oren liebermann, cnn, at the pentagon. >>> and all this is happening as the u.s. turns up the heat on the mercenaries serving as russia's shop troops. wagner group is led by an oligarch on the right there in in video. the white house is moving to designate them as a trans national criminal organization. >> it will open up additional avenues for us to continue to not only sanction wagner and put more squeeze on their ability do business around the world, but will assist others in doing the same. >> and washington is also releasing new pictures of north korea's alleged arm shipments to the mercenaries. u.s. officials believe this train carried the first batch of pyongyang's webs for wagner in november and there will be more to come. salma abdelaziz is monitoring the developments related to ukraine and she is joining us from london. first on wagner, what led to the decision and john kirby touched on it there, but concretely what does it mean? >> reporter: what it really means for the united states is an acknowledgement, recognition of wagner's increasingly important

. >> cnn's oren liebermann is at the pentagon with details on the army's push to recruit soldiers but >> reporter: alex and amara, this new policy is a dramatic expansion on the amount of parental leave parents get after giving birth. it applies ot only to the birthing parent but also the nonbirthing parent. up until, the birthing parent got six weeks off and the nonbirthing parent didn't get any time off. now both will get 12 weeks of parental leave so three months to plan and begin a life with an expanded family. crucially this shall applies not only to a birth but adoption and long-term foster care. the military is trying to offer flexibility in this case. the military also says these 12 weeks don't have to be taken all at once and it can be broken up with additional leave or other kinds of leave, so there is flexibility intended to allow for family planning. that's why this is so crucial. family planning is one of the most often cited frustration about military families about what military life is like, and this is intended to address that, to give families first more time off aft

. >> oren liebermann joining us now. so this is a simulation.rscoring of course, as jim points out, why these exercises are necessary. what else did it find? >> it is the because of the build up of forces, especially after the visit of nancy pelosi, that some experts that a chinese military is preparing for an invasion. what that might look lear in the year 2026 running 24 different simulations and all of the war games were costly for china and taiwan and the u.s. and the most pessimistic scenario, china failed. failed to get a beach head from which it could assert control over the island and this is for two broad reasons. first am fibphibious assaults a difficult. and in terms of the numbers, results of the war games, the center for strategic and international students said the u.s. would lose 10 to 20 service combat ships including two aircraft carriers and 200 to 400 military aircraft depending on the scenario and what went behind it. china would lose 90% of the amphibious fleet and some 50 combat warships and 150 aircraft. japan would lose,

oren liebermann, cnn, the pentagon. >> more on this from nada bashir. the u.s.meeting in europe. huge amount of pressure specifically on germany. >> absolutely. this is the key focus now, more tanks. in i this is really centered on germany. this is the eighth time we've seen this. the real focus now is on the potential for a spring offensive by russia. concerns around that. and the need, according to ukraine, for more modern weaponry and armament and in particular those tanks now. as you heard oren's report in the u.s. has said it won't be supplying the m1 abrams. >> due to the terrain. >> exactly. too complicated, logistically complex and difficult to maintain on the ground in ukraine. those are the reasons they're giving. the u.s. has been clear it is still in support of providing more modern tanks to ukraine. that's where germany comes in and that's where the major sticking point is. >> they control not only their own tanks but also who sells german-made tanks. >> that's correct. they control the export of those tanks. >> we're looking at the live pictures fr

oren liebermann has more. >> reporter: the announcement that the u.s. is connected to sending 31 m 1 abrams tanks to ukraine is a significant milestone. one the ukrainians have been asking for for months. one volodymyr zelenskyy says they need tanks to take back territory in terms of the number of forces. it's important to note that the u.s. made abrams tank and advance complex system will not arrive in a matter of weeks. this is a time line of many months we're looking at. that's because first the u.s. needs to prepare the tanks but then be it also needs to train and -- the operations, the maintenance and the logistics of providing these tanks to ukraine. this is a time line that will take quite a number of months. however, the white house has said training could begin sooner such that when the tanks are ready, the ukrainians will will be -- already know how to use them. the u.s. announcement of tanks from president biden also coincides with germany announcing they're sending 14 leopard 2 tanks but will also approve other countries in europe sending le

. >> with me to share their reporting, cnn's oren liebermann, katie louis and oren, the secretary says's no disagreement and no linkage. there's some kind of a holdup. what is it? >> there is no doubt there is a holdup regardless of how austin paints it or how his counterpart paints this. germany has not yet approved its own tanks either for germany to send them or sign off on. other countries sending them. poland which has been vocal about this threatening just to ignore germany and send them anyway. now, this isn't what austin wanted to focus on. he kept his remarks to everything else the u.s. has sent, the second largest ukraine aid package, $2.5 billion, strykers and others making large contributions to ukraine's defense, the question, however, largely prodded by ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy kept coming back to tanks. in his remarks austin only thanked the uk for sending challenger 2 tanks but hanging over this was the question would germany shift its position. the german defense minister claimed there was no linkage between germany waiting for the u.s. to send tanks, ma

cnn's oren liebermann joins us now from the pentagon. that's the question.hot down the russian kh22 missile that caused so much death and destruction in dnipro if that patriot system was already up and running? >> pam, it's difficult to say with absolute certainty yes or no on this question, but we look at different factors here. the entire purpose, the reason the u.s. has given or is giving the patriot system to ukraine is because it's an extremely advanced long range aerial defense system. that means its radar can pick up incoming threats at a greater distance. its missiles can intercept that threat at a greater distance. it's been battle proven against bl ballistic missiles, for example, in the middle east. we have seen its effectiveness against these types of missiles. on the flip side of that, there's the open question of would ukraine have placed one of its patriot systems to defend the city of dnipro. as of right now, it's only getting two. one from the u.s. and one from germany. you will have to believe one of those would be used to defend kyiv. thes

. >> oren liebermann standing by at the pentagon with more on this. know about those stateside trainings. >> the training will take place at fort sill which is where the u.s. conducts its own training on patriot missiles near oklahoma. the ukrainians will begin training on the patriot missile systems according to two officials familiar with the matter that training could begin as soon as next week. you see the urgency on getting them trained up on this complex aerial defense system as quickly as possible. bringing them in and getting that training going allows them to get it on to the battlefield as quickly as possible. crucially there is no timeline for how long this takes. defense officials said last week it will take several months. the pentagon is working on accelerating training on patriot missiles in any way they can to make them get out there faster. there no definite answer on how much it can shorten the training on what is a complex aerial defense system. they are not going to telegraph to the russians when this system might be ready and in t

oren liebermann is there. you heard the president saying that secretary austin, general austin, former general now, the secretary of defense recommended this but we've talked in the recent weeks about how the pentagon was somewhat resistant because of the logistics involved. because of the resupply and the keeping the tanks and the training involved. how quickly the american tanks get there and how big of a difference does the pentagon think they can make? >> the short answer is not quickly at all. they have to be procured and train the ukrainians on logistics, maintenance, operations of a complex system and that's on top of all the new systems you already need to train them on, the uk challenger tanks, german leopard tanks, u.s. howitzers. it's not a rush to get these to the front. the other systems and germany's leopard tanks are the priority but biden did say they would begin training ukrainian forces on the abrams to make sure when they're ready to go ukrainians can use them immediately when they arrive in

oren liebermann has the story. >> reporter: the first troops have arrived in fort sill, oklahoma, to arrive for training on missile systems. that is where a team of about 90 to 100 ukrainian troops has arrived to begin their own training. the training, according to the pentagon, is expected to take several months. the u.s. is trying to figure out how much it can accelerate the are training on the system. it is advanced and technical. it will take time on how to not only fire it but how to maintain it in the field. also, the u.s. doesn't want to give a time line on how long the training will take because it doesn't want russia to know when the patriot might arrive in the field. to help in addition to the shorter and more medium-range systems the u.s. has already provided. the patriot can detect incoming threats at a greater distance and the missiles to intercept. it's been shown its effectiveness in other arenas. >>> continued support for ukraine will be on the agenda when the dutch prime minister is welcomed to the white house. the white house press secretary said the meeting will fo

. >> cnn pentagon correspondent oren liebermann reports on what's in the packaged a how the stalematever tanks is playing out. >> reporter: in the halls of the air force b.a.s.e., the u.s. and more than 50 allies stood united on every issue but one. austin lloyd heaping praise. the u.s. with its own $2.5 billion package that includes bradley vehicles, stryker vehicles, and more. what's missing is at the top of the ukraine list. >> every day we make it more on vest there's no alternative to making this decision. >> reporter: germany refuses to sign off on sending its leopard 2 tanks to ukraine. >> translator: there are good reasons for the delivery and good reasons against it. we cannot also say orr or where the the tanks are, he wants them to dig in. it's a power frl weapon for a more brutal battle. the u.s. insists the m-1 abrams is the wrong fit running on jet fuel, making it harder to maintain in ukraine. the german-maid leopard runs on diesel making it easier to get spare parts and perhaps more tanks to ukraine. but germany has yet to make a decision. even so they defended ewe ber

. >> cnn correspondent oren liebermann is following the latest.is area? >> this happens much more commonly than you would expect. in fact, the coast guard, putting out information from the suspected russian spy ship said it is not uncommon. it is often they are monitoring vessels operating and loitering in their areas. and we could put up a map where this is. and look at hawaii's economic exclusive zone. this is international waters and that is where this suspected spy ship is operating, hanging out and there gathering and observing whatever it can and as you would expect, the coast guard and the defense department monitoring what this is up to and what the ship is doing. and of course making sure it stays in international waters. not the first time we've seen a russian spy ship off the coast of united states. in fact, just a few years ago, there was an incident where there was a russian spy ship off the east coast, off the coast of florida. we reported at the time. what made that one different is that the defense department said it was operating

. >> want to bring in cnn pentagon correspondent oren liebermann and clarissa ward who is live -- i see nic robertson in london for us, looking very different. going to start with you. what are officials saying this morning about the status of this standoff? >> reporter: well lloyd austin you heard him just a moment ago speaking at opening of the ukraine defense contact group pointing to how big this moment is. crucially, he didn't mention tanks. that was not part of his opening remarks and that will be one of the key questions when we get to the press conference where he's expected to speak in a short time. but he has backed up his words with actions. just a day ago, the u.s. auns no -- announcing a $2.5 billion security package. here is austin speaking about how critical this moment is for ukraine and for the world. >> this is a crucial moment. russia is regrouping, recruiting, and trying to re-equip. this is not a moment to slow down. it is a time to dig deeper. the ukrainian people are watching us. the kremlin is watching us. and history is watching us. >> reporter: ukrainian presid

>> oren liebermann, appreciate it. let's go to cnn's phil mattingly, at the white house, for more on the decision of getting germany on board. it's a big change is their will and provide ukraine for the war and, with what button was wanting to deliver with that. with the direct knowledge, behind the scenes of the last several weeks, they appointed several times the number or the, president, pointed to the durability of the driving force behind that policy shift, behind that decision, to deliver those u.s. tanks at all. something that u.s. military had not recommended, something that and i. c. e. officials here at the white house are very wary of doing. they didn't believe it was the best use of capabilities, in terms of the battlefield dynamics that are currently in play. but, it really gets at the central driving force behind how president biden has viewed this war, throughout the 11 months it has been ongoing. and, also, in the months before then, and it was with reasons, and predictions, and they're up to this accou

military official general just told our oren liebermann, despite russia sending all tens of thousandsat did so in such a hurried way, weren't prepared and didn't make much of a difference in the past months. what do you think about that and what it says about going forward with this offensive? >> i think it's true that they sent a lot of these people hastily mobilized in september, plus convicts, sent them forward without much training, but there was a second element of that mobilization and there were people that were held back, formed into units going through training now, and so i think the russian military -- they're not stupid. they made serious mistakes. certainly weren't ten feet tall like some of us thought they might be. but they do learn from their experiences, and i think we're going to see a second russian offensive and i think the units that come forward are probably going to be better trained. maybe not better equipped, but maybe better trained. >> what are you expecting from this offensive? >> i'm expecting the push to come still in the, in the east, with a secondary at

. >> cnn's oren liebermann is joining us from the pentagon. what does this new designation mean?h it not only in ukraine, but other places such as africa and syria, they will face more sanctions from the u.s. government, and strong statement of how the u.s. views wagner as an additional force. the u.s. declassified photos it says that are other russian groups crossing into ukraine to picking up ammo from north korea to pick up ammo and bringing it back into russia. they had talked about this late last year, and these are the photos that back it up. interesting it is wagner who is using the artillery and the ammo and not the russian ministry of defense, and that is how wagner is operating and virtually a mercenary organization competing with at times and operating independently of the russian military and primarily in a ukrainian city where we have seen them by the u.s. as a high percentage of convicts filling in the shortages of frankly bodies in the russian military that russia is looking for and suffering heavy casualties, and this is where the analysis is coming from the u.s.

oren liebermann is standing by at the pentagon. what are we expecting to hear. >> reporter: one of the things that we could hear from lloyd austin is a thank you for everything that countries have provided. the u.s. on the front foot here with a just announced yesterday $2.5 billion package. the second largest the u.s. has ever provided ukraine and that includes a lot of the capabilities you just mentioned, bradleys and strikers and m-raps and a few brigades worth of equipment as we all know, the u.s. has already started training ukrainians on what is called the combined arms training, so the ability to use all of this. and then we've heard from a dozen other european countries on everything they've provided. >> orren, we're going to head over there and listen to the chairman of the joint chiefs and the defense secretary. >> i will moderate those questions and call on journalists and ask what that we limit follow-ups due to our tights schedule. thank you for your assistancech and , over to you secretary austin. >> thank you for joi

. >> cnn's oren liebermann is with us.us about the ship. >> reporter: the coast guard has been tracking this ship not just for a few days, but several weeks off the coast of hawaii in international waters. a pentagon spokesperson said a short time ago it is in international waters where it is allowed to be, and it hasn't conducted any unsafe or unprofessional actions or maneuvers that would raise alarm bells for the pentagon or the coast guard, but as you point out, it's the timing of this that is interesting with tensions high between washington and moscow, and that is why this is getting so much attention. there are russian spy ships that operate this way, in terms of operating in international waters including as we see now, off the coast of hawaii, picking up essentially whatever signals they can get, observing whatever aircraft movements they can see or marine movements, and this is how they work. the coast guard tracks this. the defense department tracks this. again, not the first time we've seen this as an example b

also, though, just getting in some breaking news, cnn white house reporter natasha bertrand, oren liebermann joining us. what are you hearing potentially about what more we're learning? even this secret meeting that the cia director held last week with president zelenskyy? >> yeah, so about the meeting between ukrainian president zelenskyy and cia director bill burns we are learning that burns went there really to brief the ukrainian president on what the u.s. believes are the potential battle plans by russia to launch an offensive in the spring. now, of course, bill burns has been a very key emissary between the u.s. and ukraine as well as even with russia over the course of the war and this really just signifies the urgency the u.s. feels in this moment getting ukraine the information the intelligence it needs ahead of this potential russian offensive seeing this as a very key window to give ukraine potential information that it can use for a leg up there. so burns traveled there, this is roughly the third time in the last three months that he has traveled to ukraine. you know, but we are

oren liebermann is joining us.ting timing that will comes as russia had called for the ceasefire. >> reporter: absolutely. a ceasefire the u.s. believes was not intentional -- or, rather, not a real desire for stoppage to the fight. it was vladimir putin trying to appeal to the christian faith fall and trying to show that was ukraine violating the ceasefire. aside from that, this is an indication with this dramatic decline in artillery fire that something is clearly changed within the way russia is fighting this war. the question is what. from the wartime high of 20,000 artillery rounds per day down to about 5,000 rounds per day. russian military doctrine, the way russia fights its wars, calls for a barrage of artillery fire and then essentially ground troops go if and mop up what is left. so what y. this significant difference and that is what the u.s. is trying to figure out. they have talked for a long time about a shortage in russian precision weapons. less so about the conventional just like artillery fire. ma

or oren liebermann is at the pentagon with more on this.eporter: this isn't nearly as uncommon as many would believe. a foreign flag military vessel hanging out off the u.s. coast in international water gathering whatever intelligence it could. whatever it could observe, whatever signals it could see and in this case it is a russia ship that the coast guard has been monitoring for several weeks. the coast guard said it is often that you'll see a foreign flagged military vessel loitering and operating in its area in off the coast of the hawaii. as you point out what is notable here is the timing. first the coast guard said they've monitoring this russian ship which they suspect is a russian spy ship for weeks now amid the higher tensions between washington and moscow. we have seen the russians do this before. for example, a just a few years ago there was a russian spy ship off the east coast. in that case there was a difference because d.o.d. said it was operating in an unsafe manner, running without lights and not responding to emergency ve

cnn's oren liebermann live at the pentagon. this is a big shift. what is happening?or a long time they had said the abrams tank was not the right fit for the fight urging other countries to send their tanks. we're now learning according to three u.s. officials that the biden administration is now finalizing plans to announce the commitment of sending abrams tanks to ukraine. the u.s. made m1 abrams tank an advanced but complex system that ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy has been asking for for months. important for a number of reasons, first the shift in u.s. policy, second, this is a signal, another signal, i should say of ongoing u.s. support for ukraine in terms of weapons and systems it provides but perhaps most importantly it breaks an apparent logjam with germany. german officials said they would not send or approve the sending of their own german made leopard tanks until the u.s. made a similar move although it appeared last week german officials were kind of softening their stance a little bit on that one it still remained out there so this, if and wh