>> today, c-span will release the results of our survey of presidential historians, ranking on 10past u.s. president attributes of leadership. 91 presidential historians ranked the occupants of the white house. you can read the results at c-span.org. on sunday's "washington journal," a roundtable of historians will discuss the presidential survey. you can watch that live and call in at 8:00 a.m. eastern time. announcer: watch c-span as president donald trump delivers his first address to a joint session of congress. pres. trump: this congress is going to be the busiest congress we have had in decades. announcer: live tuesday, february 28 at 9:00 p.m. eastern on c-span and c-span.org.

and listen live on the free c-span radio app. >> defense secretary james mattis just concluded a meeting with nato defense ministers in brussels. then he held a brief news conference, where he discussed the nato alliance and answered questions about u.s. relations with russia. >> ladies and gentlemen, secretary mattis will make a statement and then take two questions. sec. mattis: yes, ma'am. good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. i just completed the defense ministerial, wherein had the opportunity to engage in a bilateral discussion with a number of our fellow ministers. we all had a dinner last night, reaffirming our strong transatlantic bond. it is the strongest i have ever seen. i have experience here at nato, and i was impressed by how

strong the bond is. my intent was to affirm the full u.s. commitment to nato, and to gain an updated appreciation of the situation facing our alliance. the burden-sharing message i delivered was effective, and it was very well received, and i depart confident that the alliance will be unified in meeting today's security challenges. i especially appreciate the leadership of secretary-general stoltenberg and the clear alignment of our messages, as well as the messages delivered by so many of the unified alliance member nations and their ministers of defense. as i noted, nato is the fundamental bedrock for keeping the peace in defending the freedoms we enjoy. the minister of france, on

"nato is a peerless alliance." it is a manifestation of our principles and shared values, and the u.s. commitment to article five and our mutual defense is rocksolid. in our meetings, we discussed the strategic situation facing the alliance. many allies, including the minister of germany, recognized 2014 as a watershed year that awakened allies to a new reality. my message to my fellow ministers was simple. nato arose out of strategic necessity, and nato must be evolve in response to the new strategic reality. our community of nations is under threat on multiple fronts, as the ark of insecurity builds on nato's periphery and beyond. we thoroughly discussed the increased threats facing our alliance, and unified by the threats to our democracies, i found a strong alliance resolve to address these growing threats. russia's aggressive actions have

violated international law and are destabilizing. terrorism emanating from the middle east and north africa is a direct and immediate threat to europe and to us all. i am mindful of the tragic attacks on our european allies and what they have suffered in paris, nice, berlin, istanbul. here in brussels. in the list, as you know, goes on. we have recognized that the instability has taken on new forms that we must address, for example, in the cyber domain. in response, nato is reinforcing deterrence and defense, and adapting to more directly address terrorist threats along our southern flank in the mediterranean and turkey, and the words of the turkish m.o.d. , "a seamless defense all the

way across the mediterranean." we also met with one of nato's closest partners, georgia. i expressed appreciation and respect on george's contributions in afghanistan. the alliance space is not only strategic realities, but also political realities. i depart here confident that we have an appreciation of the burden sharing that we must all sustain for deterrence, peace, and prosperity. i am optimistic the alliance will adopt a plan this year to , tocluding milestone dates make steady progress toward meeting defense commitments in light of the increased threats we face. it is imperative we do so to confront the threats as outlined by the ministers of defense over the last two days. that means those nations already committing 2% of gdp to defense, and the commitments other allies have made to commit to 2%, give me the confidence that nothing can shake our unity and our

commitment to defend our way of life. we specifically appreciate estonia, greece, poland, and the united kingdom, who have already met the 2% defense spending commitment. these countries are leading by example, making real sacrifices. all allies recognize that they are benefiting from the best defense in the world, so i am optimistic that all nations are on a steady path to reach the commitments made at the wales and warsaw summits. thees and gentlemen, transatlantic bond, built on common values, remains very, very strong. i see in brussels a quick and purpose in this alliance, and a profound determination to stand together and honor our commitments to each other. i have confidence that we will sustain the legacy we have inherited and do what is necessary to defend our freedoms. thank you very much. i am happy to take your questions.

jennifer: jennifer griffin, fox news. thank you, sir. what does russia need to stop doing in order for the u.s. to work with it? the chairman of the joint chiefs is meeting with his russian counterpart for the first time since russia invaded ukraine. can you trust the russians? sec. mattis: jennifer, i think the point about russia is they have to live by international law, as we expect all mature nations on this planet to do. what we will do is we will engage politically. we are not in a position right now to collaborate on a military level, but our political leaders will engage and try to find common ground or a way forward where russia, living up to its commitments, will return to a partnership of sorts with nato. russia is going to have to prove itself first and live up to the commitments they have made in the russia-nato agreement.

>> just to clarify, do you believe russians interfered in the u.s. elections? sec. mattis: right now, i would say there is little doubt that they have either interfered or attempted to in a number of elections in the democracies. heidi: heidi from u.s. post in denmark. you said yesterday that the u.s. would think about moderating its commitment to nato if european members of the alliance did not increase its defense budget, but what does that mean, exactly? does that mean that rocksolid support for article five does not necessarily stand, or you will withdraw troops from europe? can you elaborate on that? thank you. sec. mattis: the commitment to article five remains rocksolid.

the message that i brought here about everyone carrying their fair share of the burden, the sacrifice to maintain the best defense in the world, was very well received. it was not contentious, there was no argument. it was simply discussion about how best and how fast can each nation reach it. i leave here very optimistic. we will take one more question just to show that i'm boss. [laughter] from the new york times. thank you, sir. the russian defense minister took issue with your remarks yesterday, and said if nato wants to deal with russia from a position of strength, there is nothing to talk about. could you respond to that? separately, have you requested help from allies for the counter-isil fight, and you need do you think that you need to

send additional american troops to syria? sec. mattis: i feel no need to response to the russian statement at all. nato has always stood for the protection of the democracies and the freedoms we intend to pass on to our children. but you asked two questions. you know, you questions. just can't keep you journalists down, can we? [laughter] mattis: i don't know. i think you would have to ask that question of some others in order to get a full answer. it is just not one i would be comfortable answering on my own at this point. >> meaning you have not decided? sec. mattis: right now, i first want to talk to the other allies, and we will decide where we are going.

i am going to fly from here to the middle east, and i am not comfortable answering it yet. once we know what we have for a mutual appreciation of the situation, then we will go forward, but i am not comfortable answering it yet. i consider myself a couple weeks in office. first, i need to get current, and once i get current and get allies' assumptions and appreciations for the situation, we will carve out where we want to go, and at that point, i can give you a much more steady hand. i would be concerned with giving you a half-baked one. we need at least one non-american now. >> the woman in the fourth row, please. >> this is from danish television. sir, could you please elaborate more about the word "moderate?" sec. mattis: i would prefer not to, ma'am, because basically that is the headline i do not anticipate. by putting it out there and

being honest among friends, we say this is a burden we all have to carry equally, and by being persuasive, we will write our own headlines as a unified alliance that will stand up for each other, and i am very confident that we will not have to have that. sometimes you say the things you don't want to have happen. d themt you he them off. but thank you, ladies and gentlemen. i don't think i am going to get ahead of these ladies, so i am going to give up while i am only somewhat behind. thank you very much. a signature feature of c-span2's book tv is our coverage of book fairs and

festivals across the country with nonfiction author talks, interviews, and you are calling segments. saturday, we are live from savannah, georgia for the 10th anniversary of the savanna book festival. include authors john tamny, cassandra king, william daughter he talks about his book "in the shadow of the slater.h," and dan we will also be taking your calls with a featured authors rocketed. be sure to follow and tweet us throughout the day @booktv on twitter. i had a piece of information. i did not articulate that to

myself, but when i look back and i ask myself why i did this that and -- bad and the stupid thing, that is what it comes down to. >> sunday night on "q&a," barbara feinman todd talks about working as a researcher and ghostwriter for hillary clinton and others in her book "pretend i'm not here," how i worked with three newspaper icons, one powerful first, and still managed to dig myself out of the washington swap. barbara: i spoke in general terms about what it was like being in the white house, and then i told the story of being in the room during this unusual exercise. i told her you cannot use it. there were only two women in the room who were doing this, and then there were one or two staffers.

i said if you use it, everybody will know that i was the source. and i was very worried about the. but i trusted her. >> sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span's "q&a." weekly press briefing, house minority leader nancy pelosi commented on allegations of a betrothed administration's communications with russia and call for a congressional investigation. rep. pelosi: here we are. the soggy conditions -- the saga continues. veryommunication has been revealing. democracyrmining our and compromising our national security and also reveals that president trump's