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Correspondent oren liebermann. we're about to hear from the defense secretary, lloyd austin, joint chiefs of staff chairman general mark milloy. what are we expecting from them? >> the last time we heard from defense secretary austin as well as general milley was on september 1st. after the withdrawal of afghanistan. it says something about the seriousness and significance of the moment we'll be hearing from both of these two leaders. we're not expecting any major announcements in terms of deployments. we're not expecting an activation of the 8,500 u.s. troops that have been given the heighten...

His decisions will take him. but we remain concerned about the range of options that he could pursue and we'll stay focused on this problem set. and i'll turn to the chairman there for his thoughts. >> in terms of the size of the forces that are amassed right now, they could. i mean, it's potntial. we don't think there's been a decision as the secretary already made. but, sure, with 100,000 troops and you've got combined arms formations, ground maneuver, artillery, rockets, air and all the other parts that go with it, there's a potential that they could launch on very, very little warning. tha...

93 squadrons, four carriers, many more surface combtants. the military capability of nato is very, very significant. in addition to bordering belarus and moldova, ukraine has a border with four nato members. poland, slovakia, hungary and romania. the president and the secretary of defense have authorized the united states military to increase our readiness in the event we have to reinforce or assist our nato allies. war is not inevitable as the secretary said. the right answer here is a diplomatic solution. i look forward to your questions. >> thanks, chairman. we'll turn to questions now. we'...

Against one is an attack against all. and i thought that was a really important statement for the secretary and the chairman to affirm. >> he is getting more attention right now. that is putin. but in terms of his calculations, general clark, so far, putin's actions have actually sparked a boost in nato troops and arms in russia's backyard. he's basically provided justification for nato to expand further, should it desire so. isn't that his worst nightmare? did putin orverplay his hand? >> it absolutely is. his worst option is nato stays united and countries there continue to seek nato protect...

>> -- covering this press conference on zoom and the secretary and chairman will be taking questions from both in the room and on zoom. given the unique circumstances and, of course, the pressing schedules today, i'd ask you to please limit your follow-up questions so we can get a chance to get through everybody. and i'll be coming back to call it towards the end of it as we get ready to close. both secretary and chairman have opening statements. i will stop talking now so that they can deliver their opening statements and we'll get right to questions. mr. secretary? >> thanks to everybody. i'...