Watch Live: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin holds first press conference since hospitalization

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is expected to take questions from the press Thursday morning for the first time since his secret hospitalization and since the deadly drone attack in Jordan that killed three American soldiers.

On Sunday, Austin issued a statement in response to their deaths by warning the U.S. "will respond at a time and place of our choosing." CBS News has learned that plans have been approved for a series of retaliatory strikes in Iraq or Syria potentially over several days. 

In the news conference Thursday, Austin is likely to face questions about the drone attack, ongoing tensions in the Middle East and his recent hospitalization and cancer diagnosis, which he hid from the White House, Congress and the public.