right now on "ana cabrera reports," new heat in the race for the presidency this morning. president biden heading to michigan today for his first visit of 2024. the high stakes for him in that critical battleground. plus, fresh polling out of south carolina bringing new warning signs for nikki haley as she and donald trump wage war for campaign cash. also ahead, breaking news from the pentagon this morning, defense secretary lloyd austin set to have his first news conference since the controversy over his resent hospitalization. millions under flood watches bracing for the pineapple express. the atmospheric river that could dump up to 10 inches of rain on

california. it is 10:00 eastern, i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. we begin with a flurry of new headlines in the race for the presidency. president biden making his visit, the first one of the year to the key battleground state of michigan. he'll meet with the united autoworkers union following their recent endorsement. and then on the other side of the aisle, fresh polling out of south carolina showing donald trump with a sizable advantage over nikki haley in her home state just weeks out from that primary. let's get right to our reporters covering the campaigns this morning, shaquille brewster is in dearborn, michigan, vaughn hillyard in las vegas where the rnc is meeting today, and ali vitali in hilton head, south carolina, for us. shaq, set the scene for president biden's visit there today. >> reporter: hi there, ana, good morning. the president is in washington, d.c., right now, but later today he'll be hitting the campaign trail coming here to the detroit area. his campaign saying he'll be going to a union hall where he'll be meeting with rank and

file uaw members and meeting with shawn fain who last week endorsed the president's re-election effort. this visit is coming to a crucial battleground state, and it's coming at a time where president biden is in a really tense and tough position right now. you look at national polling, a new poll from quinnipiac out today showing president biden leading former president trump by about six points, but then when you look at polls here in michigan, poll after poll showing president biden behind president trump in this crucial battleground state sochlt you see the president trying to shore up his support among core union members. but this trip is coming as there's another key group here, muslim and arab americans who are expressing real frustration and a sense of betrayal from the president right now. they're saying that -- and they're criticizing his response to the israel-hamas war. they're criticizing the fact that he has not called for a cease fire. we've seen protests and we will see a press conference from a coalition group of activists

calling for folks here to abandon biden. >> what can we expect from the rnc meeting there in vegas? >> reporter: this is the rnc member meeting here in which all of the national rnc committee men and women and the party chairs are all convening here with rnc party leadership. of course just last week there was a resolution that was being passed around among rnc members that was potentially going to be brought forward today, in which donald trump would be declared by the rnc as the presumptive nominee after donald trump posted on his social media accounts that he wanted to win at the ballot box and not to become the presumptive nominee as designated by the party, the rnc decided to pull back that resolution and not bring it to a floor vote here at their meeting in las vegas. but at the same time, it hits at the heart of the conversation around cash. well, joe biden's campaign is off to the races. from new fec filings, at the end of the year, the biden campaign

had $46 million in on hand compared to trump's $33 million on hand. donald trump has to continue to run this primary campaign against nikki haley, and what that resolution would have effectively done would have allowed the rnc to begin fund-raising with donald trump. instead, they're going to have to continue to stay out of this race, out of supporting donald trump, explicitly for at least another month until he becomes the presumptive nominee, either on super tuesday march 5th or on march 19. and so for donald trump here there is some frustration that nikki haley has not exited this race. i had a conversation with david bossie here at the rnc meeting, that rnc committee man and trump ally who is going to put forward that resolution. he told me, quote, the race is over. it's over today, just because someone says they're not dropping out doesn't make it a race. at the same time, other committee men and women i talked to said let nikki haley do her thing. it's up to the voters to make

this decision decisively. >> the next real contest is in south carolina. this was a state that really turned around biden's struggling campaign back in the 2020 campaign season. ali, nikki haley is hoping her home state can have a similar type of response, right? give her a boost in momentum. what is her plan? >> reporter: yeah, look, ana, no doubt about it. south carolina was magic for the biden campaign. i think there are a lot of reasons why it's not a replicable thing for the haley campaign and the republican side of the aisle. nevertheless, we're going to watch the former two-time governor try to make her case here in the palmetto state, a state that she argues knows her well. she's going to be campaigning around here in the midst of also doing a bunch of donor stops. she spent the earlier part of this week in new york and in palm beach trying to get the cash that she needs to continue to fill her coffers, paying her staff and keeping the life blood of her campaign on track.

she's not just going to south carolina, she's planning on staying in the race until super tuesday. the opposite side of what vaughn heard from david bossie, the trump ally in the rnc, is even as the trump campaign and some in the rnc would argue that the race is over, the haley campaign would argue the race has only just begun. only two states have voted in the primary process, iowa and new hampshire, and now they're going to continue on this calendar stretch. for nikki haley the metric that she's laid for success here in south carolina is once again a pretty nebulous one, ana. she said just as she did in new hampshire that a win was not essential. instead, what marked success to her and her campaign was doing better than they had in the previous contest. in new hampshire that meant finishing higher than third place, which is where she finished in iowa. what it means in south carolina equally as vague. does it mean that she's coalescing an even bigger percentage of a coalition? does it mean that she's taking home delegates? that's probably unlikely given the way that

delegates are allotted here. haley's not saying she's got a win here, she's definitely saying she's going to compete here. >> ali vitali, shack brewster. >> joining us now is adrienne elrod and amanda carpenter, former senior staffer for ted cruz and now an editor at "protect democracy." biden in michigan expected to tout the endorsement from the united autoworkers. how much could that move the needle for him, especially in a state like michigan? >> oh, it's really significant. polls are always tight in michigan, they were tight in 2016 with hillary, tight in 2024 with biden, trump again. so a uaw endorsement in a state that employs a lot of uaw members is a significant endorsement, especially this early on. we have quite a ways until the election, so president biden is going to be able to really tout this endorsement, not only in michigan but in places across the country. >> amanda, both of these candidates want support from

blue collar workers, especially in some of these swing states. trump spent yesterday reaching out to the teamsters union, and it didn't go particularly well. one executive board member refused to attend and called trump a known union buster, scab and insurrectionist. if you are trump's team, do you just blow that off, or should alarm bells be going off? >> well, i think outwardly they'll blow it off, but certainly donald trump has coveted union endorsements for a long time, and there's been a long-standing hope among the republican party that in this new area of sort of economic populism or however you want to couch it, the republican party would have more opportunity to make inroads with that community. but clearly if they're not even willing to sit down with you, it's not going well. >> adrian, there's the battle for votes and then there's the battle for money. we're get ago look at their latest campaign finance reports. vaughn mentioned this. biden's campaign ending the year with $46 million in cash, far more than the 33 million trump's

campaign held, that was before the caucuses, and we learned the trump campaign spent more than it brought in in the past three months with tens of millions of dollars going to legal fees. so, one, do you think his donors realize their money is paying for lawyers? and two, how might the biden campaign capitalize on their apparent financial advantage? what are you watching for? >> yeah, ana, first of all, i was absolutely blown away when the reports came out that combined two super pacs, $50 million in legal fees last year. that is mind blowing. you can't believe that that's happening, and then you combine that with president biden who raised a record amount of money or had a record amount of money that he raised in q4 of last year and q4 of the off year is notoriously the hardest year, the hardest quarter to raise money. he had a very historically good quarter. that was significant. so you contrast that with the fact that donald trump is not spending a lot of his money on getting out the vote, on

communicating with voters. he is spending it on his legal fees. so sure, if you're a donor, you're looking at this and saying, you know, maybe i am supporting trump. i don't know if i want to max out the max that i can so that my money can go, you know, to spend on his expensive lawyers. >> and amanda, trump's legal battles, they're really just getting started. we have some new polling from bloomberg and morning consult showing a combined 53% of swing voters from those seven states we've been talking about say that they would be unwilling to vote for trump, if he is convicted of a crime including 23% of swing state republicans who say this. your thoughts on these numbers? >> well, i think it takes a long time to set in what the meaning of those court battles really is. i mean, for average people who don't have the time to watch, every court update or see what it means, i hear a lot of voters that say something in everyday life, we'll see what the courts decide and let that sort itself out. along the way, i think it's

important and especially important for someone like nikki haley who's communicating to republican voters to talk about the meaning of this. you know, is he respecting the rule of law? what would this mean for a potential presidency in 2025? and sort of extrapolate that forward. as we see the politics and legal circles combine, what it really comes down to is whether our rule of law applies the same standards to someone who is a former president or whether his argument that because he was president, he is entitled to some kind of immunity that no other american is. >> and that's another discussion for a different block later this hour. amanda carpenter, and adrienne elrod, thank you both so much. it's nice toe to see you ladies. we're keeping our eye on the pentagon where we expect the defense secretary to address his hospitalization controversy. we'll bring you that live as it happens. three dead in a building collapse overnight, what caused an airport hangar under construction to suddenly

crumble. two words for you, pineapple express, 21 million in california under flood watches from two atmospheric river storms. the areas most at risk. and later, a streaming era shake-up, the latest to crack down on password sharing. latest down on password sharing complete nutrition you need... ...without the stuff you don't. so, here's to now. boost. there's nothing better than a subway series footlong. except when you add on an all new footlong sidekick. we're talking a $2 footlong churro. $3 footlong pretzel and a five dollar footlong cookie. every epic footlong deserves the perfect sidekick. order one with your favorite subway series sub today. mara, are you sure you don't want -to go bowling with us tonight? -yeah. no. there's my little marzipan! [ laughs ] oh, my daughter gives the best hugs! we're just passing through on our way to the jazz jamboree. [ imitates trumpet playing ] and we wanted to thank america's number-one motorcycle insurer -for saving us money. -thank you.

[ laughs ] mara, your parents are -- exactly like me? i know, right? well, cherish your friends and loved ones. let's roll, daddio! let's boogie-woogie! welcome back. this morning three people are dead and an investigation is underway into a building collapse in idaho. officials say a private airport hangar under construction suddenly gave way at boise's airport. nine others were injured, and at this point it's not clear exactly what happened. here's nbc's erin mclaughlin with more. erin. >> hey, there, this was a chaotic and deadly scene. we're talking about a 39,000 foot steel hangar. now officials are combing through the wreckage trying to figure out what went wrong. >> we have a structure collapse at the new hangar at jackson jet

center. one crane collapsed and i guess partial structure collapse as well. >> reporter: this morning authorities are investigating a deadly building collapse in boese, idaho, that killed three people and injured nine others, five of them in critical condition. >> it was a pretty global collapse that occurred, the main structural members came down. it was fairly catastrophic. >> reporter: the initial call coming in wednesday evening at a steel jet hangar owned by jackson jet center. the building had been under construction within boise airport's airfield. officials describing the scene as chaotic with several fire engines and at least a dozen ambulances on the ground. rescue teams making entry pulling victims out of the wreckage. >> we did have some that were challenging and that there was hoists and so forth. >> reporter: officials say everyone within the collapse area had been accounted for. the cause remains under investigation. the ceo of the jackson jet center releasing a statement to nbc news writing in part, our

hearts go out to everyone affected by this horrific event. we do not know exactly what caused the hangar collapse. our focus now is on supporting our team and partners during this difficult time. boise police and osha are leading the investigation into the cause of the collapse. nbc news reached out to the general contractor and has not heard back. back to you. >> erin mclaughlin, so scary. thank you. 21 million people are under flood watches this morning as much of california braces for a pineapple express. that's an atmospheric river storm moving in from hawaii. it could bring up to 10 inches of rain in some spots along california's coast. additional rainfall over the already soggy ground in the sierra mountains. it could come with some really strong winds, landslides. we could see flash flooding and residents in this area are preparing for the worst. >> i'm hoping that it doesn't

hit too hard. >> right now the concern is just the amount of rain that we're going to get in a short period of time. >> this week you can really tell there's an atmospheric river. it's so cloudy and coming down in waves of like -- >> just a drenching, let's go over to nbc news meteorologist michelle grossman. michelle, obviously it's inconvenience sometimes when it's rainy, but this sounds like it's next level. >> this is next level. we're looking at the chance for more flash flooding. we're also looking at really windy conditions. the ground is soggy. we could see additional power outages. we saw trees come down yesterday, some power lines could come down as well. mountain snow, could see 2 to 3 feet of snow in some spots. then we have a more powerful storm, that's where we could see 10 inches in southern california sunday into monday in the mountains into the foothills. we're looking at that heavy rain falling right now. this is what radar looks like right now. where you see these darker colors, the reds, the oranges,

the yellows, that's where we're seeing the heavy rain. san francisco still seeing heavy rain in spots, most of the axis of this heavy rain will be targeted towards southern california today. you can see los angeles getting tons of rain right now. we could see torrential downpours. 3/4 of an inch per hour. then in the mountains we're looking at snow. we will be measuring that snow in feet and adding that wind on top of it. because of that we have millions under alerts this morning, 25 million under wind alertes, winter alerts 1 million, and 22 million under flood alerts as we head throughout the day. we have that pineapple express, we have the atmospheric river. it's a plume of moisture from the hawaiian islands brinking all this soaking rain for southern california. we had that big storm a week ago. this rain doesn't really have anywhere to go. we're going to see that rain and snow pushing into the great basin and also the rockies. by tomorrow we're looking at the rockies for heavy snow continuing. we're also looking on the warm side of this where we could see the chance for strong storms in

portions of the southern plains. those darker colors showing us we could see heavy downpours. could even see some hail with those storms. we're still looking at rain and storms advancing into the mississippi valley. snow and wind continuing to blast the rockies, and ana, sunday into monday for a more powerful atmospheric river moving into southern california. >> that time of year, skiers are cheering, though, that's the good news. michelle grossman, good to see you. up next, we'll head to the pentagon where we expect to hear from secretary lloyd austin any minute. it is his first press conference since the controversy over his hospitalization, so we'll be listening closely. plus, who the u.s. blames for a drone strike on a u.s. base in jordan and how the secretary of state is now looking to tamp down middle east tensions as the u.s. prepares to strike back. stay close. s. prepares to strike back. stay close

>> woman: what's my safelite story? i'm a photographer. and when i'm driving, i see inspiration right through my glass. so when my windshield cracked, it had to be fixed right. i scheduled with safelite autoglass. their experts replaced my windshield and recalibrated my car's advanced safety system. ♪ acoustic rock music ♪ >> woman: safelite is the one i trust. they focus on safety so i can focus on this view. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪

"bring rings to beach wedding"? fedex presents: tall tales of true deliveries. ( ♪♪ ) (gasp, crowd cheering) just another day on the job. we did this for love. see what we can do for your business. fedex. i love your dress. oh thanks! i splurged a little because liberty mutual customized my car insurance and i saved hundreds. that's great. i know, right? i've been telling everyone. baby: liberty. did you hear that? ty just said her first word. can you say “mama”? baby: liberty. can you say “auntie”? baby: liberty. how many people did you tell? only pay for what you need. jingle: ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

baby: ♪ liberty. ♪ (ella) fashion moves fast. (jen) jingle: ♪ so we partner with verizon ♪ to take our operations to the next level. (marquis) with a custom private 5g network. (ella) we get more control of production, efficiencies, and greater agility. (jen) that's enterprise intelligence. (vo) it's your vision, it's your verizon. i know what it's like to perform through pain. if you're like me, one of the millions suffering from pain caused by migraine, nurtec odt may help. it's the only medication that can treat a migraine when it strikes and prevent migraine attacks. treat and prevent, all in one. don't take if allergic to nurtec. allergic reactions can occur, even days after using. most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. relief is possible. talk to a doctor about nurtec odt. you're probably not easily persuaded to switch relief is possible. mobile providers for your business. but what if we told you it's possible that comcast business mobile can save you up to 75% a year on your wireless bill versus the big three carriers? did we peak your interest? you can get two unlimited lines for just $30 each a month.

there are no term contracts or line activation fees. and you can bring your own device. oh, and all on the most reliable 5g mobile network nationwide. wireless that works for you. it's not just possible, it's happening.

we're back with some live looks at the pentagon right now where we expect secretary of defense lloyd austin to hold a press conference in just a few minutes. this will be his first remarks since coing back from his health scare that caused all the controversy over the lack of transparency. we'll bring you his remarks live as soon as this gets underway, and we'll keep an eye on it. overnight, u.s. central command announced new strikes on houthi targets in yemen as officials say that group was preparing another round of drone attacks in the red sea.

this comes as the u.s. readies a multipronged response, we are told against iranian-backed groups in this region, over the deadly attack that killed three u.s. service members in jordan. for the first time, u.s. officials have now identified the specific group they hold responsible. the iranian proxy known as the islamic resistance in iraq. here's national security council spokesman john kirby. >> and when you're talking about what we're anticipating here, which won't just be a one-off, as i said, the first thing you see will not be the last thing. as i said, this will be a response over time. >> let's bring in nbc's pentagon correspondent courtney kube in bahrain, nbc's allie raffa from the white house, and also with us u.s. special forces veteran, jason beardsly. defense secretary austin expected to brief the media at any moment.

this will be again his first press conference following his hospital stay. what kinds of questions will he face? >> so he's going to get questions about both the situation here in the region in the middle east with iran, with the strikes and the houthis, with potential retaliatory strikes in this region, but he will get questions about his health, ana. as you mentioned, it's the first time we've heard from him or really had an opportunity to see him doing anything other than sitting at a table. on january 1st, he was taken to the hospital via ambulance with severe pain. he was diagnosed the next day with having some complications from prostate cancer surgery, but he had not notified anyone including the white house about the prostate cancer, about the surgery to remove the cancer, or about his hospitalization. and in fact, despite the fact he was taken on monday, the white house was not notified until thursday evening that he had been taken to the hospital and was still in the hospital and had transferred his authorities to his deputy.

so a lot of questions here to ask. some of the huge remaining questions that we are still waiting to hear from secretary austin, i don't know if we'll get the answers today candidly, but hopefully we will. did he order his staff not to tell the white house that he had been hospitalize, that he had been taken via ambulance, he, in fact, had been in the icu for several days. >> and ali, the white house has really defended austin in the face of this controversy. there have been calls for him to testify on capitol hill. does the white house believe or at least hope that this is going to put kind of that cover on all of it, the end of this controversy? >> reporter: well, certainly that's something that -- >> remember, there's still a review. >> i'm sorry, courtney. >> go ahead, allie. >> certainly that's something that white house officials are hoping for. we're learning that this press conference was planned in part due to ongoing pressure from white house officials for austin

to appear before pentagon reporters and the press to answer these quest himself. yes, there have been calls for austin to appear before congress for a hearing to answer these questions. still there are calls for him to resign or for the president to fire him as his defense secretary, but we have heard the president and white house officials repeatedly say that the president has faith in his defense secretary and austin himself shortly after this news broke of his secret hospitalization at walter reed medical center, he vowed in a statement to do better. white house officials hoping when austin appears at this press conference and answers those questions from reporters it answers all these issues and questions about the transparency of austin and, frankly, the pentagon as a whole, ana. >> and courtney, of course the timing is crucial because of what's happening in the middle east right now. talk to us about what we know about the new strikes overnight

and do they signal anything about this wider campaign we're expecting? >> yeah, so the strikes overnight were against the houthis in yemen, and these are some of the strikes that we've been talking about over the past several weeks that we would characterize as dynamic or maybe even preventative strikes. it happens when the u.s. sees something that could be an immediate or imminent threat to u.s. assets or commercial ships in the region, and they go in and they take it out very quickly. and why that's really different than what we've seen with these preplanned larger strikes against the houthis or even in iraq or syria is the commander in the region has the authority to take those strikes very quickly in the name of self-defense. so that's what we saw last night. there was a potential threat to commercial shipping. the u.s. military taking it out. we've seen more of those than the preplanned strikes. i think it's really important to point out to our viewers, we've been talking so much about the possibility for some retaliatory action after that deadly attack in jordan over the weekend, this

is not the beginning of that, of that retaliatory action. this is completely separate from that. >> separate but related obviously, same region. the houthis being another iranian-backed militia group in the region. and so jason, we're learning the retaliatory attacks against the iran-backed militants involved in the attack at the jordan base where u.s. officials or u.s. soldiers were killed, that that could be a campaign that could last weeks, and it follows months of these hostilities there in the red sea with the iran-backed houthis. so all these different iran-backed groups seem to be empowered right now. what do you think that is? >> well, ana, i think you are smart to point out that these are all kind of linked together. it would be nice if we could separate them and isolate each incident from each other. i think it's valuable first and foremost that we respect and honor the sacrifice of the service members that were killed in jordan. but the complexities here in this region are broad and

they're deep, and so the premonition that we'll have a campaign or something that is larger and greater in scope puts this conversation into context with those complexities. we have u.s. forces in harm's way and isolated regions with very let's call it minimal force protection measures and those force protection measures are being stretched every day. we're taking shots from drones from missiles, from houthis, from iranian-backed militia groups within iraq. so this becomes extremely complex and based on, you know, essential military principles, an advantage we ought to be taking in the region is repositioning those forces so that they are not becoming the sort of bait and trap targets that i think iran seeks or at least the militias that are backed by iran are seeking to score hits on. this is going to be -- it's always a balancing act in the middle east. the more complex it becomes the more we're going to require strategic insights that are actually nested together with these kinetic strikes.

a kinetic strike alone is not enough. >> you talk about repositioning people, and i would assume that u.s. assets and personnel are already strategically positioned, no? >> this gets complex. i've done this, i've been at the edge of these place where is forward operating basis are in outpost areas with sort of an advise and assist type mission where we're using the forces in iraq to try to extend the influence of the iraqi government. but what's happening now is those forces are now becoming isolated, and those now become targets, and i see the secretary taking the podium there, but as we get into that discussion, we could talk a little bit more about what is are strategic versus what is tactical. in this case, leaving forces out there alone is not as strategic as it could be. >> jason, thank you. everybody please stand by. let's go to the pentagon as we are now hearing from secretary austin. >> it's been a difficult few days for the department of defense, and the entire

department is united in our outrage and sorrow over the deaths of three u.s. service members on sunday in jordan. we all mourn the loss of three army reserve soldiers serving at tower 22. sergeant william j. rivers, age 46. sergeant kennedy l. sanders, age 24, and sergeant breonna a. moffett, age 23. our thoughts and prayers are with their families and their loved ones and we know that this grief will never leave them, and we hope that they know that the department's love and support will never leave them either. we're also praying for the other american troops who were wounded. now, our teammates were killed when a one-way attack drone struck their living quarters, and we continue to gather the facts about this deadly attack. our fallen soldiers had a vital

mission to support operation inherent resolve, and to work with our partners to ensure the lasting defeat of isis. they risked their lives and lost their lives to keep their fellow americans safe from global terrorism. the president will not tolerate attacks on american troops. and neither will i. our teammates were killed by radical militias backed by iran and operating inside syria and iraq. in the aftermath of the vile hamas terrorist assault on israel on october 7th, terrorist groups backed by iran and funded by iran have tried to create even more turmoil. including the houthis, attacking commercial shipping in the red sea. so this is a dangerous moment in the middle east. we will continue to work to avoid a wider conflict in our region. but we will take all necessary

actions to defend the united states, our interests, and our people. and we will respond when we choose where we choose, and how we choose. now, that's what everyone here is focused on. in my first week back in the pentagon, i did want to address my recent hospital stay and some of the issues around it. i'm recovering well, but as you can see, i'm still recovering. i'm still having some leg pain and doing physical therapy to get past it. i'm deeply grateful to my doctors and the nursing staff at walter reed. and i very much appreciate all the good wishes. but i want to be crystal clear, we did not handle this right, and i did not handle this right. i should have told the president about my cancer diagnosis. i should have also told my team and the american public.

and i take full responsibility. i apologized to my teammates and to the american people. now, i want to make it very clear that there were no gaps in authorities and no risks to the department's command and control. at every moment, either i or the deputy secretary was in full charge, and we've already put in place some new procedures to make sure that any lapses in notification don't happen. in the future, if the deputy secretary needs to temporarily assume the duties of my office, she and several white house offices will be immediately notified including the white house situation room. and so will key officials across the department. and the reason for that assumption of duties will be included in writing. now, i want you all to know why this happened. i was being treated for prostate

cancer. the news shook me, and i know that it shakes so many others, especially in the black community. it was a gut punch, and frankly, my first instinct was to keep it private. i don't think it's news that i'm a pretty private guy. i never like burdening others with my problems. it's just not my way. but i've learned from this experience, so taking this kind of job means losing some of the privacy that most of us expect. the american people have a right know if their leaders facing health challenges that might affect their ability to perform their duties even temporarily. so a wider circle should have been notified, especially the president. i'll take your questions today, but as you know, we've got an ongoing internal review as well as a dod inspector general review that we fully support. so i may have to discuss some aspects later.

now, let me back up a bit. as you know, in 22nd december, hi a minimally invasive procedure to cure me of my recently diagnosed prostate cancer, and then i hit some bad luck during what is usually a pretty easy recovery. on january 1st, i felt severe leg pain and pain in the abdomen and hip, and that evening an ambulance took me to walter reed. the doctors found that i had several issues that needed treatment, including a bladder infection and abdominal problems. on january 2nd, i was also experiencing fever and chills and shallow breathing. the medical staff decided to transfer me to the critical care unit for several days for closer monitoring and better team care by my doctors. the deputy secretary assumed the functions and duties of my office, which happens when

necessary. her senior staff, my senior staff, and the joint staff were notified of this through our regular email notification procedures. and i never directed anyone to keep my january hospitalization from the white house. on january 5th, i resumed my functions and duties as secretary from the hospital. i was functioning well mentally but not so well physically, and so i stayed at walter reed for additional time for additional treatment including physical therapy for some lingering issues with my leg. now, i'm offering all of this as an explanation and not an excuse. i am very proud of what we've achieved at the department over the past three years, but with we fell short on this one. as a rule, i don't talk about conversations with my boss, but i can tell you i have apologized directly to president biden, and

i've told him that i'm deeply sorry for not letting him know immediately that i received a heavy diagnosis and was getting treatment. and he has responded with the grace and warm heart that anyone who knows president biden would expect, and i'm grateful for his full confidence in me. and finally, i also missed an opportunity to send a message on an important public health issue, and i'd like to fix that right now. i was diagnosed with a highly treatable form of cancer, one in eight american men will get prostate cancer, one in six black men will get it. and so i'm here with a clear message to other men, especially older men, get screened, get your regular checkups, prostate cancer has a glass jar, if your doctor can spot it, they can treat it and beat it. and the side effects that i experienced are highly, highly

unusual. so you can count on me to set a better example on this issue today and for the rest of my life, and again, i want to thank everyone for their well wishes and their great support. with that i'll take questions. >> the first question will go to "associated press," lita. >> thank you. you said you never directed anyone to keep this from the white house. did you direct your staff or others to keep it from the public and from other senior staff members? and if you did not, has anyone been disciplined for doing something that you did not tell them to do? and then just quickly on iraq and syria, what is your response to the kh statement today that they are postponing or not doing any more attacks? thank you. >> good morning, lita. >> good morning. >> to answer your question on

whether or not i directed my staff to conceal my hospitalization from anyone else, the answer is no. in terms of my response to k.h.'s statement, we always listen to what people are saying , but we watch what they do. and again, actions are everything. so we'll see what happens in the future. >> okay. next question will go to fox, jennifer. >> sir, during that time that you were in the intensive care unit, there was an air strike carried out, a drone strike against an iraqi leader of a militia. how is it that -- do you regret that the authorities were not clear at that point, and what can you explain about what was going through your mind at that time? and then separately, there's been a lot of telegraphing about targeting and responding to the

drone strike, so much so that the iranian proxy leaders have left the country. some are back in tehran. has there been too much telegraphing or is the point not to kill any iranian commanders? >> regarding the strike on the 8th, jen, that strike was planned, and i had made recommendations to the president on actions that we should carry out and the president made a decision and based upon that decision authorities were pushed down to the central command commander, and as you know, a strike like, that you can't pick the precise time when that strike is going to take place. you want to minimize collateral damage. you want to make sure you have everything right, and so the subordinate commander had the

controls on that particular strike. so that -- i was very much involved in planning and the recommendations for that, and we knew that that would take place within a matter of days. in terms of telegraphing about strikes and whether or not people leave or would have left, i won't speculate on any of that. i would just tell you that, you know, we will have a multi-tiered response. and again, we have the ability to respond a number -- a number of times depending on what the situation is. >> okay, let's go to reuters, phil. >> what did your deputy know about your condition, and when did she know it? >> yeah, phil, i think in terms of what she knew and didn't know, i think we should probably

let that come out of the review. i think -- i won't speculate on what she knew and did not know based upon what information was passed to her. again, i think the details of that will come out of one or both of those reviews. >> gordon. >> mr. secretary, you say you didn't direct your staff to hide this truth or lie, but did you create a culture of secrecy that then the staff kind of interpreted your desires or your intentions when it came to you getting sick? >> yeah, i don't think i've created a culture of secrecy. i think there will be security officers. there will be other staff members who may perceive that they're doing things in my best interests. you know, i can't -- i can't predict or determine or ascertain what those things may

be. i just know what i said and did not say. and of course, you know, i have a great staff, and they always want to, intend to do the right things, but in terms of what one may or may not have perceived at any one point in time, i won't speculate on that. >> okay. let's go to abc. >> hi, sir. thank you for doing this, and i think on behalf of all of us here, we wish you a speedy recovery. i'd like to ask you about the current situation in the middle east. the message has been deterrence, deterring the attacks by the houthis, deterring the attacks by the militias. has deterrence failed, and if you are going to retaliate at the time and place of your choosing, is that not an escalation particularly given all the rhetoric with iran? and a question on your recovery, sir. at any point did you feel that your situation had caused you to consider possibly resigning given all of the political

attention that had developed as a result of it? >> in terms of resignation, the answer is no. in terms of escalation in the middle east, you know, our goal was to make sure that we contain this crisis in gaza and that we prevented things from spreading to a wider conflict. now, there's a lot of activity in the region, but there's always been a lot of activity in the region, and you know well that iranian proxy groups have been attacking our troops even well before october 7th, and we can go back and count the numbers of attacks before october 7th, and they're not insignificant. there are things that are ongoing now -- well, things are not ongoing, you know, we don't

see a conflict, an all out conflict between israel and lebanese hezbollah, and so i think managing that, i think, has been artfully done and so you know, we remain in contact with our israeli counterparts and make sure that that doesn't blossom into a war on another front. we don't see israel engaged in a conflict with other countries in the region. we're not at war with iran, and yeah, the houthis continue to do some things that are very irresponsible and illegal, and so our goal is to make sure that we take away -- we continue to take away capability from the houthis to do what they've been doing, and this is not a -- this is not a u.s. issue. this is an international issue. you know, we're going to either be serious about the freedom of navigation or we're not, and so as we look at partners like the

uk and so many others that have joined us in this effort, this is about freedom of navigation. there are others in the world that are watching this to see how serious we are about this, and we are serious. and again, our partners and allies are serious about it as well. this is costing countries and companies significant amounts of money as they've had to redirect commercial traffic around, but the houthis, i mean, their activity needs to come to a halt, and we would call upon iran to quit -- or to cease supplying the houthis with these advanced conventional weapons that they've used to attack ships in the red sea. >> sir, it's good to see you back on your feet! at least on one foot. >> on one foot. you said that you never directed

your staff to keep the news of your hospitalization from the -- from anyone. did any senior members of your family or your wife direct people to keep this a secret? >> to my knowledge, no members -- i don't know. i don't know what anyone on my -- on my staff may have said, but i think these things will come out in the review, and so rather than speculate, i think we should let that -- the facts come out as the review is done. >> can i ask you one more question about -- >> sure. >> -- you mentioned during your opening statement this is an opportunity to talk about prostate cancer, especially in the black community, i wonder, though, do you have men about prostate cancer? >> and you mentioned that -- and it is probably not an issue of secrecy as much as it is an issue of privacy. and this is -- this is a very,

cancer, period, is very private, and there may be cancer survivors amongst us in this room right here and i know there is at least a couple, there are at least a couple. but you know how private that is, and you know what the initial diagnosis feels like, and so among the black community, though, it is even more a thing that people want to keep private. and, again, it is more about privacy than secrecy. in my case, i should have informed my boss. i did not. that was a mistake. and, again, i apologize to him for not doing so. >> npr. >> mr. secretary, you went to the hospital on december 22nd, was your staff aware you had gone to the hospital and if so why didn't they tell the white house? you went back to the white house on january 1st, and an aide told a dispatcher, when the ambulance

arrives, no lights, no sirens. did you direct the aide to say that? >> i asked my assistant to call the ambulance. i did not direct him to do anything further than just call the ambulance. and so, what he said and why he said it, i think that should come out in the review as well. >> what about december 22nd when you went to the hospital the first time? was the staff aware? and if so, why didn't they tell the white house? >> when i went to the hospital on december 22nd, i went in for that procedure. my duties were transferred to the deputy, that was planned, and i decided to stay in the hospital overnight, didn't have to, decided to stay there overnight, because of the anesthesia that was involved, and then the next day, later in the afternoon, early evening, we transferred authorities back. >> i'm talking about your staff. >> peter? >> mr. secretary, first of all,

we wish you good health and thank you for taking your questions. we hope you are a quick recovery. i have two questions. first on your hospitalization, you were hospitalized for days before you informed the white house or the commander in chief of your condition and your absence, anyone else within the military chain of command would have faced reprimand or even dismissal. why shouldn't that same standard apply to you, sir? >> let me just say that -- thanks for the question -- that we didn't get this right. as i said, i take full responsibility for the department's actions. in terms of why on the second notification was not made to the white house, that information was available. i'm not sure at this point what exactly happened, but i think details will play out as a review is conducted. >> and a follow-up about the situation overseas right now, and the deliberation in regards to strikes, there have been more than 160 strikes on american

targets across the region. as you noted since october. why has the u.s. waited until american service members were killed to escalate its response? >> well, as you know, we have responded a number of times and taken out -- first of all, their attacks, many of them, most of them are going to be ineffective. and most of them we're going to defend ourselves against. and whenever we conduct a strike, we're going to hit at what we're aiming at, we're going to take away capability, we're going to do what we're desiring to do. and so, this particular attack was egregious in that it -- the attack was on a sleeping area of one of our base.

and, again, we have -- kataib hezbollah and other elements continue to attack our troops and, again, i think at this point we should -- it is time to take away even more capability than we have taken in the past. in terms of the -- you use the term escalation. we have not described what our response is going to be. but we look to hold the people that are responsible for this accountable. and we also look to make sure that we continue to wait -- take away capability for them as we go forward. >> next question, "washington post," missy. >> welcome back, mr. secretary. first of all, the chairman of the house armed services committee has asked if you'll come testify on a specific date. will you do that? and secondly on the middle east,

what is your response to the criticism that the united states is sort of playing into the hands of the houthis because the u.s. response is elevating their status, they have demonstrated an ability to withstand years of bombing in the past, and more broadly playing into the hands of the iranians that support the houthis and the other groups when the goal of president biden and the united states has been to prevent increased violence in the middle east and now the united states is taking part in actually increasing it? thanks. >> missy, what was the first part of your question? >> will you testify as chairman rogers has asked? >> yeah, so, congress had some very relevant questions that they asked us. and we will continue to answer those questions. we'll continue to work with chairman rogers' office, to

address any additional questions or issues that he might have. and, again, we'll stay in touch with chairman rogers' office as things play out. >> i'm sorry, on the middle east? >> yeah. >> are you playing into the hands of the houthis in iran more generally? >> missy, you know, if you take a look at what the houthis are doing, they're attacking commercial shipping. initially they said that they were attacking commercial shipping because these ships were supporting israel. they have attacked the ships that are -- that have the interests of some 50 countries that are not supporting israel. and so this is -- this is an international crime. and this is something that we have to do about. in terms of elevating the status of the houthis, i think we have to do something about that. this is not elevating their status. this is about preventing them from having the ability to do what they have done in terms of

attacking ships, and trying to sink ships that have nothing to do with the israeli conflict. >> to cbs, david. >> mr. secretary, we all saw a golf cart out in the hallway. is that how you're getting around now? and how confident are you that your recovery is going to be complete enough to allow you to continue in what everybody recognizes is a very demanding job? >> well, nobody recognizes that more than me. but that's the first time i used that golf cart, by the way. but i think it is pretty neat. my leg will continue to improve. the doctors are confident that it will. my pt specialist who i think is a sadist is, you know, he continues to work me hard and he has confidence as well. it will just take time because of the nature of the --

>> do you know how much time? >> no, they can't put a number on it in terms of days or weeks, but it will be incremental improvement. i won't be ready for the olympics, but i'll improve. >> to afp. >> thank you, mr. secretary. does the u.s. need to escalate its military actions or do something new or unprecedented to deter iran against proxies? and if so, how can that be done without sparking a broader conflict? >> i think everyone recognizes that the challenge associated with making sure that we hold the right people accountable, that we do everything necessary to protect our troops, and that we manage things so that they don't escalate. i don't think there is any set formula for doing this. i do think, though, that in everything that we do, as we work our way through our decision-making process, with the national security council,

we're managing all that, looking at all of that, and we're using every instrument of national power to address various issues. so i think -- there are ways to manage this, so it doesn't spiral out of control. and that's been our focus throughout. to al jazeera. >> i have a few things, back in december, your speech at the reagan library, you told israeli leaders they have to protect civilian lives in gaza. since that speech, 12,000 more -- we're now at 27,000 killed. why are you still supporting this war when this government that isist in the history of israel led by someone who refuses