of the october 7 terrorist assault on israel. israel -- october 7 terrorist assault on israel. his plot left 1200 people dead, including civilians from more than 30 other countries. and that includes the united states. he was responsible for the deaths of many americans over the years, including more than 40 americans murdered on october 7 and four murdered american hostages. sinwar devoted his life to wrecking the chances of peace between israelis and the palestinians. he's finally been brought to justice. and that removes a huge obstacle. our top priority is the 101 hostages still kidnapped in gaza, including our own american hostages. they have been through hell. and so have their families.

a the hostagens should not have to suffer one more hour and connectivity --one more hour in captivity. those who are holding hostages should release them immediately. sinwar's death also provides an extraordinary opportunity to achieve a lasting cease-fire to end this awful war and two rushing humanitarian aid into gaza. our forces in the region stand ready choices to in israel -- stand ready to assist in israel's defense, to deter aggression, and to reduce the risk of all-out war. and we will continue to drive harder to bring all of the hostages home and to end the conflicts in both gaza and lebanon for principles of diplomacy -- principled

diplomacy. now let me turn back to our work at nato. this has been an historic defense ministerial for three reasons. first, this is our new secretary-general's inaugural ministerial meeting, so i want to thank mark rutte and his staff for convening us. i also look forward to working very closely with mark and his team. second, this is our first defense ministerial with nato's indo pacific partners, australia, japan, new zealand, and the republic of korea. and that just underscores the importance of working with our partners in the indo pacific on boosting industrial-based resilience, combating disinformation, and much, much more. and third, this ministerial is the first high-level nato gathering since the 71st-anniversary summit in washington back in july.

the summit was a major success. we welcome to sweden --we welcomed sweden as a nato ally. we endorsed a nato industrial expansion capacity pledge, and that will strengthen the defense industrial base on both sides of the atlantic, increase large-scale multinational procurement, and help deliver capabilities swiftly and securely. we also launched the nato security assistance and training for ukraine, or nsatu. that is the plan to coordinate and arrange delivery of the security assistance that ukraine needs to prevail against russian aggression. we strengthened nato's deterrence and defense. we depended ties with our global partners, especially in the indo pacific. and we celebrated 75 years of

the strongest, most successful defensive alliance in history. i'm proud of all this progress, but we still got work to do. our priority is implementing the important agreements from nato's recent summits, and today we continued our progress. we are forging nato's most robust defense plans since the end of the cold war, and that will help ensure that we have the forces and capabilities to meet any contingency. that includes air and missile defense, which are crucial for defending the allied airspace, and earlier this month the general directed a reinforcement of nato air surveillance in rumania to monitor -- in romania to monitor russian military activity. nato allies continue to make robust investments in air and missile defense, but we must invest in many other areas to

meet our requirements. i'm glad to say that we are sharing the burden of collective defense more than ever. this year a record 23 nato allies are hitting or copping our shared commitment to spend at least 2% of gdp on defense. but we still need each and every single ally to meet this mutually agreed-upon obligation as soon as possible. and that will lead us to fulfill the requirements of our new plans and hit our capability targets. by investing in our transatlantic defense industrial base and scaling up military production, we can send a long-term demand signal to industry. you know, i also met yesterday with our indo pacific partners and with the european union. it was a very productive meeting, and it underscored the profound links among

your-atlanta -- euro-atlantic security and indo pacific security we are concerned by the prc's increasingly coercive behavior in the indo pacific, which has profound implications for the whole world. we are also troubled by the growing alignment between russia and the people's republic of china, including the prc's support for putin's indefensible war of choice against ukraine. and that makes our close cooperation with our indo pacific friends more vital than ever. we also held a nato-ukraine council meeting yesterday. the minister gave us some great insights, and we made clear our enduring commitment to a free and sovereign ukraine. like countries of goodwill around the world, our nato allies continue to stand up for ukraine's sovereignty and self-defense. the united states and our allies

and partners are determined to stand by ukraine for the long haul. and we will standby one another. the foundation of nato is a collective defense commitment in article five of the north atlantic treaty. the u.s. commitment to article v remains ironclad, and we will defend the sovereignty in the territory of every member of this alliance. whatever changes lie ahead, we will tackle them together. and that solidarity is the reason why nato is the greatest defensive alliance in history. and thanks again, and with that i will be glad to take some questions. >> our first question will go to reuters. right here in the middle. your fine.-- no, you're fine. reporter: thank you. so you are saying that israel has an opportunity to end the

war in gaza, but israel's prime minister is vowing today to keep fighting. do you support israel's new campaign to "stop the axi of evil," as netanyahu put it, or is israel missing an opportunity? on ukraine, president zelenskyy told the "financial times" that a formal invitation to join it or the only way ukraine can survive russia's invasion. do you agree with the assessment, and more broadly do you endorse his victory plan? sec. austin: which one of those questions do you want me to answer, phil? all right, let's start with the question as to whether or not there is an opportunity available with respect to gaza. of course there is. and we would hope that we can work together to take advantage of that opportunity. the first thing, phil, that we

need to focus on is the return of the hostages. again, you heard prime minister publicly state yesterday that anyone who has control of hostages, he would encourage them to return them. and again, i would hope that they would do so. beyond that, i think there are other opportunities, and we will see how things evolve. clearly there are opportunities for a change of direction, and we would hope that parties would take advantage of that. both in lebanon -- in gaza and in lebanon. the second question was, as i recall, about the victory plan and whether or not we endorse the victory plan. again, the victory plan is president zelenskyy's plan, and we are going to do everything we can to provide security assistance to support the president as he tries to

accomplish his objectives. what we all want to to make sure we continue to do is to link military objectives to strategic objectives. that dialogue continues. i just met with the minister today. we talked through a number of those things. our focus is going to continue to be undoing everything that we can to support the victory plan -- on doing everything that we can't is what the victory plan, support president zelenskyy. it's not my position to evaluate publicly his plan. we have been supporting him by providing security assistance in a major way for over two and a half years. we are going to continue to do that. >> thank you. our second question, right here in the back in the middle. reporter: thank you. mr. secretary, ukrainian

military has been able to carry out effective uav strikes deep into russian territory, but there have been reports in russian and ukrainian-language media that the u.s. will discourage those attacks. is there any substance to those reports, and if so, is the u.s. willing to support such operations in the future? sec. austin: actually, andre, we have seen ukrainians use their long-range uav strike capability to great effect. we saw recently that they were able to take out a number of strategic-level ammunition supply points, which has had an impact on the battlefield. i think what's important to point out, andre, is that they are able to produce these uav's in ukraine, they are able to scale that production rapidly. the uav's have proven to be very effective and accurate. and again, when you consider the

fact that one precision-guided missile costs in some cases close to a million dollars, depending on what it is, these uav's they can produce in great numbers at a fraction of the cost. when you look at the balance sheet and the effects that are being created on the battlefield, i think this is a great capability. how they use a capability that they are producing is going to be there call-- their call. >> our next question, "air and space magazine." i'm sorry, chris gordon. i said phil. sec. austin: you are phil now. [laughter] i'm kidding, i know you are chris. reporter: good to hear. the world is in a difficult situation and i have two questions regarding that situation. first if there is a settlement in gaza, is the pentagon

prepared to provide logistical support and military advice to a stabilization course if there are no u.s. boots on the ground? and then secondly, to put a finer point on my colleague's question earlier, president zelenskyy has repeatedly appealed to the u.s. to strike a broader range of targets within russia and to do so more quickly than drones. the biden administration is not allowed to this. have putin's nuclear threats worked? sec. austin: regarding putin's nuclear threats, again, you have heard me say a number of times that i think any kind of nuclear saber rattling is reckless and dangerous. and we would call upon putin and others to not employ that kind of language. in terms of whether or not we would participate in any kind of

stabilization efforts in gaza, i think that that is going to require the contributions of a number of countries, hopefully countries in the region will step up. there quite possibly can be a part for the united states to play in that as well. what part that would be and what that would look like, chris, we are going after work with our allies and partners to scope that out. and i certainly would not have any announcements to make on anything like that. the first step, though, is we have got to get to some sort of cease fire, and then we need to make sure that we have -- that we are putting the right things in place to stabilize the area and provide for some sort of security going forward. but that's left to be defined. >> our last question will go to deutsche welle. reporter: thank you, secretary

austin. i'm very interested in the future of the ukraine contact group, a group your yourself created. what is the future of this given that nobody knows what is going to have been-- happen after november under either administration that would take over? what is going to happen with this group? how do you consolidate what you have done and what has been done under your leadership, but more of interested ukrainians, -- interest to the ukrainians, do you have a sense after this last meeting that there is enough momentum to provide enough to help ukraine tilt the balance on the battlefield as is necessary, you yourself say, to some day move into discussions about ending the war? sec. austin: yeah, thanks, terry. we have been doing two things simultaneously. we are focused on providing ukraine what it needs to be successful on the battlefield today as it tries to defend its

sovereign territory, and it's been very successful at that and i would remind everybody that ukraine has taken on the largest military in europe and for two and a half years it has successfully defended its territory. and putin has not achieved not one strategic objective that he has set out to achieve. kyiv is still stands -- still stands. the ukrainian government did not fold. and i couldn't name a number of other things. but they have-- i could name a number of other things, but they have been very successful. helping them in the current fight is one objective. the other objective is making sure that we help them get what's necessary to be able to defend against aggression in the future and deter aggression as well. that is what the capability coalitions have been designed to do. as you know, we have an air force capability coalition. it was focused initially and still is focused on helping

ukraine get a fighter aircraft capability. as you know, ukraine now has f-16 cabability. we will continue to build upon that. there is an artillery capability coalition that is also very successful, and it is helping ukraine acquire the artillery systems and munitions it means not only for today, but for the long haul as well good there is an i.t. coalition that helps make sure that ukraine has what it needs to be able to function in the information space, information domain, and be effective. that i.t. coalition has been very impressive. there is a drone coalition. these coalitions are designed to ensure that at the end of the day, ukraine has what it needs to deter aggression and defend itself going forward. thank you for bringing it up, because it's a thing that not many people pay attention to.

but every day, we are building long-term capability for ukraine . to applaud the work of our allies and partners who are leading some of these coalitions and rallying support for ukraine and digging deep to provide them what we think they will need going forward. so i think that will help dispel success for you -- i think that will help spell success for ukraine going forward. >> thank you, everyone. that concludes today's press conference. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] >> today 2024 republican nominee nald trump participates in a roundtable discussn th voters in auburn hills, michigan at 5:00 eastern on c-span,

c-span now and c-span.org. ♪ >> today, watch c-span's 2024 campaign trail, a weekly discussion on how the presidential, senate and house campaigns have progressed. two reporters join to talk about the events driving the week's political news and look at the week ahead. watch c-span's 2024 campaign trail today at 7:00 on c-span, c-span.org or download as a podcast on c-span now. c-span, your unfiltered view of politics. ♪ >> do you solemnly swear that in the testimony you are about to give it will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the

truth, so help you god? >> watch the conclusion of our american history tv series congress investigates. major investigations by the u.s. and senate in our country's histories. authors and historians will tell the stories. we will examine the legacy of key congressional hearings. tonight, in 1994 tobacco industry ceos testified they did not believe nicotine was addictive. they found themselves under investigation for lying under oath. watch congress investigates tonight at 10:00 on c-span. ♪ >> fourth term democratic senator faced off against a republican challenger in a debate to represent washington in the u.s. senate. hosted by kiro tv in seattle. they discussed multiple issues. a nonpartisan report rates the

race as solid democrat. ♪ >> we are welcoming both candidates to the stage. maria campbell and raul garcia, thank you for being here today. i am your moderator. i am your moderator and today we will be addressing the biggest issues facing our state. you are in for a spirited debate. let's meet our candidates. first, maria cantwell. the democrat has held public office for more than 30 years. she has worked in the private tech sector in washington. tech sector in washington. her challenger, republican dr. roll garcia. dr. garcia, originally from cuba, has worked as a physician for 26 years and it is the

medical director at ashburn hospital. dr. garcia has not yet held elected office, but has years of community service. both candidates have agreed to rules for this debate. no opening statements, but there will be time at the end for closing statements and at home you will hear pre-questions directly from washingtonians. i will also ask questions formulated with help from the league of lit wit -- league of women voters, a nonpartisan group who neither endorses nor opposes political parties. each candidate will have 90 seconds to answer each question. candidates may call for a rebuttal once during the debate. my primary role is to ensure the questions are answered and asked follow-up clarifying questions as needed in 30 seconds will be given to respond to those. dr. garcia was the winner of the coin toss before the debate and opted to go second. senator cantwell will go first and we will alternate from their area let's get started with a basic but important question.

why do you believe you are the best candidate to represent the people of washington in the u.s. senate? senator cantwell, you first. sen. cantwell: thank you for the question, thank you to dr. garcia, thank you to the league of women voters. i'm here to what ask the washingtonians that i know and love so much for the ability to continue to fight for us. i went to washington not to argue with my colleagues or get on to cable tv at night, but get things done. we passed three major bills. the inflation reduction act, which helped to put a cap on prescription drug prices for out of pocket for seniors with insulin at $35, it got us a negotiated rate that is helping us save money, like when you buy at costco and you get a discount. we deserve to get that discount in the medicare budget. we passed an infrastructure bill that helped us build the west seattle bridge and is getting light rail to show miss county

and has done so many other things. we also passed the chips in science act, bringing the supply chain home, increasing jobs here in the state of washington, driving down costs. that is so important. i want to continue that work, we have created so many jobs. we have seen them in the northwest economy. what we need now is trained, skilled people for the jobs of tomorrow that are here today. i want to fight for the apprenticeships, increased skilled wages and lower costs. ms. laven: thank you. dr. garcia, why do you believe you are the best candidate to represent our state? 5 good afternoon, i'm here to represent the people of washington. i want to thank the league of women voters and kiro7 for putting this together. i want to thank senator cantwell for being here and recognize 24 years representing the u.s.,

public service is not easy. as i say that, i want to thank my wife for her support. without her, i wouldn't be here today. mainly, i want to thank you, the viewers, who care enough to view the debate and care about our future. [speaking another language] i hope that everybody watching this debate will see a contrast and a choice, not from a career politician with polished answers , but from an immigrant who fought hard for the american dream and was lucky enough to become a doctor, a medical leader, a professor, a dean, medical director, a business owner, but more importantly a father and a husband and a scientist. as such i will bring science into politics and according to

results come out with solutions that are effective. ms. laven: thank you to you both for that opening question and now we are turning to the cost-of-living. washingtonians are struggling with the rising cost-of-living. the basic necessities, including food, housing, and gas. inflation in washington state has consistently outpaced the national average. grocery prices are up by 7% in the last two years. here's the question -- what specific measures would you support to address inflation? dr. garcia? 5 we are in a bad -- dr. garcia: we are in a bad situation. numerous families are now going to food banks to get field -- to get food because they cannot afford it. they put groceries on credit cards. i have four children that put gas in their car every month, and eventually they call me to see if i can help them out. we need true answers.

this inflation has been a result of largely government spending. i think that we need to cut our government spending and i think that we need to audit our federal government and see what programs are effective and what programs are ineffective. those ineffective programs turn into money that we can be back to our communities. so that we can have more money. if we have more money in our pockets, we spend more in our communities and then growth happens. senator cantwell talked about the inflation reduction act, but unfortunately that has proven to not lower inflation. it has in fact raised it. academics all over the country said that this wouldn't be good and they continue to say that the results of the inflation reduction act, especially for the state of washington, we have been the piggy bank for the rest of the country. that means that we have put more taxes into its then we have

rewarded from that ira. so, better solutions need to happen and we deserve better. ms. laven: thank you. senator cantwell, what specific measures would you support to address inflation? ms. laven: thank you. -- sen. cantwell: thank you. we had a global pandemic in the situation in ukraine that affected all sorts of prices. first and foremost, to get through the pandemic, as i said earlier, bring the supply back to the united states to lower costs. right now we have gone from 9% inflation to 2.5% today, but it is still not enough. we need to see lower prices. when a kroger executive says that he knows that he raised grocery prices above the rate of inflation, that is just not right. so, i am opposing the kroger merger, because the kroger albertson merger will give less choice and increase costs. secondly, i believe in building

more affordable housing. for every 2000 units that get built in the city, it lowers the annual rent by about $2000 for those individuals. building more supply will help us, because housing is still one of the stingy us aspects. i also believe in giving more people access to lower prescription drug costs. the notion that we now have a cap on insulin at $35 for seniors is something that everyone on insulin deserves to have. certainly, being able to negotiate on drug prices and these middlemen who are taking money out of our pharmacies like the kelley raw pharmacy here that had to close because of the pdm clawbacks, we need to stop that and i have a bill in the senate to do so. ms. laven: moving on to public safety now, this remains a top concern for washingtonians. violent crime in our state decreased by four point 8% from 2022 to 2023, but it remains

more than 23% higher than in 2019, before pandemic, outpacing the national average. the drug prices, particularly fentanyl, contribute significantly to crime. what would you do as senator to address public safety. senator cantwell? sen. cantwell: fentanyl is a scourge on society and we did pass a law to make it an emergency nationally, giving us more resources here in seattle to fight this pandemic. and we are also, this crisis that we have, we also are helping with law enforcement with what they have requested, new technologies to detect fentanyl vapors so that it can be detected sooner. i believe in putting more community police into our communities. the notion that we put 100 36,000 policemen from the federal level to help places like seattle or to help tacoma or spokane is a critical part of