state department when i'm overseas. i don't represent the state department or know. >> surely people must ask you what's going on. >> they tell me, because they observe themselves, they say that their colleagues are disspirited. there is no ambassador in this place or that. they have not been able to get a meeting with anybody in the u.s. government in the state department to discuss a matter of diplomatic consequence. i know from my colleagues who have served in the state department, including at the highest levels there, that they are worried about the brain drain here. remember, you accumulate in the course of a state department career, very deep knowledge of many parts of the world. you know people. you know how -- and you can work america's interests because you know a place and you know the people. we have interests that we need served, and we need professionals who can do it. you know, my wife always says when somebody says, well, we don't need washington people, she always says, ash, if i'm sick, get me somebody

state department and this new york times journalist if one looks over the words and the reporting done by scott shane in november four out of ten of his articles were about the issue of allegations of trumped russia collusion however there seems to be quite a record of collusion here between hillary clinton and the press if one looks over the fact that glenn thrush a reporter for politico is actually sending his articles to the clinton campaign for approval before they were published has been hired by the new york times and so there seems to be quite a bit of collusion going on between hillary clinton and the press there's ample evidence of that extensive evidence in the wiki leaks predestiny e-mails talking back and forth the you know the friendly journalist list that's referred to now it's virtually i think impossible to control it because you've got so many elements you've got to trump administration seated now with trump people in most of the key jobs you've got you've got now i think a newly energized maybe not mainstream press but independent journalist press going at this diggin

now, the state department denies political retribution is involved. spokeswoman heather nauert says all hands on deck. she said it may not ab glamorous job but an important one. people are asked to serve there because there is a need. it is without regard to politics and many of these employees are happy to help but want to give substantive work like handling classified information or dealing with former governments named in the documents. they want to know why they are being asked to do the most menial of tasks when a month ago they were negotiating with foreign governments and advising the national security adviser, even the president, on national security matters. now they are asked to do data entry and google searches alongside interns and civil service employees ten grades below them. they can say this is not entirely will politics. it could be ad hoc or simple magistrate but a widespread moral problem at the state department that the lawmakers are demanding be looked at. >> brent and jack are back with us now. jack, to you first. how does secret

>> so we are the state department. it's hard for me to talk necessarily about -- >> it hasn't come up in your discussions? >> it's something that's -- i would just say that, you know, the mayors that we talk with, domestically and internationally, you know, they are looking -- i think that they recognize, you know, they recognize our role, the state department's, and it's just to say that -- it's just an issue that, you know, i think we talk on a more minute level, more of a working level about issues. and for some people it's not a concern. and when people have concerns, we note them. and it's just to say that, you know, for us, our programs, they are focused on the tactic, the ideology, and not kebticonnecti necessarily to the muslims or islam. so i would say for us, i think that any conversation we have regardless of what one person or another says, you know, there are challenges. and we try and work through them. >> thank you very much for a very interesting presentation. i have to say i never knew anything about t

graham bannerman former middle east analyst at the state department welcome to you all now mark i want to start with you what is the way forward now for palestinian leadership well the way forward is clear for the palestinian leadership it is. continuing on with. believing and investing in the peace process that is based on international legitimacy on international law on the u.n. resolutions and their will long terms of reference as well as continuing to defend the palestinian people's rights at all fronts including the international level by using peaceful and legitimate tools karo i want to ask you about the humanitarian impact tell us about the immediate effects on the ground from a decision like this. we are we are extremely concerned that the impact of this decision is going to be spread felt across the region from gaza the west bank to lebanon jordan and syria were millions up to five million palestinian refugees depend on. they is the only lifeline for these families a half a million children across the region go to schools i was just in touch with my colleagues in lebanon and

department to get the emails is reporting that five of

more from the state department. >> reporter: hi, christine and dave. the first thing that jumped out at you was how badly the state department was blasted. both democrats and republican senators accusing the state department of dragging its feet in the investigation in dealing with this to the point it may have broken the law which the state department denies. also striking is how severe and similar the symptoms are among the 24 american diplomats and their family members affected while you were working in havana cuba through august. the state department doctor was asked flat out, could this be some kind of mass hysteria going on and he said no. he said the symptoms mimic those of traumatic brain injury like concussions, they would be very hard to fake and in fact, he said he's never seen symptoms like this, physical documented symptoms outside of something like head injuries. so what we're no closer it seems to finding out even after more than a year of this happening is who did this, how they did it and why. we know that there have been some developm

a growing number of state department, u.s. state department employees are hiring lawyers over what they say is punishment for past assignments. specifically work that was associated with the obama administration. cnn global affairs correspondent elise labbot has been doing the reporting on this. what exactly is driving them to hire attorneys? >> this all kind of centers around secretary of state tillerson's redesign of the state department. he inherited about 70 special envoys offices. a lot of them created during the obama administration. and as he kind of folds those offices into other bureaus at the state department and also closes them, a lot of these people are left in limbo. he inherited a backlog of 30,000 requests of freedom of information act documents. a lot of those had to do with secretary of state hillary clinton's e-mails. while a lot of these employees are left in limbo, they don't have a next post, they're assigning them to this office. a lot of them are saying they're doing data entry, clerical work, that is w

graham bannerman former middle east analyst at the state department welcome to you all now mark i want to start with you what is the way forward now for palestinian leadership well the way forward is clear for the palestinian leadership it is. continuing on with believing and investing in the peace process that is based on international legitimacy on international law on the u.n. resolutions and there will be long terms of reference as we're continuing to defend the palestinian people's rights at all fronts including the international level by using peaceful and legitimate tools caro i want to ask you about the humanitarian impact tell us about the immediate effects on the ground from a decision like this. we are we are extremely concerned that the impact of this decision is going to be spread felt across the region from gaza the west bank to lebanon jordan and syria were millions up to five million palestinian refugees depend on. they is the only lifeline for these families a half a million children across the region go to schools i was just in touch with my colleagues in lebanon and

>> we're the state department. it's hard for me to talk and necessarily -- >> come up in your discussion? >> it's something that i would just say that the hay your-- ma with we talk with, they're looking -- i think they recognize -- they recognize our role, the state departments and it's just to say that it's just an issue that the, you know, i think we talk on a more minute level about -- more of a working level about the issues and for some people it's not a concern. the when people have concerns we note them. it's just to say that for us, our programs are focused on the tactic, the ideology and not connecting it necessarily to the muslims or islam. i would just say that for us, i think any conversation we have regardless of what one person or another says, there are challenges and we try and work through them. >> thoouank you. i'm wondering ho ining how your intersects with the state department and is focused on counter terrorism but specifically countering violent extremism. thank you. >> thank you. we work clo

he was giving them to the state department. there was a book published that said they were read all the way up to the john kerry level which is as high as you can get in the state department. did the state department know anything about this dossier research he was doing as it was going on? >> shannon: we get something interesting survey, the david ignatius piece from "the washington post." he says, it adds something interesting to the timeline. he says the fbi was very interested in talking to steal based on the australian account. australians had said george papadopoulos is talking about possibly the russians have dirt on hillary. the bureau requested another meeting with steele. that took place around october 1st in rome. at the meeting the fbi official asked steele if he had ever heard of papadopoulos. steele didn't. that raises a question about whether the fbi was sharing information with somebody who was preparing a dossier on presidential candidate that was being funded by the other presidential candidate. even inadverte

graham bannerman former middle east analyst at the state department welcome to you all now mark i want to start with you what is the way forward now for palestinian leadership well the way forward is clear for the palestinian leadership it is. continuing on with believing and investing in the peace process that is based on international legitimacy on international law on the u.n. resolutions and their will long terms of reference as well as the continuing to defend the palestinian people's rights at all fronts including the international level by using peaceful and legitimate tools caro i want to ask you about the humanitarian impact tell us about the immediate effects on the ground from a decision like this. we are we are extremely concerned that the impact of this decision is going to be spread felt across the region from gaza the west bank to lebanon jordan and syria were millions up to five million palestinian refugees depend on. they is the only lifeline for these families a half a million children across the region go to schools i was just in touch with my colleagues in lebanon a

has the state department raised attacks against u.s. personnel cuba with the russian government, for example? >> sir, that's a really good question. i think it is better to answer that in a classified setting. >> if i were to go through a list of the countries, you are going to give me the same answer. >> in general, yes, sir. >> yes, you are going to give me the same answer. >> i will look forward to the classified moied moment. now, let me ask you this, you have said that you will not return individuals if in fact individuals to post and if unless the cubans can guarantee that these attacks will not continue, does that indicate that you believe the government has at least some knowledge of control over these attacks? >> the president and the secretary have stated that they do believe the cuban government has responsibilities in this situation. >> doctor rosenfarb, when was the first time reported of symptoms of attack? >> the first patient was seen by a health provider in mc havana in mid january. >> mid january of? >> 2017. >> do we

the state department says the united states and canada invited countries that joined the u.s. effort in the korean war more than 60 years ago. that means china and russia were not invited and will not be here. china accounts for 90% of north korean trade. the state department says it has coordinated with those governments ahead of the meeting

the state department, i feel you can give us so many thoughts about this state department, everything from north korea and how the president has responded to kim jong-un's nuclear program. to the moving of the embassy to jerusalem, to what another reporter called the tillerson deathwatch, just all of those things, anything you want to comment on how the state department's handling messaging. mr. fratto: not a literal death watch. political -- >> the messaging standpoint from day one, talking about when is rex tillerson and leaving, and andrex tillerson leaving the president and nikki haley, the u.s. ambassador to the united nations, do not seem to be on the same page. ms. psaki: yes, there is a lot there. i will talk a little bit -- and we can talk about any of those substantive issues, that is a key part about how impactful you can be around, and it is a part you do not always see unless you have worked in state or treasury and know how maybe it should be working. while john kerry was the secretary of state, it worked not always perfectly. never does. sometimes he got ahead of the pr

and the conduct and activities of united states state department. here are the facts testified to by the panel. in late 2016 staff of the united states embassy in havana complaining of strange noises and among the descriptions they complained of, high-pitched sound incapacitating sound, akin to driving windows partially open or intense pressure in one ear. and in washington dc viewed this activity as harassment from forces hostile to the united states or us presence in cuba. later, the information gathered from additional individuals that suggested the events that led to these complaints in november of 2016. the initial events occurred in diplomatic residents. later these occurred at hotels. and an evaluation conducted in 80 members of the embassy community. 16 of these were identified with symptoms and medically verifiable findings with combinations similar to patients that had mild traumatic brain injury, in early july in the state department, panel of epidemic efforts for case histories, and arrived at a consensus and the consensus is, quote, pat

what is the state department doing? what are these robust security plans? what's the state department doing to try to protect our people in the event that this announcement leads to the kinds of events that the king of jordan and others have suggested it might? >> lt safety and security of american citizens both our american citizens working for the u.s. government but also the safety of thousands of troops that we have throughout the world are paramount concern for this administration, especially for secretary tillerson who starts all of his staff meetings with focus on security sochlt this is something that we have been weighing very carefully. we have been meeting internally. we have been sending messages out to our embassies and consulates throughout the word to asking them to think about these issues. and also talking to our partner of governments to make sure we are doing everything possible to ensure the safety of our american citizen's throughout the world. >> do you know whether we have deployed, for example, additional marine security guards or ot

we the state department don't necessarily have to be involved. it doesn't have to necessarily -- if two cities want to connect on this topic, and they don't want to be part of the strong cities network, that's fine. if there is a way for us to facilitate those connections, great. it's just to say that logistically it's difficult to bring everybody on an exchange. with that being said i think that there's a way -- obviously whether it's skype or google hangout or something, we do need to have forums where a larger contingency from a city can connect with international counterparts. i mentioned the western balkans ivlp we did in april. we met with community called clarkston. a suburb of atlanta. they have accepted somewhere around -- if you google them you'll see a lot of articles around the world about this tiny little community, one square mile. 10,000 people. they have accepted 40,000 refugees over the last four decades. apparently once people -- they spend a year or two and move somewhere nearby. we met with everybody in the community. not all

state department is own now. the whole of government approach has to embrace friends and llies. for us to do everything alone is wrong in my view. has to be seen that the whole of government is also diplomacy, also getting coalitions ogether. allies, like minded people,>> thank you very much. etc. dr. shultz: a very important point that rich made. it is not only us, but our allies that we have to work with. > thank you all very much. you have signified the proliferation issue as severely critical. and korea if it continues on its trajectory, that may be a way we can get the chinese and the russians to work together because my sense is they fear a proliferation problem. i will leave that to the next round. senator wicker: thank you very much. this has been valuable to members like me. dr. kissinger, let me ask about nato, and after you follow up, i will ask our other witnesses to comment. you said nato needs to be clear about its strategic purposes. what outcomes other than violations of territorial integrity does

state department philip crowley when hillary clinton was secretary of state now if you'll remember back in two thousand and ten in two thousand and eleven there was cable gate wiki leaks was releasing a number of diplomatic cables from the united states now according to this e-mail and according to wiki leaks it seems like shame scott forwarded the schedule of when these cables would be released giving the state department time to prepare and minimize the damage what has accused chain scott of essentially betraying them this is this is the exchange between shane scott of the new york times and wiki leaks this is known since check with the wiki leaks volunteers who would turn this project we can leaks agreed on a consultation with the state department wiki leaks agreed to pose questions to the u.s. government forty eight hours prior to publication the new york times pushed for four days wiki leaks subjected the motion as the new york times betraying the entire day by day thematically publication plan to secretary clinton spokesman p.j. crowley not asking questions. now one of the most fa

we the state department don't necessarily have to be involved. it doesn't have to necessarily -- if two cities want to connect on this topic, and they don't want to be part of the strong cities network, that's fine. if there is a way for us to facilitate those connections, great. it's just to say that logistically it's difficult to bring everybody on an exchange. with that being said i think that there's a way -- obviously whether it's skype or google hangout or something, we do need to have forums where a larger contingency from a city can connect with international counterparts. i mentioned the western balkans vlp we did in april. we met with a community called clarkston. a suburb of atlanta. they have accepted somewhere around -- if you google them you'll see a lot of articles around the world about this tiny little community, one square mile. 10,000 people. they have accepted 40,000 refugees over the last four decades. apparently once people -- they spend a year or two and move somewhere nearby. we met with everybody in the community. not all

department of state. and when the great east japan earthquake and tsunami struck japan in 2011 ambassador zumwalt will serve as a deputy chief of mission a u.s. embassy tokyo. he also has a 36 year foreign service careers spanning across the globe, and so it is our great pleasure to have them hie today. [applause] >> good morning, everyone. i wanted to start by thanking you all for coming today braving the snow and cold. it just shows how important i think we all feel it is to talk about u.s.-japan-korea relations. so it's wonderful to see you all today. i, too, wanted to take linda butcher because i know such a conference is not easy to put on. it's really important that it requires a lot of effort, and so i want to thank you linda and i see for all the work you've done in assembling such an august group of students who can come and talk together. briefly on sasakawa peace foundation, we are also a nonprofit based in washington, d.c. and our mission is to strengthen us-japan relations through education a

to us we are litigating against the justice department, the state department, the fbi, director of national intelligence whether they will do a damage assessment, national security damage by hillary clinton's mishandling, the justice department is defending hillary clinton saying it wasn't that serious. after learning what was on and weiner's laptop the president should demand damage assessment and tell appointees to start with a fear-based decisionmaking, they are taking on the clinton machine and enforce the rule of law. >> not just the classified emails showing pay for play as well. >> what happens in that investigation was going on last year. was it closed? it out to be reinvigorated if necessary, emails that show pay for play, the go-between between the clinton foundation and the game for clinton foundation donors in the state department. >> we look forward to hearing from you more because something else is down the pike. thank you for joining us, appreciate it. the tax plan paying off big, the major bump airline employees are seeing and it is the reason america sent donald trump to wa

now the state department denies political retribution is involved. spokeswoman heather nauert says it's an all hands on deck effort. in a statement to cnn nauert says, quote, it may not be a glamorous job but it's an important one. people are asked to serve there because there's a need. it is without regard to politics. and many of these employees are saying, we're happy to help, but they want to be given substantive work on these issues like handling classified information, or dealing with foreign governments named in the documents. they want to know why they are being asked to do the most menial of the tasks. they ask how could they be negotiating foreign governments or advising the national security adviser, even the president on national security matters a few months ago, now they're being asked to do data entry, and google searches alongside interns and civil service employees ten grades below them. now several officials concede this may not be entirely about politics. they say it could also be ad hoc and what they call simple mismanagement. but

state department the state department spokesperson denied the decision was taken in retaliation for palestinian opposition to trump's decision to recognize jerusalem as israel'l's capital. >> its money that's being frozen at this time. it's not being canceled. it's just being held for future consideration. one of the things the united states would like to do is see some revisions made and how it operates. >> early in january donald trump questioned the utility of providing aid to palestinians. nikki haley had suggested a total freeze of u.s. aid. provide $60 will aid out of a planned 100 25 million. a palestinian official has said the budget cut could generate further instability in the region. the u.s. administration seems to be following netanyahu's --truction -- instruction administration is thereby targeting the most vulnerable segment of the palestinian people and depriving the refugees of the right to education, , health, shelter ana dignified life. this comes as u.s. palestinian relations have sunk to a new low. mahmoud abbas called the recognition of jerusalem as the capital of israel t

state department correspondent roslyn jordan has more now from washington d.c. . because of the state department's designation east while honey is personal finances if he has any in the united states will be seens to he won't have access to them he also would never be able to get a travel permit to come to the united states u.s. persons would also be banned and face possible prosecution if they provide any financial support to honey speight partment coordinator for counterterrorism nathan sales was in tel aviv on wednesday where he made the announcement about one of the reasons why honey a is being sanctioned now and here is the president a hamas political bureau is also closely tied to the group's terrorist operations including attacks on israeli citizens and he has been a member of hamas and the one nine hundred eighty s. and he rose through the ranks in large part but continually championing terrorism against israel the u.s. typically does not telegraph ahead of time whether it's going to put someone or an entity on this special list and that's because it wants

the most telling detail for me was that thursday night at the state department, two state department officials briefed us, and they were unable to say how much aid was actually going to get suspended. that is completely atypical. and a couple of officials told us that as of thursday night, january 4, the state department didn't have a national security council decision memo. normally, that's a memo that's written that lays everything out in precise detail what's going to happen when, and it's all sort of tied up in a bow. and as of thursday night, they were still waiting for that memo. that shows-- that's the clearest indication of how surprised, caught off guard, and unprepared the broader washington bureaucracy was for the president's tweet. >> sreenivasan: all right, arshad mohammed of reuters joining us from washington wash. thanks so much. >> thanks for having me. >> sreenivasan: rex tillerson has said that ukraine is the single most difficult obstacle to establishing normal relations with russia. and just a few weeks ago, the trump administration decided to provide additional a

state department is down now. the whole of government approach has to embrace friends and allies. for us to do everything alone is wrong in my view. has to be seen that the whole of government is also diplomacy, also getting coalitions together . >> thank you very much. dr. shultz: a very important point that rich made. it is not only us, but our allies that we have to work with. all very much. you have signified the prolific -- proliferation issue as severely critical. and korea if it continues on its trajectory, that may be a way we can get the chinese and the russians to work together because my sense is they fear a proliferation problem. i will leave that to the next round. senator wicker: thank you very much. this has been valuable to members like me. dr. kissinger, let me ask about nato, and after you follow up, i will ask our other witnesses to comment. you said nato needs to be clear about its strategic purposes. what outcomes other than of -- other than violations of territorial integrity does nato seek t

>> we're the state department. it's hard for me to talk and necessarily -- >> come up in your discussion? >> it's something that i would just say that the hay -- mayors that we talk with domestically and internationally, i think they recognize -- they recognize our role, the state departments and it's just to say that it's just an issue that the, you know, i think we talk on a more minute level about -- more of a working level about the issues and for some people it's not a concern. the when people have concerns we note them. it's just to say that for us, our programs are focused on the tactic, the ideology and not connecting it necessarily to the muslims or islam. i would just say that for us, i think any conversation we have regardless of what one person or another says, there are challenges and we try and work through them. >> thank you. i have to say i never knew anything about the strong cities network before. i'm wondering how your bureau andles this particular program, how it intersects with the state depart

the other piece that the state department isn't political like the white house briefing. it is an opportunity for the united states to be out there representing what we think about a variety of issues. south china sea, israel, pakistan, if you not policing you are taking us off local television stations this is of the current spokesperson but it is a mistake by the current state department. >> yes. from the state >> is an indispensable power player at a global event. at some of these other gatherings. >> i think it is fair to say there's a lot of confusion especially these kind of questions. me personally something i cared about a great deal and still do care a lot about. when i say people are confused they think things are very hard mind against china. and to all the world tpp look like one of the great clues to stand against china to force china to adhere to western standards of trade and business operations. to be seen as a hardliner in china and pulled the plug on tpp, a lot of people are confused. >> will take two from over here. for some reason, all the ladies are l

has the state department raised the attacks against u.s. personnel in cuba with the russia government for example? >> sir, i think -- that's a very good question. i think it would be better to address that question in a classified setting. >> so if i were to go to a list of countries, your goring to give me the same answer? >> in general, yes, sir. >> so i look forward to that classified moment. let me ask you this. you have said that you will not return individuals if in fact individuals to the post if -- unless the cubans can guarantee that these attacks will not continue. doesn't that indicate the government has at least some knowledge over these attacks? >> the president and the secretary have stated government -- >> when was the first time a diplomat reported symptoms of the attack? >> the first symptoms -- patients were seen in embassy havana in midjanuary. >> mid-january of? >> 2017. >> of 2017. do we know when the sar jay was first informed of these attacks? >> i believe it shar jay alerted the attacks at the very end of december of

state department coordinating with the spokes first and for hillary clinton who was then secretary of state back in two thousand and ten when the cable gate scandal was going on now you'll remember cable gate that was you know two thousand and ten to twenty eleven wiki leaks was releasing diplomatic cables from the u.s. state department showing malpractise all kinds of scandalous things well according to wiki leaks at this point they are revealing that apparently scott shane of the new york times actually handed over the schedule of the planned documents released from wiki leaks to the state department and then this gave them in some cases up to nine days to prepare for the release of documents to create distractions to spin and to just weaken the overall impact of the cables that were being released now wiki leaks has accused scott shane of the new york times of betraying them let's take a listen to the exchange between wiki leaks and scott shame this is known since check with the wiki leaks volunteers who would turn this project you live in wiki leaks created an online reduction eng

the state department concluded not all those were personal emails. they deleted business related as well. i appreciate the spirit in which he is saying broaden the investigation. i would agree with that i do think there is a fundamental difference between having a server and private email account and just having private email account. >> we don't know that jared and ivanka trump don't have a server in their apartment. >> i agree. >> i think they can afford it. >> laura: i'm sure they would be happy to answer that question. let's move onto the clinton foundation. now it looks like that's going to be examined again. and we know for a fact that people who are donors to the clinton foundation did seek to get access to mrs. clinton and in some cases did get access to mrs. clinton. just the appearance of that, i mean, are you a lawyer? >> no i'm not. >> laura: the mere appearance of that is not good. having people who work both for the foundation and their consulting to their state department at the same time while they are trying to shepard people through

what are we hearing from the state department? >> the state department says the united states is fine with north and south korea talking on the telephone to perhaps discuss north korean athletes participating in the olympics. though this is while the united states is leading this pressure campaign to isolate north korea. that has analysts saying that this is north korea's attempt to try to drive a wedge between the united states and south korea. the state department says that the u.s. and south korea still have the same aims here, but the u.s. has different conditions on whether it would talk to north korea. the u.s. and u.s. officials have been saying that north korea would have to change its approach, change its attitude, stop firing missiles before the u.s. would sit down and talk about this. though the u.s. has had an open line of communication with north korea since the earlier part of last year, shep. >> shepard: rich, moments ago the state department spokeswoman, heather nauert talked about suspending aid to pakistan. >> ye

state department is urging turkey not to invade syria turkish forces are massing on the border in preparation of action against the kurdish y p g well turkey considers the white b.g. a terrorist group but its fighters have been a key ally for the u.s. elsewhere in syria stephanie deca has more now from on talk you. the turkish army is steadily increasing its presence along this stretch of the syrian border present to one has been threatening to attack the kurdish run area baffling for almost a week now there has been sporadic shelling. inside africa and thousands marched on thursday in protest to turkey's aggression how the wealthy and that's the goal of this large demonstration is to send a message to the world and especially to turkey concerning the turkish threats we will not be a fright. we came here to protest against the attacks on offering we will stand by offering an outreach to why p.g. . thirteen is one of three autonomy's kurdish enclaves controlled by the syrian kurdish p why do party and its armed when the y p g turkey sees the y.p. g. as an offshoot of the kurdistan workers' par

but that is it our role here at the state department. >> with me now. elise, congratulations on a huge, huge interview, my friend. >> thank you. >> and what was your main takeaway? >> look, brooke, i mean, i think everyone can see that the secretary has had a rough year, kind of finding his footing here in washington. he's not a creature of washington. he's not a power player. and i think he was very reflective in this interview about how he's finding his footing here in washington. but he said the reports of his demise, that he's leaving any time soon, are greatly exaggerated and we spoke about his future in the coming year. take a listen. >> we had a very successful, in my view, year in 2017 pivoting our policies and helping our partners understand those policies. we are now into the implementation and execution of those policies. i think we'll have a very productive 2018. again, the state department gets stronger every day understanding what we are trying to do. and i look forward to having a very, very successful 2018. >> for the whole year? >> i in

state department in the u.s. treasury will not be targeting russia itself but rather entities companies and countries around the world that do business with russia's defense or intelligence sectors interesting stuff caleb maupin in new york thank you. now islamic state says it carried out monday's attack on a military academy in the afghan capital kabul killing eleven servicemen and injuring sixteen local journalist bill also ari reports there were five suicide attackers two of them killed by afghan national security forces and another two of them did renewed that explosives and one of them was detained sue said jack had a rocket propelled grenade in for forty seven's were seized the. almost two about four hours residence in that area reported hearing loud explosions there was the use of having small weapons so the fact that these militant groups can't really strike could well in target these key military institutions as well.

graham bannerman former middle east analyst at the state department welcome to you all now mark i want to start with you what is the way forward now for palestinian leadership well the way forward is clear for the palestinian leadership it is. continuing on with believing and investing in the peace process that is based on international legitimacy on international law on the u.n. resolutions and there will long terms of reference as well as the continuing to defend the palestinian people's rights at all fronts including the international level by using peaceful and legitimate tools karo i want to ask you about the humanitarian impact tell us about the immediate effects on the ground from a decision like this. we are we are extremely concerned that the impact of this decision is going to be spread felt across the region from gaza the west bank to lebanon jordan and syria were millions up to five million palestinian refugees depend on. they is the only lifeline for these families a half a million children across the region go to schools i was just in touch with my colleagues in lebanon a

state department is down now. the 10% that the state department is down now. the government has to embrace friends and allies. for us to do everything alone is wrong in my view. has to be seen that the whole of government is also diplomacy, also getting diplomacy together, allying like-minded people. >> thank you very much. a very important point that rich made. it is not only us, but our allies. itsand korea if it continues on projection, that may be a way we can get the chinese and the russians to work together because my sense is they fear a proliferation problem. i will leave that to the next round. wicker: thank you very much. this has been viable to members like me. dr. kissinger, let me ask about ito, and after you follow up, will ask our other witnesses to comment. you said nato needs to be clear about its strategic purposes. what outcomes other than finally she is of territorial integrity does nato seek to prevent? what do use just should be the answer to that question among nato members? challengeser: th

state department is urging turkey not to invade a friend in syria turkish forces are massing on the border in preparation for action against the kurdish why p.g. turkey considers the white b.g. a terrorist group but its fighters have been a key ally for the u.s. elsewhere in syria stepping back from antakya. the turkish army is steadily increasing its presence along this stretch of the syrian border president. has been threatening to attack the kurdish run area baffling for almost a week now there has been sporadic shelling. inside africa thousands marched on thursday in protest at turkey's aggression how the wealthy and that's the goal of this large demonstration is to send a message to the world and especially to turkey concerning the turkish threats we will not be a fright. but we came here to protest against the attacks on offering we will stand by offering an outreach to why. is one of three autonomy's kurdish enclaves controlled by the syrian kurdish p why do party and its armed when the y p g turkey sees the y p g as an offshoot of the kurdistan workers' party or p k k which it toge

state department is down now. the whole of government approach has to embrace friends and allies. for us to do everything alone is wrong in my view. has to be seen that the whole of government is also diplomacy, also getting coalitions together. >> thank you very much. dr. shultz: a very important point that rich made. it is not only us, but our allies that we have to work with. >> thank you all very much. you have signaled the proliferation issue absolutely critical. and korea if it continues on its trajectory, that may be a way we can get the chinese and the russians to work together because my sense is they fear a proliferation problem. i will leave that to the next round. senator wicker: thank you very much. this has been valuable to members like me. dr. kissinger, let me ask about nato, and after you follow up, i will ask our other witnesses to comment. you said nato needs to be clear about its strategic purposes. what outcomes other than violations of territorial integrity does nato seek to prevent? what sho

department of state and u.s. embassy in tokyo, u.s. japan foundation, korea foundation, the center for global partnership and the peace foundation usa. isc was able to fly in 21 members for the student conference. truly an honor working with you all. we look forward to continuing together to empower our student leaders. committee members met with key experts, government officials and the public to continue building relations to problem solve and continue their search for the truth. a common question was asked of them. how would you handle the situation? what is your background on trilateral relationships that you feel you can continue moving forward? there's a lot of discussion about u.s. asia relations and what is going on in the asia region. there was a lot of discussion of fears or capitation about what will happen this year and beyond. i continue to observe our student leaders interacting with these experts and officials, i felt at these. -- at peace. these are people who are taking into account the relationships thaten three count

department of straight -- department of state. when the synonymy struck in 2011, he was serving as the deputy chief and u.s. embassy tokyo. he has a 36 year foreign service career spanning across the globe. it is our great pleasure to have him here today. [applause] >> good morning, everyone. i wanted to start by thanking you for coming today and grading -- braving the snow and cold. it shows how important i think we all feel it is to talk about u.s.-japan-korea relations. it's wonderful to see you all. i wanted to thank linda butcher, because i know such a conference isn't easy to put on. it requires a lot of effort. i wanted to thank you for all the work you have done in assembling a group of students who can talk together. briefly, we are also a nonprofit in washington, d.c., and our to strengthen u.s. relations mission is through programs such as this one. we are delighted to be one of the cohost with the international student conferences. this is the third time we are supporting this initiative to bring together korean, japan

state department and this new york times journalist if one looks over the words and the reporting done by scott shane in november four out of ten of his articles were about the issue of allegations of trumped russia collusion however there seems to be quite a record of collusion here between hillary clinton and the press if one looks over the fact that glenn thrush a reporter for politico is actually sending his articles to the clinton campaign for approval before they were published has been hired by the new york times and so there seems to be quite a bit of collusion going on between hillary clinton and the press there's ample evidence of that extensive evidence in the wiki leaks predestiny e-mails talking back and forth the you know the friendly journalist list that's referred to now it's virtually i think impossible to control it because you've got so many elements you've got to trump administration seated now with trump people in most of the key jobs you've got you've got now i think a newly energized maybe not mainstream press but independent journalist press going at this diggin

state department. here are the facts as will be testified to today by our panel. in late 2016 staff at the united states embassy in havana began complaining of strange noises and among it descriptions they complained of, high pitched beam of sound, incapacitating sound, akin to driving with windows partially open in the car or just intense pressure in one ear. at the time of this report the post's leadership and the supporting office here in washington d.c. viewed this activity as harassment from forces hostile to the united states or to u.s. presence in cuba. later there was information gathered from aditional individuals, including some that suggested the complaints to november. the initial events that were reported occurred at diplomatic residents. but later these events occurred -- individuals first visited the medical unit at the embassy in september 2016 and january of 2017. from february of april 2017. and to what you would see in patients that quote have a mild traumatic brain injury or concuss

. >> what's going on at the state department? >> not enough. >> and his tweets drive his opponents crazy, helping to drive down his approval ratings. but his supporters love it. >> they wanted him to come and send a message, break some china. >> and he's doing it? >> this man reigns and manages by chaos. >> trump's first year, reign of chaos. >> i, donald john trump do solemn by swear. >> i was thinking, this has to be a dream. it was an amazing moment. >> i will faithfully execute -- >> when that hand goes on the bible. >> the united states. >> the government changes, the global views change, the nuclear codes change. >> so help me god. >> congratulations, mr. president. >> when donald j. trump was sworn in as 45th president of the united states, nearly everything americans had come to expect of the presidency chan d changed. shunned by political leaders from both parties, trump sought to disrupt the way things were traditionally done. >> we will follow two simple rules, buy american and high american. . >> he was the business m