 All right, good afternoon everyone just a couple things at the top and we'll get right to your questions First up secretary Austin Currently remains hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and is in good condition For the statements we released yesterday Secretary Austin was transported by a security detail at approximately 2 20 p.m. Eastern time yesterday to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to be seen for symptoms suggesting an emergent bladder issue At approximately 4 55 p.m. The same day the secretary transferred the functions and duties of the office of the Secretary of Defense To Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks Deputy Secretary Hicks continues to retain the functions and duties of the Secretary of Defense at this time According to Secretary Austin's doctors after a series of tests and evaluations He was admitted yesterday evening into the critical care unit at Walter Reed for supportive care and close monitoring Now shortly before today's briefing we released an update from the Secretary's doctors at Walter Reed regarding his status and To ensure everyone here today and those watching have the same information I will read that full statement. This is a statement from Dr. John Maddox trauma medical director and Dr. Gregory Chestnut Center for prostate disease research of the Murtha Center Director at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland Beginning the statement quote the Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin the third underwent non-surgical procedures under general anesthesia To address his bladder issue. We anticipate a successful recovery and will closely monitor him overnight a Prolonged hospital stay is not anticipated. We anticipate the Secretary will be able to resume his normal duties tomorrow Current bladder issue is not expected to change his anticipated full recovery. His cancer prognosis remains excellent end quote Moving forward. We will continue to provide updates as new information becomes available regarding Secretary Austin status And we'll certainly we all certainly wish him a speedy recovery in the meantime Secretary Austin will no longer travel to Brussels this week as originally scheduled However, Wednesday's Ukraine defense contact group will continue it albeit virtually While Secretary Austin currently intends to participate in the virtual UDCG He will remain flexible depending on his health care status Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Dr. Celeste Wollander who will be in Brussels this week is prepared to represent the Secretary is required and The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General CQ Brown Jr. Will also be participating in the UDCG virtually from Washington, DC Ministers of Defense and senior military officials from nearly 50 nations will convene virtually to discuss the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and the continued support from the international community to provide the Ukrainian people with the means necessary to defend their sovereign territory Separately US permanent representative to NATO Ambassador Julie Smith will represent Secretary Austin at the NATO Defense Ministerial Scheduled for Thursday. We will be sure to keep you updated on outcomes for from both of these important meetings Switching gears this month marks the two-year anniversary since the White House released its Indo-Pacific strategy In the last two years the Department of Defense has done more than ever to advance a shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific region. We've made historic advancements and alliances and partnerships with the Republic of Korea, Japan, Australia, Philippines, India And others across the region and even as we confront challenges elsewhere The United States will continue to prioritize our efforts in this critical region in support of international security stability and prosperity For more information, please see our fact sheet on the DOD website And finally our prayers are with the people of the Philippines as our long-standing ally faces severe flooding and landsides landslides from a series of storms US Marines from the third marine expeditionary force have assisted with two C-130s to help the Philippine government and USAID In delivering 15,000 food packs to affected families For more information, please contact Marine Corps public affairs and with that be happy to take your questions We'll go to Associated Press Tara Thanks general writer. Um, I want to get a sense of how serious this is. This is Secretary Austin's second uh trip to the intensive care unit at Walter Reed since his surgery He's canceled his trip. Can you give us a sense of where he's at in his recovery? And is this latest hospitalization part of ongoing cancer treatments? What can you give us as a status on his prostate cancer? Yeah, thanks Tara. I I'd point you back to the the statement there That I just read, you know in in terms of the secretary's condition as highlighted. He's in good condition according to his doctors He will remain in the ICU ward for the duration of his stay in order to provide appropriate privacy And will continue to receive critical care support in order to closely monitor his progress for now And and as I highlighted in the statement from his doctors Uh, his current bladder issue is not expected to Change his anticipated full recovery from cancer and his prognosis for cancer remains excellent Is the bladder issue a complication from his surgery to treat prostate cancer? Or is it part, you know, is it related to his prostate cancer? Uh, Tara, I don't have anything to provide at this point beyond what I've shared with you But certainly again as we have more information we'll be sure to pass it on Last, um, you know since his hospitalization in an effort to be more transparent Can you give us a sense of what stage his prostate cancer was? How early was this detected? Is this something that? You know hospital you're expecting future hospitalizations because of this ongoing fight Yeah, I think as you've heard us say before, uh, his cancer was detected very early And so as his doctors have previously highlighted He is expected to make a full recovery from His cancer diagnosis There is no further treatment associated with his cancer expected other than the physical therapy that he's been undergoing To deal with some lingering leg pains, which again, he highlighted during his press briefing So as you highlight, uh, we will continue to keep you updated with as much information As possible regarding the secretary and his health status and be as transparent as we can or Has secretary austin spoken to the president since his most recent hospitalization since yesterday afternoon Has he expressed any reservations about his his own ability to serve to the president or to anyone else in the administration? And then when he is released is he expected to work from home or we'll be straight back in the pentagon Yeah, thanks orant. Uh, he has not spoken to the president to my knowledge Again, you went into the hospital yesterday to get checked out and again I'd refer you back to our statements and and what I just read out I can assure you the secretary is continued or continues to be eager to perform his duties And and I have no doubt of that But in terms of uh, what's next regarding his health care again, we'll keep you updated jennifer European allies have expressed a great deal of consternation in recent days Due to the ongoing debate in congress about whether the u.s. Will continue to fund ukraine Recent comments by former president trump over the weekend about What he would do to nato and messaging to prudent in russia what he would allow them to do to nato Why isn't deputy defense secretary kath hicks or somebody of a senior stature going to brussels and participating in these Meetings. Yeah, again. First of all our support for ukraine continues to be Ironclad as you heard, you know me highlight You're going to have nearly 50 countries come together as they have on a monthly basis to talk about how we support ukraine And and as I also highlighted is the secretary's intent to participate in the virtual udcg again We'll keep you updated on that front and dr. Wallander as you know has been at the at the center of Working for the department of defense to represent the united states and our support for the udcg So she is well experienced well equipped To represent the secretary should she need to do that And she as I mentioned will also be in brussels To support there both virtually but also support the ambassador as she represents the secretary at the nato defense minister Idris just to follow up on that obviously Celeste and julie smith are well qualified, but deputy secretary hicks would be a representation of how seriously The administration takes ukraine and its needs So does the secretary not have confidence in his deputy to send her while she's performing his duties? Yeah, I reject that notion the secretary of course has full confidence in the deputy secretary of defense He has transferred his functions and duties to her as evidence of that And again anyone who questions our commitment to ukraine Just needs to look at the facts in terms of the amount of support and the amount of assistance We have provided and continue to provide ukraine and will continue to provide going forward How long was the secretary unconscious or under general alice easier force since yesterday? Is it throughout is it a couple of hours here and there do you have a sense of that? Idris at this time I don't have anything to provide beyond whatever relate to you But again, we'll continue to keep you updated as new information comes in David so when in that sequence from 220 being taken to the hospital 455 turning over his responsibilities. Did he inform the white house? The white house was informed that he was being taken to the hospital So that happened before he actually departed to go to the hospital And in addition in that period congressional notifications were made as well so The statement says we'll be able to resume his normal duties tomorrow, but you just Told us that he's cancelled A planned trip. How do you square those two? David again, uh, we'll keep you updated on his status This is a statement from his doctors explaining that they expect that he'll be able to resume his normal duties Again, we'll keep you updated on whether that includes from the hospital or if that is from home But again, all indications based on the on the doctor's statements is that uh, you know, he's gonna recover well He's in good condition and we'll keep you updated Yeah, secretary has uh the secretary received any radiation treatment and what caused him What symptoms did he have before going into the hospital? Was he In a lot of pain was he bleeding and then can you say exactly the procedure that was done when he got there? And again, I'd point you back to the statement from his doctors As we get more information, we'll certainly share that with you again as I understand it This was related to a emergent bladder issue. It was not related to his cancer treatment Again, and as the statement that I just read out to you highlights his prognosis for that is good And and the bladder issue should not affect his recovery from that And you can't say whether or not he's gotten radiation therapy To my knowledge, he is not Again, I'd point you back to the statement in terms of the the treatment that he's received Not related to his cancer treatment, but this is a complication of the surgery, correct? Again, I'm not a doctor I'm not going to try to Speak medical speak. I'm just going to point you back to the statement and as we get more information to provide with Certainly will have a I told you this is a Or anybody on his staff that this is a Complication he was admitted. He went to the hospital yesterday for an emergent bladder issue His doctors have said previously That he is expected to make a full recovery from his cancer diagnosis Which is what I just highlighted in the the top of the statement So again as we have more information to provide we'll certainly do that Courtney That's my question too. So just to be clear, you're you're leaving open the possibility. This is a totally separate issue from his complication from his Prostate cancer surgery in december What I'm saying is what is in the statement that the current bladder issue is not expected to change his anticipated full recovery His cancer prognosis remains excellent. So again as we get more information from his doctors to provide We'll be sure to share that if it's possible to get the question I mean, I think there's an assumption that that this is that this this emergent bladder issue is related to the Complications that he had on new year's day. So if that's not the case and this is something completely separate I'll take the question. Thank you. Thank you. Fadi two questions on on raffa yesterday The israeli is attempted like a rescue mission. It seems and up until now information Still being updated, but it seems like Maybe up to 100 Palestinians were killed In in that operation the u.s. Have assets in terms of UAV Doing some work to help the israelis recover Some of the captives was the u.s. Involved in that operation And you have any comments about the civilian death toll from from that the aftermath of it So fadi when it when it comes to israeli operations, I'll refer you to them in terms of talking about that And when it comes to civilian casualties as you've heard me say many times We do not want to see civilian casualties or innocent civilians killed whether they be palestinian or israeli And and that will continue to be our view going forward and But did the u.s Play any role in that operation? Fadi i'm not aware of any role the united states Yeah, and as you probably heard from israeli prime minister netanyahu seems like he's planning to Invade a ground invasion of raffa where more than 1 million people Are taking refuge amnesty international is warning of an imminent risk of genocide Does the pentagon support an israeli ground invasion of raffa at this moment? Again, you know, i'm going to refer you to the israelis to talk about their operations I think mr. Kirby has addressed this in his press briefings. You know, we certainly Do not want to see Any more suffering human suffering among those in gaza, which is why again we continue to communicate actively With our israeli partners on the importance of taking civilians into account in planning and conducting their operations. So We go to who is communicating that who you said we we're communicating with them Who who can you give us a sense? I know there was a point where general glenn was there and we kind of got a little bit of fidelity on that Well, yeah, I mean, I think I think All echelons, Courtney. I mean you've had the president speak to his counterpart You've had secretary austin speak to his counterpart You've got us central command speaking to their counterparts the chairman of the joint chiefs speaks to his counterpart So there's ongoing discussions as it relates to israel's defense of its nation As well as the support we're providing and the importance of ensuring that humanitarian assistance gets through Fadi's question about rafa, though I mean, is there is there a level of are there are there people in the military right now or the defense department or cent com or Wherever it is who are providing like technical. I'm not aware. I'm not aware of us Understand their plan again. What he's talking about is public comments by the prime minister saying what they're going to do And again, that's something that they need to talk about. Let me Okay, and then let me move over to the other side of the room Did the israeli is share any planning with the pentagon about this Ground invasion Again, fadi. I'm not going to have anything to provide beyond what I've talked about already and I'd refer you back to mr Kirby's comments joseph Can I just ask do you have any updates to provide on yesterday's hmc? iraqi's What I would tell you is that You know yesterday's meeting marks another important step along the path of transition as military technical talks as you highlight We're held in bagdad As I understand it they discussed three areas of assessment the threat of isis the operating environment and iraqi security forces capabilities and so You know, we'll continue to keep you updated as appropriate But these talks are important again as we look to discuss the transition of the coalition military mission To the longer term u.s. iraq bilateral security Do you have any updates on the tower 22 investigation? I do not I'd refer you to sankham for any updates on that missy Just to follow up on joseph's question the um iraqi military spokesman said that Giving a readout of that of those talks yesterday said that based on the discussion yesterday The timetable will be set for the gradual reduction of international coalition advisors and an end of the coalition mission Is that correct that there was that the outcome was an agreement that there would be a timeline set for that and then separately could you give us an update on The review the internal review about austin's hospitalization Did you have a chance to review that yet and could you update us on the publication of that? Yeah on your first question missy? I I don't have any information on that so I'll take that question As far as the review no changes from what I provided on thursday The secretary does have that review He will continue to take a look at it Again, our commitment is to try to provide as much information about the review to you when we can So certainly we'll continue to endeavor to do that lar Thank you. Um, first of all is capyx acting sec def now and at what point does she become acting sec def? Can you just clear up what her role title is right now? Yes, she has uh Assumed the duties and functions of the secretary defense. So in that uh, since she is acting as the secretary defense And I still don't understand why they couldn't have had the ukraine contact group meeting without secretary austin I mean, what was what was the reason for making it virtual? I'm not sure I understand your question. So why I guess what was the reason for making the contact group? Meeting virtual was it solely because the secretary couldn't attend because there's many other people that attend that meeting, right? You know lar, I think the as I highlighted the secretary intends to participate. Um, and again, uh, given the The importance as we've already discussed about we want to ensure that this continues and You know as we've done in the past, we're going to be flexible in terms of the format and so Yeah, we have attended for I'm not going to get into hypotheticals lar Yeah, I'm not going to get into rationale for that Well, I've read to you what we're doing and there you go. All right. Let's go to the phone here. Jeff shogle task and purpose Thank you. Uh, on what day did secretary austin undergo this procedure on when he was under general anesthesia? And uh, secretary austin is sixth in presidential line of succession. Does that mean that secretary hicks is temporarily Until the the secretary assumes duties that she is now sixth in line in succession Yeah, thanks. Jeff on your on your ladder question there I'll take that uh, and we'll come back to you in terms of my understanding is uh, that that procedure would have been today Um, so just leave it there. Okay Follow-up question about the secretary's health. So I wonder if Uh, it is difficult for the secretary to travel to the in the past week for a while because In general, the traveling to the region takes longer than any other region Uh, are you asking me why he hasn't traveled to Because of the secretary's health program I wonder if it is difficult for the secretary to travel to the region to the in the past week region for a while Yeah, thanks roe. So at this point, you know, clearly, uh The secretary's focused on getting better As I highlighted, he's not traveling to brussels But I certainly expect that he will travel to the asia pacific region in the future When he is able to we don't have any travel to announce And so again, he continues to I'm sure remain eager to perform his duties to include travel when when he is able to do that So thank you. Time for one more. Yes, sir. Thank you, but Regarding hmc discussions If you know how long the discussions will continue and Just bracket brahmanistah has said that we are ahead of ending The mission of alliance forces like even the united states force in iraq So I don't have a timeline to my knowledge that hasn't necessarily been bounded. Of course that will be decision between The you know within the hmc to include in consultation with the government of iraq And then as far as us presence in iraq again, I'd point you back to what I said earlier the hmc will will discuss the Transition from a military coalition mission to the What the us presence will look like as it relates to a bilateral us iraq relationship Our forces continue to be there at the invitation of the government of iraq I'm not aware of any specific official requests at this point in time for us forces to leave And we'll continue to keep you updated. So all right. Thanks very much. Everybody appreciate it We have a request to hear from the deputy defense secretary now acting defense secretary cat hicks We've never had a chance to question her at the podium or hear from her. Okay. Thank you. Jennifer. Appreciate it Doctors just to get an update on his status. I will take that request. Thank you very much everybody. Thank you