caller: it's a pleasure to talk to you, anthony cordesman. i'm 74 and i know how old you are, but the point i am making as i have been around and i remember you serving under john mccain and working for the defense department. i really enjoy talking to people who have the kind of experience you have and it is a pleasure. i got to talk to -- one time. most of my question has been answered. you have got an impressive resume and i do not want you to tell state secrets, does the state department, do they ever reach out and say, we have an issue, give us advice. in particular, i want you to speak to president xi laughing and waiting, and how this will affect our energy issues. i appreciate your answer. guest: those are all good questions. one thing about being in a think tank is you can offer advice whether anybody wants it or not. i think people do pay attention, particularly when the advice is technical, when you are offering options or offering information that has a different way of looking. today has a wide spectrum of people offering advice.

caller: it's a pleasure to talk to you, anthony cordesman.4 and i know how old you are, but the point i am making as i have been around and i remember you serving under john mccain and working for the defense department. i really enjoy talking to people who have the kind of experience you have and it is a pleasure. i got to talk to -- one time. most of my question has been answered. you have got an impressive resume and i do not want you to tell state secrets, does the state department, do they ever reach out and say, we have an issue, give us advice. in particular, i want you to speak to president xi laughing and waiting, and how this will affect our energy issues. i appreciate your answer. guest: those are all good questions. one thing about being in a think tank is you can offer advice whether anybody wants it or not. i think people do pay attention, particularly when the advice is technical, when you are offering options or offering information that has a different way of looking. today has a wide spectrum of people offering advice. and,

host: anthony cordesman with the center for strategic & international studies, announcer: shortly we will take you to the white house where president biden is expected to up date on the administration's response to russia's border threats to ukraine. russian president vladimir putin is sending troops to to separatists region's to ukraine. president biden was expected at 1 p.m. eastern, we will have live coverage of his remarks when he begins here on c-span. a discussion on efforts to battle the crisis of synthetic opioids. bryce pardo works at the drug policy research center at the rand corporation, serves as a staff member of the commission on combating opioid trafficking. some background on the commission, when and why was it started? guest: it was passed into law in 2019 as part of the national defense reauthorization act. part of the duties were to look at the mounting overdose death crisis related to synthetic opioids, the supply mechanisms involved in how the drugs are arriving into the united states and how they are diffused domestically into drug markets, and trying to figure