>> for a dvd copy of this program, call the number on your screen. visit us at our website. q&a is also available as c-span podcast. >> moments ago president obama spoke to the press after meeting with victims of the mass shooting in colorado. he is met with members of the delegation and the state's majyor. >> good afternoon, everybody. i want to begin by taking all

the state, local, and federal officials who have responded magnificently to this tragedy. gov. hagen, who has already dealt with a range of natural disasters in the states, has been an extraordinary example of strength. the mayor, who has only been on the job seven months, an who has responded with great strength and leadership, the police chief, who we had an opportunity to speak over the phone, has been dealing with as difficult a set of circumstances as any law enforcement officer has to deal with, and he and his officers have done everything right, by

the book, with great determination and courage, so we are very proud of them, the entire congressional delegation, which is here as well. scripture says he will wipe away every year from their eyes and nestle be no more -- steps shall be no more -- death shall be no more. neither shall there be crying, for the former things have passed away. and when you have the opportunity to deal with families who have lost their loved ones, i come to the not so much as president as i do a father and a husband, and the reason stories like this have such an impact on us comis

because we can understand what it would be to have somebody we love taken from us in this fashion, what it would be like. i had a chance to visit with each family, and most of the conversation was filled with memories. it was an opportunity for families to describe how wonderful their brother or father or son or daughter was and the lives they had touched and the dreams they held for the future. i confessed to them words are always inadequate in these kinds of situations but that my main task was to serve as a representative of the entire country and to let them know we are thinking of them at this moment, and we will continue to think about them each and

every day and that the awareness that not only all of america and much of the world is thinking about them might serve as some comfort. i also tried to assure them that although the perpetrator of this evil act has received a lot of attention over the last couple days, that attention will fade away, and in the end, after he has felt the full force of our justice system, what will be remembered is the good people who were impacted by this tragedy, and i also had a chance to give folks some months -- hugs and to shed some tears but also to share some laughs as they remember the wonderful

lives that these men and women represented. i also had a chance to visit some folks who are going to be ok thanks to the extraordinary efforts of the staff at this hospital, and i just want to thank everybody who has worked tirelessly to deal with this tragedy. some of the stories are remarkable. you see young people who have come in and just two days ago or even 24 hours ago it was not certain whether they would make it, and now suddenly their eyes are open, they are alert, and they are talking, and it reminds you that even in the darkest of life continues, and people

are strong, and people bounceback, and people are resilient, and particularly given so many of the victims were young, it is a great blessing to see how rapidly they are able to recover from some pretty devastating injuries. there is one particular story i want to tell, because this is the last visit i had, and i think it is representative of everything i saw and heard today. i had a chance about five minutes ago to visit with hourly young. -- ali young. ali is 19 years old, and i also have the chance to visit with her best friend, who was 21. stephanie was downstairs with ali as well as her parents when i walked into the room, and i do not think this story has been least i had not read

it yet, but i wanted to share it with you. when the gunman came in and through the canisters, he threw them only a few feet away from ali and stephanie. ali stood up, seeing she might need to do something or at least warn the other people who were there, and she was immediately shot, and she was shot in the neck, and if punctured obtain -- a vein, and immediately she started spirting blood, and apparently, as she dropped down on the floor, stephanie, 21 years old, had the presence to drop down on the ground with her, pulled her out of the aisle, to place her fingers over where ali had been

wounded, and applied pressure the entire time while the gunman was still shooting. ali told stephanie she needed to run. stephanie refuse to go. instead with her other hand, she called 911 on her cellphone. once the swat team came in, but they were still trying to clear the theater. stephanie, with the help of several others, carried ali across two parking lots where the ambulance was waiting, and because of stephanie's timely actions, i just had a conversation with ali downstairs, and she is going to be fine. i do not know how many people at

any age would have the presence of mind stephanie did or the courage ali showed, so as tragic as the circumstances of what we have seen today are, as heartbreaking as it is for the families, it is worth of spending most of our time reflecting on young americans like ali and stephanie because they represent what is best for us, and they assure us that out of this darkness, a brighter day is going to come. to the entire community of aurora, the country is thinking of you. i know there is going to be a vigil and an opportunity for everybody to come together, and i hope all those in attendance

understand the entire country will be there in prayer and reflection today, so thank you. god bless you. god bless all who responded to this tragedy, and i hope over the next several days, the next several weeks, and the next several months we all reflect on how we can do something about some of the senseless violence end of marring -- ends up marring this country but also to reflect on the wonderful people who make this the greatest country on earth. thank you very much, everybody. >> you can see the president's

remarks again tonight at 12:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. president obama continued on to california, spending the night in san francisco. monday morning he traveled to reno, nev. to deliver a speech on veterans. when he returns to the bay area for three campaign events during the day. the british house of commons is in summer recess. today we are going to show you highlights from question time in the australian parliament. the australian prime minister julia gillard and cabinet members answered questions on the economy, including a carbon tax. they also debated the government's position on australia's immigration policy. this is courtesy of apac,

australia's current events channel. ♪ >> hello, today we are going to show highlights. the impact has heightened tensions. during june and a number of boats arrived, but two capsized on the way here. the two major parties both agree that offshore processing of asylum seekers, sending them to another country to have their claims process, would deter people from making the journey here, but they cannot agree where this should take place. we saw in the parliamentary debates a very emotional and heated exchange about what to do about this problem.

we now have a carbon price. good not a carbon tax came into affect, but --, a carbon tax came into effect but is being strongly opposed by the opposition. >> my question is to the acting prime minister. can the acting prime minister name a single head of government that the g-20 conference apart from the australian prime minister who has hit workers and families with an economy wide carbon tax of it least $23 a ton. >> order. >> i have sat at g-20, and there is one thing everyone knows.

there is no stronger economies at the table then australia. of course, what do we get here? day after day, the opposition comes into this house and goes around to the community and talks our economy down, deliberately insulting all those hard-working businesses and millions of workers who have worked hard to make our economy strong. i have been asked by the leader of the opposition how many countries around the g-20 table are putting in place policies to deal with this and putting in place policies to deal with the missions? can i just say this? >> order. the acting prime minister has the court. >> 17 of the g-28 ministers or

85% are put in place at a national level. that is what is going on in the g-20, and i will tell you what. you would be terribly embarrassed, because the fact is the g-20 nations of developed economies and developing economies do appreciate the need to deal with reducing carbon pollution and are putting in place emissions trading schemes. let's go specifically to some of the country sitting around -- >> a member of the opposition on the point of order. >> i asked him if he did name a single country with a $23 a ton carbon tax. a single one. >> the acting prime minister is answering the question. >> i am happy to answer it correctly, madam deputy speaker. over the four years to july,

2011, european carbon prices have traded in the range of $16 to $50. what countries could there be around the g-20 that might be in that situation? there is france. there is italy. there is the united kingdom. there is a range of develop the economies that are part of the european scheme. they will maintain the european price is low at the moment, but there is no reason it will stay there, but what we do know is the carbon prices in the european zone have traded between $16.50 dollars over the four years -- 6 team dollarsand -- 16 dollars and $50. you are so embarrassed because countries are putting in place the mission is trading schemes

because they are dealing with dangerous climate change. >> it was the immigration issue that became the main focus with two votes capsizing -- two boats capsizing carrying asylum seekers. the two sides cannot agree about what to do about this. there was an emotionally charged debate. indent the bill did pass the lower house but not the upper house, her -- in their end, the bill did pass the lower house but not the upper house. >> i want to address the tragedy that occurred last week when an asylum seeker boat capsized with loss of life to. the precise details remain unknown, but what we do know is there is likely to be over 200 people on board this boat,

including 113-year-old boy. -- when including one 13-year- old boy. we are unable to determine how many people lost their lives. 110 survivors have been transferred to authorities on christmas island, and a number have been transferred to the mainland for treatment. this is a dreadful human tragedy. i know members across parliament will be feeling the weight of that, and we can see many who are grieving from this dreadful news ahoy. >> i rise to support the remarks of the prime minister prompted by this latest disaster in the seas to our north. we mourn for the dead. we grieved for the living who have suffered much, and we offer our support to the navel and other personnel who have done what they could in the search

and rescue effort. if there is anyone to blame in a tragic situation like this, who pray forthose a better life in australia. at a time like this, all of us consult our consciences on what is the best course of action to take. i am sure all of us are resolved to put the policies in place that will end forever this evil trade. >> i believe it would be wise for the government to allow the standing order 23 to be amended . i have raised that with the minister on duty. now the minister raised it with the chief government whip, and i believe this matter is of such great importance. there are serious issues, very serious issues that need to be

resolved. the leader of the opposition is moving a motion to allow the bill to be debated and considered that would solve the offshore processing crisis. for the consensus that exists across both parties, i believe the offshore processing should take place in at least 148 countries that have signed the refugee convention, at least 148, and the support was outlined by no other than the prime minister. but it was stated it was the government's policy that she would only send people for offshore processing to a country that has signed. there is the opportunity to pass the bill but reflects a consensus and gives the government of protections the powers they have to ensure our

borders can be strong and that they are not compromised and that our borders are not weakened by the continuation of the policies we have seen since the howard government. i would call on those officers to allow the bill to be considered in the short term. >> i would like to reiterate this bill should pass, not only because of the events today, but because of the events of the last decade, and i urge all members of this house to read least allow this to be tried -- to at least allow this to be tried, and if it does not work, take it to the people, but we should in this chamber allow an executive to do his job. he should in no way be running into fear on community-based attention, on shore assessment, issues of refugees and asylum in australia.

this is trying to stop the loss of lives at sea of people trying to get to australia for a number of reasons. this is trying to reach bilateral agreements with countries in the asia-pacific region to slow the movement of people within our region. this is attempting to try and break criminal syndicates running on the edges of asylum seekers and genuine refugees involved in in city is trades of people smuggling and the one that does not get much air time in australia, but surely the worst crime of all in my view, and that is the crime of people trafficking, and particularly in the sex trade in the asia- pacific region and in australia as well. >> the australian people are watching this parliament. the australian people are asking this question.

will this parliament put aside partisan political divide to save lives? this parliament should say yes. we will put aside politics of the ordinary days. we will put aside partisan point scoring, and we will act to save lives. >> deputy speaker -- >> there is a vote at the end of this. the minister has the court. >> there are people who have criticized the malaysia agreement. there are people who will continue to criticize the malaysia agreement as being too harsh. there are difficult decisions for parliaments to make. there is nothing as harsh as dying on the sea. there is nothing as harsh as saying to people you must risk your life to come to australia in order to receive australia's

production -- protection. there is nothing humanitarian about that approach, and there is nothing good about looking that continue. >> i was the senior opposition on the inquiry that look of the disaster we have in december, 2010, when a boat left jakarta. it sailed a couple days down from christmas island, but it arrived at christmas island with the worst seascapes the people have seen in their lifetimes, and members of this parliament who sat on this committee to remember when we went to where the boat floundered and we spoke to the personnel who --

>> are you all right? >> who had rescued the people who floundered on that ship. they told us specifically about when the ship came in. the seascape was so bad it flooded the engine of that boat. it had no power, so it could only be captured, and it could be pushed back on the rocks, and

it would be pushed back onto the rocks again, and the australians and christmas islanders stood on the shores, and they were literally the distance between myself and the government away -- in some stages during the rescue they were closer. they were so close someone manage to jump onto christmas island. that is how close the boat came to the island itself. one of the australian told me there was a child he could not rescue even though he could

almost touch her. and that child perished. australian forces will be dealing with similar things at the moment, and of course they dealt with that terrible tragedy. >> can i commend the speakers who made contributions to this debate that is extremely serious, and when i look at this debate, i look at my own position of where i was 12 months ago and what my views were 12 months ago and where they are today, and you may have asked what has changed my view, but in the last 12 months we have seen the tragedy of christmas island a few months ago. and we saw the tragic scene from our tvs this weekend of young men who found themselves in the

boat that capsized and lost their lives. at first we did not know how many have survived, and the majority were not found. the first people on tv, i looked at their faces, and being the father of two young men myself, i think this is a tragedy of the nature that we have to stop. i think what is happening in this chamber is the first step. to sit here as members of parliament as we do every day when we are debating bills and do nothing about this subject is absolutely wrong. >> i am always reluctant to speak in this debate, because the emotions run very deep with me in relation to refugees.

the member said his four errors came here in the 1970's. my father came here as a refugee in september of 1948, and he came from a country where there was war. he had to wait his turn, but he was desperate to come here. kennedy is right. there is a great deal of hypocrisy from time to time, but i will say one thing to you. i will say it deliberately to this parliament. i thought never -- i will never ever support of people swap where you can send a 13-year-old child unaccompanied to a country without supervision