espresso tv channel will show you a live summary of the press conference of the us secretary of defense lloyd austincan official from the pentagon a will summarize the results of the virtual meeting of the contact group on the defense of ukraine, the so -called ramstein four, so stay with us and don't miss it austria continues to support ukraine in this, the minister of foreign affairs assured state affairs of oleksandr shallenberg, he and the head of the czech foreign ministry, jan lipavsky, arrived in kyiv today, the ministers already had time to visit the destroyed by the russian troops of the city in the kyiv region, the officials also met with their ukrainian colleagues, in particular with dmytro kulebuyu, the ministers discussed strengthening sanctions against russia, speeding up the supply of weapons, bringing the aggressor state to justice, as well as the economic recovery of ukraine austria and the czech republic are reliable friends of ukraine we will never forget the support given to us in a difficult time, this is humanitarian and financial aid. the czech republic provided vital weapons

will appear in ukraine, four more himers systems for the ukrainian army , us secretary of defense lloyd austinmeeting of the contact group on issues defense of ukraine announced that the united states will transfer four more highly mobile heimers art systems to ukraine

so-called rammstein group on july 20, at least the pentagon of the united states secretary of defense lloyd austinout it to our minister of defense oleksiy reznikov, what is this such a meeting will take place and it is clear that they have already met twice in this format, the first format, i will remind our viewers, was at the rammstein air base, this is the air base of the united states of america in germany this is the second time that this group met in an expanded composition and discussed aid to ukraine, or rather that this group of 40 ministers of defense, more than 40 ministers of defense are participating in this rammstein that they will support ukraine to the end. what to expect from the third rammstein, considering that the entire the world, including the ministers of these forty countries , saw that the ukrainian army is ready to fight to the end to the victorious end. well, i think that we can wait for the continuation of this line. i think that you are absolutely right when the military sees that their help er produces results that the ukrainian armed forces use this latest technolog

himers will appear in ukraine, four more himers systems for the ukrainian army, us secretary of defense lloyd austin during a virtual meeting of the contact group on the defense of ukraine said that the united states will transfer four more highly mobile heimers dry art systems to ukraine. the united states is committed to improving ukraine's ability to hit targets at a greater distance. the united states is also committed to continuing to provide ammunition for brake art systems and long-range artillery we will release a new package of military aid, it will include ammunition and weapons for ukraine, it will also include four gaimars systems in luhansk region, which continue every day, the armed forces of ukraine are destroying this was reported by the head of the luhansk region, serhiy gaidai, according to him, in the battles for severodonetsk and the mountain community, the occupiers lost a lot of personnel , also the russians are unable to launch an offensive on bakhmut, and from belogorivka and upper kamianka, due to constant shelling, the evacuation of people is currently impossible - added ga

minister of defense lloyd austin declares that the usa will support ukraine for months and years ahead in military terms. but isn't this, let's say, a justified way -e to justify er-er it is possible that the reaction from the military aid of the usa is a bit late and er-er i will try to somehow delay the future deliveries good evening anatoliy well, we know and the ukrainian audience knows that today the descendant was going through a very serious er-er internal struggle in that including in the presidential administration, and there are friends of ukraine that are firm, like, oh, pancakes , and autumn. she could never repeat this. well, it is a challenge to the whole. well, that’s the fifth russian one . fortunately, we have publications that why do we help ukraine ? people within the administration of the lordship of lebanon, who all the time, er, the whole year, er, supported you with a stapler, said that you are holy, stable , predictable relations with the russians, this was a very serious struggle, pancakes, autumn, i won, but we all answered that i welcome you, in general, this

say that to the south is already obvious, but i will quote again the head of the ministry of defense lloyd austinthe united states of america who noted that in the month of august , in the south of ukraine, if not the end of the war, then at least obvious things will happen and it will be a kind of turning point, by the way, this story kyrylo budanov, the head of our intelligence, also announced that a few months ago, what do you think about the prospects of an advance on the personnel military, namely, the personnel military will attack the south and the armed forces of ukraine, and what will it actually be like there? the forces of the ukrainians as well. they have been concentrated for quite a long time and are so super powerful. well, i think that most likely there will be some beautiful picture. er, should our president advance with reliable artillery or on the steps to er, let’s say so, the contact line, and it is unlikely that it will happen there, or it can become so easy for the russians, it will be easy to walk, but er, well, i think we are ready er -e over the edge well eh at least eh

and one of the things that armed service democrats are asking is that secretary of defense lloyd austinthe pentagon that would give assurances that service members who need access to abortion care or want access to that care can travel out of state and get time off. they also want to make sure that the privacy of those individuals is protected and that there's no retaliation if someone decides that they want to access that care. there is also concerns that this is complicated, that getting access to these kinds of medical procedures can be difficult for people to navigate quickly changing state laws, so they want to create a liaison program, someone who would be tasked at the pentagon with helping women figure out where they can go to access abortion care if they want or need to access it. one of the concerns from senate democrats is that this is going to lead to a draw back in recruitment of women who they say, you know, may not want to join the military in a statement this letter to lloyd austin they say, quote, the untenable situation violates the trust service members place in the a

. >> at the pentagon, defense secretary lloyd austin and the chair of the joint chiefs of staff generalmilley talked about ukraine's continued efforts to defend against russian aggression. the defense secretary talked about the weapons in training the u.s. is providing to ukraine to help push back russian advances. >>

you point out in the piece of a secretary of state antony blinken and defense secretary lloyd austin "deep and long-standing commercial and personal ties to the defense industry." could you elaborate on that? >> sure. secretary blinken has yet to disclose what is widely known to be -- during his prior commercial venture in investment advisory firm that he managed and ran. of course defense secretary lloyd austin sits on the board, until he became secretary, of raytheon, i'm pretty sure has long-standing ties with the defense industry. we have to understand the defense industry, 70% of the lobbyists are former defense, pentagon, u.s. government officials. the ties to the highest levels of the government are very deep and profound. the entire incentive system of the was government in terms of foreign policy is to continue arms sales, push arms sales as much as possible was not when you couple that incentive structure, intense lobbying, intertwining conflict of interest of our elected officials with the defense industry, coupled with the foreign government lobbying in the foreign governm

secretary of defense lloyd austin warned members of such consequences back in november. fox news could not immediately reach the army for comment. the biden administration is admitting that texas border patrol agents were falsely accused of whipping haitian migrants last year but are still referring four agents for discipline in connection with the viral incident. correspondent bill melugin has details from eagle pass. >> cpd comirntion chris magness announcing today after nearly a 10 month investigation the agency found no evidence supporting a false narrative that haitian migrants were whipped by horseback border patrol agents in del rio last summer. >> opr found no evidence border patrol agents involved in this incident struck any person with their reins intentionally or otherwise. >> but cpd says they are sending discipline proposals to four of those horseback agents. despite them being previously cleared of criminal wrong doing. cpd is accusing them of unprofessional conduct and working in an unsafe manner, including using derogatory language and using the threat of

. >> in brazil, secretary of defense lloyd austin called out china for threatening stability in southand the bengal's leading expert on china says it's only a matter of time before a major incident takes place if beijing continues its aggressive and irresponsible behavior in the south china sea. bret? >> bret: mike, thank you. there is new evidence tonight showing just how seriously china is trying to undermine the u.s. economy. a new report stating that the communist regime has been targeting the federal reserve. edward lawrence, of fox business, joins us to tell us how and why. good evening, edward. >> good evening, bret. even the financial system u.s. not immune from the chinese. this report from the minority side of the senate homeland security and government affairs committee shows a sustained campaign for information theft from the federal reserve. now, the report shows that the fed lacks the counterintelligence expertise and cooperation with the intelligence community. the report claims the fed lacks policies and procedures to prevent theft. it highlights fed employees with tie

fourth meeting of the contact group on military support of ukraine headed by the minister us defense lloyd austinmmstein , which is scheduled for july 20 via videoconference, as a desire to convince the west of the need for further arms supplies, recent statements by the minister of defense of ukraine about kiev's intention to transfer soon can be regarded. uh, a direct quote from the counteroffensive in the south direction and the secretary of the council. we have the security and defense of ukraine oh, again, a direct quote, set by president zelensky, the task of liberating the entire country for this power the kiev regime is going to put order under arms, a million people who will be recruited, including abroad. how will they do it diplomatically? emphasize the diplomatic mission of ukraine ordered to mobilize citizens of ukraine abroad, men of military age from 18 to 60 years. i just want to see how this will happen, for example, in the countries of the european union well, for example, somewhere in nice, considering that 40%, uh, as i read in the western press, and refugees from the territor

and i should note that secretary of defense lloyd austin just announced this morning during a virtualupporting ukraine that we are providing four more of the multiple launch rocket systems which will take that to 16, also more of the precision ammunition for those systems and for the 155 millimeter howitzers that we've provided. so that is what we see ahead. this could be an opportunity for the ukrainians to get on the offensive themselves rather than on the defensive noting that the russians have very costly experience of grinding offensive in retaking all of that area of luhansk and now trying to take areas of donetsk. so it will be a very interesting summer i think. >> putin has made a lot of mistakes in this war including assuming, one, that ukraine will fold quickly but also that nato would disunite rather than unite as it has done. but he is also nimble, he makes changes midstream and now he is meeting with both the turkish and iranian leaders. why do you think and how important is that? >> well, the real objective here of course is to get iranian drones. russians are running no

the secretary of defense lloyd austin is adding his voice to those over speaker pelosi's planned trip. take a listen to what he just said. >> i remain concerned and you heard me say this before, about the aggressiveness of the p.r.c. and the kind of things that we've been seeing in the region lately. so i think we have to be vigilant throughout even as we operate in that region. >> some of pelosi's own democratty colleagues appear to agree with this assessment. >> it could be a significant distraction if we end up in an escalatory situation around taiwan and it's status. i have confidence the speaker will do the right thing in this moment. i think it risks escalating tensions with china. >> we're also learning the speaker is asking one republican to join her, a spokes woman for mike mccaul's office said that he was invited but is unable to attend due to a prior commitment. he believes the speaker or any other american official should be able to visit taiwan the they'd like to. chinese communist party officials did not want pelosi in taiwan. the department of defense fired off this war

defense secretary lloyd austin recently wrote a letter to congressional leaders saying that funding the chips act is critical to our national defense. and last week, former secretary of state and cia director mike poi payo also -- pompeo urged congress to pass this, saying the cost on this bill pales in comparison to the cost we will suffer if we allow the chinese communist party to one day own and control access to our most critical technologies. i agree with both of these statements, one by a democrat appointee, another by a republican appointee. chips underpin virtually all the technology that we use, that keeps us safe at home and protects our troops around the world. and for those not conversant with the role that semiconductors play, these microprocessors underpin literally everything that has an off and on switch, and obviously our dependency on that kind of technology will do nothing but increase in the days and months and years ahead. from our major military assets, like the f-35 joint strike fighter, to everyday technologist that keep our troops safe, like advanced body armor,

material assets of state importance, four more himers systems for the ukrainian army , us defense secretary lloyd austind during a virtual meeting of the contact group on the defense of ukraine that the united states will transfer four more highly mobile artillery to ukraine - hymers systems, so the total number of hymers provided to ukraine will reach 16, the package will also include ammunition for salvo missile systems and artillery in his speech the head of the pentagon noted that ukraine has been thwarting moscow's plans for many months in a row with its resolute resistance, but the threat still remains high, so ukraine's support is essential and urgent. ammunition for gaimars systems and long-range artillery next week we will release a new package of military aid it will include ammunition and weapons for ukraine it will also include four haimars systems 54 tons of ukrainian grain were stolen by the russian nazis, the main intelligence directorate of the ministry of defense of ukraine reports that two russian vessels sailor koshka and sailor pozhynych with the stolen grain were planning to enter t

include four more missile systems of increased mobility gamers about this is redundant defense minister lloyd austinccording to the results of the 4th meeting of the contact group with the defense of ukraine of the so-called rammstein format, in today's meeting, which took place in a virtual format, representatives of more than fifty countries took part, and many of them said, minister austin announced new security assistance for ukraine both in response to the urgent needs of the ukrainian military and for the long-term perspective more about the results of rammstein 4 and the future military support of kyiv let's talk with ostap yarysh, who joins the broadcast from the capitol hill ostap congratulations congratulations let's start with the main ones what are the key results of the fourth meeting of the contact group with the defense of ukraine as it was already correctly said than dad said that later this week he announced a new package of military aid which, among other things, will include four more heimer installations in addition to the 12th that the united states provided even earlier and als

innocent civilians in the pursuit of political goals is now the most important thing , as us defense minister lloyd austin to weaken the russian economy, that it could no longer continue this war and definitely did not repeat such a scenario with its other neighbors, as it already happened with georgia and twice with ukraine. so this is a genius formula, we are talking about minister austin's formula but on the other hand, we see how the kremlin symmetrically and systematically destroys our economy and we understand that they are doing it deliberately and they will do it in the next few months in order to try to finish off certain sectors of our economy, in particular well, we understand that mariupol is not just a port, it is a colossal production of steel and so on. support financially and at what level , yes. because when i hear that the west should give us something, tens of billions of dollars . no questions to the ukrainian side, and i would like everything to be transparently understood and under control, the issue of attracting funding for the restoration of ukraine is already on the world agenda

but us defense minister lloyd austin clarified that according to the latest agreements, ukraine will receive four more such systems of salvo fire from the us in the near future, their total number at the front will reach 16 units, as of today we have delivered 12 himers systems to ukraine it is part of more than 20 salvo systems agreed upon by the us and allies under the agreement that my colleagues and i are intrigued by the lion's share of current and new aid packages that include supplies the weapons of the unijai, the training of our soldiers and much more, the enemy will first feel them on the battlefield, the minister of defense of ukraine, oleksiy greznikov, announced this on his facebook page following the results of the fourth meeting of the contact group on the defense of ukraine, and better known as rammstein, according to the minister, the partners stated that they there is no fatigue from the war in ukraine and there will not be, because they are not ready to support ukraine to victory, work shifts lasting several weeks, operating on patients under the muzzles of russian

but us defense minister lloyd austin specified that according to the latest agreements, ukraine will receive four more such multiplex fire systems from shans in the near future sometimes their total number on the front reaches 16-11. as of today, we have delivered 12 himers systems to ukraine, this is part of more than 20 salvo systems agreed upon by the us and allies. our soldiers and much more will first be felt by the enemy on the battlefield , minister of defense of ukraine oleksiy reznikov announced on his facebook page following the results of the fourth meeting of the contact group on defense according to the minister, the partners of ukraine, better known as rammstein, said that they are not tired of the war in ukraine and will not be ready to support ukraine until victory, and explosions were heard in occupied kherson and skadovsk. eyewitnesses report this on social networks, but there is no official confirmation of this information yet. on the video you can see if something is detonating strongly, they destroyed the houses of the locals and injured people, the russians shel

s. defense extra lloyd austin's had confirmation of russia's expansion plans comes as no surprise. i'm sure that her ukrainian leadership will be her pleased to hear or love ross, confirmation of the effectiveness of not only that system, but how they're using that system harm. as you know, russians are currently in her cures on and are from asia. so the russian forces the earlier now, so you have to wonder who he's talking to ukrainian forces of damaged and important bridge in the southern kirsten region that russia has been using to deliver supplies which troops. it's the 2nd strike on the disney pro river bridge in 2 days, the temporary administration and the russia controlled region says cave used high mas, multiple rocket launchers. the bridge is one of only 2 that russia can use to supply all withdrawal forces in the area. and as we mentioned, the united states is promising more sophisticated weapons for ukraine. this on the day that ukraine's 1st lady became the 1st spouse of a foreign leader to address the u. s. congress alena zalinski appealed to the u. s . to ride ukraine

and also talk between defense officials in singapore general way from her met with the us defense chief lloyd austin. and those talks were also part of this flurry of diplomatic activity that we've seen throughout the course of these talks. we often see the same topics come off. of course, these are closed meetings so we can ever be certain exactly what comes up. the contentious issues such as the situation in taiwan, often a matter of discussion. we know that the u. s. has concerns that china is helping to change the status quo and is increasing its aggression in the taiwan strait. but from beijing's perspective, its concern is that the u. s. is meddling in its internal affairs. it considers taiwan to fundamentally be an internal, assess for aging, to manage. and also consider that the u. s. is meddling in matters that concern the asia pacific and that should be managed by asian countries. we have heard from the chinese foreign ministry. they mentioned that the talks would focus on bilateral relations between the 2 countries. as well as some regional and international issues, including likely the w

a meeting on wednesday, washington and its allies agree to send more military aid us defense secretary lloyd austin, says roches expansion plans come as no surprise. i'm sure that her ukrainian leadership will be i'm pleased to hear a law of raw's confirmation of the effectiveness of not only that sister, but how they're using that system from as you know, russians are currently in her course on and are from asia. so are russian forces there earlier? now? we are to wonder who he's talking to. now, richie, sumac or live trust will be britain's next prime minister. the former chancellor and foreign secretary are the final 2 candidates in the conservative parties. leadership contest. the winner will be chosen in a run of vote by party members in september journal hot reports now from london. therefore, richie, sooner and less for us will be the candidates going forward, conservative party and piece of spoken. now grassroots members will decide where the former chancellor richie sumac or forum secretary list trust should go on to be party leader and britons next prime minister. both the divisive charac

meeting on wednesday, washington mound its allies agreed to send more military aid us defense secretary lloyd austin, says rushes expansion plans come as no surprise. i'm sure that the ukrainian leadership will be i'm pleased to hear a lot of raw's confirmation of the effectiveness of not only that sister, but how they're using that system. um as you know, russians are currently in a cure song and are from asia. so the russian forces there are barely, are now. we are to wonder who he's talking to. and the u. s. is passing more sophisticated weapons for ukraine on wednesday, ukraine's 1st lady became the 1st spouse of a foreign leader to address the u. s. congress. i mean, as the landscape used the chance to appeal for air defense systems. magical hain as the story she brought the faces of war and loss to the powerful in washington. liza beloved, so what should they do? dr. lisa was only 4 years old. she is no longer with us. here is the stroller, dorm, ukraine's 1st lady. only nissan sca had a simple message. the u. s. can help more ukrainian survive by sending more air defense systems. yes, it has

a meeting on wednesday, washington and its allies agree to send more military aid us defense secretary lloyd austin, says rushes expansion plans come as no surprise. i'm sure that the ukrainian leadership will be i'm pleased to hear a lot of raw's confirmation of the effectiveness from not only that sister, but how they're using that system harm. as you know, russians are currently in a curse on and off from asia. so to russian forces, there are, there, there are now. so you have to wonder who he's talking to. lots more so to come here now to sierra including will be live in ne bangladesh where schools have reopened off the flooding. but many areas are still under water, plus a football is helping to distract pittman tenicia from the country's political and economic crisis. marla, stay with us with now there has been a bit of flooding once against and this brief build of large clarity was popular in the islands nearby. that's not a particularly wet area in the forecasts. the rain is turning heavy again in the philippines, but it's been especially heavy in being mom, thailand, easiest edging off now

s. defense secretary lloyd austin, said confirmation of russia's expansion plans comes as no surprise. i'm sure that her ukrainian leadership will be i'm pleased to hear a law of ross confirmation of the effectiveness of not only that sister, but how they're using that system. um, as you know, russians are currently in her curse on ins are from asia, so to russian forces there earlier. now we are to wonder who is talking to meanwhile, ukraine's 1st ladies become the 1st spice of a foreign leader to address the u. s. congress salinas zalinski appealed to the us to provide ukraine with air defense systems. article haine has the story. she brought the faces of war and loss to the powerful in washington. liza bullshit. so what should they do? dr. lisa was only 4 years old. she is no longer with us. here is the stroller, dorm, ukraine's 1st lady. only nissan sca had a simple message. the u. s. can help more ukrainian survive by sending more air defense systems. yet as per shooty chick, we have new coil in the curricula received him weapons that would not be used to wage a war on somebody e

allies and partners, not only in nato, are joining of this help, here is the request today, defense minister lloyd austin was at the ceremony of the change of leadership of the european armed forces command at the patch barracks base in germany. tell us a little about the role of this base in the efforts to provide ukraine of military aid that the role of this base is really difficult to overestimate, it is one of the key centers that coordinates all western aid that comes to ukraine, as you correctly said, this base is located in germany in stuttgart, there are military personnel from about 30 countries who actually coordinate this aid which arrives, as the forint police correspondents wrote, who had the opportunity to be at this base, every bullet from western aid that enters ukraine passes through this base and they are also coordinated they are drawing up the routes by which this aid should arrive. are these air routes or foreign routes? they are looking at what is the best way to deliver this aid to ukraine. they are also coordinating the training and training of the ukrainian military that takes pl

the present was joined in the white house east room first lady jill biden and defense secretary lloyd austin and family and friends of the middle sabeans. dish of the metal recipients -- of the medal recipients. >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. ♪ >> mr. president, distinguished guests, the writer of sacred scripture declares be strong and courageous, do not be afraid, do not be discouraged, for i will be with you wherever you go. please join me as we mark this special occasion and a word of prayer. gracious and merciful lord, you are the giver of life, the igniter of faith, provider of hope, and author of love. mighty one, you have commanded us to be strong and courageous in life and death because you are always with us. receive your servants most humble prayer as we gather to honor and celebrate four selfless exemplars of unquestioned strong and courageous valor. staff sergeant edward kaneshiro, specialist dwight birdwell, specialist dennis fujii, and major john duffy strong and courageous actions in vietnam inspire us all. each of these men distinguished themsel

allies of agreed to commit more rocket systems, ammunition and other military aid us defense secretary lloyd austin said confirmation of russia's expansion plans comes as no surprise. i'm sure that her ukrainian leadership will be pleased to hear or love ross, confirmation of the effectiveness of not only that sister, but how they're using that system arm. as you know, russians are currently in her course on and are from asia. so are russian forces there at berlin. now, we are to wonder who he's talking to holland all monitors a military expert and senior advisor at the atlantic council. he says the u. s. and ukraine's other allies need to fast track sending military aid. ukraine is winning the tactical battle right now, but at the strategic battle and russia has the numbers, even though it's really over extended. it perhaps has post 250 or 200000 troops. it only has a total of $900000.00 the entire military and probably less than $400000.00 and ground forces in the state of readiness. i think of bulk. their troops is not very good, but over time rushes a country of 140000000 people far larger and

meeting on wednesday, washington and its allies have agreed to commit more military aid. us defense secretary lloyd austin said confirmation of russia's expansion plans comes as no surprise. i'm sure that her ukrainian leadership will be i'm pleased to hear a lot of raw's confirmation of the effectiveness of not only that system but how they're using that system. um as you know, russians are currently in a cure song and are from asia. so the russian forces there earlier now, so you have to wonder who he's talking to on the north stream gas pipeline is back in operation after 10, they shut down from maintenance work. there had been fears, russia would cut the gas flow through the pipe, completely in retaliation for sanctions imposed by europe over its invasion of ukraine. on wednesday, the european union urge member states to cut gas usage by 15 percent until march, in anticipation of a looming energy crisis. russia is black mailing us. russia is using energy as a weapon and therefore, if in any event event, whether it's a partial major cut off of russian gas or total cut off of russia, gas, europe needs t

. >> at the pentagon, defense secretary lloyd austin and the chair of the joint chiefs of staff generalark milley talked about ukraine's continued efforts to defend against russian aggression. the defense secretary talked about the weapons in training the u.s. is providing to ukraine to help push back russian advances. >> good afternoon. it is good to be here with you. we had a very productive morning in our fourth meeting of of the ukraine defense contact group. which we conducted virtually. today's meeting is just another sign of a way that nations of goodwill are rising. the security assistance we are rushing to ukraine is making a real difference in real-time. and everyone in the contact group has been inspired by the courage of the ukrainian people. and the skill of the ukrainian military and that's why ministers and chiefs of defense from some 50 countries join us today at our meeting now throughout its reckless war of choice russia has tried and failed to break the morale of the ukrainian armed forces as they defend their home. ukraine's leadership also stands unbowed and unflinc

around the world, as a defense subcommittee which is also meeting right now, secretary of defense lloyd austin and chairman of the joint chief of staff mark millie, are discussing sources needed to make that military challenges from russia, china and others around the world. with the agencies that are represented here that each of you represent national aeronautics and space administration, nasa and national science foundation, and assess, and are also key to standing up to the challenges facing our country and so gives me great pleasure this morning to welcome nasa administrator bill nelson and a director, and i'm going to tell you, for he's of statements and so thank you both for being here this morning is really going to see you again and i'm delighted that ranking member has joined us. just to clarify again for the record, we have about four hearings going on in the senate this morning and so we are not sure who will be able to attend but senator brandon i have lots of questions and so we will be able to cover so many issues that are going to be important as we look at the appropriations p

back in november, defense secretary lloyd austin made it mandatory for service members to get the covid vaccine. many have been fighting it and today we learned that roughly 40,000 national guardsmen and 22,000 reservists that refuse the vaccine will be barred from their duties, effectively cutting their pay and benefits. joining me, former secretary of state mike pompeo. he is a fox news contributor. what will getting rid of more than 60,000 service members do to our military readiness? >> thanks for having me on tonight. you mention the recruiting problems we are already facing. when you make military -- you don't do the right things by focusing on its wartime mission and then you add to cutting between 10% and 15% of all national guardsmen, this is really dangerous. xi jinping and vladimir putin aren't worried about the vaccines. they are worried about making their military's more capable. we should be focused on the same thing. there is a real risk to readiness and making sure that we have units capable of deploying should something be required of them. this is not based on science.

we know defense secretary lloyd austin spoke with pelosi recently about the security assessment of the region, though he didn't get into the details of what they discussed and china promised a forceful response if she traveled. this is expected to come up between the president and she at a very precarious moment. >> thank you. i'm joined by a staff writer for "the new yorker" and the author of "joe biden, the author, the run and what goes on now." president xi hasn't left china since president biden has been in office, but president biden has long touted their relationship going back to when he was vice president and they had several meetings back then at the time. i'm just curious given that relationship, do you think it benefits in any way to help sort of lower the tension now and stabilize at least the relationship given at the low levels it is right now? >> well, bianna, as you say, they do go back a long way. i think biden likes to point out, he says we've known each other a nglong time. doesn't mean we're friends. he means they do have a basis for communication. biden visited chi

welcomed by defense secretary lloyd austin in a ceremony in germany.s in attendance and have high praise for the new commander. >> chris knows europe better than any living officer in europe. christopher covelli is the right officer, the right job. you are protecting americans vital interests and importantly your preventing war. >> secretary austin says the change in command is happening at what he calls a hinge in history. up next the friday lightning round. president biden versus the supreme court, the struggling economy, winners and losers. here's some of what our foxy feelings are covering. fox 2 in st. louis. amtrak filing a federal lawsuit against the company for which the truck driver were to reportedly cause this week's deadly train crash. the driver's window has filed a wrongful death lawsuit and the county where the train crash in dram it happen. three passengers on the train were killed. k hon in honolulu, the navy investigation blames shoddy management and human error for a fuel leak into pearl harbor's tapwater last year. the tainted water

now defense secretary lloyd austin is directly weighing in.main concerned, and you've heard me say this before, about the aggressiveness of the prc and the kinds of things that we've been seeing in the region lately. and so i think we have to be vigilant, you know, throughout, even as we are operating in that region. >> we learned the house speaker invited republican congressman michael mccaul to join her on the trip to taiwan. he's unable due to his schedule. another republican congressman said this today. >> i always hesitate to say i support speaker pelosi in anything, but on this one i absolutely do. she has to go. if she doesn't at this point with a now out publicly, what message does that send to the taiwanese? >> chinese communist party officials have made it clear they do not want speaker pelosi in taiwan. yesterday the defense ministryfired up this morning. >> the chinese side with a firm and strong measures to safeguard our sovereignty and territorial integrity. the u.s. must resume full responsibility for any severe consequence risi

. >> john: and you and seven republican colleagues sent a letter to secretary of defense, lloyd austinch funding the d.o.d. is putting into some universities that have the programs. that's a big concern for you. ask you just lastly here, this suggested prisoner swap, griner and paul whelan for victor boot. what mike pompeo said about that, former secretary of state. >> to offer a trade like this is a dangerous precedent. without doing this thing, would ut offering up these dangerous people in prisoner swaps. he was a bad guy, threatening the united states of america. neither paul whelan nor britney griner were engaged in that. >> john: victor, a very, very bad guy. is this the sort of trade we should be making? >> my heart breaks for the families. of course we want americans home but this is too high of a price. this man is responsible for deaths all over the world and there are other ways to do this, to get our americans home. >> john: congressman michael waltz, great to catch up with you. thank you. >> sandra: fox news alert, you are going to see president biden again after speaking

defense secretary lloyd austin saying today that he has personally spoken with the speaker to providetening military action if pelosi goes through with this trip. taiwan is even preparing for a possible attack in that case. selina wang is "outfront." >> reporter: taiwan preparing for a possible attack in its annual military drill, as fears of aggression from across the strait grows. that fear coming from fear and fury from beijing, china threatening to take resolute measures. a prominent hawkish voice in china even suggesting shocking military response, saying that pla military aircraft will accompany pelosi's plane to enter the island. >> nancy pelosi is the third public official in the line of succession. it could note that we're treating taiwan more like an independent country. >> reporter: and independence is a red line for beijing. there have been recent u.s. congressional visits. but if pelosi goes to taiwan, she would be the highest ranking u.s. official to travel there since then-house speaker newt gingrich in 1997. this potential visit comes at an extremely sensitive time. ch

the president was joined in the white house east room by first lady jill biden, defense secretary lloyd austinfamily and friends of the medal recipients. ♪