defense official. but those confusing media messages could have had national security implications. >> this could be just considered a mistake or a miscommunication between the navy and the pentagon and the pentagon and the white house. that's fine. you have mistakes sometimes in military operations. but when you have these kinds of mistakes and it sends an indicator that there is a lack of coordination, a lack of coordinated effort, it could be problematic to friends and foes alike. >> defense secretary james mattek defended the mixed messages. >> the bottom line in our effort to be open about what we're doing, we said we were going to change the "vinson's" upcoming schedule. >> as for the overall message on north korea, those within the administration appear to be taking on the good cop, bad cop routine. >> just in the past two weeks, the world witnessed the strength and resolve of our new