aid for ukraine, the military aid from the defense department. and "bloomberg news" has some detailed and fascinating new reporting about how half of that got freed up. how the state department side of that got freed up. in a previously unreported classified memorandum to secretary of state mike pompeo, state department lawyers reportedly found that the white house had no legal standing to block the spending of the ukraine aid because they had no legal standing to block it, the state department in early september freed up that aid to go to ukraine, apparently without telling president trump that they were doing so. the state department reportedly internally concluded that it was illegal to not send over those funds to ukraine before mid-september. ultimately, the person who ordered the state department to pull the trigger after they'd conducted that legal analysis appears to have been john bolton, the national security adviser. quoting from "bloomberg," "shortly before september 9th, john bolton relayed a message to the state department that the f

you oversee the department of defense.s you've just heard the deputy assistant of defense testified that she learned in late august that money appropriated by congress would likely flow if -- if the ukrainians committed to investigations that president trump wanted, political investigations involving the bidens so how concerning is that? >> it is terribly concerning. the aid that we voted for on a bipartisan basis in the house and senate and signed by the president was designed to aid an ally in direct confrontation with russia and they invaded ukraine and they are fighting through proxies and trying to destabilize the ukraine government. this aid was essential and not just essential for the ukrainians, essential to maintain the integrity of our position in europe, along with our nato allies. so to use this as a -- attempt to extort or somehow shake down a foreign government is outrageous. if that is the case. we have to establish that. >> and she also testify that all of the national security leaders were on the exact sam

of defense in court nation with the department of state certified in may 2019 that ukraine had quote taken substantial actions to make defense institutional reforms for the purposes of decreasing corruption increasing accountability and sustaining improvements of combat capability unquote meriting obligation of the entire 250000000 in usa i funds this brings me to the topic of today's proceedings i would like to recap my recollection of the timeline in which these events played out i testified about all of this at length in my deposition in july i became aware of a whole being placed on obligation of the state department's foreign military financing or f.m.s. and d.o.d.'s usa i funds in a series of interagency meetings i heard that the president had directed the office of management and budget to hold the funds because of his concerns about corruption in ukraine let me say at the outset that i have never discussed this or any other matter with the president and never heard directly from him about this matter at a senior.

do you say that defense department employee would risk being accused of being trying our country and acting as a spy. lastly clear here. the real purpose of these attacks, is to scare anyone else who may be thinking of coming forward to stay silent. we see the president time and time again, to a tweet, enemies, as rallies, openly attacking anyone who questions or disagrees with him. chilling effect of what the president is doing cannot be overstated. it is totally on because our whistleblower laws. these are not normal times. in normal times we would be protecting whistleblowers. those with this resolution does. the resolution and presenting affirms that congress expects

the national defense authorization act requires the department of defense to certify defense reform progresselease half of the ukraine security assistance initiative or us ai funds. the provision we find very helpful. based on recommendations from me and other key dod advisors, the department of defense and coronation with the department of state certified in may 2019 that ukraine had "taken substantial actions to make defense institutional reforms for the purposes of decreasing corruption, increasing accountability, and sustaining improvements of combat capability". meriting obligation of the entire 250 million and usi iphone. this brings me to the topic of today's proceedings. i would like to recap my recollection of the timeline in which these events played out. i testified about all of this at length in my enin july i became aware of a hold being placed on obligation of the state department foreign military financing or fms and dod usa iphone. in a series of interagency meetings i heard that the president had directed the office of management and budget to hold the funds because of his c

it points to a larger issue that the defense department and the state department have refused to comply with a duly issued subpoena to provide this committee with documents that which further shed light on when exactly the ukrainians knew about the hold. so this is not something -- there is untold information out there being blocked that would draw greater light and help us understand. is there anything else out there that you are aware of, or possibilities that are out there with the dod or the state department that could help us shed light on what the ukrainians knew and when they knew it? >> sir, i have shared with the committee all that i recollect, but i have not done an exhaustive investigation. i really cannot speculate on what else might be available by combing through all of the defense department records, which are substantial. >> did the state department or the department of defense ask you for your information? or did they coordinate with you to get information that you had? >> sir, i was told not to destroy anything, and our i.t. personnel have been collecting documents is

of defense in court a nation with the department of state, certified in may 2019 that ukraine had quote, taken substantial actions to make defense institutional reforms for the purposes of decreasing corruption, increasing accountability and sustaining improvements of combat capability, unquote, marketing obligation of the entire 250 million in u.s. ai funds. this brings me to the topic of today's proceedings. i would like to recap my recollection of the timeline in which these aren't events played out. then testified about all of this at length of my deposition. in july, i became aware of a whole being placed and an obligation of the state department's foreign military financing or fm or do you these funds. the inter agency meeting i heard that the president had directed office of management budget to hold the funds because of his concern about corruption in ukraine. let me say at the outset that i have never discussed this or any other matter with the president. i never heard directly from him about this matter. at a senior level meeting, i attended an july

defense department after rival microsoft saw off the firm to clinch a very lucrative data contract the decision surprised analysts who thought amazon had it in the bag but the rouse about more than just money as artie's taylor comets . amazon and white chris soft 2 giants have changed the way we experience the wild. numbers. yes warm and fuzzy ads to appeal to our pockets over the holiday season but it turns out the real money that goes soft is the pentagon's own given the u.s. military spent over $600000000000.00 annually and it's unsurprising there's a battle for the big contracts so had to had amazon and microsoft have been vying for the pentagon prize of $10000000.00. was over the next 10 years the contract in question is for the judge by project and ambitious event that would allow the pentagon to stall at sensitive data on a single large cloud it would also allow the military to take full advantage of artificial intelligence tools tools which have drawn concern from ethical watch dogs for that lethal potential in guiding missiles and drones amazon thought it had its foot in the d

military machine so this is not simply a matter of war the defense department and the contracts this is this is business in america war is very profitable and war contracting very very profitable. almost always coming up for you this monday on r.t. international including a war of words on u.s. university campuses with conservative speakers in the firing line pass off this break. what holds us do something to. put themselves on the line. to get accepted or rejected. so when you want to be president i'm sure. some want to be rich. but you'd like to be close to see what the fuck are you the more people. interested in the why. should. anyone else seem wrong why don't we all just don't all. get to shape out just to become educated and in detroit equals betrayal. when so many find themselves worlds apart we choose to look for common ground. and. welcome back american i could dimia seem to have inclusiveness issues with conservative lecturers increasingly being shut out by student protest as well as one study more than a 1000 universe ugly. rows of young protesters formed a human chain to

military machine so this is not simply a matter of war the defense department and the contracts this is it this is business and in america war is very profitable and war contracting very very profitable big vote homecoming a stainless try that next the pro-democracy kind of that's their own course would seem to secure a landslide victory in the chinese territories district council elections after a record number of voters flocked to the polls sunday folks are still being counted but local reports say the opposition has taken 17 out of 18 districts that will give them about 390 seats out of the 452 being contested it's the 1st elections since those violent protests erupted in june and was widely seen as a referendum on beijing on komo position leaders say the result sends a clear message to the a thorough. teasin that demonstrators demands must be taken seriously now the huge win means the pro-democracy bloc will get a biggest say on the election committee that selects hong kong's next chief currently they carry lambs commented she says she hopes the territory won't return to chaos fo

secretary ofis the defense for russia, ukraine at the department of defense. she is a career member of the executive service. she served as a principal defense for homeland and global security affairs. prior to joining the department of defense, she was a policy planning officer at the state department. witness depositions were unclassified in nature. open hearings will be held at the unclassified level. any information will be separate. toleratewill not attempts to retaliate against any official for testifying before congress. if you'd both please rise and raise your right hand. i will begin by swearing you in. do you swear or affirm that the testimony you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? let the record show the witnesses answered in the affirmative. please be seated. the microphone is sensitive. please speak directly into it. your written statements will be made part of the record. if you have an opening statement, you are free to give it. i don't have a prepared opening statement. i would like to comment. i have been u

military machine so this is not simply a matter of war the defense department and the contracts this is it this is business and in america war is very profitable and war contracting very very profitable. and it's you know there are headlines stories today hong kong's prude marker see movement is celebrating victory in the chinese territories district council elections after a record number of voters flocked to the polls on sunday the opposition walnuts with the 90 percent of the 450 seats being contested putting them in control of 17 of 18 districts it is the 1st election since violent protests erupted there in june and is widely seen as a vote on the beijing government is humbling me a list hong kong or position leaders say the result sends a clear message to the authorities. demonstrators to must be taken seriously. the huge win means the pro-democracy bloc will get a bigger say in the election committee that selects hong kong's next chief current leader say she hopes the territory won't return to chaos for the city to have a fresh start the streets were notably quieter on polling

defense department has often rival microsoft so off the phone to clinch a very lucrative data contract the decision surprised on a list so i thought i wasn't in the bag but the royals about more than money as taylor breaks down. and white chris aust 2 giants that have changed the way we experience the world. yes warm and fuzzy ads to appeal to our pockets over the holiday season but it turns out the real money that goes softer is the pentagon's own given the u.s. military spends over $600000000000.00 annually it's unsurprising there's a battle so big contracts so head to head and microsoft have been vying for the pentagon prize of $10000000000.00 over the next 10 years the contract in question is for the judge by project and ambitious offended that would allow the pentagon to stall at cents. of data on a single large cloud it would also allow the military to take full advantage of artificial intelligence tools tools which have drawn concern from ethical what dogs for that lethal potential in guiding missiles and drones amazon thought it had its foot in the door not only is it the need

military machine so this is not simply a matter of war the defense department and the contracts this is it this is business and in america war is very profitable and war contracting very very profitable. let's say keep the program stateside because american media seems the inclusiveness issues with conservative lecturers increasingly being shut out by student protesters last wednesday more than the university of california students try to block a conservative pundit from speaking on campus on berkeley. yet what you're seeing here are rumors that young protesters form a human chain to block the audience from entering the building did it not for quite a while they chanted anti racist slogans and how banners criticizing doubletons immigration policy the police came in and riot gear guarding the entrance from demonstrators arrests were made up to 7 mass protesters were taken into custody and partly the event eventually did go ahead. has been looking at. universities are supposed to be a place for learning getting. a useful degree and exploring certain ideas however lately they've become

i cannot speculate on what else might be available by combing through all of the defense department records which are substantial. >> to the state department and the department of defense ask you for your information or do they cordate with you to get information that you have? >> i was told not to destroy anything and our it personnel has been collecting documents is my understanding. that occurs without the individual -- >> were collecting and passing it on to stay or dod is that correct. >> you said your department was collecting, they were passing on to you, they were passing onto the state department? >> this is what they reported to me, i have not seen the documents that have been collected i only know those documents that i have produced or my staff has brought to my attention that i have received so no i do not know what has happened with the documents that have been collected. >> same question to you. you. . . . . >> i request and was granted access to documents that i'd originated or been sent to me that are relevant to the pertinent matters during that time period. i don't have a

the national defense authorization act requires the department of defense to certify defense reform progressrelease half of the ukraine security assistance initiative, or u.s. ai funds, provision we find very helpful. based on recommendations from me and other key dod advisors, the department of defense in coordination with the department of state certified in may 2019 that ukraine had "taken substantial actions to make defense institutional reforms for the purposes of decreasing corruption, increasing accountability, and sustaining improvements of combat capability." meriting obligation of the entire 250 million in usai funds. this brings me to the topic of today's proceedings. i would like to recap my recognition of the timeline in which these events played out. i testified about all of this at length in my deposition. in july, i became aware of a hold being an obligation of the state department's foreign military financing and dod's usai funds. in a series of interagency meetings, i heard that the president had directed the office of of management and budget to hold the funds becausf his

military machine so this is not simply a matter of war the defense department in the contracts this is it this is business in america war is very profitable and war contracting very very profitable. something entirely to remove dance of bias bloomberg news has announced a won't be doing any investigative reporting on its own and michael bloomberg or any other us democratic hopeful that's off the billionaire founder of the outlook to officially through his name in the hunt for the 2020 presidential race the current editor in chief set the focus of its news will be on the day to day workings of those currently in power in washington. we will continue our tradition of not investigating mike and his family and foundation and we will extend the same policy to his rivals in the democratic primaries we cannot treat mike's democratic competitors differently from him but emberg was elected new york mayor back in 2002 as a republican but now enters the race for the white house as the democrats in a statement on his campaign website he highlighted his main goal was to defeat donald trump who we c

interests of the department of defense and state department were consistently supportive of releasing those funds everyone was mystified as to why the phones had been withheld and everyone is running around trying to get an answer and you're getting kind of up to 6 responses saying it was the president because of corruption now what we see is that president selenski gets elected in april the expectation is that vice president pence is going to attend the inauguration in september and then the president pulls the carpet out from under him in terms of him going and then he proceeds in june or july to withhold the funds there is a concerted effort by the president the united states to to act in a manner that is not consistent with our interests in wanting to protect ukraine and help them deal with the russian aggression at its border would you agree with that. i have advocated for the security assistance and i have advocated for high level engagement with the government of ukraine because i think both are in the national security interest. back. the sister and chairman under secretary si

military machine so this is not simply a matter of war the defense department and the contracts this is it this is business and in america war is very profitable and war contracting very very profitable big vote in hong kong over the last 24. of the pro-democracy candidates there it seems are on course to secure a landslide victory in the chinese to trees district council elections over a record number of voters flocked to the polls yesterday votes are still being counted but it's being reported that the opposition has won 90 percent of the $452.00 seats being contested putting them in control than of 17 out of the 18 districts thus far it's the 1st election since those violent protests erupted there in june and is widely seen as a vote on how the pro beijing government is handling the rest are position leaders say the result sends a clear message the authorities and the demonstrators demands must be taken seriously huge win means the pro-democracy bloc will get a big a say than on the election committee that selects hong kong's next chief current leader says she hopes the territory

>>> escalating turmoil between the white house and defense department. a top official fired over a secret agreement on a war crimes case. >>> newly uncovered documents show the white house trying to justify withholding military aid to ukraine, after the president gave the order. >>> mike bloomberg became the guy who did good. and now, he's taking on him. >> mike bloomberg enters the 2020 race. he calls donald trump an existential threat. is it too late to mount a challenge? ♪ i'll be the man >>> it was a historic night for taylor swift. we'll tell you what she won at the american music awards. welcome to "early start." i'm kaitlan collins. >> welcome. i'm christine romans. it's monday, november 25th. it is 4:00 a.m. in new york. a secret agreement with the white house, costing a top official his job. spencer shows a dispute of handling war crime charges of navy s.e.a.l. eddie gallagher. many at the pentagon think the president's involvement in the punishment for gallagher and others could undermine discipli discipline. >> the navy will not be taking away

almost where you feel ostracized for working with the department of defense and those working on the project. and what we found is the critique on both sides as we lost the narrative very quickly. our approach of department of defense is not to become public that what the company wants us to talk about. in very general terms. with an intelligent surveillance remotely piloted aircraft. and what the project made and at what it was and was not. no pun intended. controversial has been inserted permanently. i say is not controversial to anybody right now so full circle i'm not sure everybody fully appreciates our reasoning and that is a canary in the coal mine the fact that it happened and to get that out of the way with that reset and all the companies that we deal with at the department of defense it would happen to somebody else at some point but the idea of transparency for what each side is trying to achieve. >> we don't wear hats anymore because with three has trying to figure out which one i'm wearing so the real problem inside the military with the soldiers and airmen and put them

military machine so this is not simply a matter of war the defense department in the contracts this is it this is business in america war is very profitable and war contracting very very profitable. fun of the fashion world all not social media has upped the ante in response to iconic lingerie brands victoria's secret counseling is 200-1000 show the decision was made after criticism that the events last diversity and a drop in ratings parent company l. brands and months last week that its so-called angels wouldn't be taking to the catwalk has some of the reaction online. finally the ridiculous victoria's secret's fashion show has been canceled gender equality sexier than laundry it's already dated just like the labor drive is just for you all behind the scenes explosion we made the models on the costumers the only people who like you all the girls could be. nice to tori secret fashion even if i will never look like their age old or even if i don't look good in the laundry why does not the family you have to destroy it with the tory a secret show was cancelled because of leftist in fran

right now it's with the department of defense. the department of defense has responsibility. i have had conversations with advocates like general petraeus about this. we don't experience what my father's generation experienced. that was the decades long wait after we knew people were exposed to agent orange. i'm waiting on dod and i think they will give it to me shortly. the results of all of their investigations into what went on in iraq and afghanistan. i would also note that what i have approved is separate and category. a burn pit if we have any veteran who has any of the medical issues that could come from burn pit exposure we see them on that basis. i think we have seen about 50,000. misdiagnoses are a huge factor in the number of veterans dying from cancer because the v.a. catches it too late. what additional expertise will the v.a. higher to approve its cancer care for veterans? improve its cancer care for veterans? sec. wilkie: we work collaboratively with the most important cancer research institutions in the country. we have partnerships with md anderson, with stan

and the other at the defense department. david hale is the under-secretary of state for political affairs. the third-most senior official in the department and the most senior foreign service officer. laura cooper serves as deputy assistant secretary of defense for russia, ukraine, eurasia, and is responsible for a broad range of countries in the former soviet union and the balkans. between them, they have several decades of national security experience serving both republican and democratic presidents. and as we have heard from other dedicated public servants like former ambassador to ukraine marie yovanovitch, george kent, ambassador taylor, lieutenant colonel alexander vindman, their only priority has been security of the united states. secretary hill was witness to the smear campaign against ambassador to ukraine marie yovanovitch and the efforts by some in the state department to help her. in late march, yovanovitch reached out to hale for assistance telling him in an e-mail that the tempo of social media and other criti

there's also a case against the department of defense. they are the government said they can enforce that and the d.c. circuit found it's certainly true that the private plaintiffs in that case were not regulated or the statute and it was not to their benefit. was to the benefit of the public and appropriations control. nonetheless with matters is the congruence of dancers between the challenger and congress and there was no question the plaintiff was a suitable challenger because it was seeking to accomplish exactly what congress was trying to accomplish which is forfeiture restrictions on the executive misusing of appropriated funds. here too there's no meaningful way in which your interest can divert from congress but further as questioning has shown no one else can come into this court that the government would agree it is within the zone of interest in and force the government moving a billion dollars out of military retirement money. there's simply no no way to do that so the government is correct this is a billion-dollar slush fund

under the law the department of defense works with the state department and other agencies to establish anti-corruption benchmarks and determine whether ukraine has efficiently met those bench marks, correct? >> that's correct. that provision pertains to the ukraine security assistance initiative. >> that's a legally specified process. that's not the president in the oval office manifesting general skepticism of foreign aid, is that right? >> it is a congressionally mandated process, yes, sir. >> did that process take place for the dod funding held up in july? >> the process that took place for the certification took place prior to the may certification to the u.s. congress. >> so, right. not only did it take place before, as required by law, months before president trump froze the money, the department of testifies, in consultation with state, sent a letter to congress certifying, you said this in your opening statement, the government of ukraine has taken substantial actions to make defense institutional reforms for the purposes of decreasing corruption, increasing accountability and

money commissioned a study by halliburton to find out how much more of the defense department could be privatized proud to serve our troops and was he laid to get this $1000000.00 contract and of course returned a verdict that oh mr secretary lots more of it can be privatized. dick cheney leaves the defense department and goes and heads halliburton himself and he spends the entire 990 s. building up the war empire well if we're going to talk about star wars we might as well invite darth vader i. am happy to accept. when he comes back into power as vice president and then they start hiring halliburton to you know in advance even if u.s. troops going into iraq. an eloquent that was being deployed to the gulf it's hard to look at this and not say these guys had a very long term plan for how they were going to increase the powerful infrastructure of private companies. what we've essentially done is to create a network of corporations that have the fire power of small nation states that could you know overthrow some small governments around the world. in essence we in the united states have

now those software engineers that were ostracized for the department of defense but we have tremendous support. but what we found is we lost an area very quickly. and for them to be public about what they want to do in the department of defense and we do in very general terms it was intelligent surveillance and they had no weapons and it is my weapons project with those wild assumptions a project maven was or was not. no pun intended we actually googled it was actually controversial now has been put in permanently was not controversial to me or to the dean or not anybody right now beyond people that don't like what we are doing. this is an interesting point that i'm not sure everybody appreciates or agrees with me. i view it as a canary in the coal mine. as it emerged in the conflict we got some of that out of the way and how much the company and all the companies that we deal with want to work with department of defense. that is an important narrative. it would happen to somebody else at some point but the idea of transparency and what each side is trying to achieve is the biggest les

a top pentagon official told lawmakers that defense department officials were in the dark while therekraine. public hearings in the inquiry begin tomorrow and continue on friday. >>> u.s. forces are ramping up firepower in northern syria. cbs news has learned that the move is to combat new threats on the battlefield. charlie d'agata reports from the region. >> reporter: u.s. forces brought out the big guns, bradley fighting vehicles, at a remote base in northern syria, significantly ramping up u.s. firepower. major general eric hill told us their arrival is to counter new threats on the battlefield. how has it changed over the past couple of months? >> we've been conducting a withdrawal, and we've been resetting ourselves here in the east. as we do that, we t hicl and co por he to sustairs >> reporter: combat power to match not isis but the militaries of the syrian regime. the russians, even militias amera and its kurdish allies here. essentially force protection? >> sure, force protection is always something that u.s. forces will ensure. >> reporter: but u.s. forces protecting oil fi

department of defense after it awarded a multibillion dollar contract to microsoft but the ra is about more than just money as are you taylor explains. amazon and white christmas oft 2 giants that have changed the way we experience the world. yes warm and fuzzy ads to appeal to our pockets over the holiday season but it turns out the real money that goes softer is the pentagon's own given the u.s. military spent over $600000000000.00 annually it's unsurprising there's a battle for the big contracts so head to head and microsoft have been vying for the pentagon prize of $10000000.00 over the next 10 years the contract in question is for the jet die project and ambitious event that would allow the pentagon to stall sensitive data on a single large cloud it would also allow the military to take full advantage of fishel intelligence tools tools which have drawn concern from ethical watchdogs for their lethal potential in guiding missiles and drones amazon thought it had its foot in the door not only is it the lead in the wilds of cloud computing it's also made $600000000.00 from its dealin

just like nsf does now and goes to companies or special government agencies in the defense department or not. that the kind of research that needs to be done with a long revenue stream to fund graduate scholarships and fellowships and post doctorate support in targeted research areas and the development of testbed type of facilities before you get to the pure research. this is just a discussion draft but has gotten a lot of support from the people i have shown it to. we will do better dollar for dollar but if they outspend us which they are doing now we will fall behind. so now this idea has support of some people very close to the president and mitch mcconnell but thus far they have been unable to get their support in anyone here who has relationships with those people or those dear them should be pushing this. it should be bipartisan not a partisan issue it's about the future of america. it should not be a political issue. probably even with greater importance to put a man on the moon. but if we don't do the real investments in our universities or companies or government agencies so