defense secretary james mattis and joint chiefs of staff chair general joseph dunford the military's readiness on the upcoming fiscal year budget. senator probation subcommittee held this hearing wednesday. >> the subcommittee on defense appropriations of the united states senate will come to order. today, we are receiving an update on military readiness and defense budget matters. we are pleased to welcome to the committee honorable james mattis secretary of defense, general joseph dunford junior chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. the fiscal year 2017 department of defense appropriation agreement has been approved by the other bodies, house of representatives. i look forward to our completing work on that to bill in the coming weeks. we are bill-- well into the fiscal year and members of the subcommittee understand the importance of enacting defense appropriation legislation. as we complete our work on the 2017 defense appropriation agreement, we also recognize that our request for additional appropriations in fiscal year 2017 has been submitted to the congress. we welcome comme

the secretary of defense james mattis as well as john kelly and h.r. mcmaster. we're told all of them are making the move. >> all right. jeff zeleny, thanks for breaking news. the lead editor national radio and the national political correspondent for the "washington post." that's what we're hearing, is that there may be a delay because don't steal the thunder of a speech that is getting good reviews but also when they're getting this, there are those from the department of defense and the national security adviser about having iraq on this list. what's your reaction to this and certainly their influence on this? >> i think what we're seeing, you know, president trump is finally getting a full cab nets. they are the voices of experience and the perspectivings frommed you side the white house. as we listen to these kind os debates it underscores it. strength of speech last night was primarily about tone. there were a lot of issues ahead that it did not provide a lot of details on the president's provision for handling them. not only this record on the travel ban

rex tillerson, james mattis and h.r. mcmaster urging mr. trump to remove iraq from the list of seven banned countries. the revised ban was supposed to be unveiled yesterday, but the white house delayed the signing to keep the spotlight on the positive reaction on the address to congress tuesday night. critic s slamming the delay because the president made the argument that the national security emergency requires quick passage of the measure. that is why they rushed it out on friday night without going through the proper channels. >>> the big misdirection play that presidential suggestion of a compromise if immigration. was that a head fake? was that meant to generate good press? we'll explain the misdirection play next. >>> new data this morning shows workers in the u.s. with families in mexico are sending more money home at a faster pace. due to fears that president trump may put restrictions on the transactions. remittances is the word for the cash transfers. they rose 6.3% in january. in total, $2 billion u.s. sent during the month. two

mattis for the forces on the ground? >> a team have recently been positioned to combine task force operation -- isis in raqqah in particular the location are still a sensitive order to protect the location of the forces, but approximately additional 400 enabling forces for a temporary period to accelerate the defeat of isis specifically in raqqah. as i've mentioned before one of things that the president has ensured is that the commanders have the flexibility to do what they need to fulfill the mission. the president is obviously as commander in chief made aware and signs off on all the missions but at the end of the day it's going to be up to the generals to execute to defeat isis and protect our nation. >> the involvement complicates the whole picture, what happens with russia and its involvement with the syrian government. the big problem with iraq was we never planned for the day after. >> right. >> so what are the plans for the day after when raqqah falls, who occupies it? >> one of the things i mentioned the script

the white house pressed on the decision to send 400 of our marines to syria and the role james mattis is playing in that mission. >> one of the things the president insured is the commanders have the flexibility to do what they need to fulfill the mission. the president is obviously as commander-in-chief knead aware and signs off on all those missions. but at the end of the day it will be up to the generals to execute their mission to make sure we continue to defeat isis and protect the nation. lou: general mattis butting heads with the trump administration over his staff. mattis wants the top civilian job to go to tan patterson. she is a one-time prominent supporter of the muslim brotherhood, an organization trump may designate as a terrorist organization. joining us general jack keane. let's start first with north korea. it looks to be insistent upon provoking the west certainly the united states with the nuclear test, more ballistic missiles have been launched. your judgment? jack: we are on a collision course with north korea. we cannot poll rate that move and that's going to resu

james mattis is in london where he met with his british counterpart this morning, secretary of state rex tillerson's in belgium, meeting with america's nato allies on a range of issues from russia to isis to getting more money. rich is live, following the secretary of state and brussels right now. i thought you're going to be on the phone, but you popped up on the screen. good to see you, buddy. >> the crew got it together. have to hand it to them. this is secretary of state rex tillerson's official meeting for the first time and brussels. one of the meetings reconfirming for the united states transatlantic commitment to nato. some of the nato's allies were questioning this. also, they're talking about pushing back on russia. there is a need for nato to push back on russia and further aggression in eastern europe. >> we want to obviously have a discussion around nato's past year in europe, mostly eastern europe in response to russia's aggression and ukraine and elsewhere. lastly of course, will be developing the agenda for the important nato meeting of our nato member country leaders

but the defence secretary james mattis, who's in london at the moment, expressed about russia, stretching beyond their involvement in the most recent presidential election. russia's violations of international law are now a matter of record, from what happened with crimea, to other aspects of their behaviour in mucking around inside other people's elections and that sort of thing. 0n capitol hill, investigations into russian activity go on, but sources are saying it's unlikely that michael flynn will be given the immunity he seeks. the driver of a bin lorry that crashed in glasgow killing six people in 2014, has been banned from driving for three years. harry clarke was also ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and will be tagged forfour months. the 60—year—old had already admitted culpable and reckless driving. lorna gordon reports. three days before christmas, and in eight glasgow street packed with shoppers, a bin lorry driven by harry clarke went out of control. he lost consciousness, and for 19 seconds, the lorry pass through the centre, and ploughed through people. the

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. >> defense secretary james mattis calls for a unified effort to stop the north korea threat. >> this is a threat of both rhetoric and growing capability, and we will be working with the international community to address this. tom: ambassador john bolton joins me next. and president trump's strong immigration policies already producing great results. >> the entries at the border are down 60% just because of president trump's strong leadership. tom: we'll take up the president's crack down on illegal immigrants and the sanctuary cities harboring them up next. hey there, starting your search for the right used car? i don't want one that's ha just say, show me cars with only one owner find the cars you want, avoid the ones you don't plus you get a free carfax® report with every listing it's perfect. start your used car search at carfax.com and the wolf huffed like you do sometimes, grandpa? well, when you have copd, it can be hard to breathe. it can be hard to get air out, which can make it hard to get air in. so i talked to my doctor. she said... symbicort could help you breathe bette

james mattis / 2013: if you don't fund the state department fully, then i need to buy more ammunition, ultimately. as expected, the proposal garnered sharp rebuke from democrats.rep. nancy pelosi / house minority leader: i can't see how this budget can survive the light of day.with republicans, like speaker paul ryan stressing that it's just a proposal right now.rep. paul ryan / house speaker: when the president submits a budget, that is the beginning of the budget process. reporting in washington, dianne gallagher kron4 news. (pam) covering california: two carjacking suspects are in custody tonight after leading officers on a high-speed chase through sacramento county. (grant) we have the video... take a look... it all began at a target in elk grove where police say the two suspects stole an s-u-v in the parking lot... the suspects took off...driving through elk grove, galt and lodi on highway 99... then they got off the highway... ditched the car and the suspects seperated from each other but were later caught by sheriff's (pam) a serial dine and dash dater .... has struck again. a

and i last spoke after james mattis made his foray to secretary of defense. you are happy with what he said on that trip. what are you listening for as secretary of state tillerson makes his strict to east asia? sen. baucus: i think secretary tillerson has to follow up on statements,attis' which were more reassuring a calle to the region. tillerson has a bigger challenge, and that is to show the state department is a major contributor, if not the primary determinant of foreign policy. when the united states president cut back to state department 30 percent, that makes it tough. when secretary tillerson is a wall for a long time, that is tough. third, he should visit the embassies when he is there. he did not visit the tokyo embassy. that causes a morale problem. he has to show he is the man and that he is very strong. david: last question about the budget proposal you saw today. you have been on both sides -- you have been an employee that is right with the state department and you have been on capitol hill looking at budget proposals. this is been described

defense secretary james mattis once famously said while serving as the commander of u.s. central command -- "if you don't fund the state department fully, then i need to buy more ammunition." secretary of state tillerson's trip to the demilitarized zone came after he visited japan where he also called for a different approach to north korea, saying diplomatic efforts so far had failed. ahead of his visit, protesters again rallied in okinawa to protest u.s. military bases on the island. house speaker paul ryan lost or support on the health plan with top leaders admitting thursday thehey do not have enoh votetes to push the legigislatin through the full house. the budget committee narrowly approved the bill thursday in a 19-to-17 vote. all democrats on the committee voted against the legislation, as did three republicans -- virginia republican congressmember dave brat, alabama republican commerce member garry palmer, and south carolina republican congressman mark sanford. top republicans and the white house have admitted they may make changes to the bill in order toto pass

. > defense secretary james mattis condemned the scandal. he said it could go beyond thete marines and could go to other branches as well.l. officials are investigating that. > president trump met with the saudi deputy crowned princecrow today at the white hours, prince mohammad win som in is in charg ofsom saudi's economic reforms. neither the president nor his guest made any statements durint a pair of photo opportunities.pr the two were expected to discuss increased investment which iss the word's top export of oil. they traded oil in energy, but an increase in energy has made the us less reliant on oil. > tweet us your thoughts righto now, what do youur think about e trump administration's revisedve healthcare plan? use the #5@6:30 and then look at your tweet on our political show coming up next at 6:30. last week nike announced it had joined the nationwide to create active wear for must i am female athletes. it created a line of hash understand. well, a minneapolis created its own version. a girls' basketball team tried it out for the f

defense secretary james mattis says the u.s. is always concerned about civilian deaths. >> there is no military force in the world has proven more sensitive to civilian casualties. we are keenly aware that every battlefield where an enemy hides behind women and children is also a humanitarian field. we go out of our way. >> human rights group, amnesty international says the u.s. isn't taking adequate precautions to prevent civilian deaths. the pentagon is reviewing videos. >> two police officers in miami have been shot conducting an anti-gang operation. both undercover members of a violent crime task force. a miami-dade county police spokesperson says they were ambushed during a surveillance operation at an apartment complex. the wounded officers rushed to a hospital in the back of a pickup truck. they're expected to survive. but the suspects remain at large. >> possible that a candle may have caused a deadly fire in oakland building used as transitional housing. three people confirmed dead in the early morning fire. and another

jon: but defense secretary james mattis, in london at the moment, expressed concern about russia stretching beyond their involvement in the recent presidential election. secretary mattis: russia's violations of international law are now a matter of record, from what happened with crimea to other aspects of their behavior in mucking around other people's elections and that sort of thing. jon: on capitol hill, investigations into russian activity go on, but sources are saying it is unlikely that michael flynn will be given the immunity he seeks. tim: let's get more on this story, i spoke a short time ago to anthony zurcher. he has a story to tell, tantalizing. nobody knows what the story is . anthony: nobody knows the story or why he she needs immunity to tell it. it could be an abundance of caution, whether people looking into his foreign lobbying and whether he had permission for that, or he said something he shouldn't have to the fbi when asking about his contacts with the russian ambassador, or it could be, if you listen to trump critics, some big explosive revelation about collusion betw

defense secretary james mattis says the u.s. is always concerned about civilian deaths. >> there is no military force in the world that has sensitive to civilian casualties. we are keenly aware that every battlefield where an enemy hides behind women and children is also a humanitarian field. >> amnesty international says the u.s. isn't taking adequate precautions to prevent civilian deaths. the pentagon is now examining all available strike videos. >>> this morning we're hearing from the family of the man behind the deadly attack outside britain's parliament. in a statement overnight his wife expressed her condolences to the victims' families. there was also a statement from his mother. she says she does not condone her son's actions or support the beliefs that led to the tragedy. >>> a powerful cyclone is battinger northeastern australia. cyclone debbie causing major damages with winds gusting to 160 miles per hour. tens of thousands of homes and businesses are without power. after that storm knocked over trees and power lines

sources say defense secretary james mattis and others are concerned that keeping iraq on the list could hinder the fight against isis. it's still not clear when the president plans to sign it. >>> warning overnight from former george w. bush, he said the country's isolationist tendency is dangerous to national security. this comes as the trump administration faces questions about its commitment to international partnerships. >> the world is a dangerous place and, again, this may be taken as criticism of one of my successors and i don't really mean it to be. there is a lesson, however, when the united states decides to not take the lead and withdraw. >> bush also defended the media from criticism saying the nation needed an independent press but added that it needs to be accurate. >>> the president's speech this week boosts stocks. all of the main stock averages opened this morning at their highest levels ever, ever. the dow starting above the 21,000 mark for the first time after climbing 303 points. analysts say the more moderate tone of president trump's address to congress helped fuel

the united states defence secretary, james mattis, has pledged a full investigation into military personnel who shared nude photographs of female colleagues on social media. speaking at the pentagon, marine core general robert neller said appropriate action would be taken against anyone involved. you all know we're looking at allegation that marine corps females have been victims of cyberbullying non consensual sharing of images and completely disrespectul sharing of content — these allegations undermine everything we stand for as marine corps and as marines. tens of thousands of south koreans have come out on the streets of seoul to celebrate a court decision to remove president park geun—hye from office. the constitutional court upheld a parliamentary vote to impeach ms park, over her role in a corruption scandal. steve evans reports, from seoul. amazing scenes outside court, as pro—park protesters clashed with police. officers struggled in a tug of war to stop a bus being turned over. two protesters died. moments earlier, inside court, president park was sacked. the chiefjustice sa

they tell abc news james mattis and others expressed concerns that keeping iraq on the list could hinder the fight against isis and say the order may take two weeks before going into effect. the rollout postponed after the president's speech. still not clear when he plans to sign it. >>> all of wall street's major stock averages opened this morning at record high level. it sent the dow to its first close above the 21,000 mark. the dow climbed 303 points. best performance so far this year. you've heard president trump speak how the markets have done better since his election to office. the more moderate tone of president trump's address to congress helped refuel that rally we're told. most of the major averages across asia posted gains, as well. >>> seven baltimore officers accused in a racketeering conspiracy that will includes charges of robbery and extortion. prosecut thousands of dollars filing false police reports and inflating time sheetses. because of the arrests prosecutors in baltimore have dropped five criminal cases brought by the officers who are now charged themselves in that

defense secretary james mattis and joint chiefs of staff chair general joseph dunford the military's readiness on the

mattis and secretary tillerson expected to amplify here. the germans half way down the table of countries failing to meet the commitment having major elections later this year. what we heard from another foreign minister going into the meeting is yes, we are speeding up our commitment to meet the 2% but can't just jump into it. perhaps the message will resonate across and around the table perhaps no more so than here in belgium the headquarters of nato. they're at the bottom of that list that make up the 2% of gdp. >> when you have to go right to nato's house and have that conversation, that might be a little bit more difficult. thanks so much for that. >>> five of the 28 nato countries pay that 2%. so that does give the president a little cover on that. >>> weather now, rain along the east coast. even some spring snow in new england. the latest from meteorologist derek van dillen. >> the same system responsible for this week's -- weakening, but this time heavy rainfall. parts of massachusetts and rhode island and connecticut. this includes

in a statement, james mattis said the practice was unacceptable, showed a lack of respect and undermined cohesion. andy beatt reports. the pentagon's been shocked and embarrassed by revelations of servicemen posting naked images of servicewomen online. reports last week uncovered widespread photo sharing and cyber bullying by current and former marines on facebook. fire in the hole! now the bbc has seen evidence that the problem's far more extensive, involving personnel from other branches of the us military. in some cases, names, ranks and contact information were also posted, together with a welter of offensive and demeaning comments. you know, we claim that being a marine is a special title and something that you earn. there's honour here. but there is no honour in denigrating a fellow marine in any way, shape orform. we're going to be self—critical, self—analytical. we've got to recognise that there's a problem and we've got to figure out how to solve it. victims say the posting of photos is notjust a violation of trust, but a threat to their safety. multiple victims recently beg

but the defence secretary james mattis, who's in london at the moment, expressed about russia, stretching beyond their involvement in the most recent presidential election. russia's violations of international law are now a matter of record, from what happened with crimea, to other aspects of their behaviour in mucking around inside other people's elections and that sort of thing. on capitol hill, investigations into russian activity go on, but sources are saying it's unlikely that michael flynn will be given the immunity he seeks. jon sopel reported me. laura bicker is in washington says donald trump has already moved the conversation onto trade. yes, he has been talk about industry bringing backjobs, yes, he has been talk about industry bringing back jobs, and yes, he has been talk about industry bringing backjobs, and that is exactly what he has tried to do in the last few hours. after a bruising week, another bruising week, he is trained to move it back to his own kind of comfortable territory. and he tried to do that by signing two executive orders on trade, trying to stop the cheap

secretary of state -- rather defense james mattis coming out, put out a statement. he said we go out of our way to always do everything humanly possible to reduce the loss of life and injury among innocent people. the same cannot be said, he concluded, for our adversaries, amnesty international has put out a report on this incident. it did say the iraqi government perhaps overdid it when it told civilians in mosul to stay in their homes if they felt safe. the whole purpose was to avoid a humanitarian ka catastrophe. amnesty international did condemn isis for using civilians as human shields. >> so the search for answer continues. thank you. >>> a cyclone has hit parts of australia, officials say more than 150 homes along the queensland coast do not have electricity, thousands of evacuations, no deaths have been reported. you can see the huge area this category 4 storm covers. >>> after being shot hours after an oklahoma police officer lost his life. details on that next. >>> breaking overnight two under cover police officers from miami dade's homicide task force sho

mattis has just joined that meeting after testifying on the hill this morning. we are told that president trump is being kept informed about the latest developments in this terror attack or the assumed terror attack in london. the white house obviously paying close attention to the developments they are. >> shepard: indeed. we are waiting for the white house press briefing which we are led to believe is just seconds away. in the early going, it was sort of unclear exactly what had happened and what the scope of this was. any reports from london and from surrounding london and newspapers there were in the 8 indicating there may have been with more than one assailant. we don't know what the assailant's motive was, but we are told at least in the early reporting that the assailant is alive it has been taken to the hospital and is under very, very deep security there. now a sky news and london is reporting that one officer has been killed. let's listen to sky news. >> -- details can be confused, eyewitnesses have differing accounts, in the official information that

we're pleased to welcome to the committee the honorable james m. mattis, secretary of defense. general joseph dunford jr., chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. the fiscal year 2017 department of defense appropriations agreement has been approved by the other body in the house of representatives. and i look forward to our completing work on that bill in the coming weeks. we're well into the fiscal year and members of the subcommittee understand the poepimportance o enacting appropriations. as we complete our work on the 2017 defense agreement, we also recognize that a request for additional appropriations in fiscal year 2017 has been submitted to the congress. we welcome comments from our panel and as well as on the submission for 2018. it's a distinct honor to have the secretary of defense before us in his first appearance as secretary. i also am pleased to welcome back to the chaeirman of the joint chief of staffs before the commit eech committee. we look forward to hear about your plan to increase military readiness and strengthen the department of defense. turn to the vice

secretary of defense james mattis was asked about that today. >> there is no military force in the world that has proven more sensitive to civilian casualt s casualties. we are keenly aware that every -- where an enemy hipds behind women and children is also a humanitarian field. >> secretary mattis adding the u.s. military doesering humanly possible to help innocent people, he said, unlike their isised adversarieadversaries. >>> next tonight, a chilling plot uncovered. authorities tipped off about a very detailed plan to attack a high school. to shoot students and to bomb the school. authorities say an 18-year-old honor student was already gathering materials she needed, and she was determined not to survive. here's abc's senior justice correspondent pierre thomas. >> reporter: these are the weapons that school and police officials say were going to be used in a massacre planned for april 5th. a shotgun, bomb-making materials, including pipes for a pipe bomb. a columbine-style attack, allegedly plotted by an 18-year-old student at catoctin high school, 90 minutes from washington. >> the

>>> defense secretary james mattis and joint chiefs of staff chair general dunford briefed the senate appropriations defense subcommittee on the military's readiness and the upcoming fiscal budget. it was on the income overseas offensive and defensive abilities. many of them related to the 2011 budget control act. this is about an hour and 45 minutes. >>> the subcommittee on defense appropriations on the united states senate will come to order. today we are receiving an update on military readiness and defense budget matters. we're pleased to welcome to the committee the honorable james m. mattis, secretary of defense. general joseph dunford jr., chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. the fiscal year 2017 department of defense appropriations agreement has been approved by the other body in the house of representatives. and i look forward to our completing work on that bill in the coming weeks. we're well into the fiscal year and members of the subcommittee understand the poepimportance o enacting appropriations. as we complete our work on the 2017 defense agreement, we also recognize

trump's cabinet picks, including secretary of defense james mattis, his colleague at the hoover institution at stanford university, and as for not so up, the early defeat of the president's travel ban. >> what would you say are the down parts of the administration so far? >> well, obviously, when you roll out a big initiative and it blows up, that is a downer. i think it is important for a president to get off to a start where people see, says what he means, means what he says and carry out what he starts to carry out. >> dickerson: you said that your advice to president trump was that he not let the white house dominate anything. what does that mean? >> that has become a tendency to put decision making and even operation malthings in the white house. the white house staff has grown a lot, the nse staff has grown a lot with a result that is a dominant place. so i would hope the president might say something like this. i consider my cabinet and sub cabinet people to be my staff. those are the people i am going to work with to develop policy, and they are the ones who are going to execute it

we appreciate the clear and resolute statement by james mattis. thus reconfirming the u.s. strong support. the meeting of the president of the states and the vice president of munich reassured us even further in this respect. we are older and in the past two years boosting its military ability and coordination and. we will spend 2% of gdp for our defense. [inaudible] is not only been a but also a provider of security. in proportion of our population of 2 million, recount among the top contributors from afghanistan, iraq, central african, republic or somalia. europe and u.s. should join efforts to help ukraine and others. [inaudible] latvia has been active in providing the support and strengthening independent mediums. i would like to mention two examples of the support. [inaudible] recently completed a study on skills and training needs to independent media in the eastern partnership countries. latvia is interested in the success of the creative constant support that is being established with the support of european for democracy and british government. this will strengthen

[applause] >> president trump: i just spoke to our great general james mattis just now, who reconfirmed that and i quote, "ryan was a part of a highly successful raid. vital intelligence that will lead to many more victories in the future against our enemies. ryan's legacy is etched into eternity." thank you. [applause] [applause] >> president trump: and ryan is looking down, right now. you know that? he is very happy because i think he just broke a record. [laughter] >> president trump: the bible teaches us there is no greater act of love than to lay down one's life for one's friend. ryan laid down his life for his friends, for his country. and for our freedom. we will never forget ryan. [applause] >> president trump: to those allies who wonder what kind of a friend america will be, look no further than the heroes who wear our uniform. our foreign policy calls for a direct, robust and meaningful engagement with the world. it is american leadership based on vital security that we share with our allies all across the globe. we strongly support nato, and alliance forged through the bombs

we will now hear from the secretary of defense james mattis. >> chairman cochran vice chairman durbin distinguished senators i appreciate the opportunity to testify today in support of the presidents request for additional funding and any other matters of interest to the committee. mr. chairman i request the committee except my statement for the record. thank you, sir. as you know the president has committed to strengthening our military. the security situation facing our country has become more challenging. the looming threats about stripped the level of resources we have been allocating to defense. we in the departments are keenly aware of the sacrifices made by the american people and the form of the additional 30 billion-dollar budget requests. we take seriously the responsibility to spend wisely this money to enhance the protection of our nation against burgeoning threats. we also recognize that hesitation now to invest in defense with deep in the strategic mismatch between our future security and the military means to protect our people and freedoms. our military must ensure tha

james mattis / 2013: if you don't fund the state department fully, then i need to buy more ammunition, ultimately. as expected, the proposal garnered sharp rebuke from democrats.rep. nancy pelosi / house minority leader: i can't see how this budget can survive the light of day.with republicans, like speaker paul ryan stressing that it's just a proposal right now.rep. paul ryan / house speaker: when the president submits a budget, that is the beginning of the budget process. in washington, dianne gallagher. (pam) president trump has approved a disaster declaration for california ... to address damage from january storms. the action today, makes federal money available to state, local and tribal governments .... as well as non-profit groups. the assistance covers emergency work and repair or replacement of facilities damaged from january 18th to january 23rd . it involves 16 - counties, including napa, san mateo, santa cruz and yolo. the white house says, other declarations may be made later depending on damage assessments. (grant) in pleasanton. homeowners along foothill road that have

defense secretary james mattis of the nato and in brussels last month thus reconfirming the u.s. strong support to alliance. the meeting of the presidents of three baltic states and the vice president of the u.s. in munich in mid-february reassured us even further in this respect. but with also stepping up and pulling more weight. latvia is among the best examples when it comes to raising a nation's own defense capabilities. in case of military aggression. our own forces will be the first responders. we are defendable. in case of -- we are well aware the challenge -- we are well aware of the challenge therefore latvia spent the last two years boosting its military capacity and improving its coordination. currently we are spending 1.7% and next year, only a few months ago, we will spend 2% of gdp for our defense. since joining nato, latvia has been a recipient and provider of security and in proportion to population of 2 million, we count among the top contributors in missions afghanistan, iraq, central african, balkans, we mali, republic or somalia. europe and u.s. should help ef