mr. royce: i thank the gentleman for yielding back. we now go to brian higgins of new york. mr. higgins: thank you, mr. chairman. secretary, how many russian soldiers are in ukraine today? ambassador nuland: congressman i am not in a position to give you a definitive number in this unclassified setting. you've seen ben hodges make a calculation from u.s. army europe. i would say it's in the thousands and thousands. mr. higgings: nato -- ambassador nuland: sorry, let me also just while i have you here say that what we can say in this unclassified setting is since december, russia's transferred hundreds of pieces of military equipment, including tanks armored vehicles, raw systems, heavy artillery. the russian military has its own robust command structure in eastern ukraine ranging from general officers to junior officers, as the president said not too long ago. they are funding this war, they are fueling it and commanding and controlling it. mr. higgins: in practical terms, does that constitute invasion? ambassador nuland: we have made career that russia is responsible for fueling

mr. higgins, and you have this brand new set, and i feel like i'm in late night heaven. >> jimmy: oh, myeally is heaven. >> jimmy: i mean -- isn't that beautiful? >> it's spectacular. >> jimmy: oh, peter barron, the designed our set and all this beautiful stuff. eugene lee. these guys are brilliant guys. we're just happy to be -- it's the same room that late night was in. >> i know. >> jimmy: they just classed it up a little bit. >> well -- it comes from the top. >> jimmy: no, please. hey this might be a first ever. are you wearing -- are you wearing the suit that you're on the cover of -- >> i did it on purpose. it's not a coincidence. >> jimmy: that's never happened. that's "the tonight show" history. we just made "tonight show" history. in about 30 seconds. [ applause ] >> i have to show you something about this suit though. >> jimmy: yeah. >> the first time i wore it was in los angeles. and i was walking from my apartment to a set. we were taping a show called "under the gunn." and it was early morning. and you know, there's no one on the sidewalks in los angeles ever. there were thr

mr. higgins. i'm sorry. ms. frankel. >> thank you, mr. chair. thank you for your service and for your testimony today. i want -- i know that humanitarian aid by its nature the purpose is to save lives and alleviate suffering. i maintain human dignity. i was interested in your discussion with mr. deutch because i have heard people say that when you get to people's -- if you give them food and medicine that helps shape people's minds also. so my question is, the overriding goal of trying to defeat isis and assad and so forth, i'm trying -- i want to understand how the humanitarian aid plays into that. and do the folks who are receiving the aid, do they know that it's coming from -- do they have any idea where it's coming from? and does humanitarian aid help shape their thoughts or ideas? in your opinion? >> yeah, thank you. that's an important question, not always easy to quantify. certainly through our aid programs, even within syria, our partners are working through local organizations. and they make sure that the local organizations know even t

mr. higgins -- oh, sorry, mrs. frankel. >> thank you, mr. chair. thank you for your testimony today. i know that humanitarian aid by its nature sh the purpose is so save lives and alleviate suffering. i maintain human dignity. i was interested in your discussion with mr. deutch. because i have heard people say that when you get to -- if you give them food and medicine, that helps shapes people's minds also. so my question is the over-riding goal of trying to defeat isis and assad and so forth, i want to understand how the humanitarian aid plays into that. and do the folks who are receiving the aid, do they know that it is coming from -- do they have any idea where it is coming from? and does the humanitarian aid help shape their thoughts or ideas, in your opinion? >> yeah, thank you. that is an important question. not always easy to quantify. certainly through our aid programs, even within syria, our partners are working through local organizations. and they make sure that the local organizations know, even though it is not branded, that they know that it is coming from the u.s. and

mr. higgins. i'm calling to make a statement and a question. i will be as quick as possible. the 1990's, represent higgins, the clinton administration, along with britain, china, and france, negotiated with ukraine to give up their nuclear arsenal under the agreement which they would never be invaded and they would be protected. look at ukraine now. also, iraq. they also wanted nuclear arsenal . look at our back now -- iraq now. my question to you would be if you were iran, based on the instances that you've seen in front of your own eyes with what is going on in the world, with countries that do not have a nuclear arsenal and the condition they are in right now at the hands of russia, in terms of ukraine, and iraq at the hands of the united states. what would you do if you were iran? guest: well, i'm not iran. iran has been developing nuclear abilities for a long time. it's a billion-dollar infrastructure. it's a big part of the iranian economy. i understand the need to protect oneself when a country's national interest is at stake here. i don't think nuclear weapons is the w

mr. brian higgins of new york. >> thank you mr. chairman and thank you mr. secretary. just on the iran issue, centrifuges, uranium enrichment capability and they have had 164 centrifuges, for creating weapons-grade material. today there is over 19,000, and it is suggested that 9,400 of them are operational centrifuges to enrich uranium. how important is the number of centrifuges to the negotiations ongoing right now? >> it is important. >> do we accept that iran should have thousands of operational centrifuges to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes? >> well that question is so general that is doesn't allow for the question of what is their production level, what are they doing, et cetera, et cetera. i'm not going to get into the numbers at this point in time except to say to you, we have established a critical measurement of needing a one year breakout time for a reasonable period of time and an ability to be able to limit the impact of whatever is produced by whatever centrifuges are running. in other words, you have to look at the stockpile and what happens to the s

mr. brian higgins of new york. >> thank you. this is a complicated administration direct. >> i think the answer is yes. i'm searching my mind to think of anything that could rise tries to a higher level of park city. arguably the new start agreement was complicated but this probably tops the list. >> is still an agreement. you here varied reports saying that 90% is done and 60% is done. the bottom done. the bottom line is it is still very fluid. as issue that remain will be the most critical. but clearly the issue of fuel and enrichment capacity has central. inspections and verification. how many pounds of enriched uranium is a rant thought to have currently? >> they have a stockpile of low enriched uranium. about 3.5 percent to about 7,000 keep. >> and under the current draft framework what would become of that 3.5% of enriched uranium? >> you understand, i can't get into the details. one of the elements that would be important in figuring out their breakout time is the available stockpile of material that they have to work wit

mr. hill gins. higgins. >> thank you, mr. chairman.higgins. >> thank you, mr. chairman.higgins. >> thank you, mr. chairman. just on two aspects of this. one is the nature of terrorist attacks have changed profoundly. al qaeda and al qaeda in the arabian peninsula has relied traditionally on complex plots involving explosions in airliners. now in september of 2014 an isis leader told would-be recruits not to bother coming to iraq or syria but to launch attacks in their home countries. isis has called for attacks on soft targets in the west by any means available, including using a car to drive at pedestrians. the other issue is technology. as mr. steinbeck has said, technology moves faster than legislation. a lot faster. you characterize the fbi as labeling this "going dark." it's increasingly difficult to monitor the communications within terrorist networks. proliferation of often encrypted, covert coded information to prevent unauthorized use from skype to gaming forums to other new technology has made surveillance tremendous technologically demanding, in some

higgins: secretary, is this the most complicated negotiation the administration has been involved with internationally? mr. blinken: i think the answer is yes, i'm searching my mind for anything that rises to a higher level. arguably the new start agreement was collocated but this tops the list. rep. higgins: it is still an agreement and you hear varying reports that 90% is done. the bottom line, it is still very fluid. those issues that remain will also be the most critical because it is difficult to find mutuality on. but clearly the fields of enrichment capacity are essential and inspection and verification. how many pounds of enriched uranium is iran thought to have currently? mr. blinken: they have a stockpile of low enriched uranium at 3.5%, that as i recall is about 7000 kilos. is that correct? rep. higgins: under the current draft framework, what would become of that 3.5% of enriched uranium? mr. blinken: you understand i cannot get into the details, this is subject to negotiation. one of the details that is important in figuring the breakout time is the available stockpile of material they have t

we now go to brian higgins of new york. >> thank you, mr. chairman. secretary, how many russian soldiers are in ukraine today? victoria: congressman, i am not in a position to give you a definitive number in this unclassified setting. you've seen ben hodges make a calculation from u.s. army europe. i would say it's in the thousands and thousands. >> nato -- victoria: sorry let me also just while i have you here say that what we can say in this unclassified setting is since december russia's transferred hundreds of pieces of military equipment, including tanks, armored vehicles, raw systems, heavy arrillry. the russian military has its own robust command structure in eastern ukraine ranging from general officers to junior officers as the president said not too long ago. they are funding this war, they are fueling it and commanding and controlling it. >> in practical terms, does that constitute invasion? victoria: we have made career that russia is responsible for fueling this war in eastern ukraine. >> yes or no, constitutes invasion? >> we have used -

now to bryan higgins of new york mr. secretary, is this the most complicated negotiation that the administration has been involved with internationally? i think that the answer is yes. i am searching my mind to think of anything that would rise to the higher level of complexity. arguably the new start agreement was complicated. would i have to say that this tops the list and and the interesting thing is that still. in an agreement. you hear the varying reports saying that 90% is done. and 60% is duven. the bottomline is that it is fluid. those issue that's remain will always be the most critical issues because they are the most difficult to find mu tu ality on but clearly with capacity central to this. of and the inspections and verification. how many pounds of enriched uranium has occurred currently the stockpile of low and enriched uranium that as i recall is about 7,000 kilos. is that correct? under the current draft framework what would become of that 3.5% of enriched uranium? i cannot get into the details this. is s