secretary, which is sort of like a three ring circus on capitol hill, and one will be the new secretary dealing with this budget issue, because we have a two year the quest ration deal that is going to expire next fall, and that is going to put all of those issues on the table. host: the fourth secretary of defense, the first president since harry truman to have four secretaries earning his time in office. this was created during the tenure of truman at 1947. and on the line from maryland for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to completely support the caller before you, talking about the talking heads and the spin doctors, yes. i would also like to caution all of us, the american people, to respect and trust this president, who has put us on another footing in the world. better in thech

world because of president obama. i do not believe that we would have the opportunities we have right now in the foreign relations field were it not for coolness and the thought and, frankly, the love that he puts into every decision he makes. the oldest strategy of the enemy, any enemy, is to divide and conquer. a unifiedpear as nation, regardless of our personal feelings. we will get over them soon, but we have to stand strong as one people, or we are going to all powerfulhese recent enemies that have reared their head. spinpinions and the doctors and the people doing these things on the television i believe is harming us as a nation. we need to be more responsible, and thank you. her comments from clinton,

maryland, this morning, and we are taking your comments as we are talking to our guest from military times. [applause] >> thank you. thank you. good afternoon. and i moved to chicago from ireland in 1998 ,ith my wife and our children amy and john paul and others, and we wanted to be in the united states and live the american dream. we are grateful to now own three successful restaurants in downtown chicago. avenue and one in west town. next year, we opened our next one next to city hall.

employees,t with 10 we now employ over 260 in our three restaurants, but you know what? this is what we immigrants do. applause]d you know, we work hard, and we build successful businesses. year, i myself became a u.s. citizen. applause]d to vote in my first election in the united states. i had not voted for 16 years since i left ireland. today, with the immigration and the coalition for

immigrant and refugee rights, i have the extreme honor of talking with the president about what my experience was like and about the heartbreak of the and how important immigration reform is to this community. irish and allhe ethnic groups, we want to thank him most sincerely for his humanity and current in doing the right thing for the thousands of hard-working immigrants that have made and continue to build this great give a, and now, let's rousing hundred thousand welcomes to the president of the united states, barack obama. ♪ >> thank you.

hello, chicago. [applause] thank you so much. thank you. thank you so much. everybody have a seat. thank you. thank you very much. thank you so much. happy early thanksgiving, everybody. it is good to be home, although it is -- [applause] it is cold in chicago. [laughter] it was 60 degrees in washington. [laughter] it is not 60 degrees here. let me begin by thanking the copernicus center and everybody. we really appreciate this. thank you so much. [applause]

i hope you don't mind, because, obviously, there is a lot of stuff in the news. i actually have to begin by saying a couple of words about what has happened over the last day, not just in ferguson, missouri, our neighbor, but all across america. as many of you know, a verdict came down from the grand jury that made the decision yesterday and upset a lot of people, as i said last night, the frustrations that we have seen are not just about a particular incident. in manye deep roots communities of color. we have a sense that our laws are not always being enforced uniformly or fairly. that may not be chore everywhere, and it is certainly not true for the vast majority

of law enforcement officials, but that is an oppression that some folks have, and it is not just made up. it is rooted in realities. it has existed in this country for a long time. now, as i said last night, there are productive ways of responding and expressing those of frustrations, and there are destructive ways of responding. carsng buildings, torching , destroying property, putting people at risk, that is destructive. there is no excuse for it. those are criminal acts. be prosecuteduld if they engage in criminal acts. saw, althoughso it did not get as much attention in the media, was a full gathering of the overwhelmingly useful protests in chicago and

new york, los angeles, other cities. we have seen young people who are organizing, and people beginning to have real conversations about how we change the situation so that there is more trust between law enforcement and some of these communities. and those are necessary conversations to have. we are here to talk about immigration, but part of what makes america this remarkable does notbeing american mean you have to look a certain way or have a certain last name or come from a certain place. it has to do with a commitment to ideals, a belief in certain , and if any part of the american community does not feel welcomed or treated fairly, that is something that puts all of us at risk, and we all have to be concerned about it.

peopleessage to those who are constructively moving forward, trying to organize, mobilize, ask hard and important questions about how we improve the situation, i want all of those folks to know that their president is going to work with them, and i think you will find a lot of -- [applause] separate and apart from the particular circumstances of , which i am careful not to speak to, because it is not my job as president to comment on ongoing investigations and specific cases, but the frustrations that people have those are rooted in some hard truths that have to be , and so those who are prepared to work constructively,

your president will work with you, and a lot of folks i believe in law enforcement, a lot of folks in city halls and governors offices across the country want to work with you, as well, so as part of that, i have instructed attorney general identify specific steps we can take together to set up a series of regional meetings focused on building trust in our communities, and next week, we will bring together state and local officials and law enforcement and community leaders and faith leaders to start identifying very specific steps that we can take to make sure that law and is beings fair applied equally to every person in this country. we know certain things work. we know if we train police

properly that that imprints peopleg, and it makes feel that the system is fair. we know that when we have a police force that is representative of the community it is serving, that makes a difference. we know that -- [applause] we know that when there is clear accountability and transparency when something happens, that makes a difference, so there are specific things we can do, and a key now is for us to lift up the best practices and work city by city, state by state, county by county, all across this country, because the problem is not just a ferguson problem. it is an american problem. and we have to make sure we are actually bringing about change. the bottom line is nothing of significance, nothing of benefit acts,s from destructive

-- i have never seen a civil rights law or a health-care bill or another bill result because a car got burned. it happened because people were vocal. it happened because people organized. it happens because people look at what are the best policies to , and that isblem how you actually move something forward. so don't -- [applause] so don't take the short-term, engage in and just destructive behavior. take the long term, hard, but lasting route of working with me and governors, officials to

bring about some real change, and to those who think that what happened in ferguson was an excuse for violence, i do not have any sympathy for that. forve no sympathy at all destroying your own communities. but for the overwhelming majority of people who just feel frustrated and pained because they get a sense that maybe some communities are not treated fairly, or some individuals are not seen as worthy as others, i understand that. and i want to work with you, and i want to move forward with you. your president will be right there with you, all right? so that is what we need to focus on. let's be constructive. [applause] now, i appreciate your patience, because i know you can you talk

about immigration, but this is relevant, because part of what abouta is about is stitching together people from different backgrounds and different faiths and ethnicities. that is what makes us special, and -- [applause] and, look, sometimes, that is hard. ,ometimes that is hard to do but it is worthwhile. it is worth doing. you know, i was just traveling in asia. you go to japan, they do not have problem's with certain folks being discriminated against because most folks are japanese. [laughter] here,ow, i mean -- but part of what is wonderful about america is also what makes our democracy hard sometimes. because sometimes we get orached are particular tribe

a particular religion, and then we start treating other folks differently, and that sometimes has been a bottleneck to how we think about immigration. if you look at the history of immigration in this country, each successive wave, there have s of where the folks who are already here say, we do not want those folks, although the only folks that are able to say that are the native americans. [applause] now, it is fitting that i have come here back home to chicago, because chicago has always been a city of immigrants, and that is still true in the neighborhood. [applause] especially on the north side of here.

i mean -- [laughter] we have got everything up here. [laughter] schoolso the public around here, and you have got 50, 60, 70 different language being spoken, from andersonville to chinatown to greektown, the ukrainian village, immigrants have made this city with broad shoulders. their home. we are swedish and polish and german and italian. everyone is irish on st. patrick's day. [laughter] know, we have got -- we have got names like pat quinn, our governor. [laughter] applause]d gutierrez, our congressman. [cheers and applause]

, bradsswoman jankowski emanuel., rahm [applause] all mixed up. [laughter] i do not mean rahm. i mean all of us. [laughter] [chuckles] [laughter] that rahm speaks a language that cannot be translated in front of children. [laughter] although he is a mayor now, so he does not do that anymore. anyone who has driven along the theedy and has seen

silhouettes of steeples jamming at the sky, steeples as diverse as the people that worship there and the immigrants who built them and the communities that call those neighborhoods home to this day. today, we are here at a polish immunity center, and i just -- [applause] yes, i was just meeting with a group of chicago businesses, civic leaders, representing people who came here from ,hicago and mexico and ireland and a successful owner back in says, and i am quoting here, i had a thing for the united states. i always wanted to see if i could hack it with you guys, so 16 years ago, billy comes to chicago and opens up an irish pub, because there was a shortage of irish pubs. [laughter] [chuckles]

[chuckles] and then he opened another restaurant and then another and another, and everywhere months ago, billy and his wife became american citizens and voted for the very first time as americans on november 4. you can also find their son, also named billy, charming the heck out of customers at all hours of day and night. 250 now employ more than workers, and you just heard what billy said. this is what immigrants do. one study if you years ago found that immigrants start more than one quarter of all of the businesses in the united states. one quarter of them. another study found that immigrants and their children start more than 40% of the fortune 500 companies. think about that. and it makes sense, because being a nation of immigrants

gives us a huge entrepreneurial advantage over other nations. if you are willing to strike out, go to someplace new, built from scratch, you have got that sense of being willing to take risks and of being able to build .omething from scratch you have that spirit. that is part of what the american spirit is all about. it is part of what drove us ,estward across the frontier not seeing what is in front of you is the only thing that is possible but that something else is possible, and because of those businesses started by immigrants, we all benefit. it means more jobs. it means more for everybody. week, oursaid last immigration system has been broken for a long time. families who try to come here the right way get stuck in line

for years. owners who treat their employees right off see the competition exploit undocumented workers to undercut businesses. think, like the idea that someone can read the do not like that someone can reap the rewards without the responsibilities, but there are some who desperately want to embrace his responsibilities but have no way of coming out of the shadows, so everyone is stuck with a system that does not work for anybody. now, one point five years ago, we had a big majority, democrats come republicans, independents in the united states senate, and they came together and passed a bipartisan bill to fix this broken system. and the bill was not perfect.

it did not have everything i wanted. it did not have a rethink anybody wanted, but it did reflect common sense. it was a huge improvement. we would have doubled the number of border patrol agents, so if you are concerned about illegal migration, it would have made .ur borders that much tougher it would have made our legal immigration system smarter and fairer and reduce some of the that hampers families from getting here. it would have given millions of people a chance to earn their citizenship the right way. an independent expert said that over the next two decades, the new law would grow our economy and shrink our government, and had the house of representatives about a simple yes or no vote on that kind of bill, it would have passed. that is all they needed to do. just call the bill. it would be law right now.

we would be well on our way to solving the problems in the .ystem i would be implementing those ,rovisions, but for 1.5 years over 500 days, republican leaders in the house simply refused to allow them. they would not let it come to the floor. now, i still believe that the best way to solve the problem is by working together to pass that kind of common sense law. billyen i was talking to and other civic leaders, there were things that could only be until by congress, and then, there are actions that i have the legal authority to take that will help make our information systems fairer and more just, and i took them last week. [applause]

so we are devoting more resources for law enforcement, and to stop illegal crossings at the border and to speed those -- we are initiating reform so high school graduates and on chewers can stay and contribute to our , and i am taking new steps to deal responsibly with the millions of undocumented immigrants, including here in chicago. and i just want to be clear. i say this before immigrants rights groups all of the time. i document immigrants should be held accountable. there is a particular category, those who may be dangerous.

it is a small minority, but it is a significant one. deportations of criminals are up 80%, and we will keep focusing our limited enforcement resources on those who actually pose a threat to our security. gangs, not some mom or dad who are working hard just trying to make a better life for their kids. but -- >> -- [woman shouting out] >> ok. that is fine. thank you.

war! nmoremore families of criminals. >> ok. all right. ok. i understand. listen. hold on, hold on. hold on. young lady, don't just -- don't just start -- don't just start yelling. so why then you sit down, too? you know -- here. can i just say this, all right? i listen to you. i heard you.

i heard you. i heard you, all right? i have been respectful. [applause] all right? nobody is removing you. i have heard you, but you have got to listen to me, too. [applause] and i understand you may disagree. but we have got to be able to talk about these issues, all right? rightou're absolutely that there have been significant numbers of deportations. that is true. but what you are not paying attention to is the fact that i just took an action to change the law.

[applause] point number two, works,umber two, the law and we look at how we enforce and thegration laws change applies to everybody. though i understand why you might have yelled at me. although i disagree with some of your characterizations, it does not make much sense to yell at

me right now, when we are making changes. [cheers and applause] so the point is that sure --t is let's make let's make sure that you get the facts and that you know exactly what we are doing, and then if you have disagreements, then you can work through all of the immigrants rights organizations that we work with to try to address some of your concerns. but here is what will not work. what will not work as folks just shouting at each other, so i have been respectful. i have responded to your question, and i would ask you now to let me speak to all of the other people who are here, all right? [applause] ok, now -- [applause] now even -- ok.

it is good to be back in chicago. because everybody has got something to say. [applause] going to be able to -- i am not going to be able to have a conversation with i know people are passionate about this. but, be respectful of everybody who is here. all right? [applause] now. let me get to the point i was making. deported all if we the criminals, folks who actually have done bad things. there are millions of good people here but they still broke the immigration laws. every race, every nationality -- cracking down and deporting

millions of people is not realistic. it is not who we are. it is not what america should be. and thisher hand, sometimes is not a knowledge -- acknowledged, if you come are cuttingly you in line of the people who are trying to come here legally. that is not fair. [applause] that is and make people that people but it does mean you cut in front of the line because there are a lot of folks who are waiting to try to get here legally. the deal we are putting forward is this -- if you are been here for more than five years, if you have children who are citizens or legal residents, if you register and pass a criminal background check, you can apply temporarily. you can get out of the shadows thiset right with the law

is not a pathway to citizenship. that is something congress can only do. it does not apply to anybody who has come to this country illegallyr might come in the future because borders do mean something. it is accountability. it is a common sense approach that allows me to exercise legal authorities that i have in order to make sure that we are preventing families from being broken apart. i am the first one to acknowledge that part of the reason this is become important to me is you are right. there are times families have gotten broken apart while i have been president. it is heartbreaking. it is not right. until congress does a complete fix, what we are saying is give

you have deep ties here and you your taxes, we will not separate you from your kids and a port you. -- deport you. [applause] and even ifnot -- you don't fully qualify, we will still try to reprioritize how we enforce the laws in a way that is less likely to break families apart. because the system is broken. why this iseasons important is because immigrants are good for the economy. we keep on hearing that they are bad. but, a report by my counsel's economic advisers put out last week shows out the actions we are taking will grow the economy for everybody. by 2024, the actions that i am taking will at least $90 billion

to our gross domestic product. [applause] growth willonomic reduce our deficit by $25 billion. these actions will grow our labor force by nearly 150,000 people and it will boost wages for american-born workers. if we pass a comprehensive law, it'd be even better. we would grow even faster and the deficit will come down even faster. even the steps we are taking now will make the difference. these actions are lawful. they are the kinds of actions that have been taken by every president for the past 50 years. [applause] when i hear some of my republican friends talk about this, i try to remind them president reagan took action to

keep families together. the first president bush took action to shield about 1.5 million people -- about 40% of undocumented immigrants in america at the time. when folks in congress? authority to make the immigration system work better, i have one answer -- pass a bill. pass a bill. [applause] go ahead and pass a bill. i want to work with both parties on a more permanent legislative solution. i know that is what louis guiter rez wants and brad schneider wants. they have been at the forefront fighting for a more permanent solution. the day i signed a comprehensive immigration bill into law, any actions i table no longer be necessary. in the meantime, i will do what i can to make this system work better. in the meantime, washington

should not let the disagreements over one issue be a dealbreaker on every issue. [applause] that is not how our democracy works. you cannot disagree with one thing and say you will take your ball away and go home. congress certainly should not shut down the government again over this. americans are tired of gridlock. we are ready to move forward. [applause] as you can imagine, i have gone a lot of letters and e-mails about immigration over the past few days. and some have said it was a mistake for me to act. then, others remind me why i had to. one letter i got last week came from brett duncan of dawsonville, georgia.

he is a republican so we i really agree with me about anything. maybe everything. [laughter] his ancestors came over from scotland before the civil war of his immigration status is pretty much settled. [laughter] but, he has done missionary work overseas. he knows what it is like to be a stranger. over the years, he's gotten to know a lot of new immigrants and his community. children arer as american as i am. it would be senseless to deport their parents. it would be bad for america. i believe he wrote of the human being created in the very image of the almighty god is the greatest resource we have in this country. [applause]

we are not a nation that kicks out dreamers who want to have their piece of the american dream. we are a nation that is fundamentally strong, special an exceptional because we find ways to welcome people. fellow human beings, children's and god into the fold harness their talents to make the future brighter for everyone. we didn't raise the statue of liberty with our back to the world. we did it facing the world. her light, her beacon shining. cross the are -- we atlantic, the pacific, the rio grande, we all shared one thing -- the hope that america it would be the place where we can believe as we choose, pray as we choose, start a business without paying a bribe and we can vote in an election without fearing of reprisal.

and the law would be enf orced equally for everybody regardless of what you look like in which a last name was. -- and what your last name was. that is the idea that binds us all together. that is what is at stake when we have conversations about immigration. that is what is at stake when we have conversations about ferguson. live up tooin going to those ideas of who we are as a people? it falls on all of us to hand thatto our kids a country lives up to that promise. where america is the place where we can make it if we tried. thank you very much, everybody. got bless you. god bless america. [applause] ♪

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>> president obama in chicago talking about immigration but he also addressed the violence last night in ferguson, missouri and urged protesters not to resort to violence. he also announced that he and attorney general eric holder will launch a series of regional meetings to discuss race and the police. back in washington, the attorney general said he is disappointed that some people in ferguson resorted to violence last night. he spoke to reporters and his comments are just under 10 minutes. >> good afternoon. i have been briefed by members of the justice department. i wanted to provide a brief update of this justice department's ongoing efforts arising from the events in ferguson, missouri. i have been briefed today by the director ron davis.

molly moran. deputy assistant attorney general. members of my staff all of whom are with me now. they are overseeing the federal investigations into the shooting of michael brown as well as the investigation that we are doing of the ferguson police department. we have two investigations that are ongoing. as i have said many times before and reiterated last night, the department's investigation will continue to be thorough. they will continue to be independent and they remain ongoing. they will be conducted rigorously and in a timely matter so we can move forward as expeditiously as we can to restore trust, to rebuild understanding the cooperation between law enforcement and community members. last night and throughout the day, i have been briefed on events in and around ferguson. i was disappointed that some

members of the community resorted to violence rather than respecting what i thought was the heartfelt words of michael that he. and the wishes expressed about how he wanted his son's memory to be remembered by nonviolence. it is clear that after the violence those who had legitimate voices, legitimate demonstrators were drowned out. those acts of violence cannot and will not be condoned. i am very encouraged by contrast that some of the more peaceful demonstrations last night as well as today have occurred and have been keeping with mr. brown's request. i would remind demonstrators of our history. in which we have made progress in this country is when we have seen peaceful, nonviolent demonstrations. that has led to the change that has been the most long-lasting

and the most pervasive. i have asked the director ron davis to continue to confer with local law enforcement and to conduct an after action review so we can delivevelop strategies to isolate the criminal elements from peaceful protesters. additionally, i have instructed the private officials to remain in contact with leaders of the peaceful protesters and seek their assistance of isolating those individuals who are inclined to resort to violence. we have had a good ongoing dialogue with peaceful demonstrators in ferguson. we heard about the good work they have done as well as the people here in particular. we instructed them to maintain those levels of medication and keep those avenues open. i really embrace those who have who areactive leaders

looking to stoacts of violence within wtheitheir midst. i encourage them to continue this leadership. i know it is not an easy thing to do but it is very heartening to hear those people last night try to stop other people trying to loot, destroy businesses, burn things. those people took it upon themselves to stop those kinds of things are in fact heroes. michael brown's tragic death has revealed a deep mistrust and some within the ferguson community and its police force. i have developed a need to widely disseminate long for us and for responding to public demonstrations. the department of justice has begun this work and will continue to work with communities around the country in this regard. the reality is what we see in ferguson is not restricted to ferguson. there are other communities that have the same issues around the

country and have to deduct with. we are determined to do all we can to bridge those divides. we are building communities of trust initiative to provide training to law enforcement and communities on procedural fairness. provideto strategies around the country. this is all designed to bridge those divides, thos e gaps between law enforcement and the communities they serve. these divides exist in other parts of the country beyond ferguson. in focus will be national how to deal ultimately with these issues. we will continue to advance this work in cities around the country in the coming weeks and months by bringing together elected officials, law enforcement, and community leaders both to ensure dialogue but also action. this is not just about talking.

we want to make sure concrete steps are taken to address these underlying barriers of trust. i have briefed the president today in the oval office about the situation in ferguson. shared with him the perspectives of people in law enforcement and the justice department officials who are there on the ground. we talked about initiatives that we want to announce relatively soon. also, about the needed to bring our people together. this is a difficult time for people in ferguson and for people in our country. tos is an opportunity for us find things that bind us as a nation, to be honest with one another about those things that continue to divide us and to come up with ways in which we make this union even more -- that is what i talked about what the president. he i committeds to this effort

as are the men and women of the department of justice. thank you very much. as the attorney general was talking in washington, missouri governor jay nixon was announcing he has ordered more than 2200 national guardsmen to the city of ferguson to try to keep order tonight. the governor made the announcement this evening in a news conference in st. louis. we will also hear from the st. louis county police chief, the head of the missouri public safety department and the general in charge of the missouri national guard. >> good afternoon. let me introduce the we have

today. chief dan isam, the director of public safety. delmer, the st. louis county police department. assistant chief of the metropolitan police department. we joined by major general stephen danner as well as brigadier general gregory mason of the national guard. last night, criminals intent on lawlessness and destruction terrorized this community. burning buildings, firing gunshots, vandalizing storefronts and looting family businesses. many for the second time. i am deeply saddened for the people of ferguson who woke up this morning to see parts of their community in ruins. i just came from west fofl orrissent. it is a heartbreaking sight.

schools canceled, kids scared to go outside and play. what they have gone through is unacceptable. no one should have to live like this, no one deserves this. we must do better and we will. i met with guard and law-enforcement leaders. all agree that the violence we saw cannot be repeated. to protect in order life and property we are bringing more resources to ferguson and other parts to avoid repetition of lawlessness we saw. cetional guard presennc we ramped up significantly to prevent violence. hundreds are deploying of additional guardsmen to ferguson that will be stationed throughout the community to protect. with these additional citizen soldiers, law-enforcement offices can focus on protecting lives and property.

the missouri national guard will also continue to provide security a critical locations, including the ferguson police department. last night, more than 700 guardsmen were at nearly 100 of idle facilities throughout this region in both the city and county. i thank them for their work. it is a testament to the professionalism of local law enforcement, the missouri state highway patrol and the guard. the rapid response teams will be positioned so they are ready to act in a moments notice it challenges arise. altogether, there will be more than 2200 national guardsmen in the region. lives and property must be protected. this community deserves to have peace. we will provide safety and security to the region. i know this morning that there is pain in the hearts of the community. i know it is vital for us to understand how we got to this place and how to make it better.

i continue to be heartened by the steadfast work that so many people in this region are doing on behalf of peace and understanding. to avert violence and move forward together. folks to sayall on something and i will be glad to take questions. let me call on the commander here. brigadier general john mason. >> thank you, governor. the missouri national guard deployed and were trained and ready. jobere equipped to do the in august. we returned to ferguson and his region and we will continue to do a good job to protect the citizens and lives and property. we are here as trained and ready soldiers to do what we have always done and serve the citizens of the state of missouri. >> thank you, general. the kernel of -- colonel of the highway patrol. >> want to say we worked with the national guard many times.

last night was a disaster. we are prepared to team up again with the national guard, with all the local law enforcement to address this tonight. we cannot have a repeat of what happened last night. it was very disappointing for me to watch the hard work of the ptain over the ca past few days, the tremendous work they were doing going up in flames last night. they will work harder and we will work harder but we will not have a repeat of last night's activities. thank you. >> thank you. now, i call on the chief of the st. louis county police department. >> thank you, sir. i would like to thank general mason for the assistance he will give us. last night we had about 400 plus police officers down there before we called safety officers from st. louis city and another 100 from municipalities. this goes to show you the valley

of the guard can bring to us. our community not only needs to be safe, they need to feel safe. i appreciate the governor's leadership and certainly general masons of troops in that regard. thank you. >> thank you, chief. the director of public safety for missouri. >> it was clear that last night was a disappointment. a disappointment in so many ways. bymuch work has been done the command over the last 100 days. and we deployed many officers out into the area and unfortunately, there was a group of people who were intent on causing violence and mayhem. we will do better tonight. there will be a significant presence in the community and we hope that we will protect the

businesses ofhe those people in ferguson and also throughout the city of st. louis and our community. >> thank you. i will be glad to take any questions. >> [indiscernible] guardsmen inut 700 100 locations in the city and county last night. morning, night or this we deployed guardsmen to the ferguson police department. as was indicated by the folks here, we have -- we will continue that mission along with the other missions that we talked about. expand the role of the guard. we are working to make sure there is public safety and the guard is -- that force is used in a way that make sure it is

safe tonight. [indiscernible] >> we had 700 national guardsmen throughout the region that went out early last evening, including late last night. guardsmen directly deployed to the ferguson police department. more than 2000 out. >> that is what we will have in the area. we will have a significant number out tonight but they will work ships. fts. the bottom line is we will continue to up their numbers here and work with the unified command to make sure we keep things calm and safe. yes, jason? >> was the national guard on nt with thesa

looting and the burning happened? >> the national guard was part of the unified command. they were providing services all throughout the area so officials can be freed up to be part of the command. we had 700 guardsmen in the region doing a lot of static work out there such that others couldn't. we certainly had a guard at the command post and at the ferguson police department. we will have more out there tonight and we will continue to provide resources. over here. >> [indiscernible] i am not sure these that number at the command center at various times. it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 100. is saying you may have been pressured by the obama administration to not deploy

justsmen as opposed to guard federal buildings. >> that is false. it is nothing to do what we're doing. have hundreds of people out there putting the lives on the line each and every night. politics has not one bit to do with the tasks at hand, the responsibilities at hand and the seriousness of this mission. >> governor jay nixon. on c-span,k interviews with retiring members of congress and tonight at 8:00 eastern, democratic senator tom harkin and north carolina republican congress and howard coble were elected 30 years ago. >> two things. on rid of the filibuster legislation and nominations. have aother hand, i

legitimate argument in that they are not being allowed to offer amendments. they are not being a lot because they filibuster bills. they filibuster because they cannot offer amendment. the best way to give it a bit is to get rid of the filibuster but at the same time, guaranteed to the minority new rules of the senate that the minority will be allowed to offer amendments to any bill that is on the floor. ments withend reasonable time limits for debate. if you do that, we can move legislation and the minority will have the right. to minority does not have the right to prevail which they are doing now because the minority can control the filibuster and stopping spirit the minority actually prevails. whether they prevailed but it should be the right of the minority to amend or offer

amendments. full and vigorous debates and have votes on those amendments. i think the senate would begin to operate very well. justremember one time after the contract. newt had is working until 11:00 at night. i had pretty good rapport with newt gingrich. one of my buddies came back at 10:00 one night -- what a to go to the speaker and cd can make this 100 days -- 100 legislative days give us a few more saturdays and fridays. thent to newt, i said troops are restless. i wonder of we can extend of the 100 day timeframe. he thought pensively for a few seconds. he said get back to work. i said aye, aye, sir.

>> you can see all of our interviews with senator harkin and congress angoble tonight. john kirby said today that defense secretary -- pentagon spokesman john kirby said today defense secretary chuck hagel was not forced out by the white house. is that secretary hagel did not feel he was being micromanaged by the white house. announced hisl resignation yesterday. today's pentagon briefing was 25 minutes. >> a statement again today.

>> is being your first briefing since secretary hagel announced his resignation. it is been characterized as a firing. i'm wondering if he can say what happened. a mutual decision arrived at by the president and the secretary of defense about the next two years. that is exactly how it transpired. it would be inaccurate to categorize this as anything other than that. to follow up on bob's in hisn, can we expect resignation that the u.s. secretary in a rack in syria -- in iraq and syria would be changing with the new secretary of defense?

>> would it be accurate to say that? >> with the resignation, are you expecting a new strategy against isil? >> there's no connection between the resignation and us yesterday and the strategy we are pursuing against isil on iraq and syria, no questions whatsoever. i would not draw from one any kind of conclusions or changes to the other. the strategy, as the secretary has said and chairman dempsey has that and i have said, against isil is working. we are making progress. iraqi forces on the ground are pushing out the on baghdad. peshmerga continue to gain ground in the north. not over, not going to be easy, nobody is saying that the but our support from the air and now our support to them in the advise and assist the opacity and the training capacity will continue. i see no major muscle movements or changes to that.

>> would you prefer if the pentagon is reviewing the size of u.s. forces after 2014 for >> we're still having discussions with our nato partners about the resolute support mission and resources required to execute that. as you know, it is not all an american posture. 9800 is the number the president has authorized for the american presence and supported that still means there are a couple thousand or so the need to be provided by a coalition partner. we're still in discussions with them about that. the bilateral security agreement did not get signed until fairly late. those discussions are ongoing. as we stand here today, there is no change to the 9800 force

level. >> the secretary said yesterday he is going to stay at his job here until his successor is confirmed by the senate. no way to know how long it will take you by all appearances, the new republican-controlled senate will make life difficult for whoever that person is, so it could be a couple of months, let's say. what are the presidents priorities to get accomplished in that time given that he may still be around here into the new year? >> the secretary will stay on the job and stay at work and continue to do the things he has been doing for the last few years. i want to set aside expectations that he is going to somehow come up with a new set of priorities here and whatever time he has left in the job here at his priorities remain, and he outlined this in a speech in chicago in may. everything he does kind of lines up under the three major priorities. he has launched more than a dozen reforms. some of that has been reported out to you. some is still going through. he is focused on implementing the recommendations and changes

that he has accepted from the reforms we put in place. the nuclear enterprise review and medical health system review. he is focused on implementation of those. and he has a group working on other reform initiative spirit in military justice system review he has ongoing. the metals and rewards review system he has going on right now we're at of course the continued weekly focus on sexual assault. he is continuing to keep his foot on the pedal and moving forward.

>> there has been a lot of negative comments about him from administration officials, always unnamed in news stories, over the past 24 hours. is it going to be difficult for him to stay in the job over the next couple months and be effective given that there is clearly bad blood between the white house with him? >> first of all, let me challenge the question that there is clearly bad blood between the building and the white house are between secretary hagel and the team. as i said yesterday and will continue to say, he considers himself a very strong partner inside the national security team, and that will continue. his focus is not on the atmospherics and sniping by some anonymous officials here at his focus is on the men and women who wear the uniform and their families. and on this critical time we find ourselves into it remember as we head into thanksgiving and december, we have a mission ending in afghanistan and a new one starting up in the country in 2015. we have a very serious fight

against isil in iraq and syria appeared we have a huge budget uncertainty. one of the things he will be working on over the holiday break, fy 2016 -- there is a lot of work to do. when you left the white house yesterday, he can do to the pentagon and immediately had a meeting with the senior leaders of this building, service secretaries and service chiefs and senior staff on his staff. he had two things to say. one, he thanked them for their support over the last almost two years in office and for the support he knew he was going to be able to continue to gather from them going forward. number two, i have got to keep working, and he did it he had a meeting with the minister of defense from new zealand yesterday afternoon. and he has a full calendar today. for him, it is back to business as usual, and that is where his head is. >> going back to why he left the review said it was a mutually agreed-upon decision. what did they mutually agree for the reasons he had to go? >> i think it was -- this was born out of a serious of discussions he and -- series of discussions he and the president had. i will not detail all of the

specifics. first of all, i was not a party to them. i talked about this. there was an understanding between the two of them that the secretary had accomplished a lot in his less than two years in office, accomplishing many of the things he said up to accomplish and to work on while secretary. does not mean there is not still work to do. there is still work to do. but it was a general understanding between the two of them that now was about the right time for the leadership in the pentagon to implement and carry into conclusion some of those changes and to lead the pentagon in the last few years of the obama administration. >> couple details in the "new york times" that he upset the white house over gitmo policy and the syria policy, specifically, pulling back some plans for afghans approved for transfer, and that he wrote a memo saying the syria policy was

at risk of unraveling. do you reject those say yes policy issues had anything to do with his dismissal? >> there were policy disagreements or debates or discussions that were not driving factors in the decision the secretary made in submitting his resignation. it is not only, not uncommon, but it is healthy inside any organization for there to be a very candid and frank discussion and sometimes even disagreements over the direction certain policies or programs take. that is what you expect, what you want. the president said it himself yesterday in the white house when he talked about the very candid and frank and forthright advice and counsel he has

received from secretary hagel and how much he appreciates that. that is his job, to give his opinion. but it is not the giving of that opinion that has led to his decision to submit his resignation. >> can you confirm he actually stopped the transfer of four afghans? >> i am not going to talk about specific policy decisions like that, justin. what i will say is on the issue of detainee transfers, one, he supports the closing of the guantanamo detention the solidity and therefore the transfer of the detainees in that facility. fully supports the president's policy at the -- that's the guantanamo detention facility should be close and that the detainees should be transferred out of there. he also says he takes his responsibility very seriously on the detainee transfers and making sure assurances we get from third-party countries are adequate to our own national security.

he takes that very seriously. there is not a single transfer he signs off -- he does so in a very sober fashion. >> on afghanistan for a minute. six months ago when the president laid out the 9800 plan, he said the conditions were to advise and assist the afghans and to target the remnants of al qaeda. i understand now the white house is authorized the commanders to target the taliban in certain situations. can you offer clarity on what the authorizations for the commanders will be regarding taliban as opposed to al qaeda, and is it fair to describe this as something of an incremental expansion of the mission? >> there has been no decision to expand in afghanistan, the authorities that our troops have, the commander has, to defend those troops or to continue to prosecute and go after terrorist targets. there have been no expansion of those authorities or the policies that govern those authorities.

going into 2015, we have said there are two missions. one is to support which is to train, advice, and assist, the nato mission in afghanistan, and the other is to continue to conduct counterterrorism operations in afghanistan. those will continue. valid terrorist targets will continue to be prosecuted and our troops will continue to have the right and the ability to defend themselves when needed. >> that is not just al qaeda or remnants from al qaeda included in this valid terrorist targets. there will be the taliban --

>> it will be members of al qaeda or al qaeda-affiliated networks and other terrorist groups who continue to pose a threat to the national security of the united states and to the lives of our troops. and while we will not target taliban for the sake -- merely for the sake of the fact that they are taliban and "belligerents," should members of the taliban decide to threaten american troops or specifically target and threaten our afghan partners in a tactical situation, we reserve the right to take action as needed. >> obviously, the taliban will continue to fight, so is it fair to say we will probably on a pretty regular basis be going after taliban targets. >> no, i think i characterized pretty clearly under what circumstances members of the

taliban -- we might be targeting. >> what is the secretary's relationship with susan rice? >> the secretary has a close relationship with susan rice them as you would think he would. they meet more than once a week, i know that, and of course, and other large setting meetings, more than two or three times a week. >> [indiscernible] >> there is this debate about micromanagement. this is a huge institution, the defense department. 3 million people globally deployed all around the world and here in the united states. it is an immense responsibility for any leader. secretary hagel has managed that responsibility very ably. there is not an issue of micromanagement from any other place outside the building. it is not about micromanaging.

there is, as there should be when you are talking about the kind of complex operations we are conducting -- just look at the questions we have gotten here today on how difficult some of these problems are -- that there would be very deep and continued discussions in the interagency, not just between the pentagon and the white house but between the pentagon and state department, home and security, fbi. you would expect that there will be large interagency and very discussions about this. >> still do not understand. i understand what you said about things change and making a change over the next two years because the agenda and the issues have changed since he first went into office. what i do not understand is why does that mean he had to go? why did secretary hagel not

believe he could stay and do the job and adapt to those changes? why couldn't he fight for himself to stay? why doesn't he want to stay? >> he had several discussions with the president. the secretary and president both agreed that two years was about the right time for him. this is the appropriate time to step down. he had accomplished a lot in those two years. i would advise you that he is still the secretary of defense. he has put into place many reforms that will strengthen the institution going forward and has made quite a bit of progress in defense diplomacy. this was the appropriate time. it is not uncommon, at least under this commander-in-chief, for defense secretaries to say about two years in length. >> i will push the question one more time, if possible. why did secretary -- secretary

hagel himself not want to stay on the job? >> it is not that he did not want to stay on the job and not that the secretary believes he is not capable of still contributing or serving for the next two years. he said it very well yesterday, that he considers it his greatest opportunity of his life to have the job he has right now, to serve the men and women of the department. they both decided that he had accomplished a lot and had done what he set out to do in the job, and now with two years left to go, it is an appropriate time for new leadership. >> [indiscernible] relations between india and the u.s. and south asia -- where has he left those relations during his time here? >> is the question that -- are we concerned about the

relationship between our two militaries even though the indian defense did not come? >> he did not make it because of the changes in the new environment in india. but where is the legacy between the two country's relations? >> i think whenever he ends up leaving the defense department, he believe believing that he helped strengthen the relationship between the united states and india from a military perspective. one of the things he is very proud of, he is launching a defense technology initiative that mr. kendall is heading up. that is a new initiative and reform he has put into place in the acquisition world that he is very proud of. it promises to deepen the military relationship and cooperation we enjoy with india. >> there is a quote by the cfr

that pakistan will be making more than 200 nuclear bombs in the next six years. is this a concern? the report says those bombs will be in the hands of terrorists and the region of afghanistan. is there concern about this report? >> i have not seen that report, but we have long said we believe pakistan is more than capable of securing their stockpiles. >> you began by saying the strategy toward islamic state and iraq and syria is working, but at the same time, several officials have said the mental -- memo secretary hagel wrote is challenging the assumption that this strategy is working. which is true? is the strategy working or is secretary hagel's memo saying it is not working? >> i will not make a practice of talking about internal

securitization's the secretary has with the national security council or teen. -- about internal communication the secretary has with the national security council or team. but he believes it is the right policy we are pursuing against isil in both iraq and syria. he has said that strategy, by its own definition, has to be constantly reviewed and evaluated. we have been doing that since day one. constantly looking at it. are you doing it the right way? do you have the right resources question what do you need to change in any way to improve your effectiveness against an enemy like isil? that will continue regardless. but all this anonymous sniping about a memo does not change the fact that the secretary fully supports the policy that the

commander-in-chief has put in place about going after isil. the international effort to do so -- not just about the united states and the strategy we are executing. >> would it be accurate to say that didn't -- if the memo is accurate, he is questioning that the strategy is the right strategy going forward? >> i will go back to what i said before, the secretary is not questioning the effectiveness or validity of the strategy we are pursuing against isil. he said that in testimony and here in front of you guys. he believes it is the right strategy. >> not to belabor the point, but to understand what he might have wanted to communicate in that memo to advisor rice -- >> without talking about

individual topics and/or hypothetical methods of committee kitchen, the secretary of defense's job, part of his job, is to give advice and counsel, to ask questions, and to contribute to an interagency discussion and sometimes interagency debate about the national security of the united states. that is his job at you heard it yourself yesterday from president obama. that is exactly what secretary hagel did. >> i was hoping you could speak to the justification sent to congress -- weapons for iraqi forces and tribal forces in iraq. millions of dollars and a variety of weapons, mostly american-made. are they contracts or are they add-ons to existing contracts and how does that work?

is the funding jeopardized? >> we certainly hope that there is no impact of congress' willingness and ability to approve that request. i do not think i have the answer for you today on specific mechanisms, so you will have to let me get back to you on that. it remains a fact that we have a robust military sales program with iraq, and we have stepped up the delivery of certain ammunition to the iraqi government as recently as this month. hundreds more hellfire missiles were delivered to help them deal with the threat of isil. i expect that kind of material support will continue. i will get back to you on the mechanism. >> you mention that among secretary hagel's issues was dealing with the problem of sexual assault in the military. i apologize because i'm not up to speed on all of this. am i right in thinking that >> we had a report on the status

of our programs and initiatives to try and eliminate actual harassment in the ranks. itdo anticipate delivering on time to the white house early in the month of december. i am not at liberty to talk about it in more detail. >> is you going to have some specific recommendations? >> i do not want to get ahead of the report. it would not be fair to do that from the podium. but it is a fair and comprehensive look at how we are doing against this problem in the pentagon. things we are facing, things we need to do better. carla? >> is there a sense of frustration at the pentagon,

having to go through different secretaries every couple of years? there is no issue with that. one of the things you get really good at in the military is change. leadership changes in the military on a very frequent basis, sometimes more frequent than my spouse would appreciate. it is just part of being in this culture. so, no, there is no angst in that regard. >> and how is this going to affect the communications groups with the white house? >> there will be no affect on that. i think i have said it before. communications with the white house and other agencies in the federal government with the pentagon are very close and constant, as you would imagine they would be. i think we can easily predict that will continue no matter who is heading the department. >> i just wanted to get some

clarification on the rules of engagement. u.s. troops have the right to defend themselves, but afghan forces come under attack from the taliban, do u.s. forces have authority to come to their aid? >> i think we understand that withg forward counterterrorism operations that there may be some enabling functions that we continue to provide or support and bolster for afghan national security forces. i would not want to get too specific right now about the enabling functions and what they would look like. but clearly, we know there will be some need for enabling support going forward. that action that the president signed, without result in any changes for u.s. forces

in afghanistan from january onward? >> i'm not aware of anything new the president signed. there is no new decision here. prosecutentinue to terrorism targets in afghanistan as we said we would. we will continue to support afghan national security forces as we said we would. , by virtuel not do of them being a belligerent, continue to go after taliban targets. to our pose threat troops or the afghan security forces, they become fair game at that point. >> [indiscernible] >> we will continue to go after terrorists that threaten the security of the united dates and our afghan allies. >> troops in afghanistan after 2014? >> we have been clear about what

that is going to look like. it is a 9800 troop level beginning at the end of january. since thesaid, bilateral security agreement got signed late in the process, coalition partners continue to examine their resourcing. there may need to be some flexibility there with what they would provide. nothing changed as we speak today about the 9800 number. inside the number will be a component dedicated to the missions. i do not have an exact figure on that. >> what is the percentage of that? >> you would have to talk to general campbell and his staff. i do not know that it is all that relevant to begin with. courtney? the 1500 troops that are supposed to be going into iraq, have any of them gotten worse

yet? whereu also clear out they stand with congressional funding? whether it will start before congress funds -- >> that is a great question. i do not know about orders. but i can tell you that none of the 1500 have arrived at interact -- iraq. the general, as the regional commander, has the responsibility to move forces around if he needs to. he has decided to do that in a small way. the number is still about 50 that he has moved into anbar province to begin the thighs and insist -- the advise and assist mission. no training has begun yet in that respect. so he has, with respect to the , and the advise and

assist mission, he has authority to begin that now. that is what he is what he has done by moving the sum of 50 troops into anbar. we still need the authorities and funding that go with iraqi training fund that we asked for. we still need congress to pass that. we still need that funding to execute in the way it was designed to be executed with these 1500 extra troops. again, in a very limited way. because we do not have the funding to support it in a fuller capacity. you do not expect stateside troops over there -- going over there to have orders -- >> this is why the funding is so important. the sheer numbers we're talking about. 1500 is a big number. it is going to require funding

to get them over there. we still need the support from congress to begin this iraqi training mission in the way it was intended, through the request of congress. but it does not mean he cannot get a jumpstart with troops he has in the theater. he started to do that in a small way. is that answer your question? there -- there was an army raid on an al qaeda camp that rescued a number of people. ledyou say whether it was by the u.s. or not or whether there were americans are among those freed? >> all i am going to be able to say today about this -- as you know, we support the you many government-- yemeni and recent -- we provide support to various units. >> do you know if there was any

american role in the operation? yemeniontinue to support counterterrorism operations. -- fornt to ask about the next secretary, the priority or the issue of isil has risen to top priority. considering that and it secretary hagel's trip to ,outheast asia being postponed why shouldn't allies in that region come to the conclusion that the asia-pacific balance is not a top priority with the president? >> because it is not. made six tripsas to the region since he has been secretary. the fact that he postponed the trip to vietnam was really more and issues that

he wanted to be able to deal with here at home. nothing about his commitment to that part of the world. meetinghe first defense in the united states. again, he has made six trips. he has been a point man on the asia-pacific region round, -- rebound. and he has pledged and will continue to work on making sure the latest capabilities we have, the ph, the joint strike fighter, are all going to be flowing into the asia-pacific. ,ur partners and our allies five of seven of our p8 alliances, if you have been, i think they will tell you there are fairly confident how much the united states is committed to this rebound.

the trip being postponed is nothing more than a scheduling issue. the secretary would like to get that trip back on the schedule. i will take one more. ukraine -- is there any change in the u.s. policy provoked -- for providing only nonlethal -- >> the question presupposes that there is an official line being drawn at nonlethal, david. nothing has changed about nonlethal assistance that we continue to provide to ukrainian armed forces and security forces. we continue to evaluate all ukrainian requests for military aid and assistance. right now, focus remains on nonlethal. >> [indiscernible] >> we continue to focus on nonlethal assistance to the ukraine. >>