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All right , good afternoon . Everyone . 

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Thanks very much for your patience . Do 

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have uh quite a few things to pass 

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along today at , at the top . Uh So 

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appreciate your patience . Uh Secretary 

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Austin currently remains hospitalized 

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at Walter Reed National Military 

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Medical Center and is in good condition . 

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And by now , you should have seen the 

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statement released by Walter Reed 

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National Military Medical Center 

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officials regarding his medical care 

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and for the sake of ensuring that 

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everyone here today and everyone 

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watching has the same information . I 

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will read that full statement . Uh This 

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is a statement from Dr John Maddox 

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Trauma , medical Director and Dr 

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Gregory Chestnut Center for Prostate 

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Disease Research of the Murtha Center 

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director at Walter Reed National 

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Military Medical Center in Bethesda 

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Maryland . Uh beginning uh the 

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statement as part of Secretary Austin's 

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routinely recommended health screening . 

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He has undergone regular prostate 

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specific antigen ps A surveillance 

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changes in his laboratory evaluation in 

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early December 2023 identified prostate 

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cancer which required treatment on 

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December 22nd , 2023 . After 

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consultation with his medical team , he 

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was admitted to Walter Reed National 

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Military Medical Center and underwent a 

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minimally invasive surgical procedure 

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called a prostatectomy to treat and 

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cure prostate cancer . He was under 

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general anesthesia during this 

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procedure , Secretary Austin recovered 

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uneventfully from his surgery and 

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returned home the next morning , his 

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prostate cancer was detected early and 

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his prognosis is excellent . On January 

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1st 2024 Secretary Austin was admitted 

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to Walter Reed National Military 

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Medical Center with complications from 

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the December 22nd procedure including 

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nausea with severe abdominal hip and 

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leg pain . Initial evaluation revealed 

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a urinary tract infection . On January 

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2 , the decision was made to transfer 

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him to the IC U for close monitoring 

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and a higher level of care . Further 

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evaluation revealed abdominal fluid 

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collections , impairing the function of 

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his small intestines . This resulted in 

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the backup of his intestinal contents 

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which was treated by placing a tube 

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through his nose to drain his stomach . 

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The abdominal abdominal fluid 

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collections were drained by non 

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surgical drain placement . He's 

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progressed steadily throughout his stay . 

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His infection is cleared . He continues 

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to make progress and we anticipate a 

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full recovery . Although this can be a 

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slow process during the stay . 

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Secretary Austin never lost 

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consciousness and never underwent 

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general anesthesia . Prostate cancer is 

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the most common cause of cancer among 

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American men and it impacts one in 

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every eight men and one in every six 

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African American men during their 

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lifetime . Despite the frequency of 

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prostate cancer , discussions about 

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screening treatment and support are 

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often deeply personal and private ones . 

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Early screening is important for 

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detection and treatment of prostate 

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cancer . And people should talk to 

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their doctors to see what screening is 

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appropriate for them . And statement 

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secretary Austin continues to recover 

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well and remains in good spirits . He's 

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in contact with his senior staff and 

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has full access to required secure 

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communications capabilities and 

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continues to monitor dod s day to day 

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operations worldwide . This time , I do 

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not have any information to provide in 

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terms of when he might be released from 

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the hospital , but we'll be sure to 

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keep you updated . And until then , we 

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will continue to release daily status 

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updates on his condition . We in the 

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Department of Defense of course , wish 

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him a speedy recovery . The department 

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recognizes the understandable concerns 

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expressed by the public Congress and 

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the news media in terms of notification 

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timelines and dod transparency . And I 

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want to underscore again that Secretary 

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Austin has taken responsibility for the 

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issues with transparency and the 

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department is taking immediate steps to 

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improve our notification procedures . 

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Yesterday , the secretary's chief of 

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staff directed the dod S direction , 

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Director of administration and 

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management to conduct the 30 day review 

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of the department's notification 

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process for assumption of functions and 

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duties of the Secretary of Defense 

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while the review is underway and 

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effective immediately . The chief of 

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staff also directed several actions to 

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ensure increased situational awareness 

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about any transfer of authorities from 

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the Secretary of Defense to include 

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ensuring that the dod General counsel , 

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the Chairman and Vice chairman of the 

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Joint Chiefs of staff , the combatant 

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commanders , the service secretaries , 

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the service chief of staff , the White 

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House Situation Room and senior staff 

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of the Secretary and Deputy Secretary 

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of Defense are all notified . And that 

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the notification for transfer of 

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authorities includes an explanation of 

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the reason . We'll keep you updated 

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regarding the results of the review and 

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any additional significant changes to 

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process and procedures as appropriate . 

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And as I highlighted to many of you 

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yesterday , nothing is more important 

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to the Secretary of Defense and the 

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Department of Defense than the trust 

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and confidence of the American people 

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and the public we serve and will 

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continue to work every day , work hard 

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every day to earn and deserve that 

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trust . Separately , Deputy Secretary 

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Kathleen Hicks is traveling today en 

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route to us Space Command headquarters 

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at Peterson Space Force Base in 

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Colorado tomorrow . She'll preside over 

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the US Space command change of command 

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at 12 p.m. eastern time between General 

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James Dickinson and Lieutenant General 

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Stephen Whiting . The event will be 

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live streamed on Divis and on 

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defense.gov . Also Dr Michael Chase , 

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Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense 

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for China Taiwan and Mongolia began 

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talks yesterday with People's Republic 

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of China , Major General Song Yan Cho , 

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deputy Director of the Central Military 

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Commission Office for International 

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Military Cooper Operation at the 

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Pentagon for the 17th US pr C defense 

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policy coordinations . Those meetings 

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conclude today and we'll issue a read 

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out later this afternoon . Finally , as 

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some of you may , may be aware , the 

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United States of America Vietnam war 

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commemoration was launched in 2012 , 

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authorized by Congress under the 

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Secretary of Defense in support of a 

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national 50th anniversary commemoration 

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to help . Thank the nation's Vietnam 

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veterans and their families for their 

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service and sacrifice on behalf of our 

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nation . Notably , thousands of 

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organizations known as commemorative 

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partners have joined the US Vietnam war 

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commemoration to honor America's 7 

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million Vietnam veterans , both at home 

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and abroad . In the 10 million families 

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of all those who serve this Saturday , 

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January 13th at 4 p.m. Eastern . A 

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special commemoration of the service , 

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courage and legacy of Vietnam war 

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veterans and gold star families and a 

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renewal of American commitment to 

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account for those heroes who may remain 

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missing . 50 years after the war's end 

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will be observed at the National 

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Cathedral in Washington DC , hosted by 

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a commemorative partner , the Air and 

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Space Forces Association and 40 

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supporting organizations . Uh The event 

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is open to the public and will also be 

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live streamed for more details . I'd 

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refer you to the Air and Space Forces 

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Association or Nathan National 

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Cathedral website . And with that , I 

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will take your questions . We'll start 

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with Associated Press . Tara . Hi , 

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General Roder . Thank you for doing 

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this . Um Have you or the staff had a 

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chance to speak to the secretary and 

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has he shared at all uh why he was 

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reluctant to make his condition public 

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until now and then given the 

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seriousness of his treatment , do you 

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suspect that he might have to take a 

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step back from some of the more 

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rigorous parts of his job such as a lot 

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of the overseas travel he's been doing 

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and maybe delegate that to secretary 

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hicks . Um , the , the staff has been 

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in contact with the secretary . Um , I 

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have not personally spoken to the 

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secretary but I do know for example 

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that uh he's in regular communication 

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with his chief of staff , uh as for his 

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travel schedule . Um Of course , I , I 

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don't have anything to announce . I can 

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tell you that he is actively engaged in 

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his duties uh as I highlighted , uh and 

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um fully engaged . Uh And so , you know , 

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completely confident in that and we'll 

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obviously keep you updated in terms of 

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his status in the hospital . Has he 

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expressed at all why he was reluctant 

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to share what he was going through 

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until now . Uh I , I don't have that 

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specifically from the Secretary Tara , 

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but obviously , as I highlighted , um 

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you know , it's uh uh prostate cancer 

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and the associated procedures are uh 

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obviously deeply personal . Uh And so , 

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uh again , you know , we'll continue to 

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work hard to make sure that we're being 

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as transparent as possible , uh moving 

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forward . Uh And again , wish the 

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secretary a speedy recovery . And then 

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just last , you know , there's still a 

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lot of questions on the process about 

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all of the notification that didn't 

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happen when he was taken by ambulance 

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to Walter Reed and had personal 

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security detail with him . Why at that 

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point , wasn't there like a call to an 

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operation center or something that 

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would have triggered a greater 

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awareness that uh he was getting 

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medical care ? Yeah . So again , a a 

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fair question and at the , you know , 

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for the sake of not doing the review 

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here from the podium , uh as I 

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highlighted , the director of 

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Administration and Management has been 

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directed to lead a thorough review to 

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look at exactly those kinds of 

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questions , the relevant facts and 

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circumstances during the period in 

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question to evaluate the processes and 

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procedures um by which the Deputy 

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Secretary of Defense was notified uh 

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and the associated timeline . So again , 

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we'll uh commit to being as transparent 

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as we can in terms of the results of 

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that review . Let me go to Liz here . 

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Thanks Pat , the Chief of Staff and the 

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senior military advisor were both told 

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on Tuesday that Secretary Austin was in 

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the hospital . Um Could the chief of 

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staff have asked the S MA to make the 

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proper notifications for her since she 

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was sick with the flu ? Yeah , again , 

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we fully recognize that there are gonna 

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be many questions in terms of 

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notification timelines as well as the 

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uh transparency issues that we've 

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highlighted . So I , I really think 

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that this review is going to help us 

279
00:10:05,313 --> 00:10:07,536
get to ground truth in a holistic way . 

280
00:10:07,536 --> 00:10:09,702
Um So that , that we can learn from it 

281
00:10:09,702 --> 00:10:11,647
importantly , but also ensure that 

282
00:10:11,647 --> 00:10:13,813
we're , we're doing better next time . 

283
00:10:13,813 --> 00:10:13,719
So I think we really need to allow this 

284
00:10:13,729 --> 00:10:15,951
review to run its course in order to do 

285
00:10:15,951 --> 00:10:18,007
that . In the meantime , we've taken 

286
00:10:18,007 --> 00:10:20,118
some immediate steps as I highlighted 

287
00:10:20,118 --> 00:10:22,229
at the top . I mean , would that have 

288
00:10:22,229 --> 00:10:24,285
been under procedure for the S MA to 

289
00:10:24,285 --> 00:10:26,062
notify the White House National 

290
00:10:26,062 --> 00:10:28,118
Security Adviser again ? Certainly , 

291
00:10:28,118 --> 00:10:30,173
you know , we , we want to make sure 

292
00:10:30,173 --> 00:10:32,285
that notifications are happening in a 

293
00:10:32,285 --> 00:10:34,396
timely way and in this way as we have 

294
00:10:34,396 --> 00:10:36,729
acknowledged there were some shortfalls . 

295
00:10:36,729 --> 00:10:36,119
And so it's important that we go back 

296
00:10:36,130 --> 00:10:38,408
and look at what those shortfalls were , 

297
00:10:38,408 --> 00:10:40,463
what could have been done better and 

298
00:10:40,463 --> 00:10:42,519
make sure that going forward , we're 

299
00:10:42,519 --> 00:10:44,686
improving those processes . So again , 

300
00:10:44,686 --> 00:10:44,429
this , you will , will help us , let me 

301
00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:46,440
go to Courtney . Do you still think 

302
00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:48,380
it's appropriate to , to call his 

303
00:10:48,390 --> 00:10:50,446
medical procedure on December 22nd , 

304
00:10:50,446 --> 00:10:52,599
the prostate ectomy elective medical 

305
00:10:52,609 --> 00:10:54,720
procedure if it was treating prostate 

306
00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:56,942
cancer ? So I'm gonna , I'm , I'm gonna 

307
00:10:56,942 --> 00:10:58,998
defer to medical officials on this . 

308
00:10:58,998 --> 00:11:01,165
Again , this is uh the , you know , we 

309
00:11:01,165 --> 00:11:03,387
released this information as soon as we 

310
00:11:03,387 --> 00:11:05,331
had it . And so again , I am gonna 

311
00:11:05,331 --> 00:11:07,331
refer back to the statement and you 

312
00:11:07,331 --> 00:11:09,442
know , going forward , we'll use that 

313
00:11:09,442 --> 00:11:11,609
as the baseline in terms of describing 

314
00:11:11,609 --> 00:11:13,776
um but , you know , in this particular 

315
00:11:13,776 --> 00:11:13,650
case , as soon as we had the 

316
00:11:13,659 --> 00:11:15,770
information made available to us , we 

317
00:11:15,770 --> 00:11:18,130
provided it to you . Um , it seemed 

318
00:11:18,140 --> 00:11:20,307
because it seems frankly like you were 

319
00:11:20,307 --> 00:11:22,362
deceived by telling everyone that it 

320
00:11:22,362 --> 00:11:24,473
was an elective medical procedure and 

321
00:11:24,473 --> 00:11:26,751
by telling that to the public , I mean , 

322
00:11:26,751 --> 00:11:28,696
it doesn't seem elective if he had 

323
00:11:28,696 --> 00:11:30,807
prostate cancer and this was treating 

324
00:11:30,807 --> 00:11:33,140
it . I , I'm not a medical professional . 

325
00:11:33,140 --> 00:11:32,609
Again , we're gonna try to provide you 

326
00:11:32,619 --> 00:11:34,710
with the most information we have as 

327
00:11:34,719 --> 00:11:37,039
quickly as we have it . Um you know , 

328
00:11:37,049 --> 00:11:40,309
and recognizing that as I say that we 

329
00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:42,598
could have done a better job last week . 

330
00:11:42,598 --> 00:11:44,820
So , um you know , again , we have this 

331
00:11:44,820 --> 00:11:46,764
information now from these medical 

332
00:11:46,764 --> 00:11:49,659
professionals . Uh and I , I think that , 

333
00:11:49,669 --> 00:11:51,669
you know , it will go a long way in 

334
00:11:51,669 --> 00:11:53,613
terms of helping to understand the 

335
00:11:53,613 --> 00:11:55,613
situation and what needs to be done 

336
00:11:55,613 --> 00:11:55,510
going forward . And when was President 

337
00:11:55,520 --> 00:11:57,631
Biden notified that the secretary was 

338
00:11:57,631 --> 00:11:59,687
diagnosed with prostate cancer ? I'd 

339
00:11:59,687 --> 00:12:01,853
have to refer you to the White House . 

340
00:12:01,853 --> 00:12:04,187
I just don't know . Natasha . Thank you , 

341
00:12:04,187 --> 00:12:03,669
General Ryder . So the memo that was 

342
00:12:03,679 --> 00:12:06,104
drafted by all chief of staff that lays 

343
00:12:06,114 --> 00:12:08,224
out the , the 30 day review that's 

344
00:12:08,234 --> 00:12:10,424
going to be done . It doesn't mention 

345
00:12:10,434 --> 00:12:13,265
the initial December 22nd hospital stay . 

346
00:12:13,275 --> 00:12:15,442
So has the Pentagon determined that in 

347
00:12:15,442 --> 00:12:17,219
that instance , all appropriate 

348
00:12:17,219 --> 00:12:19,331
notification procedures were followed 

349
00:12:19,331 --> 00:12:21,331
despite the Deputy Secretary of the 

350
00:12:21,331 --> 00:12:23,497
White House not being notified that he 

351
00:12:23,497 --> 00:12:25,608
was undergoing surgery , which we now 

352
00:12:25,608 --> 00:12:25,234
know that he was under general 

353
00:12:25,244 --> 00:12:28,179
anesthesia for . Yeah , I think I think 

354
00:12:28,190 --> 00:12:31,539
that uh the the information that we 

355
00:12:31,549 --> 00:12:33,780
gather and the lessons that we learn 

356
00:12:33,789 --> 00:12:37,479
from the period uh from last week will 

357
00:12:37,489 --> 00:12:40,200
be applicable across the board , right . 

358
00:12:40,210 --> 00:12:42,630
So , uh would would similarly apply to 

359
00:12:42,640 --> 00:12:45,679
the situation on December 22nd . The 

360
00:12:45,690 --> 00:12:48,190
bottom line is ensuring that if there 

361
00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:50,200
is a transfer of authority , making 

362
00:12:50,210 --> 00:12:52,043
sure that the appropriate senior 

363
00:12:52,043 --> 00:12:54,210
leaders in the chain of command know . 

364
00:12:54,210 --> 00:12:56,210
Uh And that importantly , there's a 

365
00:12:56,210 --> 00:12:58,266
rationale to be able to provide some 

366
00:12:58,266 --> 00:13:00,154
perspective in terms of why these 

367
00:13:00,154 --> 00:13:02,321
transfers of authority are occurring . 

368
00:13:02,321 --> 00:13:04,488
So certainly lessons learned from that 

369
00:13:04,488 --> 00:13:07,320
will be applied to transfer transfers 

370
00:13:07,330 --> 00:13:09,441
of authority in the future . And just 

371
00:13:09,441 --> 00:13:11,497
to be clear prior to him going under 

372
00:13:11,497 --> 00:13:13,274
anesthesia , he transferred his 

373
00:13:13,274 --> 00:13:15,386
authorities to the Deputy secretary . 

374
00:13:15,386 --> 00:13:17,875
That is correct here . And then I'll go 

375
00:13:17,895 --> 00:13:21,765
to just again on when this 

376
00:13:21,775 --> 00:13:24,025
happened in December , whose decision 

377
00:13:24,034 --> 00:13:26,284
was it not to alert the president that 

378
00:13:26,294 --> 00:13:28,238
the defense secretary had prostate 

379
00:13:28,238 --> 00:13:31,010
cancer ? Um Again , you know , as far 

380
00:13:31,020 --> 00:13:34,900
as uh the situation um in terms 

381
00:13:34,909 --> 00:13:37,390
of , of what the elective surgery was 

382
00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:39,989
and the secretary's condition , um 

383
00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:42,222
we're providing that information to you 

384
00:13:42,222 --> 00:13:44,333
as we've received it . Um We received 

385
00:13:44,333 --> 00:13:46,333
that this afternoon and , and we're 

386
00:13:46,333 --> 00:13:48,809
providing it to you now . Um So I'll 

387
00:13:48,820 --> 00:13:50,709
just leave it there clearly . You 

388
00:13:50,709 --> 00:13:52,764
didn't know the chief of staff , did 

389
00:13:52,764 --> 00:13:54,876
the chief of staff know I'm not gonna 

390
00:13:54,876 --> 00:13:56,487
go into the specifics on who 

391
00:13:56,487 --> 00:13:58,709
specifically knew what , when and where 

392
00:13:58,709 --> 00:14:00,876
again , our review will help us better 

393
00:14:00,876 --> 00:14:03,098
understand that other than to say , you 

394
00:14:03,098 --> 00:14:04,764
know , as soon as we had this 

395
00:14:04,764 --> 00:14:06,876
information to make available , um we 

396
00:14:06,876 --> 00:14:09,042
provided it , we got it this afternoon 

397
00:14:09,042 --> 00:14:10,931
and provided it literally minutes 

398
00:14:10,931 --> 00:14:13,042
before I stepped in here and just one 

399
00:14:13,042 --> 00:14:15,264
last one . Did he lose consciousness at 

400
00:14:15,264 --> 00:14:17,431
all during the December 22nd surgery ? 

401
00:14:17,431 --> 00:14:19,542
To my knowledge ? No , Idris , just a 

402
00:14:19,542 --> 00:14:21,376
couple of questions . Um Has the 

403
00:14:21,376 --> 00:14:23,487
secretary been on any medication that 

404
00:14:23,487 --> 00:14:25,598
might alter his judgment in either of 

405
00:14:25,598 --> 00:14:27,709
those hospital visits ? Um So Idris , 

406
00:14:27,709 --> 00:14:29,950
uh I have no indications again , I have 

407
00:14:29,960 --> 00:14:31,904
no indications anything that would 

408
00:14:31,904 --> 00:14:34,500
affect his decision making uh abilities . 

409
00:14:34,510 --> 00:14:36,343
He's obviously , you know , as I 

410
00:14:36,343 --> 00:14:38,454
highlighted in the , in the statement 

411
00:14:38,454 --> 00:14:40,677
at no time , has he been unconscious or 

412
00:14:40,677 --> 00:14:42,566
under general anesthesia ? And of 

413
00:14:42,566 --> 00:14:44,454
course , uh is in the presence of 

414
00:14:44,454 --> 00:14:46,621
medical professionals for the duration 

415
00:14:46,621 --> 00:14:49,010
um when he uh resumed full duties on 

416
00:14:49,020 --> 00:14:50,631
Friday evening , that was in 

417
00:14:50,631 --> 00:14:52,964
consultation with medical professionals . 

418
00:14:52,964 --> 00:14:54,909
Uh And as we've highlighted in the 

419
00:14:54,909 --> 00:14:57,076
press releases that we've put out , uh 

420
00:14:57,076 --> 00:14:59,210
he continues to stay very actively 

421
00:14:59,219 --> 00:15:01,729
engaged with his senior staff . Uh and 

422
00:15:01,739 --> 00:15:04,440
is is making important decisions about 

423
00:15:04,450 --> 00:15:06,719
national security and defense . Has he 

424
00:15:06,729 --> 00:15:08,840
asked his chief of staff to resign or 

425
00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:11,159
has she offered to resign ? No , and 

426
00:15:11,169 --> 00:15:13,280
then lastly sorry , very quickly , uh 

427
00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:15,336
the White House Chief of staff put a 

428
00:15:15,336 --> 00:15:14,940
statement to different cabinet 

429
00:15:14,950 --> 00:15:17,172
secretaries about procedures . Does the 

430
00:15:17,172 --> 00:15:19,339
secretary believe that he has become a 

431
00:15:19,339 --> 00:15:21,450
distraction for the administration in 

432
00:15:21,450 --> 00:15:23,783
which he serves during an election year . 

433
00:15:23,783 --> 00:15:26,006
Yeah , the , the secretary continues to 

434
00:15:26,006 --> 00:15:28,228
remain focused on recovering , but more 

435
00:15:28,228 --> 00:15:30,394
importantly on carrying out his duties 

436
00:15:30,394 --> 00:15:30,010
as Secretary of Defense and defending 

437
00:15:30,020 --> 00:15:32,187
the nation . Let me go to Tom and then 

438
00:15:32,187 --> 00:15:34,187
we'll go to Carl . Thank you , uh , 

439
00:15:34,187 --> 00:15:36,409
different topics . Uh , two questions . 

440
00:15:36,409 --> 00:15:38,409
Um First of all , Secretary Lincoln 

441
00:15:38,409 --> 00:15:40,520
today said the death toll in Gaza was 

442
00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:42,631
far too high . And Senator Angus King 

443
00:15:42,631 --> 00:15:44,576
said Israel's bombing campaign has 

444
00:15:44,576 --> 00:15:44,070
reached the point of diminishing 

445
00:15:44,080 --> 00:15:46,419
returns . Does the Pentagon agree with 

446
00:15:46,429 --> 00:15:48,590
um these assessments ? Um That's my 

447
00:15:48,599 --> 00:15:50,877
first question and I have a second one . 

448
00:15:50,877 --> 00:15:53,969
Sure . Um Well , as we've said for a 

449
00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:57,900
long time , um , any civilian death 

450
00:15:57,909 --> 00:16:00,630
is a tragedy and of course , uh the 

451
00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:03,239
secretary and others as we've engaged 

452
00:16:03,380 --> 00:16:05,260
with our Israeli partners have 

453
00:16:05,270 --> 00:16:07,159
continued to encourage them to do 

454
00:16:07,159 --> 00:16:08,937
everything possible to mitigate 

455
00:16:08,937 --> 00:16:11,140
civilian harm . Uh And we'll continue 

456
00:16:11,150 --> 00:16:13,317
to do that again . No one wants to see 

457
00:16:13,317 --> 00:16:15,206
innocent civilians killed in this 

458
00:16:15,206 --> 00:16:17,372
conflict , whether they be Palestinian 

459
00:16:17,372 --> 00:16:19,483
or Israeli . And so we'll continue to 

460
00:16:19,483 --> 00:16:21,706
work toward that end . Ok . Your second 

461
00:16:21,706 --> 00:16:23,539
question . Um Mike mccall at the 

462
00:16:23,539 --> 00:16:25,650
weekend issued a statement condemning 

463
00:16:25,650 --> 00:16:27,872
what he said was us weakness in dealing 

464
00:16:27,872 --> 00:16:29,983
with the hook threat in the Red Sea . 

465
00:16:29,983 --> 00:16:32,206
Um Do you have any updates on operation 

466
00:16:32,206 --> 00:16:34,428
Prosperity Guardian ? You can share and 

467
00:16:34,428 --> 00:16:36,372
do you have any reaction to uh the 

468
00:16:36,372 --> 00:16:38,428
claim that the US is the US is being 

469
00:16:38,428 --> 00:16:40,840
too weak ? Uh The US is not being too 

470
00:16:40,849 --> 00:16:43,590
weak . Um We are working very actively 

471
00:16:43,599 --> 00:16:46,940
with international partners to address 

472
00:16:46,950 --> 00:16:49,239
the Houthi threat uh operation , 

473
00:16:49,250 --> 00:16:51,090
prosperity Guardian is bringing 

474
00:16:51,099 --> 00:16:53,400
together more than 20 nations to help 

475
00:16:53,409 --> 00:16:55,465
safeguard international commerce and 

476
00:16:55,465 --> 00:16:57,520
Mariners that are transiting the Red 

477
00:16:57,520 --> 00:17:00,479
Sea . Um And you know , we will 

478
00:17:00,489 --> 00:17:02,433
continue to work very closely with 

479
00:17:02,433 --> 00:17:04,211
those partners to help deter by 

480
00:17:04,211 --> 00:17:06,378
presence but also helping to safeguard 

481
00:17:06,378 --> 00:17:08,267
those ships that are transiting . 

482
00:17:08,267 --> 00:17:10,619
Additionally , as you saw last week , a 

483
00:17:10,630 --> 00:17:12,519
statement was put out by multiple 

484
00:17:12,519 --> 00:17:15,050
nations highlighting uh that there will 

485
00:17:15,060 --> 00:17:18,069
be consequences for any type of houthi 

486
00:17:18,329 --> 00:17:20,969
uh continued houthi attacks . Uh And so 

487
00:17:20,979 --> 00:17:23,201
that , that warning still applies . I'm 

488
00:17:23,201 --> 00:17:25,146
not going to speculate or get into 

489
00:17:25,146 --> 00:17:27,312
hypotheticals about what we may or may 

490
00:17:27,312 --> 00:17:29,410
not do as it pretends to uh or as it 

491
00:17:29,420 --> 00:17:31,729
relates to uh addressing those issues 

492
00:17:31,739 --> 00:17:33,795
other than to say it should be taken 

493
00:17:33,795 --> 00:17:36,017
very seriously , Carla , thank you . Uh 

494
00:17:36,017 --> 00:17:37,795
First of all , the secretary is 

495
00:17:37,795 --> 00:17:40,017
expected to host an Honor Court on , on 

496
00:17:40,017 --> 00:17:42,017
Thursday here at the Pentagon . Has 

497
00:17:42,017 --> 00:17:44,239
that changed ? Has that been canceled ? 

498
00:17:44,239 --> 00:17:46,072
Um Is the Pentagon preparing for 

499
00:17:46,072 --> 00:17:48,239
somebody else to , to host this in his 

500
00:17:48,239 --> 00:17:50,350
stead um Carla . So I don't , I don't 

501
00:17:50,350 --> 00:17:52,517
have the specific details on the honor 

502
00:17:52,517 --> 00:17:54,628
cordon in front of me . Other than to 

503
00:17:54,628 --> 00:17:56,850
say again , you know , we will continue 

504
00:17:56,850 --> 00:17:59,072
to assess the the secretary schedule uh 

505
00:17:59,072 --> 00:18:01,183
in terms of here at the Pentagon . Uh 

506
00:18:01,183 --> 00:18:03,350
And certainly as we have updates or if 

507
00:18:03,350 --> 00:18:05,350
things need to be delegated . We'll 

508
00:18:05,350 --> 00:18:07,628
certainly do that as appropriate . The , 

509
00:18:07,628 --> 00:18:07,300
the business of the department , the 

510
00:18:07,310 --> 00:18:09,750
day to day business obviously continues 

511
00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:11,593
and the secretary of course , is 

512
00:18:11,593 --> 00:18:13,927
conducting his duties from the hospital . 

513
00:18:13,927 --> 00:18:15,982
And so we'll be sure to keep you and 

514
00:18:15,982 --> 00:18:18,149
others updated uh in terms of , of who 

515
00:18:18,149 --> 00:18:20,093
may be carrying out those specific 

516
00:18:20,093 --> 00:18:22,149
duties or functions or if we have to 

517
00:18:22,149 --> 00:18:24,316
reschedule things . But right now , um 

518
00:18:24,316 --> 00:18:26,316
I just don't have any specifics and 

519
00:18:26,316 --> 00:18:28,316
just so I understand the timeline , 

520
00:18:28,316 --> 00:18:30,427
President Biden did not find out that 

521
00:18:30,427 --> 00:18:32,260
Austin was in the hospital until 

522
00:18:32,260 --> 00:18:36,219
Thursday , correct ? Um And we don't 

523
00:18:36,229 --> 00:18:38,396
know at this time when President Biden 

524
00:18:38,396 --> 00:18:40,340
was notified or if he was notified 

525
00:18:40,340 --> 00:18:42,507
before Thursday that the secretary had 

526
00:18:42,507 --> 00:18:44,451
prostate cancer , correct ? That's 

527
00:18:44,451 --> 00:18:46,507
still unanswered . I'd have to refer 

528
00:18:46,507 --> 00:18:46,150
you to the White House . I don't want 

529
00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:47,882
to get into who is telling the 

530
00:18:47,882 --> 00:18:50,420
president what and when ? Ok . And so 

531
00:18:51,145 --> 00:18:53,244
why did it take so long to get to 

532
00:18:53,255 --> 00:18:56,055
President Biden ? And why did the , the 

533
00:18:56,064 --> 00:18:58,354
statement take so long when , when the 

534
00:18:58,364 --> 00:19:00,475
chief of staff returned on Thursday ? 

535
00:19:00,475 --> 00:19:02,364
Assuming she returned on Thursday 

536
00:19:02,364 --> 00:19:04,420
morning , the statement did not come 

537
00:19:04,420 --> 00:19:06,642
out until Friday after five . So that's 

538
00:19:06,642 --> 00:19:08,864
two full business days . What was the 

539
00:19:08,875 --> 00:19:10,931
delay in this statement ? We usually 

540
00:19:10,931 --> 00:19:12,708
get statements about strikes or 

541
00:19:12,708 --> 00:19:14,819
meetings much , much earlier . Yeah , 

542
00:19:14,819 --> 00:19:16,931
thanks . Um , uh , you know , a lot , 

543
00:19:16,931 --> 00:19:18,708
I'll , I'll provide you a broad 

544
00:19:18,708 --> 00:19:20,931
overview . I covered a lot of this um , 

545
00:19:20,931 --> 00:19:23,153
during the , the gaggle yesterday . But 

546
00:19:23,153 --> 00:19:25,319
I recognized that , that not everybody 

547
00:19:25,319 --> 00:19:27,542
was there . Um And so , um , you know , 

548
00:19:27,542 --> 00:19:30,839
when uh the notifications occurred um 

549
00:19:31,209 --> 00:19:33,640
to the , to the staff on Tuesday , um 

550
00:19:33,650 --> 00:19:35,959
because the chief , the secretary's 

551
00:19:35,969 --> 00:19:38,080
chief of Staff was ill with the flu . 

552
00:19:38,109 --> 00:19:41,280
It impacted a delay in reporting it to 

553
00:19:41,290 --> 00:19:43,439
the Deputy Secretary staff and to the 

554
00:19:43,449 --> 00:19:45,719
national security adviser . Again , we 

555
00:19:45,729 --> 00:19:47,839
recognize uh that there were some 

556
00:19:47,849 --> 00:19:50,439
shortfalls in this , uh in terms of , 

557
00:19:50,449 --> 00:19:52,560
you know , the , the obvious question 

558
00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:54,616
about delegation . Uh And so again , 

559
00:19:54,616 --> 00:19:56,616
that's what this review is going to 

560
00:19:56,616 --> 00:19:58,838
help us look at is where we can improve 

561
00:19:58,838 --> 00:20:00,782
processes to ensure these kinds of 

562
00:20:00,782 --> 00:20:02,949
things . Uh Don't happen again , going 

563
00:20:02,949 --> 00:20:05,005
into the future . The bottom line is 

564
00:20:05,199 --> 00:20:08,000
post Thursday , post her return on 

565
00:20:08,010 --> 00:20:10,939
Thursday . It still took from all day 

566
00:20:10,949 --> 00:20:13,005
Thursday and all day Friday to get a 

567
00:20:13,005 --> 00:20:14,838
statement out . That's where I'm 

568
00:20:14,838 --> 00:20:17,005
wondering where the delay was there as 

569
00:20:17,005 --> 00:20:19,227
well . Yeah , again , this goes back to 

570
00:20:19,227 --> 00:20:21,338
what we'll look at , but we recognize 

571
00:20:21,338 --> 00:20:23,282
that we have to do a better job in 

572
00:20:23,282 --> 00:20:25,060
terms of the timeliness and the 

573
00:20:25,060 --> 00:20:27,020
transparency when it comes to 

574
00:20:27,030 --> 00:20:29,300
especially the secretary's health . And 

575
00:20:29,310 --> 00:20:31,477
again , we're committed to making sure 

576
00:20:31,477 --> 00:20:33,699
that we don't do this again and that we 

577
00:20:33,699 --> 00:20:35,866
do a better job next time . Let me get 

578
00:20:35,866 --> 00:20:38,143
some other questions , Joseph , thanks . 

579
00:20:38,143 --> 00:20:40,366
Um Could you provide any updates on the 

580
00:20:40,366 --> 00:20:40,150
free service numbers that were injured 

581
00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:42,760
in the Christmas Day attack ? Um Joseph , 

582
00:20:42,770 --> 00:20:45,103
I'd , I'd have to refer you to the army . 

583
00:20:45,103 --> 00:20:47,326
I , I don't have those . Um , could you 

584
00:20:47,326 --> 00:20:49,437
give us the latest numbers of attacks 

585
00:20:49,437 --> 00:20:52,069
in Iraq and Syria ? Sure . Um , so that 

586
00:20:52,270 --> 00:20:56,040
there's since January 4 , um , 

587
00:20:57,189 --> 00:20:59,130
let's see , here , there has been 

588
00:21:02,609 --> 00:21:05,729
nine attacks since January 4 . Uh , 

589
00:21:05,750 --> 00:21:08,760
there's been 100 and 27 attacks total 

590
00:21:08,770 --> 00:21:12,540
52 in Iraq , 75 in Syria . And then 

591
00:21:12,550 --> 00:21:15,050
just finally , uh , dod and you 

592
00:21:15,060 --> 00:21:17,116
previously said that the , uh , that 

593
00:21:17,116 --> 00:21:19,310
the Pentagon was looking into reports 

594
00:21:19,319 --> 00:21:21,430
of Israeli use of white phosphorus in 

595
00:21:21,430 --> 00:21:23,920
Lebanon , I believe is November October ? 

596
00:21:23,930 --> 00:21:25,986
I was wondering if there's any , any 

597
00:21:25,986 --> 00:21:28,152
updates on that ? I , I don't have any 

598
00:21:28,152 --> 00:21:30,041
updates . I haven't seen anything 

599
00:21:30,041 --> 00:21:32,263
substantive come back , but I , I don't 

600
00:21:32,263 --> 00:21:34,208
have any updates on that . Are you 

601
00:21:34,208 --> 00:21:36,541
still looking into it ? You closed that , 

602
00:21:36,541 --> 00:21:38,652
you know , I wanna , I'd refer you to 

603
00:21:38,652 --> 00:21:40,819
the Israelis , obviously , they , they 

604
00:21:40,819 --> 00:21:43,152
would know whether they did or not . Um , 

605
00:21:43,152 --> 00:21:45,152
but I'm not aware of any updates or 

606
00:21:45,152 --> 00:21:47,152
anything significant coming back at 

607
00:21:47,152 --> 00:21:49,430
this stage , sir . Thank you , General . 

608
00:21:49,430 --> 00:21:51,319
Yesterday . You talked about your 

609
00:21:51,319 --> 00:21:53,597
presence in Iraq . My question is that , 

610
00:21:53,597 --> 00:21:53,150
do you have a deadline for the US 

611
00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:55,989
withdrawal in Iraq ? If not , then how 

612
00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:58,000
long you're going to stay ? Are you 

613
00:21:58,000 --> 00:21:59,889
going to stay as long as the ISIS 

614
00:21:59,889 --> 00:22:01,944
threats remain or it's totally up to 

615
00:22:01,944 --> 00:22:04,000
the Iraqi government if they want to 

616
00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:06,890
stay or leave the country ? So , you 

617
00:22:06,900 --> 00:22:09,810
know , we are in Iraq at the invitation 

618
00:22:09,819 --> 00:22:11,875
of the government of Iraq and as you 

619
00:22:11,875 --> 00:22:13,819
highlight , we remain singularly 

620
00:22:13,829 --> 00:22:16,869
focused on the defeat ISIS mission . We 

621
00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:18,936
do remain in close consultation with 

622
00:22:18,936 --> 00:22:21,047
the Iraqi government when it comes to 

623
00:22:21,047 --> 00:22:23,269
us , force presence in particular , the 

624
00:22:23,269 --> 00:22:25,380
safety and security of those forces . 

625
00:22:25,380 --> 00:22:27,540
And so , uh we are engaged in a 

626
00:22:27,550 --> 00:22:29,717
coordinate and deliberate process with 

627
00:22:29,717 --> 00:22:31,828
the government of Iraq to discuss the 

628
00:22:31,828 --> 00:22:33,939
evolution of that mission in a manner 

629
00:22:33,939 --> 00:22:36,161
that preserves these gains against ISIS 

630
00:22:36,161 --> 00:22:38,383
and helps to ensure that they can never 

631
00:22:38,383 --> 00:22:40,161
come back . So I'm not going to 

632
00:22:40,161 --> 00:22:42,239
speculate or get into internal Iraqi 

633
00:22:42,250 --> 00:22:44,417
government discussions . But certainly 

634
00:22:44,417 --> 00:22:46,583
we'll continue to consult closely with 

635
00:22:46,583 --> 00:22:49,130
our Iraqi partners for that presence in 

636
00:22:49,140 --> 00:22:51,251
Iraq . Well , again , we are there at 

637
00:22:51,251 --> 00:22:53,251
the invitation of the government of 

638
00:22:53,251 --> 00:22:56,130
Iraq , Rio . Thank you two questions on 

639
00:22:56,319 --> 00:22:58,375
that in the past week , the first on 

640
00:22:58,375 --> 00:23:00,719
Japan that can you give us any update 

641
00:23:00,729 --> 00:23:03,079
on the US assistance in Japan's 

642
00:23:03,089 --> 00:23:05,229
disaster relief operations after the 

643
00:23:05,239 --> 00:23:08,900
major escalate in early January ? Um So 

644
00:23:08,910 --> 00:23:11,550
uh we do remain in close communication 

645
00:23:11,560 --> 00:23:13,671
with the government of Japan . We are 

646
00:23:13,671 --> 00:23:15,893
ready to assist if asked at this time . 

647
00:23:15,893 --> 00:23:18,060
To my knowledge , there's not been any 

648
00:23:18,060 --> 00:23:20,227
specific request , but we'll of course 

649
00:23:20,227 --> 00:23:22,504
continue to keep you updated on Taiwan . 

650
00:23:22,504 --> 00:23:24,504
The presidential election will take 

651
00:23:24,504 --> 00:23:26,880
place in Taiwan on Saturday . China 

652
00:23:26,890 --> 00:23:29,219
said this election is a choice between 

653
00:23:29,229 --> 00:23:32,250
conflict and peace . So how concerned 

654
00:23:32,260 --> 00:23:34,760
is the Pentagon that China might step 

655
00:23:34,770 --> 00:23:37,660
up pressure campaign against Taiwan 

656
00:23:37,670 --> 00:23:39,559
depending on out depending on the 

657
00:23:39,559 --> 00:23:42,540
outcome of the election . Yeah , so we 

658
00:23:42,550 --> 00:23:45,449
strongly support Taiwan's free and fair 

659
00:23:45,459 --> 00:23:47,520
elections , which we view as a model 

660
00:23:47,530 --> 00:23:49,697
for democracy , not only in the region 

661
00:23:49,697 --> 00:23:52,459
but also globally and the United States 

662
00:23:52,469 --> 00:23:54,247
does not take sides in Taiwan's 

663
00:23:54,247 --> 00:23:56,290
elections . We're committed to fair 

664
00:23:56,300 --> 00:23:58,356
treatment of the candidates . Uh Our 

665
00:23:58,356 --> 00:24:00,680
policy on Taiwan will remain the same 

666
00:24:00,689 --> 00:24:02,911
regardless of which party is in power , 

667
00:24:02,911 --> 00:24:04,967
power and we look forward to working 

668
00:24:04,967 --> 00:24:07,199
with whomever uh Taiwan voters elect 

669
00:24:07,439 --> 00:24:10,589
the US China one China policy . As you 

670
00:24:10,599 --> 00:24:12,710
know , Rio will continue to be guided 

671
00:24:12,710 --> 00:24:14,670
by the Taiwan's Relation Act , the 

672
00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:17,040
three joint communiques and the six 

673
00:24:17,050 --> 00:24:19,359
assurances body . Thank you General . 

674
00:24:19,410 --> 00:24:21,699
So you , you , you've been addressing 

675
00:24:21,709 --> 00:24:24,010
the campaign against , against Isis in 

676
00:24:24,020 --> 00:24:26,076
Iraq and it seems the Pentagon has , 

677
00:24:26,076 --> 00:24:28,131
has some concerns about maybe the re 

678
00:24:28,131 --> 00:24:32,089
emergence of ISIS . How , how would you 

679
00:24:32,099 --> 00:24:34,432
assess the threat of Isis today in Iraq ? 

680
00:24:35,290 --> 00:24:38,020
Uh So it's really interesting uh having 

681
00:24:38,030 --> 00:24:41,479
watched this over time . So , you know , 

682
00:24:41,489 --> 00:24:44,939
Isis in Iraq and Syria have been 

683
00:24:44,949 --> 00:24:48,729
largely uh suppressed , I think uh it , 

684
00:24:48,739 --> 00:24:50,795
it's one of those things though that 

685
00:24:50,795 --> 00:24:53,079
you have to keep after obviously , um 

686
00:24:53,089 --> 00:24:55,256
you know , one of the major challenges 

687
00:24:55,256 --> 00:24:57,256
of course is the ah ha uh detention 

688
00:24:57,256 --> 00:24:59,533
facility uh which of course , you know , 

689
00:24:59,533 --> 00:25:01,700
we continue to work with coalition and 

690
00:25:01,700 --> 00:25:03,533
in countries around the world to 

691
00:25:03,533 --> 00:25:07,479
address that post counter ISIS 

692
00:25:07,489 --> 00:25:10,069
campaign , you know , the the active 

693
00:25:10,079 --> 00:25:12,229
operations and when Isis was defeated 

694
00:25:12,239 --> 00:25:16,040
essentially in Syria , um what we've 

695
00:25:16,050 --> 00:25:19,739
seen is ISIS essentially look to 

696
00:25:19,949 --> 00:25:22,969
metastasize elsewhere , most notably in 

697
00:25:22,979 --> 00:25:25,170
the African continent , but then also 

698
00:25:25,180 --> 00:25:27,989
in places like Afghanistan . And so 

699
00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:30,000
this is , you know , really a , you 

700
00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:31,889
know , not only an Iraq and Syria 

701
00:25:31,889 --> 00:25:34,222
challenge , but it's a broader regional , 

702
00:25:34,222 --> 00:25:36,278
in some cases , a global challenge . 

703
00:25:36,278 --> 00:25:38,222
And so um you can't wish it away . 

704
00:25:38,222 --> 00:25:40,389
We've got to continue to keep pressure 

705
00:25:40,389 --> 00:25:42,611
on ISIS to prevent a resurgence because 

706
00:25:42,611 --> 00:25:45,199
as they demonstrated back in 2014 , if 

707
00:25:45,209 --> 00:25:47,930
that's allowed to happen , um obviously 

708
00:25:47,939 --> 00:25:50,109
disastrous consequences for many would 

709
00:25:50,130 --> 00:25:52,390
like to focus on ISIS threat in Iraq . 

710
00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:54,456
As , as you said , in Iraq , Syria , 

711
00:25:54,456 --> 00:25:57,936
it's been largely suppressed and the US 

712
00:25:57,946 --> 00:26:00,885
has been advising and training Iraqi 

713
00:26:00,895 --> 00:26:04,125
security forces in Iraq for years now . 

714
00:26:04,135 --> 00:26:07,015
Does the Pentagon think that Iraqi 

715
00:26:07,026 --> 00:26:09,255
security forces are able on their own 

716
00:26:09,345 --> 00:26:11,975
to deal with the current situation that 

717
00:26:11,985 --> 00:26:14,196
is , or the threat of ISIS that has 

718
00:26:14,206 --> 00:26:16,391
been largely suppressed ? Really a 

719
00:26:16,401 --> 00:26:18,568
question for the Iraqi security forces 

720
00:26:18,568 --> 00:26:20,623
to answer again . We're there at the 

721
00:26:20,623 --> 00:26:22,734
invitation of the Iraqi government to 

722
00:26:22,734 --> 00:26:24,734
help train and advise and , and you 

723
00:26:24,734 --> 00:26:24,651
know , again , you and I have both been 

724
00:26:24,661 --> 00:26:26,952
watching this for a very long time and 

725
00:26:26,962 --> 00:26:28,518
the Iraqi security forces , 

726
00:26:28,518 --> 00:26:30,573
particularly on the counterterrorism 

727
00:26:30,573 --> 00:26:32,740
front have been incredibly effective . 

728
00:26:32,740 --> 00:26:35,073
I mean , they are , they are , you know , 

729
00:26:35,073 --> 00:26:37,184
fantastic forces . And so really , um 

730
00:26:37,184 --> 00:26:39,351
like elsewhere in the world , any time 

731
00:26:39,351 --> 00:26:41,684
we have forces president of the country , 

732
00:26:41,684 --> 00:26:40,829
it's going to be there at the 

733
00:26:40,839 --> 00:26:42,950
invitation of those those countries . 

734
00:26:42,950 --> 00:26:45,760
And so I think we all uh both Iraq and 

735
00:26:45,770 --> 00:26:47,992
the United States and the international 

736
00:26:47,992 --> 00:26:49,992
community have a vested interest in 

737
00:26:49,992 --> 00:26:52,103
preventing a resurgence of ISIS . But 

738
00:26:52,103 --> 00:26:54,214
at the end of the day , again , we we 

739
00:26:54,214 --> 00:26:54,170
continue to be present at the 

740
00:26:54,180 --> 00:26:56,347
invitation of the government of Iraq . 

741
00:26:56,760 --> 00:26:58,927
I got a couple of folks over here . So 

742
00:26:58,927 --> 00:27:01,149
this is on Gaza . You stated again that 

743
00:27:01,149 --> 00:27:03,371
the secretary and the leadership in the 

744
00:27:03,371 --> 00:27:05,260
Pentagon has been encouraging the 

745
00:27:05,260 --> 00:27:07,371
Israeli counterparts to minimize harm 

746
00:27:07,371 --> 00:27:10,089
among civilians in Gaza . We've been 

747
00:27:10,099 --> 00:27:12,321
hearing this since the beginning of the 

748
00:27:12,321 --> 00:27:14,155
war , especially when this stall 

749
00:27:14,155 --> 00:27:16,043
started ballooning . I know we're 

750
00:27:16,043 --> 00:27:18,266
talking about more than 23,000 killed . 

751
00:27:18,266 --> 00:27:20,569
How if you would like if you would try 

752
00:27:20,579 --> 00:27:24,020
to rate uh uh or give a grade to your 

753
00:27:24,030 --> 00:27:26,579
efforts so far with your Israeli allies , 

754
00:27:26,589 --> 00:27:28,645
how successful were your efforts and 

755
00:27:28,645 --> 00:27:32,099
the secretary's effort in convincing 

756
00:27:32,109 --> 00:27:34,020
the Israelis to reduce harm among 

757
00:27:34,030 --> 00:27:36,800
civilians in Gaza ? Thanks Fadi . So , 

758
00:27:36,810 --> 00:27:39,140
you know , again , we've talked about 

759
00:27:39,150 --> 00:27:41,261
the incredible challenge that we have 

760
00:27:41,261 --> 00:27:43,459
here in terms of the threat that Hamas 

761
00:27:43,469 --> 00:27:46,410
presents to the people of Israel , an 

762
00:27:46,420 --> 00:27:48,910
existential threat by an organization 

763
00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:51,130
that has committed to eliminating 

764
00:27:51,140 --> 00:27:53,307
Israel as a country is demonstrated by 

765
00:27:53,307 --> 00:27:56,089
their attacks on October 7th and their 

766
00:27:56,099 --> 00:27:58,321
public statements that they want to see 

767
00:27:58,321 --> 00:28:00,543
such attacks continue again and again , 

768
00:28:00,543 --> 00:28:02,655
you're seeing combat in an incredibly 

769
00:28:02,655 --> 00:28:04,432
dense urban environment with an 

770
00:28:04,432 --> 00:28:08,349
adversary that again is completely fine 

771
00:28:08,359 --> 00:28:11,650
with using humans as shields civilians 

772
00:28:11,660 --> 00:28:14,500
as shields . Uh And so again , we don't 

773
00:28:14,510 --> 00:28:16,910
underestimate the challenge that is in 

774
00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:18,753
front of Israel when it comes to 

775
00:28:18,753 --> 00:28:20,864
confronting this threat , and we will 

776
00:28:20,864 --> 00:28:22,809
continue to support their right to 

777
00:28:22,809 --> 00:28:25,031
defend themselves . But again , we will 

778
00:28:25,031 --> 00:28:28,310
continue to actively discuss and expect 

779
00:28:28,319 --> 00:28:30,430
that they conduct those operations in 

780
00:28:30,430 --> 00:28:32,541
accordance with international uh laws 

781
00:28:32,541 --> 00:28:34,541
of armed conflict and international 

782
00:28:34,541 --> 00:28:36,708
humanitarian law . And so , you know , 

783
00:28:36,708 --> 00:28:38,597
at the end of the day , these are 

784
00:28:38,597 --> 00:28:40,819
sovereign decisions made by a sovereign 

785
00:28:40,819 --> 00:28:43,041
government . Uh but we will continue to 

786
00:28:43,041 --> 00:28:45,041
work closely with them to try to uh 

787
00:28:45,041 --> 00:28:47,239
again underscore the importance of 

788
00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:49,391
ensuring that they're taking civilian 

789
00:28:49,391 --> 00:28:51,558
harm into account . Recognizing as the 

790
00:28:51,558 --> 00:28:53,613
secretary said earlier in December , 

791
00:28:53,930 --> 00:28:55,986
that you don't want to have tactical 

792
00:28:55,986 --> 00:28:58,097
victory but strategic defeat . Let me 

793
00:28:58,097 --> 00:29:00,319
go back over here , Nancy . Thank you . 

794
00:29:00,319 --> 00:29:02,541
Um I had two points . I need to clarify 

795
00:29:02,541 --> 00:29:04,652
it and then a couple of questions you 

796
00:29:04,652 --> 00:29:06,763
told Laura that the secretary did not 

797
00:29:06,763 --> 00:29:09,097
lose consciousness if I heard correctly , 

798
00:29:09,097 --> 00:29:08,979
December 22nd , but the statement says 

799
00:29:08,989 --> 00:29:11,100
he was under general anesthesia . Can 

800
00:29:11,100 --> 00:29:13,180
you help me understand ? There's 

801
00:29:13,189 --> 00:29:15,489
something I misunderstood . Um Again , 

802
00:29:15,500 --> 00:29:19,420
this is according to his doctors , he 

803
00:29:19,430 --> 00:29:21,550
never lost consciousness and never 

804
00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:24,359
underwent general anesthesia . And so 

805
00:29:24,819 --> 00:29:26,819
for the January 1st part versus the 

806
00:29:26,819 --> 00:29:29,579
22nd and 23rd time frame , that's why 

807
00:29:29,589 --> 00:29:30,922
I'm a little confused . 

808
00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:35,742
I'll have to take that question because 

809
00:29:35,742 --> 00:29:37,631
you're right . It does say in the 

810
00:29:37,631 --> 00:29:37,359
statement he was under general 

811
00:29:37,369 --> 00:29:39,800
anesthesia on for the 22nd operation . 

812
00:29:39,810 --> 00:29:42,579
So let me take that question and then , 

813
00:29:42,589 --> 00:29:44,811
because I really don't like the passive 

814
00:29:44,811 --> 00:29:47,089
voice , we keep talking about how , um , 

815
00:29:47,089 --> 00:29:49,200
Kelly Maxim and others were initially 

816
00:29:49,200 --> 00:29:51,311
told January 1st or second . Can we , 

817
00:29:51,311 --> 00:29:53,311
so we can use an active voice ? Who 

818
00:29:53,311 --> 00:29:55,422
told them on the first and the second 

819
00:29:55,422 --> 00:29:57,589
about these complications ? Uh I don't 

820
00:29:57,589 --> 00:29:57,219
have an answer to that , but I will 

821
00:29:57,229 --> 00:29:59,520
take that question . Will the secretary 

822
00:29:59,530 --> 00:30:01,641
be attending the NATO meetings in the 

823
00:30:01,641 --> 00:30:03,752
Ukraine contact group next week ? And 

824
00:30:03,752 --> 00:30:05,808
if not , has he told the appropriate 

825
00:30:05,808 --> 00:30:07,974
group members ? Uh , so , um , again , 

826
00:30:07,974 --> 00:30:11,260
recognizing that the s the secretary 

827
00:30:11,270 --> 00:30:13,326
schedules obviously will continue to 

828
00:30:13,326 --> 00:30:15,381
change . I'm , I'm not aware that he 

829
00:30:15,381 --> 00:30:17,437
was scheduled to attend any meetings 

830
00:30:17,437 --> 00:30:19,959
overseas next week regardless . Um , we , 

831
00:30:19,969 --> 00:30:22,080
of course , you know , tentatively do 

832
00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:24,270
have a Ukraine contact group , um , as 

833
00:30:24,280 --> 00:30:26,391
we do typically monthly , but I don't 

834
00:30:26,391 --> 00:30:28,502
have anything to announce in terms of 

835
00:30:28,502 --> 00:30:30,447
dates on that right now . Um We'll 

836
00:30:30,447 --> 00:30:32,447
certainly keep you and , and others 

837
00:30:32,447 --> 00:30:34,558
informed . Lastly , has the secretary 

838
00:30:34,558 --> 00:30:36,558
agreed going forward that should he 

839
00:30:36,558 --> 00:30:38,724
face future medical procedures or need 

840
00:30:38,724 --> 00:30:40,849
to leave ? Um , for whatever reason 

841
00:30:40,859 --> 00:30:43,020
that he will inform the public in a 

842
00:30:43,030 --> 00:30:46,109
more timely manner . I , I think , uh , 

843
00:30:46,530 --> 00:30:48,910
under all of this , uh , you know , and 

844
00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:50,864
I wanna be very clear , uh I think 

845
00:30:50,864 --> 00:30:53,270
again , we recognize the need to be 

846
00:30:53,359 --> 00:30:56,069
better when it comes to transparency . 

847
00:30:56,449 --> 00:30:59,790
Uh , and as a senior dod public affairs 

848
00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:02,520
official , I will work very hard with 

849
00:31:02,530 --> 00:31:04,530
our senior staff to make sure that 

850
00:31:04,540 --> 00:31:07,709
we're doing uh due diligence and , and 

851
00:31:07,719 --> 00:31:09,775
meeting the standard that the public 

852
00:31:09,775 --> 00:31:11,997
expects and is communicated very loudly 

853
00:31:11,997 --> 00:31:14,163
throughout this process . So to answer 

854
00:31:14,163 --> 00:31:15,941
your question , yes , yes , the 

855
00:31:15,941 --> 00:31:18,163
secretary does that committed to that . 

856
00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:20,353
And again , I'd refer you to the 

857
00:31:20,353 --> 00:31:22,353
secretary statement that we put out 

858
00:31:22,353 --> 00:31:24,409
that he is committed to doing better 

859
00:31:24,409 --> 00:31:26,520
when it comes to transparency . We go 

860
00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:28,576
to come back to you , sir . Can I go 

861
00:31:28,576 --> 00:31:30,687
back to the statement that was issued 

862
00:31:30,687 --> 00:31:32,520
on Friday , which initially said 

863
00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:34,576
elective procedure ? Can you tell us 

864
00:31:34,576 --> 00:31:36,409
who informed the use of the word 

865
00:31:36,409 --> 00:31:38,298
elective ? Was it Austin's doctor 

866
00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:40,344
telling you all ? It's an elective 

867
00:31:40,344 --> 00:31:42,400
procedure . Um How is that words cho 

868
00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:44,289
chosen to just fall on to if it's 

869
00:31:44,289 --> 00:31:46,456
prostate cancer , it's probably not an 

870
00:31:46,456 --> 00:31:48,567
elective procedure . Uh So to my , to 

871
00:31:48,567 --> 00:31:50,567
my knowledge , uh that that initial 

872
00:31:50,567 --> 00:31:52,122
statement was coordinate in 

873
00:31:52,122 --> 00:31:54,233
consultation with his doctors . And , 

874
00:31:54,233 --> 00:31:56,344
and again , um recognizing that , you 

875
00:31:56,344 --> 00:31:58,400
know what we're , what I've provided 

876
00:31:58,400 --> 00:32:00,456
you today has come directly from his 

877
00:32:00,456 --> 00:32:02,979
doctors . Um You know , it , it says 

878
00:32:02,989 --> 00:32:06,099
here uh a minimally invasive surgical 

879
00:32:06,109 --> 00:32:09,400
procedure . So , uh again , um 

880
00:32:10,050 --> 00:32:12,670
recognizing that words matter , I think 

881
00:32:13,010 --> 00:32:14,843
we were trying to relay the best 

882
00:32:14,843 --> 00:32:16,954
information that we had at the time . 

883
00:32:16,954 --> 00:32:19,121
But , but again , to my knowledge that 

884
00:32:19,121 --> 00:32:21,232
initial statement was co ordinated in 

885
00:32:21,232 --> 00:32:23,343
consultation with uh the medical care 

886
00:32:23,343 --> 00:32:25,566
professionals . Ok . Let me go to Chris 

887
00:32:25,566 --> 00:32:27,732
and I'm sorry . And then we'll come um 

888
00:32:27,732 --> 00:32:29,621
if there was no delay uh with the 

889
00:32:29,621 --> 00:32:31,510
notifications and , and no public 

890
00:32:31,510 --> 00:32:33,677
fallout . Um Did the secretary and did 

891
00:32:33,677 --> 00:32:37,369
the department um plan to publicly um 

892
00:32:37,680 --> 00:32:39,859
acknowledge , um uh the secretary's 

893
00:32:39,869 --> 00:32:42,660
prostate cancer at some point , um 

894
00:32:42,670 --> 00:32:44,837
given that he's a cabinet member and a 

895
00:32:44,837 --> 00:32:47,239
public figure . So , in , in some ways , 

896
00:32:47,250 --> 00:32:49,361
uh it's a hypothetical because we are 

897
00:32:49,361 --> 00:32:51,500
where we are . Um But to answer your 

898
00:32:51,510 --> 00:32:53,621
question , Chris , I mean , the short 

899
00:32:53,621 --> 00:32:56,040
answer is yes . Um But I , I think 

900
00:32:56,050 --> 00:32:58,199
again , this review will help us 

901
00:32:58,209 --> 00:33:01,300
understand where we can do better in 

902
00:33:01,310 --> 00:33:03,421
terms of making sure that part of the 

903
00:33:03,421 --> 00:33:05,421
notification timeline , not only to 

904
00:33:05,421 --> 00:33:07,643
include the chain of command , but also 

905
00:33:07,643 --> 00:33:09,643
the public notification timeline is 

906
00:33:09,643 --> 00:33:11,977
taken into account . I don't , you know , 

907
00:33:11,977 --> 00:33:13,866
and again , we're talking about a 

908
00:33:13,866 --> 00:33:16,088
hypothetical and I'm speculating here . 

909
00:33:16,088 --> 00:33:15,719
And as a , as a public affairs official , 

910
00:33:15,979 --> 00:33:17,868
I can tell you that I don't see a 

911
00:33:17,868 --> 00:33:21,050
scenario whereby this happens and 

912
00:33:21,060 --> 00:33:23,290
there's never any public acknowledgment 

913
00:33:23,300 --> 00:33:26,119
about it , but in terms of how we the 

914
00:33:26,130 --> 00:33:28,297
timeline and how we get to where we're 

915
00:33:28,300 --> 00:33:30,411
at the point of OK , it's time to let 

916
00:33:30,411 --> 00:33:32,739
the public know , you know , clearly , 

917
00:33:33,199 --> 00:33:35,310
we could have done better and we will 

918
00:33:35,310 --> 00:33:37,619
do better . Yeah . Did you mention what 

919
00:33:37,630 --> 00:33:39,800
stage he was in with the prostate 

920
00:33:39,810 --> 00:33:43,130
cancer ? Um I'd , I'd refer you back to 

921
00:33:43,140 --> 00:33:46,939
the statement here . Um It , 

922
00:33:46,949 --> 00:33:50,589
it says that um identified 

923
00:33:50,599 --> 00:33:52,390
prostate cancer which required 

924
00:33:52,400 --> 00:33:54,550
treatment . Um He was admitted 

925
00:33:54,560 --> 00:33:56,689
underwent minimally invasive surgical 

926
00:33:56,699 --> 00:34:00,670
procedure . Um he recovered 

927
00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:03,013
on event . So , so no , I don't have it , 

928
00:34:03,013 --> 00:34:05,140
but it sounds like um his prostate 

929
00:34:05,150 --> 00:34:07,150
cancer was detected early and his 

930
00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:11,010
prognosis is excellent provided . Um 

931
00:34:11,020 --> 00:34:13,187
Again , we'll continue to consult with 

932
00:34:13,187 --> 00:34:15,629
his medical professionals . Um I'll 

933
00:34:15,639 --> 00:34:18,350
take that question again . Um Now , 

934
00:34:18,979 --> 00:34:21,520
recognizing again , uh lessons learned 

935
00:34:21,530 --> 00:34:24,620
on privacy and public officials , we'll 

936
00:34:24,629 --> 00:34:26,796
try to be as forthright as we can with 

937
00:34:26,796 --> 00:34:28,962
as much information as we can . You're 

938
00:34:28,962 --> 00:34:31,073
talking about transparency and I know 

939
00:34:31,073 --> 00:34:33,296
the administration has touted being the 

940
00:34:33,296 --> 00:34:33,239
most transparent as well as this 

941
00:34:33,250 --> 00:34:35,469
department . So again , I guess just 

942
00:34:35,479 --> 00:34:37,535
how could something like this happen 

943
00:34:37,535 --> 00:34:39,701
and how are you concerned ? This might 

944
00:34:39,701 --> 00:34:41,812
affect the public's trust in the , in 

945
00:34:41,812 --> 00:34:41,600
the secretary and in the department ? 

946
00:34:42,168 --> 00:34:44,309
Yeah , a again , you know , a as I 

947
00:34:44,319 --> 00:34:46,375
highlighted , uh we're gonna go back 

948
00:34:46,375 --> 00:34:48,486
and we're gonna look at what we could 

949
00:34:48,486 --> 00:34:50,541
have done better uh to include , you 

950
00:34:50,541 --> 00:34:52,208
know , within , within my own 

951
00:34:52,208 --> 00:34:54,430
organization on the public affairs side 

952
00:34:54,430 --> 00:34:55,986
and making sure that we are 

953
00:34:56,060 --> 00:34:58,060
acknowledging and asking those hard 

954
00:34:58,060 --> 00:34:59,949
questions about ensuring that the 

955
00:34:59,949 --> 00:35:01,893
public has a timely , not only the 

956
00:35:01,893 --> 00:35:04,004
public , public Congress and the news 

957
00:35:04,004 --> 00:35:05,838
media have a timely and accurate 

958
00:35:05,838 --> 00:35:08,171
understanding of the secretary's status . 

959
00:35:08,171 --> 00:35:10,489
Uh And so , um as I highlighted in my 

960
00:35:10,500 --> 00:35:12,722
topper , there's nothing more important 

961
00:35:12,722 --> 00:35:14,778
to us than the trust of the American 

962
00:35:14,778 --> 00:35:16,778
public that we serve and we realize 

963
00:35:16,778 --> 00:35:18,833
that trust has to be earned . And so 

964
00:35:18,833 --> 00:35:18,699
we're gonna work hard every day to make 

965
00:35:18,709 --> 00:35:20,820
sure that we are earning that trust . 

966
00:35:20,820 --> 00:35:22,931
But more importantly , deserving that 

967
00:35:22,931 --> 00:35:25,209
trust , let me get a few folks , James . 

968
00:35:25,209 --> 00:35:27,265
So , so I understand . Thank you for 

969
00:35:27,265 --> 00:35:28,987
the question general . Uh So I 

970
00:35:28,987 --> 00:35:30,876
understand that the secretary has 

971
00:35:30,876 --> 00:35:33,042
accepted responsibility for all this . 

972
00:35:33,042 --> 00:35:32,469
I understand that the Pentagon is doing 

973
00:35:32,479 --> 00:35:34,535
a 30 day review and I understand the 

974
00:35:34,535 --> 00:35:36,646
Pentagon is committed to transparency 

975
00:35:36,646 --> 00:35:38,812
uh particularly in their meetings with 

976
00:35:38,812 --> 00:35:40,868
the Pentagon Press Association . And 

977
00:35:40,868 --> 00:35:42,868
what they've said publicly , if you 

978
00:35:42,868 --> 00:35:44,923
read through any army field manual , 

979
00:35:44,923 --> 00:35:47,090
there will be a passage , particularly 

980
00:35:47,090 --> 00:35:49,201
field manuals on leadership that says 

981
00:35:49,201 --> 00:35:51,368
that leaders cannot lead without being 

982
00:35:51,368 --> 00:35:53,423
able to communicate clearly . And so 

983
00:35:53,423 --> 00:35:55,479
I'm wondering if the secretary views 

984
00:35:55,479 --> 00:35:57,479
this as a leadership failure versus 

985
00:35:57,479 --> 00:35:59,590
just shortcomings and transparency or 

986
00:35:59,590 --> 00:36:01,812
shortcomings and notification that it's 

987
00:36:01,812 --> 00:36:01,810
actually looked at as a leadership 

988
00:36:01,820 --> 00:36:03,931
failure either within the institution 

989
00:36:03,931 --> 00:36:07,110
or himself personally . Yeah , so a 

990
00:36:07,120 --> 00:36:09,342
couple of things , James and thanks for 

991
00:36:09,342 --> 00:36:11,564
the question . So first of all , um the 

992
00:36:11,564 --> 00:36:15,469
secretary in his statement uh on 

993
00:36:15,479 --> 00:36:18,729
Saturday has accepted responsibility 

994
00:36:18,739 --> 00:36:21,229
for the transparency issues associated 

995
00:36:21,239 --> 00:36:23,149
with that . So from a leadership 

996
00:36:23,159 --> 00:36:25,381
standpoint , he has , he's , he stepped 

997
00:36:25,381 --> 00:36:27,229
up and said , yes , I take 

998
00:36:27,239 --> 00:36:29,989
responsibility for this . Um And , and 

999
00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:32,610
again , importantly , this review will 

1000
00:36:32,620 --> 00:36:34,842
help us better understand not only from 

1001
00:36:34,842 --> 00:36:36,898
a process and procedure standpoint , 

1002
00:36:36,898 --> 00:36:38,787
but also where we could have done 

1003
00:36:38,787 --> 00:36:41,120
better and how we can do better moving 

1004
00:36:41,129 --> 00:36:43,351
forward in the future . So , you know , 

1005
00:36:43,351 --> 00:36:46,209
pa part of uh as you highlight part of 

1006
00:36:46,219 --> 00:36:48,330
leadership is understanding where you 

1007
00:36:48,330 --> 00:36:50,386
can do better uh and where there are 

1008
00:36:50,386 --> 00:36:52,608
shortfalls and then owning those and we 

1009
00:36:52,608 --> 00:36:54,775
are going to own those and we're gonna 

1010
00:36:54,775 --> 00:36:56,830
do better . Uh Not only because it's 

1011
00:36:56,830 --> 00:36:59,052
the right thing to do because it's also 

1012
00:36:59,052 --> 00:37:01,163
vitally important as we carry out our 

1013
00:37:01,163 --> 00:37:03,219
mission . So Natasha , I just have a 

1014
00:37:03,219 --> 00:37:05,441
quick follow up . So if the White House 

1015
00:37:05,441 --> 00:37:07,275
wasn't told of the December 22nd 

1016
00:37:07,275 --> 00:37:09,386
surgery when Austin was under general 

1017
00:37:09,386 --> 00:37:11,770
anesthesia and the authority and the 

1018
00:37:11,780 --> 00:37:13,891
powers were transferred to the deputy 

1019
00:37:13,891 --> 00:37:16,002
secretary , then what is the thinking 

1020
00:37:16,002 --> 00:37:17,947
there ? Of what if the White House 

1021
00:37:17,947 --> 00:37:20,280
needs to contact the defense department , 

1022
00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:22,280
the secretary and needs to issue an 

1023
00:37:22,280 --> 00:37:24,447
order , for example , then how do they 

1024
00:37:24,447 --> 00:37:24,280
know who to contact , what was the kind 

1025
00:37:24,290 --> 00:37:26,457
of the rationale behind not contacting 

1026
00:37:26,457 --> 00:37:28,623
them ? Um Well , again , you know , as 

1027
00:37:28,623 --> 00:37:30,734
I highlighted , um part of the change 

1028
00:37:30,734 --> 00:37:32,679
is effective immediately , will be 

1029
00:37:32,679 --> 00:37:34,568
providing an understanding of why 

1030
00:37:34,568 --> 00:37:36,790
authorities are being transferred . The 

1031
00:37:36,800 --> 00:37:38,911
transfer of authorities in conducting 

1032
00:37:38,911 --> 00:37:40,633
the day to day business of the 

1033
00:37:40,633 --> 00:37:42,800
department in and of themselves , self 

1034
00:37:42,800 --> 00:37:44,689
are not that uncommon . And so it 

1035
00:37:44,689 --> 00:37:46,744
wouldn't , you know , when the White 

1036
00:37:46,744 --> 00:37:49,078
House and , and again , I'm gonna kinda , 

1037
00:37:49,078 --> 00:37:51,133
uh I don't wanna say speculate , but 

1038
00:37:51,133 --> 00:37:53,411
I'm just gonna kind of give a scenario , 

1039
00:37:53,411 --> 00:37:53,320
you know , as I understand it , if the 

1040
00:37:53,330 --> 00:37:55,879
White House needs to contact uh the 

1041
00:37:55,889 --> 00:37:57,722
department , uh they're going to 

1042
00:37:57,722 --> 00:37:59,778
contact the department . And if , if 

1043
00:37:59,778 --> 00:38:01,833
the Deputy Secretary is in charge at 

1044
00:38:01,833 --> 00:38:03,889
that moment because authorities have 

1045
00:38:03,889 --> 00:38:03,840
been transferred . You know , she of 

1046
00:38:03,850 --> 00:38:06,729
course , will , will respond . Um uh a 

1047
00:38:06,739 --> 00:38:08,850
little bit of a hypothetical in terms 

1048
00:38:08,850 --> 00:38:10,850
of your question . If the president 

1049
00:38:10,850 --> 00:38:12,850
wanted to reach out directly to the 

1050
00:38:12,850 --> 00:38:15,017
secretary again , circumstantial , I I 

1051
00:38:15,017 --> 00:38:16,961
don't wanna get into hypotheticals 

1052
00:38:16,961 --> 00:38:19,128
other than to say part of this process 

1053
00:38:19,128 --> 00:38:21,295
improvement . And the steps that we've 

1054
00:38:21,295 --> 00:38:23,295
taken immediately is to ensure uh a 

1055
00:38:23,295 --> 00:38:25,128
wide understanding that transfer 

1056
00:38:25,128 --> 00:38:27,128
authorities have occurred . And why 

1057
00:38:27,128 --> 00:38:28,906
those transfer authorities have 

1058
00:38:28,906 --> 00:38:30,739
occurred particularly to include 

1059
00:38:30,739 --> 00:38:32,906
hospitalization , so that there can be 

1060
00:38:32,906 --> 00:38:35,149
an understanding of context in terms of 

1061
00:38:35,159 --> 00:38:37,381
when I might want to ask more questions 

1062
00:38:37,381 --> 00:38:39,548
if that makes sense . OK . And then in 

1063
00:38:39,548 --> 00:38:41,770
terms of the 30 day review , is there a 

1064
00:38:41,770 --> 00:38:43,548
reason why that's being handled 

1065
00:38:43,548 --> 00:38:45,879
internally rather than um by the IG uh 

1066
00:38:45,889 --> 00:38:48,199
well , so the Department of Defense 

1067
00:38:48,209 --> 00:38:50,265
Inspector General , of course , is a 

1068
00:38:50,265 --> 00:38:52,860
independent uh office and so I can't 

1069
00:38:52,870 --> 00:38:55,037
speak for them and what they may or or 

1070
00:38:55,037 --> 00:38:57,100
may not do , but what we can do uh 

1071
00:38:57,110 --> 00:38:59,221
within the office of the Secretary of 

1072
00:38:59,221 --> 00:39:01,221
Defense uh is we can take immediate 

1073
00:39:01,221 --> 00:39:04,139
action to review uh where we can do 

1074
00:39:04,149 --> 00:39:06,371
better how this happened , the relevant 

1075
00:39:06,371 --> 00:39:08,149
facts as I highlighted and then 

1076
00:39:08,149 --> 00:39:10,316
importantly , implement some immediate 

1077
00:39:10,316 --> 00:39:12,538
change to address uh some of the things 

1078
00:39:12,538 --> 00:39:14,705
that needed to be addressed . So let's 

1079
00:39:14,705 --> 00:39:16,705
just leave it at that , that review 

1080
00:39:16,705 --> 00:39:18,760
being made public . Uh So we will as 

1081
00:39:18,760 --> 00:39:20,982
soon as that review is complete . Uh We 

1082
00:39:20,982 --> 00:39:23,149
will of course uh work with you all to 

1083
00:39:23,149 --> 00:39:25,093
try to provide as much information 

1084
00:39:25,093 --> 00:39:27,427
about that review as we can . Thank you . 

1085
00:39:27,427 --> 00:39:29,649
I'm trying to get a better sense of the 

1086
00:39:29,649 --> 00:39:31,816
statement that came out on Friday . Um 

1087
00:39:31,816 --> 00:39:33,927
So Secretary Hicks learned about um , 

1088
00:39:33,927 --> 00:39:33,750
Secretary Austin's condition on 

1089
00:39:33,760 --> 00:39:36,090
Thursday and started to push for a 

1090
00:39:36,100 --> 00:39:38,267
statement to come out . Um at the same 

1091
00:39:38,267 --> 00:39:40,267
time , Secretary Austin's condition 

1092
00:39:40,375 --> 00:39:42,097
improved on Friday . So by the 

1093
00:39:42,097 --> 00:39:44,208
statement , by the time the statement 

1094
00:39:44,208 --> 00:39:46,264
came out , you could say he would um 

1095
00:39:46,264 --> 00:39:48,319
resume his responsibilities from the 

1096
00:39:48,319 --> 00:39:50,597
hospital . The timing of the statement , 

1097
00:39:50,597 --> 00:39:52,319
does that have more to do with 

1098
00:39:52,319 --> 00:39:54,319
Secretary Austin's condition or the 

1099
00:39:54,319 --> 00:39:57,110
push from Secretary Hicks ? So Liz , I , 

1100
00:39:57,120 --> 00:39:58,898
I don't have the answer to that 

1101
00:39:58,898 --> 00:40:00,898
question that that may be something 

1102
00:40:00,898 --> 00:40:03,176
that our review helps us to understand . 

1103
00:40:03,176 --> 00:40:05,398
Um But I do know that as that statement 

1104
00:40:05,398 --> 00:40:07,564
was coordinate , part of it was trying 

1105
00:40:07,564 --> 00:40:09,398
to make sure that we had as much 

1106
00:40:09,398 --> 00:40:11,564
information as possible in terms of uh 

1107
00:40:11,564 --> 00:40:11,350
the secretary status and , and 

1108
00:40:11,360 --> 00:40:13,830
condition , uh which again , we've been 

1109
00:40:13,840 --> 00:40:15,830
working to try to get as much 

1110
00:40:15,840 --> 00:40:18,879
information as possible . Um So that's , 

1111
00:40:18,889 --> 00:40:21,250
that's about as much as I can provide 

1112
00:40:21,260 --> 00:40:23,949
at this stage . Uh Certainly again , as 

1113
00:40:23,959 --> 00:40:26,389
we talked about yesterday , um Friday 

1114
00:40:26,399 --> 00:40:28,699
afternoon when there was uh an 

1115
00:40:28,709 --> 00:40:30,876
understanding that we were gonna put a 

1116
00:40:30,876 --> 00:40:33,080
statement out , you know , we tried to 

1117
00:40:33,090 --> 00:40:35,312
get that out as quick as we had . Could 

1118
00:40:35,312 --> 00:40:37,479
unfortunately , you know , it came out 

1119
00:40:37,479 --> 00:40:39,534
at Friday at five o'clock , which is 

1120
00:40:39,534 --> 00:40:41,590
obviously less than I did . Let me . 

1121
00:40:41,590 --> 00:40:43,820
Yes , ma'am . So I don't want to throw 

1122
00:40:43,949 --> 00:40:46,300
up on Taiwan on Monday . Taiwan's 

1123
00:40:46,310 --> 00:40:48,659
Defense Ministry reported three more 

1124
00:40:48,669 --> 00:40:50,725
balloons over the Taiwan Strait from 

1125
00:40:50,725 --> 00:40:53,189
China . So it depends upon monitoring 

1126
00:40:53,199 --> 00:40:55,421
this situation over Taiwan . And how do 

1127
00:40:55,421 --> 00:40:57,679
you assess such Chinese balloons to 

1128
00:40:57,699 --> 00:41:00,659
Taiwan before it's Taiwan's ? Yeah . So 

1129
00:41:00,669 --> 00:41:02,613
we , we're certainly aware of that 

1130
00:41:02,613 --> 00:41:04,780
reporting . I'd refer you to Taiwan to 

1131
00:41:04,780 --> 00:41:06,947
talk about their own airspace . But uh 

1132
00:41:06,947 --> 00:41:08,891
you know , as you highlight that , 

1133
00:41:08,891 --> 00:41:11,058
that's something that will continue to 

1134
00:41:11,058 --> 00:41:12,558
monitor , assumed his full 

1135
00:41:12,558 --> 00:41:14,725
responsibilities right now . Correct . 

1136
00:41:14,725 --> 00:41:16,891
Correct all of his responsibilities on 

1137
00:41:16,891 --> 00:41:19,113
Friday evening . Ok , because the Armed 

1138
00:41:19,113 --> 00:41:21,336
Services Committee tweeted out that the 

1139
00:41:21,336 --> 00:41:23,225
deputy is the one making calls to 

1140
00:41:23,225 --> 00:41:25,447
lawmakers right now . Well , that , you 

1141
00:41:25,447 --> 00:41:27,558
know , so the , the secretary and the 

1142
00:41:27,558 --> 00:41:29,780
deputy engage with Congress on a , on a 

1143
00:41:29,780 --> 00:41:32,320
regular basis . So Friday evening , uh 

1144
00:41:32,939 --> 00:41:35,459
the secretary resumed his full duties , 

1145
00:41:35,469 --> 00:41:37,469
right . So the the authorities were 

1146
00:41:37,469 --> 00:41:39,691
transferred on Tuesday afternoon to the 

1147
00:41:39,691 --> 00:41:42,159
deputy secretary and then resumed by 

1148
00:41:42,169 --> 00:41:44,280
the secretary on Friday evening . And 

1149
00:41:44,280 --> 00:41:46,649
he is again from his hospital room 

1150
00:41:46,659 --> 00:41:48,715
executing his full duties . Have you 

1151
00:41:48,715 --> 00:41:50,881
spoken with the secretary this year at 

1152
00:41:50,881 --> 00:41:52,770
all ? And if not , why not have I 

1153
00:41:52,770 --> 00:41:54,826
spoken with ? I have not spoken with 

1154
00:41:54,826 --> 00:41:57,449
the secretary . Um , again , no , 

1155
00:41:59,010 --> 00:42:01,310
I'm just still stuck on the fact that 

1156
00:42:01,320 --> 00:42:03,510
the secretary knew he had cancer in 

1157
00:42:03,520 --> 00:42:05,631
early December and he didn't tell the 

1158
00:42:05,631 --> 00:42:07,790
president for weeks . So if he kept 

1159
00:42:07,800 --> 00:42:10,022
that information from the president and 

1160
00:42:10,022 --> 00:42:12,189
from the public for weeks , why should 

1161
00:42:12,189 --> 00:42:14,244
we believe that he was going to tell 

1162
00:42:14,244 --> 00:42:16,300
the president at some point ? Lara ? 

1163
00:42:16,300 --> 00:42:18,356
Look again , I'm not gonna , I can't 

1164
00:42:18,356 --> 00:42:20,467
speak for the secretary when it comes 

1165
00:42:20,467 --> 00:42:22,244
to his , um you know , personal 

1166
00:42:22,244 --> 00:42:24,300
decision making as it relates to his 

1167
00:42:24,300 --> 00:42:27,219
medical condition . Uh Again , uh I'm 

1168
00:42:27,229 --> 00:42:29,007
gonna go out on a limb here and 

1169
00:42:29,007 --> 00:42:31,260
highlight the , um you know , the 

1170
00:42:31,270 --> 00:42:33,492
information that I read out to you from 

1171
00:42:33,492 --> 00:42:35,500
the statement from the doctors , 

1172
00:42:35,510 --> 00:42:39,290
obviously uh intensely personal . Uh 

1173
00:42:39,300 --> 00:42:42,820
and um you know , very detailed . Uh 

1174
00:42:42,830 --> 00:42:45,939
and so again , we recognize , and as 

1175
00:42:45,949 --> 00:42:48,810
I've highlighted , we'll learn and do 

1176
00:42:48,820 --> 00:42:50,876
better when it comes to transparency 

1177
00:42:50,876 --> 00:42:54,120
regarding uh the secretary and any 

1178
00:42:54,129 --> 00:42:56,899
health care . Um But again , we'll 

1179
00:42:56,909 --> 00:42:58,909
continue to push to provide as much 

1180
00:42:58,909 --> 00:43:01,020
information as possible when it comes 

1181
00:43:01,020 --> 00:43:03,020
to the Secretary of Defense and him 

1182
00:43:03,020 --> 00:43:05,131
executing his duties as the Secretary 

1183
00:43:05,131 --> 00:43:07,830
of Defense . Uh You will never find a 

1184
00:43:07,840 --> 00:43:10,409
more dedicated American public servant 

1185
00:43:10,530 --> 00:43:12,697
who cares about this country and cares 

1186
00:43:12,697 --> 00:43:15,090
about the security of this country . Um 

1187
00:43:15,100 --> 00:43:18,010
works seven days a week . Uh And , 

1188
00:43:19,040 --> 00:43:22,159
you know , he , he is extremely 

1189
00:43:22,169 --> 00:43:24,113
dedicated . Uh and , and I'll just 

1190
00:43:24,113 --> 00:43:26,500
leave it at that . So I'm confident uh 

1191
00:43:26,510 --> 00:43:28,454
and the president has also , and I 

1192
00:43:28,454 --> 00:43:30,677
don't want to speak for the president , 

1193
00:43:30,677 --> 00:43:32,899
but he's publicly stated his confidence 

1194
00:43:32,899 --> 00:43:34,788
in the secretary and I know he'll 

1195
00:43:34,788 --> 00:43:37,010
continue to remain focused on doing his 

1196
00:43:37,010 --> 00:43:39,232
mission ? Carla , did he find out about 

1197
00:43:39,232 --> 00:43:41,454
his cancer in December ? Is that a fact 

1198
00:43:41,454 --> 00:43:43,566
or was it prior to that ? I , I don't 

1199
00:43:43,566 --> 00:43:45,732
know the answer to that . We find that 

1200
00:43:45,732 --> 00:43:48,459
out . Uh , the statement he , he says 

1201
00:43:48,469 --> 00:43:50,350
he's undergone regular prostate 

1202
00:43:50,360 --> 00:43:52,699
surveillance changes in his laboratory 

1203
00:43:52,709 --> 00:43:54,765
evaluation in early December . So it 

1204
00:43:54,765 --> 00:43:56,653
sounds like he found out in early 

1205
00:43:56,653 --> 00:43:58,765
December . Let me try to get a couple 

1206
00:43:58,765 --> 00:44:00,876
of folks . I haven't gotten to yet if 

1207
00:44:00,876 --> 00:44:03,153
you can just clear something up for me . 

1208
00:44:03,153 --> 00:44:05,209
So if the secretary's chief of staff 

1209
00:44:05,209 --> 00:44:07,542
was out sick and couldn't notify people , 

1210
00:44:07,542 --> 00:44:09,598
uh why couldn't the second person in 

1211
00:44:09,598 --> 00:44:09,239
line do that ? Can you just explain 

1212
00:44:09,250 --> 00:44:11,472
more why you couldn't be done in a more 

1213
00:44:11,472 --> 00:44:13,806
timely fashion ? Yeah . Again , this is , 

1214
00:44:13,806 --> 00:44:15,972
is part of what our review will , will 

1215
00:44:15,972 --> 00:44:17,694
look at . Um And , and as I've 

1216
00:44:17,694 --> 00:44:19,750
highlighted , you know , we're not , 

1217
00:44:19,750 --> 00:44:21,972
we're not making excuses here . There's 

1218
00:44:21,972 --> 00:44:21,810
definitely things that could have been 

1219
00:44:21,820 --> 00:44:23,889
done better , uh in this particular 

1220
00:44:23,899 --> 00:44:26,449
case , uh the secretary's chief of 

1221
00:44:26,459 --> 00:44:30,060
staff , um because she was ill , was 

1222
00:44:30,070 --> 00:44:32,237
not able to make those notifications . 

1223
00:44:32,237 --> 00:44:34,570
But again , our review will allow us to 

1224
00:44:34,580 --> 00:44:36,929
have a better understanding , uh you 

1225
00:44:36,939 --> 00:44:39,750
know , of the what and when and where 

1226
00:44:39,760 --> 00:44:42,093
and why and more importantly , you know , 

1227
00:44:42,093 --> 00:44:44,260
we're taking immediate actions to make 

1228
00:44:44,260 --> 00:44:46,427
sure that things like this . Uh we can 

1229
00:44:46,427 --> 00:44:49,850
prove in the future . Ok . Yes , ma'am . 

1230
00:44:50,629 --> 00:44:52,685
Uh Thank you for doing this . I just 

1231
00:44:52,685 --> 00:44:54,750
wanna get a little bit of clarity on 

1232
00:44:54,760 --> 00:44:56,704
you said you that , uh , Secretary 

1233
00:44:56,704 --> 00:44:58,790
Austin transferred some operational 

1234
00:44:58,800 --> 00:45:00,689
authorities to Secretary , Deputy 

1235
00:45:00,689 --> 00:45:03,800
Secretary hicks . Can you quantify this 

1236
00:45:03,810 --> 00:45:05,977
for me ? Was it like she had to take a 

1237
00:45:05,977 --> 00:45:08,199
handful of phone calls while she was on 

1238
00:45:08,199 --> 00:45:10,088
leave or was it more like she was 

1239
00:45:10,088 --> 00:45:12,143
working full time essentially during 

1240
00:45:12,143 --> 00:45:14,366
those five days between January 1st and 

1241
00:45:14,366 --> 00:45:16,366
January 5th when Austin resumed his 

1242
00:45:16,366 --> 00:45:19,139
full authorities . Uh , so , uh , it 

1243
00:45:19,149 --> 00:45:20,949
transferred certain operational 

1244
00:45:20,959 --> 00:45:22,848
authorities that require security 

1245
00:45:22,848 --> 00:45:25,129
communications uh during that period of 

1246
00:45:25,139 --> 00:45:27,600
time , uh she executed some routine 

1247
00:45:27,610 --> 00:45:29,919
business on behalf of the secretary . 

1248
00:45:30,280 --> 00:45:32,502
Um But that , that was about the extent 

1249
00:45:32,502 --> 00:45:35,110
of it was like a few hours a day or can 

1250
00:45:35,120 --> 00:45:36,953
you kind of , I , I don't have a 

1251
00:45:36,953 --> 00:45:39,064
breakdown day by day of , of what she 

1252
00:45:39,064 --> 00:45:41,287
did . And when other than to say it was 

1253
00:45:41,287 --> 00:45:43,120
um you know , considered routine 

1254
00:45:43,120 --> 00:45:45,120
business and I have been completely 

1255
00:45:45,120 --> 00:45:47,120
remiss about our folks on the phone 

1256
00:45:47,120 --> 00:45:49,342
here . So let me go to a few folks . Uh 

1257
00:45:49,342 --> 00:45:52,590
Dan Lamothe from Washington Post . Hey 

1258
00:45:52,600 --> 00:45:54,840
General , thanks for your time . Uh 

1259
00:45:54,850 --> 00:45:56,909
Secretaries , Austin's typically 

1260
00:45:56,919 --> 00:45:58,719
include both kind of immediate 

1261
00:45:58,729 --> 00:46:00,951
operational issues but then also longer 

1262
00:46:00,951 --> 00:46:03,840
lead policy sort of discussions . Uh Is 

1263
00:46:03,850 --> 00:46:06,017
it fair to say that some of the longer 

1264
00:46:06,017 --> 00:46:08,239
lead planning has slowed or had to come 

1265
00:46:08,239 --> 00:46:09,850
to a stop as he balances his 

1266
00:46:09,850 --> 00:46:12,419
recuperation and then separately , uh 

1267
00:46:12,429 --> 00:46:15,179
with uh se uh Deputy Secretary Hicks 

1268
00:46:15,189 --> 00:46:17,300
being left in the dark here . Can you 

1269
00:46:17,300 --> 00:46:19,411
characterize the relationship at this 

1270
00:46:19,411 --> 00:46:22,080
point . Yeah , thanks Dan . Um , when , 

1271
00:46:22,090 --> 00:46:24,257
when it comes to the , the longer lead 

1272
00:46:24,257 --> 00:46:26,489
policy items , you know , the , the 

1273
00:46:26,500 --> 00:46:28,929
department of Defense is a team sport 

1274
00:46:29,310 --> 00:46:31,570
and we , we certainly have very capable 

1275
00:46:31,580 --> 00:46:34,010
senior leaders . Uh , not only at the 

1276
00:46:34,020 --> 00:46:36,187
office of the Secretary of Defense but 

1277
00:46:36,187 --> 00:46:38,076
throughout the department . So to 

1278
00:46:38,076 --> 00:46:40,242
answer your question , you know , no , 

1279
00:46:40,242 --> 00:46:42,464
it's not my sense that , uh , there was 

1280
00:46:42,464 --> 00:46:44,570
any , um , you know , slow down in 

1281
00:46:44,580 --> 00:46:46,747
terms of the things that we've already 

1282
00:46:46,747 --> 00:46:49,989
been uh working on , uh in terms of the , 

1283
00:46:50,000 --> 00:46:52,169
the relationship between the secretary 

1284
00:46:52,179 --> 00:46:54,290
and the deputy secretary . Uh They of 

1285
00:46:54,290 --> 00:46:56,457
course , share a very close uh working 

1286
00:46:56,457 --> 00:47:00,010
relationship . Uh And so , um you know , 

1287
00:47:00,050 --> 00:47:01,939
clearly they , they work together 

1288
00:47:01,939 --> 00:47:05,419
regularly and um you know , so it's a 

1289
00:47:05,429 --> 00:47:07,540
great team . So I'll just leave it at 

1290
00:47:07,540 --> 00:47:09,429
that . Let me go to uh Tony Capac 

1291
00:47:09,739 --> 00:47:10,739
Bloomberg , 

1292
00:47:17,290 --> 00:47:20,959
Johnny . Ok . 

1293
00:47:21,189 --> 00:47:23,610
Um I'm probably talking too long . Uh 

1294
00:47:23,620 --> 00:47:25,120
Let me go to Mike Breast . 

1295
00:47:28,469 --> 00:47:30,530
Hi , thanks for doing this . Uh I'm 

1296
00:47:30,540 --> 00:47:33,080
hoping to nail down on the transfer of 

1297
00:47:33,090 --> 00:47:36,179
authorities . Can Secretary Austin uh 

1298
00:47:36,610 --> 00:47:38,989
transfer some authorities sometimes but 

1299
00:47:39,000 --> 00:47:41,810
not other times uh when they , when he 

1300
00:47:41,820 --> 00:47:43,931
transferred powers on December 22nd , 

1301
00:47:43,931 --> 00:47:45,830
was it the same exact transfer of 

1302
00:47:45,840 --> 00:47:47,951
powers that happened on January 2nd ? 

1303
00:47:48,189 --> 00:47:50,245
Uh and is it fair to say that Deputy 

1304
00:47:50,245 --> 00:47:52,399
Secretary Hicks was uh serving in an 

1305
00:47:52,409 --> 00:47:54,530
acting secretary capacity last week ? 

1306
00:47:55,389 --> 00:47:58,850
Yeah . So , so again , uh this would be 

1307
00:47:58,860 --> 00:48:00,860
the transfer of certain operational 

1308
00:48:00,860 --> 00:48:03,129
authorities that require secure 

1309
00:48:03,139 --> 00:48:06,310
communications . And so , uh for , and , 

1310
00:48:06,320 --> 00:48:08,989
and again , uh it's not necessarily 

1311
00:48:09,000 --> 00:48:11,000
uncommon and it doesn't necessarily 

1312
00:48:11,000 --> 00:48:13,167
have to be related to health reasons . 

1313
00:48:13,167 --> 00:48:15,167
Um With some of you , I've used the 

1314
00:48:15,167 --> 00:48:17,222
example when he traveled to the US S 

1315
00:48:17,222 --> 00:48:20,090
Ford um in December to visit uh the 

1316
00:48:20,100 --> 00:48:23,610
crew , he had to be transported on a , 

1317
00:48:23,620 --> 00:48:25,787
a Navy Sea two aircraft which ha which 

1318
00:48:25,787 --> 00:48:28,009
had limited communications . And so for 

1319
00:48:28,009 --> 00:48:30,649
that 45 minute flight , for example , 

1320
00:48:30,659 --> 00:48:32,715
he would transfer authorities to the 

1321
00:48:32,715 --> 00:48:34,548
Deputy Secretary so that there's 

1322
00:48:34,548 --> 00:48:38,169
positive uh control of those 

1323
00:48:38,179 --> 00:48:40,346
certain operational authorities during 

1324
00:48:40,346 --> 00:48:42,457
that time . And then of course , when 

1325
00:48:42,457 --> 00:48:44,512
he gets to the ship , those are then 

1326
00:48:44,512 --> 00:48:46,623
resumed back by the , the secretary . 

1327
00:48:46,623 --> 00:48:48,679
So that that in and of itself is a , 

1328
00:48:48,679 --> 00:48:50,457
you know , a process that's not 

1329
00:48:50,457 --> 00:48:52,810
uncommon . Let me go to uh Mike Glenn 

1330
00:48:52,820 --> 00:48:55,449
Washington Times . Uh Thanks pad . Uh 

1331
00:48:55,459 --> 00:48:57,681
My question has already been answered . 

1332
00:48:57,681 --> 00:48:59,737
You can go ahead someone else . Ok , 

1333
00:48:59,737 --> 00:49:02,479
thanks . Um JJ Green General . Thank 

1334
00:49:02,489 --> 00:49:05,100
you . Um Considering that a review is 

1335
00:49:05,110 --> 00:49:07,388
underway , it'll take a while for that . 

1336
00:49:07,388 --> 00:49:09,443
But um just the question in the , in 

1337
00:49:09,443 --> 00:49:11,554
the interim that I have is what's the 

1338
00:49:11,554 --> 00:49:14,919
order of the communications chain from 

1339
00:49:15,040 --> 00:49:17,096
the Secretary of Defense down to the 

1340
00:49:17,096 --> 00:49:19,151
team and out to the president and to 

1341
00:49:19,151 --> 00:49:21,373
others ? What does the , what does that 

1342
00:49:21,373 --> 00:49:23,760
order look like ? Well JJ , it's hard , 

1343
00:49:23,770 --> 00:49:25,548
it's hard for me to answer that 

1344
00:49:25,548 --> 00:49:27,881
question just based on the fact that it , 

1345
00:49:27,881 --> 00:49:30,048
it depends on the circumstances and it 

1346
00:49:30,048 --> 00:49:32,159
depends on what we're talking about . 

1347
00:49:32,159 --> 00:49:34,214
So , um , you know , I'm , I'm , I'm 

1348
00:49:34,214 --> 00:49:36,159
not really able to , to give you a 

1349
00:49:36,159 --> 00:49:38,214
specific answer . Um , and certainly 

1350
00:49:38,214 --> 00:49:40,326
don't want to go into hypotheticals . 

1351
00:49:40,326 --> 00:49:42,437
Um , but clearly , uh , you know , at 

1352
00:49:42,437 --> 00:49:46,379
no time during this process was , uh or 

1353
00:49:46,389 --> 00:49:49,139
this , this situation uh was 

1354
00:49:50,250 --> 00:49:53,449
national security ever . Uh in jeopardy , 

1355
00:49:53,459 --> 00:49:55,626
there was positive control between the 

1356
00:49:55,626 --> 00:49:57,848
secretary and the deputy secretary . Uh 

1357
00:49:57,848 --> 00:50:00,520
And so again , those operational 

1358
00:50:00,530 --> 00:50:03,310
authorities were resident with the 

1359
00:50:03,320 --> 00:50:05,376
secretary or the deputy secretary at 

1360
00:50:05,376 --> 00:50:07,699
any at any moment . Thank you . Let me 

1361
00:50:07,709 --> 00:50:09,765
go back to the room here , Chris and 

1362
00:50:09,765 --> 00:50:11,931
then Joseph a clarifying question just 

1363
00:50:11,931 --> 00:50:13,876
because we're working off a lot of 

1364
00:50:13,876 --> 00:50:16,042
examples . The car example , could you 

1365
00:50:16,042 --> 00:50:17,987
now or perhaps take the question , 

1366
00:50:17,987 --> 00:50:20,889
provide us what exactly are the full 

1367
00:50:20,899 --> 00:50:23,121
authorities of the Secretary of Defense 

1368
00:50:23,121 --> 00:50:26,060
and what you define that as because I 

1369
00:50:26,070 --> 00:50:28,292
it seems like , you know , there's some 

1370
00:50:28,292 --> 00:50:30,237
confusion among our readership and 

1371
00:50:30,237 --> 00:50:32,348
amongst ourselves of what exactly are 

1372
00:50:32,348 --> 00:50:34,459
the full authorities of the Secretary 

1373
00:50:34,459 --> 00:50:36,792
of Defense here ? Again , I , I'm Chris , 

1374
00:50:36,792 --> 00:50:38,959
I'm not able to get into specifics for 

1375
00:50:38,959 --> 00:50:41,070
operation security reasons other than 

1376
00:50:41,070 --> 00:50:43,181
to say , you know , if , if there are 

1377
00:50:43,181 --> 00:50:45,292
certain things uh that require secure 

1378
00:50:45,292 --> 00:50:47,292
communications , whether it's , you 

1379
00:50:47,292 --> 00:50:49,514
know , command and control of forces uh 

1380
00:50:49,514 --> 00:50:51,570
related to certain operations around 

1381
00:50:51,570 --> 00:50:53,737
the world , um Those authorities would 

1382
00:50:53,737 --> 00:50:55,626
then be transferred to the Deputy 

1383
00:50:55,626 --> 00:50:58,129
Secretary so that she is uh able to 

1384
00:50:58,139 --> 00:50:59,917
make decisions on behalf of the 

1385
00:50:59,917 --> 00:51:02,770
secretary if he's not able to access 

1386
00:51:02,780 --> 00:51:04,947
those communications . Now . Certainly 

1387
00:51:04,947 --> 00:51:07,113
there's a lot of other things that the 

1388
00:51:07,113 --> 00:51:09,336
Department of Defense does that doesn't 

1389
00:51:09,336 --> 00:51:11,336
require secure communications or it 

1390
00:51:11,336 --> 00:51:13,169
doesn't require the Secretary of 

1391
00:51:13,169 --> 00:51:15,002
Defense to personally make those 

1392
00:51:15,002 --> 00:51:17,224
decisions . But what we're talking here 

1393
00:51:17,224 --> 00:51:19,336
is , is strategic level operational , 

1394
00:51:19,336 --> 00:51:22,870
um authorities related to , um you know , 

1395
00:51:22,879 --> 00:51:25,300
the d the department's business . So I 

1396
00:51:25,310 --> 00:51:27,489
just have to leave it at that Joseph 

1397
00:51:27,760 --> 00:51:30,149
yesterday , a statement from here said 

1398
00:51:30,159 --> 00:51:32,290
that um Secretary Austin received an 

1399
00:51:32,300 --> 00:51:34,522
operational update from Carilla and the 

1400
00:51:34,522 --> 00:51:37,949
joint chiefs chair . Um was that the 

1401
00:51:37,959 --> 00:51:40,126
only one , was that the first one he's 

1402
00:51:40,126 --> 00:51:42,237
had this year ? And then previously , 

1403
00:51:42,237 --> 00:51:44,379
those four or five days before , were 

1404
00:51:44,389 --> 00:51:46,389
those were their operational update 

1405
00:51:46,389 --> 00:51:48,611
provided secretary hicks or were they , 

1406
00:51:48,611 --> 00:51:50,667
was there any gap in with everything 

1407
00:51:50,667 --> 00:51:52,667
going on the income ? So the Deputy 

1408
00:51:52,667 --> 00:51:55,550
secretary uh you know , receives 

1409
00:51:55,560 --> 00:51:57,919
operational intelligence updates every 

1410
00:51:57,929 --> 00:52:00,689
single day uh in particular when the 

1411
00:52:00,699 --> 00:52:02,921
secretary was in the hospital , but the 

1412
00:52:02,921 --> 00:52:04,977
secretary began to again receive his 

1413
00:52:04,977 --> 00:52:07,919
presidential daily brief and his uh 

1414
00:52:07,929 --> 00:52:10,780
operational updates on Saturday after 

1415
00:52:10,790 --> 00:52:13,699
resuming full duties on Friday evening . 

1416
00:52:13,979 --> 00:52:16,540
And so , um you know , I think we 

1417
00:52:16,550 --> 00:52:18,606
highlighted , he spoke to the deputy 

1418
00:52:18,606 --> 00:52:20,439
secretary and to the chairman on 

1419
00:52:20,439 --> 00:52:22,770
Saturday , he spoke to Senator Reed on 

1420
00:52:22,780 --> 00:52:24,649
Sunday . Um And then of course , 

1421
00:52:24,659 --> 00:52:26,881
yesterday , as you highlighted , he had 

1422
00:52:26,881 --> 00:52:29,103
a , a discussion with the folks that we 

1423
00:52:29,103 --> 00:52:31,159
highlighted in that release . Uh And 

1424
00:52:31,159 --> 00:52:33,326
again , he's conducting his duties now 

1425
00:52:33,326 --> 00:52:35,548
from his hospital room . Uh But again , 

1426
00:52:35,548 --> 00:52:37,492
he's resumed his full duties . All 

1427
00:52:37,492 --> 00:52:39,715
right , let me go to uh Tom Bowman N Pr 

1428
00:52:45,290 --> 00:52:47,623
All right . And then , uh Howard Altman , 

1429
00:52:48,830 --> 00:52:50,941
thanks Pat . I have a few questions . 

1430
00:52:50,941 --> 00:52:53,850
Um So the , the Secretary of Defense 

1431
00:52:53,860 --> 00:52:56,770
serves in an advisory capacity in the 

1432
00:52:56,800 --> 00:52:59,570
uh nuclear command and control system 

1433
00:52:59,580 --> 00:53:01,691
and he's not a chain of command , but 

1434
00:53:01,691 --> 00:53:04,129
he's an advisor , a key advisor . Did 

1435
00:53:04,139 --> 00:53:08,050
he ever relinquish that capacity uh 

1436
00:53:08,060 --> 00:53:10,889
during this process ? If so to whom ? 

1437
00:53:11,179 --> 00:53:13,346
And , and was the president aware that 

1438
00:53:13,346 --> 00:53:16,860
his advisor in this capacity wasn't 

1439
00:53:16,870 --> 00:53:19,830
available ? And then additionally , on 

1440
00:53:19,840 --> 00:53:22,270
this review process , does that review 

1441
00:53:22,280 --> 00:53:24,280
process , do you anticipate that it 

1442
00:53:24,280 --> 00:53:25,836
might result in any kind of 

1443
00:53:25,836 --> 00:53:28,058
disciplinary actions ? You know , given 

1444
00:53:28,058 --> 00:53:30,350
the lack of information provided up and 

1445
00:53:30,360 --> 00:53:33,149
down the chain ? Yeah , thanks Howard . 

1446
00:53:33,159 --> 00:53:35,103
Um So , you know , questions again 

1447
00:53:35,103 --> 00:53:37,270
about the President , I'd refer you to 

1448
00:53:37,270 --> 00:53:39,270
the White House um as I highlighted 

1449
00:53:39,270 --> 00:53:41,479
earlier , um when it comes to the 

1450
00:53:41,489 --> 00:53:44,620
necessary authorities to carry out the 

1451
00:53:44,629 --> 00:53:47,239
operational um business of the 

1452
00:53:47,250 --> 00:53:50,340
Department of Defense , the Secretary 

1453
00:53:50,350 --> 00:53:52,406
or the Deputy Secretary had positive 

1454
00:53:52,406 --> 00:53:54,628
control at all times . And so to answer 

1455
00:53:54,628 --> 00:53:57,199
your question , um no , there was no 

1456
00:53:57,209 --> 00:54:00,800
impact on , on our ability to make sure 

1457
00:54:00,810 --> 00:54:03,159
that uh regardless of , of what we're 

1458
00:54:03,169 --> 00:54:05,280
talking about operationally , there , 

1459
00:54:05,280 --> 00:54:07,391
there was a senior leader at the helm 

1460
00:54:07,391 --> 00:54:09,336
uh ensuring that national security 

1461
00:54:09,336 --> 00:54:11,225
requirements uh were , were being 

1462
00:54:11,225 --> 00:54:13,520
covered in terms of the outcomes of the 

1463
00:54:13,530 --> 00:54:15,752
review . Again , I don't , I don't want 

1464
00:54:15,752 --> 00:54:17,863
to speculate um I highlighted and you 

1465
00:54:17,863 --> 00:54:19,974
have , you should have the memo uh or 

1466
00:54:19,974 --> 00:54:22,141
we can get you a copy of the memo that 

1467
00:54:22,141 --> 00:54:24,252
highlights what this review will look 

1468
00:54:24,252 --> 00:54:26,308
at . And so certainly we'll keep you 

1469
00:54:26,308 --> 00:54:28,419
informed on that . We go to Nancy and 

1470
00:54:28,419 --> 00:54:30,474
Tara and then last question um Pat , 

1471
00:54:30,474 --> 00:54:32,641
there's a White House briefing of some 

1472
00:54:32,641 --> 00:54:34,863
kind happening . And John Kirby , um in 

1473
00:54:34,863 --> 00:54:34,530
that briefing said that the president 

1474
00:54:34,540 --> 00:54:36,590
learned of the secretary's prostate 

1475
00:54:36,600 --> 00:54:39,179
cancer diagnosis this morning . Can you 

1476
00:54:39,189 --> 00:54:41,189
tell us a little bit more about how 

1477
00:54:41,189 --> 00:54:43,356
that was communicated ? Um And why the 

1478
00:54:43,356 --> 00:54:45,189
secretary chose to tell him this 

1479
00:54:45,189 --> 00:54:47,600
morning , um We're answering questions 

1480
00:54:47,610 --> 00:54:49,499
right here from the podium , from 

1481
00:54:49,499 --> 00:54:51,610
outside the podium . So that's good . 

1482
00:54:51,610 --> 00:54:54,870
So , um yeah , so uh Nancy , I , I 

1483
00:54:54,879 --> 00:54:57,046
don't have the specifics of that other 

1484
00:54:57,046 --> 00:54:59,229
than again , um You know , we have 

1485
00:54:59,239 --> 00:55:01,350
continued to try to ensure that we're 

1486
00:55:01,350 --> 00:55:03,461
getting you as much information about 

1487
00:55:03,461 --> 00:55:05,572
the secretary's status . So I'd refer 

1488
00:55:05,572 --> 00:55:07,739
you to Mr Kirby to , to talk about the 

1489
00:55:07,739 --> 00:55:09,961
discussions the White House uh may have 

1490
00:55:09,961 --> 00:55:12,128
had in terms of how they obtained that 

1491
00:55:12,128 --> 00:55:14,239
information . I guess my curiosity is 

1492
00:55:14,239 --> 00:55:16,406
why he didn't mention it on Saturday . 

1493
00:55:16,406 --> 00:55:16,229
I think that's when they first spoke 

1494
00:55:17,129 --> 00:55:19,185
again . I'd I'd have to defer to the 

1495
00:55:19,185 --> 00:55:21,129
White House to talk about how they 

1496
00:55:21,129 --> 00:55:24,189
obtained information . Let me Tara and 

1497
00:55:24,199 --> 00:55:26,419
can't start the press conference over 

1498
00:55:26,429 --> 00:55:28,540
again . Guys then related to that 

1499
00:55:28,550 --> 00:55:30,883
question . I didn't ask a question . Uh , 

1500
00:55:30,883 --> 00:55:32,717
did Secretary Austin talk to the 

1501
00:55:32,717 --> 00:55:35,260
president today ? Uh , to my knowledge , 

1502
00:55:35,270 --> 00:55:37,214
he has not talked to the president 

1503
00:55:37,214 --> 00:55:39,103
today , but I've been up here for 

1504
00:55:39,103 --> 00:55:41,326
almost an hour or so . But to my , if , 

1505
00:55:41,326 --> 00:55:43,381
if that's the case , obviously , I'm 

1506
00:55:43,381 --> 00:55:43,280
sure the White House will let us know , 

1507
00:55:43,290 --> 00:55:45,679
but I'm not aware of a discussion today 

1508
00:55:47,459 --> 00:55:49,570
and also on that with the president , 

1509
00:55:49,570 --> 00:55:52,520
not finding out until today , he spoke 

1510
00:55:52,530 --> 00:55:54,808
with them after the procedure . I mean , 

1511
00:55:54,808 --> 00:55:56,919
they , they had a conversation on the 

1512
00:55:56,919 --> 00:55:59,141
first where he authorized the strike in 

1513
00:55:59,141 --> 00:56:01,252
Baghdad . So was he going to tell the 

1514
00:56:01,252 --> 00:56:04,090
president about his cancer ? Was he not 

1515
00:56:04,100 --> 00:56:06,211
going to tell the president , why did 

1516
00:56:06,211 --> 00:56:08,800
he withhold that ? Uh Carl , I don't 

1517
00:56:08,810 --> 00:56:10,866
have anything to provide beyond what 

1518
00:56:10,866 --> 00:56:13,110
I've spelled out to you . Um And , and 

1519
00:56:13,120 --> 00:56:15,287
as you highlight again , I'm not gonna 

1520
00:56:15,287 --> 00:56:17,398
get into when strikes were authorized 

1521
00:56:17,398 --> 00:56:19,231
other than the strike in Iraq on 

1522
00:56:19,231 --> 00:56:21,229
January 4th was authorized by the 

1523
00:56:21,239 --> 00:56:23,350
president and the secretary before he 

1524
00:56:23,350 --> 00:56:25,406
went into the hospital . So , uh the 

1525
00:56:25,406 --> 00:56:26,906
same com commander had the 

1526
00:56:26,906 --> 00:56:29,072
authorization to take that strike when 

1527
00:56:29,072 --> 00:56:31,239
he felt it was appropriate last week . 

1528
00:56:31,239 --> 00:56:33,406
Said apparently at the , we're all see 

1529
00:56:33,406 --> 00:56:35,406
from White House colleagues that he 

1530
00:56:35,406 --> 00:56:34,820
said that that secretary told the 

1531
00:56:34,830 --> 00:56:36,774
president today in some capacity . 

1532
00:56:36,774 --> 00:56:38,774
However , that was communicated , I 

1533
00:56:38,774 --> 00:56:40,886
would imagine it's on the phone . I , 

1534
00:56:40,886 --> 00:56:42,830
what I'm unclear about is we had a 

1535
00:56:42,830 --> 00:56:42,739
statement from Secretary Austin on 

1536
00:56:42,750 --> 00:56:44,939
Saturday committing to doing better 

1537
00:56:44,949 --> 00:56:47,171
about transparency . And it seems as if 

1538
00:56:47,171 --> 00:56:49,227
he didn't even , you guys don't even 

1539
00:56:49,227 --> 00:56:51,338
know that he called the president and 

1540
00:56:51,338 --> 00:56:53,449
told him this today . It just doesn't 

1541
00:56:53,449 --> 00:56:53,030
seem like that . You know , it's , it's 

1542
00:56:53,040 --> 00:56:55,469
only been three days and already he , 

1543
00:56:55,479 --> 00:56:57,535
he's not being more transparent with 

1544
00:56:57,535 --> 00:56:59,646
the White House over the weekend with 

1545
00:56:59,646 --> 00:57:01,868
his diagnosis and he's not even telling 

1546
00:57:01,868 --> 00:57:03,979
you guys . I , I guess , II , I would 

1547
00:57:03,979 --> 00:57:06,201
love to know it and I would , I wish we 

1548
00:57:06,201 --> 00:57:06,020
could ask these questions of him . And 

1549
00:57:06,030 --> 00:57:08,141
I guess as part of his transparency , 

1550
00:57:08,141 --> 00:57:10,030
I'll just put out here . We would 

1551
00:57:10,030 --> 00:57:12,141
appreciate having an opportunity when 

1552
00:57:12,141 --> 00:57:14,252
he's better , of course , and feeling 

1553
00:57:14,252 --> 00:57:16,419
up to it um to ask him these questions 

1554
00:57:16,419 --> 00:57:18,474
himself , why , why he didn't inform 

1555
00:57:18,474 --> 00:57:18,439
his press secretary that he called the 

1556
00:57:18,449 --> 00:57:20,782
president and told him this morning . I , 

1557
00:57:20,782 --> 00:57:23,060
I appreciate that Courtney . And again , 

1558
00:57:23,060 --> 00:57:25,060
um you know , that as the secretary 

1559
00:57:25,060 --> 00:57:27,282
highlighted and as you highlighted , uh 

1560
00:57:27,282 --> 00:57:29,171
he has made a commitment to uh do 

1561
00:57:29,171 --> 00:57:31,227
better when it comes to transparency 

1562
00:57:31,227 --> 00:57:31,199
and we'll certainly take the , the 

1563
00:57:31,209 --> 00:57:34,280
request uh to have him come brief you . 

1564
00:57:34,300 --> 00:57:36,522
Uh here in the briefing room , you guys 

1565
00:57:36,522 --> 00:57:39,439
have all been , he's not planning on 

1566
00:57:39,449 --> 00:57:41,560
resigning . Uh You all have been very 

1567
00:57:41,560 --> 00:57:43,782
patient today . Thank you very much and 

1568
00:57:43,782 --> 00:57:44,469
I hope you have a great day . Thank you .