mark milley.was going to do a coup -- we now know that all that reporting about general milley in the summer of 2021 really seems to have gotten under trump skin, so much so that trump's reaction to all of these articles may just be the smoking gun in the special counsel's mar-a-lago investigation. as we have reported here before, multiple news outlets, including nbc, are now confirming that the special counsel's investigation has obtained an audio recording of donald trump from that summer, july 2021. in that recording, trump is angry. he is angry about that article about mark milley. and he is reportedly doing everything he can in this recording to prove that he never wanted to attack iran. instead, trump claims the person who really wanted to attack iran was -- wait for it -- general mark milley. and as evidence of that trump has, on the tape -- he says he has, in his position, some sort of classified documents showing mark milley's plan to attack iran. on the recording, and in response to the

if i was going to do a coup one of the last people i would want to do it with was general mark milley. if i was going to do a coup. we now know all that reporting in theat summer of 2021 really seem today have gotten under trump's skin. so much so trump's reaction to all these articles may just be the smoking gun to the special counsel's mar-a-lago investigation. as we'vel' reported here before multiple news outlets including nbc news are confirming the special counsel's investigation have nowl obtained an audio fr donald trump from that summer, july 2021. in that recording trump is angry. he's angry about that article about mark milley and he's reportedly doing everything he can in this recording to prove he never wanted to attack iran. instead trump claims the person who really wanted to attack iran was -- wait for it -- general mark milley. as evidence of that he says he has in his possession some sort of classified document showing mark milley's plan to attack iran. trump brings up the document, which heth says came from mille. trump told those in the room if he could show it to p

and implying that it would counter what his top general, mark milley was saying. were apparently in response to a new yorker article, saying that milley had warned trump against striking iran, reportedly telling trump quote, you're gonna have an effing war. cnn store liebermann spoke exclusively with general mark milley, who is only going to say this about that investigation. >> the former president suggested in a quote by marc let meadows, that it is more desirable to attack iran than to say no. is that what happened? >> well, -- thanks for them to comment. it would be entirely inappropriate for me to comment on that, ongoing federal investigation. and i'm not going to do that now. >> not even to clarify what happened? here >> no, i think it's inappropriate. there's an ongoing federal investigation, and not gonna comment one way or another on any of the issues concerning. that >> let's get more insight tonight from former trump national security adviser john bolton. and thank you ambassador for being here, you heard from general min milley they are weighing in. w

which trump described a document he says was compiled by former trump joint chiefs chairman general mark milley, outlining a potential attack on iran. >> i just found. isn't that amazing? just totally wins my case, you know? except it is

and appearing to claim to have a classified document connected to mark milley at that time.now, that was an explosive and you had i can'and you had i can recording that is referenced in the indictment.had i can't recording that is referenced in the indictment. we've learned that trump's attorneys provided additional recordings. and they received a subpoena insisting for anything related to mark milley to be turned over to prosecutors. and trump attorneys found additional recordings where trump refers to mark milley but does not indicate that he has any classified documents. and prosecutors have to share everything that they collected, everyone if it is not particularly in-crip naturing or relevant to the ultimate trial that could take place. and we've learned that prosecutors have at least one other source that has provided them with at least one additional audio recording. but sources tell us that nothing that has been handed over rises to the level of the bed minister meeting recording. so it is unclear how any could impact his case. paula reid, cnn, washington. >>> and an

, and how mark milley in the public eye was becoming a major figure in 2021.o counter milley's profile, trump in interviews with reporters and friends he started to bring out documents to make his own case on national security, on foreign policy to say he was in a sense better than milley, milley didn't know what he was doing, and when he did this, according to our sources, he was cavalier, bringing out things he should not have shown to people writing books and articles. >> we mentioned the fact that this is happening in the campaign context, people sometimes call a campaign a job interview. this is a candidate who's had the job before and this is a way he treated it. what's been the response, treated the obligations of the job. what's been the response inside the republican race to this indictment? >> there is alarm in the sense that they believe if he wins the presidency again, he is so now comfortable with the levers of power, and he ignores the rule of law in the eyes of some of his competitors, that he could be a threat to american democracy. few are say

>> this was in the context of his frustrations with general mark milley. a new yorker article that he just came out in this document is described as a four page memo describing a possible plan to attack iran. as i noted, there were some people working on an autobiography of mark meadows in this meeting, and meadows, in his book, describes this document is having been written by mark milley. we are told he did not produce this document. also significant, we have learned that mark milley has spoken with investigators in the special counsel's probe and anderson that is significant. he is at the highest ranking national security official to be interviewed that we know of. but that's the key from this report. there is so much the special counsel has and has been doing the we are just learning about. now >> is the trump campaign responding about this? yet >> they are. in a statement the trump campaign said, in part, the doj's continued interference in the presidential election is shameful and this merit-less investigation should cease wasting the american taxpay

he referring to general mark milley. quote, with milley, i will show youon example. he said that he wanted to attack iran. isn't that amazing? i have a big pile of papers, this thing just came up, on the tame we are told you can hear him rustling the paper. look, this was him. they presented me this. this is off the record but they presented me this. this was him. this was the defense department and him. we looked at some -- this was him. this wasn't done by me. this was him. i'll keep reading but you can tell four times he emphasizes this was milley. he goes on to say all sorts of stuff, pages long. look, wait a minute, i just found -- isn't this amazing? this totally wins my case. i want to note his case he referring to this is this dispute with milley, not the current pending investigation.

at the time, he tried to link it to the joint chiefs chairman, mark milley, that you see here.onight you'll hear directly from general milley himself on that and perspective from the former trump national security adviser john bolton. humpty dumpty does it with a great t fall. wonderful pistachios. get crackin' ♪ ♪ ♪ [typing] ♪ you were made to act spontaneously. we were made to help plan accordingly. ♪ the chase ink business premier card is made for people like sam who make...? ...everyday products... ...designed smarter. like a smart coffee grinder - that orders fresh beans for you. oh, genius! for more breakthroughs like that... ...i need a breakthrough card... like ours! with 2.5% cash back on purchases of $5,000 or more... plus unlimited 2% cash back on all other purchases! and with greater spending potential, sam can keep making smart ideas... ...a brilliant reality! the ink business premier card from chase for business. make more of what's yours. my name is joshua florence, and one thing i learned being a firefighter is plan ahead. you don't know what you're getting into

we know that the trump team was subpoenaed for anything related to mark milley. they were not able to locate this so wasn't handed over from the trump team. what we do know is they're aware of the document. they have spoken to mark milley and at least one other person who was in the room for this meeting who could talk about what exactly they saw. there are other ways that they can trying to piece together for themselves and potentially eventually for a jury exactly what was going on here. >> laura, from a former federal prosecutor's perspective, how strong is the tape if trump is saying there was a bunch of newspapers i was waving. >> well, the transcript. now to hear the audio of this is very hard to sort of disassociate the idea of it being a document in front of him. his comments about, it wasn't a document, per se, his comments about not having it, and then hearing the actual transcript and the audio portion of it. but this is all about buttressing the otherwise evidentiary foundation of their case. about the withholding and the unlawful retainer of document

cnn pentagon correspondent oren liebermann has our report. >> reporter: general mark milley in normandyffensive in modern history as the war waits for another counteroffensive in ukraine. >> countries around the world have provided intelligence and advice and we're supporting ukraine. it's an existential threat for the very survival of ukraine. >> reporter: they have carried out a number of attacks inside russia. they have exclusively told cnn it's part of the net netnet netnet network sabateurs. >> milley also spoke about the tension with china just days after a chinese warship cut off a navy vessel in the thaiwan straight from 150 yards. >> they have nuclear weapons and large and capable militaries. so a conflict between great powers, for sure we're in competition and arguably we're in confrontation and but not yet in conflict. >> reporter: milley says communication with beijing is key to avoid conflict. >> i personally don't think war between the united states and china is inevitable and i don't think it's imminent. >> reporter: at a defense conference, defense secretary lloyd austin

. >> lloyd austin and the joint chiefs of staff chair general mark milley spoke to reporters in brussels. the top military leaders set a counteroffensive against russia continues and we're seeing early success. they also detailed ongoing u.s. and allied efforts to further train and equip ukrainian forces. their remarks are 20 minutes. >> good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. thank you for being here today. it's my pleasure to introduce secretary of defense lloyds austin iii and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general mark milley. the secretary and the chairman will deliver opening remarks and then have time to take a few questions. please note that i will moderate those questions and call on journalists. given our tight s >> given our tight schedule, i ask you please limit your followups to give your colleagues a chance to ask your questions and i appreciate your assistance with this. with that i'll turn it over to secretary austin. sec. austin: thanks, patrick. good afternoon, everyone. and thanks for being here. we just wrapped up our 13th meeting of the ukraine defense contact

. ♪ >> lloyd austin and mark milley were in france to mark the 79th anniversary of the d-day invasionhich allowed troops during world war ii. secretary austin: thank you. it's an honor to be in france today. ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, and above all, the world war ii veterans here today, i am absolutely humbled to join you at this hallowed place on this fateful day. 79 years ago, france and much of the rest of europe lay beneath the nazi boot. the night before operation overlord, general eisenhower met with u.s. troops from the 101st airborne. some thought that he looked nervous. but one soldier called out, “now quit worrying, general. we'll take care of this thing for you.” and they did. young men from the united states, britain, australia, canada, france, and other countries rallied together, as president roosevelt said, “to set free a suffering humanity.” the largest armada in history carried tens of thousands of allied troops to the gate of nazi-occupied france. the allied pilots flew low, under relentless german fire. the paratroopers jumped into cloudy skies and

defense secrary lloyd austi and mark milley speaks with reporters after a meeting in brussels with foreign allies supporting ukraine. then hakeem jeffries takes questions about the gop budget proposal on the formal indictment of trump. later, president biden speaks on climate change in his administration's environmental agenda. >> lied austin and mark miller -- millie spoke with reporters in brussels. the counteroffensive against russia continues. they detail ongoing u.s. and allied efforts to further train and equip ukrainian forces. there remarks are 20 minutes. >> good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. thank you for being here today. it's my pleasure to introduce secretary of defense lloyds austin iii and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general mark milley. the secretary and the chairman will deliver opening remarks and then have time to take a few questions. please note that i will moderate those questions and call on journalists. given our tight schedule, i'd ask that you please limit your follow-ups to give your colleagues a chance to ask their questions and i appreciate your a

>> this was in the context of his frustrations with general mark milley. "a new yorker article" recently came out describing the memo described as a possible attack on iran. there were people working on an autobiography of mark meadows in this meeting. and meadows describes the document as having been written by mark milley. we're told he did not produce this document. also significant, we have learned that mark milley has spoken with investigators in the special counsel's probe, and that is significant. he is the highest ranking national security official to be interviewed that we know of. but that's the key. one of the big take aways from this reporting today is that there's so much the special counsel has and has been doing that we're just learning about now. >> and is the trump campaign responding about this yet? >> they are. in a statement, the trump campaign said in part, the doj has continued interference in the presidential election is shameful, and this meritless investigation should cease wasting taxpayer money on democrat political objectives. >>

is it a fairly rudimentary proposal from mark milley to the president that was outright rejected? does it give very detailed plans? if it's something that happened a few years ago and it's outdated, and the national defense information is something that, if released, would be damaging to the united states. the fact that a plan was even discussed about invading iran, if the release of that is something that's damaging to the united states, mark milley already released that. he was the first person to bring that out. so really it's one of those things that in the legal sense, it goes to the jury where they have to look at the document and they have to make a determination as to whether it's national defense information. >> well, i think the susan glasser piece that describes mark milley that got mr. trump angry doesn't talk about a document. it talks about trump wanting to invade iran. so it isn't a document, per se. whereas, as this is described to us at cnn, donald trump is holding a document or referring to a document in which it would, in his view, disclaim the claim being made.

there you go. >> reporter: general mark milley in normandy, marking the beginnings of the largest counteroffensivehink the ukrainians are very well prepared. as you know very well, the united states and other allies countries in europe and really around the world have provided training and ammunition and advice, intelligence, et cetera, to the ukrainians. we're supporting them. they're in a war that's an existential threat for the very survival of ukraine and has greater meaning to the rest of the world. >> reporter: ukraine and its agents have carried out a number of attacks in russia, including a drone attack in moscow, u.s. officials have told cnn was part of complex network of saboteurs inside russia. >> in any war, there's risk. there's always risk. there's risk of escalation, clearly, in this particular case, so we'll have to watch that very carefully. if russia escalates against ukraine, then that's part of the giv give-and-take of war. >> milley also spoke about the tension with china just days after a chinese warship cut off a u.s. navy vessel in the taiwan strait at a distance of 150 yar

>> a meeting with the top military officer general mark milley who is in normandy to commemorate theine is the top concern for him, and this as russia has claimed to have stopped a large scale attack by ukraine. ukraine says they have no information on that attack. oren liebermann is with general milley, and what did the general say to you, oren? >> well, we have had a chance to sit down with the general to talk about a number of topics, including ukraine and china and ukraine with a bulk of the conversation, and including the expectations of the counter offensive. it is here to commemorate d-day, because this is the counter offensive that liberated europe from the nazi rule, and so we asked about the anticipation of the counter offensive of ukraine, and what did he expect, was ukraine ready? he said they were just as prepared as they could. we asked if it was going to be a success, he was very careful with the answer here. >> so, i think that it is too early to tell what outcomes will happen, and the ukrainians are well prepare and as you know, the united states and the allies aroun

france, where he is marking the 79th anniversary of d-day. >> all right, there you go. >> general mark milleye beginning of the largest counter offensive in european history, as the world waits for another counter offensive in ukraine. >> i think the ukrainians are very well prepared, you know very well the united states and countries in europe and around the world, they provide training and ammunition and -- intelligence et cetera for supporting them, and it was an existential threat for the survival of ukraine. it has greater meaning to the rest of the world. >> ukraine and its agents have carried out a number of texans that, russia including a joint act in, moscow's officials of exclusively told cnn, -- network of saboteurs inside russia. >> in any war, there is, risk there is always risk. there is risk of escalation clearly in this particular case, so we will have to watch that very carefully. if russia escalates, that is part of the give and take of war. >> milley also spoke about the tension with china, just days after a chinese warship cut off a u.s. navy vessel in the taiwan straight,

general mark milley in normandy marking the counteroffensive, as the world waits for another counteroffensivee ukrainians are very well prepared. as you know very well, united states and other allied countries in europe and around the world have provided training, ammunition, advice, intelligence, et cetera to ukrainians with supporting them. they're in a war. it's an existential threat for the very survival of ukraine. and has greater meaning to the rest of the world. >> reporter: milley also spoke about the tension with china, just days after a chinese warship cut off a u.s. ship, less than 150 yards, dangerously close. >> both countries have significant amounts of nuclear weapons, large and capable militaries. a conflict between great powers -- for sure we're in competition. we're not yet into conflict. >> reporter: milley says communication is key to avoid conflict. >> i don't think that war between china and united states is inevitable. i don't think it's imminent. but it needs to stay in a status of competition. in order to do that, countries have to talk to each other. and in times of

announcer: a discussion with the nations highest military officer, general mark milley, he will talk about democracy and strategy. at 3:00, human rights and race discussion on u.s. foreign policy hosted by the center for strategic and international stories marking the one-year anniversary of the creation of resident biden special office for racial and equity injustice. watch the live coverage here on c-span online at c-span.org or on c-span now our free mobile app. announcer: former vice president and 2024 presidential candidate mike pence reedley visited ukraine and met with ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy. he was traveling with a christian relief ministry working in ukraine, called samaritans purse. [indiscernible] [indiscernible] >> we want to make sure we have a memorial set up for the soldiers that put down their life for us. [indiscernible] [speaking native language] [indiscernible] >> with all the civilians that were buried here there or for russians that were buried here. [speaking native language] >> there was an encounter with the recent ukrainian army here. --we hav

the ballroom and those viewing on c-span for the headline event with the joint chiefs of staff, mark milley. we are happy to accept your questions and after the opening remarks i will ask as many as time permits. please email headliners@press .org. put milley in the subject line. donna is the president and founder of d.c. media strategies. chairman milley, we will come back to you. tony is the pentagon correspondent with bloomberg news. tara, pentagon correspondent with the associated press. zimone perez is also here. on my left we have robert, chief election campaign correspondent with cbs news. david butler, communications advisor to the chairman. elizabeth, washington bureau chief with the new york times. john, senior writer at cq roll call. and max, publisher for stars & stripes. i would also like to acknowledge the presence today of the ukrainian ambassador to the u.s. welcome back to the club. [applause] the united states national defense strategy is focused on the rise in china, which america views as the most consequential strategic competitor. in russia which is proved it is a clea

, that he believed that it would make mark milley look bad.se it is a document that the pentagon had prepared about a plan to bomb iran. and so donald trump is talking about this document, which clearly is national defense information, and classified, potentially. we do believe that he understands it's classified and was still classified. he's waving it around. so, there is that. and then on top of that, on this tape we have not heard the tape itself -- and we don't know the exact words he's using. but all of the sources that we were speaking to -- kaitlan collins and paula reid and i about what is captured on this tape indicate that donald trump is clearly understanding that this is a document that is classified, that he -- when he was president, didn't take the step that he needed to take to declassify it, and wishes that he could share it further and, yet, he can't. because it is protected information. >> and katelyn, it's omar jimenez here. i know this reporting is in part at least tied to record eating reporting, at least, out of that mee

take a listen. >> there you go. >> general mark milley in normandy, marking the beginning of the largestthe world waits for another counter offensive in ukraine. >> i think ukraine are very well prepared, as you know very well, the u.s. and other allied countries in europe are really around the world, providing training and ammunition and advice, intelligence, et cetera to the ukrainian supporting them. it's an existential threat for the survival of ukraine, and it has a greater meaning to the rest of the world. >> he also spoke about the chinese conflict, just days after a chinese warship caught off a u.s. navy vessel in the taiwan straight, at a distance dangerously close. >> both countries, significant powers, great powers if you wanna call them that in the world today. they both have a significant amounts of nuclear weapons, they've got large military capabilities. so, conflict between great powers, arguably, we are in a competition, arguably, we are in confrontation. but we're not yet in conflict. >> milley says communication with beijing's key to avoid conflict. >> i personally don

zaluzhny from the meeting with the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff of the united states, mark milley . about this from the experts , your likes and subscriptions to our channel are important because this is the algorithm that youtube works on if you show interest in these in the video you will see them as one of the first in your feed. therefore, i invite the soldiers of the second mechanized battalion of the 22nd separate mechanized brigade of the armed forces of ukraine to sign for cleaning the positions of russian forces in the direction of bakhmut and capturing a russian military officer. this was reported by the commander of the ground forces of ukraine, general colonel oleksandr syrian defense forces are moving forward, he wrote in telegram about the capture of russian soldiers near bakhmut, the volat battalion also announced of the belarusian regiment named after kastus kalinovsky and did it, they say, together with the military of the third assault brigade of the armed forces of ukraine, you will be included in exchange for the bakhmutsky channel telegram point, we are leavin

mark milley said that ukraine is waging a war that is an existential threat to the very survival of ukraine important for the rest of the world, for europe, in fact, for the united states states and for the entire globe, and speaking about the future counteroffensive of the ukrainian armed forces, mili noted that ukraine has prepared very well for it, but it is still too early to talk about the results regarding the situation in the bakhmut direction, she said that we are moving with a broad front and we are successful , we are occupying the dominant heights. in iryna koval's studio, i want to start the issue with what's going on

mark milley.his is about plans that the united states has potentially to bomb iran if that is something the president would so choose to do, which donald trump was talked out of during his presidency by milley. he has this document. and it is a document that the prosecutors have asked. or they at least have questioned mark milley in their criminal investigation of the mishandling. they're looking at that. and we know that there is grand jury activity about what exactly happened in this meeting. so they have this audio tape. and we were able to confirm that there is a number of people in july of 2021 who are with donald trump as he is being recorded. as he is talking about this plan that he says milley provided to him that would undercut and discredit milley. and he's wrestling around. so on the audio tape, you can hear him wrestling around a paper. and one of those people, the communications aide to donald trump has been in to the grand jury to testify. so the justice department is putting some oo

>> well look, mark milley was trump's choice for chairman of the joint chief. he wanted him to have the job. but i think once he became chairman, he saw increasingly in erratic in volatile president he consider to be dangerous, it predated of course that june 1st 2020 march across lafayette square. but that really sort of, you know, crystallized to the general, that he saw a president who want to put troops in the streets in order to crack down on protesters. some of whom had been violent in the aftermath of the george floyd killing. really was against that. it's not what active duty soldiers are supposed to be used for. they got to a conflict about that. at that point i think really really began to see the president as a potential danger. from that point on he in fact wrote a letter of resignation, that we reported on in our book that he never set. it was very blistering. he said the president of the united states doesn't understand the principles on which the united states was founded on, and defended in wars like road or two in the past. he says you are ruin

subpoena from special counsel jack smith's investigators for any and all documents relate to general mark milley, the joint chiefs chair, or iran, sources telling cnn there's also a big unknown, whether that document in question, an iran attack plan, was ever actually returned to the government. let's break down this important reporting. it's beginning with the team behind it. cnn's kaitlan collins joins us from new york. paula reid is here with me in washington along with elliot williams. kaitlan collins, let me start with you. we reported yesterday that prosecutors have this audio recording of donald trump talking about having a classified document, saying, on that audio recording, that he wishes he could share it but he knows he can't, which is important. now, in this new reporting, you and your colleagues, number one, is a trump aide, margot martin, who goes before the grand jury, they have an audiorecording, and after her testimony, they send a subpoena to trump attorneys. walk us through the significance of this. >> yeah, so, mario martin, who is a former white house press aide who followe

cnn just spoke with america's top general, mark milley. what he said about it. >> can't wait for that interview. also today could be apple's biggest product launch since the apple watch. what we're learning about the company's new mixed reality headset. this hour of cnn this morning starts right now. >>> here is where we begin. a cnn exclusive interview with america's top general, that is mark milley. as tensions mount with china, oren liebermann sat down with the joint chiefs chairman in normandy, france, today. this comes after a chinese warship nearly collided with a u.s. navy destroyer during a military exercise. look at that video. that's in the taiwan strait. the pentagon says the chinese ship cut right in front of the destroyer and came within 150 yards of crashing into it. the video of the close encounter shows it all. also top of mind, ukraine and the looming counteroffensive. russia claims it repelled a large-scale attack by ukraine forces who were trying to break through russian lines in zion ukraine. let's go to oren liebermann

trump began railing about his handpicked chairman of the joint chiefs of staff general mark milley who was described in media counts at the time is having guarded against trump's strike in iran in the final days of his presidency newtown's reports the ex president began referencing a document he had with him saying it had been compiled by general milley and was related to attacking iran. according to new reporting just out this afternoon, trump's attorneys have not found that classified document in question, even after receiving a subpoena specifically for earlier this year. so where is it now? we don't know. but i think this new information that we got yesterday, this recording and the context of the document and mark milley. it finally clarifies a key question, the question around donald trump's motive for holding on to these many classified documents after he left the white house. in a strictly legal sense the motive doesn't actually matter. in order to file criminal charges the special counsel just has to believe that a crime was committed. it's a shock if it's strong enough to lea

recordings where trump talked about mark milley, but he didn't reference any classified material. as part of discovery, kate, lawyers have to hand over everything they've collected, even if it's not incriminating, even if they are not going to use it at trial. we know they also have at least one additional source that has provided them with additional recordings, but at this point multiple sources tell cnn that none of these additional interviews rise to the level of incriminating material, the same way that bedminster 2021 recording does, but all of this just speaks to, a, how quickly the special counsel is moving, that he's trying to already hand over this evidence, get this process under way and also just how much stuff they've collected in the course of this investigation. >> and you and your great reporting will continue to learn, i'm sure and uncover how much more they are collecting in terms of evidence in this investigation. thank you so much. >>> after criticism from western allies on its counter offensive ukraine is now touting partial success on two fronts. where they'r

department has, but it is the evidence that people are asking about, and they have interviewed general mark milley that trump is saying that he got this document from a plan to get the attack from iran, and milley is the joint chiefs of staff, and someone who donald trump often was not, and very much in conflict with at the end of his pres presidency. so there is that, the evidence that they are getting the grand jury testimony about, and building up information about what they know about this meeting, and it is shifting our understanding of this mar-a-lago investigation, kate, because we are talking and it as the mar-a-lago investigation, and what happened last year with the boxes leading up to the fbi search of donald trump's property, and that is not the extent of the case, but it is the case of the justice department gathering evidence and looking at the incident that they have on the audio recording of people in the room, and people working on the biography, and the communications aid to people in the room, that it happened in bedminster, new jersey, even a year before it was an issue, and cr

mark milley plays into the intent piece squarely on the coup as well.very end. and chairman milley is talking about a conversation with trump. i believe it's about iran but i could have that wrong. it's clear trump knows he lost and he's leaving. >> yeah. >> how central is someone like that who was simply kind of walking the line for u.s. national security in those final days? >> yeah. very important. every time there's evidence of the president directly uttering something, it's important. and what you're referring to is that general milley says he was in the white house after the election had been called for president biden talking about a substantial foreign policy issue. i think it was iran. and trump turns to him and says this is not up to me, this is up to the next guy. sort of an acknowledgment that he will not be the decision maker for very much -- >> because he lost. >> -- longer because he lost. so again, evidence of the president's awareness being conveyed again and again by bill barr, by bill stepien and others and statements like he made to

you did see a number of american officials, including the joint chiefs chairman, mark milley, as wells the american national security adviser, jake sullivan, have to cancel planned overseas travel so they could remain in washington to deal with this crisis. so certainly president biden will wake up tomorrow, will continue to receive briefings, but certainly the question now is, what does this mean for vladimir putin and russia going ahead? >> kevin liptak in washington, appreciate it. >>> as we mentioned, u.s. lawmakers have been watching this and some congressional leaders are weighing in. here's what some of them had to say. >> you have to wonder, though, he got so close without any military raising a hand at all. and so that tells me one of two things. either that the russians have, in fact -- keep away from this guy, or they were afraid to take him on. if you saw any of the pictures of him in some of the towns, people getting selfies with him, getting the rock star treatment. it's very interesting. i would warn people that are anxious to see putin dethroned, if this guy were to ta

defense secretary lloyd austin arrived a few minutes ago, general mark milley showing up right behind him. they will walk down this path towards the normandy american cemetery. a short time ago we saw world war ii veterans who had come, some who participated in the d-day invasion, waited here before they were led down this path where the ceremony begins. there will be ceremonies and commemorations all along the beaches at different points here. a number of speeches and we'll be here for all that as we listen to this powerful moment remembering what happened here 79 years ago. general mark milley marking the beginning of the offensive as the world waits for another counteroffensive in ukraine. >> i think ukrainians are very well prepared. the united states and other allied countries have provided training address ammunition and advice, intelligence, et cetera to the ukrainians. they are in a war that is an existential threat for the survival of ukraine and has greater meaning to the rest of the world. >> reporter: ukraine and its agents have carried out a number of attacks inside russi

describes a top-secret pentagon document revealing a plan by joint chiefs of staff chair general mark milley. the recording was first aired by cnn and it contradicts trump's recent claimed that he did not have the classified documents. pres. trump: these are bad, sick people. >> against you. when millie is talking about,, -- they were trying to do that before you were even sworn in, trying to overthrow your election. pres. trump: let me see that. i'll show you an example. he said that i wanted to attack iran. isn't it amazing that a big pile -- look. this was him. they presented me this. this was him. amy: so that audio aired by cnn of trump. it comes as he is charged with violating the espionage act through the willful retention of classified records. he also faces six counts, including obstruction of justice and false statements, at a federal trial in miami scheduled for august 14. for more on this, we continue with james risen, the pulitzer prize-winning reporter, now with the intercept, where he is national security correspondent. also director of first look media party has press freedom

room is two aides, and this is what he says to them, and he is worked up about an article about mark milley and the comments he made about iran, and he says, quote, with milley, let me see, i will show you an example, and i wanted to attack iran, and isn't that amazing, because i have a big pile of papers and look at this, this is him, and this is off of the record, anded they presented this, and this is him, this is him, and this is not done by me, and this is him, and you probably can't count while i am talking, but he is emphasizing to this group that this is him meaning mark milley, and he is goes on to say all sorts of stuff, and pages long, and look, wait a minute, let's see here, and isn't that found here, and this is totally going to win my case, except you know, it is highly confident, and secret, this is secret information, and look, look at this, and note that secret and coy confi fidential are two differe thing, and look, look, and he is showing something to people in the room and none of whom have security clearances and the real quote is that he asked someone, and can we decla

milley: i still have a ways to go. in the words of mark twain, the reports of my debt are premature. -- death are premature. i'm gonna run through the end and figure out what i'm going to do on the other side. this is an important job, it's critical that we have a great military. i've a job to do and i had to stay focused on that the entire time. the president will make a decision in due time, they will go through a nomination process and if confirmed, will do a handoff of response ability at the end of september. until then, i will stay focused on what i am doing. this is a dangerous world and it requires the attention of our military. kevin: thank you for joining us. gen. milley: thank you

>> we are told -- because it all has to do with trump being furious at mark milley. he always didn't like how general milley was portrayed in the press and how he was. >> there was an article that had come out around this time about this recording in "the new yorker." >> basically saying trump might try to take military action in iran. it was a concern that milley had as trump's trying to overturn the election results. they were worried what he would do in those last few weeks when he was still in charge of the nuclear codes. commander in chief and had all this access. i'm told that document is not from general milley. it wasn't produced by him. that it actually predates since he was chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, which i should note he was also hand-picked by trump to be the chief of staff. i think there is questions about that. that's the other thing here that is a big part of this, was trump trying to settle a score here, because he was mad about the reporting that made it sound like he wanted to take military action in iran. he said something to the effect

he named them off and in this testimony, secretary austin and mark milley were surprised these were occurringaware of these events but would not support them. and general austin said it would be against policy to fund events like this. fast forward to this week, the air force, the base commander approved this event. when it was briefed to the pentagon, secretary austin, and general milley said they could not use dod funds to fund this event. it turns out it was going to be privately funded but it still would be held on the installation and on the base. because of that, they said it either had to be cancelled had to either be cancelled and moved offbase. it's supposed to occur today, katy. it's no longer going to occur. this wouldn't be the first time that nellis would have held one of these drag events in honor of pride month. the first one was two years ago in 2021. it went on as planned then. but there's been increasing pressure, as i said from members of congress, particularly rem can members of congress, it seems in this case, the pentagon agreed with them, katy. >> courtney kube, thank y

introduce secretary of defense lloyds austin iii and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general mark milley. the secretary and the chairman will deliver opening remarks and then have time to take a few questions. please note that i will moderate those questions and call on journalists. given our tight schedule, i'd ask that you please limit your follow-ups to give your colleagues a chance to ask their questions and i appreciate your assistance with this. with that, i'll turn it over to secretary austin. sec. austin: thanks, patrick. good afternoon, everyone. and thanks for being here. we just wrapped up our 13th meeting of the ukraine defense contact group. and it once again demonstrated the unity and the resolve that have characterized this group ever since our very first meeting. we continue to be inspired by the ukrainian people. as i told the contact group today, the missile strike that hit a residential building reminded us all of the senseless suffering that the people of ukraine have endured. but they remain undaunted. and so do their leaders. we are fortunate to be joined yet again

the episode is generated enough interest for investigators to have questioned general mark milley about the incident. general milley still the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. so this is classified documents. one of two things the special counsel is looking into. one is election interference. the reporting is that trump had a document, talked about it on the tape, tell us more. >> he's having it with him, referring to it, whether or not it was seen by the people in the room, we don't know the answer to that. but he's referring to it quite clearly. he's talking about how protected of a national security secret this is. that it's classified that he couldn't declassify it and wishes he could share it with other people but can't. so when you step back, we have so many conversations about these confident investigations. when you look at the law and what ts justice department has to do, they have to make sure not just whether they have the evidence that someone may have broken the law to bring a case, but they have to make sure they are enforcing the national security apparatus of the u