Released a new policy for harassment prevention, which aims to cover areas such as Sexual Harassment, bullying, hazing and other forms of behavior considered hostile to the workplace environment. During a press a briefing, a spokesman said that spoke about how it would be implemented in the military armed forces. This is half an hour. Good afternoon. Secretary mattis talked about the National Defense strategy. Which will drive our budgets for the next four years. Tomorrow secretary mattis will travel to fort benning to meet the First Security force assistance brigade. Ms. White the first unit of its kind to provide advisors at the tactical level. Next week the secretary will travel to europe to reaffirm key alliances and partnerships in the region. Switching gear, id like to share two unrelated nnouncements with you today. Yesterday Syrian Democratic forces acted in selfdefense with support from the coalition to defeat an unprovoked attack by syrian proregime forces in eastern syria. Proregime forces initiate what had appeared to be a coordinated attack on Syrian Democratic forces. East of the ewe freight hes river the ewe freight e. E. S. River euphrates river. They moved in a battalionsized unit formation, supported by artillery, tanks, multiple launch rocket systems, and mortars. After 20 to 30 artillery and tank rounds landed within 500 meters of the headquarters location, Syrian Democratic forces supported by the coalition targeted the agressers with a combination of air and artillery strikes. Coalition advisors were with the s. D. F. And this action was taken in selfdefense. Proregime vehicles and personnel were turned around and headed back west, were not targeted. The coalition observed a slow buildup of proregime forces over the past week. Coalition officials alerted russian officials of the presence via the decon fliction line in advance of the attack. The deconfliction process served its purpose. Coalition officials were in regular communication with russian counterparts before, during and after the attack. Russian officials assured coalition officials they would not engage Coalition Forces in the vicinity. One s. D. F. Soldier was wounded and there were no coalition casualties. Our forces have the inherent right to selfdefense. We are not looking for coon flick with the regime for a conflict with the regime. Any action that takes away from our Ongoing Operations to efeat isis is a distraction. One of the secretarys main priorities is increasing the lethality of our force. Something that effects lethality and readiness is harassment in all forms. Today we are releasing a comprehensive policy to prevent and respond to all forms of harassment in our military. This policy provides a formal, Binding Foundation to work from. But its just the beginning. Its a framework for military services to address unacceptable behaviors such as offensive jokes, stereotyping, violence and discrimination. Let me be clear. Harassment has no place in our military. This policy brings us one step closer to eliminating these behaviors. Over the next 60 days, the military services and d. O. D. Components are required to provide us with their implementation plans. We are doing this because we owe our allvolunteer force every protection. Today is also noteworthy because the continuing resolution expires tonight at midnight. Its important to remember Congress Approved with bipartisan support and the president signed the 700 billion for f. Y. 2018 defense spending. The longer continuing resolutions are, the more damaging they are. To our Service Members, their families and the communities. Shutdowns are also wasteful and destructive. But we remain optimistic that congress will do its job, pass the budget, and write the check. So with that, ill open up to our questions. Questioner one reporter one quick thing on the parade and a second question. I know theres options out there that are being looked at or this military parade. But who would pay for it and has there been at least some sort of cap on the expense . Considering weve been listening to the pentagon for months now talk about its lack of funding and the fiscal distress. But then mainly on syria, have you been able to tell what the makeup was of the proregime forces, who was it that did the initial attack . And does this make you concerned that the russians arent able to either influence or control the progovernment forces . Since they knew about this for days, obviously, and they werent title of the bill dissuade them from making this attack able to dissuade them from making this attack. Dana with respect to the parade, right now we are still in initially planning stages initial planning stages. This is be a opportunity that the president often looks for opportunities to honor and appreciate our Service Members. We are looking at several different options. Right now the army is the executive agent on it. But we dont have those options yet. Were still in the pace inent stages. When we have nacent stages. When we have those options well provide that to the white house and the president will decide. With respect to syria and the exo composition of the agressers, im not going to speculate on the composition of those agressers. But i will tell you that we were in regular contact with the russians. The decon fliction line worked deconfliction line worked and we always reserve the right to selfdefense. Reporter you say the deconfliction line worked if youre in contact with the russians over those several days and yet the attack still happened. And there apparently may have been russian contractors within that force. Doesnt that show a lack of influence . Dana i would have you im not going to speculate about peoples motives or what the influence is. I can tell you that we had a very productive conversation in so far as we told them they knew what was happening. They agreed not to attack Coalition Forces. So from that respect, it was successful. Again, we have the inherent right to defend ourselves. Reporter just going off of that question. Were there any Russian Troops or contractors that were part of this force that attacked the coalition . And s. D. F. . Dana i dont have any information. And im not going to speculate on the composition of the regime. Of those forces, proregime orces. Reporter weve seen a military times poll on the parade and so far 45,000 people have responded, 88 of our readership is against the idea of a parade citing that theres other Budget Priorities for the military. Its a very heavy military readership. Is there really the right thing to do at a time when the militarys trying to get back to readiness levels, hurt by c. R. s, hurt by operations, why throw a parade . Dana this was an opportunity this has been discussed for a little bit. The president is looking for opportunities to honor our Service Members. And show appreciation. Our allvolunteer force depends on one person of the u. S. Population. Its an extraordinary population. And the president is simply looking for options. And were going to provide him those options. We dont have a plan yet. Were developing those options. And when we do, well present that to the white house and the president will ultimately decide. Reporter would some of the options be, instead of a parade, do Something Else to honor the military . Other options that are not parades . Dana there are several options that are possible. And so again, we are in the initial stages of planning and but the bottom line is we want to honor our Service Members. That is the intent. And so well provide him with options and then well go from there. Reporter when you say you dont want to get into the details of the identity of the proregime forces, does it mean that the pentagon is ruling out that those proregime forces were, like, fighters backed by iran . Dana im simply not going to speculate on the composition of the force. Reporter what about the casualties among the syrian forces, the prosyrian forces . I mean, there are many numbers, some reports are talking about more than 100 proregime forces were killed. Do you have any information on that . Could you confirm this number . The more than 100 . Dana i dont have numbers on that. And i cant confirm the numbers on the agressers side. Here in the middle. Reporter question about the budget rollout monday. Is what youre going to present monday, will that be reflective of the top lines were seeing on capitol hill and what kind of detail are you going to be able to provide if what you had to do is now going to be amended or edited or changed . Dana we need to make sure that the deal goes through. We need everyone to come to a resolution. We will roll it out, it is the top line. I will let i will wait until we actually roll it out. But its important know that the defense the National Defense strategy informed those top lines. And so this is a strategy driven budget. So a great deal of care was taken to ensure that were rebuilding readiness and that we are remedying some of the shortfalls that weve had in the past. Reporter on monday were going to see something relevant then . Its not going to be Place Holding numbers or the budget will be relevant to what the Defense Department actually wants to get out of that top line . Dana yes, they will be rel vanlt. Reporter will we get justification on that level of detail . Dana let me take that and i will come back to you. Reporter on the syria strike. The Syrian Government called the strike a war crime and the russian army said that the u. S. Goal is to capture economic assets. With such a strong reaction like this are you concerned about the safety of other u. S. Advisors that are imbedded with s. D. F. Troops . And do you believe the strike was a proportionate response to the attack . Dana we have the inherent right to defend ourselves. And we had seen a buildup for over a week. It was unprovoked. We are comfortable and the secretarys comfortable with the judgment of our commanders on the ground. With respect to syria, we are there, our mission hasnt changed. We are there to defeat isis. They are on the run. But its not finished. And so theres still work to be done. Reporter a quick followup on the parade. Usually military parades celebrate a military victory. In afghanistan the taliban continued to make strides. The political situation in iraq is frackturd. And the Syrian Civil War doesnt seem to be neering an end. So whats the military victory would this parade be celebrating . Dana the intent behind the president s request was to honor our military Service Members. And their sacrifices. And to show our appreciation for what they do. Thats the intent. And we are working to provide different options for the president to decide. In the back. Reporter i have quick questions on syria. First of all, have there been any is there any plan of how to react to that, the eventuality that that may happen . And the second question would you are focused on [inaudible] thats the main goal. But it would be unwise not to have like a longterm strategy. Whats going to happen once you defeat isis . I mean, the situation in syria is really [inaudible] will you simply leave . Will you recover the weapons . Whats the plan . Dana the military goal is to defeat isis in syria. Our position is to provide our diplomats with the strongest position so that they can find a political, a diplomatic solution through the geneva process. Had thats the goal thats the goal. Reporter on the u. S. Casualties, i also ask, do you have any type of plan or any options dana with respect to the u. S. Reporter [inaudible] like the one that took place yesterday. Maybe more common nowadays. What would be the reaction . Dana if were attacked we will defend ourselves. Reporter what is the pentagon doing to ensure that military members who either are on active duty or with contracts, who are Daca Recipients, are ot deported . Theres over 800 of them, were told, by the pentagon. What are you doing to protect these people . Dana we are always going to respect the service of our Service Members. Right now we are working with our colleagues at the justice and at the department of Homeland Security with the way forward. Ultimately this is a legislative decision. And so well continue to work with them to ensure that we do that we comply with the law. Reporter let me i think everyone understands that President Trump has not hype thetically left the door open hypothetically left the door open for Daca Recipients in this country being deported. A legislative fix is hypothetical. His statements are not. So what is being done by the u. S. Military, by the Defense Department, to protect these military members and people who have signed contracts to serve from being deported . Dana there are about 900 Service Members who are Daca Recipients. We respect their service. And well continue to do that. We will also work alongside our colleagues within justice and Homeland Security to find a way forward. That is the purview of those departments. Immigration, citizenship, that is their purview. So well work with them. But continue to respect and honor the service that these Service Members have given. Reporter so to be clear, for these military people, for these 800 daca military recipients, there are no i just want to make sure i understand exactly. There are no special protections that they can continue to serve in the military or join the military with their signed contracts, they are in fact, even as active duty military members, they are subject to deportation . Dana we are going to ensure reporter youre not saying theres no special category. Dana there is there are some provisions, which ill have to come back to you, but considering what sort of status theyre in, whether theyre applying for citizenship, there are different things. But again, that is all within the purview of justice and Homeland Security. We respect and admire all of their work. But there is a political decision that has to be made. And we will work with our colleagues in the inner agency to ensure that we follow the law. Reporter can i follow up on two other things youve mentioned . I want to make sure i understood the other question. On the russian deconfliction, i want to go back to that. Because i am confused how that is viewed as a success when in fact, go back, the russians knew about this, they knew the troops were coming. Conversations. And nothing you said until you fired at the opposition force, until you fired against them, could the russians influence these people to turn around. Question one, i still dont understand the answer how that is a success of the russian deconfliction line. The only success appears to be that the russians promised themselves not to shoot at us. And the other question i didnt understand was, the very first question. Who pays for the parade . Theres sort of two choices here. Its either taxpayer money or its not. Thats not in the planning options. The question is, who pays for it . Dana to your first question, why was it a success . The deconfliction line worked because, npping one, the russians number one, the russians we deconflicked and they understood and didnt fire ounce. Its good to not be fired on. Two, the deconfliction line allowed us to no, deconflick and understand where everyone was. And we were able to defend ourselves. The agressers turned away. They went back. I would ask you to go to the russians about what their influence is. For us, the deconfliction line orked. Reporter on the Sexual Harassment policy, was this in response to anything specific . Was this secretary mat s idriven . Was secretary mattisdrisken . Was the secretary simply saying enough is enough . And will you give us specifics on what it does . Does it increase punishment . Walk us through it. Dana in ndaa of 2013, Congress Actually mandated that we have a policy. When undersecretary which willky came in and he said in his testimony, this is one of the first things he was going to tackle within his first six weeks and he halls. There have been other policies. Lets be clear. This is a comprehensive policy. Each service, d. O. D. , components have harassment policies. But the reporting chains are different. The tracking, the data is different. So what this policy does is it provides a framework so that theres a commonality with respect to tracking offenders, how we keep data, and how what services have to be provided. To include you have to have unanimous reporting. That has to be possible. So, this is a first step. They have stood up a group, a working group. An equality opportunity working group, to deal with some of the other issues. Because this is a very large enterprise. This policy only covers Service Members. And so this is a first step. But within 90 days the services all have to provide implementation process. Reporter a quick follow on daca. Do you know any daca Service Members who are deployed and if they are deployed, will there have to come back and then be deported . Dana i do not know but i will take that. Reporter two questions, please. One, what would be the secretarys message to the millions of afghans who are saying that we are now in 2018 and still they are living in the dark after attacks by al qaeda and all of that, and they want to see a light at the end of the tunnel. What . And then the second question will be on china. In the region [inaudible] theyre saying the time has come for the u. S. To stand up against china because it [inaudible] to the regional nations. Dana with respect to the Afghan People. I think the Afghan People should be harden heartened by the implementation of the south asia strategy. Its a regional strategy. Tomorrow the secretary will go to fort benning to visit. T is a uniquely highly Trained Group of seasoned commanders who are going to advise conventional forces. Wherever the coalition has advised, mostly special forces, the afghans win. And so with this strategy, we are training at the tactical level. So that will enhance the capabilities of the conventional forces. So they should be heartened by that. Because with that increased capability, they will be able to take the fight to the taliban, to our who are desperate, who are murderous. And they can ensure that they stop the violence, that they support the constitution, and that they come to the negotiation table. With respect to china. In the National Defense strategy, the secretary lays out that china is a strategic competitor. We will continue to have to look at what china does. We will confront china where we have to and well work with them when we can. But its important to understand that russia and china both look to undermine american leadership. And so thats why its so important that we do have stable budgets. Because theres an investment thats required to ensure that we expand the competitive space. And thats the message with respect to china. Reporter on the military parade. What cities are being considered and what are the considerations going to be given to host cities . Dana we are, again, in the nacent stages of putting that together. There are several different options. But nothing has been set in stone. We are putting together several options. The army is the lead and when we have those options, well present those to the president. Reporter we dont know if its going to be in washington, d. C. , or this area . Dana we dont know that. There are options and we will explore those and then this president will ultimately decide. Reporter on the daca issue. Secretary mattis has spoken constantly about readiness and lethality being his number one priority. It seems to me that having 800 or 900 Service Members who dont know what their status might be going forward, seems to be a readiness issue to me. Does the secretary consider that issue a readiness problem . If its not taken care of . Quickly . Dana the secretary thinks that we need to resolve these issues because, one, tonight the c. R. Expires. And we could be in a shutdown. The secretarys looking through the lens of lethality on everything. We will work with our colleagues. But ultimately immigration and citizenship, those are within the purview of the department of justice. And its also an issue for the legislature. We have time for a few more questions. Reporter mattis is going to nato next week. Dana yes. Reporter reuters wrote an interesting story that in january he wrote to nato asking for a semipermanent presence in iraq. Did he write such a letter and will that be a message he lays out . Dana the secretary will at nato lay out, one, the National Defense strategy. The secretary has talked often about nato members doing more. To include contributions to iraq and afghanistan. There are now 70 members of the coalition for isis and 41 with respect to resolute support. Hell continue to carry that message. He often says countries with alliances thrive. His mission there is to ensure that we continue to strengthen that alliance. Your second question . Reporter did he write a letter to nato articulating his desire for a semipermanent presence . In iraq . Dana there was a letter. I dont know the exact details of that. But the secretary often communicates with our nato with our nato partners about their contributions. Reporter harassment. You said Something Interesting about banning offensive jokes. Who would determine the jokes and will you have a murder board . Seriously. This is a freedom of speech issue too. Offensiveness is in the eye of the ear. Is there going to be a list of what cons cutes constitutes offensive words . Dana i like that you got eorge karlen in there. Sfp now im running george karlen things in my head. Thank you. The goal of the harassment policy is to address all issues of harassment. So, the implementation policies will be developed by the services. They will come up with the framework. O. S. D. , the undersecretary for p r, will then look at those standards, look at what their proposals are, and determine if theyre consistent with the goals of this framework. Theres a working group. We have to the point of the harassment policy is to ensure that we have a safe workplace. No one should feel intimidated. No one should feel as though they cant do their job without being discriminated against. I mean, this also goes to hazing. This goes to political beliefs, religious beliefs. But those details will be developed by the services and then this working group will work with them to ensure consistency. And standardization. Reporter [inaudible] whats an offensive joke to one may be funny but bawdy to a few. So thats an issue. Reporter hi, how are you . Can we talk northern syria. I wondered if theres been any new communication with turkey. Fter the visit the general drew a red line saying the u. S. Wasnt going to be going anywhere from there. And any signs of turkey either holding their line or not putting pulling back . Additionally, the general in raqqa made a call to the world to come to the aid of the host conflict Stability Operations there. Has there been any response or is the civilian side working any asks or options out there for that . Dana yes. So, one, were going to continue to support our the s. D. F. In the fight against isis. And, yes, theres more being done with respect to stabilization. But more needs to be done. We need more help from the International Community with respect to stabilizing. Because isis is not finished. But part of also the conversation the secretary will have in nato, as well as in rome at the deisis panel, is where do we go . And what can we contribute . Its important the second priority of the secretarys ais in alliances and partnerships. We need our friends and partners and allies to help in this. Deisis isis is not defeated. It remains a global threat. And we need the help of our allies and partners to ensure that we address it. Reporter any responses . Dana we are, we are. And then maybe i can tell you more once the secretary returns from rome. How about that . One more . Ok. Reporter thank you. You said that you dont want to make war against syria, against the syrian regime. How are you going to avoid that . Because they already said publicly that they are going fter s. D. F. And youre continuing to support them. Dana we support s. D. F. With respect to defeating isis. We will continue to support them. Our goal is to ensure that our diplomats can negotiate from a position of strength with respect to the geneva process. Its our diplomats who will resolve ultimately what happens with respect to syria. Reporter if the fight is only tween the c. I. A. And the troops and s. D. F. And there is no isis there, you are not going to defend them . Dana isis is still there. And our mission is still to defeat isis. Thank you all. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for cupping. We look forward to seeing you coming. We look forward to seeing you monday for the budget brief. Well send an advisory out for that prior to. Thank you, have a good day. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National able satellite corp. 2018] less than 6 1 2 hours to go before a possible Government Shutdown at midnight tonight. Things have come to a bit a stand still on capitol hill. Just to recap, the house this week on tuesday passed the continuing resolution, which would fund the government through march 23. The current one expires tonight at midnight. Yesterday in the senate, leaders announced a 300 billion budget deal. The house today is waiting on the senate to begin work on that. The house the senate will debate that continuing resolution and they will add the budget deal to that as an amendment. But so far things are at a log jam in the senate. Heres the reporting of Rebecca Shabad of cbs news on what one of the holdups is in the u. S. Senate. The headline, rand paul holds up vote on government funding bills. Congress approaches shutdown deadline. She writes that senator rand paul is holding up a vote on a bill that would keep the government funded in order to avert a Government Shutdown early friday morning. The Kentucky Republican explained in an interview with fox news that this afternoon why hes blocking the vote on the measure. It includes a bipartisan budget deal to lift spending caps. Hes demanding that g. O. P. Leaders allow a 15minute vote on an amendment he crafted to maintain current spending ceilings. Thats from cbs. You can read more at cbsnews. Com. Reaction from republican senator lindsey graham, among others, about senator pauls stand and senator graham tweeting so things in the senate not moving forward. Theyre in session but nothing happening yet on the continuing resolution. You can follow the senate over on cspan2. The house meanwhile, house democrats, are meeting at this hour in a conference room. The caucus meeting on how the vote will go eventually in the u. S. House. The House Republicans meanwhile also counting noses, counting votes. And heres dennis ross of lorida, a tweet so again, the timeline, the senate finishes up work on the continuing resolution. They have to begin it first. When that happens, we do not know. They were expected to start this afternoon at 1 45. But they have not moved forward to the c. R. Just yet. Theyll finish their work on it. It comes back to house rules. Then the house floor. All of this in a now nearly sixhour time frame if theyre going to avoid a potential Government Shutdown at midnight tonight. Well keep you posted on schedules, the house obviously live here on cspan, when they gavel back. In and the senate is live over on cspan2. Next up, though, a bit more about the budget deal announced yesterday by senator schumer and mcconnell. Washington journal continues. Host