He may have been there but he misheard or does not get the accent 100%. Listen very carefully multiple times and watch him raise his hand with fingers crossed and you will get it. "Keeping our fingers with reviewers" are the exact words with him physically raising his hand while saying this with fingers crossed.
Not sure how you can interpret to "to king of leaders within the US". Again the accent has stumped many, but in any case everything is good and we know the article is with publishers under review and NWBO is expecting publication soon.