Highlights of our @newshour interview with @JakeSullivan46:

Q: Two US officials confirm the administration gave Ukraine authorization to use ATACMS in Russia. Why?

A: "We don't have anything to announce or confirm on that today. So those remain unconfirmed reports. One thing I would point out, though, for context, is that Russia has just engaged in a massive escalation in this war. They have brought in a foreign army, North Korea, North Korean troops to the front lines of the battle. And that represents a sea change in the nature of this conflict." Q: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said if there were official confirmation, it would mean direct involvement of the US in the war--

A: "If the U.S. were to authorize the use of any weapon system, including this weapon system, it wouldn't mean direct U.S. participation in the war. It would mean a continuation of the policy we've had since the war began, which is that we supply the means to Ukraine to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and they fight the war."

BREAKING from @TheJusticeDept: Attorney General Merrick Garland: “The Justice Department has charged an asset of the Iranian regime who was tasked by the regime to direct a network of criminal associates to further Iran’s assassination plots against its targets, including President-elect Donald Trump.” From the complaint:
"According to SHAKERI, in approximately mid-to-late September 2024, IRGC Official-I asked SHAKERI to put aside his other efforts on behalf of the IRGC and focus on surveilling, and, ultimately, assassinating, former President of the United States, Donald J. Trump ("Victim-4" herein) ...

NEW: Senior Administration official briefing reporters says an Iranian strike on Israel could bring "cataclysmic consequences":

"A major military attack--there's nothing that has happened that would justify such an act. We are prepared to counter, and defend Israel, should that come. But we would also encourage the Iranians--and I know many are--not to move down that road, because the consequences could be quite cataclysmic, particularly, for Iran." On ceasefire talks, the official expressed guarded optimism that a deal can be made next week: "This process... is now in the end game"; “A deal that is ready to be closed"; “The package is basically there.”

From our @JakeSullivan46 interview:
US agreement with Ukraine allows Ukraine to fire US weapons into Russia across from Sumy:
"It extends to anywhere that Russian forces are coming across the border from the Russian side to the Ukrainian side to try to take additional Ukrainian territory... That's happened in Kharkiv. We have seen initial indications that Russia has made exploratory moves across in Sumy. And so it would apply there as well." F-16s will be based inside Ukraine:
"The plan is to put the F-16s in Ukraine. And the Bilateral Security Agreement that @POTUS and @ZelenskyyUa signed reinforced this point, that we want to help Ukraine have this capability. It should be a capability based in Ukraine."

Senior administration official confirms the first known pause of weapons shipments to Israel:

"We have been engaging in a dialogue with Israel in our Strategic Consultative Group format on how they will meet the humanitarian needs of civilians in Rafah… “and how to operate differently against Hamas there than they have elsewhere in Gaza. Those discussions are ongoing and have not fully addressed our concerns.  As Israeli leaders seemed to approach a decision point on such an operation…

In his final interview after 3 years as @INDOPACOM Commander and a 40-year career, Adm. "Lung" Aquilino and I talk Philippines, Taiwan, Tik-Tok, regional balance of power:
"As I look at over my 3 years, the security environment has changed drastically, and not in a good way." On Chinese water cannon, laser, boat attacks on Philippine Coast Guard:
"Chinese actions are certainly destabilizing to the region. They are putting at risk the Philippine Coast Guardsmen, sailors, and those fishermen that operate in their EEZ within full rights of Philippines"

NEW details from a senior administration official:
- This is a "full pause in military operations throughout Gaza," and the US hopes it will lead to a pause along the Lebanon border as well.
- The deal is expected to come with a "surge" in humanitarian supplies into Gaza. - The intention of the first round was to release _all_ women and children, but Hamas indicated it could only deliver 50. Official said the deal is structured to "incentivize" Hamas to release all 90 or so women and children.

Senior Administration official gave wide ranging briefing to reporters almost 4 weeks after #October7. Highlights:

Future of Gaza:
- “We want to see unified governance between West Bank and Gaza." Clearest reference yet to desire for Palestinian Authority to take over Gaza Expectations for the next week:
- The @IDF air campaign will get less intense, IDF will focus more on the ground operation.

NSC Spokesman John Kirby just delivered an unusually specific warning about possible Serbian military action into Kosovo: Kirby said this week's attack on police in northern Kosovo had "high level of sophistication and training" with “military grade” cache of weapons. “Not the kind of attack carried out randomly, or ad hoc… These kind of arms represent a threat to Kosovo, international personnel."

.@JakeSullivan46 met China's top diplomat in Vienna for 8 hours over 2 days, the highest level bilateral conversations since @SecBlinken canceled Beijing visit over the spy balloon incident. Senior administration official just briefed. Highlights: The meeting was “really candid, substantive and constructive.”

On the balloon, official said, “We’re seeking to move beyond that.” Asked again, the official repeated the point: “We’re clear on the breach of sovereignty… but we are trying to look forward.”

Significant @ZelenskyyUa: Ukraine doesn't have enough armored vehicles to launch counteroffensive yet.
“In terms of how motivated our military are, we’re ready. In terms of enough personnel in our brigades, we’re ready. In terms of our equipment, not everything has arrived yet… "We’re still expecting some things. They will reinforce our counteroffensive. And most importantly, they will protect our people. We’re expecting armored vehicles. They arrive in batches...

NEW: Director @CIA Bill Burns tells @JudyWoodruff @TikTok is a threat to national security. "The parent company of TikTok is a Chinese company, the Chinese government is able to insist upon extracting the private data of a lot of TikTok users in this country... "and also to shape the content of what goes on to TikTok, as well, to suit the interests of the Chinese leadership. I think those are real challenges and a source of real concern."

Our interview with @INDOPACOM commander Adm. John Aquilino:
"This is about two incompatible visions for the future: free and open and a legacy of liberty, or authoritarian, closed, opaque, and a tradition of tyranny. That's the choice nations might have to make in the future." On whether there is a sense of urgency on Taiwan: "We at @INDOPACOM need to move faster. We, the U.S. government, need to move faster."

NEW @G7 statement: "The G7 and Australia, as current members of the Price Cap Coalition, on 2 December 2022 reached consensus on a maximum price of 60 U.S. dollars per barrel for seaborne Russian-origin crude oil." Which means the @G7, EU and Australia have agreed to something that has never been tried before: a cap on the price oil. Europe is putting energy on the table for the first time, and willing to play with a core commodity at the start of winter.

Ahead of @DOD_Policy's discussion at @BrookingsInst today, our @newshour interview:
"For many of our adversaries, the salience of nuclear weapons is going up, not going down." Why Admin failed to gain support for No First Use or Sole Purpose: "Our allies and partners that fall under the US nuclear umbrella worry about a host of strategic threats. They see the US nuclear commitment as fundamental to the extended deterrence commitment we have made...

Our @newshour interview with @DmytroKuleba: "I have to be ready to talk even with the devil... But I'm also a human being... After everything Russia has done... I have a strong feeling the best negotiating table with Russia is the battlefield." Kuleba tells me Kyiv would view any diplomacy initiated by Russia skeptically:

"The moment we will hear from Putin or someone from his entourage that they want to engage in talks, we shouldn't rush to respond positively to it...

NEW: In an interview at @yes_ukraine, @oleksiireznikov tells me Ukrainian forces have not yet entered Izium, "but our troops are very close." Says Ukrainian forces have liberated 1200 square kilometers / 460 square miles in Kharkiv. .@oleksiireznikov vows the offensive will continue: "We can move down on the map in the direction in Luhansk Oblast also, so it can help us to liberate the next territory."

NEW: Our @NewsHour interview with Ashraf Ghani:
On why he left:
"It was not a situation where sacrificing myself would have saved the Republic. On the contrary, it would have created another trauma. And we have had enough of trauma in our history." Ghani acknowledges his passport was prepared earlier in the day, but "because my wife was leaving. The passport as an eventuality had been prepared, but I didn't have plans to leave. If I had plans to leave I would've left with something other than Afghan clothes I was wearing"

Senior Administration Official:
Drone strike
•618 am Kabul time
•2 hellfire missiles hit patio of safehouse where Zawahiri was standing
•“We are confident that we killed Zawahiri and no other individual.” “Family members were purposely not targeted, and unharmed.” Zawahiri’s role/impact of death
•“Continued to pose an active threat to US persons and security.”
•“Used his authority to provide strategic direction on AQ worldwide, including on attacks in the US.” “I want to emphasize the current nature of that guidance… to target us.”

NEW from Senior U.S. Defense Official on the war in #Ukraine:

Russia has committed nearly 85% of its military to the war in Ukraine… It has removed military coverage from other areas on their border and around the world. Russia is presently launching tens of thousands artillery rounds per day. “They can’t keep it up forever,” the official said. “They have expended a lot of their smarter munitions... Their capabilities are getting dumber.”

BREAKING: @Potus announces new US military deployments to Europe:
1. Create permanent HQ for US 5th Army Corps in Poland
2. Deploy additional rotational brigade to Romania
3. Deploy 2 additional F-35 squadrons to the UK
4. "Enhance" rotational deployments in Baltics 5. Deploy 2 additional Navy destroyers to Spain, bringing total from 4 to 6
6. Deploy "additional" air defense to Germany, Italy
“At a moment Putin has shattered peace in Europe... US and allies are stepping up, proving NATO is more needed than ever, and more important than ever"