 00:18:16,420 that uh , that we have to be as we look 429 00:18:16,420 --> 00:18:18,476 at this , we have to , we have to be 430 00:18:18,476 --> 00:18:20,698 pragmatic . The Ukrainians are fighting 431 00:18:20,698 --> 00:18:23,440 bravely and creatively . The Russians 432 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:27,220 have a significant amount of 433 00:18:27,220 --> 00:18:31,030 combat power applied in Ukraine and 434 00:18:31,030 --> 00:18:33,310 they still have some significant combat 435 00:18:33,310 --> 00:18:36,500 power that they have not engaged in the 436 00:18:36,500 --> 00:18:39,280 fight . Uh , and uh , and we just , we 437 00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:41,336 need to be mindful of that . As I've 438 00:18:41,336 --> 00:18:43,870 said before . They will try to learn 439 00:18:43,870 --> 00:18:46,120 from these missteps and they will try 440 00:18:46,120 --> 00:18:49,660 to overcome these challenges . Jim , 441 00:18:53,940 --> 00:18:57,260 I'm not , I think that's that's too 442 00:18:57,260 --> 00:19:00,470 soon to make that argument . Um , they 443 00:19:00,470 --> 00:19:03,860 have been surprised by the 444 00:19:04,740 --> 00:19:06,851 stiff resistance that they are facing 445 00:19:06,940 --> 00:19:09,590 by the Ukrainians . Uh , and uh , and I 446 00:19:09,590 --> 00:19:11,757 don't believe that they fully factored 447 00:19:11,757 --> 00:19:13,701 that in . So I'm I'm certainly not 448 00:19:13,701 --> 00:19:15,923 going to be one to call call it one way 449 00:19:15,923 --> 00:19:17,868 or another here that that the um , 450 00:19:19,940 --> 00:19:22,051 the Ukrainians are fighting for their 451 00:19:22,051 --> 00:19:24,560 country and they're making a difference . 452 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:28,200 Jim . 1st , I second everything you 453 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:31,000 said about Bob Burns and second , are 454 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:33,350 you seeing , are you seeing the 455 00:19:33,360 --> 00:19:36,650 Russians bring in reserves from outside 456 00:19:36,660 --> 00:19:39,570 the areas that they had concentrated in 457 00:19:39,580 --> 00:19:42,040 before . Are you seeing them bring in 458 00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:45,980 more aircraft , more troops perhaps to 459 00:19:46,210 --> 00:19:49,060 to to apply to the struggle and to 460 00:19:49,070 --> 00:19:52,330 apply to the invasion in Ukraine no gym . 461 00:19:52,330 --> 00:19:55,220 We haven't um , we haven't seen any 462 00:19:55,220 --> 00:19:58,060 indications that Mr Putin feels the 463 00:19:58,060 --> 00:19:59,616 need to bring in additional 464 00:19:59,616 --> 00:20:01,671 reinforcements from elsewhere in the 465 00:20:01,671 --> 00:20:04,200 country . He began to build up this 466 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:06,533 combat power starting in the early fall , 467 00:20:06,533 --> 00:20:09,450 uh , and um , had as he 468 00:20:09,460 --> 00:20:12,800 has at his disposal more than 150,000 469 00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:15,950 troops , more than 100 and 20 battalion 470 00:20:15,950 --> 00:20:19,940 tactical groups . And while we assess 471 00:20:19,940 --> 00:20:22,460 that the vast , the majority of that 472 00:20:22,460 --> 00:20:25,230 combat power is now in Ukraine , that 473 00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:27,407 that doesn't mean that he doesn't have 474 00:20:27,407 --> 00:20:29,407 stuff that's not committed . And it 475 00:20:29,407 --> 00:20:31,240 doesn't mean that what he has in 476 00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:33,460 Ukraine has has been uh diminished . 477 00:20:33,470 --> 00:20:36,570 They have , they have lost a sense of 478 00:20:36,570 --> 00:20:39,270 momentum here , but that doesn't mean 479 00:20:39,270 --> 00:20:43,030 that they still don't have the power at 480 00:20:43,030 --> 00:20:46,000 their disposal . The Ukrainians also 481 00:20:46,010 --> 00:20:48,750 have retained a lot of their combat 482 00:20:48,750 --> 00:20:50,917 power . Our assessment is and and as I 483 00:20:50,917 --> 00:20:53,083 said , they're fighting back . They're 484 00:20:53,083 --> 00:20:55,083 fighting back bravely . Thank you . 485 00:20:55,083 --> 00:20:57,230 Thank you . John , on the nuclear two 486 00:20:57,230 --> 00:20:59,140 questions on the nuclear issue in 487 00:20:59,140 --> 00:21:01,084 Ukraine and the nuclear issue , in 488 00:21:01,084 --> 00:21:03,250 addition to the announcement and 489 00:21:03,250 --> 00:21:05,260 basically communicating to Russia , 490 00:21:05,360 --> 00:21:07,193 what you said of the responsible 491 00:21:07,193 --> 00:21:10,640 behavior at the nuclear realm . Is 492 00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:12,584 there any contacts now without the 493 00:21:12,584 --> 00:21:14,790 Russian counterparts on this nuclear 494 00:21:14,790 --> 00:21:17,340 issue , you can try to bring down the 495 00:21:17,340 --> 00:21:20,810 tension and on Ukraine does the 496 00:21:20,810 --> 00:21:23,590 pentagon . It says that the Russian 497 00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:26,050 forces whether they have 498 00:21:27,540 --> 00:21:31,390 basically met any of the 499 00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:34,020 objectives of this operation so far on 500 00:21:34,020 --> 00:21:36,030 the seventh day , did they achieve 501 00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:38,096 anything that they wanted to achieve 502 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:40,760 based on the schedule that they might 503 00:21:40,770 --> 00:21:44,200 have on the nuclear question , I have 504 00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:47,730 no communication to speak to . Um , I 505 00:21:47,730 --> 00:21:50,060 think the Secretary's decision today 506 00:21:50,540 --> 00:21:54,520 speaks volumes on the on your second 507 00:21:54,530 --> 00:21:57,790 question . You you have to forgive me 508 00:21:57,790 --> 00:22:00,012 for not having perfect knowledge of the 509 00:22:00,012 --> 00:22:03,510 Russian plan . Um all I can do is tell 510 00:22:03,510 --> 00:22:06,310 you what we're seeing as best we we can 511 00:22:06,310 --> 00:22:09,290 see it and they have not taken any of 512 00:22:09,290 --> 00:22:11,457 the major population centers that they 513 00:22:11,457 --> 00:22:14,120 appear to be wanting to take . Uh and 514 00:22:14,120 --> 00:22:16,287 uh and again , we think that there's a 515 00:22:16,287 --> 00:22:18,509 variety of reasons for that , not least 516 00:22:18,509 --> 00:22:22,410 of which is the bravery and the skill 517 00:22:22,420 --> 00:22:25,570 and the creativity of Ukrainian 518 00:22:25,570 --> 00:22:27,850 fighters . Yeah , in the back there , 519 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:30,000 Yeah , thank you . 520 00:22:32,770 --> 00:22:34,881 Yeah , thank you . You told that they 521 00:22:34,881 --> 00:22:36,992 were beginning about the situation in 522 00:22:36,992 --> 00:22:39,103 Kiev and the south of the country . I 523 00:22:39,103 --> 00:22:41,159 got my audience in Ukraine and their 524 00:22:41,159 --> 00:22:43,048 main concern is about the Western 525 00:22:43,048 --> 00:22:45,214 Ukraine . Millions of people are going 526 00:22:45,214 --> 00:22:47,437 right now to the city's likely for they 527 00:22:47,437 --> 00:22:49,437 believe it's safe there . So what's 528 00:22:49,437 --> 00:22:51,659 your estimate about the Western Ukraine 529 00:22:51,659 --> 00:22:53,826 and any sciences of now that Russia is 530 00:22:53,826 --> 00:22:55,714 preparing to attack or to capture 531 00:22:55,714 --> 00:22:57,937 Western Ukraine or they're concentrated 532 00:22:57,937 --> 00:23:00,350 or owned and sold only . Yeah . Again , 533 00:23:00,350 --> 00:23:02,350 I'm going to be careful here not to 534 00:23:02,350 --> 00:23:04,850 anticipate Russian moves . Uh , 535 00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:08,840 all I can do is tell you what we're 536 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:11,060 seeing and we're seeing um , a 537 00:23:11,070 --> 00:23:13,260 continued desire to advance on Kiev 538 00:23:13,270 --> 00:23:15,440 fighting in Kharkiv fighting in the 539 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:17,218 town and I'm probably gonna not 540 00:23:17,218 --> 00:23:19,551 pronounce this right , but you're naive . 541 00:23:19,551 --> 00:23:21,662 Uh , and then what I described in the 542 00:23:21,662 --> 00:23:23,773 south , so largely the effort appears 543 00:23:23,773 --> 00:23:27,440 to be uh uh to the to the north of 544 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:29,590 Kiev and and to the east and the rest 545 00:23:29,590 --> 00:23:32,160 of the country . I don't know what 546 00:23:32,540 --> 00:23:34,373 Russian designs or plans are for 547 00:23:34,740 --> 00:23:37,160 western Ukraine . Um , so it's hard for 548 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:40,080 me to predict . Yeah , yeah . Mike 549 00:23:40,930 --> 00:23:44,050 Hey , two questions . The first one for 550 00:23:44,050 --> 00:23:46,272 the nuclear test . Is there a date that 551 00:23:46,272 --> 00:23:48,439 it's going to be postponed to or is it 552 00:23:48,439 --> 00:23:50,550 postponed indefinitely until tensions 553 00:23:50,550 --> 00:23:52,772 simmering ? We don't have a rescheduled 554 00:23:52,772 --> 00:23:54,883 date right now . And the second thing 555 00:23:54,883 --> 00:23:57,050 in your answer to bob , it sounds like 556 00:23:57,050 --> 00:23:59,217 you were parsing a little bit in terms 557 00:23:59,217 --> 00:24:01,106 of the attack on Kiev or directed 558 00:24:01,106 --> 00:24:03,161 toward keep , it seems like you were 559 00:24:03,161 --> 00:24:05,383 making a distinction between the convoy 560 00:24:05,383 --> 00:24:07,606 and everything you're seeing . Is there 561 00:24:07,606 --> 00:24:09,550 a second portion of what Russia is 562 00:24:09,550 --> 00:24:11,606 doing towards key that you're seeing 563 00:24:11,606 --> 00:24:11,190 just because all the attention is 564 00:24:11,190 --> 00:24:13,301 focused on the convoy , it seems like 565 00:24:13,301 --> 00:24:15,412 you were just parsing a little bit in 566 00:24:15,412 --> 00:24:17,579 your language there . I assure you , I 567 00:24:17,579 --> 00:24:20,280 never parse um what , what I was trying 568 00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:22,500 to make the point , the point I was 569 00:24:22,500 --> 00:24:25,080 trying to make . Uh and I know that I 570 00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:27,247 know there's a lot of interest in this 571 00:24:27,247 --> 00:24:29,710 convoy . Uh , I'm not clear , we're not 572 00:24:29,710 --> 00:24:32,990 clear that you can segregate the 573 00:24:32,990 --> 00:24:36,980 convoy from there . Their advances on 574 00:24:36,980 --> 00:24:39,036 Kiev or what they're trying to do on 575 00:24:39,036 --> 00:24:41,480 keith ? Um we don't have perfect 576 00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:44,100 visibility into every vehicle that that 577 00:24:44,100 --> 00:24:45,933 is in this convoy and what their 578 00:24:45,933 --> 00:24:49,170 intended destination is or or maybe , 579 00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:51,670 but at the on the face of it , it 580 00:24:51,670 --> 00:24:54,050 appears to be a chance to to contribute 581 00:24:54,050 --> 00:24:56,217 to the advance on Kiev , just based on 582 00:24:56,217 --> 00:24:59,210 geography . So what I was trying to do 583 00:24:59,220 --> 00:25:02,980 perhaps inelegantly , was to broaden 584 00:25:02,980 --> 00:25:05,091 this out a little bit and rather than 585 00:25:05,091 --> 00:25:07,460 rather than stay focused on a convoy , 586 00:25:07,940 --> 00:25:10,800 try to look at it in perspective here , 587 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:12,810 it's of a piece of what we believe 588 00:25:12,810 --> 00:25:15,010 their desire , which is which is to 589 00:25:15,010 --> 00:25:17,780 take keith speak a little bit more 590 00:25:17,780 --> 00:25:19,780 specifically on that larger picture 591 00:25:19,780 --> 00:25:22,130 that you're seeing from the north . Um 592 00:25:22,170 --> 00:25:24,281 I'm not sure I can give you much more 593 00:25:24,281 --> 00:25:27,110 than I have , I'm afraid . Mike I uh as 594 00:25:27,110 --> 00:25:29,750 I said , we're uh we're somewhat 595 00:25:29,750 --> 00:25:31,861 limited in our ability to to know and 596 00:25:31,861 --> 00:25:34,140 understand everything . Um we we still 597 00:25:34,140 --> 00:25:37,800 believe it's mr Putin's desire to uh uh 598 00:25:37,810 --> 00:25:40,790 to topple the government um in order to 599 00:25:40,790 --> 00:25:42,846 do that , he believes he has to take 600 00:25:42,846 --> 00:25:45,012 Kiev , he continues to want to advance 601 00:25:45,012 --> 00:25:47,346 on Kiev , that advance has been stalled , 602 00:25:47,346 --> 00:25:49,290 they are working through that , we 603 00:25:49,290 --> 00:25:52,310 think right now and um and a big reason 604 00:25:52,310 --> 00:25:54,330 why it's stalled is Ukrainian 605 00:25:54,330 --> 00:25:57,080 resistance which continues right up to 606 00:25:57,080 --> 00:25:59,960 this hour in the back there , 607 00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:04,570 Okay , um two questions for you . 608 00:26:04,570 --> 00:26:06,800 One , just um you've outlined all these 609 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:08,911 different population centers is being 610 00:26:08,911 --> 00:26:10,911 targets of the Russian advance . Is 611 00:26:10,911 --> 00:26:12,967 there anything that you're saying to 612 00:26:12,967 --> 00:26:15,133 maybe connect the dots between some of 613 00:26:15,133 --> 00:26:14,880 those potential , you know , 614 00:26:14,890 --> 00:26:16,779 partitioning of the country , but 615 00:26:16,779 --> 00:26:18,946 between the population centers efforts 616 00:26:18,946 --> 00:26:21,360 to kind of , you know , to to connect 617 00:26:21,360 --> 00:26:23,471 those dots basically . And the second 618 00:26:23,471 --> 00:26:25,638 thing you mentioned how the Ukrainians 619 00:26:25,638 --> 00:26:27,804 are resisting slowing things down with 620 00:26:27,804 --> 00:26:29,638 the convoy etcetera . Tactically 621 00:26:29,638 --> 00:26:31,804 speaking , would you define those as , 622 00:26:31,804 --> 00:26:33,693 you know , defensive maneuvers or 623 00:26:33,693 --> 00:26:35,749 potentially offensive maneuvers that 624 00:26:35,749 --> 00:26:37,916 they're using against certain parts of 625 00:26:37,916 --> 00:26:39,916 the Russian military , whether it's 626 00:26:39,916 --> 00:26:41,971 convoy or other vehicles that you're 627 00:26:41,971 --> 00:26:44,138 seeing in the country , are they , you 628 00:26:44,138 --> 00:26:46,304 know , are they waiting to be fired on 629 00:26:46,304 --> 00:26:46,250 or are they taking more aggressive 630 00:26:46,250 --> 00:26:49,060 measures , Ukrainians from that side ? 631 00:26:49,060 --> 00:26:51,060 How would you define their strategy 632 00:26:51,060 --> 00:26:53,227 here ? They're defending their country 633 00:26:53,227 --> 00:26:56,910 and every shot they take , every 634 00:26:56,920 --> 00:27:00,840 maneuver they execute is 635 00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:02,951 designed to defend the sovereignty of 636 00:27:02,951 --> 00:27:05,270 their country . It is , it's about 637 00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:07,760 defense and they're fighting a very 638 00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:11,150 strong defense . Um On your other 639 00:27:11,150 --> 00:27:13,830 question again , I have to confess to 640 00:27:13,830 --> 00:27:16,800 not having perfect knowledge of Mr 641 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:20,710 Putin's planning here , but on the face 642 00:27:20,710 --> 00:27:23,420 of it , as we see what we see happening 643 00:27:23,420 --> 00:27:26,490 on a daily basis , it appears as if 644 00:27:26,490 --> 00:27:28,710 they are moving along what we would 645 00:27:28,710 --> 00:27:32,370 describe as three main axes of of of 646 00:27:32,370 --> 00:27:35,170 invasion . one is from the north down 647 00:27:35,170 --> 00:27:37,300 towards Kiev and essentially there's 648 00:27:37,300 --> 00:27:39,522 sort of two forks there , Northeast and 649 00:27:39,522 --> 00:27:41,770 northwest kind of coming down on Kiev . 650 00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:44,420 One avenue through Belarus and one 651 00:27:44,420 --> 00:27:48,380 avenue through Russia . Um there's also 652 00:27:48,380 --> 00:27:50,491 a southern advance that we've already 653 00:27:50,491 --> 00:27:52,602 talked about that's branching out out 654 00:27:52,602 --> 00:27:54,760 of Crimea to the northeast and to the 655 00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:58,550 northwest . Um , and then um , we see a 656 00:27:58,550 --> 00:28:01,210 push uh , from what we would consider 657 00:28:01,210 --> 00:28:05,160 sort of the northeastern group that is 658 00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:08,750 moving on . Kharkiv . Kharkiv is 659 00:28:08,750 --> 00:28:12,300 valuable because it's , it's such a big 660 00:28:12,300 --> 00:28:14,578 city , it is a major population center , 661 00:28:14,578 --> 00:28:17,530 but it also could give Mr Putin again , 662 00:28:17,540 --> 00:28:19,540 could Corona , I'm not an expert on 663 00:28:19,540 --> 00:28:21,596 what they're planning to do , but it 664 00:28:21,596 --> 00:28:23,707 certainly could give him an avenue of 665 00:28:23,707 --> 00:28:25,929 approach towards Kiev . If uh if if the 666 00:28:25,929 --> 00:28:28,200 plan was to advance on key from 667 00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:30,320 multiple directions , then that 668 00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:32,320 direction might be one credible one 669 00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:34,320 that they could use , you're seeing 670 00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:36,542 this as a potential multi front advance 671 00:28:36,542 --> 00:28:38,709 in the capital , not on trying to like 672 00:28:38,709 --> 00:28:40,820 carve up the country potentially with 673 00:28:40,820 --> 00:28:42,931 all these various populations , we we 674 00:28:42,931 --> 00:28:45,153 definitely can see an effort to move on 675 00:28:45,153 --> 00:28:45,060 the capital . It's difficult to know 676 00:28:45,060 --> 00:28:48,580 with certainty what other moves inside . 677 00:28:48,580 --> 00:28:50,810 Ukraine Mr Putin might be trying to 678 00:28:50,810 --> 00:28:54,340 achieve . Um and again , i it's hard 679 00:28:54,340 --> 00:28:56,340 for me to speak to a plan that that 680 00:28:56,340 --> 00:28:58,451 that we don't have perfect visibility 681 00:28:58,451 --> 00:29:00,673 on . So this is the the idea of carving 682 00:29:00,673 --> 00:29:02,729 Ukraine up , I I just can't speak to 683 00:29:02,729 --> 00:29:04,951 that specifically . Um it isn't , it is 684 00:29:04,951 --> 00:29:07,390 entirely also possible that um that 685 00:29:07,390 --> 00:29:09,612 what they're doing in the east could be 686 00:29:09,612 --> 00:29:11,930 an effort to uh to to fix Ukrainian 687 00:29:11,930 --> 00:29:13,986 armed forces in that in that eastern 688 00:29:13,986 --> 00:29:16,097 region so that they can't come to the 689 00:29:16,097 --> 00:29:18,097 defense of others . But but again , 690 00:29:18,097 --> 00:29:19,930 they have they have not achieved 691 00:29:19,930 --> 00:29:22,152 success in the major population centers 692 00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:24,662 to date that we see them trying to move 693 00:29:24,662 --> 00:29:27,910 on Tony Questions . one 694 00:29:28,080 --> 00:29:30,430 terrestrial or one space related . You 695 00:29:30,430 --> 00:29:32,430 mentioned earlier that the Russians 696 00:29:32,430 --> 00:29:34,652 haven't fully demonstrated a integrated 697 00:29:34,652 --> 00:29:36,910 combat arms capability . This is 698 00:29:36,910 --> 00:29:39,132 something the U . S . Practices all the 699 00:29:39,132 --> 00:29:41,188 time . International Training Center 700 00:29:41,188 --> 00:29:43,354 and the marines do also . What are you 701 00:29:43,354 --> 00:29:45,354 not seeing that we're demonstrating 702 00:29:45,354 --> 00:29:47,132 seamless or monetarily seamless 703 00:29:47,132 --> 00:29:49,021 combined arms capabilities by the 704 00:29:49,021 --> 00:29:51,132 Russian ? Yeah , again , I don't want 705 00:29:51,132 --> 00:29:53,021 to speak too much specifically on 706 00:29:53,021 --> 00:29:55,132 Russian operations . Uh , Tony . It's 707 00:29:55,132 --> 00:29:58,920 just um when you look at um uh 708 00:29:58,930 --> 00:30:01,250 when you look at what's happening , um 709 00:30:01,260 --> 00:30:03,790 I would just say it doesn't appear that 710 00:30:03,790 --> 00:30:05,850 ground and air operations seem to be 711 00:30:05,850 --> 00:30:08,072 very well connected based on what we're 712 00:30:08,072 --> 00:30:09,850 seeing happening . Have a space 713 00:30:09,850 --> 00:30:12,072 question . Now , the richest man in the 714 00:30:12,072 --> 00:30:14,239 world , Elon musk successfully brought 715 00:30:14,239 --> 00:30:16,183 in Starlink internet communication 716 00:30:16,183 --> 00:30:18,510 disks into Ukraine . The Ukraine . Vice 717 00:30:18,510 --> 00:30:20,732 Premier Vice President showed a picture 718 00:30:20,732 --> 00:30:22,788 of this . I wanted to get your sense 719 00:30:22,788 --> 00:30:25,010 that the pentagon , it will help in the 720 00:30:25,010 --> 00:30:27,330 transport of the Starlink Internet 721 00:30:27,340 --> 00:30:29,840 terminals . And are you seeing any 722 00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:31,951 impact in terms of either helping the 723 00:30:31,951 --> 00:30:33,840 Ukrainians with tactical military 724 00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:36,660 operations or keeping the population 725 00:30:36,660 --> 00:30:38,660 connected basically as the Russians 726 00:30:38,660 --> 00:30:42,110 attack information notes . No help from 727 00:30:42,110 --> 00:30:44,221 us that I'm aware of ? I'm not sure I 728 00:30:44,221 --> 00:30:46,443 understand your second question there . 729 00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:49,207 Alright . Are you seeing any impact in 730 00:30:49,207 --> 00:30:51,262 terms of helping the Ukrainians with 731 00:30:51,262 --> 00:30:54,350 tactical military from the Starlink ? 732 00:30:55,340 --> 00:30:57,340 That's really for the Ukrainians to 733 00:30:57,340 --> 00:30:59,173 speak to Tony not not for the US 734 00:30:59,173 --> 00:31:00,896 military and I know there's no 735 00:31:00,896 --> 00:31:03,229 involvement by us in in respect to that . 736 00:31:03,229 --> 00:31:07,030 Yeah . President biden said the U . 737 00:31:07,030 --> 00:31:09,252 S . Will join allies closed the U . S . 738 00:31:09,252 --> 00:31:12,410 Airspace to the Russian planes . It was 739 00:31:12,410 --> 00:31:14,577 more about civilian aviation of course 740 00:31:14,890 --> 00:31:17,370 and U . S . Airspace of course . But we 741 00:31:17,370 --> 00:31:19,600 know that U . S . Military has part of 742 00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:22,520 Syrian airspace under its control . And 743 00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:24,770 Russian military cargo planes cross 744 00:31:24,770 --> 00:31:27,140 into the airspace from time to time . 745 00:31:27,180 --> 00:31:29,560 Is there any way a plan to limit 746 00:31:29,560 --> 00:31:32,060 Russian military assets in northern 747 00:31:32,060 --> 00:31:34,171 northeast Syria where the U . S . Air 748 00:31:34,171 --> 00:31:36,310 force controls . I'm not aware of any 749 00:31:36,310 --> 00:31:40,050 such plans and as you know in uh 750 00:31:40,440 --> 00:31:44,110 um we are in we are in Syria for one 751 00:31:44,110 --> 00:31:46,054 purpose and one purpose only . And 752 00:31:46,054 --> 00:31:48,221 that's the counter ISIS fight . Um and 753 00:31:48,221 --> 00:31:50,332 that remains an active fight . Um and 754 00:31:50,332 --> 00:31:52,570 that there's a there's a deconfliction 755 00:31:52,570 --> 00:31:54,737 mechanism with Russian military forces 756 00:31:54,737 --> 00:31:57,780 in that part of Syria that that has 757 00:31:57,780 --> 00:31:59,891 worked . That's as far as I can go on 758 00:31:59,891 --> 00:32:02,440 that . Let me go to the phones here 759 00:32:02,440 --> 00:32:05,570 guys . I I haven't gotten to anybody 760 00:32:08,340 --> 00:32:12,010 john is a new york times . Hi today at 761 00:32:12,010 --> 00:32:14,066 the emergency special session of the 762 00:32:14,066 --> 00:32:16,500 United Nations General Assembly US 763 00:32:16,500 --> 00:32:18,722 Ambassador linda thomas Greenfield said 764 00:32:18,722 --> 00:32:20,722 that cluster munitions and what she 765 00:32:20,722 --> 00:32:22,778 called vacuum bombs are banned under 766 00:32:22,778 --> 00:32:24,889 the Geneva conventions . And I'll say 767 00:32:24,889 --> 00:32:27,000 here that I assumed by vacuum bombs , 768 00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:29,040 she meant fuel , air explosives or 769 00:32:29,040 --> 00:32:31,920 other forms of thermobaric weapons . So 770 00:32:31,920 --> 00:32:34,142 I was hoping you could tell me what the 771 00:32:34,142 --> 00:32:36,142 status is of the pentagon's ongoing 772 00:32:36,142 --> 00:32:38,087 internal review on its own cluster 773 00:32:38,087 --> 00:32:40,031 munitions policy . And can you say 774 00:32:40,031 --> 00:32:41,976 whether the pentagon believes that 775 00:32:41,976 --> 00:32:41,870 cluster munitions and thermal barracks 776 00:32:41,870 --> 00:32:44,203 are banned under the Geneva conventions ? 777 00:32:44,203 --> 00:32:46,370 Thanks john , I don't have any updates 778 00:32:46,370 --> 00:32:49,280 for you on on the policy reviews with 779 00:32:49,280 --> 00:32:52,420 respect to cluster munitions . And I'm 780 00:32:52,420 --> 00:32:54,587 going to have to take your question on 781 00:32:54,587 --> 00:32:56,698 the , on the Geneva conventions . I'm 782 00:32:57,040 --> 00:32:59,470 I'm afraid I'm not an expert on that . 783 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:01,800 And rather than spitball it , I'll take 784 00:33:01,800 --> 00:33:04,078 the question and we'll get back to you . 785 00:33:04,078 --> 00:33:05,850 Um , Abraham Mashie . 786 00:33:10,340 --> 00:33:12,396 Hey john , two questions . Uh number 787 00:33:12,396 --> 00:33:14,618 one , how much coordination is going on 788 00:33:14,618 --> 00:33:16,618 between the United States Air Force 789 00:33:16,618 --> 00:33:18,784 NATO and the Ukrainian Air Force . And 790 00:33:18,784 --> 00:33:21,460 second question is the US Air Force 791 00:33:21,460 --> 00:33:23,682 continuing to fly I . S . R . And other 792 00:33:23,682 --> 00:33:26,190 aircraft in international airspace over 793 00:33:26,190 --> 00:33:28,357 the Black Sea . And it's not why not ? 794 00:33:28,357 --> 00:33:30,523 Thank you . Abraham , I'm not going to 795 00:33:30,523 --> 00:33:32,634 talk about flight profiles . We don't 796 00:33:32,634 --> 00:33:34,690 have any aircraft manned or unmanned 797 00:33:34,690 --> 00:33:36,801 flying in Ukrainian airspace . And uh 798 00:33:36,801 --> 00:33:39,710 uh the question 799 00:33:39,710 --> 00:33:42,880 about specific 800 00:33:43,060 --> 00:33:45,227 coordination or communication with the 801 00:33:45,227 --> 00:33:47,449 Ukrainian armed forces is better put to 802 00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:51,240 uh to to NATO . What I would just tell 803 00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:53,770 you our support for the Ukrainian armed 804 00:33:53,770 --> 00:33:57,660 forces right now is very largely in the 805 00:33:57,660 --> 00:33:59,660 form of security assistance , which 806 00:33:59,660 --> 00:34:02,110 continues to flow uh and uh and gets 807 00:34:02,110 --> 00:34:04,720 into their hands . Can I just follow up 808 00:34:04,730 --> 00:34:07,063 on the question from the new york Times ? 809 00:34:07,140 --> 00:34:09,220 Is the U . S . A . Signatory to the 810 00:34:09,230 --> 00:34:11,660 2000 and eight cluster bomb munitions ? 811 00:34:12,460 --> 00:34:15,290 And if not why not ? We aren't . And I 812 00:34:15,290 --> 00:34:17,512 don't again , we're still going through 813 00:34:17,512 --> 00:34:19,568 a policy review on this . So I don't 814 00:34:19,568 --> 00:34:21,734 have anything to update you on that um 815 00:34:22,140 --> 00:34:25,890 Phil Stewart where it is . Hey , 816 00:34:25,890 --> 00:34:28,780 there real quick , what message would 817 00:34:28,780 --> 00:34:31,410 you have to american citizens , 818 00:34:31,420 --> 00:34:34,600 including a retired uh you know , us 819 00:34:34,610 --> 00:34:37,050 military personnel who may want to go 820 00:34:37,050 --> 00:34:39,910 and fight in Ukraine . And and also , 821 00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:42,142 could you comment on the New York Times 822 00:34:42,142 --> 00:34:44,760 report about an apparent Russian 823 00:34:45,140 --> 00:34:47,960 request , our chinese request to Russia 824 00:34:47,960 --> 00:34:50,071 that it delayed the start of this war 825 00:34:50,071 --> 00:34:52,890 until after the olympics . Thank you on 826 00:34:52,890 --> 00:34:56,590 the second question Phil II , I don't 827 00:34:56,590 --> 00:34:58,646 have a comment on these reports that 828 00:34:58,646 --> 00:35:00,701 that there was a request by china to 829 00:35:00,701 --> 00:35:02,757 wait to watch the olympics . I think 830 00:35:02,757 --> 00:35:04,590 that's an excellent question for 831 00:35:04,590 --> 00:35:06,757 President Xi and his administration to 832 00:35:06,757 --> 00:35:08,646 speak to . Uh if they made such a 833 00:35:08,646 --> 00:35:11,360 request we tried hard 834 00:35:12,650 --> 00:35:15,260 to prevent the war through 835 00:35:16,490 --> 00:35:19,490 diplomatic engagement . Uh , there was 836 00:35:19,490 --> 00:35:22,860 no need for it to happen . Um not to 837 00:35:22,860 --> 00:35:25,340 happen on a certain timeline or after a 838 00:35:25,340 --> 00:35:27,396 certain olympic event . It shouldn't 839 00:35:27,396 --> 00:35:29,396 have happened at all . There was no 840 00:35:29,396 --> 00:35:31,284 reason for it . It was unprovoked 841 00:35:31,284 --> 00:35:33,173 Ukraine was never an aggressor to 842 00:35:33,173 --> 00:35:35,118 Russia and anybody else . So , the 843 00:35:35,118 --> 00:35:37,229 issue of time , I think that's one mr 844 00:35:37,229 --> 00:35:39,284 she ought to have to answer . And on 845 00:35:39,284 --> 00:35:41,780 the , on the other question , I mean , 846 00:35:41,790 --> 00:35:44,220 what we would tell americans who want 847 00:35:44,220 --> 00:35:46,164 to help Ukraine is to find ways to 848 00:35:46,164 --> 00:35:48,210 donate and contribute to the many 849 00:35:48,210 --> 00:35:50,840 nonprofits that are already working to 850 00:35:50,840 --> 00:35:53,062 try to get humanitarian assistance into 851 00:35:53,062 --> 00:35:55,510 the people in need . The Secretary of 852 00:35:55,510 --> 00:35:58,790 State has been nothing but consistent 853 00:35:58,980 --> 00:36:02,370 over these many weeks that Ukraine is 854 00:36:02,370 --> 00:36:04,910 not a good place for americans to be 855 00:36:04,910 --> 00:36:08,620 right now . Uh , Carla 856 00:36:08,620 --> 00:36:12,230 babb . Hey , thanks for doing this . Um , 857 00:36:12,240 --> 00:36:15,500 on Belarus , just can you give us an 858 00:36:15,500 --> 00:36:18,350 update about any indications of Belarus , 859 00:36:18,360 --> 00:36:20,600 uh , their military getting involved . 860 00:36:20,610 --> 00:36:23,590 And also we're we've all seen this 861 00:36:23,590 --> 00:36:26,480 video of the Belarussian president 862 00:36:26,480 --> 00:36:29,050 showing a map of the Ukrainian invasion . 863 00:36:29,130 --> 00:36:31,740 What's the Pentagon's take on this map ? 864 00:36:32,130 --> 00:36:34,770 Uh , and it even seemed like some of 865 00:36:34,770 --> 00:36:37,240 the attack was directed against Moldova . 866 00:36:37,240 --> 00:36:39,560 What are the possibilities of this war 867 00:36:39,560 --> 00:36:42,570 spilling over to to belarus or to 868 00:36:42,570 --> 00:36:46,190 Moldova ? Uh , you know , we've 869 00:36:46,190 --> 00:36:48,134 seen , you know , we've seen these 870 00:36:48,134 --> 00:36:50,350 images to uh , Carla , I I can't speak 871 00:36:50,350 --> 00:36:52,572 to this map , but I can't validate it . 872 00:36:52,572 --> 00:36:55,580 Uh , we don't have perfect visibility 873 00:36:55,580 --> 00:36:57,350 into Russian plans for 874 00:36:57,730 --> 00:37:00,840 uh , for Ukraine 875 00:37:00,850 --> 00:37:03,160 beyond what we believe to be their 876 00:37:03,160 --> 00:37:05,327 desire to topple the government and to 877 00:37:05,327 --> 00:37:07,493 supplant it with one of their own . So 878 00:37:07,493 --> 00:37:11,120 I think the Belarusian president should 879 00:37:11,120 --> 00:37:13,490 have to speak to this map And so should 880 00:37:13,500 --> 00:37:17,260 President Putin ? Um what we would say 881 00:37:17,260 --> 00:37:19,204 and say firmly and again and again 882 00:37:19,204 --> 00:37:21,427 again is this war didn't have to happen 883 00:37:21,427 --> 00:37:23,593 And there's still options available to 884 00:37:23,593 --> 00:37:25,649 Mr Putin that aren't in the military 885 00:37:25,649 --> 00:37:27,970 realm , he can still choose to to to uh 886 00:37:27,980 --> 00:37:30,147 to agree to a ceasefire , he can still 887 00:37:30,147 --> 00:37:32,091 move his forces out . He can still 888 00:37:32,091 --> 00:37:34,700 deescalate . Um And I believe that 889 00:37:34,710 --> 00:37:37,970 quite frankly uh the the future of 890 00:37:37,970 --> 00:37:40,081 Ukraine should be up to the Ukrainian 891 00:37:40,081 --> 00:37:43,180 people and they are making their 892 00:37:43,190 --> 00:37:45,890 choices pretty clearly known through 893 00:37:45,890 --> 00:37:48,112 the resistance that they're offering to 894 00:37:48,112 --> 00:37:50,260 this unlawful and unprovoked invasion 895 00:37:50,260 --> 00:37:52,860 of their country . And I forgot your 896 00:37:52,860 --> 00:37:55,340 first question Jose . And and to my 897 00:37:55,340 --> 00:37:57,396 first question about the indications 898 00:37:57,396 --> 00:37:59,640 has the pentagon seen any indications 899 00:37:59,650 --> 00:38:01,483 that the belarussian military is 900 00:38:01,483 --> 00:38:03,372 getting involved in this fight or 901 00:38:03,372 --> 00:38:05,706 preparing to get involved in this fight ? 902 00:38:05,706 --> 00:38:08,000 No , we have not . Yeah , go ahead . 903 00:38:09,120 --> 00:38:11,450 Thank you for taking my question . So 904 00:38:11,920 --> 00:38:13,920 one question that's direct And then 905 00:38:13,920 --> 00:38:16,031 another one that opens the aperture a 906 00:38:16,031 --> 00:38:17,976 little wider . The first one is on 907 00:38:17,976 --> 00:38:21,960 reports that some , some people 908 00:38:21,970 --> 00:38:24,026 are reporting that there may be that 909 00:38:24,026 --> 00:38:25,692 the Russians may be preparing 910 00:38:25,692 --> 00:38:27,637 thermobaric devices for use within 911 00:38:27,637 --> 00:38:29,803 Ukraine . And I'm wondering if you can 912 00:38:29,803 --> 00:38:31,803 say anything to that . Have you any 913 00:38:31,803 --> 00:38:33,526 indication of that if you just 914 00:38:33,526 --> 00:38:36,610 substantiate that or anything ? My 915 00:38:36,610 --> 00:38:39,880 second one is about the global posture 916 00:38:40,080 --> 00:38:41,969 now that everything is focused on 917 00:38:41,969 --> 00:38:44,136 Ukraine , Can you talk about readiness 918 00:38:44,136 --> 00:38:46,247 on a more global scale , has anything 919 00:38:46,247 --> 00:38:48,900 changed that in terms of our readiness 920 00:38:48,900 --> 00:38:51,300 worldwide , as you focus more on 921 00:38:51,310 --> 00:38:54,450 Ukraine in terms of our ability to 922 00:38:54,450 --> 00:38:56,640 defend the nation elsewhere outside of 923 00:38:56,640 --> 00:38:58,751 europe , but we remain confident that 924 00:38:58,751 --> 00:39:00,751 we can do that . Uh there's been no 925 00:39:00,751 --> 00:39:02,529 dimunition in american military 926 00:39:02,529 --> 00:39:04,696 readiness elsewhere around the world . 927 00:39:04,696 --> 00:39:07,710 Um and I would remind and I know we get 928 00:39:07,720 --> 00:39:10,740 very focused on the numbers of troops 929 00:39:10,740 --> 00:39:12,684 that we have added to the european 930 00:39:12,684 --> 00:39:14,684 theater and that we've moved around 931 00:39:14,684 --> 00:39:16,796 inside it . A sense of perspective is 932 00:39:16,796 --> 00:39:18,851 important here . We already had more 933 00:39:18,851 --> 00:39:21,073 than 80,000 troops permanently deployed 934 00:39:21,073 --> 00:39:23,760 to Europe or on rotational orders . Um 935 00:39:23,770 --> 00:39:25,714 so , you know , just to give you a 936 00:39:25,714 --> 00:39:27,881 sense of perspective there and and and 937 00:39:27,881 --> 00:39:30,103 NATO members themselves have nearly two 938 00:39:30,103 --> 00:39:32,300 million troops in their combined 939 00:39:32,310 --> 00:39:34,420 militaries . So I don't know of any 940 00:39:34,420 --> 00:39:36,364 permanent posture changes that are 941 00:39:36,364 --> 00:39:38,420 going to come as a result of this in 942 00:39:38,420 --> 00:39:40,587 europe or elsewhere . Uh We're focused 943 00:39:40,587 --> 00:39:42,753 on the problem at hand and the problem 944 00:39:42,753 --> 00:39:44,864 at hand is making sure the Ukrainians 945 00:39:44,864 --> 00:39:46,753 can continue to defend themselves 946 00:39:46,753 --> 00:39:48,864 against an unprovoked invasion and to 947 00:39:48,864 --> 00:39:51,031 that we are continuing to reassure our 948 00:39:51,031 --> 00:39:53,198 NATO allies and that they know That we 949 00:39:53,198 --> 00:39:55,531 take Article five very seriously . Okay , 950 00:39:56,590 --> 00:39:58,812 Do you have any sense that the Russians 951 00:39:58,812 --> 00:40:00,701 are able to or at least have been 952 00:40:00,701 --> 00:40:03,250 attempting to reconstitute any of these 953 00:40:03,250 --> 00:40:05,470 units that have been damaged that have 954 00:40:05,470 --> 00:40:08,500 been hit by the Ukrainians ? I don't 955 00:40:08,500 --> 00:40:12,040 have specifics in terms of their videos 956 00:40:12,040 --> 00:40:14,730 of the Ukrainians dragging away , you 957 00:40:14,730 --> 00:40:17,190 know ? Sure , Soviet Russian tanks with 958 00:40:17,190 --> 00:40:19,780 tractors . Sure . I don't know . I mean 959 00:40:19,790 --> 00:40:21,957 the convoy that everybody's fascinated 960 00:40:21,957 --> 00:40:24,123 with could be a part of this effort to 961 00:40:24,123 --> 00:40:26,480 uh to replace damaged vehicles and to 962 00:40:26,490 --> 00:40:28,434 to get their momentum back . But I 963 00:40:28,434 --> 00:40:30,712 don't have anything more specific mike . 964 00:40:31,310 --> 00:40:33,421 I was just wondering with the closure 965 00:40:33,421 --> 00:40:35,699 of U . S . Airspace or Russian flights , 966 00:40:35,699 --> 00:40:37,921 can you can you sort of give us a sense 967 00:40:37,921 --> 00:40:37,670 of how that would work if if a Russian 968 00:40:37,670 --> 00:40:39,650 flight attempted to approach us 969 00:40:39,650 --> 00:40:41,594 airspace ? Is that NORAD's role to 970 00:40:41,594 --> 00:40:43,761 intercept ? Is their coordination with 971 00:40:43,761 --> 00:40:45,872 the Canadians ? Or how does that play 972 00:40:45,872 --> 00:40:45,100 without getting into specific 973 00:40:45,100 --> 00:40:47,950 hypotheticals ? NORAD is perfectly 974 00:40:47,950 --> 00:40:50,190 postured . This is this is the mandate 975 00:40:50,190 --> 00:40:53,280 for NORAD to protect our 976 00:40:53,280 --> 00:40:56,500 homeland , North american homeland and 977 00:40:56,500 --> 00:40:58,667 airspace and they're and they're ready 978 00:40:58,667 --> 00:41:00,778 to uh to do their contribution to the 979 00:41:00,778 --> 00:41:03,000 President's order . I think I just need 980 00:41:03,000 --> 00:41:05,850 to leave it at that . They have 981 00:41:06,850 --> 00:41:10,670 Russia , China and South Korea , the 982 00:41:10,680 --> 00:41:13,430 first location China and Russia have a 983 00:41:13,440 --> 00:41:16,630 strategic cooperative relationship . Do 984 00:41:16,630 --> 00:41:19,630 you know that ? And these two countries 985 00:41:19,640 --> 00:41:22,140 have completed the joint military 986 00:41:22,150 --> 00:41:25,370 exercises recently . How would you 987 00:41:25,380 --> 00:41:28,820 assessing China's still expressing 988 00:41:29,310 --> 00:41:31,230 support for Russia . 989 00:41:37,310 --> 00:41:40,330 We've seen basically through statements 990 00:41:42,510 --> 00:41:46,430 um some at least tacit 991 00:41:46,440 --> 00:41:48,662 approval by the chinese for what Russia 992 00:41:48,662 --> 00:41:50,850 was doing now in the last few days . 993 00:41:50,860 --> 00:41:52,582 Some of their foreign ministry 994 00:41:52,582 --> 00:41:55,320 spokespeople have uh have 995 00:41:57,010 --> 00:41:59,066 appeared to walk some of this back a 996 00:41:59,066 --> 00:42:00,788 little bit by by talking about 997 00:42:00,788 --> 00:42:02,870 Ukrainian sovereignty , which is 998 00:42:03,400 --> 00:42:07,330 welcome to see . Um , but we haven't 999 00:42:07,330 --> 00:42:11,010 seen , we haven't seen china 1000 00:42:11,010 --> 00:42:14,020 joined the list of countries that have 1001 00:42:14,020 --> 00:42:16,370 enacted sanctions on Russia . 1002 00:42:18,000 --> 00:42:20,270 We haven't seen the chinese blame Mr 1003 00:42:20,270 --> 00:42:23,070 Putin for the violence he's causing . 1004 00:42:23,250 --> 00:42:25,472 Instead they've been blaming the United 1005 00:42:25,472 --> 00:42:28,600 States incredibly that that that our 1006 00:42:28,600 --> 00:42:30,378 support for Ukraine has somehow 1007 00:42:30,378 --> 00:42:34,160 precipitated this invasion of a 1008 00:42:34,160 --> 00:42:37,070 sovereign state . So it's a little bit 1009 00:42:37,070 --> 00:42:39,014 of a mixed messaging coming out of 1010 00:42:39,014 --> 00:42:41,292 there . What was your next question is , 1011 00:42:41,292 --> 00:42:44,310 do you as the first regained the combat 1012 00:42:44,800 --> 00:42:48,640 team is deployed in South Korea ? Will 1013 00:42:48,640 --> 00:42:51,540 this team participate in U . S . And 1014 00:42:51,540 --> 00:42:54,200 South Korea joint military exercises 1015 00:42:54,910 --> 00:42:56,910 for you to U . S . Forces , Korea , 1016 00:42:56,910 --> 00:42:59,770 jenny to talk about training events and 1017 00:42:59,780 --> 00:43:01,502 what that looks like and who's 1018 00:43:01,502 --> 00:43:03,447 participating in them on a routine 1019 00:43:03,447 --> 00:43:05,391 basis . I don't have that level of 1020 00:43:05,391 --> 00:43:07,558 detail last year they said the routine 1021 00:43:07,558 --> 00:43:11,120 basis like the nickname is Blue Dogs . 1022 00:43:11,400 --> 00:43:14,370 But this this year , like I don't have 1023 00:43:14,370 --> 00:43:16,481 any updates on training events on the 1024 00:43:16,481 --> 00:43:18,481 korean peninsula . That's something 1025 00:43:18,481 --> 00:43:20,814 that's really better addressed by U . S . 1026 00:43:20,814 --> 00:43:22,926 Forces Korea and how they're going to 1027 00:43:22,926 --> 00:43:22,560 do that ? And with what and with what 1028 00:43:22,560 --> 00:43:26,110 forces ? Yeah , matt hi john thanks . 1029 00:43:26,470 --> 00:43:28,303 You said you're not aware of any 1030 00:43:28,303 --> 00:43:30,303 ongoing false flag operations . I'm 1031 00:43:30,303 --> 00:43:32,303 wondering if the US is aware of any 1032 00:43:32,303 --> 00:43:35,260 other sort of Russian preparations to 1033 00:43:35,320 --> 00:43:37,760 posture along other borders . Anything 1034 00:43:37,760 --> 00:43:39,760 like that near the Baltics maybe or 1035 00:43:40,190 --> 00:43:43,310 Kaliningrad bordering with 1036 00:43:45,200 --> 00:43:47,420 you already had one . You mentioned , 1037 00:43:47,420 --> 00:43:49,642 you met with officials from bahrain The 1038 00:43:49,642 --> 00:43:51,642 expressed concerns regarding Iran , 1039 00:43:51,642 --> 00:43:53,970 What were they concerned about at the 1040 00:43:53,970 --> 00:43:57,140 current stage was one of them possible 1041 00:43:57,150 --> 00:43:59,317 alliance with Russia in the sense that 1042 00:43:59,317 --> 00:44:01,372 they have nuclear ambitions and both 1043 00:44:01,372 --> 00:44:03,317 are viewed as pariahs on the world 1044 00:44:03,317 --> 00:44:06,320 stage . I think it's just in general uh 1045 00:44:06,330 --> 00:44:08,274 as is often the case when we get a 1046 00:44:08,274 --> 00:44:10,540 chance to to meet with our partners in 1047 00:44:10,540 --> 00:44:12,762 bahrain . There's general concern about 1048 00:44:12,762 --> 00:44:15,340 Iran's destabilizing activities almost 1049 00:44:15,340 --> 00:44:17,562 across the board support for terrorists 1050 00:44:17,562 --> 00:44:20,190 and proxies and advancing ballistic 1051 00:44:20,190 --> 00:44:22,630 missile program , maritime threats and 1052 00:44:22,630 --> 00:44:24,519 of course their continued nuclear 1053 00:44:24,519 --> 00:44:26,686 ambitions . All those were things that 1054 00:44:26,686 --> 00:44:28,852 the secretary and the crown prince had 1055 00:44:28,852 --> 00:44:30,630 a chance to talk about . Um not 1056 00:44:30,630 --> 00:44:32,850 necessarily Iranian foreign policy 1057 00:44:32,850 --> 00:44:35,420 beyond that . Okay , I'll take you just 1058 00:44:35,420 --> 00:44:37,531 a couple more and then I'm gonna have 1059 00:44:37,531 --> 00:44:39,730 to go , okay go ahead on china . Have 1060 00:44:39,730 --> 00:44:42,260 you since the invasion of Ukraine by 1061 00:44:42,260 --> 00:44:44,630 Russia . Have you seen any increased 1062 00:44:44,640 --> 00:44:48,180 air or naval intimidation by 1063 00:44:48,180 --> 00:44:51,640 chinese against Taiwan . I have 1064 00:44:52,090 --> 00:44:54,210 nothing more operationally to to talk 1065 00:44:54,210 --> 00:44:57,000 to you today in terms of uh Taiwan 1066 00:44:57,000 --> 00:44:59,630 specifically . Um I would just say that 1067 00:44:59,640 --> 00:45:01,900 nothing's changed about our belief in 1068 00:45:01,900 --> 00:45:04,560 the one china policy and and uh and the 1069 00:45:04,560 --> 00:45:06,970 freedom of navigation through the 1070 00:45:06,970 --> 00:45:09,303 Taiwan strait . I just leave it at that . 1071 00:45:09,303 --> 00:45:11,690 Yeah , Tony This morning . You started 1072 00:45:11,690 --> 00:45:13,857 saying that the minimum three test was 1073 00:45:13,857 --> 00:45:16,023 delayed for the record . Can you break 1074 00:45:16,023 --> 00:45:18,190 down the last time this has happened ? 1075 00:45:18,190 --> 00:45:17,890 This is not the first time it's 1076 00:45:17,890 --> 00:45:20,850 happened once the last time . I think 1077 00:45:20,850 --> 00:45:23,070 you were here when Hagel delayed one 1078 00:45:23,200 --> 00:45:25,710 over not minimum three tests for a 1079 00:45:25,710 --> 00:45:27,830 geopolitical reason . Can you get a 1080 00:45:27,830 --> 00:45:29,997 break down the last time ? You have to 1081 00:45:29,997 --> 00:45:31,997 let me take that question to me . I 1082 00:45:31,997 --> 00:45:33,830 don't I don't have that . You're 1083 00:45:33,830 --> 00:45:35,886 starting to get twitter feed through 1084 00:45:35,886 --> 00:45:35,720 some of the conservative members of 1085 00:45:35,720 --> 00:45:37,790 Congress alleging you know , you're 1086 00:45:37,790 --> 00:45:39,930 capitulating or this and that . As I 1087 00:45:39,930 --> 00:45:42,097 said , let me repeat it . I'll get you 1088 00:45:42,097 --> 00:45:44,208 the answer to your question . I don't 1089 00:45:44,208 --> 00:45:46,070 have the history , this is not a 1090 00:45:46,070 --> 00:45:48,348 dimunition in our readiness whatsoever . 1091 00:45:48,348 --> 00:45:50,514 Doesn't change our strategic posture . 1092 00:45:50,514 --> 00:45:53,430 This was a test . Um and uh we do 1093 00:45:53,430 --> 00:45:56,020 several a year . Their their plan 3 to 1094 00:45:56,020 --> 00:45:58,240 5 years in advance . It's not going to 1095 00:45:58,240 --> 00:46:00,407 change our strategic deterrent posture 1096 00:46:00,407 --> 00:46:03,260 one bit . It is a wise and prudent 1097 00:46:03,260 --> 00:46:05,550 decision by the secretary to send a 1098 00:46:05,550 --> 00:46:08,510 strong , clear , unambiguous message to 1099 00:46:08,510 --> 00:46:10,920 Mr Putin . How seriously we take our 1100 00:46:10,920 --> 00:46:12,587 nuclear responsibilities at a 1101 00:46:12,587 --> 00:46:14,910 particularly tense time tension . I 1102 00:46:14,910 --> 00:46:17,230 might add Tony that Mr Putin 1103 00:46:17,230 --> 00:46:20,270 contributed to with his unhelpful and 1104 00:46:20,270 --> 00:46:22,437 unnecessary rhetoric . With respect to 1105 00:46:22,437 --> 00:46:25,310 alert status on his nuclear posture . 1106 00:46:25,320 --> 00:46:27,860 Okay , thanks everybody appreciate it 1107 00:46:27,870 --> 00:46:29,310 and we'll see you tomorrow