mica edmunds for running such mpressive races as well. virginia has one of the finest delegations. and it was a joy, a pure joy to run with rob whitman, scott, randy, robert, bob, and morgan. they are all strong voices for us in the united states congress. served as

our campaign chairman. they tend to have a title but not do a lot of work mark is the exhibit obvious opposite. he worked tirelessly on our behalf and gave us great advice. i am lucky to call him my friend. our party is stronger and virginiaans are fortunate to have a legislator of his integrity in the state senate [applause.] i thiing thank thosr the miles that they covered and cathy and i are so happy as they expect their new baby. our finance team was a great -- did a great, great john. i thank pat mullins and the

staff at the republican party of virginia who were shoulder to shoulder with us throughout this, and pat will be missed as he steps down as chairman of the republican party of virginia. i appreciate his service to our party. and i want to thank the rnc and their victory staff led by josh daniels who did a great job. of course, the tip of the spear was the ed for senate campaign. and the tip of that tip was our campaign manager, chris levitt, who is tireless, smart, committed and unrelenting. chris, thank you. [applause.] our politic team was the director add degree jackson, huff pucksy and those were fantastic. we did a lot of outreach as i mentioned. our coalition team was wonderful, helped us make so many new friends and go places

we hadn't been before as a party. i want to thank our coalition's director for hard work. we are a policy-driven campaign, and i appreciate the hard work of policy director brian robertson and brandon patty and ryan ladatta for coming up with a positive you agenda. the ed gillespie agenda for positive growth. we raised a lot of money for a campaign that nobody thought had a chance. so our finance team led by aliss and sean and rob nelson, kaitlin college and laura van hope did a fantastic job. appreciate our communications team our very talented social media director eric wilson who helped us build a community of support p my friend, phil cox

found time to provide great counsel even though he was in the midst of a slew of governors' races around the country. i have to thank kyle mccull begin. we traveled 56,000 miles together, didn't kill one another. we just went wherever campaign sent us. by the end of it all, sometimes we weren't sure who made us more mad, tcampaign quarters or our own. kyle, thank you very much [applause.] finally, i thank my family. cathy was my most effective surrogate 09 campaign trail. we are blessed by a wonderful marriage, and i am a very lucky man [applause.]

she is with ed, as you can see. and i am with her. jo john, kerry and mollie were with me through this campaign. lose something never easy but it's made easier by knowing that they are there for me and that now, i will have more time to be there for them. it would have been nice to be called senator, but the best thing i have ever been called is dad [applause.] and so, in fact, cathy and i are leaving from here for parents' weekend at our daughter's college. and so let me conclude by saying, thank you, all, and

mollie, mom and i are on our way. god bless you. god bless the common wealthy of virginia, and god bless the united states of america. thank you. [applause.] >> speech! speech! it. >> the c-span cities tour takes book t.v. and american history t.v. on the road travel to go u.s. cities to learn about their history and literary life. next weekend we partnered with charter communications for a visit to madison, wisconsin. >>. >> a glorious service for the country. the call comes to every citizen. it is a struggle to make and

keep government representatives. >> bob la follette is probably the most important political figure in wisconsin history and one of the most important in the history of the 20th century in the united states. he was a reforming governor. he defined what progressivism is. he was one of the first to use the term progressive to self identify. he was a united states senator who was recognized by his peers in the 1950s. he is one of the five greatest senators in american history. he was an opponent of world war i, stood his ground advocating for free speech. above all, bob la follette was about the people. after the civil war, american changed radically from a nation of small farmers and small producers and small manufacturers and by the late

1870 did, 1880 did, 1890s, we had concentrations of wealth. we had growing inequality, and we had concern about the influence of money in government. so the later part of the 1890s, giving speeches all over wisconsin. if you wanted a speaker for your club or your group, bob l la follette would give a speech. he went to county fairs. he went to every kind of event that you could imagiand built a reputation for himself. by 1900, he was ready to run for governor, advocating on behalf of the people. and he had two issues: one, the direct primary. no more selecting candidates in convention. two, stop the interests, specifically the railroads. watch ourents from madison next saturday starting at noon eastern on c-span book t.v. and

next sunday afternoon at 2:00 on c-span 3. c-span veterans day coverage begins tuesday morning at 8:30 eastern during washington journal with an interview with american legion executive director verna jones. then, at 10:00, the annual uso gala featuring general martin dempsey and life at 11 from arlington national cemetery for the traditional wreath laying ceremony. after noon, veteransmentals health issues and selections from this year's medal of honor ceremonies. >> president obama's authorizing the u.s. military to deploy up to 1500 more troops to iraq as part of the mission to comebad the islamic state group. the president is also asking congress to fund the fight. the white house says the troops will not serve in a combat role but will train, advise and assist iraqi, military and

kurdish forces. the snoiments is part of a fe5 t 5..6 funding request and came after president obama meeting with congressional leaders. this is 50 minutes. good afternoon, everybody. i am happy to take questions. i am not going to re-read my statement for you. however, there is some ebola it information i would like to put out this afternoon as well. and then i am schulle we will dive in to whatever is on your mind. first, the department of defense issued today -- i'm sorry issued supplemental civilian million care guidance today for those

employed to ebola outbreak areas. those combined deployed to assist to those who become ill, who are injured, authorized to receive medical care at a military treatment facility at no cost to the civilian agreement additionally, those treated in theatre will continue to be eligible for care in a military treatment facility or civilian facility upon their return at no cost to the employee. second, as directed by secretary hagel, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, a 21 day controlled monitoring period. this was the implementation guidance that he asked the chiefs to come back and put in to place while we continued to assess the efficacy of this controlled monitoring. this policy applies to all military services that are contributing personnel to the fight against ebola at its source. in addition to providing guidance for how controlled monit monitoring will occur, the policy states which have been

approved as controlled monitoring sites: 40 blitzes, el paso, langdon euliss, 40 hood, gbragg. and overseas, the u.s. airplane garrison in bottom holder, germany and in italy. criteria for these installations included proximity for medical facilities capable of treating ebola and ability to conduct twice-daily temperature checks, medical screenings and the control movement and access. third and last general treptacoby has requested 30 additional personnel be identified and trained in order to provide baku capability to our existing 30-person ebola medical support team. this request is currently being sourced and we expect these 30 personnel will come from each of the services. i want to stress that this is not being driven by an anticipation of additional need. it is not a second team, per se,

but it's rather an effort to establish additional cadre, an additional cadre of personnel given the same treatment as -- training as the group we trained last month, training that focuses on helping them train civilian medical officials on the proper use of proper medical equipment. this group will begin their training in san antonio around november 17th. with that, we will take questions. >> thanks. for the purpose of television here, it would helpful if you did have a brief station on what you have announced today. >> your paper statement and what the pentagon has decided to do with regard to these troops and why. >> sure. commander in chief has authorized secretary of defense chuck hagel to deploy to iraq up to 1500 additional u.s. personnel over the coming months in a non-combat role to expand, advise and assist and initate

training for iraqi forces. secretary hagel made this recommendation to the president based upon the request of the government of iraq, u.s. central command's assessment of iraqi units, the progress they have made in the field and in concert with the development after coalition campaign plan to defend key areas and go on the offensive against isil. u.s. central command will establish two expeditionary centers in locations outside of baghdad and erbil to provide support for the iraqi brigade at the headquarters level and above. the senators will be supported by an appropriate array of force protection capabilities. u.s. central command will establish several sites across iraq that will accommodate the training of 12 iraqi brigade, specifically nine iraqi army and three peshmerga brigades. these sites will be located in northern, western and southern iraq. coalition partners will join u.s. personnel at these locations to help build iraqi capacity and capability. the training will be funded through the request for an iraqi

train and quip fund the administration will submit to congress as well as from the government of iraq. over the coming weeks as we final ides the training site locations, the united states will work with coalitionmez to determine how much u.s. and coalition personnel will be required at each location for the training effort. ultimately, these iraqi forces when fully trained lap enable iraq to go defend boarders and citizens against the threat of isil. it is perly in keeping with the mission we have been assigned there to asif the iss and peshmerga forces as they improve their capability against isil. >> it is helpful. last week, general dempsey said that -- he hinted at this need and he said the pre-condition for that is that the government of iraq is willing to arm the tribes in ambar. do you have any assurance that the government of iraq is going to work closely with these sunni tribes and arm them, and is part

of this plan to arm them, yourselves, or pay them or do anything it can to the awakening the previous strategy? >> through the iraqi train and equip fund, the department has requested funding to train train to go tribes. ultimately, we expect we will be able to conduct some of that training at the same locations where we will train iraqi army and peshmerga brigades. i would add the prime minister has made it clear he intends to continue outreach with the sunni tribes. he was out in anbar recently doing that. he has encouraged his iraqi security force leadership to do the same to continue that outreach and while i can't put a fine point on exactly what all that cooperation will look like, we certainly, as i said at the outset of my answer, expect there will be a role for sunni tribes in this effort.

>> admiral, can you tell us when the iraqi government made this request for this additional deployment of troops? >> i don't have an exact time and date on that. so this is something that's been in discussion for several weeks, though. >> on another question, has secretary hagel committed to staying for the final two years of the obama administration? >> the secretary is fully committed to his job as defense secretary and leading this department, and he looks forward to doing that for the remainder. >> u.s. trained targets ran away. >> they didn't all run away. we spent a lot of money and effort training the iraqi army, and when we left in 2011, we left them capable and competent to the threat that they faced. >> opportunity they were given, the skills that they were provided, the leadership that they had were squandered by the

malaki government over the last three and a half years. they weren't properly led, resourced. they weren't kept properly trained and that led -- that and a lack of will, both political and military will at the top and some units led to their dissolutionment in the face of isil early in the summer. so we fell or five divisions. i think it was a surprise that they folded. but not every one of they will did. not every one of them turned and ran. we are talking about getting this set up. as we speak today, they are very much on the go. after isil throughout the country to including anbar prove incident. they are making gains. it is slow. it is not steady every day but they are making gains and fighting back. >> i understand you have -- >> it's a completely different situation than it was then. first, we are going in at the request of the iraqi government. we are wanted there. we weren't wanted to stay there after 2011.

no. 2, there is a very acute threat that's facing the iraqi people, the iraqi government and the iraqi security forces, a threat that they are trying to grapple with right in and out. they have acknowledged they need a little while of help in that regard. so, it's a completely different situation and we are confident that if we get the funding we are requesting from congress we will be able to make significant progress in this regard. the other thing i would add is one of the reasons we think this is a good idea right now is because the iraqi security forces have stiffened their spine and have gone on the offense and have shown that they've got good capabilities. but there is gaps. there is gaps in some of those capabilities, some of the enabling functions they need a little help with and advice and that's what we are going to provide. >> on the record, are you asking any other country like india to join in this fight? >> that's a great question and i meant to say that in my answer to you, and i didn't. there are several other coalition partner nations that have agreed to contribute to the train, advise and assist

mission. in fact, literally within just the last 30 minutes or so, the secretary wrapped up a meeting with his counter part from denmark and the danes have agreed to provide 120 drainers to this effort. and there are other nations that have likewise said that they will contribute. so, yes, there will be coalition members joining us in this effort. we know that for a fact. i think the list will grow and also add that the united states is not going to be responsible for funding this entire effort. we are going to expect contributions from the government of iraq and there are going to be contrib fwruingsz these coalition members in terms of people and in terms of dollars as well. >> have any of the iraqi brigades selected for u.s. if previously received train, equipment, other from the previous court? >> prior to between or you mean -- i don't know, spence. i don't know. in fact, iraqi brigades that we anticipate have not been

selected yet and will be in consultation with the government of iraq to tell you that. we don't know what brigades we are going to train. >> what went behind the specific numbers of up to 1500 new troops? >> sure. >> and brigades? >> well, i mean there is going to be two expeditionary train and, advise and assist sites, additional. i don't want to get into exact locations because we are still doing site surveys of that, but one will be in anbar prove incident and one probably in the baghdad province. and in addition to those -- and those are not necessarily training missions. those are advising missions very much like what we are doing in baghdad and erbil with 12 teams now. we are going to be doing it in expeditionary locations. same function. in addition to that, there will be several sites. i can't give you an exact number, but somewhere around

four to five. what we call building partner capacity sites. these will be more hands-on training. again, the sites are still being surveye surveyed. the 1500, less than half of it, less than half of them will be dedicated to the ad vise and assist mission. and of that number -- and it's around 630 or so, it's important to remember that a good chunk of that will be enablers for the advisors, logistics, command and control, intelligence support for them. so not all of the 630 or so are going to be technically advising. there will be some support. the remainder of the number, which is, i will, about 870, something like that, they will be dedicated to this building partner capacity mission, to the hands-on training. i want to add that right now,

just in terms of contributions that we know we are going to secure from some other neighborhoods we are talking well over 700 additional trainers will come from foreign governments and foreign partners. does that answer your question? it's broken down. it's broken down by, you know, a little less than half the number dedicated to advise and assist. the rest of the number 2ked indicated to this building partner and training commission. >> is there a reason why it's up to 1500 and not up to, 5,000? >> we looked at potential sites and areas that we could do this at. you have to look a infrastructures, air facility, the ability to actually, you know, house people and then you have to look at the troops. you want to get 12 brill aids, mixed skills and capabilities among those. so again, this was based upon best estimates of how many people we need to train, how many sites we are going to have to train them and what the quality of those sites are.

>> why is this happening now? and can you assure people that it had nothing to do with the political calendar in and the election on tuesday that the announcement is being made this week? >> it's being done now quite frankly because the iraqis have reached -- they have demonstrated the willingness and the skill to go after isil. so they have reached a point where they need additional help and guidance, particularly in areas like anbar. as we said, that's one of the reasons why some of this advising mission will take place in anbar so, a, they have reached a certain point. b, it's at the request of the government of iraq. what really drove this was prime minister abadi saying i need this extra help. i welcome this help inside my country. >> that's really what drove this was a request from the government of rabble and general austin's assessment that this would be beneficial to the over arching goals inside iraq. >> so it was not --?

>> there was no political angle to the timing here it was really driven by a request from the government of iraq and general austis assessment about having -- this being the right thing to do. i would add that was an assessment supported by not only chairman dempsey but the secretary who formally made this recommendation to the president, that this was not only the right thing to do, but it was the rhyme time to do it based upon where we are in the campaign. again, jen, you don't have to go very far back in time to chairman dempsey alluded to a press conference in this room a couple of weeks ago. this was something that had been brewing for several weeks. >> what exactly does the secretary think? >> i couldn't give you an exact day, helene. his recommendation from the secretary, i would say it went over this week. but i couldn't give you an exact day this week. i don't know if it was precisely

before tuesday. it was earlier this week. i know that. yes, ma'am. >> what are the requirements which iraq at this moment? are they going to be -- >> these will be dushl. we have about 1400 or so in iraq right now. and this will be an additional up to and i want to stress that. up to 1500. so it doesn't mean they are going to get to 1500 but the authorization we are asking for is up to 1500. the authorization we have been given by the commander in chief. these will be additional personnel. they would be, as i answered to spence, broken down into two bucket did? ride advise and assist and the training bucket. >> yes. >> how long will it take to get these up to 1500? >> they will start flowing in. some will start flowing in as soon as this month. it's going to take for the building partner capacity, the training, it's going to take us

probably a couple of months, two to three months to get the sites prepared and the regimen started and the training, itself, anticipate the training regimen, itself to take between six and seven months. six to seven months to complete the training, yes. that doesn't mean they are all going to, you know, with theshot gun start start stratraining on same day but the regimen will be set for .6 to 7 months in length. >> a better part after year? >> you know, between eighteen 8 and 10 months. you know, total, depending upon how long it takes to get the sites prepared and the curriculum set and trainers in place. it's going to, you know, it's going to take us allegations of time to get the personnel inside iraq. i mean we can move quickly but it is going to take some weeks to get them all there. >> when you say that within

these numbers, there will be additional enablers to include force protection -- >> right. >> combat power is going to be going in to iraq more apaches? >> i didn't say more apaches. but there will be force protection capability that will be provided along with these trainers and these advisors. absolutely. i mean we are not going to put people, you know, in harm's way unnecessaryly. we are going to make sure -- what's that? >> the forces that go in to protect your trainers and advisors, they are not combat troops? >> no. no more than the force protection personnel we have right now that are providing additional security assistance for the embassy and the facilities in baghdad and up in erbil. no more than that. obviously, they are trained. they are going to be trandz troopdz and they are going to be

able to defend themselves and to defend the trainers and the advisors. >> that's their job, of course. but that doesn't mean they are being introduced in a combat floel iraq. >> that's a completely different scenario all together. there has been no change to that policy that we are not going to reintroduce troops in a combat role, john. >> will any of these additional advisors have the authority to call an airstrike on behalf iraqi forces? >> that's nots part of the mission set, no. yes. >> wednesday night's strikes against at a time corezon group, who was killed and are they a threat? are they able to plot and plan? >> we believe the corozon group remains a threat. nobody has taken an eye off of that. i don't have an update 4 on the effectiveness in the specifically on the effectiveness of the strikes. we know they were successful in that they hit the targets we were aiming at. not to include some facilities and buildings as well as a vehicle. we do believe that there were

corzon group casualties as a result of those strikes but i am not in a position right now to identify who they were or exactly how many there were. >> could you explain how the pentagon differentiates between the corizon group, el nursra front and whether they are 1 and the same and can you hit one without the other? >> you know, they don't have identification cards. i mean we recognize that. but the corzon group, we have been watching for some time. they are, as you know, an offshoot of al-qaeda, a very violent, very capable off shootion small but very lethal. i can't say with any specificity what one member -- how that member may associate himself. and their loyalties fluctuate over time. what i can tell you is that the strikes we took were aimed at the core zon group and core gron

group membersizon group members. >> the 1500 were going in, in concert with an offensive against isis in iraq. does that mean the offensive would not start from six or seven months when the forces are trandz up? >> no. i can't i might have misinterpreted what i meant by that. in keeping with the what we are doing is keeping in with the forces want to continue to conduct. i have heard all of this talk about a spring offensive. i don't know. you will have to talk to the iraqis about exactly what their campaign plan looks like. but as i said, they are going on the offense now. and what this is designed to do is to help them continue to be able to do that, to improve their capability and their competence on the battlefield. it's not the timing of it is not tied to some campaign plan that would begin at the end of the

training. i mean i think we can expect to see that assuming we get the funds authorized from congress to do this, that you will see both happening at the same time: train, advising, assisting and fighting by iraqi security forces. >> a second question is: does congress need to approve the 5.6 billion before these troops start flowing there? >> yes. >> and then the third question: of the 870 trainers, that means about 200 or so trainers will be at each training site throughout iraq and there are four to five? >> we are working out the exact numbers, christinea. i think it's fair to say that roughly each site would have a couple of hundred or so, but i don't want to get pinned down on that number because it's going to fluctuate over time. we are still working the sourcing solutions. the best i can do is my answer to spence in terms of breaking it down, about 630 or so dedicated advice and assist and the remainder to the building

partnership capacity and i want to foot stomp this is also going to be there will be contributions from coalition neighborhoods primarily the training mission. so we will see coalition numbers stepping up. we have stepped up to agree to do this. yeah. nancy? >> i would like to pose the question. he asked you earlier about general dempsey's comments about the iraqis governments had to show a willingness to pardon me arm and work with the sunnis. you said that a willingness to do outreach. has the prime minister said he is willing to arm sunnis and is that a reason for this decision? and i would also like to ask you about the training. can you tell me specifically what these trainers will be doing? how will the training different than we saw in 2011? are we going back to basics, or is it something more specific?

>>. >> i don't know if he has said he is willing to arm them. what we know and what he has demonstrated is his willingness to be inclusive to them and their concerns. as i said in my answer to justin, we expect there will ab role for sunni tribesmen in this training effort. we have more work to do in that regard. what they are going to be trained to do, i mean it's going to be helping them with command and control. i am not talking about the advising. there is an addvising role for that, too. but helping train them in command and control in battlefield leadership in take cal organization, in maneuver, in be logistics, in intelligence matters. i mean it will be training as much across the board as we can. we are going to be focusing it on what the needs are, too. and until we get the brigades identified and in, i mean there is going to be -- there has to

be a little flexibility you. not every iraqi bring aid is going to need the same thing as the next one. we are going to have to be flexible on that. trying to improve their battlefield confidence. >> you are training them for upwards of a decade. are you saying that prime minister malikis is a diggredation of the army forces? >> that's exactly what i am saying and we have been saying that. >> do you think these troops can remedy that? >> your question means that you doubt the veracity of what we are trying to do here. >> i am just asking for the 170,000 plus, that proved to be a problem. >> you are basically saying you don't think it's enough. we believe that for the numbers we are talking about training at the request -- and this is important -- of the iraqi government. this is what they've asked us to do and the need that they have expressed. the requirement is coming from them. not from us.

based upon that requirement, we believe that this is the appropriate number of troops to devote to the mission. absolutely. if we didn't believe that this was the right number, right num wouldn't have submitted it. >> may i follow up with a question? >> sure. >> are they paying for it? why is the u.s. paying for it if they requested it? >> as i said this at the outset, there will be contingent on this authorization. there needs to be a commitment from iraq to pay a portion of the funds to support the training and the advising and assisting and, as well, there will be an expectation that coalition members also fund. so we are looking for coalition members not just to send trainers and expertise but also to help fund and i think i answered that before. there will be a component of this that requires and demands iraqi funds dedicated to it. it won't all be u.s. funded. yeah, back in the back there, andrew. >> do you think that there might be a role for the sunni tribes

to train in these u.s.-run training facilities? are you describing a scenario where the president authorized the situation where u.s. service members would be training like irregular sunni units? >> what i said was we are going to look at that and there very well may be a role for sunni driv tribesmen in this process. we are working our way through that, andrew. i don't have anything more detailed than that for you. we recognize and so does the prime minister, that outreach to the sunni tribes and their participation in the process is key. we are still working our way through what that would look like. yeah. back there. >> how many iraqis do you estimate will come through this training? >> well, as i said, it's originally going to be set up for nine iraqi security force brigades and three peshmerga brigades. i am not an expert on exactly how many are on each of those brigades. those brigades vicinities not yet been identified. i can't give you an exact number right now. >> is it part of the national guard effort? >> there is -- no, not

initially. >> said, we do envision that this process could be used to help with the training and development of the national guard program that's not the plan or that's not the intent at the outset. but there could be a role for that later on. >> lastly, will these trainers go out with these forces after they are trained? >> no. >> the coalition trainers? will they? >> i can't speak for other nations. i can only speak for the united states. there is no intent to put the trainers out in the field with these units once they are trained. nothing has changed about the policy. there will be no reintroduction of u.s. troops in a combat role in iraq. yeah. dave? >> will it substantially increase the risk to u.s. forces have them spread out? >> no mission that we under take anywhere in the world is risk-free, dave. you know that. >> that's why i talk a lot about the force protection and the enablers that will go along with these trainers and advisors. a good portion of the number.

in fact, a majority of the number of troops that will be in the advice and assist mission will not be add vicedors, force protection personnel as well as command and control logistics. there is risk. very little that we do doesn't entail risk but we try to mitigate the best web. i want to stress that these will -- these trainers will be operating at fixed sites, sites that we are surveying right now, force protection will be foremost on general austin's mind as though sites are selected and if there is any enhancements that need to be made, it will be done with that very much in mind. >> sites will be fixed location? >> absolutely. that's right. yeah. yes, ma'am. >> a couple of questions, but first of all, i was hoping you would comment on reports that on october 27th account, in a briefing with lieutenant general chris boggins, the canadian government had committed to buying at least verbally four

f-35 jets and at a time government was waiting for a letter by the 10th of november. >> i have no comment on that. >> has there been dialogue on the f-35? >> i won't speak to internal deliberations that we may or may not have with the foreign governments and i would point you to the government of canada to spook to you about their procurement needs and inteningsdz. >> on the top ilk at hand, in terms of the co al lils partners, is canada -- has canada been among those talking about potentially increasing? >> again, i could speak for denmark because we met with them today and secured their permission to talk to about at a time commitment but i wouldn't speak for other countries. obviously canada involved here. they have been helping on the humanitarian side, now flying airstrikes over iraq, very, very capable, effective military, glad to have them on board. as for this particular mission set, i would again let the

canadian government speak for itself. >> lastly, is there on your part an ask-out to all partners? >> we have asked many coalition partners, especially those that we know have skills in this kind of training. scan and tried to solicit their interest in it. but ultimately, as we have said all along, this has to be something that each country has to agree to do on their own or not to do on their own. those are their decisions to make. there is -- we are not -- we are not trying to force people in to it or anything like that but we are encouraging those members that we know have skills and capabilities to contribute to do so. maggie? >> are you saying 700 plus?

>> that's what i meant. >> have you agreed on a cap for like, you know, this much or more? >> not that i am aware of. but you have to speak to every individual nation about what they are willing to contribute or what they are not willing to contribute. >> you said 12 brigades for the pentagon? >> no. 12 total. as i said at the outset, coalition members will be assisting us in this training. 12 total. >> 12 total and that's with all of the coalition members, no more? >> right. >> no surprise training troop out there randomly in erbil? >> i can only speak for the united states military. what i can tell you on this mission it's a coalition mission. so 12 brigades is the plan at these several sites that will be set up. and we believe that we will be able to have 12 brigades and frankly, as i said before, this is what the government of iraq requested. it's not a requirement we laid on them. it's what they have laid on us for 12. 12 >> total, and the trainers

>> national. denmark agreed to contribute and other nations have as well. the british defense chief said they would send additional advisors to erbil. is that separate, or is that rolls under your 12 brigade plane plan? >> i am not going to speak for every individual nation. they have to speak for themselves and what they are willing to contribute. the british have been terrific allies throughout this effort. i will let them speak for what their role will be. i think -- i don't think i could do it any -- take it any farther than that. >> back on iraqi funding of this initiative. is it fair at all to say at this juncture that the u.s. expects the iraqis to pay the bulk of the expense of this additional training? especially given the cull

patienty that the u.s. has been throwing at the former iraqis? >> the expectation is, in fact the requirement will be that the iraqi government contributes funding to this effort. i do not think i would characterize it as "the bulk." yes? >> thank you. this week, the pakistani army chief traveled to kabul and he has offered to train afghan forces inside pakistan. do you think u.s. training of afghan noorsz big way, do you think this is a helpful goal come from pakistan? >> i think that's something that the afghan government needs to speak to, the degree to which they find that helpful. i mean i have said all along, pakistan is a key partner in the region. any opportunity that can be had to increase cooperation and coordination with the pakistani military is a good thing. i wouldn't comment here from the pentagon on that proposal. in fact >> i have not seen reports of that proposal. >> i ask this because if pakistan trains afghan forces,

that could lessen your burden on training afghan forces. >> well, the next is going to change in afghanistan at the end of the year, and it will be more of a you train, advise and assist mission under nato auspices. we are working closely with our nato allies on the sorting for that. we know for the united states, it begins at about 9800 troops early next year. and then that will taper off over time as the, you know, the training concludes. but there will still need to be a significant entinternational commitment to the training and advising of afghan national security forces post 2014. and there are many nations involved in that effort. primarily through nato auspices. i would not speculate about the role of pakistan might play. >> that's for the pakistani government to talk to. carla? >> pakistan army chief is traveling, i think, next week or

later this month. do you know what -- >> i think you should ask the pakistani government what he is going to say. i don't have -- i don't have anything to announce in terms of schedule with respect to that visit and you should talk to the pakistani leadership about what their expectations are for the trip. carla? >> you had told david it was going to take a couple of months to set up training sites and six months of training. it's been about a couple of months since we have started the syrian training. where are we there? and will this affect the syrian training? are there going to be troops going in to advise, assist iraqis that had been designated to train the syrians? >> there is no connection with this program and the train and equip program that we are trying to get established for a modern syrian opposition. completely separate. you said it's been a couple of months since we started. it hasn't started yet. we have said it's going to take about three to five months in order to get the vetting process squared away, and that's not done yet.

chairman dempsey said the vetting process hasn't begun yet. we have more work to do on the syrian side but there is no connection between the two. >> it's been two months since we announced t do we have the sites yet in the can we keep getting of information. >> for the sirians. as you know, the saudis have come forward and offered sites. and we have a team there that are working with the saudis on exactly where those sites are and their suitability. so i don't have anything to announce with respect to that. the turks as well in just the last couple of weeks have agreed they will contribute to the training of modern syrian opposition and fighters and i don't know exactly where they would do that. again, the turkish government would have to announce that. but there have been at least two nations now that have come forward and said they wiould be willing to host this training, all very helpful. we have teams that are talking to both governments to try to nail down the particulars on that. what we said from the very beginning, that the long poll in the tent here was going to be

the recruiting process and it hasn't gun yet. >> let's talk about russia. >> sure. >> the ukrainian government is saying russia sent dozens of tanks in to eastern ukraine. >> uh-huh. >> so have we been able to confirm that? seen any evidence that that's happening? >> no. i don't have any independent operational reporting that would be able to confirm that repor that these formations have crossed the border. what we do see is a continued presence of significantly capable and ready russian tactical groups and they are close and they are very capable and they are doing nothing to decrease the tension. it's not helpful. i will continue to say it's not been helpful but i have no independent operational information that tells me they have crossed the border. >> if congress doesn't approve the package, the $5.6 billion

package sentence today until january or february, nothing goes. >> we need congress's -- we need the support of congress to authorize the request, yes. >> all right. you are in a continuing resolution now until december 12th. you can't use the continuing resolution funds? >> no. this is part of an oco supplementalal request. >> if it drags out, just so members of congress, the news new ones and old ones know, they need to get this passed before any of these 1500 can go over there? >> we need the authorization and the funding that comes with it in order to be able to conduct this mission, and the secretary obviously is urging congress to pass it as soon as possible. >> one other one, you talked about the risk to u.s. troops. tell the american people: should they expect or be stilled for the poten thashl u.s. troops even though they are not combat role could be killed or wounded?

>> we are already had a couple of u.s. military deaths associated with this conflict. again, nothing we do is without risk. and we do the best we can to mitigate it. the safety and security of our people are top priority to us, but part of being in the military means being able to assume some risk. i don't want to speculate we will or we will not have casualties. we are going to do everything we can to try to minimize that occurrence. there is no question about that. yeah. >> thank you. well just to sort of follow up on that, can you elaborate a little on the parameters that will go into the selection of these sites like anbar is the scene of a good deal of violence right now. what sort of threats it will play ain the selection of sites >> several factors going in there. obviously, we are findmul of the security situation there.

but so when you do site surveys, you look at geography and the advice and assist mishingsz that is change in gee oograpgeograph going to try to put advising teams down in what we would consider expeditionary geography where iraqi security forces are taking the fight to the enemy. again, force protection is going to be a component of site survey election there. facilities and infrastructure is going to matter. a lot of what your ability to actually conduct training and to -- and to assure a good through-put of trainees is going to be depending upon the actual site and its suitability. there will, you know, one of the things that we will look at in some of these sites is the ability to accommodate aircraft. and what kind of aircraft? there is a lot that's going to

go into this. we are starting this process and i don't have -- again, i don't have any more detail on where these are going to be. >> if the forces, again, will be at brigade level, they won't be going out in to the -- >> so the advisors, yes. at the same level that they are right now, brigade and division, that level, they will stay. the training mission. >> that's the separate one, and that's actual trainers, hand-on training for iraqi brigades, but they will be at a fixed training site, again, for which we have taken suitable force protection measures. >> one more question: all over the world the job you have done. what's the reaction to that? >> the reaction is first of all, there is an expectation when you join the elite group of individuals and they are elite. they are the best of the best.

and they do an amazingly dangerous and complex job and they have done it very, very well for the last 13 years. nobody -- we all have enormous respect for what they do and what they have done for the united states. there is an expectation inside that community, a code that they -- that they ascribe to that they will not seek recognition for what they -- that they do and that they will not seek financial gain from what they do. and i can't speak to the motivation of the individuals that have either conducted interviews or chronicled their accomplishments in books, but it's fair to say that it doesn't comport with that code. the other concern that we have is the decide vul sequence of

classifiednie much of what they do for a live something very, very sensitivegence of classifiednie much of what they do for a live something very, very sensitive. the matter in which they do it needs to be held close so that we don't endanger future practices, make it harder for their colleagues that are still in uniform and still very much out there on the front line, that we won't make it harder for them to do that job or maybe make it more dangerous. we are can very concerned when anybody regardless of whether it' it's a special operator or not, anybody who in uniform has access the to sensitive or classified information, tactics, techniques and procedures and then when they are no longer in uniform, decides to share that information publi, that's a deep concern to us. it should be a concern to the american people. nothing takes away pride and esteem for the job that those individuals continue to do but there is an obligation that comes with it, an obligation not

to be candid about what they do. does that answer your question? i am not going to speculate about actions we may or may not take. [question posed.] >> i just said we are not going to talk about -- we don't talk about classified information and sensitive information. so there is no way that i am going to answer specific questions about the raid that ended up killing osama bin ladder. what happens is he is dead. he's gone. i think that's enough. >> a man who has claimed confirming to the press he is the shooter. he is confirming it, so it must be true. was he a, a, a seal? can you as an official? >> i cannot. i cannot because part of sensitive operations entails the identification of you oun /*

units and i am not going to go there. last question? >> you are going to train 12 brigades. how many do you intend to advise and assist with this deployment? >> that's all. >> kind of detail is being worked out, louie. i don't have a good number for you on the advising mission. what's more important about it is the terrain. they are going to be in more expeditionary geography. i don't have a detailed number of exactly what brigade or division. remember, it's not just brigades. the advisors for that brigade division level and i think it fluctuates based upon where you are in baghdad or erbil with those 12 teams. it's a mixed picture. they don't get permanently assigned to one unit. they move around.

>> going back to the sunni tribes, before we came in here, the senior administration official, on a conference call spoke about the outreach to the sunni trooipz tribes. >> yeah. >> a parallel effort, planning effort to train and quip, organize and equip as many as 5,000 sunni tribesmen. is that an american planning effort, or is that an iraqi planning effort? >> i think it's both. i mean i think this is something we are again to justin's question, i think we are working our way through that with the iraqi government right now. >> it could be a plan to train? >>. >> i don't want to speculate one way or the other but this is something prime minister abadi and, and we support him in that effort. you know and we were encouraging maliki to do outreach to the sunni tribes when that wasn't occurring. the details of how that would all come about, we are just not ready to have a discussion about it right now. thanks, everybody. have a good weekend.

see you. >> thank you. ...

and later, john mcginnity, the president of the american academy of physician assistants. will be taking your calls and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. "washington journal" is next. >> president obama plans to new york-based federal prosecutor loretta lynch as the successor to the attorney general eric holder. you can look for that announcement live on c-span at 11:10 am today. president obama also sending 1500 additional troops to iraq. -- itical reporting that he calls isis al qaeda plus. turning to the economy, unemployment