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Prostate surgery. Reporters asked where President Biden and the white house knew about secretary austins position . This is about an hour. As part of sec. Austins routinely recommended health screening, he has undergone regular antigen tsa surveillance. Changes in his Laboratory Evaluation in early december of 2023 identified Prostate Cancer, which required treatment. On december 22, 20 23, after consultation with his medical team, he was admitted to Walter Reed Medical Center and underwent a minimally Invasive Surgery to treat and cure Prostate Cancer. He was under general anesthesia during this procedure. Secretary austin recovered from his surgery and returned home the next morning. His Prostate Cancer was detected early in his prognosis is excellent. On january 1, 2024, secretary austin was admitted to Walter Reed Medical Center with complications from the december 22 procedure. Including nausea with severe abdominal hip and leg pain. Initial evaluation revealed a urinary tract infection. On january 2, the decision was made to transfer him to the icu for close monitoring and a higher level of care. Further evaluation revealed abdominal fluid and peering the function of the small intestines. This resulted in the backup of his intestinal contents, which was treated by placing a tube through his nose to drain his stomach. The abdominal fluid collections were drained by nonsurgical drain placement. He has progressed steadily throughout his day. His infections cleared. He continues to make progress and we anticipate a full recovery, although this can be a slows a slow process. Secretary austin never lost consciousness and never underwent general anesthesia. Prostate cancer is the most common cause of cancer among american men and it impacts one in every eight men and one in every six africanamerican men in their lifetime. Despite the frequency of Prostate Cancer in screening and treatment are personal and private. Early screening is important for detection and treatment of Prostate Cancer and people should talk to their doctors to see what screening is appropriate for them. Secretary austin continues to recover well and remains in good spirits. Hes in contact with his senior staff and has full access to capabilities and continues to monitor eods daytoday operations worldwide. At this time i do not have information to provide in terms of when he will be released from the hospital but will keep you updated and until then we will release daily status updates on his condition. We in the department of defense wish him a speedy recovery. The department recognizes the understandable concerns expressed by the public, congress and the news media in terms of notification, timelines and transparency. I want to underscore that secretary austin has taken responsibility for the issues with transparency in the department is taking immediate steps to improve our notification procedures. Yesterday the secretarys chief of staff directed the dod director of administration and management to conduct a 30 day review of the departments notification process or assumption of functions and duties of the secretary of defense. While the review is underway and Effective Immediately, the chief of staff directed several actions to ensure increased situation awareness about any transfer of authorities from the secretary of defense to include ensuring the dod general counsel, the chairman and vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, commanders, service secretaries, Service Chiefs of staff, the white house situation room and senior staff of the secretary and deputy secretary of defense are notified. That the notification for transfer of dirties includes an explanation of the region. We will keep you updated regarding the results of the review and the significant changes to process procedures as appropriate. As i highlighted yesterday, nothing is more important to the secretary of defense and the department of defense and the trusting confidence of the American People in the public we serve and we continue to work hard every day to earn and deserve that trust. Separately, deputy secretary Kathleen Hicks is traveling in route to u. S. Based command headquarters at Peterson Space for space in colorado. Tomorrow she will preside over the u. S. Based command change of command at 12 00 p. M. The event will be live streamed on defense. Gov. Also, dr. Michael chase, deputy secretary of defense for china, taiwan and mongolia began talks with peoples republic of china major general. Deputy director of the military office for International Military cooperation. At the pentagon for the 17th u. S. Prc defense policy coordination talks. Those meetings conclude today and we will issue a read this afternoon. Finally, as some may be aware, the you and the United States of america vietnam war commemoration was launched authorized by congress under the secretary of defense in support of a national 50th Anniversary Commemoration to thank the nations Vietnam Veterans and their families for their service and sacrifice on behalf of our nation. Thousands of organizations known as commemorative partners have joined the u. S. Vietnam war commemoration to honor americans Vietnam Veterans at home and abroad in the 10 million families of all those who served. This saturday, january 13 at 4 00 p. M. Eastern, a special commemoration of the legacy of vietnam war veterans and gold star families in a renewal of commitment to account for those heroes who may remain missing 50 years after the wars end, will be observed at the National Cathedral in washington, d. C. Supply the air and Space Force Association and the supporting organizations. The event is open to the public and will also be livestreamed. For more details, i refer you to the National Cathedral website. With that, i will take your questions and start with the associated press. Thank you for doing this. Have you are the staff had a chance to speak to the secretary, and has he shared why he was reluctant to make his condition public until now . Given the seriousness of his treatment, he might have to take a step back from some of the more rigorous parts of his job, such as the overseas travel he has been doing and delegate that to secretary hicks . The staff has been in contact with the secretary. I have not personally spoken to the secretary, but i do know he is in regular communication with this chief of staff. As per his travel schedule, i dont have anything to announce, i could tell you he is actively engaged in his duties, as i highlighted. , fully engaged. Im completely confident in that and we will keep you updated in terms of his status in the hospital. Has he expressed why he was reluctant to share what he was going through until now . At ohio that specifically from the secretary, but as i highlighted, its Prostate Cancer and the associated procedures are deeply personal, so, again, we will continue to work hard that we are paying as transparent as possible moving forward. Again, which to secretary a speedy recovery. There is still a lot of questions on the process about all of the notification that didnt happen when he was taken by ambulance to walter reed and had his personal security detail with them. Why wasnt there a call to an operation system or something that would trigger the greater awareness that he was getting medical care . A fair question, for the sake of not doing the review from the podium as i highlighted, the director of administration and management has been directed to lead a thorough review to look at those kinds of questions. The relevant circumstances during the time in question to evaluate the processes and procedures by which the deputy secretary of defense was notified and the associated timeline. We will commit to being as transparent as we can in terms of the review. The chief of staff and senior military advisor were told on tuesday secretary austin was in the hospital. Could the chief of staff could ask them to make the proper notification for her since she was sick with the flu . We fully recognize that there are going to be many questions in terms of notification timelines, as why as well as the transparency issues weve highlighted. I really think that this review will help us get to the truth in a holistic way so that we can learn from it importantly, but also ensure we are doing better next time. I think we need to allow this review to run its course. In the meantime, we have taken immediate steps as ive highlighted at the top. With that be under procedure to notify the White House National security advisor . Certainly we want to make sure notifications are happening in a timely way and there were some shortfalls, so its important we look at what those shortfalls were, what couldve been done better and make sure Going Forward we are in we are improving those processes. Do you still think its appropriate to call his medical procedure and elective medical procedure if it was treating Prostate Cancer . Im going to defer to medical officials. We released this information as soon as we had it, so, again, i will refer back to the statement. Going forward we will use it as the baseline in terms of describing. In this particular case, as soon as we have the information made available to us, we have provided to you. It seems like you are deceived by telling everyone that it was an elected medical procedure and by telling that to the public. It doesnt seem elective if he had Prostate Cancer and was treating it. Im not a medical professional. We will provide you with the information we have as quickly as we have it in recognizing, as i say that, we couldve done a better job last week. Again, we have this information now from these medical professionals, and i think that it will go along way in terms of helping the understand the situation and what needs to be done Going Forward. One was President Biden notified the secretary was diagnosed . I dont know. The memo that was directed by austins chief of staff that lays out the 30 day review thats going to be done doesnt mention the initial december 22 hospital stay. Has the pentagon determined that in that instance all notification procedures were followed despite the white house not being notified for surgery knowing he was under general anesthesia . I think the information that we gather in the lessons that we learn from last week will be applicable across the board. It would similarly apply to the situation on december 22. The bottom line is ensuring that if there is a transfer of authority, making sure the appropriate Senior Leaders in the chain of command know, and that importantly, there is a rationale to be able to provide some perspective in terms of why these transfers of authority are occurring. Certainly, Lessons Learned from that will be applied to transfers of authority in the future. Prior to him going under general anesthesia, he transferred his authorities to the general secretary . That is correct. When this happened in december, whose decision was it not to alert the president that the defense had Prostate Cancer . As far as this situation, in terms of what the elective surgery was in the secretaries condition, we are providing that information to you as we have received it. We received it this afternoon and we are providing it to you now. Clearly you didnt know, the chief of staff, did the chief of staff know . I wont go into specifics of who knew what, when and where, our review will help us understand. As soon as we have this information to make available, we provided it. We got it this afternoon and we have provided it minutes before i stepped in here. Did he lose consciousness at all during the december 22 surgery . To my knowledge, no. Has a secretary been on other medication that might harm his judgment . I have no indications anything that would affect his decisionmaking abilities. As i highlighted in the statement, at no time was he unconscious or under general anesthesia and is in the presence of them for the presence. When he resumed full duties on friday evening, that was in consultation with medical professionals. As we highlighted in the press releases that we put out, he continues to stay very actively engage with the senior staff and as making important decisions about National Security and defense. Has he asked the chief of staff to resign or has she offered to resign . No. The white house chief of staff put out a statement about procedures, as the secretary believe he has become a distraction for the administration in which he serves during an Election Year . The sec. Rep continues to remain carrying out his duties. Secretary blinken said the death toll in gaza was high. And they mentioned the terms. Does the pentagon agreement as we said for a long time, any civilian debt is a tragedy. The secretary and others, as we have engage with our israeli partners, continue to encourage them to do Everything Possible to mitigate and will continue to do that. No one wants to see civilians killed in this conflict, whether they be palestinian or israeli. We will continue to work towards that. They issued a statement condemning u. S. Weakness. Do you have any update that you can share and do you have reaction to the u. S. Being too weak . The u. S. Is not being two weeks two week. We are working to address the threat. Operation prosperity guardian is bringing together 20 nations to help safeguard International Commerce in mariners that are in the red sea. We will continue to work very closely to help deter by presence and also help to safeguard those ships that are transiting additionally. A statement was put out highlighting that there will be consequences for any type of continued attacks. Im not going to speculate or get in the hypotheticals or what of what we may or may not do. As it is addressing those issues as to say it will be addressing those issues. The secretary is expected to host the pentagon, has that been canceled for the pentagon preparing this . I dont have the specific details other than to say, we will continue to assess the secretary schedule in terms of here at the pentagon. Certainly, as things seem to be delegated, we will do that, the business of the department, the daytoday business continues, and the secretary is conducting his duties from the hospital. We will be sure to keep you and others updated in terms of who may be carrying out those specific duties or functions, or if we have to reschedule things. But right now, i dont have specifics. Just so i understand the timeline, President Biden did not find out austin was in the hospital until thursday, correct . Correct. We dont know at this time when President Biden was notified or if he was notified that he had Prostate Cancer . I have to refer you to the white house, i dont want to get into who was telling the president what and when. Why did it take so long to get President Biden and why did the statement take so long, assuming she returned on thursday morning. The statement did not come out until friday after 5 00, thats two full business days. What was the delay in the statement. We usually get delays. I covered a lot of this during yesterday, i recognize not everybody was there. When the notifications occurred, to the staff on tuesday, because the secretaries chief of staff was ill with the flu, it impacted a delay in reporting it to the deputy secretary staff and to the National Security advisor. Again, we recognize there were some shortfalls in this in terms of the obvious question about delegation, thats what this review will help us look at, where we can improve processes to ensure these kind of things dont happen again going into the future. I understand that. It still took all day thursday and all day friday to get a statement out. Im wondering where the delay was a was. We recognize we have to do a better job in terms of the timeliness and transparency when it comes to the Secretaries Health and we are committed to making sure we dont do this again and do a better job next time. Could you provide any updates on the Service Members in the attack . I would have to refer you. The latest numbers of attacks . Since january 4, there has been nine attacks since january 4, there has been 127 attacks total, 52 in iraq, 75 in syria. You previously said that the pentagon was looking into reports. Im just wondering if theres any updates on that . I dont have any updates, i havent seen anything come back. I would refer you to the israelis, they would know whether they did or not, im not aware of any updates or anything significant coming back at this stage. You talk about iraq, my question is do you have a deadline for the u. S. Withdrawal in iraq, will you stay as long as isis or until after the Iraqi Government wants you to stay or leave the country . We are in iraq at the invitation of the invitation of iraq. As you highlight, we remain focused on the defeat isis mission. We remain in close consultation with the Iraqi Government when it comes to the u. S. Safety and security of those forces. So we are engaged in a coordinated and deliver process with the government of iraq to discuss the evolution of that in a manner that preserves these games against isis and helps to ensure they can never come back. Im not going to speculate or get into internal iraqi discussions, but we will continue to consult closely with our iraqi partners. We are there at the invitation of the government of iraq. Two questions, the first on japan [indiscernible]. We do remain in close communication with the government of japan. We will continue to keep you updated. On taiwan, the president ial election will take place on saturday. How concerned is the pentagon that china might step up its Pressure Campaign against taiwan depending on the outcome of the election . We strongly support taiwans free and fair elections, which we view as a model for democracy not only in the region, but globally. The United States does not take sides in taiwans elections. We are committed to fair treatment of the candidates. Our policy on taiwan will remain the same regardless of which party is in power and we look forward to working with whomever taiwan voters elect. The u. S. One china policy will continue to be guided by the three joint communique on the six assurances. You have been just seeing the campaign. There are some concerns reemerg. How would you assess it in iraq . Its really interesting having watched this overtime. Isis, iraq and syria have been largely suppressed. I think its one of those things you have to keep after. One of the major challenges is the the tension facility, which we continue to work with coalitions and countries around the world to address that. Post counter isis campaign, the active operations when isis was defeated in syria, what weve seen is isis essentially look to metastasize elsewhere, most notably in the african continent and in places like afghanistan. So this is really not only in iraq and syria challenge but its broader, regional, and in some cases, a global challenge. As they demonstrated back in 2014, if thats allowed to happen, obviously disastrous consequences for many. It has been largely suppressed. The u. S. Is been advising and training Iraqi Security forces for years. Does the pentagon think that Iraqi Security forces are able to deal with the Current Situation that is the threat of isis that has been largely suppressed . Thats the question for the Iraqi Security forces. We are there at the invitation of the security government. You and i have been watching this for a very long time and the Iraqi Security forces have been incredibly effective. They are fantastic forces. Really, like elsewhere in the world, anytime we have forces present, it will be there at the invitation of those countries. Iraq, United States and International Community prevent this and we could city to be president at the invitation. Of got a couple folks over here. Youve stated that they have been encouraging to minimize harm among civilians. We have been hearing this since the beginning of the war. Now we are talking about more than 23,000 killed. If you would try to great your efforts so far, how successfully where after your efforts and secretary efforts in convincing the israelis to reduce harm . Again, we talked about the incredible challenge that we have in terms of the threat that hamas presents to the people of israel, in existential threat by an organization that has committed to eliminating israel as a company demonstrated by their attacks and their public statements that they want to see such things continue again and again. You are seeing an incredibly dense urban environment with an adversary that is completely fine with using civilians as shields. We dont underestimate the challenge thats in front of israel when it comes to confronting the threat and we continue to support their right to defend themselves. Again, we will continue to actively discuss in this that they conduct those operations in accordance with conflict and International Humanitarian law. So, at the end of the day, these are sovereign decisions made by a sovereign government and we will continue to work closely with them to try to underscore the importance of ensuring that they are taking civilian harm into account. Recognizing you dont want to have tactical victories but strategic defeat. Let me go back over here. I have two points that i need clarified. You said the secretary did not lose consciousness but he was under generallance. This is according to his doctors. He never lost consciousness and never underwent general and anesthesia. Thats why am confused. I have to take that question. He was under general anesthesia for the operation rated we keep talking about were initially told january 1 or 2 [indiscernible] who told them . I dont have an answer. Will the secretary attending the nato meetings neck week . And if not, has he told the appropriate members . Again recognizing that the secretarys schedule will continue to change, imim not im not aware he was scheduled to attend any meetings overseas next week regardless. We do have a ukraine contact group, as we do typically monthly but i dont have dates on that right now. We will keep you and others informed. Has the secretary should he face future medical procedures or need to leave for whatever reason that he will inform the public in a more timely manner . I think under all of this and i want to be very clear, i think we recognize the need to be better when it comes to transparency. And as a senior d. O. D. Public affairs official, i will work very hard with our senior staff to make sure that we are doing Due Diligence and meeting the standard that the public expects and communicated very loudly throughout this provides. To answer your question, yes. The secretary is committed to that . I refer to the secretarys statement that he is committed to doing better when it comes to transparency. Go back to the statement that was issued on friday which was said elected procedure. Can you tell us who used the word elective . How was that word chosen. And Prostate Cancer . To my knowledge that initial statement was coordinated in consultation with his doctors and recognizing what i have provided you today has come from his doctors. It says here a minimally invasive surgical procedure. So, again, recognizing that words matter, i think we were trying to relay the best information we had at the time. But again to my knowledge that initial statement was coordinated in consultation with the medical care professionals. Let me go to chris, im sorry. If there was no delay in the notifications and no public fallout, did the secretary and the Department Plan to publicly acknowledge secretarys cancer at some point given he is a cabinet member and public figure . In some ways it is a hypothetical. Because we are where we are. But to answer your question, chris, the short answer is yes. But i think this review will help us understand where we can do better in terms of making sure that part of the notification timeline not only to include the chain of command and public timeline is taken into account. And we are talking about a hypothetical and speculating here as a public official, i dont see a scenario whereby this happens and there is never any public acknowledgement about it, but in terms of the timeline and how we get to where we are at the point it is time to let the public know, clearly we could have done better and will do better. Did you mention what stage he was in with the Prostate Cancer . I refer you back to the statement here. It says that identified Prostate Cancer which required treatment. He was admitted and underwent minimally invasive surgical procedure and recovered no. But it sounds like his Prostate Cancer was detected early and his prognosis is excellent. What stage . We will consult with his medical professionals and ill take that question again. Im now recognizing again Lessons Learned on privacy and public officials. We will try to be forthright with as much information as we can. The administration has touted being the most transparent as well as the department. How this might affect the Publics Trust in the secretary and in the department . Again, as i highlighted, we are going to go back and look at what we could have done better to include within my own organization on the Public Affairs side and making sure that we are acknowledging and asking those hard questions as well as ensuring not only the public, congress and the news media have a timely and accurate understanding of the secretarys status. And so as i highlighted in my topper, there is nothing more important than to the trust to the American Public and has to be earned and we are earning that trust and more importantly deserving that trust. James. I understand that the secretary has accepted responsibility for all this and the pentagon is doing a review and the pentagon is committed to transparency particularly in the meetings with the press association. If you read through the Army Field Manual there is a passage that says leaders cannot lead without being aiblg to communicate clearly. Im wondering if this was a leadership failure versus rather than shortcomings and there was a leadership failure within the institution or himself personally . Thanks for the question. First of all, the secretary in his statement on saturday has accepted responsibility for the transparency issues associated with that. From a leadership standpoint, he has. He stepped up and said, i take responsibility for this. And again, importantly, this review will help us better understand not only from a process and procedure standpoint but where we could have done better and do better moving forward in the future. Part of leadership is understanding where you can do better and where there are shortfalls and owning those and we will do better not only because it is the right thing to do but it is also vitally important to carry out our mission. If the white house wasnt told of the december 22 procedure and referred to the deputy secretary and what if the white house needs to contact the secretary and issue an order and how do they know who to contact . As i highlighted, part of the changes Effective Immediately will be providing an understanding of where authorities are being transferred. The transfer of authorities in conducting the daytoday business of the department in and of themselves is not uncommon. When the white house and im going to kind of i dont want to speculate but give a scenario, if the white house needs to contact the department, they are going to contact the department and if the deputy secretary is in charge at that moment because authority has been transferred, she will respond. A little bit of a hypothetical in terms of your question, if the president wanted to reach out directly to the secretary, i dont want to get into hypotheticals but say the steps we have taken immediately is to ensure a wide understanding that transfer authorities have occurred and why those transfer authorities have occurred to include hospitalization, so there can be an understanding of context in terms of wanting to ask more questions. In terms of the 30day review, why is that being handled internally rather than by the i. G. . The department of defense Inspector General is an independent office and i cant speak for them and what they may or may not do. But what we can do within the office of the secretary of defense, we can take immediate action to review where we can do better, how this happen, the relevant facts and implement immediate change to address some of the things that needed to be addressed. Will that review be made public . As soon as that review is complete, we will work with you to provide as much information as we can. Im trying to get a better sense of the statement that came out on friday. The secretary explained about the statement and pushed at the same time and secretary austin condition improved on friday. [indiscernible] the timing of the statement, does that have more to do with secretary austins condition . I dont have the answer to that question, that may be something our review helps us to understand. I know that statement was coordinated and part of it was to make as much information as possible in terms of the secretarys status and condition and we are trying to get as much information as possible. Thats as much as i can provide at this stage. Certainly again as we talked about yesterday, friday afternoon when there was an understanding that we were going to put a statement out, we tried to get that out as quickly as we could. And came out on friday at 5 00 which is less than ideal. Is the pentagon monitoring the situation over taiwan . We are aware of that reporting and refer you to taiwan to talk about their own airspace. Thats something we will continue to monitor. [indiscernible] all responsibilities on friday evening. The Armed Services Committee Said the deputy is making calls. The secretary meets on a regular basis. Friday evening, the secretary resumed his full duties so the authorities were transferred on tuesday afternoon to the deputy secretary and then resumed by the secretary on friday evening. And he is again from his hospital room executing his full duties. Have you spoken with the secretary at all . I have not spoken with the secretary. No. I am still stuck that the secretary knew he had cancer in early december and didnt tell the president. If he kept that information from the president and the public why should we believe he was going to tell the president . I cant speak for the secretary when it comes to his personal Decision Making as it relates to his medical condition. Im going to go out on a limb here and highlight the information that i read out to you from the statement from the doctors obviously intensely personal and very detailed. And so, again, we recognize and i have highlighted or learned and will do better when it comes to transparency regarding the secretary and any health care, but, again, well continue to provide as much information as possible. When it comes to the secretary of defense and him executing his duties as the secretary of defense, you will never find a more dedicated American Public servant who cares about this country and cares about the security of this country and works seven days a week and you know, is extremely dedicated and ill leave it at that. I am confident and the president is also. I wont speak for the president but he has publicly stated his confidence in the secretary and will remain focused on doing his mission. Did he find out about his condition in december or was it prior to that . I dont know the answer to that. Can we find that out . He says he has undergone regular prostate, changes in his Laboratory Evaluation. Sounds like he found out in early december. Can you clear something up for me. Is the secretary and chief of staff out sick and couldnt notify people. Why couldnt it have been done in a timely fashion . Our review will look at that. And as i have highlighted, we are not making excuses here and things that could have been done better in this particular case. The secretarys chief of staff because she was ill, was not able to make those notifications. But again, our review will allow us to have a better understanding of what, when, where and why and taking actions to ensure that things like this can improve in the future. Thank you for doing this. I want to get a little bit of clarity, you said secretary austin transferred Operational Authority to deputy secretary hicks. Was it like she had to take a handful of phone calls when she was on leave or working between january 1 and january 5 when austin resumed his full authority . It transferred certain operational authorities that requires communications. During that period of time, she executed some routine business on behalf of the secretary. But that was about the extent of it. A few hours a day or i dont have a breakdown of what she did and when other than to say it was considered routine business. And i have remiss about our folks here in the front. Dan from the washington post. Thanks for your time. Secretary austin included immediate issues and leave policy discussions. Longer leave policy has slowed or come to a stop when it comes to his recuperation. And deputy secretary hicks being left in the dark, can you characterize their relationship at this point . When it comes to the longer lead policy items, the department of defense is a team sport. And we have very capable Senior Leaders not only at the office of secretary of defense but throughout the department. So to answer your question, no, its not my sense that there was any slowdown in terms of the things that we have already been working on. In terms of the relationship between the secretary and the deputy secretary, they share a very close working relationship and so, you know, clearly they Work Together regularly and its a great team. Ill leave it at that. Let me go to tony from bloomberg bloomberg. Tony . Ok. Probably talking too long. Mike brust. Thanks for doing this. I am hoping to nail down of the transfer of authority. Can secretary austin transfer some authority sometimes but not other times . When he transferred powers on december 22 was it the exact same that happened on january 2. Deputy secretary was acting in in a temporary capacity last week . The transfer of certain operational authorities that require secure communications and again, its not necessarily uncommon and doesnt have to be related to health reasons. When he traveled to the uss ford in december to visit the crew, he had to be transported on a navy c2 aircraft which had limited communications so for that 45minute flight, he would transfer authorities to the deputy secretary so there is positive control of those certain operational authorities during that time and when he gets to the ship, those are resumed back by the secretary. That in and of itself is a process thats not uncommon. Mike from washington times. My question has already been answered. J. J. Green. General, thank you. Considering a review is underway and will take a while for that, but the question in the interim that i have is what is the order of the communications chain from the secretary of defense down to the team and out to the president and others, what does that order look like . Its hard for me to answer that question based on the fact that it depends on the circumstances and what we are talking about. So im not really able to give you a specific answer and dont want to go into hypotheticals. But clearly at no time during this process was or the situation was National Security ever in jeopardy. There was positive control between the secretary and deputy secretary. So again those operational authorities were resident with the secretary or deputy secretary at any moment. Chris and then joseph. Could you now or perhaps provide us what exactly are the full authorities of secretary of defense and define that because it seems like there is confusion among yourselves as to what are the full authorities of the secretary of defense . Im not able to get into specifics for operation security reasons other than to say if there are certain things that require secure communications whether it is command and control of forces related to certain operations around the world, those authorities would be transferred to the deputy secretary so that she is able to make decisions on behalf of the secretary if hes not able to access those communication the. There is a wide of other things that the secretary does that doesnt require communications or the secretary of defense to make those decisions but talking about strategic level operational authorities related to the departments business. I have to leave it at that. Joseph. Yesterday, a statement from here secretary austin received an operational update. Was that the first one you have had this year . And previous four, five days before, and was there any gap and everything going on at the same time . The deputy secretary receives Operational Intelligence updates every single day in particular when the secretary was in the hospital, but the secretary began to receive his president ial daily brief and his operational updates on saturday after resuming on friday evening. And we have highlighted he spoke to the deputy secretary and chairman on saturday. And spoke to senator reed on saturday and yesterday, he had a discussion with the folks that we highlighted in that release and conducting duties from his hospital room but he has resumed his full duties. Todd bowman, npr. And then howard altman. The secretary of defense serves as an advisory. Did he ever relinquish that capacity during this process . If so, to whom and was the president aware that his adviser in this capacity wasnt available . And then, the review process it might result in any kind of disciplinary action given the lack of information given up and down the chain . Where there are questions about the president , i refer you to the white house. As i highlighted earlier, when it comes to the necessary authorities to carry out the operational business of the department of defense, the secretary or the deputy secretary had positive control at all times. So to answer your question, no, there was no impact on our ability to make sure that regardless of what we are talking about operationally, there was a Senior Leader at the helm ensuring that National Security requirements were being covered. In terms of the outcomes of the review, i dont want to speculate, i have highlighted and you should have a copy of the memo that highlights what this review. Nancy and tara. White house briefing and john kirby said that the president that the president learned the secretary had Prostate Cancer and how was that communicated and why the secretary told him this morning . We are answering questions right here from the podium. So, i dont have the specifics to that other than we have continued to try to continue to give you as much information about the secretarys status and i refer you to talk to mr. Kirby, the white house may have obtained that. When you mentioned on saturday, that is when they first spoke . I have to defer to the white house about how they obtained information. Related to that question, did secretary austin talk to the president today . To my knowledge he has not talked to the president today but i have been almost up here for an hour. If that is the case, the white house will let us know. But im not aware of a discussion today. With the president not finding out until today, he spoke with him after the procedure and you said they had a conversation first authorizing the strike in baghdad, was he going to tell the president about his cancer. Why did he withhold that . I dont have anything to provide beyond what i spelled out to you. Im not going to get into when strikes were authorized other than the strike in iraq was authorized by the president and the secretary before he went into the hospital. They had the authorization to take that strike. Last question. What im unclear about, the secretary committed to doing better about transparency and you dont know that he called the president. It has been three days and he is not being transparent with the white house over the weekend with his diagnosis. I would love to know and you can can ask him and part of the transparency, we would like to know when he is feeling better to ask him these questionses himself, why he didnt tell the press secretary . I appreciate that. But as the secretary highlighted and you highlighted, he made a commitment to do better when it comes to transparency and will brief you here in the briefing room. He is not planning on resigning. Thank you very much. Have a great day. Cspan now is a free mobile app featuring your unfiltered view of washington, live and ondemand. Keep up with livestreams and hearings from u. S. Congress, white house events, campaigns and more from the world of politics at your fingertips. Stay current with washington journal and find information for cspan, cspan radio app and compelling podcasts. Cspan now is available at the apple store and google play. Download it for free or visit cspan. Org now. Your front row to washington anytime, anywhere. Cspan is your unfiltered view of government funded by these companies and more, including cox. Cooling devries syndrome is extremely rare. Friends do not have to be. When you are connected you are not al cox support cspan along with these television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. Healthy democracy does not just look like this, it looks like this. Americans can see democracy at work, citizens are informed, a republic drives. Get informed from the source on cspan. Unfiltered, unbiased, word for word from the Nations Capital to wherever you are because the opinion that matters the most is your own. Cspan, powered by cable reuters ireporting information about lloyd austins health folwing his hospitalization. Secretary austin is being trted for a urinary tract in following a treatment for cancer. The white house was not in warmed of thsecretary status. The Biden Administration issued guidines ordering cabinet heads to notify a chief of staff they

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