>> here is a look at our schedule today on c-span. next is "newsmakers" with new .exico congressman ben lujan after that president obama speaks about the federal budget with business leaders at a summit held here in washington. been republican presidential candidate donald trump holds a town hall meeting in new hampshire, and finally, a debate with general election scheduled for october 19. >> this week on newsmakers, congressman ben lujan. thank you for being here, sir. >> thank you for having me.

>> go ahead with the first question. >> many political watchers chances oft democrat winning back the house are slimmer than slim in 2016. what is your take on this? what would qualify as a victory and can democrats win back the house. : it will be ajan different year. one was a larger turnout, it's generally better for you candidates. pundits, especially inside the beltway, are saying there will be a floor of eight to 10 seats that will be picked up and it does not seem that anyone is pressing against that. if that is the floor, it depends on what that would look like. i believe that will be in play. what does that look for the ultimate numbers.

i do not have a crystal ball. there seems to be no question we will win seat. as we look at the battlegrounds , starting country with the 23 that president obama narrowly lost in seats out in those made the race very close. he is working very hard already. places like new jersey, scott garrett, that was not necessarily on the republican patriot program. things that is said about the lgbt community, that race is very much in play. >> ultimately the stakes are quite high for this. i know a lot of conversation right now is about the presidential race, but if democrats do not win back the house, how much likelihood of

success does a democratic president have without a democratic majority. we seem gridlock for year in -- for years and years. congressman lujan: scott, that's an important question. you're absolutely right. we need to make sure that we make the case very clear that democrats have the backs of hard-working, every day americans like my mom and dad. no matter what the numbers are, with the congress in this next cycle in 2016, but he need to make sure that we maximize them, but not only maximize those wins , but we hold those seats in 2018. we make more gains in 2018, 20 20, 2022 as well and we need to have not only a short look, but a long look at what it takes to win the house and hold the houses democrats in the united aids. -- in the united states. much has been made about

the so-called hillary affect, but she has stumbled over questions about her private e-mail server. we have seen her numbers drop in the polls and early primary states like new hampshire and iowa. are you concerned at all she may be dragging down now some of the candidates, and what more would you like to hear from her in order to address this issue? it seems tolujan: me there is a big difference between the democratic andidates up for president republicans. you see donald trump making a mockery of what the gop would want. you see hillary clinton, bernie sanders, other democratic nominees, and we hear them putting hard-working people at the center of everything that is

being talked about today. conversations we all have around the kitchen table. we are able to help with access to higher education, college kids, making sure it is affordable. that is going to be the difference. i do not believe the 2016 election is going to be about technicalities of any sort. it will be about issues that impact families in their pocket -- pocketbooks. those will be the choices that will be made november 2016. in the end though, it it is a presidential year and as we see the polls move up and down, as they do during the cycle, we still see more democrats engaged. whether it is secretary clinton reaching out to her supporters or senator sanders reaching out, everyone is being engaged. everyone is being talked to, and primaries are healthy. it's an opportunity to share ideas and talk about those differences, and if the difference is going to be what

secretary clinton is talking against a donald trump and ted cruz, i think that is a very healthy debate the american people want to see. do you think she needs to do a better job of explaining these e-mails and trying to right the ship here? congressman lujan: they're trying to distract the american people from these pocketbook issues. look, as elected officials, interested with public trust, we need to make sure that we answer all of the questions put to us and i'm certain that that will continue to come out. but again, the election of 2016, it will be about issues that impact us and our daily lives. it will be about what that means for our households, the strength of our economy, and hopefully averting -- averting something

from the next few weeks. >> mr. chairman, it seems the alack of reflecting trust. they do not feel that they can trust the hillary clinton, not about technicalities, but whether she is trustworthy enough. congressman lujan: the polls are indicative of where mr. trump is going. polls are going to move. important tois so talk to constituents and their homes, in their districts -- that is why it is so important to talk to constituents i and their homes, in their districts. ask them what is happening in their daily lives. so, when they are having a difference with republican it comes tohen college affordability, why or gopcans in the house

presidential candidates refused to talk about how we can make sure that students are able to refinance in the way that the bullpen refinance their homes or cars. real debates about infrastructure in the country. the government shutdown seem to be more on their mind and other policies. i think all of those conversations will change as they move toward 2016. reaching toward the american people, talking with them, visiting them, getting them to earn trust, that is what we have to do, and that is my primary responsibility. not only is the congressman of new mexico. we need to do better. we need to make sure that we are fighting on their behalf. >> you have mentioned the difficulties your party has

reaching out. do think there would be a difference if there were more debates. i know that there have been a lot of discussions, including about whether hillary clinton and martin o'malley and bernie sanders will be debating enough times and we have seen now for the second time already, candidates have drawn over 20 million viewers to watch their debate. do you think democrats should be debating more, getting their views out more? congressman lujan: i think debates are healthy. the more opportunities we have to reach out to the american people, the healthier it will be, and i think all of the candidates are showing that they are engaged with the american people. democratic stage will not be

as crowded as the republican stage. you will see them all together instead of having two or three, the circus we have seen. scott w: what you think are the chances of a government shutdown? we saw a slight bounce in the polls for the democrats, but it was not -- it was short-lived. is there a political effect? congressman lujan: i'm very concerned about the debate conversation as we get closer to october 1 about what a shutdown would mean to the american people. just to be clear, the democrats in the house do not want to see

a government shutdown. what we learned this last week's there was a conversation in the public -- in the republican conference that they presented their members and the outset according to polls and stats and numbers in many articles written , it is very clear that everybody knows who will be blamed and who was causing what would be a government shutdown, and that's the republicans in the house. ulw, i'm certainly hopef the republicans see the $24 billion impact and a reduction -- employees for load all over employees with concerns for air force bases as we seeing california and districts around the country. a reals going to be debate with the differences between democrats and republicans in those districts. so, i think the american people know what is happening here. they are worried about what is happening here, and when you

talk about furloughed employees, united states military bases, the fires in california where we see a restriction in funding to provide support, places out in maine that would have national parks that would be impacted, a big part of the economic realities, those would all be impacted. people would be hurt, and that's what this comes down to. there would be a conversation certainly but i am hopeful that republicans will heed the call of democrats in the house, that they will work with us to avert the government shutdown and speaker pelosi has been very clear. she has reached out to be republican leadership. we have been reaching out for months to put together a budget and make sure we responsibly keep the government open, but we should not forget that we are what took because of place a few months ago.

at the same time the confederate battle cry was taking place in south carolina, the very day the signature was put on a visa paper, the interior appropriations bill was debated about the republicans giving back that confederate battle flag. that is why we are here today. as 100 republicans would have been lost in that vote. that's not good. they are not funding the ex-im bank, which provides jobs and is hurting the u.s. economy. now leaving us again to a government shutdown, i think the american people are watching. we will talk about this. but we need to work together to avert this.

do you think the shutdown is 50%, 75%? congressman lujan: i don't know if i can put a number on it. what has been reported the last few days, it does not appear the republicans have a plan to keep the government open. from then indication gop debate that there seems to be a push toward the government showdown over different issues. i'm worried. i am certainly hopeful that members of congress will come together and if it's any indication, congressman mcclintock led the freedom caucus. this weekhem a letter and said he was leaving the freedom caucus over this debate. at a think that's indicative of the frustration we are seeing. sadly, it in folds this way.

we need to not shut the government down. scott b: a lot of you are describing has led the american government to get down on government -- the more people to get down the government general. an encouraging democrats to run for the house of representatives, does this make your job harder? how do you convince people to want to take a job in the house of representatives? congressman lujan: there's a real frustration now with the american people and is a frustration i share. see unfoldtion we display with the republican leadership in the house and our members today is one -- it's really a sad point for our nation's history. veterans, visit with audrey neuralstem, small --iness owners, americans

entrepreneurs, small business owners, americans who observed in different capacities up this country, if you want to come together with other individuals with diverse you points to make a difference in their life, that is why we are asking you to serve and give a little bit of time to serve our nation, but especially our communities. that is why the democratic caucus is so diverse. we represent all different viewpoints in america and the fabric of our communities. as we have seen recruitment in our -- we see 17 recruits in the most vulnerable republican districts, i think it is a reflection of people all across the country from different makeups and backgrounds that are willing to step up to represent their communities and make a difference to get the y back on track. it is hard-working people that will be put first. i'm wondering if you

can throw out a couple of names -- i'm wondering if you can throw at a couple of names we should be watching? who will be the next joaquin castros? congressman lujan: i think there are fantastic individuals willing to step up to serve in the congress. let's start with one of the districts not on the radar of so many people in the country. romneyict that governor one with overwhelming support, a district where doug collins, i well challenge me a lot. his father served in the congress. he is well respected. he is salt of the earth. i would say watch people like him. another is doing very well. she's making a world of difference. anhink very highly of emergency room physician who is

reaching out for his community. histarted free clinics in community, free clinics to deliver health care for people who could not afford health care before all of the debate associate with the affordable care act started taking place. he is also associated with mentorship so children from those communities can get into schools. as we look to the retirements we just learned of, i look at ron johnson, who is so well spoken and well-respected. personch a real, genuine and down in florida, if you have ever had the chance to visit with my calling, she draws you in because of the compassion she shares for her community. all parts of america from the northeast down to florida across the country, as we travel from the midwest, they really reflect the values of those communities.

>> we have a little over five minutes left. if i could go back to 2016, and ask you about vice president joe biden. if he could get into the race, what impact would he have on the race at the house level? i have so -- congressman lujan: i've so much respect for vice president joe biden. someone like my father who has reached out to communities, and the nation mourned with the loss of his son beau. everyone was so moved. i think vice president biden speaks in a very candid way. he is very honest with the american people and reaches out to them. whether we have one or more new candidates who will be seeking the nomination for a democratic not for the presidency, i think that is all welcome. people want to make sure they andhearing different ideas diverse ideas. he is a well-respected

individual. he is one of the strongest leaders we have in america. an announcement from him sooner rather than later more of a benefit to democrats? congressman lujan: i don't have a crystal ball. i leave that to those who can look at this from a numbers perspective. family decides, dr. biden as well is the vice president, i'm sure there are those across the country who would welcome that response. there would be him on the stage. there's only a few democrats at the debate coming up in a few weeks. sometimes they have to find overflow rooms just for the theidates, as opposed to ones listening in for the republicans. i want to ask you a question about the -- scott b: i want to ask your question about the republican candidates. donald trump has been dominating the headlines.

as a democratic messenger and campaigner, are you excited to see jump out there from the perspective that his position is so diametrically opposed to yours, or a hispanic congressman representing hispanic constituents, would you like him to go away? knowessman lujan: i don't about donald trump with the ugly things he is said about women and immigrants. it is damaging to the country. we to make sure not only democrats, but a diverse country, that we are holding donald trump accountable for the ugly things he is saying that arehurting people that distracting to the contributions immigrants from all over the world have made to america. book, "a kennedys nation of immigrants," we have to fall back and heat and listen

to. entrepreneurs, business men and women, heroes across the medaly, metal award -- award recipients. those are people being attacked a in and day out by mr. trump. that mr. trumpre is known for the ugly hateful things he says. but we're going to can see him called out, not only by democrats, but republicans as well. congressman, for weeks now we have seen turmoil among house republicans when it comes to speaker john boehner's leadership. there is a band that has been openly plotting to try to remove the speaker. if such a motion did come to the floor, and how would democrats respond to that motion? with you guys team up

boehner owl eyes and try to preserve his speakership, or would you ban together with some of these conservative rebels and throw the house into chaos and expose some of the divisions that we have seen in the republican conference? congressman lujan: well, as we see the dysfunction with the republican conference, not only with policy and ideas, and republicans now in the congress seem to be on this path toward a government shutdown, we are also seeing the dysfunction with their leadership fights as well, and i am not invited to the republican conference meetings. i do not know what conversations are taking place with the freedom caucus or ted cruz. i just know what's we do happen with that. think it's another example of the dysfunction we see within the republican conference and that's something the american people are tired of. group of members that can come together to make sure that we are promoting the ideals of the country as opposed

to just tearing it apart and all of these political in fights. we need to have congress that functions. a congress that understands the importance of governing. and it sadly seems the tea party influence has taken over the republican conference sent its that insistence that governing has no place -- we need to find a place we can work together. i'm hopeful that we are able to have real conversations from the house floor about avoiding government shutdowns, putting the american people first, conversations about college affordability, how can we have a long-term look at infrastructure in america, so you can get to and from work safely, and the republicans with all of this political infighting and

insecurity -- things have to get better for the american people. >> mr. chairman, if i can ask you about the pope's visit this week to review will be .ddressing the joint conference what does it mean for you personally to sit in the chamber listen to this worldly figure? sogressman lujan: we are honored to be welcoming pope francis to america and our nations capital. nation's capitol. for me and my family, this means a lot. home,e getting asked back as members of congress were inviting different dignitaries our across america, from states and districts to participate in this joint session, i was asked to i invited, and i invited my mom. she's such a strong figure, not only in my life, but the church it means to me so

much to have conversation with a figure like pope francis who can change the conversation around the world, to remind us that we have a responsibility to combat poverty, to look after those who are least amongst us, to look after mother earth and look after our land and water and resources, and our conversation about the contributions we see from across america. calling on the compassions of us as people, not only in america, but around the world, to make a ourerence in the lives of brothers and sisters. those are lessons i learned growing up and have been so it is an me, great honor. >> what does it mean to your mom to be that close to the pope? congressman lujan: mom will tear up and we share those emotions with one another, but it means so very much to her. my father, sadly, passed a few years ago in a battle with lung

cancer. it was always mom and dad's hope they would be able to go to the vatican. we did not do that, but we will make this dream come true for bomb. >> chairman, we appreciate your time. thank you. congressman lujan: thank you. with our back reporters. rightked the chairman away about predictions for capturing the house for democrats. how many seats realistically will they picked up, could they capture in the house in 2016? scott w: he made a great point made a greate point. democrats are in a good position to capture seats, but they are starting from an historic low in the modern era. the problem encapsulated in 2012, even when present obama won reelection comfortably, house republicans won a million now democrats are

deeper minority. the chances of them taking back and majority are fairly slim. it still could be done. you mentioned the upper peninsula of michigan which is a republican leaning seat that just came open and that's exactly the type of district where republicans have a 45 point -- four or five point advantage were democrats have to go after it hard to retake the house. >> if they don't, how many cycles are they looking at? a couple ofre are problems but each other. they are in situations where votes, but not districts. part of that is democratic voters tend to be clustered in cities. we are seeing in washington and elsewhere, democratic strategist , democratic groups meeting in planning for the next decade, when these senses well --census

will come out soon and they are trying to run strategies for ballot measures to develop different methods of redistricting to set them up better for the next decade since things have gone poorly this decade so far. though, thiswong next cycle includes the presidential election. martin clinton, o'malley, bernie sanders running. any concern from democrats on the ticket with her about the impact if she is the nominee, the impact she could have on them with the controversy over the private e-mail server? scott w: i think on capitol hill and around washington, there were a lot of democrat scratching their heads they in, what is going on here? why is hillary clinton tanking in the polls? bernie sanders is beating her in iowa. that has got to be tough for the clinton campaign to be stomach thing right now. right now.ng if you look of the polls, there

is a distrust of how hillary clinton and her campaign have handled this e-mail situation, and is not something that republicans on capitol hill are going to let go of. in fact, hillary will be coming to capitol hill october 22 to testify in a public, you know, asring on these e-mails, part of the benghazi investigation. so, head throughout the campaign and you can be sure that republicans will be jacking this out as long as possible. greta: any concern, though, that bernie sanders wins the nominee and you have a suffered in a fight socialist on the ticket? scott w: yeah. i think that is not going to play well in some of the swing districts. these districts that could flip is a republican or democrat. that certainly has got to be a concern when you have somebody on the far left, a self-described socialist, who

possibly could be the nominee. greta: what about the vice president factor here? joe biden possibly getting into the race. scott b: it is such an unknowable question. i think the interview he did with stephen colbert recently left it at there for a lot of people -- left it at bare for a lot of people. it was very interesting from the perspective of a political observer to see someone talk so openly about that. but it did very little to clarify exactly what is going to happen. it is clear that he thinks he would make a great president. that he on some level wants to run for president. but he doesn't know if he has the emotional energy to give. greta: there is more to watch, obviously, with campaign 2016. thank you both for being on "newsmakers." scott w: thank you. scott b: thank you. [captions copyright national

cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] costacer: tonight, robert presidential campaign and the similarities between donald trump in 1992 candidate and businessman ross perot. >> i think perot has a distinct personality that is different from trump. the celebrity factor was not there with trump in the same way that it drives trump. you see people throwing themselves at trump for not a graph, a picture. but being outside of the republican party, the republican party's relationship with trump has been rocky this year. trump did not turn it down. now trump has signed this pledge , but who knows what the pledge is worth. it is a political document. i can see this year what happened with perot happen with trump. he keeps wanting -- talking

about wanting to be treated fairly. he could easily run as an independent. announcer: tonight at 8:00 eastern and pacific on c-span's "q&a." visit to: the pope's the u.s. c-span has live coverage. tuesday afternoon, beginning at 3:45, we live with the president and mrs. obama to greet the pope. wednesday morning, the welcoming ceremony for the pope as the obamas officially welcome him to the white house. live coverage begins at 8:45 eastern. and starting at 4:00, the mass at the basilica of the national shrine of the immaculate conception. 8:30, poperning at francis makes history, becoming the first pontiff to address a joint meeting of congress. and friday morning at 10:00,

live coverage from new york as the pope speaks to the united nations general assembly. later at 11:30, the pontiff will hold a multi-religious service at the 9/11 memorial and museum. follow c-span's coverage of the pope's historic trip to the u.s. announcer: last week, president obama urged congress to pass a budget and avoid a government shutdown. the last federal government shutdown occurred in 2013 over the health care law. this year, congress has until september 30 to pass a budget to avoid is set down -- avoid a shutdown. the president's remarks are one hour 10 minutes. >> [applause] president obama: thank you so much. thank you, everybody. please, have a seat.

thank you to everybody here at the business roundtable for having me here today. i'm just going to say a few words and then hopefully spend a lot of time taking her questions. that is where we were when i became chief executive. here is where we are today. haveesses like yours committed more than 13 million new jobs over the past 66 months. the longest week of job growth on record. the unemployment rate is lower

than it has been in over seven years. there are more job openings right now than at any time in our history. housing has bounced back. higher than it was before the recession. inhave made enormous strides both traditional energy sources and clean energy sources while reducing our carbon emissions. and our education system is actually making significant progress with significant gains in reducing the dropout rate, reading scores increasing, math scores increasing. more than 60ay, million people have health insurance that didn't have it before. so this progress is a testament to american business and innovation. it is a testament to the workers that you employ. but i'm going to take a little credit, too. it is a testament to some good

policy decisions. ,e passed the recovery act rescued our auto industry, worked to rebuild our economy on a stronger foundation for growth. cases,ountries, in some embraced austerity as an ideology without looking at the data and the facts. the results speak for themselves. america has come back from crisis faster than almost every other advanced nation on earth, and at a time of significant global volatility, we remain the world's safest, smartest investment. of course, i will not be satisfied, and we as a country should not be satisfied, until more working families are feeling the recovery in their own lives. the fact is that what i have called middle class economics has been good for business. corporate profits have had an all-time high. slowing health care prices and plummeting energy crisis --

prices have helped your bottom line. our workforce is more educated than ever before. the stock market has more than doubled since 2009. in 2015 is on pace to be the year with the highest consumer confidence since 2004. and america's technological entrepreneurs have continued to thatincredible products are changing our lives rapidly. now, you wouldn't know any of this if you are listening to the folks who are seeking this office that i occupy. [laughter] the chamber that is presidential politics, everything is dark and everything is terrible. they don't tend to offer many solutions for the disasters that they perceive, but to they are

quick to tell you who to blame. i'm here to say that there is patrioticrticularly or american about talking about america. especially when we stand as one of the few sources of economic strength in the world. we have the chance to build on progress that we have made and that is acknowledged worldwide. we have a chance to grow the economy even faster, create jobs raising people's incomes and prospects even faster. we just have to make some sensible choices. and i'm going to focus on one particular example. america's next fiscal year is almost upon us, which means that congress has about two weeks to pass a budget. if they don't, they will shutdown america's government for the second time in two years. democrats are ready to sit down and negotiate with republicans right now. today.

as we speak. but it should be over legitimate questions of spending and revenue, not unrelated ideological issues. two years ago, republican shutdown the government because they didn't like obamacare. today, some are suggesting the government should be shut down because they don't like planned parenthood. that is not good sense. and it is not good business. the notion that we play chicken with an $18 trillion economy and global markets that are already skittish, all because of an issue around a woman's health provider that receives less than $.20 out of every $1000 in the federal budget, that is not good policymaking. the last time republican shutdown the government, it cost our economy billions of dollars, consumer confidence plummeted, i don't think anybody here thinks that is going to be good for your business. i have always believed what our

first republican president, a guy from my home state, named abraham lincoln believed. that through government we should do together those things that we can't do as well by ourselves. projects,frastructure educating the best workforce in the world, investing in cutting edge research and development so that businesses can take that research and take some risks to create new products and new services. setting basic rules for the marketplace that encourage innovation and fair competition that help a market-based economy thrive. net that notfety only helps the most vulnerable in our society, but also frees all of us to take risks and protect against life's uncertainties. and welcoming rather than disparaging immigrants that have

always been a source of continued renewal economic vibrancy and dynamism in our economy. congresspe is that aims a little higher than just not shutting the government down. it is a good start. we would like them to achieve that. but i think we can do better. we can actually do some things to help the economy grow. shutdown, both parties came together and unwound some of the irrational cuts to our economy and military readiness known as sequester. that agreement expires in two weeks. and for those of you who are not steeped in federal budget terminology, sequester basically are automatic topline cuts that don't discriminate, don't think through whether good investments and what is waste -- what are

good investment and what is waste. a lot of the drivers of growth that your companies depend on, research, education, they are going to be reduced, effectively , at a time when other countries racing to world are get ahead of us. on the other hand, if congress does reverse some of these cuts, then our own budget office estimates it would add about 500,000 jobs to our economy next year alone. 0.4% to gdp. and keep in mind that we can afford it right now. i have said at the front in terms of the recovery we have made, we have also reduced the deficit by two thirds. right now, it is about 2.8% of gdp. we have reduced our deficit faster than some of those countries that are sued strict austerity policies and want to

thinking about how you -- to grow the economy. so we are well-positioned without adding to the deficit. i want to repeat, since i took office it, we have cut the deficit by more than 2/3. and we might be moving dan some of the stale debates we have been having about spending and revenue over the -- moving beyond some of the still debates we have been having about spending and revenue over the recent discussions. ,eople in both parties including some of the leading republican candidates for president, have been putting up proposals. some i agree with, some i don't. i will give you one example, though. you have two leading candidates on the republican side who have said we should eliminate the -- loophole. there is disagreement around that. but i will tell you that keeping

this tax loophole, which leads to folks who are doing very well and lower rates than their secretaries is not in any way improving our economy. on the other hand, if we close the tax loophole, we could double the number of workers in america's job-training programs. we could help another 4 million students afford college. that are sensible choices if you are running your business and you took a look at it, you would make that decision. well, america should, too. and this is an example of how we can maintain fiscal responsibility, while at the same time making the investments we need to grow. so the bottom line is this. seven years ago, if we had listened to some politicians who said we could only cut our way to prosperity, the fact is we would be worse off today.

if we listened to them now, than we are going to be worse off tomorrow. i hope that you will talk to your friends in congress, democrats and republicans alike, as congress for its with another shutdown -- congress flirts with another shutdown. remind them what is at stake. we will have disagreements at some times. i do not expect to get 100% of in any want and enter -- conversation, including with my wife, but i do expect us to stay focused on why we are here. which is to help the american people and businesses like yours and your workers do better. that is our job. we are not supposed to be impeding process -- progress, we are supposed to be accelerating it to if our leaders -- accelerating it. if our leaders can put common sense ahead of the party, then we would do just fine.

despite the perennial doom and gloom that i guess is inevitably a part of a presidential campaign, america's winning right now. america's great right now. we can do even better. but the reason that i am so confident about our future is not because of our government or the size of our gdp or military, but because everybody in this country that i meet around -- regardless of their station in life, their race, their religion -- they do believe in a common creed that of people were cut in this country, they should be able to get ahead. and i know that is what you believe. that is the value to try to instill in your companies. my hope is that that decency, that hard work, that common

sense is going to be reflected here in washington. without, let me take some questions. and i'm going to start with randall, since he volunteered for what i'm sure is a thankless job of being head of the -- [indiscernible] >> [laughter] i will get it going here. mcconnell was just here in little bit earlier, and he gave us all a cause to exhale talking about the budget and seemed confident we would get to a place where we would have a budget. he spoke about how split government can provide opportunities for getting big things done that might be hard to get done otherwise. and he caused a had snapper when he gave you a very strong complement -- president obama: my head snapped. [laughter] >> trade promotion authority. and how you work to that. all of us in here, mike, i don't know if he is here, and jeff are

very complementary of the work that is done there. so now you have the authority to get a trade deal done. it is going to have to come back to congress. talk to us a little bit about your view about the opportunity to get the transpacific deal done. president obama: i am confident we can get it done. and i believe we can get it done this year. ministers should be meeting again sometime in the next several weeks. they have the opportunity to close the deal. most chapters have been completed at this point. will,m confidence that it in fact, a compass our central goal, which is to make sure that we have a level playing field for american businesses and american workers in the fastest-growing region of the world. there are going to be unprecedented protections for labor standards and environmental standards, but also for i.t. protection, also when anyg sure that

company here makes an investment, that they are not being disadvantaged, but are instead being treated like domestic companies. and so the notion here is that we have got 11 nations who ,epresent the fastest-growing most popular part of the world. buying into a high standards trade deal that allows us, and your companies, on a consistent basis to compete. and the good news is is that with a lot of tough negotiating and a lot of pushing and pulling, occasionally i get a call into one of my counterparts, i think that we will -- we are going to get

this done. now, the key then once we close the negotiations and we have an agreement is to get tpp through congress. i will return the compliment of mitch mcconnell worked very hard and very creatively to get it done. we should not assume, though, that because the authority was done that we automatically are going to be able to get tpp done. i will be honest with you. the reason is is that the politics around trade are tough. and i said this even in the authority.etting tpa a lot of americans, when they think of trade, think of plants in their hometown or nearby shutting down and moving to

mexico or china, and american manufacturing and good paying jobs being lost. and the argument that i have made consistently to democrats has been that there may have been some mistakes made in past trade agreements and not, for example, having enforceable labor and environmental provisions that put american companies that are doing the right thing at a disadvantage. that there weren't enough safeguards for intellectual property and, you know, the abuses of state owned

companies may have been involved with. but that is the status quo now. if you want to correct those things, we have to raise the bar. i didn't fully persuade my democratic colleagues because the politics are tough. and i was willing to take my case to the democratic office and to talk to my friends in organized labor and say that we can look forward to -- cap look backwards, we have to look lower. here's the concern politically. within the republican party, some of the same impulses that are anti-immigration reform, some of the same imports is -- impulses that see the entire world as a threat and we have to wall ourselves off, some of those same impulses also start creeping into the trade debate. and a party that traditionally was pro-free trade now has a

substantial element that may feel differently. putso the prt, you have to them to work over there. mr.heir credit, both mcconnell and mr. boehner are on the right program here. but they are going to need some help eventually with their membership because the closer we get to political season, -- [indiscernible] i will tell you this, though. i am confident that if i'm presenting an agreement to congress, that it will meet the commitment that i made that this would be the highest standard, most progressive trade deal in american history. it will be good for american business and american workers. all right. >> hi, mr. president. thank you for being with us. i want to do as good about cyber security. you put an executive order in

place earlier this year because of the issues we have with information sharing and with liabilities. and we at to be brt are very supportive of the legislation that have -- has passed to the house. i wanted to get your thoughts on how you are thinking about this and also with the upcoming visit of the president of china about cyber security and our relationship with china. president obama: this is an issue that is not going away. it is going to be more and more it is going to be very challenging. it is challenging in part the internet itself, the architecture of it, was not intended to carry trillions of dollars of transactions and everybody's personal information. it was designed for a couple of professors to trade academic the kind ofso --

security that we are looking for was not embedded into the dna of the internet. and the vulnerabilities are significant, and they are being stateted by not just actors, but also nonstate actors and criminal gangs at an accelerating pace. so this is something that from a national security perspective and from a business perspective where are going ahead to continue to concentrate on. one of the big issues that you mentioned, maggie, that we are focused on is this encryption issue. legitimates a tension around this issue. on the one hand, the stronger the encryption, the better we can potentially protect our

data. is an argument that says we want to turbocharge our encryption so that nobody can crack it. havee other hand, if you encryption that doesn't have any way to get in there, we are now empowering isil, child pornographers, others to essentially operate within a black box in ways that we have never experienced before during the telecommunications age. and i am not talking about some of the countries around nsa, i'm talking about the traditional fbi going to a judge, getting a -- a warrant, showing couple cause, but still can't -- showing probable cause, but still can't get in. we have crated a process around

which to see if we can square the circle here. and reconcile the need for greater and greater encryption and the legitimate needs of national security and law enforcement. i won't say that we have cracked the code yet, but we have got some of the smartest folks not just in government but in the private sector working together to try to resolve it. and what is interesting is even in the private sector, people are on different sides of this. china, this will be one of the biggest topics i discuss with the president. we have repeatedly said to the chinese government that we traditional intelligence gathering functions

that all states, including us, engage in. will do everything we can to stop you from getting state secrets or transcripts of our meeting that i have had, but we understand you are going to be trying to do that. that is fundamentally different government or its proxies engaging directly in industrial espionage and stealing trade secrets, stealing proprietary information from companies. that we consider an act of aggression. it has to stop. preparing a number of measures that will indicate to the chinese that this is not just a matter of us being mildly that, but is something will put significant strains on the bilateral relationship and

that we are prepared to take some kind of action. in order to get their attention. my hope is that it gets resolved short of that. and ultimately, the goal should be to have some basic that oneonal framework be perfect because there is though going to be a lot of nonstate actors that -- and hackers -- who are very good. and we will still have to have good defense is the have to be able to find the fingerprints of those and apprehend them and stop networks that are engaged in cyber crime. but among states, there has to analogouswork that is to what we have done with nuclear power. because nobody stands to gain. frankly,