left singapore. the truth is they accelerated the start date of this exercise and curtailed the length of it so she could get it done and start heading north. the second thing that happened was from an operational perspective, there wasn't a lot of clarity in terms of moving that information up the chain of command. i think the white house should get a pass on this. i think the information didn't filter up to them the way it should have from the military and the pentagon and it is unfortunate but i don't think there is any malfeasance here. >> they could have told the truth and the white house could have told the truth and when they knew it was being reported differently, they could have corrected it and they didn't. and, i mean, i'll ask the ambassador here. you know, as a reporter, how can you trust what's being said when something like this happens, what are you supposed to take for this? we don't have satellites and look and see. what are you supposed to do with