On Tuesday, State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce held a press briefing.
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NewsTranscript
00:00excellent excellent hi everybody Tuesday yes we had our trip and we we agreed that Monday maybe
00:16might not be the best idea but also of course the White House is very busy yesterday very busy day
00:21for the country for the world Andrea Mitchell nice to see you again here Matt Lee's not so
00:26much but there you go no what can I say no you haven't and many of you the benefit of being in
00:34the bullpen is that you got it you got a very brief visit from the Secretary of State because
00:40Matt Lee encountered him somewhere in the hallway and and you invited him invited him into the bullpen
00:49and of course yes that's right male privilege right there invited him into because you know he knows
00:55he knows the bullpen from the airplane the Secretary of State likes talking with you which is very
01:01apparent to my chagrin sometimes 30 minutes on the record it makes it makes a person like me very
01:07nervous but he up but so he sees it somebody thinks oh this must be my friend and so he follows him into
01:13the room with the bullpen but I I hope you enjoyed that we're wanting we're gonna do more hopefully more
01:19of that I and welcome aboard everyone again thank you very much for for being here so I do have a
01:25couple announcements for you today since my last briefing Secretary Rubio traveled to Brussels to
01:32attend the NATO foreign ministers conference during the conference he had important conversations with
01:37our NATO allies about increasing defense spending indeed President Trump deserves credit for completely
01:43changing the conversation on NATO defense and we have a secretary who knows how to have that
01:48conversation since the November election for NATO allies that publicly announced that they support
01:53President Trump's call for allies to increase their defense spending to 5% of GDP this is Estonia
01:59Latvia Lithuania and Poland another 10 allies have announced additional increases to their defense
02:05spending since President Trump took office in January in the words of Secretary Rubio we want NATO to be
02:12stronger we want NATO to be more viable and the only way NATO can get stronger and more viable is if our partners the
02:20nation-states that comprise this important alliance have more capability while in Brussels Secretary Rubio also met with our
02:28Indo-Pacific partners about the threats the Chinese Communist Party poses to our security and prosperity the region needs to be free from
02:35China's coercive and unfair trade policies our security depends on it now here's an update from our response to the March 28 earthquake in Burma and
02:47Thailand the United States has made nine million dollars available to support the
02:52people of Burma through our humanitarian partners our team of experts is in Burma surveying conditions on the ground they arrived on April 1st and deployed to the disaster
03:02zone on April 3rd our humanitarian response team helps ensure that support is directed to the most affected communities with the greatest needs we are working with
03:12partner countries as well as international and local partner organizations to maximize efficiency and effectiveness as the response shifts from rescue to
03:21emergency relief the United States has support in place to help with emergency shelter food medical support health access to clean health access to clean water and
03:32sanitation and now here at home President Trump met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday demonstrating that the United States is a great
03:41ally to Israel and that President Trump is the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House among other topics the two leaders
03:49discussed Gaza and the need for Hamas to release all the hostages in this effort we are guided by two principles we stand with Israel and we stand for
03:59peace also at this meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu President Trump reaffirmed that Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon as the
04:08President announced we are engaging in diplomacy right now to solve this matter in the words of President Trump yesterday doing a deal would be
04:17preferable to doing the obvious and that is my announcements thank you and it's great to see all of you here we will begin I don't know if it
04:29it will ever change it may someday to Matt Lee all right thank you Tammy I got a couple that are extremely brief one can you confirm that the three
04:37Americans who were convicted in Congo in this coup have been repatriated the Congolese say they're back and just wanting to know if you are able to say that
04:46they're they are back here I can tell you something about that we have of course as you know as I'd like to remind people though watching all the right
04:58people though watching all around the world the department has no higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens overseas and we are aware the United States government is of the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo transferring into US custody the US citizens who were detained in connection with the events of May 19th 2024 and who previously faced the death penalty before their sentences were commuted to life imprisonment
05:25now of course we refer you to the US Department of Justice in this regard for further information and they are of course they have been transferred they're in our custody and we also strongly condemn the armed attacks of May 19th and support the DRC authorities in holding those responsible appropriately accountable at the same time we seek consistent compassionate humane treatment and a fair legal process on behalf of those
05:54U.S. citizens okay can you the Russians are saying that there are going to be talks in Istanbul these kind of embassy personnel and logistics talks in it in Istanbul on Thursday are you able to tell us anything about that and I got one more but also I thought you said two well three so it'll be very brief yes for Matt two equals three all right well sure on April 10th
06:22U.S. and Russian delegations will meet for a second time in Istanbul to try to make progress on further stabilizing the operations of our bilateral missions so that is happening in Istanbul there are no political or security issues on the agenda and Ukraine is not absolutely not on the agenda these talks are solely focused on our embassy operations not on normalizing a bilateral relationship overall which can
06:52can only happen as we've noted once there is peace between Russia and Ukraine okay great thank you and then last one he seems like so he said wants to keep going I'm answering his question can you can you can you can you give us any clarity on the cuts the latest cuts that not including the Burma stuff but the cuts to USAID and funding to the world food program that happened you know essentially over the weekend
07:22to those cuts well yes so let me get to those details because that is important we have one thing we can say because this is a large conversation and various different countries are involved first of all 85 percent of previously existing USAID programs with the world food program worldwide remain active and ongoing so that's 85 percent
07:52when we're talking about the effort that the country has made and continues to make so it is inaccurate as some have intimated that USAID has defunded the world food program that is not true or that we broadly backed away from our commitments to providing life-saving food aid we've said from the beginning that our commitment to foreign aid remains it may look different than it has in the past but in this case 85 percent of the
08:22those USAID programs with the world food program worldwide remain active we have terminated a limited number of world food food programs world food program programs based on specific country or program level priorities but what is the story here is that the largest group of world food program awards terminated were in Yemen and Afghanistan through an executive order that was issued based on concern that the funding was benefiting terrorist groups
08:52including including the Houthis and the Taliban these concerns with UN funding have been documented and discussed for years which is why USAID paused all food assistance in northern Yemen through WFP specifically to mitigate any interference by the Houthis and has intermittently suspended food assistance across Afghanistan to mitigate Taliban interference
09:14other awards were terminated because they provided cash based assistance which the administration is moving away from given concerns about misuse and lack of appropriate accountability for American taxpayers here at home of course and the accountability they deserve there were a few programs that were cut in other countries that were not meant to be cut that have been rolled back and put into place so when when and if that happens
09:44that's recognized and that's recognized and that has also been the case with something as a complicated as this framework we do what is necessary to maintain the commitments that fit within the framework of keeping America safe secure as well as making sure that they apply the nature of our priorities and values as well
10:02I can't I can't I can get back to you on that but it is just it's just a few with again the majority of which are Yemen and Afghanistan with certainly with the Saigar report regarding Afghanistan and the Taliban at least 11 million dollars being siphoned or enriching the Taliban in the process of that food aid all right 10 questions Andrea Mitchell yes ma'am
10:28thank you thank you very much you mentioned the Iran conversations between the president and the prime minister yesterday can you confirm what the Iranian foreign minister Arachi said which is that Steve Whitcoff the special envoy will lead those talks and that they will be indirect not direct as president Trump said or is there some clarification you can give us as to how the state department sees these talks
10:58uh being composed well I'm um I can't confirm anything an Iranian um authority is going to say what I can tell you is what the secretary of state Marco Rubio has said is that uh Mr. Whitcoff special envoy Whitcoff will be there
11:14so he'll be present uh and when it comes to the description of the event I would refer you back to the president's remarks
11:21that's who I rely on can you define which what is meant by direct talks because I would I would I'm
11:28insisting at the foreign minister level that they are indirect that's nice for the Iranians um I would refer back to the president of the United States president John
11:37Donald John Trump one more subject yes of course you can also have have have more questions absolutely
11:43the the other thing I wanted to ask you about colleges universities around the country
11:48are saying that with little or no notice they to them or their students there have been massive
11:55cancellations of student visas without explanations in some cases some of the students have said they are for
12:02reckless driving citations these are not students who are involved in protests uh not that that would
12:08necessarily justify it but just can you clarify the the way this uh the way these think these are being
12:15canceled is there a process to determine is there a threshold for determining why a student visa
12:22would be canceled and um what are the criteria well we've never gone into the details of the visa process
12:30we don't discuss individual visas because of the privacy issues involved we don't go into statistics or
12:36numbers we don't go into the rationale for what happens with individual visas uh what we can tell you is
12:43that um the department revokes visas every day in order to secure our borders and to keep our community
12:49safe and will continue to do so uh the criteria uh the as it is is applied appropriately uh and uh that's
12:58that's the the extent that it's we this is what we've been dealing with right and we've never been
13:02and we're not inclined to answer uh those specifics but I think the American people know as we're seeing
13:08uh that we take uh the border seriously we take the visa process seriously and the number of revocations
13:15I can say is is dynamic which is why we don't give those numbers out uh and uh again we we're not
13:22going to give statistics uh only because of always the continuing fluidity of the situation when it comes
13:27to visas and the reasons they are revoked which is personal and private and just the last question on
13:35you're beating matt lee when it comes to two being four now but the secretary's announcement the
13:42announcement that came out the other day about the cancellation of passports holders from south
13:48sudan when south sudan is in some considerable conflict right now between their leaders there's
13:56a great deal of turmoil and violence in that country um what is the reason more broadly not
14:03individual reasons for canceling visas to passports holders from south sudan when there is so much
14:10danger for anybody going back uh I have a few things for you on that so enforcing our immigration
14:17laws is critically important to the national security and public safety of the united states
14:21every country must accept the return of its citizens in a timely manner when another country
14:27including the united states seeks to remove them as south sudan's trans transitional government
14:33has failed to fully respect this principle by not permitting the entry of an individual that they
14:40had confirmed and documented as a citizen the united states department of state has taken actions
14:45to revoke visas held by south sudanese passport holders and restrict further issuance of visas to
14:53prevent entry into the united states by south sudanese passport holders we will be prepared to review these
15:00actions when the south when south sudan is in full cooperation and secretary rubio has said it is
15:08the responsibility of each nation to take back their citizens who are illegally present in the united
15:14states in a serious and expeditious manner we are unwavering in our commitment to end illegal immigration
15:20and bolster america's border security uh so this is the uh we understand also that uh the south south sudan
15:29has made a statement that they've agreed finally to accept the individual in question and uh we are aware of that
15:35remark uh and this is uh uh they committed on uh april 8th to grant the individual permission to enter
15:45their country and we look forward to the government of south sudan following through on that remark
15:52and we will then be prepared to review once again these actions when south sudan is in full cooperation
15:58all right yes ma'am uh thank you you mentioned that some of the programs that were cut the wfp programs were not meant to be cut uh was that just to clarify from the programs that were cut over the weekends
16:12i'm sorry it's like the uh you mentioned that there are some that were rolled back that were cut that shouldn't have been yes
16:19were those cut over the weekend or was that from before i don't have that detail for you but i'm sure we can get it because i had many details but that's one that i don't have but i'll get it for you
16:30thank you sure the saudi foreign minister is visiting the united states will secretary rubio meet with him
16:37and if so what does he hope to achieve to achieve i uh yes in fact he will be he'll be meeting with him tomorrow
16:42and what does he hope to achieve from that meeting oh i'm not going to get ahead of the secretary of state
16:48uh but um we look forward to seeing him tomorrow all right yes hi um getting back to iran
16:56part of the reason that the administration cited in 2018 the first trump administration
17:01from withdrawing from the iran nuclear deal is that it wasn't comprehensive enough it didn't cover
17:06militias it didn't cover uh the missile program and a bunch of other of iran's activities um is the
17:13expectation that that this new agreement would have to cover that well this is a meeting that's happening
17:22right on saturday there's a meeting there's no negotiations right this is this is a dynamic
17:28where uh the president has made very clear and certainly the secretary has made very clear
17:33uh that uh iran will never have a nuclear weapon uh and uh it's it's just that that i think is the
17:41focus right now the nature of what's happening and and and iran's current situation i think the
17:47president's remarks yesterday speak for themselves that uh and he's committed to diplomacy he's spoken
17:52about wanting to have a deal uh with with iran to get this done uh and uh now it's it's up to iran
17:59and if they don't want to it will be very very bad for them so those are those are the two i think
18:04clear options here this is an initial sort of feel out as to whether i think i think it's it's it's
18:10it's touching base yes indeed uh but again it's not a negotiation it's a meeting and uh that's uh
18:17that's what the commitment is and finally you mentioned that steve woodcoff is going is he
18:21leading the delegation i can't speak to that but he will be there yes sir uh thanks can i just follow
18:26from from richard you're saying it's it's a meeting rather than a negotiation correct uh the iranian
18:30government has said that it's a matter of uh they want sanctions relief is that something that the
18:34united states is prepared to discuss either this media well again i'm not going to get ahead of
18:38uh any kind of conversation or process diplomatic considerations certainly uh i can't get ahead of a
18:46negotiation because this isn't one uh so that's uh that's that's not something i can speak to
18:51uh in terms of the goal i know that you said that you know not prohibiting iran from having a nuclear
18:57weapon but in terms of what how that's achieved i mean there's been some talk in the administration
19:00is this complete dismantlement of the nuclear program or is it just verification that's not
19:05going to go for for for nuclear for military ends uh is there an end goal that the administration
19:09has has when it comes to whether it's complete dismantlement i i again i can't speak to their
19:16considerations the contemplations they have the discussions they have we do know that there is
19:22something very very clear and distinct that is on the table that needs to be accomplished uh and uh
19:29they're certainly see now because i have so many opinions and you're waiting sean is waiting for me to
19:36kind of uh we all have opinions but what i can tell you is is that the very specific thing that
19:40needs to be accomplished which would make the world a much safer place is to make sure that iran never
19:47gets a nuclear weapon that there is no room around that fact and that is something worthy of focusing
19:53on at this moment yes nadia thank you tammy i have two questions yes ma'am no you have seven
19:59i'm sorry all right i need to i promise you um on the iran talks is this meeting primarily focusing
20:06on preventing iran from acquiring nuclear weapons or are they going to discuss iran support for proxies
20:11in the region considering there were reports that iran stopped supporting the houthis others not
20:17supporting the houthis that's my first question right um again this is not a negotiation there aren't
20:24things being negotiated in that regard this has uh been described uh to me as something that is a
20:31matter of determining what's possible in the conversations it's a it's a touchback uh and that's
20:38the extent of what will be happening yeah yes yes oh the second the second that's right i'm sorry go
20:44ahead that's okay yes ma'am second question on gaza actually the situation is horrific there is no water
20:49there is no electricity there is no food for almost one month this is a gross violation of international
20:55humanitarian law as you know what is the united states is doing to alleviate the suffering of
21:00civilians in gaza and second since uh you talked about the meeting between netanyahu and uh secretary
21:06any prospect of a ceasefire that was discussed yesterday our efforts to bring back the ceasefire that we were
21:19happy to have the beginning of this before hamas turned its back on the ceasefire is something
21:25that the administration that the president and secretary rubio said we would want back that that
21:31is there is nothing that is cut off in the sense of where we go from here uh it is clear uh and and the
21:38effort as uh we are asked uh every briefing which is appropriate because of the nature of the issue
21:43uh is uh none of us we're engaging in this to stop the suffering uh when there is a resumption of of
21:51of of a conflict in this the nature of this conflict with so many hostages also still being held
21:57uh it of course disrupts the humanitarian aid and that is something that concerns all of us and that
22:03we seek to change uh there is there is one group that has broken ceasefires that continues for
22:11generations to to move the suffering and that is hamas and there there's just it's it's a remarkable
22:18dynamic where you have multiple players here uh that are working and constantly making an effort
22:24to stop the carnage and the suffering uh and to stop the the conflict on the ground so that humanitarian
22:31aid can flow and hamas seems to want nothing to do with that they continue to go back to to creating a
22:39framework of victims constantly so i would say that obviously our effort is to get a ceasefire on the
22:47ground again specifically so we can get aid into the area specifically so that we can discuss what the
22:54region understands which is the need for a new way to move us out of of this horrible cycle and
23:01obviously that's what we've been dealing with for generations uh president trump is determined to end
23:06it once and for all as is secretary rubio they have one term and this is why things have to move
23:14quickly then it never stops their efforts in the middle east and on gaza never stop uh and uh that's
23:20what we hope for and the the results hopefully obviously is for peace on the ground for humanitarian
23:27aid and for gazans and everyone in the region to have a future to look forward to that they can trust yes
23:31sir thank you uh two more questions here on ukraine yes sir can you please also confirm that there will
23:37be u.s ukraine dialogue negotiation this week in washington and any color you can offer who's going
23:42to be involved will they be in this building as well i can't speak to any any conversation or or
23:48discussion uh about russia ukraine here thank you oh on uh chinese involvement in uh ukraine russian war
23:56president zelensky today posted a video suggesting that they captured two of chinese nationals uh fighting
24:03in ukraine on behalf of russia uh does the secretary have any any uh comment on that and does it change
24:09your view your position on how to you know help you bring beef you know beef up ukraine's hands yeah
24:15now that they we know they're fighting against not one you know it's disturbing uh it's disturbing uh with
24:20north korea participating it's disturbing uh with the chinese soldiers uh having been captured we're
24:27aware of those reports that ukraine captured two chinese citizens fighting on behalf of russia in
24:33ukraine china is a major enabler of russia in the war in ukraine china provides nearly 80 percent of the
24:43dual use items russia needs to sustain the war 80 percent comes from china as president trump has said
24:53continued cooperation between these two nuclear powers will only further contribute to global
24:59instability and make the united states and other countries less safe less secure and less prosperous
25:05i think that's an understatement i just follow up secretary you know spoke to us uh the travel he said
25:11that he will give some time to russia to clear up its position in terms of you know whether or not
25:17they are serious about peace talks yes to the events of this weekend you know them targeting the
25:22lansky's hometown and other attacks do those events contribute uh you know to the secretary's position on that
25:30well we i know he loves talking to you guys on the trips we were at nato together and he appreciates that
25:36and uh he had a press conference at the end of nato where he did go into very specifics when he was asked about the
25:43timeline is that we would know within a matter of weeks if russia was serious about peace he said not months
25:51not a year but a matter of weeks he said we would know uh and i i think that this goes to the argument that they've made
26:00even the beginning of the talks some of the summits with russia in the first summit was as the secretary
26:07noted was to determine if they were serious and and so this is i as i've mentioned right this is a
26:14these are these are active men with a a a term in which to get this done and we and plus the lives
26:23affected don't we don't have time every day every week that goes by uh affects the quality of people's
26:29lives and and some people who are alive now will not be alive tomorrow so it is it is held with urgency
26:35it will be a matter of weeks and you of course you mentioned the attack on uh kriviri uh uh which is
26:43the uh i guess the hometown of president zelinski uh it is uh was a russian federation ballistic missile
26:50strike in a residential neighborhood of that town uh it is further underscores
26:58president trump's uh urgent call for peace uh and he's uh affected by this uh it's long time to stop
27:05the death and the destruction uh and end this war just as we know president trump has been committed
27:10to finding and demanding the return of the missing or stolen ukrainian children from russia so this is
27:17the top of the mind for president trump and for secretary rubio yes dear continuing on the two question
27:24trend first of all um an american teenager was shot and killed and two others were shot in the west
27:28bank has the u.s called on the israeli government to investigate their killings uh we uh are certainly
27:35aware of that dynamic we're uh we're we send condolences to the families involved these were
27:40were teenagers uh there is an investigation that is going on we are aware of the reports from the idf that
27:47this was a counter-terrorism act we we need to learn more about the nature of what happened on the
27:53ground uh but we're aware of that yes and then on the contract terminations this weekend um who signed
27:59off on those was it this i'm sorry the contract on the foreign aid oh the foreign aid yes is the secretary
28:04himself still canceling those contracts or has that been delegated elsewhere uh we we know of course of
28:12his uh full involvement in the beginning we know that the review had uh officially ended uh we also
28:19know of his schedule and i've asked specifically from his office uh as well to get me that information
28:25because you and some others have also been asking now about the nature of how this is transpiring uh my
28:32goal is to get a fuller view now that that that review has ended and that we have bureaus here addressing
28:41issues regarding foreign aid etc and i think that we have i think it's time now for a fuller
28:46understanding of that and that's part of that and so we'll get that back to you but expect my goal is
28:52to have a more comprehensive answer regarding now the process now on the ground for us all right
28:59yes certainly say thank you very kindly uh now when shireen abakler was killed by the israelis a couple
29:05years ago uh the american security coordinator was involved in investigating and they
29:11drew a conclusion my question to you is is twofold on this issue uh regarding the boy uh so uh first
29:18of all uh is the security the american security coordinator for the west bank is he involved in
29:24this thing is he going to follow up and my second question has there been any calls to the family
29:29from this building or from the u.s ambassadors and so on to to learn the circumstances well again this
29:35is there's things on the ground we don't have the complete picture of what was going on on the ground
29:41i know that we're aware of the reports we certainly uh always are engaged in the nature of what's
29:46happening with american citizens and that's the case here and that's the extent of what i'm going to
29:50say uh yes sir right there go ahead yeah thank you appreciate it two questions i'll ask him back to
29:55back uh number one uh un secretary general antonio luterres announced earlier today uh that he would
30:01not participate the u.n would not participate in the resumption of idf uh humanitarian aid delivery
30:08into gaza because he felt the parameters were not sufficient not appropriate would the state
30:14department consider or planning even to step in to aid the idf and humanitarian aid delivery
30:21given the importance that the state department is placing on that particular area and the second
30:26question is what does the state department view as a positive role for turkey in syria well first of all
30:33uh the reason there's aid issues and movement issues in gaza is because of the resumption of the
30:40conflict uh so i we i know we work through our partners on the ground the fact is is that if it
30:47was safe to move aid through gaza it would it would move and at this point that's clearly an assessment
30:54that it hasn't been safe so i'm not going to speak about or presume to talk about what the state
31:01department would do those are the decisions of of the secretary and of the president of the highest
31:06levels of this government about how to move through that framework so that's not a position
31:10something that i'll speculate on and your second question was what does the state department view
31:14as a positive role for turkey in syria given the president's uh well they're there yes i i i i think i
31:22i know a great deal i think as we all do about secretary marco rubio uh but i'm not going to
31:28uh presume that i know how to speak for him when it comes to the the notion of diplomatic uh decisions
31:35or maneuverings when it comes to the nature of what's going to be best for a region like that
31:40turkey is certainly uh an ally and a friend uh but that is a a conversation that belongs between leaders
31:47yes yes sir yes sir go ahead um benjamin netanyahu uh offered a video statement in which he
31:54outlined the terms that he would that israel would accept for an israel uh an agreement with iran
32:00said it had to be a libya style agreement that where we would go in quote blow up the facilities
32:05dismantle the equipment under american supervision and american execution is that a position that the
32:12secretary rubio agrees with is it a precondition by israel that the u.s is willing to accept i i can't
32:20discuss that because i wasn't in that room i certainly don't speak for israel or for the prime
32:26minister and his remarks about what's important to him uh so i would leave that to the nature of
32:32conversations at at that level certainly not not something for me to comment on here when the
32:37president says that he would rather resolve this through diplomacy rather than the alternative
32:42can you just spell out what is the alternative is it a u.s military strike on iran well i i guess
32:47that's something that everyone's supposed to consider right the president has made himself
32:50very clear about what he prefers and that's diplomacy and making deals and he's been very
32:55successful at that uh the world though as we've seen of course seems to devolve into violence uh and
33:01that is something that he clearly has ending that violence and changing that trajectory is something
33:06that president trump uh has made a hallmark of his uh this last term of his uh and it is a remarkable
33:12commitment so i think that uh speculating or hypothesizing uh in a world where uh it's it's
33:20dangerous when it comes to real life and what's happening uh is not certainly something that any of
33:25us should do uh but it's it's i think an important reminder that president trump not only talks about
33:30diplomacy and what he prefers but he acts on it as well all right yes sir thank you thank you going back
33:36to iran you said that this is not a negotiation but it's tax can you tell us what are you going to talk
33:42about with iran are you going to set up a stage or are you going to set up a timeline or well it's
33:48going to negotiate the the omanis are are hosting um special envoy whitkoff will be there
33:55i do not know about the environment and how it will be arranged i don't it's a meeting and how the
34:02participants decide and how to frame that meeting is completely up to them i can ask a question on
34:07syria there is a lot of concerns about new syrian government approach towards the kurdish and jews
34:13and other minority rights do you have any sorts of pressure on the syrian government to behave
34:20according to international law and to take care about the minority groups i know that uh and we've
34:26spoken about this here before is that we expect uh the syrian government to abide by uh human rights law
34:34to abide by the common laws of what is a decent uh government the nature of the choices we make
34:40um so that's that's not unusual uh and we uh they've had a recent uh government formation or advisory
34:49formation um which seem to uh uh involve additional groups in syria but there's much more that have to
34:57be done that has not been done um and we're waiting to see them take more action so obviously there's
35:03there's uh expectations that have yet to be met uh and uh so we're waiting to see what they're doing
35:09when it comes to pressure the pressure really is about whether or not a nation wants to be within
35:16and accepted within other nation states and within the world i think that's uh certainly an indication
35:22here that's uh possible or not possible yes sir thank you you have been involved in helping start
35:29kurdistan oil exports and that is much appreciated but now there is a new problem the oil exporting
35:36companies including u.s companies say that iraq is changing the contract unilaterally and exports can't
35:44resume until this is resolved are you concerned about this problem are you involved in trying to fix it
35:52that we'll have to take back when it comes to the details all right so that's iraq and the oil
35:59right let's get back to him on that all right yes go ahead thanks just stepping back to those latest
36:05cuts and foreign aid you noted concerns about interference in afghanistan and yemen uh but it
36:10was funding that the department initially allowed to continue because it was deemed to be life-saving
36:15and there are other places of course where interference is still a concern that are still benefiting from
36:19usa dollars so is this a amendment or a change to the state department's initial promise to continue
36:27life-saving aid should we expect other cuts where interference is a concern well yeah waivers were
36:33issued we know that of course but this was in the process of a review that was expected to take 90 days
36:39it took less time and in the process of the review some things you want to have continue as you're
36:44reviewing them as you're making a determination about whether or not it's it's where the money is
36:50going if it if it does meet your criteria to continue uh and that's what happened there are some uh
36:56entities that got waivers that then the the grants of the funding were cut because we went through the
37:03review and found that they should be cut so this is also something that had to happen because there had been
37:09who knows i don't know years decades of no one auditing no one checking no one really knowing
37:16and it just grew and grew and grew so this process of auditing and knowing where your money is being spent
37:22most of us do this personally right we keep an eye on the bank account we make a note of what's coming up
37:28and what the checks are that are coming in uh and we spend accordingly so we are in a constant regular audit
37:34that will always be the case now so if you've got a dynamic where someone is you know passed through
37:41and is receiving the aid and is meeting their obligations that's great it doesn't mean we're
37:45going to look back in 25 years to see if they're still okay this has to be a regular process with this
37:51kind of work that has been yes disruptive and difficult but it has been important so that we can continue
37:57to do that work uh so i hope that answers your question because yes there's aid that is going
38:04on now has received waivers some of it over time it it may be increased it may be cut it depends on
38:11the goals of the united states our foreign policy goals and the nature of how our money is being
38:16spent on the ground all the way in the back sir white shirt with a little blue tie there thank you
38:20sami i would like to know colombia has been at the center of diplomatic tension with uh the united
38:25states uh at the beginning of this administration we saw president petro saying that he wasn't going to
38:33accept these deportation flights and then he changed his mind as president trump said in 13 minutes now
38:40he's saying that uh well secretary noem said that president petro told her he was a friend of the cartels
38:47and that members of the trendy aragua need a lot of love now president petro says that is not true
38:53what is the current state of that relationship between us and colombia after those two episodes
38:58well i i would refer you to uh the white house when it comes to the nature of a relationship uh but uh
39:05other than that i think we're gonna we're i'm gonna we'll bring that back when it comes to if uh there's
39:11been any actual response to those kinds of statements uh but uh we'll get back to you but that's that's
39:16what i have there yes sir on the on the end here sir thank you um this morning as you're aware uh
39:22president trump and south korea's acting president han had a first phone phone call and then they
39:27discussed uh south korea's payment for uh hosting u.s forces korea and and so do you see any possibility
39:34that the state department department somehow engage in a re-negotiation of the co-sharing deal that was
39:40actually signed last year that was my first question well let me answer that because it'll be a short
39:44answer so i can't answer that right so i won't be discussing the nature of diplomatic conversations
39:50or anything of that nature uh or uh what choices we might make uh either as certainly as a government
39:57but certainly not as the state department second question second question is uh south korea as well
40:01we're um still facing a period of uh leadership vacuum uh after president yun's uh removed from
40:08office so do you think that that period of a leadership vacuum will have some negative impact on the
40:13alliance between south korea and the united states um do you have any concern about it i know that our
40:21relationship with south korea is strong uh and uh i know that as an ally that we are uh expecting them
40:29uh to uh follow certain uh rules and norms and uh we of course enjoy their allyship and we enjoy that
40:37relationship so all right are we are we kind of get we're getting here now all right all right all right
40:43all right uh young lady in the back maroon yes go ahead i let me just say i've been told i tend to
40:50favor my right which is true politically i i can't deny that so my goal i've been trying to think and i'm
40:59left-handed funny enough not that you could tell trying to move to this degree but then also i know you're
41:05in the back but you're in this room uh and straight down here i got you earlier and yes thank you so
41:12much can you confirm that as president said these talks iran talks are direct because we heard from
41:18iranian side immediately after that they are indirect do you find that concerning you're cop
41:23you're copying andrea mitchell um uh well i will again um refer you simply back to the president's
41:29remarks uh and that is my north stars president donald trump uh not iranian officials all right
41:36and that's going to be it today thank you everybody i'll see you on thursday we'll see you again on
41:41thursday this week thank you very much