of how senior skills state department officers and those intelligence communities like iraq and syria and pakistan olivia one - - libya to combat terrorism. . . . . have declineo testify. we will be in conversation here with someone else who knows the way around atheir way around thn and state department but as an insider. he spent 29 years in the navy specializing in public affairs and rose to become the navy's top spokesman and chief spokesman for the department of defense. after retiring from the military in 2015 with the rank of rear admiral, he shifted to the state department where he served as the spokesman and assistant secretary for public affairs during the final year and a half or so of the obama administration. he now appears on cnn as an analyst of military and diplomatic issues. ladies and gentlemen, pleaseat help me in welcoming john richter -- paul richter and john kirby. [applause] >> good evening everybody. thanks for coming out on a cold wet tonight in dc. i don't think there could be a better time for a book like this because they've are they been brought to theethe

all the other branches of government change fundamentally with the new deal and the state department lly doesn't. it's the same people, the same aristocratic -- anti-semitic, they condoned anti-semitism. anti-semitic but aey certainly condoned in desk anti-semitism. that was different from the treasury department which had jewish.t so -- yes. sure. thank you for this very important and compelling work, but has there been any speculation about a movie being made of this compelling story? dr. erbelding: every author casts it in her head. don't you? -- ifd love for someone you know someone, my agent is over there. >> thank you for being articulate in your description of what you communicated in this book. i was particularly interested if events any fragments or related to middle eastern jewish communities in your book? what are the big heroes for getting enough public was raised a man who in british palestine, who goes back to palestine, now israel, and he is a very big activist. he is the one staging the pageants and doing people page newspaper ads. in thisy of palestine history is real

i also chose and patterson who's had just about every bad job in the state department. during the period that i'm writing about, she was the ambassador to pakistan and then the ambassador to egypt and went on later to become the state top department official for the middle east as well. i also chose robert ford who was in this period political counselor for nn number two in the embassy in iraq. he took five tours in iraq, think about that. he had doubts about the war all along and yet he volunteered five times to go. i think he had more times in iraq in this period than any other foreign service officer. after it was over he sent him to syria which sounded like it was going to be a home or maybe boring gauge and then immediately the war broke out and then the last person that i decided to focus on those chris stevens. you all probably know of him, he was the number two in the libya embassy before the civil war and then when the civil war broke out in 2011, washington needed somebody to go into libya to sneak into the kind of washington's eyes and ears on the ground, some

there are all these chapter drafts in the national archives of the war history of the state department that nobody has touched. itself --department or the -- >> did the state department itself or the government to look back at this awful history? -- the eight department state department has apologized. in the museum we do training for state department officials, i present on this history to them. it. are receptive of the summary of the state department is that it was a little conservative. all the other branches of changed fundamentally with the new deal and the state department really doesn't. it's the same people, the same -- and they condoned anti-semitism. not everyone there is anti-semitic, but they certainly condoned open anti-semitism. that was definitely different than the treasury which had the first jewish cabinet member in place. wiset is corporate culture a fundamentally different place. they are and have actively reflected on it. know, all outward appearances. >> thank you for this very important and compelling work, not that the book is the most important aspects, but has

but a year later, the president said american i need you to move over and mike moved to the state department and is now serving as your 70th secretary of state. [applause]. so that is the resume. here is the insider stuff. mike and his head, make a really mean italian meatball. it is a family recipe. mike is a crazy fast reader, and that is a good thing these days. he loves power hoses. and does not get to do it very often anymore. so i feel bad about that. i don't know how people feel about me sharing this with you but our whole family and mike is a big family, our whole family teases him about being a diplomat. and i think it is because they see him more as the dod guy, as a take commander. but he always says to them, that he is delivering diplomacy with a little bit of a twist. so let's cocktail party banter and more straightforward talk. [applause]. here's the really big one. in high school, he worked a baskin-robbins. he received the employee of the month award, but there is a future families funeral it is because he said he got it two months in a cistern rather say, one month. so i don

and welcome to the united states department of state. my name is kelly curry. i'm the ambassador at large for global women's issues here at the department. we are honored and delighted to have leaders from across the u.s. government here in attendance for the inaugural meeting of the interagency steering committee of the white house's women's global development and thank you so much for coming. it is my great pleasure to introduce our wonderful secretary of state, michael pompeo, to open our discussion. sec. pompeo: thank you. thank you, ambassador curry. ambassador curry will be heading this new unit that we are establishing here at the state department. congratulations. [applause] sec. pompeo: it is a privilege and frankly joyous for me to be here today to kick off this and inaugural meeting and to host everyone today. thank you all, for being here. our country was founded on the self-evident idea and truth that every man and woman is endowed by their creator with a certain set of inalienable rights, and so deserves a chance to achieve his or her god-given pot

secretary pompeo, thank you for putting the state department behind this initiative. this idea was needed at home and it has found a good home here, in tough,, we live turbulent times. you are always willing to work on things that matter. you have the ability to compartmentalize yourself and your country and we are working here to memorialize this in legislation, so that this one administration's idea becomes the united states government's standing commitment to women. and that is why the bill matters, by making it a part of our law that will be passed on from one administration to the other. very quickly i have been to iraq , and afghanistan pushing 60 times, and what you learn over and over again is that when a mother's voice is silenced, it is not a very good place to live. when a woman's future is determined on the day she is born and there is no hope, it is a very discouraging place. so to fix a problem, you have to identify it. we've got a lot of good programs. feed the future. president obama was trying to make africa more self-sufficient when it comes to food.

we have an allocation administered through the department of state. yes, ma'am. my question was about how the commission keeps its finger on the pulse of pd despite the changes happening and how do its recommendations remain relevant. and if there have been incorrect recommendations in the past, how those have been corrected? >> okay. so your first question was how are we -- >> how do recommendations provided by acpd remain relevant. >> really good question. so a number of different ways. every year in preparation for the annual report, we send out a set of questions to all of the regional and functional bureaus, eca, to gpa and to usatm. we ask the folks to update their sections of the report. so any new information, any new data, work from the template from the previous year. so we touch every bureau, every major division and every office within the department of state and also usagm to solicit this information. we also travel to posts overseas and use that as an opportunity to learn more about programs and to refresh our experiences of public diplo

i was working in the state department. i think after figure skating, it is one of those things where athletes are like, what i my going to do for the rest of my life? polly site is my major. -- political science was my major. i ended up working in the state department. i worked for john kerry. and then the obama administration. , such goodthand leadership. i.e. theeadership, times we are dealing with now, it is like who among the candidates -- there are 11 candidates. out as the ones that has foreign experience he foreign- foreign-policy experience and works across party lines. [indiscernible] [laughter] >> make to meet you. >> i'm in the deciding period right now. plus you are voting monday -- >> you are voting monday. figured out.chec >> we might have some events with the vp in town. just go online and look at the events. you can actually meet the guy in person. that is the best way to do it. thank you. [indiscernible] [indiscernible] [applause] [indiscernible] michelle: i am michelle. to meet you. i assume you are notin

and i want you guys to listen to a little bit of what she said on the state department. >> the state department is in trouble. senior leaders lack policy vision, moral clarity, and leadership skills. the policy process has been replaced by decisions emanating from the top with little discussion. officers are increasingly wondering whether it is safe to express concerns about policy even behind closed doors. >> now, ambassador yovanovitch also said that the fact that diplomats work off of facts shows that they are a committed state, not a deep state as president trump has often referenced state department employees. >> important voices to hear. now speaking publicly and both of them about this for the first time, really. kylie, thank you. >>> joining us now to talk about it, cnn national security analyst mark mazetti and john kirby. thank you for being here. mark, let me begin with you, in terms of who john kelly is. we were looking up what the president said about him in the past and there is literally nothing negative, calling him one of the finest people i know, doing a great job, e

not only the state department, but the justice department as well.nd so, you know, we ought not to forget the examples that these honorable public servants are setting for all of us. and we ought to learn from that and act on it. >> ambassador burns, thank you so much for joining us and it was so great and important to hear from ambassador yovanovitch as well. thank you. >> my pleasure. thank you. >> and still ahead, speaker pelosi just said that trump's intervention of the roger stone case is a blatant violation of the rule of law. so what do house democrats do now? i'll speak with congressman adam smith about that coming up next. managing type 2 diabetes? audrey's on it. eating right... ... and staying active? on it! audrey thinks she's doing all she can to manage her type 2 diabetes and heart disease, but is her treatment doing enough to lower her heart risk? maybe not. jardiance can reduce the risk of cardiovascular death for adults who also have known heart disease. so it could help save your life from a heart attack or stroke. and it lowers a1c

process, the piece of it, the work that your state department did to get americans out of wuhan, not only our diplomates and people that work for the united states government, but civilians who work there as well is in the finest tradition of the diplomatic corps, it was done with excellence and vigor and brought americans home safely. i'm incredibly proud of the work that my team did that there. we have diplomates in china today and we're working to keep them safe, but keep them in place so we can continue to perform all the missions we need to help china deal with this virus where it began. >> okay, i appreciate that, but how do you reconcile what you just said with the budget you just submitted to us which cut state department funding for who by more than 50% and cuts the dcd's global health security budget by more than 40%. how can you reconcile that budget request with your said investment-- >> we'll have plenty of money. >> we'll have plenty of money. >> we'll have plenty. >> i'm confident. >> and 40% reductions in the budget is enough to address the

pompeo a legislation for a permanent women's global development and prosperity office and the state department, they were joined by members of congress and white house officials at the women's global empowerment summit. >> good morning, everyone. welcome to the united states the permit of state. my name is kelly curry, ambassador at large for global issues. we are honored and delighted to have leaders from the us government in attendance for the inaugural meeting of the interagency steering committee of the white house's global developed and prosperity initiative. thank you so much for coming. it is my pleasure to introduce mike pompeo to open our discussion. >> welcome, everyone. we will be heading this w gdp unit we are establishing at the state department, congratulations to you. [applause] >> it is a privilege and joyous for me to kick off this inaugural interagency steering committee meeting and to host everyone here today. thank you for being here. this idea that every man and woman with a certain set of inalienable rights, a chance to achieve his or her god-given potential. something re

the state department -- >> well, you know, unfortunately, we don't have either the state department, or the defense department here. it seems to be now a goal, or a belief on the part of this administration, that when congress tells them to come to something, they don't need to follow that. but i know that you're not able to state what the stated policy is, but you have these eight high risk areas, that you thought were key to being impediments to us meeting those peace agreements. but i wanted to ask you, i know that you can't comment on a potential, what a potential peace deal with the taliban should include or would look like, but assuming u.s. military withdrawal is based on a time line, rather than meeting any of those high risk conditions, do you think that these risks you've identified in the high risk report would be greater or lesser? >> if there is a precipitous withdrawal, is that what you're implying? >> so if we have, as the administration has done, by stating specifically the time and the numbers, through various sources, in october, general austin miller, commander of u

>> i worked for the state department and i think after figure skating it was one of the things we wereasked like what will i do for the rest of my life so i went back to school and [inaudible] was my major which was very fitting so i worked for john kerry and the obama administration so i seen firsthand the difference between good leadership and bad leadership, i.e., what we are dealing with now and it's like who among the candidates, there are 11 candidates that are -- there are many of them but to me he stands out as the one -- [inaudible]. jumping on a campaign wasn't an option. [inaudible conversations] >> you are voting monday. >> we might have events coming up with the vp in town. go online and you might be able to meet the guy in person. [inaudible conversations] >> thank you. nice to meet you. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [background noises] [background noises] [inaudible conversations] >> i'm michelle. >> i'm mike. it's a pleasure. >> i assume you are voting on monday? >> yes, i am. [background noises]

the state department will establish a dedicated team to dp under the incredible leadership of ambassador kelly. states diplomatic and policy expertise is incredibly critical to all elements of the wgdp initiative. particularly as a relates to driving legal and regulatory reforms that are so important to sustainable change across the world. i want to thank you secretary , ando, ambassador curry the many others across the state department who share this priority and are committed to his -- committed to the success of wgdp. i would like to thank the administrator for his incredible leadership on this initiative. thank you, mark. you have been working with us since day one. last year launched a dedicated wgdp fund. program management expertise is essential for this to be successful. thrilled towe were announce that wgdp got its own line item in the 2020 in december, we were thrilled to announce that wgdp got its own line item in the 2020 omnibus bill, which is truly incredible for a young initiative, and signals the strong bipartisan support we have been fortunate to receive in collaboration

we have an allocation that is administered to the department of state. i will run administered only out of the department of state's bureau of information programs. >> other questions, comments? >> my name is jeffrey and my question is about how the commission keeps its finger on the pulse of pd despite different changes happening. and if there have been incorrect recommendations in the past, how have those been corrected? >> your first question was, >> how do recommendations remain relevant? >> really good question. a number of different ways. every year, in preparation for the annual report, we send out a set of questions and to all of the regional and functional bureaus we also travel overseas. we use that as an opportunity to learn more about programs and refresh our experiences of public diplomacy in the field. we either write ourselves or commission special reports focusing on particular topics of interest. i mentioned ken pd survived the internet? we have done studies on security for american corners. we do reports on issue sets that seem to be of

i know you're watching the state department.hen you look at just this drain we've seen of expertise from the state department, do you think that's the biggest issue that is facing the state department? >> the drain of senior experience, i think that hurts. the biggest issue to me mind is the lack of career appointees in the senior positions. i'm not saying they should all be career, but the career brings to the discussion is they can tell you when an idea just won't work or even if they don't like your idea they can tell you how to make it work better. when you take all the career people out, you just make it more likely that you'll screw something up. >> she also warned that the u.s. had adopted what she called an amoral foreign policy that substitutes threats, fear, and confusion for trust. how do you -- how do you see that? do you agree, and how do you -- how would you describe how allies view the president's foreign policy? >> i think the biggest problem we have is that we've become much more transactional. what can you do f

of state and the department of defense refused to make witnesses available to testify before the committee today. so we have nobody from state. we have nobody from dod. that's very disappointing because i'm concerned that rather than implementing a coherent afghanistan strategy, u.s. policy in the region is instead being driven by the latest impulse of the commander in chief. for example, in september 2019, just days after ambassador announced the u.s. was nearing an agreement with the taliban, president trump abruptly and publicly canceled the meeting with the taliban leadership at camp david. he subsequently declared negotiations with the taliban, quote, dead, only to restart them months later. president trump and officials in this administration have also publicly acknowledged the united states' intent to withdraw from afghanistan with or without a deal from the taliban, which undermines our diplomats' leverage at the bargaining table. earlier this month, national security adviser robert o'brien said in an interview, and i quot

. >>> coming up next, the trump administration is proposing a $12 billion cut to the state departmentt. this is happening as he retaliations against diplomats that testified against him in the impeachment trial. we will talk about the long-term impacts it could have on u.s. diplomacy. my age-related macular degeneration could lead to vision loss. so today i made a plan with my doctor, which includes preservision... because he said a multi- vitamin alone may not be enough. and it's my vision, my morning walk, my sunday drive, my grandson's beautiful face. only preservision areds2 contains the exact nutrient formula recommended by the national eye institute to help reduce the risk of moderate to advanced amd progression. it's how i see my life. because it's my vision... preservision. and my side super soft? yes. with the sleep number 360 smart bed, on sale now, you can both adjust your comfort with your sleep number setting. can it help me fall asleep faster? yes, by gently warming your feet. but can it help keep me asleep? absolutely, it intelligently senses your movements and automati

the department of state personnel were trained and equipped to manage these operations. the department successfully directed and executed a total of seven flights over formation with those transported to five different locations within the united states equipped safely received evaluate and house persons exposed to the virus. this operation involved close coordination with our interagency partners including the federal aviation administration and the department of defense, health and human services, homeland security and others. we also coordinated with international partners including the government of the people's republic of china, japan, republic of korea. i was the lea pleased to officee second and third mission in wuhan. some 41 countries and territories have reported cases of covid 19 infection. in these unprecedented times, the medical professionals are committed to doing everything we can for the health and safety of the workforce and u.s. citizens overseas. we know that the bureau of medical services in particular has made this all possible and that your continu

it's a very complex problem the state department has a piece of it, the work at your state department did to get americans out, not only are diplomats of people to work for the united states government and civilians there as well is in the finest tradition of the diplomatic corps. it was done with excellence and bigger and brought americans home safely. i'm incredibly proud of the work that my team did, we will continue to do that, we have diplomats in china today and we are working to make sure we keep them safe but keep them in place so we can perform all the missions to help china deal with the virus were began. >> i appreciate that but how do you reconcile what you said with the budget you submitted which cuts state department funding by more than 50% in the cdc global helhelp by more than 40%. how can you reconcile the budget request with your set investment. >> we will have plenty of money. >> i'm very confident that we are well. >> we've enough resources -- >> 30 and 40% in those budgets is enough for global pandemic that is emerging before our eyes. >> i commit to you, as we n

the president authorized the state department to increase the travel advisory for americans to level four. we americans not to travel to areas in italy and south korea most affected by the coronavirus. the president directed the state department to work with our allies in italy and in south korea to coordinate a screening, a medical screening in their countries of any individuals coming into the united states of america. we look forward to working with them in a collaborative and cooperative way. force,gard to the task i'm just a few days into this job. i can tell you having spent time with these extraordinary professionals the president just alluded to, having spoken to more than a dozen governors including governor jay inslee in i think everyte, american would be proud to know what i have heard about the work of hhs, the work of cdc, of all of our agencies. at the president's direction this team has been working seamlessly with health officials at the state and local level. i can assure the american public we will continue to live out the president's admonition a few days ago we ar

the state department has been working to help. here at home, state and local public health departments are working with the cdc to follow the playbook for an infectious disease response. identify, diagnose, isolate, treat, contact race. this week, the fda issued an emergency use authorization for the cdc's diagnostic test. the cdc test kits are available for order from the international reagent resource for qualified laboratories including u.s. state and local public health laboratories, department of defense laboratories, and select international laboratories. all told, 191 international laboratories. since last week, we have notified health care providers that those billing medicare and medicaid are expected to follow cdc guidelines for infection control related to the novel coronavirus. our biomedical advanced research and develop an authority has expanded its work with the pharmaceutical company around a candidate therapeutic for the coronavirus. while research on such measures continues at nih, elsewhere in the private sector.

using state department chartered evacuation flights and working with our interagency partners such as hhs, cdc, and dod, we brought approximately 800 u.s. citizens from wuhan back to the united states. in japan, u.s. embassy staff created a dedicated web page for u.s. citizens quarantined on the diamond princess and reached out to them individually by email and phone. as some u.s. citizens developed health problems, not all reindicated to covid-19, consular officers worked with japanese hospitals to ensure u.s. patients received appropriate medical care. in collaboration with our interagency partners the department transported over 300 u.s. citizens back to the united states on february 16th. we remain in close communication with japanese authorities and the cruise lin e to assist zpii kblens who remained in japan after the evacuation. in cambodia, u.s. embassy staff met the cruise ship westerdam in the port city of -- our staff coordinated ksh excu coordinated -- we provided roles in ensuring u.s. citizens were connected with the appropriate cruise ship authorities and cambodian heal

that we have bipartisanship support, strong support, house-senate -- the defense department, state departmenteasury department, usaid, we could do our job out there and be confident that we had support of washington. the third thing i said, keep your eye, let's focus on what were trying to do. i talked about the mission in support, let's focus on that and not let politics or any of this world of other issues, political issues and domestic get in the way. keep our focus -- that helped. so we all move forward. that is certainly what i was interested in doing and were able to do that. so we began and as they went through the summer, last summer it came clear to me that there were two channels of policymaking and policy execution. i'll call the first one a regular channel and its institutional channel. i'll talk a little bit about institutions and the importance of institutions. but the regular channel of policy making and policy implementation for ukraine was the embassy, ukraine desk at the state department and the secretary of state, people like alex vindman and the national security council,

but the state department did. that after arguments, the state department got it way.th infected and noninfected passengers in the same cabins flew from japan to the u.s. earlier this week. state department officials didn't deny there was disagreement saying there was a, quote, robust interagency discussion. >> at the end of the day, the state department had a decision to make, informed by interagency partners and we went ahead and made that decision and i think it was the right one in bringing those people home. >> u.s. officials say the airlifted passengers who had tested positive were not showing coronavirus symptoms at the time of the flight and that they were segregated from noninfected passengers. but noninfected people on the evacuation flights have criticized the decision. >> >> cheryl and paul ma less ki, without symptoms were concerned about sharing the plane with those suspected of being infected. >> they were put in an area towards the back of the plane and -- but they were kind of like wrapped in plastic. you had to walk past there to go to the bathroom. o

been in with you and that clears it up because we invited the department of defense and the state department to also give us answers, and they are not here. if you did not exist, if you're department did not exist we would have not have any answers. so i appreciate you coming here. i want to start out, and ask about the money. let's start with the money. in 2015, i asked you, how much have we spent? the number was 113 billion. you graciously came back in 2017, the number was 121 billion. last year you were here, the number we spend was to 0.80 billion in the pipeline. can you tell us how much you have spent on afghan reconstruction at this? point >> congressman messy, i can't. the latest figure is 136.9 seven billion. so you can rounded off 237 billion. . >> that is staggering to me, just for reference, the entire federal budget for roads and bridges is 50 billion. 50 to 60 billion. we can double our infrastructure for two to three years from what we spent in afghanistan. when the afghanistan papers came out, i think it was a shock to everyone except the people that read a report because lit

state department said well. it's whoever we decide that seems so ridiculous to anyone it's not actually the decision of the other countries well it's it's a law in it's been in the books for years that a lot of people were unaware that i was in a repressive. legal residence but it holds holds legal weight i guess but it's it kind of goes along with this myth of exceptionalism that the united states public and government tries to promote in the in the public in general holds that well when we do it it's not wrong we're sort of above the law and that's sort of how we act in the world kind of like a gangster with our mob in mobster in chief now in charge. pushing people around and denying people their rights but we expect to be treated and have those rights that we deny to other people so. the legal system. the government's actions are all set up with this superiority above the law kind of attitude so that's what we're dealing with when you when you were in there in the me you were there for a good few weeks pretty

backers here in the white house and state department and law enforcement and goes on well the verdict has come in and it ended in a mistrial yes federal judge beryl how announced a mistrial after the jury could not reach a verdict on the case against the 4 self-proclaimed embassy protectors adrian pyne kevin zeese margaret flowers and david paul who occupied the embassy under the permission of the venezuelan government for more than 30 days last april before being forcibly removed last may by u.s. law enforcement the 4 were charged with knowingly and willfully obstructing resisting in interfering with a federal law enforcement agent gauged in the performance of a protective functions authorized under section 37 of the state department's basic doherty's act of 956 sure we're all familiar with that act the penalties for that charge are right over there based were one year in prison and up to $100000.00 in fines that was a piece this mistrial comes despite many roadblocks rulings and legal hurdles thrown out before activists by both the judge and prosecutors on the case joining us now to

she finally quit her post after a long career at the state department. last night at georgetown, it was the first time she's spoken out and i wanted to play a little bit more of that. >> we need a vigorous department of state vacancies go unfilled and officers are wondering whether it is safe to express concerns about policy even behind closed doors. it's not news the state department is being hollowed out from within at a competitive and complex time on the world stage. this is no time to undercut our diplomats. >> and, you know, mike pompeo is on a plane now heading to the munich security conference. the rest of the world is watching all of this, peter alexander, and i was at the munich conference last year and there was stone silence when mike pence said i bring you greetings from the president of the united states, donald j. trump, and all the foreign leaders stone silence, nobody clapped. >> you're right. marie yovanovitch said it very eloquently before that audience last evening. yesterday i was struck by the other top officials that shared the room

states. we provoked a recess for research scholars who abused their privilege by teaching and confucius classrooms and make sure they departed the united states. we have banned scientists from the department of energy which oversees america's largest labs including nuclear research facility in new mexico. they were participating in chinese talent recruitment programs. to chineseected propaganda outlets, the chinese global television network to register as foreign agents. we at the state department have started to require chinese diplomats to apply -- comply with the same rules we comply with when we are in china. chinese diplomats must notify the state department in advance of official meetings. they must declare their official business to institutions as well. reciprocity,ess, basic common sense. this is not an onerous restriction to put on china. it is 2:30 on saturday, there are mods of good things we can do. i hope you will all take on board what i have said today. you all have important missions leading your states. these are difficult jobs. you are tasked to create opportunities in your state, attract human capital. it

i am eager to hear from the state department and u.s. aid about our strategy and how congress can measure tangible process under the initiatives. i sincerely hope that the trump administration is prioritizing security in our engagement with rex -- with mexico rather than pressuring mexico to using national guards. i know that many of my colleagues share my frustration that we are not making more progress under the initiative. i hope that this hearing will help us develop a clear sense of what is next. what next up we should take. i look forward to working with my colleagues and with the executive branch on the bipartisan basis to explore solutions to the difficult challenges. thank you and i now turn it over to ranking member rouhani for his opening statement. >> thank you chairman for holding a second hearing to follow up on this very important issue regarding the security situation in mexico. the relation with mexico is among the most strategically important relationships for the united states. reeling by geography, geographic price co

under section $37.00 of the state department's basic act of $956.00 sure all familiar with that act the penalties for the charge over their base were one year in prison and up to 100000 dollars in fines that was a piece this mistrial comes despite many roadblocks rulings and legal hurdles thrown out before activists by both the judge and prosecutors on the case joining us now to discuss the trial the hardships and what comes next is the embassy perfect. place to have you back on the show. so i got to start now mistrial how do you feel after seeing your case and then the mistrial and what does this murder verdict mean for you and for those who were supporting your cause and what got you there in the 1st place sure well i mean of course we were delighted with this outcome because given. the way that the courtroom was rigged against it was unlikely that the jury would have been able to come to a verdict of innocence because they were not permitted to hear most of the facts in going into the case so we were really glad. that some of the jurors really sort of saw through. on the part of the

state department and oreicials testified bef a committee on what they are doing to provide security assistance to mexico. members questioned how they are working with the mexican andrnment to combat armed drug trafficking and american citizens being killed in mexico. >> we are going to get started. reason for the early hearing is we have votes and people go back to the district today. i wanted to make sure i got this hearing in. other members will be walking in as the hearing is progressing. come to order.ll we are focusing on the extent to assistance has been effective in strengthening section protecting human rights. objection, all members may have five days to submit questions and materials for the record. i will now make an opening statement and then turn it over to be ranking member for his opening statement. before i open with my statement, i want to thank everybody that is here early. it is miserable outside and i want to thank the witnesses for being here. good morning. thank you for being here today. in reading the news over the last few weeks, the shocking headlines from mexico have

completely different from everything outside of that courtroom the united states government and the state department in particular want to make sure that people in the united states will not ever again stand up to their fantasy world that allows them to impose whatever dictators they want on sovereign nations and so they're making they're trying to make an example of us but frankly you know it's not going to work because we're proud of what we did even if we are found guilty even if we are sentenced so literally what you found out through this whole proceeding is that because donald trump and the u.s. state department said well they're all but one. it's whoever we decide that seems so ridiculous to anyone it's not actually the decision of the other countries well it's it's a law in it's been in the books for years that a lot of people were unaware that i was in a repressive. president but it holds holds legal weight i guess but it's it kind of goes along with this miss of the exceptionalism that united states public and government tries to promote and they in the public in general hold that well whe