ii era, in which the asia region has been able to stabilize and the conditions in which china was able to grow so rapidly were maintained. and we're very proud of the work that we did after world war ii to help rebuild both asia and europe, to help establish the international norms and rules that facilitated growing global trade and connections and travel and interactions, and to help maintain the peace. since i have been president, my goal has been to consistently

engage with china in a way that is constructive, to manage our differences, and to maximize opportunities for cooperation, and i have repeatedly said that i believe it is in the interests of the united states to see china grow, so pull people out of poverty, to expand its markets, because a successful and stable and peaceful china can then serve as an effective partner with us on a range of international challenges. last night during our discussions, i -- i mentioned to president xi that as powerful as the united states is, the nature of the biggest challenges we

face, things like climate change, or terrorism, or pandemic, or refugees, those are not issues that any one nation will take on. and we recognize because of our strength, and the excellence of our military, we can carry larger burden, china can't solve these problems alone. we have got to work object to. we have got to cooperate. and i think that can happen as long as we continue to recognize that there's a difference between friendly competition, which we have with some of our closest friends and allies like great britain or germany, and a competition that tilts the playing field unfairly in one direction or another. that's typically where tensions

between our countries arise is our desire to uphold international norms and rules, even as we recognize that we need to update some of these international institutions to reflect china's growth and strength and power, so president xi mentioned imf reform, quota reform, that's an area that we fully support and want to implement a greater voice and vote for china in that institution, reflective of its strength. the same will be true when we go up to the united states on peace-keeping initiatives. china is able to project its capabilities in a way that can be extremely helpful in reducing conflict, and in all of those issues, as well as education, science, technology, we think that the opportunities for

cooperation are there as long as there's reciprocity, transparency and fairness in the relationship. what i have said in the past to president xi is given china's size, we recognize there is still a lot of work to be done, but we can't treat china as if it's still a very poor, developing country, as it might have been 50 years ago. it is now a powerhouse, and that means it has got responsibilities, and expectations in terms of helping to uphold international rules that might not have existed before, and that is something that china should welcome. that's part of the deal of being on the world stage when you are a big country is you have got more to do. my gray hair testifies to that.

[ laughter ] >> julie davis. >> reporter: thank you mr. president. i know you said you dwant to prejudge the next speaker, but i wonder if you could tell us what speaker boehners resignation tells you about the republican party and your ability to work with congress in the remainder of your term? particularly since it's coming at a time when you are trying to negotiate to avert a government shutdown? does this make it easier or harder? and do you think you'll be able to move forward on w the congress on projects like planned parenthood and other issues. and for president xi you have experienced an economic downturn in your country with the stock market crisis, and investors globally have been concerned about some of the actions you have taken to intervene in the stock market. i wonder if you could say what you told president obama or what you can say today to restore confidence that these

interventions will not have spillover effects into the global economy in the future. thank you. >> like i said i'm not going to prejudge how i'll be able to work with the next speaker, because i don't know who that is. i expect there will be a lot of debate inside the republican caucus about who they want to lead them and in what direction. it's not as if there's been a multitude of areas where the house republican caucus has sought cooperation previously. so i don't necessarily think that there's going to be a big shift. i -- i do think that speaker boehner sometimes has a tough position, because there were members in his caucus who saw

compromise of any sort as -- as weakness, or betrayal, and when you have divided government, when you have a democracy, compromise is necessary, and i think speaker boehner sometimes had difficulty persuading members of his caucus of that. hopefully they have learned some lessons from 2011, the last time that they sought to introduce a non-budget item into the budget discussions, at that time it was obamacare, and they were going to shut down the government for that purpose. it ended up really hurting the economy, slowing it down, and caused a lot of hardship and a lot of problems for a lot of people, because it turns out actually government provides a lot of vital services. our military provides protection, our agencies keep

our air clean and our water clean, and, you know, our -- our -- you know, people every single day are helping to respond to emergencies, and helping families get social security checks, and helping them, you know, deal with an ailing parent, and when you insist that unless i get my way on this one particular issue, i'm going to shut down all of those services and by the way leave -- >> we are going to cut into this press conference to listen to speaker boehner and what he has to say about his resignation. >> -- so i'm proud of what we have accomplished, but more than anything, my first job as speaker is to protect the institution. a lot of you know that -- now

know that my plan was to step down at the end of last year. i decided in november of 2010 that when i was elected speaker that serving two terms would have been plenty. and -- but in june of last year, when it become clear that the majority leader lost his election, i frankly didn't believe it was right for me to leave at the end of last year. and so my goal was to leave at the end of this year. so i planned actually on my birthday, november 17th to announce i was leaving at the end of the year. but it's become clear to me that this prolonged leadership turmoil would do irreparable harm to the institution. so this morning, i informed my colleagues that i would resign from the speakership, and resign from congress at the end of october. now as you have often heard me say, this isn't about me.

it's about the people. it's about the institution. just yesterday we witnessed the awesome sight of the pope addressing the greatest legislative body in the world, and i hope we will all heed his call to live by the golden rule. and last night i started thinking about this, and this morning i woke and said my prayers as i always do, and i decided, you know, today is the day that i'm going to do this. as simple has the. that's the code i have always lived by, if you do the right things for the right reasons, the right things will happen. i know good things lie ahead for this house and this country, and i'm proud of what we have accomplished. especially proud of my team. this is my 25th year here, and i have succeeded in large part because i put a staff and team together, many of whom have been

with me for a long time. and without a great staff, you can't be a great member, and you certainly can't be a great speaker. i want to thank my family for putting up with this all of these years, my poor girls who are now 37 and 35, their first campaign photo was in july of 1981, and so they've -- they've had to endure all of this. it's one thing for me to have to endure it. i have got thick skin, but the girls and my wife have had to put up with a lot over the years. let me express my gratitude to my constituents, who have sent me here 13 times over the last 25 years. you can't get here without getting votes, but -- and i -- i said this often, people ask me, what is the greatest thing about being speaker?

or about being an elected official, and i said, it's the people you get to meet. i have met tens of thousands of people in my own district that i would have never met if i had not decided to run for congress. and over the years i have traveled, i have met tens of thousands of additional people all over the country. you meet rich people, poor people, interesting people, a few boring ones along the way, but i can tell you that 99.9% of the people i meet on the road, anywhere, could not be -- could not be nicer than -- than they have been. it's -- it's been -- it's really been wonderful. it's been an honor to serve in this institution, and with that, all right. junior go ahead. >> reporter: [ inaudible ]?

>> really? oh, what a surprise. >> reporter: [ inaudible ]? >> no. no. yesterday was a wonderful day. it really was. and was emotional yesterday? i think i was. i was really emotional in a moment that really no one saw, as the pope and i were getting ready to exit the building, we found ourselves alone, and the pope grabbed my left arm and said some very kind words to me about my commitment to kids and education, and when the pope puts his arm around me and pulls him to him, and says please pray for me. well, who am i to pray for the pope, but i did. >> reporter: [ inaudible ]?

>> it's -- listen, it was never about the vote, all right? there was no doubt about whether i can survive a vote. but i don't want my members to go through this, and i don't want the institution to go through this. especially when i knew i was thinking about walking out the door anyway, so it was the right time to do it, and frankly i am entirely comfortable doing it. >> reporter: [ inaudible ]? >> that's right. i got plenty of people -- i have got plenty of people following me, but this turmoil that has been churning now for a couple of months, it's not good for the members or the institution, and if i wasn't planning on leaving here soon, i can tell you i would not have done this. >> reporter: [ inaudible ]? >> yeah. >> reporter: [ inaudible ]?

>> well, no the members -- i'm glad i made this announcement at the conference with all of my republican colleagues, because it was -- it was -- it was a very good moment to help kind of rebuild the team. listen, i feel good about what i have done. i know that i every day -- i've tried to do the right thing for the right reasons, and tried to do the right thing for the country. >> reporter: [ inaudible ]? >> i'm going to be here for another five weeks, and i'm not -- i'm not going to leave -- i'm not going to sit around here and do nothing for the next 30 days.

there is a lot of work that needs to be done, and i plan on getting as much of it done as i can before i exit. >> reporter: [ inaudible ]? >> i'm going to make the same decisions i'm would have made regardless of this. >> reporter: [ inaudible ]? >> probably. probably. >> reporter: [ inaudible ] had you just had enough [ inaudible ]? >> no, i would not describe it as having had enough. that's not it at all. when you are the speaker of the house, your number one responsibility is to the institution, and -- and having a vote like this in the institution, i don't think is very healthy. and so i have done everything i

can over my term as speaker to strengthen the institution, and frankly, my move today is another step in that effort to strengthen the institution. >> reporter: [ inaudible ]? >> hopefully not. >> reporter: [ inaudible ]? >> well, if we -- if we congress stays focused on the american people's priorities, there will be no problem at all. and while we have differences between democrats and republicans, the goal here is -- one of the leaders -- is to find the common ground. i talked to president bush and president obama this morning. i talked to all of my legislative leaders, and i have a very good reslainship with all of them. and i said at the end of the day the leaders have to work with

each other, to trust each other, to find the common ground to get things done. so if the congress stayed focused on what is important to the american people, they will get along just fine. >> reporter: [ inaudible ]? >> oh, i would say they were shocked. surprised. >> reporter: [ inaudible ]? >> yeah, i told mr. mccarthy about two minutes before i spoke what i was going to do. i had to tell him five times, because he didn't believe me. i said you better believe me. [ laughter ] >> reporter: [ inaudible ]? >> listen, i'm not going to be here to vote on the next speaker, but that's up to the members. having said that, i think that kevin mccarthy would make an excellent speaker. yes, jacky? >> reporter: [ inaudible ]? >> well, i told my wife. she said good. [ laughter ]

>> i told -- my chief of staff talked late yesterday, and i told him i was thinking that today might be the day, and i told him i would sleep on it. so before i went to sleep last night. i told my wife, i said, you know, i might just make an announcement tomorrow. what do you mean? what kind of announcement? tell them it's time to go. so this morning i woke up and walked up to starbucks as usual, and got my coffee, and came back and read, and walked up to pete's diner and got home, and thought, yeah, i think today is the day. so my senior staff was having a meeting at 8:45. and i walked in before i opened the house and told them, this is the day. it is going to happen some day, why not today? >> reporter: [ inaudible ]. >> i know. paul?

>> reporter: [ inaudible ]? >> well, i told kevin if he is next speaker that his number one responsibility is to protect the institution. nobody else around here has an obligation like that. secondly, i told him the same thing i just told you. if you do the right things for the right reasons, the right things will happen. >> reporter: [ inaudible ]? >> just all of the -- this stuff i read about in the paper and the -- you know, it's -- i -- i

really don't want to hurt -- the institution hurt, and i don't want my colleagues hurt. i don't want to put my colleagues through all of this. for what? so -- yes? pardon me? what will i miss? well of course all of you. [ laughter ] >> i don't know what i'm going to miss, because i haven't missed it yet. but i'll certainly miss the camaraderie of the house. you know, i -- let me tell you another story that was really kind of interesting, maxine waters and i, democrat from southern california, came here 25 years ago in the same class. now, you know, there's nothing about my politics and maxine waters politics that is anywhere close. but yesterday about 5:30 she called my office.

i called her back, and she said, you know, i have watched you for 25 years here, we came here together and watched your career, and watched you today, and she said i just want to tell you something. i'm really proud of you. you know, listen, i have got the best relationships on both sides of the aisle, because i treat people fairly and treat them honestly, and of course i'm going to miss -- certainly miss my colleagues, yes. >> reporter: [ inaudible ]? >> as i mentioned earlier, the fact that i did this with my colleagues this morning, then we proceeded to have an hour and a

half conversation, i thought was a -- was a unifying moment. and between that and the pope's call for living by the golden rule yesterday, hope springs eternal. >> reporter: [ inaudible ]? [ laughter ] >> i was never in the legacy business. you all heard me say it, i'm a regular guy with a big job. and i never thought i would be in congress much less ever be speaker, but people know me as being fair, being honest, and being straightforward, and trying to do the right thing every day on behalf of the country. that's -- i don't -- i don't need anymore than that.

>> reporter: [ inaudible ]? >> zipdy do da, zipdy eh. [ laughter ] >> reporter: [ inaudible ]? >> i haven't had time to think about what i'm doing in the future. i have no idea. but i do know this, i'm doing this today for the right reasons, and you know what, the right things will happen as a result. thanks. >> speaker john boehner speaking for the first time since we learned that he plans to resign from the u.s. congress at the end of next month. i want to bring in libby casey. libby we have seen a lot of powerful men take the stage in the last few hours. two of the most powerful leaders in the world, and the head of the catholic church, and one of the most powerful men in america, third in line for the

presidency, announcing he is going to step down. can you explain why he reached this decision at this time. >> reporter: what is perhaps is most surprising is the house speaker says he woke up this morning and made the decision. he was mulling it over last night. a huge momentous day yesterday for john boehner, a devout catholic, former alter boy. he invited the pope to speak, and the pope accepted. as he is in this heightened emotional state, he goes home last night, sleeps on it, and makes the announcement this morning. he has faced a fractured caucus for the last five years. there has been a growing division between the tea party conservatives, and other republicans, and the speaker has had a tough job of trying to coalesce them.

he faces yet another huge standingoff possibly as early as next week because of the looming government shutdown yesterday line, september 30th, the house and senate have to come to an agreement to keep the government funded. so the speaker's timingere even though it may have been a spur of the moment decision, is certainly very significant. what his decision means for the united states right now is we are not likely to see a government shutdown this week, things are still in flux, but it's far more likely we'll see a short-term bill pass the senate on monday, and the house later in the week on tuesday or wednesday. speaker boehner is now no longer bound to any need to try to please all wings of his party. he can work with more main stream republicans and perhaps even democrats to get this short-term bill passed and it will fall to the next speaker of the house to figure out where to go from there.

so the timing is perhaps no accident is the best way to put it. as we heard him reflect on this, he seems to be a man of peace, a little bit sort of giddy -- >> he said zipdy do da. >> right. and if you followed the speakers career, he can be very funny, and very curt and intense, but as he is getting praise from even the likes of president obama, people are calling him honest, a straight shooter, he would tell you the facts, and that's how speaker boehner is describing what he has done with the members of his own caucus. he is saying that he is making this decision out of respect for the institution, there was a potential looming fight over his speakership coming down the pike. we were even expecting to see some news on that today, because the more conservative wing of the party has been challenging

the speaker's authority. the speaker says he was confident he would survive al -- a challenge support, but it would have been a bad sign for republicans as they try to negotiate with the white house and among their own ranks over how to move forward with these budget battles, stephanie. >> libby thank you. i want to get the take from mike viqueira who has covered speaker boehner for a number of years. mike, you heard libby say this is about respect for the institution, is this a case of your interrelationship and you break up, because you know the other person is about to break up with you, and you want to do it first. [ laughter ] >> reporter: yeah, there is an indication -- and libby has given you a great rundown of the details and what is going through the speaker's mind and a

window into the character of john boehner. who wants the job? whether it's kevin mccarthy or something else it is virtually ungovernable. one of the reasons why this is important is because it really illustrates this kasome that has developed in the republican party. there is a group that basically wants to tear down the leadership. wants mitch mcconnell to go, has wanted john boehner to go. the voice of the american people is breaking through in washington, is what they are saying today. we see the deeply divided party. another shutdown fight looming

yet again, another debt ceiling fight looming later in the fall. i think john boehner said i have done this, i have had enough, who needs it? i am taking a walk. you heard him say he was intent on announcing his resignation on his birthday and leaving at the end of the year, and confirming what many of us expected for sometime and that is if eric cantor had not lost his primary in that -- that big upset to yet another tea party conservative, dave brat outside of richmond, john boehner might not even be the speaker to begin with. so if what he says is to be taken at face value, this is something he had been considering a long time. and really, it is a very difficult task ahead of who receiver the next speaker of the house because of this