so he has been involved in this issue from executive branch, state department but also a key spot up on capitol hill in the united states senate, which is a very unique place, which very few of us really understand, but he does understand it. there's a lot of work to do. ten years ago, the pew survey did a survey and 70% of the world's population lived in a religious repressive nation. now the latest one that came out a couple years ago, it's now 80% , and maybe the figures going even higher, 81%, 82%, who knows? uscirf has recommended a number of recommendations in the past year that have been successfully implemented. the call for the administration to determine atrocities committed against uyghurs in china and of rohingya in burma constitute genocide. that the us government officials should not, i stress should not, attend the beijing 2022 winter olympics in china. vulnerable religious groups fleeing persecution should be, must be, prioritized in resettlement efforts. the u.s. government should increase the use of human rights sanctions against individuals for religious freedom abu

before we talk about the state department i want to talk about the world. begin with something that happened last week. the secretary of state kissinger, your predecessor spoke at davos world economic forum and said we need to be careful about ukraine. we need not to push too hard. rush is a great power. we need to be respectful of it. is that good advice for the president? how is the president doing on ukraine? [laughter] >> my goodness but first of all thank you all for having me here. [applause] i made some really good decisions as secretary of state. i made some there were and one of the first things i did was i needed elliott to be part of my team. you should know it was not without personal political cost to bring him onto the team. but boy i tell you i got that one right. bless you you served america, you worked in venezuela, ironic, and elliott would never miss a moment as we were finishing up omar thought totally out of my lane and often give us of the best advice i received every day. doctor kissinger just has this been wrong but i respect for him.

before we talk about the state department i want to talk about the world. begin with something that happened last week. the secretary of state kissinger, your predecessor spoke at davos world economic forum and said we need to be careful about ukraine. we need not to push too hard. rush is a great power. we need to be respectful of it. is that good advice for the president? how is the president doing on ukraine? [laughter] >> my goodness but first of all thank you all for having me here. [applause] i made some really good decisions as secretary of state. i made some there were and one of the first things i did was i needed elliott to be part of my team. you should know it was not without personal political cost to bring him onto the team. but boy i tell you i got that one right. bless you you served america, you worked in venezuela, ironic, and elliott would never miss a moment as we were finishing up omar thought totally out of my lane and often give us of the best advice i received every day. doctor kissinger just has this been wrong but i respect for him.

the state department i'mif sorry that cia had zero unions a state department have three. civil service rules largely don't apply to the cia. they apply wholeheartedly the state department. the culture of those two institutions is very different but hope everyone is state department today is doing what president biden wants him to do. that is their h duty to the unid states. it is what they signed up for part i can say that did not happen on ourt watch. that is not healthy for american foreign policy and it's really, really unhealthy for democracy as well. i am doing it as an enormous task for wando secretary bakerer reminded me much wise counsel, stop whining young man and just do your job. [laughter] a problem that has beset that institution for quite some time. some president will pick this up and decide it is worth the political cost to go try and fix it. i pray that they will. not fix it in a conservative mindset but fix it in an americanca mindset. [applause] i wish we had another hour or two but we don't. please join me in thanking mikeg pompeo. >> wait one more tho

is the state department being restaffed?ntlessly focused-- relentlessly focused on ukraine, and on helping the ukrainian people, we're doing a lot of other things, too. we have gotten a truce in ethiopia, so that humanitarian systems can get to people up in tigray. we got a truce in yemen, after eight years of war. ( cheers and applause ) so that there's a chance at a lasting peace. we've helped get, now, more than 500 million covid vaccine shots to people around the world-- on our way to 1.2 billion shots, that the united states is giving away, free, no strings attached, so that we can get ahead of covid around the world. that's the work we do every day. and here's the thing, stephen, what we know is this. if the united states is not engaged, if we're not trying to lead, then one of two things: either someone else is-- maybe it's china-- and that might not go forward in a way that reflects our interests and our values. or, no one is. and that usually leaves a vacuum that's filled by bad things before it's filled with good t

and you continue to give us a list of demands . the state department has a decision signed by secretary the american diplomats, not only employees of the state department, but even employees of the embassy in the consulate of any instances of any structures that are subordinate to the state department, have no right to hold any conversations, not just negotiations, no meetings and conversations with the russians on at any level, not only the ministry of foreign affairs, not only the embassy. if it does not concern national security, but this exception is provided for separately and you have to ask, you have to ask permission, that is, you know what letters there are from the russian embassy, ​​not a single american diplomat sent discussions, not performances, and congresses , you remember that when trump ran for office and his closest aides, his national security adviser held closed negotiations with the russian ambassador, well, this person was simply removed from the post of general airman was then an advisor with national security, he was fired in just a few days just because he met

much as possible supplies and heavy weapons for kyiv, according to the press service of the state departmentary of state anthony blinken spoke with ukrainian minister kuleba well, there are two more topics that, according to the state department's report, they raised, and as far as i understand, this is such a top priority for the ukrainian authorities, and it is financial aid to kyiv, financial aid to ukraine for the functioning of the government, for the payment of pensions, salaries , scholarships, and secondly, it is the export of ukrainian grain, well, here is just news right here is news obnadiye, as regards payments, we spoke yesterday on the air, a high-ranking official of the state department confirmed in the near future the decision already made in the united states to ukraine every month for 4-5 months, maybe more than one and a half billion dollars of budget support will be allocated, this is exactly the money with which you can pay pensions and scholarships will function government well, as for grain, let's see, there was a speech by president biden in philadelphia, where he spo

state department. what did they have to say? is a photograph that is circulated on russian media, and they're working hard to verify it. we're very hopeful, and that's about all that i know right now. >> have you seen the photo yet? we're showing it on tv right now. >> i have seen it. >> what is your reaction to seeing the photo? it seems he's likely, if not in russian custody, in the custody of pro russian forces. how do you respond to that? how do you react? >> well, jake, i don't really get my hopes up too high, because i know that photo shopping is, you know, widespread now. but i'm hopeful that it's actual photo of them, that they are alive. whoever is in the photo doesn't look particularly hurt. the one that is supposed to be my son looks rather angry, and that sounds like my son. so i'm, you know, i hope that it is. alex and andy have had all the training that they need to withstand, i think anything that the russians throw at them. and i'm -- i just -- you know, they're both very brave and strong men. >> so did alex go o

s. state department said greiner had been wrongfully detained. our colleagues, the a j plus put together this explain a video ah, [000:00:00;00] with your panel today know an awful lot about us hostage taken in crisis situations. danielle, jason and jonathan. welcome back to the stream. i'm gonna get you to tell our audience who you are, what you do, danielle, you go fast. welcome. thank you so much for having me. and i'm a professor of military and strategic studies at the us air force academy. and i'm here because all of my research is about kidnapping by non state groups and hostage taking by jason you have unique expertise in our conversation today. remind our audience who you are, what you do. welcome back to the stream. thanks for having me back to me. i appreciate i'm jason reside. i'm on this for the wash in both. previously, i was the bureau chief in tehran until i was taken hostage by the islamic republic and held wrongfully detained for 544 days. get to have you back and i know that jonathan, welcome to the string. please introduce you

department of state. special envoy stern led pride action international, a leading global lgbtqia plus human rights organization as executive director for 10 years. special envoy stern has been a researcher at human rights watch and add amnesty international, program director at center for international rights and adjunct professor at columbia university school of international and public affairs could stern is the recipient of numerous honors including from attitude magazine, crazy on business, gay city news and metropolitan community church. special envoy stern, it is an honor to have you here. i will give you the floor for your opening remarks about agency reports on advancing the human rights of lgbtqia plus people around the world. >> hi, everyone. it is good to be here today on the last day of pride month. i am always inspired by people that are not done celebrating the month and will come to an international -- an intellectual panel. i am the u.s. special envoy for the advancement of lgbtqia plus p

so they're in the state department. they're part of the state department. is the special envoy for climate. that's about it. i also -- elizabeth: joe, who do they think they are? seriously who does john kerry think he is? the state department is telling you, you did not demonstrate a compelling need for why this information should be out? what's more of a compelling need? >> exactly. elizabeth: what is more compelling need getting rid of hundreds of gas-powered cars to go electric? what the grid is not ready. to get rid of fossil powered cars? >> who is giving him advice, who are the experts? this is the first time the office ever existed. who are the experts? who does he turn to? how much does he get paid? where do they come from? what is their resume'? i want to look how big is the office? is the office bigger than the secretary of state's office? is it bigger than the white house office? we don't know. none of this. they told me to wait, keep waiting. it has been a battle. i'm glad you guys brought me on. this is about taxpayers, it is about citizens nee

to tomorrow, the focus will be heavily on what donald trump did to pressure his justice department to lean on states, in particular to change their electoral results, and how those republican justice department officials stood up to the president. we'll hear from jeffrey rosen, the former acting attorney general, as well as rich donahue, who is the former acting deputy attorney steven the justice department, all expected to testify, as the current justice department is pushing the committee to provide more information about the evidence that they have. bennie thompson saying they are doing just that, and plan to do more of that in july, even as the justice department wants it to move faster. >> manu, thank you. i want to go now to washington post reporter josh dossy. you broke the story about the fake elector scheme. i mentioned georgia and michigan. obviously, you know, the big question is, question states, how many people, and what are you able to tell us about who received these subpoenas today? >> so we know that a trump campaign official who led election operations in arizona, received one of t

and what one of their families back here at home is now saying the state department has told them about negotiations for their loved ones' release. our foreign correspondent james longman in ukraine again tonight. >> reporter: tonight, russian state tv releasing new video of alex drueke and andy huynh, the two u.s. veterans fighting for ukraine, but caught by russian proxies. drueke's family told abc news he has now spoken with the state department twice in recent days. >> they said that he sounded good, that he sounded relatively strong. >> reporter: the officials felt he was being treated humanely and that the russian-backed separatists holding him were looking to begin negotiations. meanwhile, the ukrainian ministry of defense has released this video -- the largest prisoner swap since the war began. 144 russian troops exchanged for 144 ukrainians, many of them badly injured. all this as russia steps up its rocket attacks in the country. video posted on social media shows a huge missile hitting this apartment building in mykolaiv, killing six people. alex drueke's family says the stat

. >> stahl: the state department made repeated appeals. >> price: we remain deeply concerned over thetinued detention of danny fenster. >> stahl: but the u.s. government hasn't recognized the legitimacy of the junta, so even getting information about danny was difficult. after a month, he was finally allowed periodic phone calls with his family. >> bryan fenster: it was hard. i mean, there were many calls we had with him where he was in tears. you're trying to find the words for him. you know, after one month, two months, three months, four months. >> stahl: back in washington, danny's case had fallen under the mandate of roger carstens, one of the few state department officials held over from the trump administration. he's a man with a tough job, and an odd-sounding title. you're called speha. what does that mean, speha? >> roger carstens: it's special presidential envoy for hostage affairs. so, everyone truncates it into speha. >> stahl: the speha office was created in 2015, after an inal review of u.s. hostage policy following the tragic deaths of american journalists and aid worke

. >> before he talked about the state department let's talk about the world. to begin with something that happened last week secretary of state kissinger your predecessor spoke world economic forum and said we need to be careful about ukraine. we need not to push too hard. russia is a great power we need to roost be respectful of it. and maybe that's a place to start is that good advice to the president? how is the president doing on ukraine? >> oh my goodness. first of all thank you all for having me here. [applause] [cheering] amidst a really good decisions are secretary of state momentum less so. one of the first things i did is i need elliott to be part of my team. you should notice that without personal political cost to bring them onto the team. i'll tell you what i got that one right and bless you elliott we worked on venezuela, ironic, elite would never miss a moment as we are finishing up one more thought. totally out of my lane. off to give me some the best advice i received every day. doctor kissinger just has this been wrong. i have enormous respect

serious as possible and today i asked this question and a special to the representative of the state departmentich will deal with the investigation of war crimes, and to the representative of the state, where is the price? and what i was told, they said that they guarantee the maximum dedication to the investigation of war crimes, which is important. includes former ffr agents and former representatives of the prosecutor's office, it was headed by a man who worked in the state department today. investigations of nazi germany and was looking for those nazis who were still hiding somewhere here in the world. this group was based in poland and now the first representatives are already aware of this. the news is that we are coming to ukraine and are starting to work. will provide very specific assistance to the ukrainian prosecutor's office to the ukrainian security forces and must document war crimes in such a way that they approach any international court and any tribunal of dmitry ii is an important topic which we cannot avoid on our airwaves, these are the attempts of the united states to forci

before we talk about the state department i want to talk about the world. begin with something that happened last week. the secretary of state kissinger, your predecessor spoke at davos world economic forum and said we need to be careful about ukraine. we need not to push too hard. rush is a great power. we need to be respectful of it. is that good advice for the president? how is the president doing on ukraine? [laughter] >> my goodness but first of all thank you all for having me here. [applause] i made some really good decisions as secretary of state. i made some there were and one of the first things i did was i needed elliott to be part of my team. you should know it was not without personal political cost to bring him onto the team. but boy i tell you i got that one right. bless you you served america, you worked in venezuela, ironic, and elliott would never miss a moment as we were finishing up omar thought totally out of my lane and often give us of the best advice i received every day. doctor kissinger just has this been wrong but i respect for him.

united states senate committee on international relations supported the resolution calling on the state department to recognize russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, the final decision must be made administration of president biden well, according to the co-chairman of the committee on international relations , republican senator james richard, this resolution should receive strong support during the vote in the senate and may influence blinkin's decision. and the day before, the adviser to the head of the office of the president of ukraine, mykhailo podolyak, emphasized the importance of legally establishing that russia - this country is a sponsor of terrorism, and trade with the russian federation should be equal to supporting terrorism with corresponding consequences in the opinion of the distant aggressor country. to join like-minded people in syria, iran and the dprk, the decision of the united states senate, well , let's talk about the perspective of this decision, mykola hrytskovyan, director of the center for us-ukraine relations in washington, d.c. states and, in particular, at the leve

first day i entered the state department since 1981 i was with a friend.it's a square block building and i was with a friend who was a career foreign service officer. how many people work in your facility and he said about half . [laughter] >> your friend was generous. >> there's my question. you ran two of the largest and most significant bureaucracies. the cia and the state department. we now enter a period of great challenge. maybe it isn't the cold war, certainly it's china, iran, north korea. was the cia up to that challenge? >> i've run seven organizations in my life and you ivif you give me credit for being assistant manager at baskin-robbins a. i think i left everyone of them better than where ifound them except for the state department . i say that and it's very embarrassing to me as someone who thinks ofhimself as a leader who can ctorganize and make teams function . billions point was a little bit in just but the truth is there are great foreign service offices. there were amazing people. you work with them and they are patriots but i can't tell

bloomberg, the us administration cannot to agree on further sanctions against our country in the state department, the white house insists on tightening restrictions, while the ministry of finance takes a more restrained position and warns of a further negative impact of

, and then at the end of the year, the state department makes that list public. the problem is that the white house never actually gave that list to the state department in 2020, and therefore, the state department wasn't able to make that lis publicly available. and so here comes in the house oversight committee who's investigating this. the state department doesn't have access to white house documents, so now the house oversight committee is saying to the national archives, hey, can you give us any documents related to these gifts over the course of 2020, so we can figure out where they are, what happened to them, how much they were worth, all of those questions, and that is the investigation that is occurring right now, and when it comes to the significance here, it's not just that these gifts are missing, it's also what these gifts could have meant, the sway that they could have had over the president while he was in office or after he left office. and i want to read to you a statement from this letter from chairwoman maloney to the national archives that exp

at the same time, the spokesperson for the state department has acknowledged that they are also awaredly came to ukraine to fight and has been missing in recent weeks. president biden was talking about the other two men that we know about, and we know their names, because their families have spoken to us, he said that united states does not know their whereabouts right now, it is something that we're obviously monitoring here, their families mack home are desperate for -- back home are desperate for answers and we know the president and the state department are aware of this situation. peter? >> we've heard some of they're emotional pleas from those family members. ellison, there was another development coming from ukraine. the european commission now recommending that ukraine be granted eu candidate status. explain what that means and why that is so significant. >> reporter: yes, so yesterday, when president ma crone was among the leaders meeting with president zelenskyy here in kyiv, he talked about this being a step on a very long path forward for ukraine to join the eu but it is s

time showed that the kremlin's hopes for a quick takeover of ukraine did not come true, the us state department stated according to the president of ukraine volodymyr zelenskyi , about 20% of the ukrainian territory is currently under the control of the russian forces of the occupiers, while vselenskyi expressed confidence that in the end victory will be ukraine's, the same words were heard from us secretary of state anthony blinkin. we will talk more about this with yura yarmolenko, who is joining us from the white house. and the day of the full-scale invasion of russia and what statements we heard today ostap as we heard from the spokesman of the state department not to the price he said that some in the kremlin hoped that they could that the war would last only 100 hours that they would be able to gain control over ukraine but of course this did not happen instead the ukrainians won the battle for kyiv instead they made it so that russia had to review its military goals and of course said above price the fighting continues in the east of ukraine in the south of ukraine russia continues to br

they didn't provide that list to the state department.ble to the public. so they couldn't make that list available to the public. the state department then has been looking into this, trying to figure out, okay, which gift came from where and how much was it worth, and basically trying to figure in the dots. but they are not able to get the records that have to do with the president and the vice president because those are presidential documents. so that is where they essentially hit a brick wall in terms of their own investigation. and that's why the house democrats are taking over. they're writing to the national archives saying we are investigating this, trying to figure out where all these gifts are. how much they were worth, who walked away with what. and we need the national archives to look at the documents related to these gifts that came out of the white house so that we can figure out where all of them went. >> good luck. kylie atwood, thank you so much. >>> the kind of weather that's coming to parts or the u.s. right now kills

state department. this comes as russian's state team yesterday short video of to have a u.s. volunteers being held captive after going missing last week. they the identities of the two military veterans was confirmed by the state department, raising fears about their safety. joining me now is nbc's aly aruba see who is out in kyiv ukraine. ali, what is the latest, the biden administration has been hearing regarding the safety of these missing three americans? >> good evening reverend. well they are not seeing a lot right now. they don't know where their whereabouts are, they have confirmed their identity as you just mentioned. and the state department spokesman said that he is aware of these videos and photographs of the two that are circulating on russian media. but beyond that, they don't know much else. but we do know is the last time director he spoke to his mother was on the 8th of june. he said that he was going to get involved in an operation, and that he was going to go dark for a while. and that was the last time he had contact with this mother. the only reporting th

the state department of parks and recreation will host a series of in-person and virtual events honoring state's 279 parks similar to national park week. california has the oldest state park system in the nation with 1.3 million acres, including more than 340 miles situated along the coastline. officials hope that this week encourages people to visit the golden state's great outdoors. celebration runs through saturday. we do have some beautiful. all we do the best. all right. that wraps up kron 4 news at 6. we'll see tonight at 8. have a nice evening, everybody. it's started. somewhere between a cuddle and a struggle, it's...the side hug. tween milestones like this may start at age 9. hpv vaccination - a type of cancer prevention against certain hpv-related cancers, can start then too. for most, hpv clears on its own. but for others, it can cause certain cancers later in life. you're welcome! now, as the "dad cab", it's my cue to help protect them. embrace this phase. help protect them in the next. ask their doctor about hpv vaccination today. (music throughout) embrace this phase. help

is that what the state department is telling you as well? is that a concern? >> i don't know whether they're concerned about that. but they told me just to trust what they're doing, that they are doing everything that they can to get the boys back home. >> so i have no idea what they have access to, but cnn is an international network. what would you like to say to alex if he were watching right now? >> i would like to tell alex that i'm taking good care of his dog and that i'm being brave and doing exactly what he asked me to do. and that i love him with all of my heart. >> and bunny, how are you hanging in there? i know this has got to be really awful. >> well, you know, jake, this isn't the first time that he's been in a war zone, because when he was with the u.s. military, he was sent to iraq this last tour, especially, and you know, he's been in harm's way before, and even hiking the appalachian trail, there's bears on that trail and you can also fall down mountains. so i'm aware that he could be hurt, but i also know that alex is in tip-top condition. >>

does the state department believe him?ery surprised if russia didn't know what was going on, because they indicate to the rest of the world that they're very powerful and that they know a whole lot, especially if these are russian surrogates that are doing their bidding over there in ukraine so that they can annex all of that territory. i don't know where russia is getting their information. they obviously missed out on the fact that my son, alex, and his friend, andy, were there to train, not to fight, and that they were members of the ukrainian army, not mercenaries. and so they are to be considered prisoners of war and treated humanely just as the geneva convention says. >> absolutely. bunny, i know it's your son's 40th birthday this week and you were able to hear a message from alex recently when he spoke to you in a video that i understand was released by his captors over the weekend. i know that you've been watching it every night before you go to sleep. >> yes. >> is there anything you can share with us about it? wh

uh, i think so, and zelensky and the state department services that organize, but the us state departmently dragging the efficiency of such meetings. well, frankly speaking, nothing is done in america for free, even the embassy, ​​good will, and media visits continue against the backdrop of catastrophic failures in the ukrainian army. or, more precisely, a soldier-failure, the comedy of the same name, by the way, brought a wave of fame. ben styler. history repeats itself only with a more dramatic ending for zelensky , and it is necessary to solve the problem of not being in the mood in one and a half to two years, and for this will need to hand over billions of square meters of housing such a task. today put vladimir putin at the president's meeting, the president stressed that now it is especially important to invest in real assets. such as construction and making real estate affordable for russians. the head of state instructed the cabinet of ministers and the central bank to work out the issue of lowering the rate on preferential mortgages, it is necessary to ensure the volume of water

that i could not corruption right in a way that i could not have anticipated when i was at the state department. there was one great success of american policy in those years, but it was very subtle and it took a long time to play out. and this was her contribution in the united states made to democracy and ukraine. however, we would define this because in 2019 you have an election in ukraine and petro putter shenko the sort of oligarch president who had been there since 2014 not democrat really? well, maybe. you know a man with his flaws, but you know, he operated within the democratic system. i'd say he's voted out of office and you get this younger figure. who's the first post-soviet leader of an islavic state of belarus, russia or ukraine is the first one to be of a younger generation a different mentality a different connection to his people he's not the world's greatest president between 2019 and 2022. i mean his popularity rating was very low in the war began, but lo and behold you get a war and this is somebody who can deal with his own population. so i think that that election in 2019

state department. this is coming as russian state tv yesterday showing a video to other u.s.last week. the identities of the two military veterans confirmed by the state department are raising fears about their safety. joining me now from kyiv, is nbc's aly arouzi. ali, good to see. you talk to me, what do we know about the whereabouts of these individuals, their safety, and what the biden administration thing? >> how jasmyn, will they are not seeing a lot right now. they don't know about their whereabouts. the state department is saying that they are closely following their case, and that they are in constant contact with the ukrainian authorities. about their whereabouts. so, not a lot coming out of their. of course the biden administration keeps reiterating, telling americans not to come here to ukraine to fight in this war because it is so dangerous. but if indeed it is proved that these two are captured, they would be the first americans who have been captured since this war broke out. and that would add an extra layer of complication for the u.s.. but this is what we do

the state department says that they are aware of the reports but little information beyond that. might have been killed in action and body not found or he may have been captured and is prisoner of war. this is after a previous report of two other americans, their families say that they went missing about a week ago, they were fighting again under ukrainian military command, volunteers of course, former members of the u.s. military coming here as private citizens, they were fighting in the north of the country about a week ago and again they went missing in action about june 9. you did bring up that photograph there that was circulating on social media yesterday, we can't verify that image, but of course that raises the concern that they have been captured by russian forces, that they are prisoners of war. and the fear here is that if they have been captured and if they are p.o.w.s, they should be treated under the geneva conve conventions. but human rights groups say at times that is not what happens when russian forces capture these fighters. we had that case of the two brirt br

this was admitted by an employee of the state department, for business and economic affairs, eric woodnd the wall street journal, in turn, calculated that the loss of western companies that left our country exceeded $ 59 billion, despite this chancellor olaf-scholz, in negotiations with the president of serbia, demanded that belgrade join the anti-russian sanctions, alexander vučić himself said this after the meeting. schulz's transfer was very unambiguous and clearly demanded that serbia join the sanctions against russia, or rather support the restrictive measures that the eu has already introduced against the country, in connection with which i spoke to the chancellor about our position on the situation around kosovo and the methodology on energy and traditional relations with russia to the words of vučić negotiating with the chancellor germany made it clear to him that if serbia wants to join the european union, if there is, it should impose sanctions against russia and also recognize kosovo, schultz, meanwhile, said at a press conference in belgrade that even after the end of the r

why is it only now that the sbu also agrees with the position of the us state department that mr. derkach is not a respectable person and not there, the governor of the entire sumy region, an fbi agent, well, this testified to hmm, to put it mildly, underdevelopment , but in general, to the inaction of the control bodies, which were obliged even then and even before that to act to identify and monitor relevant suspicions and bring to justice because this is not just some isolated case, whole tv channels were working here, uh, relevant hostile content poured from the mouths of all the people's deputies of the people's republic of ukraine, and i, by the way, more than once from the tv screens i turned to the security service and talked about what needs to be done to the register of criminal proceedings, it is necessary to bring to justice for all these uh, this kind of content, they were prophesied and led to treason, that's why i uh, i don't see it here sensation, really, you have known this for a long time information that was disseminated by the united states of america, but even

state department has confirmed that it is aware of at least three americans have been reported missingteer in the war effort. new video that aired on russian tv, purports to show two of the missing men. military veterans alexandra drew key, and andy when. these are still images from the footage. nbc news has not independently verified where and when these videos were taken. the state department has confirmed that has seen the images but maintains that there has been no intelligence that the two men are in rustic rushing custody. on friday the president was asked about the status of the three missing americans. here is what he had to say. >> i have been briefed. we don't know where they are, but i wanted to reiterate. americans should not be going to ukraine now. i will say it again, americans should not be going to ukraine now. >> back in march, nbc news reported that an unknown number of american veterans had volunteered to fight the ukraine war despite the u.s. government asking americans to avoid the area. nbc's alice barber is in kyiv, ukraine. and has been following the story. ali

the pentagon and the state department just like the president, urging americans not to go.with ukraine authorities. they are in touch with the international committee of the red cross. but unless and until they get some specific wording that maybe the russians have something to tell them about all of this, it is going to be very tough business to try and get these three men returned to their families. earlier today, in fact, the kremlin spokesmen publicly said they didn't know anything about these three men. so these families in a very, very difficult position by all accounts all three very heart felt, very courageous. went to ukraine to try to help out there. >> barbara starr, thank you for your reporting. let's continue this conversation with general hurtling. first your thoughts about these three missing americans? >> hey, it's tough. this is a horrible situation. but going back to before this war even started, i think the president, president biden in early february, and again in early march suggested that u.s. citizens should not go to fight independently for ukraine.

today, the state department is releasing the 2021 international religious freedom report. this report offers a thorough fact based review of the state of religious freedom in nearly 200 countries and territories around the world. we have produced this document every year since 1998. starting under the leadership of that secretary albright, his life and legacy, we continue to celebrate. back then, the office of international religious freedom which leads its own process of after work was the only the --[indiscernible] i'd like to thank you for your leadership. [indiscernible] -- conduct the findings of the department's report. [indiscernible] faith leaders, religious organizations, and others who share their perspectives. [indiscernible] every day in every part of the world. [no audio] -- nations are stronger in the lives of their people richer. when citizens have the freedom to choose to claim and exercise their religious identity. indeed, religious freedom is the first freedom enshrined in our constitution's bill of rights. it has been recognized by nations around the wor