in this regard. we could always do more. it is budget dependent. as i said earlier in testimony, secretary carter says that were ever our budget ends up, cyber will be a top priority. the one area where we could do better is in tools. i think -- we had to build the human capital first, which we have been doing very well. if there's one area where we could do better for admiral rodgers and the team, it's to invest more money in tools that would create better options for the force. admiral rogers: we are doing a very good job in the dedicated cyber mission force in the commitment to bringing it online. what we need to look at is, the things i raise our tools, situational awareness, the unified platform, and asking yourselves over time, is the command and control structure we put in right? this is part of an ongoing process.

whichis an environment in where we are today is not where we will wind up. we had to stop focusing on the 100% solution upfront, take it in bite-size chunks, and keep moving. wittman: i would love to see a breakdown of what you are allocating now and what it will be in the future, to make sure. time in this is critical, so getting your perspective on how you will accomplish that, strategically within the planning sense but also in allocating resources. mr. work: i will take that for the record, sir. ashford: i want to pick up on something admiral rogers and mr. work mentioned a few minutes ago about the government shutdown. i have been sitting here since february, and i admire everyone on this committee. i have learned a great deal. i have been here eight months.

i am from nebraska. it is absolutely unfathomable, it is beyond belief, it is incomprehensible that this government, this congress, or anybody would even begin to talk about shutting down the government. for whatever political gain they make it. inwere in the middle east february. at the beginning, not the beginning of the isis effort, but certainly it was in the beginning stages of our effort to combat isis. we were in baghdad, and there was discussion at that point about standing up a force to address social media issues. it was a very, very beginning. at least of getting both civilian and military personnel of to speed on what was going on with isis and social media.

we are now in october. i know this is a little bit of a speech, and i apologize. but it seems to me, i came back with a sense of, all the things we talk about in congress now, all the discussion about shutting down the government, all these other issues, i understand this is democracy, we can talk about what we want to talk about, but i was thinking to myself, why don't we debate and discuss, at least give to the military, every branch of the military, some clear plan and understanding of where we want to go with not only isis, but in the middle east generally? it seems to me we are reacting. we are reacting with what the russians did today, because for whatever these existential threats, other threats, it seems to me it is incumbent upon us and congress to clearly indicate to you what we want you to do, where we want you to go. because i think that is totally lacking. this week, with all the things

that went on in the house, i just kept into myself, what are our military thinking echo we cannot get our house in order.we can't operate . going back to my service in nebraska, they look at me like we are nuts. sending our military to do an almost impossible task around the globe, and we are bickering about stuff that has nothing to do with giving you the capabilities you need to go forward. i have said enough. your thirdup on point on the social media issue, the third thing that keeps you up at night. what is your analysis of where rogers, withal that third element, and how you see that evolving? admiral rogers: we need a better job of contesting isil in the

information dynamic. there are village in that is every bit as important in some ways as the battlefield successes. we have focused strategy on trying to stop and forestall battlefield activity. we need to do the same thing in the information dynamic, because part of their ability to get out their story, their propaganda, their vision of the world, we need to contest that. isil is in many ways as much of an idea as it is a physical presence on the ground. rep. ashford: how is that going? admiral rodgers: not where we want it to be. i think it is fair to say, we have not achieved the impact we think we need to have yet, certainly the impact we want to have. openingk": your statement certainly resonates with secretary carter enemy. about ways and means,

and when you have an idea what your means are, it is almost impossible to have a good strategy. we are in a situation where we think a continuing resolution is a better deal than a government shutdown, and it is. but it is not something that i as a coo would want to operate under. we have had a nine-month fiscal year, because every first quarter we are in a cr, and that means we're limited to do what you told us to do last year, rather than what we need to do this year. it is an incredible situation. there is no member of congress in any house, any party, who would sit in my job and say, we can make this work without compromising our national security. so i'm sorry, i am on the soapbox, but this is something we deal with every day. we hope we won't have a government shutdown. takene the cr will be care of in a quick manner. rep. ashford: thank you.

>> the chair recognizes ms. mc sally. mcsally: after serving 26 years in uniform and seeing the government shutdown, the impact it has on the ability to do our mission, i have been strongly advocating against shutting down the government, advocating for doing our job and passing the appropriations bill so you can plan and strategize and execute the mission. i would urge all my colleagues, if you want to keep the government open, you need to vote to keep the government that is my urge to them today. those of us who understand what that means will do that, but we would appreciate our colleagues showing courage and joining us. anyway, the issues at hand. before running to congress, i was a professor at the george marshall center. one of our defense security centers. one of the last courses i participated in was a senior executive seminar related to

cyber security and cyber terrorism. in your strategy, you talk about though you are maintaining robust partnerships, obviously this is a global domain. they are starting, my colleagues , a retired marine colonel is starting a program on cyber security studies, leading the effort. i wonder if you can speak to how the defense security centers fit in with the strategy, how you feel as far as resources in order to use tools like these security centers like the marshall center to execute the strategy, and whether you need new authorities or additional resources in that venue. : the centers are very vital. regardless of the level of resources, part of the strategy is partnerships and establishing strong partnerships. terrymiral rodgers and said, this is a collaborative

environment. i don't know if there are any authorities that we would ask to work more deeply, but i know we are doing so at very aggressively. beenal rogers: it has not an authority center, as far as the marshall center. it will generate good outcomes for us, trying to understand the broader cyber environment. i have committed to general breedlove that i will be there to provide expertise, if not necessarily money. i don't know off the top of my head the specifics, other than that we committed to moving forward. csally: we sometimes have senior officials from 45 different countries. it is not a technical course, more of an awareness of best practices, especially for less capable partners. they will never have a cyber

command, but if we can raise the game up a little bit and they can have better collaboration and coordination for strategic understanding and best practices, how to quickly work with each other in tele-wise -- intel-wise, it goes a long way. i would think it is an investment for a potentially huge strategic outcome. mr. work: we agree completely. mr. halvorsen: some of the work will be in nato, raising cyber basics. it will be in bulgaria, doing the same thing. some of that, as a result of some arrangements from the marshall center. sally: i look forward to working with you in the future if you have any additional experience ih the have first-hand. thank you. i appreciate it. i yield back.

>> we recognize ms. duckworth for five minutes. rep. duckworth: i am very interested in looking at cyber vulnerability and critical infrastructure. i would love to look specifically at basis and installations that support core war fighting functions. they face similar threats. installations are tied into local greats and rely on sewage and water from the surrounding areas, so there's always potential for impact for those basic life services on the base. continuity of operations is critical for dod, just as it is for civilian infrastructure. admiral, i would like you to address this area it i will give you an example of that that i found deeply disturbing. i took a tour of a contractor that, a wonderful company that works in smart grid technology. as part of the tour of the very proudhey were

to show me what they were doing. they won a contract at one of our bases. i won't say which it is, because -- it was a home for a major maneuver division in the army, and from another state where i -- the lights turned off at the base. i asked the person at the computer, do you have a secret clearance? they said no. anyone with a secret clearance? the chief engineer does. but people in the business were coming in and out. amazing technology that's going to help us save tons of money when it comes to environmental cost and energy efficiency and all those things that as a democrat i love. but i was deeply concerned, watching them turn the lights on and off on a major road, on a major installation of a major

maneuver division command in the army. admiral, if you could speak a little too what you are doing with installations command with different branches, whether it is the installation management command, the marine corps installation command, and also civilian infrastructure. basee way, this race is -- is next to a major metropolitan city. not one of those in the middle of nowhere. i was deeply concerned. the installation commands are working with each individual installation. inave been in installation the course of my career, so i experienced this as a commander. when you are dependent on infrastructure outside your immediate control that you need to execute your mission -- that's one of the reasons why collectively we ask ourselves, what are the capabilities we need in installation to put redundancy so we have a level of

control. we are working through this. again,llenge we find is, it goes to the scope of the problem, the infrastructure that we count on as a department, the size and age of it, in many ways , as we try to collectively work our way through. it is a problem set that will take us years to work her way through. i don't think there's any doubt. do you have a: liaison from cyber command? admiral rogers: i work through my component to partner with installation command. in my last job, the navy's cyber individual reported to -- reporting to cyber command, i was working with the navy installations in what we were doing around the world. we still do that now. one of the great things about this committee is that it's a bipartisan committee, and i want to applaud the continuing work on

acquisition reform. one of my concerns with acquisition reform is the contractors and subcontractors. s north american regional headquarters is in my district. i am concerned. we are talking about subcontractors several players -- layers down, and we are not expecting them. no one was inspecting this contractor to make sure they secured the facilities and the computers that were turning on and off the lights that a major military base. admiral rogers: we will provide feedback on huawei. i share your concern. this is something we have to work our way through. rep. duckworth: are you writing policy echo what are you doing to address this? : there is policy in place. we are looking at all installations and grading them. is ake said, this

priority. there's a vast number of installations. frankly, the control systems for power and water, when they were built there was no consideration of charter -- cyber. now we have to fix that. we have a list of priorities. we are prioritizing on the basis that -- bases that have more strategic assets first, and then we will go down the list to fix the issues. there is a priority list. we have language required for all levels of contractors to meet certain requirements about security control, and that is in place. rep. duckworth: can i have a copy of your priorities list and that new language? mr. halvorsen: we will figure out how to get it to you. duckworth: thank you. >> the chair recognizes mr. franks for five minutes. i appreciate people

like you, admiral rogers, who put yourself at risk and do everything you can to assiduously protect the homeland. thank you. i'm going to paraphrase. , recent press briefing you said what keeps you up at night are threats to critical infrastructure, and that you have been observing nationstates , spending a lot of time in the power structure of the united states. as you know better than perhaps anyone, the department of defense relies upon the electric grid for 99% of its electricity needs, without which even the department's position is that it cannot effect its mission. and there's 320 million americans also dependent upon it pretty significantly for every day survival. a widespread collapse of the electric grid would lead to gross societal collapse. wearing your cyber

comm hat, how protected is the electric grid from cyberattacks and lesser discussed attacks that could come from geomagnetic disturbance or elect to magnetic pulse? do you find industry to be a willing partner in helping to secure the graid, and --- grid, and what have they been asked to do by the department of homeland security or the ferc, in regards to hardening the electric grid and protecting it, just giving us your best military advice. a lot of questions here, sorry. what needs to be accomplished to robustly harden the electric grid against threats. admiral rodgers: let me do them backwards to forwards. remember, dod did not physically act on private-sector networks. i am not responsible for

hardening them. my only point is, what are you doing? what we do, we partner with dhs and try to make sure -- one of the missions you heard the secretary talk about in the beginning, there was the expectation dod needs to be they to respond if president decides we need to respond to a cyber event of significant consequence. a power scenario is one thing we talked about. we partner with dhs, with a cyberguard annual exercise with two power segments in the united participated. vulnerability, in the eastern part of the united states it is already operating on the margins, between capacity and demand.

the other part i make, the eastern part of the united states, we need to think more -- the grid in the east is so tied into our canadian counterparts, with hydroelectric generation on their side flowing south to meet our needs. the other challenge in the power sector, and they are quick to remind me of this, is the business model. we are a regulated industry. the only way for us to generate revenue is through rates. those are governed. i can't universally say, i will increase charges to generate a 5 billion-dollar capital fund i can use to invest in basic infrastructure. so each of the utilities within a sector is trying to work their way through it. franks: one of the issues that has occurred to me, what you just said.you are absolutely correct . this is not your responsibility, to tell the private sector what to do with the grid.

but when we talk to the private sector about hardening the grade, they say -- grid, they say that is the job of the national defense apparatus. this could be a profound threat, given that all our other critical infrastructures rely heavily upon the grid. ofwalks the 13th floor congressional debate, and no one addresses it. there is always a point where a problem is big enough to be seen but small enough to be addressed. i think we live in that. i don't offer you any advice, but the question that lingers in my mind is, are we doing what is relevant to protect the national security on this particular threat? certainly,, the loss of the id would be the ultimate cyber security issue. there is no arrogance in my comments, admiral. i think you are doing a great job, and i hope you consider

this as much as possible. all of the members have completed their questions. i want to thank the witnesses for their time and preparation this year. i know it takes a lot of time to get ready for these, but it has been very beneficial to that -- to us. with that, we are adjourned. [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] >> saturday morning on c-span, with nasa's announcement of liquid water on mars, the committee talked to experts about the possibility of life in space. on saturday, industry leaders and media personalities discussed the issues driving the national conversation at the washington ideas for him. including former massachusetts governor mitt romney and senior advisor to president obama valerie jarrett.

then, martha kumar discusses her new book on presidential transitions. sunday at noon, we are live with nationally syndicated talkshow host thom hartmann, who authored several books including "the "threshold."" and testke your phone calls, xts, and tweaks. on american history tv, in his book "and the dead shall rise," the events of the april 26th, fagin iner of mary marietta georgia, and the arrest and lynching of a jewish factory owner. energy the 1975 federal administration documentary on the supply and demand of fossil fuels in the u.s. and

alternative energy sources. get the complete schedule at www.c-span.org. >> house republicans will be electing new leadership on thursday. we are joined for a look at what to expect your less start with at what to expect. start with the race. kevin mccarthy, any impact of his comments about the benghazi committee? seemed ton chaffetz get into the race. certainly, mccarthy has the upper hand. he has been in the race for a week, calling numbers and locking up supporters. his supporters seem confident they have the vote. the question is, what they have 218 republican votes on the floor? chaffetz getting into the race changes the dynamic, and he might play into the benghazi comments. on hannity this week, he led

people to believe it was a partisan sort of investigation, not exactly about benghazi. so we are still wondering how this is all going to play out a little bit. mccarthy seems to have the advantage, but things change with chaffetz getting in the race. >> let's turn to majority leader. the second in command. two candidates for the spot. tom price and steve scalise. what do you hear about them? seems like a close race. price is more appealing to the conservatives and scalise came in as, interim leadership, the conservative candidate here. it would seem he would have the advantage as the whip, starting with those votes. but price would make a good run. it seems like members seem to

scalise has has -- the upper hand, but we don't know. it will depend on how the speaker race turns out, if mccarthy doesn't move up to that rank, that position is not open. >> what about the talk of changing the rule, so you have to give up your current position one.n for a new matt: the idea has been thrown out any leader who wants to run for new leadership has to vacate his old one. right now, the only open spot is speaker, so mccarthy needs to move up if there will be a majority leader race, and consequently a majority whip race. that's out there, but i'm not sure it will pass in conference. a lot of members think it would be unfair to put that out, where tom price doesn't have to vacate his budget chairmanship, but

steve scalise would have to give up his whip spot. we do not know how that will shake out. might face long odds. >> the whip position to chief -- where does the whip race stand? matt: they have the existing operation. they are noext to scalise's office. anytime there is a texan in the race, it changes the dynamics little bit. texas is the largest delegation, with 25 republicans. though he will not get all of couldit seems like he mount a serious challenge to complicate the map on a first ballot, where we don't know if

mchenry can win on a first ballot. his people seem confident. majority of for a the conference. we will find out on thursday. >> the candidates are supposed to meet early next week with various caucuses. what are those meetings about, undertaking, this the process look like on the floor? att: on: tuesday, there is large group of the house freedom caucus and the tea party caucus. they invited chaffetz. they will be making their pitch. the freedom caucus is an instrument of one, where you have 40 members -- an instrument the one, where you have 40 members who could block the speaker on the floor. the biggest question really is, who can get 218 republican votes

on the floor? these caucus meetings, these meetings here, they will be instrumental to the end result. >> any type of idea of when we might hear about the elections, when they might be held? is the behind8 closed doors ones. we don't know the date when they might elect them on the floor. you might want to do it sooner than later, by virtue of members going home, and you can mobilize a lot of conservative groups to go against mccarthy. scheduled to leave at the end of october. >> you can keep following him on twitter at @metfuller and at rollcall.com. >> a signature feature of book tv is our all-day coverage of book fairs and festivals across the country, with top nonfiction

authors. here is our schedule. early october, the southern festival of books in nashville. weekend after that, we are live from austin for the texas book festival, and near the end of the month we will cover two book festivals on the same weekend. the wisconsin book festival in madison, then the boston book festival. at the start of november, in portland, oregon for wordstock, followed by the at the end of november, we a lot for the 18th year in a row from florida from the miami book fair international. that is a few of the fairs and festivals this fall on c-span2 hospital tv. -- book tv. >> earlier today, president obama announced that arne duncan will be stepping down as education secretary, a position that yesterday in since 2009. the president also took several questions from reporters on a

range of issues including federal spending, russian airstrikes in syria, and in violence. this is an hour and 10 minutes. president obama: please be seated, everybody. good afternoon. duncan is one of my longest-serving cabinet secretaries and he has been a friend for a lot longer than that. so it is with some regret and sorrow that i have excepted his decision to return to our hometown of chicago. after more than six years of living in washington, ou arne's wonderful wife, karen, and their kids want to move back home. that meant in the interim, a lot of time apart to any on -- tom

harkin to be dust time to be a part. honest, i pushed for arne duncan to stay, but while i will miss arne duncan deeply, he has more than earned the right to return home. take a look at what he has accomplished of the last six and a half years. he is one of the longest-serving secretaries of education in our history and one of the more consequential. just a few years, arne and his delivereddelivere exceptional results at every step of education. nearly every state in america has raise standards for teaching and learning. expectations for what our kids can learn and our high school graduation rate is at an all-time high. families million more afford college and more americans are graduating from college than ever before.

that is just stretching the surface. army has done more to bring our educational system sometimes kicking and screaming into the 21st century than anybody else. america is going to be better off for what he has done. it is one to be more competitive and more prosperous. his went to be more equal and more upwardly -- it is good to be more equal and more upwardly mobile. i truly believe no other education secretary could match. arne bleeds the stuff. he care so much about our kids and he has been so passionate about this work. and everybody who interacts with him including people who disagree with him on some issues never question the genuineness and heart that he has brought to this job. . could not be prouder of him arneor good measure,

holds the most points scored in a celebrity all-star game. [applause] and he is myesident obama: favorite partner in pickup basketball, the smartest player i know, even if he is very slow. and has no hops. [applause] [laughter] he knows it is true. y that watching ryan that the sun will soon be passing the father. this young man has got game. keep in mind that none of this change is beneath you and we still have a long way to go. one of the things about education is that it does not deliver results tomorrow or the next day. this is a decade-long or longer proposition. , we makeseeds now changes now, and we watched each successive class benefit from these reforms and it goes in

fits and starts and we have a decentralized system. that is how our education condition involved. it is not easy and it is not quick, but we are making progress. we're not going to stop in these last 15 months and that is why it is so important and why i think we are very lucky that rne steps down that we toe accounted educator step in and that is dr. king. he has been an educator all his life, a teacher, principal, a leader of schools, the new york state education chief. he's the right man to leave the apartment. he shares our commitment to preparing every child for success in a more innovative ink of the world -- and competitive

world. he has a great team at the department of education, which i'm very, very proud. his family is equally cool and good-looking. [laughter] he has equally exceptional children. i know that together we are going to continue to be able to do great things on behalf of our kids. and john, i want to wish you both a hearty congratulations and good luck. i'm going to let them say a few words and give a few remarks before take questions from the press. i cried morecan: today than i have in a while. i will start with the president. when he asked us to come to d.c. and work with him, that was a one minute conversation with my wife in it's not that we wanted to leave chicago or the education secretary. i just want to be on his team

because i believed in so much in what he said it stood for. seven years later, my -- my admiration is only greater. i does want folks to know that with every hard decision, is only question was what is right for kids. it was a hard political decision, it was never a factor. his passion and his commitment is absolutely extraordinary it is not the political leadership, educational leadership, it is the moral leadership. i cannot tell you what an unbelievable honor it was just to spend some time. he saw folks watch him night talk about the horrendous gun massacre in organ and how preventable these things are. we need more leadership in times like this. to our team, the team you have the white house, it has been extraordinary to work with d.c..

i think the team at the department of education is stronger than it has ever been. years howknow 47 these go, but we have the 18 and a common issue that we have been able to work with the white house and for many folks that are here, with the team in place, i'm just extraordinarily hopeful and confident about what they can do together. emma and ted and the rest of the crew, i said a little bit about john. folks know that all this work is very personal. for me, it's very personal. john was one of those kids who probably should not be in a room like this if you look at stereotypes. not the easiest time growing up. he lost both his parents at an early age. he lived with his brother and i was not very easy either, but he had an amazing teacher who saw something in him and kept him going. today, he is standing at the present. so many times, i think society right off kids like john.

to see what he can accomplish drives us to see how we can reach. while i am sad in leaving, i'm extraordinarily happy and thankful to work and care 14. i want to thank everybody for their hard work. i want to thank my parents as well. my dad is a lifelong education -- educator at this university of chicago. mother started teaching program before we were and that change our lives. and all alive, we saw what kids could do if given the chance and that is why we do this work today. -- to see what she did at the corner of greenwood and to now try have an impact around the nation, this man give us a chance. for my family, i cannot tell you how much it means to us. , i lovelly to my family

this work. i love this team. i look the president. i love the chance to serve. your thing i love more is you guys. -- the only thing i love more is you guys. i can't wait to come home and see a couple more track meets and maybe have a few more dinners and maybe go to a movie someday. [laughter] it has been too long. it has been an amazing journey and i feel so proud and so lucky to have been a part of this team. president, thank you for creating a climate in which all this here had the impact that we did. we can never repay the debt of for your we all need leadership. thank you so much and i want to turn it over to john. [applause]

arne, for thank you, the very kind words and thank yourmr. president, for faith in me and the chance to serve the department. i'm deeply humbled by following rne's footsteps.

he is a leader encourage and fighting for what is best for kids and being willing to listen to folks and make adjustments and make sure that everything we do every day is to the goal of greater equity. mr. president, you and our team at the department have laid out in a vicious agenda from strengthening early childhood education and expanding access to early childhood, to raising standards in teaching and learning through k-12 and showing that more americans have access to high-quality higher education, to ensure that we support our teachers, and we invest in our teachers and provide the best preparation and support and leadership opportunities for them. it's an incredible agenda and i'm proud to be able to carry it forward with an amazing team that we have at the department. arne gave a week, speech at the national press

club and he said education can be the difference between life and death. i know that is true because it was for me. i grew up in brooklyn. andst my mom when i was a my dad when i was 12 my dad was very sick before he passed. i moved around between family members and schools. new york city public school teachers are the reason i'm alive and the reason i became a teacher and the reason i'm standing here today. amazingeated educational expenses and also gave me hope about what is possible and what could be possible for me in life. i know schools cannot do it alone. there is work that we have to do on economic development and housing and health care, but i know that my parents who spent their lives as new york city public school educators believe that school is at the heart of our congress of the quality and opportunity for all americans. that is what they believe and

that's what the president believes and that is what i feel very privileged to be able to work on with this amazing team that we have at the department. every child in the united states, every college student, every disconnected youth, every working parent just what a few more credits in order to improve their salaried position at their job, everyone deserves the kind of opportunity i had to have a great education. every child deserves the opportunity that my beautiful to have a great education, the kind of education their grandparents were to provide. i'm so grateful of my very supportive wife, melissa. i very grateful to the secretary for the opportunity to join the team and grateful to the president to continue to work with the wonderful people at the education department to try to expand opportunity. thank you. [applause]

president obama: two good men doing really important work. i'm lucky to have them both as colleagues and as friends and i'm looking forward to seeing even more work done in the next few months. we have got some other business to attend to. so all of you who are here to ne and john are lucky now to have to sit through a little better press conference with me. [laughter] make yourselves comfortable. [laughter] i want the kids -- warned the kids ahead of time -- try not to look completely bored.

i'm going to take a couple of questions from the press. additionala few pieces of business. first of all, we learned today that our business is created another 118,000 new jobs in september, which means that we now have had 67 straight months of job creation. 13.2 million new jobs and all. an unemployment rate that has fallen from a high of 10% to down to 5.1%. aree long-term trends obviously good news, particular for every american waking up each morning and heading off to a new job. but, we would be doing even better if we do not have to continue dealing with unnecessary crises in congress every few months. this is especially important right now is although the american economy has been chugging along at a steady pace, much of the global economy is softening.

we have seen an impact, exports, which was a major driver of growth for us, particularly at the beginning of the recovery. so our own growth could slow if congress does not do away with some of the counterproductive austerity measures that they have put in place and if congress does not avoid the kind of manufactured crises that shatter consumer confidence and could disrupt an already skittish global economy. half ofsday, more than republicans voted to shut down the government for the second time in two years. the good news is that there were enough votes in both parties to pass a last-minute bill to keep the government open and operating for another 10 weeks before we can get a more long-term solution. but keep in mind that gimmick only sets up another potential manufactured crisis just two weeks before christmas.

and i've said this before and i want to repeat it. this is not the way the united states should be operating. oftentimes, i hear from folks up on capitol hill about the need for american leadership. the need for america to be number one. well, you know what? whatd the globe, part of makes us a leader is when we and we keeptively our own house in order. we canpassed budgets and engage in long-term planning and can invest in the things that are important for the future. that is u.s. leadership. when we fail to do that, we diminish u.s. leadership. it is not how we are supposed to operate. we cannot just keep on kicking down the road without solving any problems or doing any long-term planning for the future. that is true for military.

that is true for our domestic programs. the american people, the american families deserve better and we can grow faster and the economy can improve if congress acts with dispatch. it will get worse if they do not. that is why want to be very another i will not sign shortsighted spending bill like the one that congress sent me this week. 10purchased our self additional weeks and we need to use them effectively. that in mind that both parties put in place harmful cuts that may no distinction between spending we don't meet and spending we do. we can revisit the history of how that happened. i have some rather grim memories of it. even asnotion was that we were bringing down the deficit, we would come up with a sustainable, smart, long-term approach to investing in the things that we need.

that did not happen. and so now, these cuts that have been maintained have been keeping our economy from grown faster. -- growing faster. it is time to undo them. if we don't, we have find our economic and national security priorities in 2016 at the same levels that we did in 2006. now understand -- during that decade between 2006 and 2016, our economy has grown by 12%. our population has grown by 8%. new threats have emerged. new opportunities have appeared. we can't find our country the way we did 10 years ago. demandswe have greater with an aging population, with kids who need schools, with fixed,hat needs to be with a military on which we are

placing extraordinary demands. and we cannot cut our way to prosperity. other countries have tried it and it has not worked. we have grown faster than they have because we did not pursue cuts andnd unthinking necessary investment for our growth. by the way, because we have grown faster than them, we have brought our deficits down faster than they had. i want to repeat this because the public apparently never believe it. cute i took office, we have our deficit by two thirds. the deficit has not been going up. it has been going down precipitously. we have cut our deficits by two thirds. they are below the average deficits over the past four years. the bottom line is that congress has to do its job. it cannot flirt with another shutdown. it should pass a serious budget. and if they do and get rid of

some of these mindless cuts, then as we are still prudent about maintaining the spending that we need and the spending that we do not need and is not working, their own nonpartisan budget office says it will add an extra half-million jobs to our economy next year alone. we can immediately put half a million more people that work. that is if we just have a more sensible budget. in these negotiations, nobody is going to get everything they want. we have to work together though, even if we disagree, and order to do the people's business. at some point, we have to what to govern and not play politics or play to various political basis. at some point we need to pass roads, toebuild our keep her kids learning, and keep

our military strong, and help people prepare for and recover from disasters. that is congress most basic job and that is what government supposed to do -- serve the american people. so with that, let me take some questions and i will start with julie pace of ap. hang in there, kids. [laughter] >> it will be over soon. thank you, mr. president. there have been several developments in syria that a want to ask you about, starting with russia's involvement. you met with president food and earlier this week and i wonder if you about his intentions in syria. groupsia is targeting beyond the islamic state, including u.s. aligned groups, does the u.s. military have an obligation to protect them? on the situation in syria broadly, there have obviously been failures and u.s. training equip program. you believe that program can be fixed what you have to look at other options? would you look into a no-fly zone, which several dozens of candidates, including your former secretary of state, are now calling for?

well, first and foremost, let's understand what is happening in syria and how we got here. off as peaceful protests against assad, the president, you vault into a civil war because assad met those protest with unimaginable brutality. not a conflict between the united states and any party in syria. this is a conflict between the syrian people and a brutal, ruthless dictator. point number two is that the reason assad is still in power is because russia and iran have supported him throughout this process. and in that sense, what russia is doing now is not particularly

different from what they had been doing in the past. they're are just more over about it. they happen propping a regime by anas rejected overwhelming majority of the syrian population because they have seen he has been willing to drop barrel bombs on children and on villages indiscriminately and has been more concerned about clinging to power than the state of this country. so in my discussions with president clinton, i was very solvethat the only way to the problem in syria is to have a political transition that is inclusive and keeps the state contact and keeps the military intact, maintains cohesion and is inclusive, and the only way to accomplish that is for mr. assad to transition because you cannot rehabilitate him in the eyes of syrians.

this is not a judgment i am making. it is a judgment that the overwhelming majority of syrians are making. i said to mr. putin that i would be prepared to work with him if he is willing to broker with his and iran,mr. assad and a political transition. bring the rest of the world to a military solution, but a military solution alone an attempt by russia and iran to prop up andht and try to -- assad try to pacify the situation is going to get them stuck in a quagmire. and it won't work. and they will be there for a while if they do not take a different course. i also said to him that it is true that the united states and russia and the entire world have a common interest in destroying

clearbut what was very and regardless of what mr. putin said, is that he does not sil and ash between i moderate sunni opposition that wants to see mr. assad go. from their perspective, ther ey are all terrorists and that is a recipe i reject. we are having technical conversations about the confliction so we are not seeing u.s. and american firefights in the air. but beyond that, we are very clear and sticking to our belief and our policy that the problem ssad and the brutality he is afflicted on the syrian people and it has to

stop. in order for it to stop, we are prepared to work with all the parties concerned, but we're not aing to cooperate with russian campaign to simply try to destroy anybody who is disgusted and fed up with mr. assad's behavior. keep in mind from a practical perspective of the moderate opposition in syria is one that if we are ever to have a political transition, we need to , . the russian policy is driving those folks underground creating a situation in which they argued hesitated and it is only strengthening isil. and that is not good for anybody. ofterms of our support

opposition groups inside of syria, i made very clear early states couldnited not impose a military solution on syria either. it was in our interest to make sure that we were engaged with moderate opposition inside of syria because eventually syria will fall. regime will fall and we have to have somebody we are working with that can help pick up the pieces and stitched back together a cohesive, coherent country. and so we will continue to support them. the training and equip program by thepecific initiative defense department to see if we could get some of that moderate opposition to focus attention on isil in the eastern portion of the country. and i'm the first one to a knowledge -- acknowledge it did not work the way it was supposed

to and i think the department of defense would say the same thing. part of the reason frankly is because when we tried to get il,m to just focus on is the response we get back is and so it has been hard to get them to reprioritize looking east when they've got bombs coming at them from the west. what we have been doing with the train and equip is looking where we have had success, for example, looking with some of the kurdish community in the east that pushed isolate out, --isil out, seeing if they can build on that. but we are also going to continue to do is have contact with and worked with opposition

, in thehtly believes absence of some change of government inside syria, we will continue to see civil war. that will turbocharge isil recruitment and jihadist recruitment. we will continue that. the last point i want to make sometimes, because the conversation in the beltway differs from the conversation internationally. payton had to go into syria -- mr. putin had to go into syria not out of strength, but of weakness, because his client, mr. assad, was crumbling and it was insufficient for him to send him arms and money. ownhe has to put in his planes and pilots. any -- the notion that he put

forward a plan and somehow the international community sees that as liable because there is a vacuum there, i didn't see after he made that speech in the united stationers -- in the united nations, the 16 nation coalition that we have start lining up behind him. assad makeup mr. pigeons coalition at the moment -- putin's coalition at the moment. the rest of the world makes up hours. fooled think people are by the current strategy. it does not mean that we could begin tor. putin recognize that it is in their interest to broker a political settlement. york, we arenew prepared to work with the russians and the iranians, as well as our partners who are coalition, to come

up with that political transition. i think it is still possible. we will maintain a line of , but we are not going to be able to get those communications going if there is not a recognition that -- there's got to be a change in government. we are not going to go back to the status quo antie. those kinds of airstrikes against moderate opposition's that russia is engaging in will be counterproductive and move us farther away, rather than towards, the solution that we all should be looking for. >> [indiscernible] julie, throughout this process, i think people have constantly looked for an easy, low-cost answer. whether we should have sent more

rifles in early, and somehow then everything would have been , or if i had taken that shot, even after assad offered to give up his chemical weapons, and immediately things would have folded. or the assad regime would have folded and we would have suddenly seen a peaceful syria. this is a hugely difficult, complex problem. i would have hoped that we would have learned that from wehanistan and iraq, where have devoted enormous time and effort and resources with the very best people. and have given the afghan people and the iraqi people the opportunity for a democracy, but it is still hard, as we saw this

week in afghanistan. that is not by virtue of a lack of effort on our part or a lack of commitment. folks inhave 10,000 afghanistan. we are still spending billions of dollars supporting the government, and it is still tough. when i make a decision about the level of military involvement that we are prepared to engage in in syria, i have to make a -- once wesed on start something, we got to finish it, and we've got to do it well. and do we in fact have the toources and the capacity make a serious impact, understanding that we still have to go after kiesel and iraq, -- after isil in iraq and support -- trainingining

and iraqi militia that is weaker than perceived. we still of work to do in afghanistan. i have pushed consistently over the last four or five years, sought out a wide range of opinions about steps we can take to move syria in a better direction. under no illusions about what an incredible humanitarian catastrophe this is an hardships in refugeesseeing that are traveling in very dangerous circumstances, and now creating real political problems among our allies in europe, and the heartbreaking images of children drowned trying to escape war. and the potential impact of such a destabilized country on our allies in the region. but what we have learned over the last 10, 12, 13 years is

that unless we can get the parties on the ground to agree to live together in some fashion, then no amount of u.s. military engagement will solve the problem. and we will find ourselves a little bitjust and not making a difference and losing credibility that way, or finding ourselves drawn deeper and deeper into the situation it. we cannot sustain people offering up half-baked ideas as if they are downplay, or trying to the challenges involved in the , what i would like to

see people ask is specifically, precisely, what exactly would you do and how would you find it and how would you sustain it. typically, what you get is a bunch of mumbo-jumbo. these are hard challenges. they are ones that we are going to continue to pursue. we are going to continue to go after isil, continue to reach .ut to a moderate opposition, russia's dairy that everyone opposed to assad is a terrorist. we believe that is self defeating and will be used as a recruitment tool for foreign fighters. we will work with the international community and our coalition to relieve the humanitarian pressure on

refugees. we are working with the turks and others to see what we can do along the border to make things safer for people. going toately, we are have to find a way for a political transition. reporter: thank you, mr. president. back in july, you said that the gun issue has been the most frustrating of your presidency. we certainly heard that from you last night. in the last 15 months of your presidency, do you intend to do anything differently to get congress to act or do something about this gun violence problem? i have to get you to respond to something that jeb bush just said. to be fair to governor bush, i want to read it directly. drive to takee action in light of what happened in oregon. stopid, look the -- look, and look at what happened.

the impulse is to do something, and that is not always the right thing to do. how would you react to governor bush? pres. obama: i don't think i even have to react to that. [laughter] i think the american people should hear that and make their own judgments based on the fact that every , we have a mass shooting. and they can decide whether they consider that stuff happening. in terms of what i can do, i have asked my team, as i have in the past, to scrub the kind of authorities we have under the morethat we have and place authority to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, whether

there are additional actions we can take that might prevent a handful of these tragic deaths from taking place. night, thisid last will not change until the politics changes and the behavior of elected officials changes. so the main thing i am going to do is talk about this. on a regular basis. it,i will politicize because our inaction is a political decision that we are making. the reason congress does not the modest gun safety laws we proposed after sandy hook is not because the majority of the american people -- normally, it politicians are responsive to the views of the electorate. the majority of the american people think it's the right

thing to do. that projects -- background checks, other steps that would maybe save some lives. those couldn't even get a full load. -- vote. why is that? it has become politics. because interest groups fund , and ins, people fear fairness, it is not just in the republican party, although the republican party is uniformly opposed to all gun safety laws. unless we change that political dynamic, we are not going to make a big dent in this problem. for example, you will hear , the problembout is not guns, but it is middle illness.

when you talk to people who study this problem, it is true that the majority of these shooters are angry young men, but there are hundreds of millions of angry young men around the world. tens of millions of angry young men. most of them don't shoot. it does not help us to just identify -- and the majority of people who have mental illnesses are not shooters. through andt identify ahead of time who might take actions like this. the only thing we can do is make sure that they can't have their entire arsenal when something snaps in them. if we are going to do something about that, the politics have to change. and the people who are troubled by this have to be as intense and as organized and as adamant on thehis issue as folks other side, who are absolutists and think that any gun safety measures are somehow and assault

freedom orlt on communistic, or a plot by me to take over and stay in power forever, or something. [laughter] pres. obama: there are all kinds of crackpot conspiracy theories that float around, some of which, by the way, are ratified by elected officials and the other party on occasion. party on other occasion. we have to change the politics of this. that requires people to not just field of -- feel deeply, because i get a lot of letters after turco --do something do something turco you have to -- do something." you have to make sure that everyone you vote for is strong on this, and even if they are

strong on other things, you have to go in election cycle about voting for them. for a while, you will have to be a single issue voter, because that is what is happening on the other side. start. has had a good they have been at this a long time and have perfected what they do. you have to give them credit for monday are very effective. -- credit, they are very effective. they know how to stir up their base and raise money and scare politicians. they know how to organize campaigns. the american people are going to have to match them in their sense of urgency. if they are going to stop this. stop all't to say violence. we are not going to stop all violence. violence exists around the

world. it is part of original sin. ratesr homicide waits -- are a lot higher than other players, that have the same levels of violence. just that you can't kill as many people when you don't have easy access to these kinds of weapons. i am deeply saddened about what let'sed yesterday, but not forget this is happening every single day in forgotten neighborhoods around the country. every single day. kids are just running for their lives trying to get to school. we were down in new orleans sitting down with a group of young men when we were talking about katrina, and i've got to

young men next to me, both of them had been shot multiple times. they were barely 20. decision. make a if we think that's normal, we have to own it. i think it's abnormal. i think we should change it. i can do it by myself stop -- i cannot do it by myself. what i will do overtime is talk about it and hope that i am taking enough minds along with other leaders around the country that we start finally seeing some action. i don't think it will happen overnight. cheryl. reporter: thank you, mr. president. to go back to your opening remarks, you said that you won't find in other short-term cr, but lester davis -- yesterday secretary lu announced that the

government's borrowing authority will run out november 5. we do agree in negotiating an increase in the debt ceiling as part of this increase on spending caps, and does the speaker's race, kate this? pres. obama: i am sure the speaker's race complicates these negotiations. that is a rhetorical question. [laughter] pres. obama: it will complicate the negotiations, but when it comes to the debt ceiling, we are not going back there. maybe it's been a while, so let me just refresh everybody's memory -- raising the debt ceiling does not authorize us to spend more, it simply authorizes us to pay the bills that we have already incurred. it is the way for the united states to maintain its good credit rating. the full faith and credit of the united states. historically, we do not mess with it.

gets messed with, it will have propounded applications -- implications for the global economy and will put our financial system in the kind of tells ben that we saw -- inlspin that we saw back 2007 or 2008. so we are not going to negotiate on that. it has to get done in the next five weeks. so even though the continuing resolution to keep the government open blasts for 10 weeks, we have to get the debt ceiling raised in five. you have a shorter timetable to get that done. line -- mitchtom mcconnell, john boehner, myself, nancy pelosi, harry reid, we have all spoken and talked about trying to negotiate a budget agreement. , speaker banners

decision to step down complicates it, but i do think there is a path for us to come up with a reasonable agreement that raises the spending caps above sequester to make sure that we can properly finance both our defense and nondefense prudent,t maintains a control -- a prudent control of our deficits. and we can do that in short order, it is not that complicated. .he math is the math what i have encouraged is that we get started on that work immediately and we push through and the next several weeks try to leave out extraneous issues that may prevent us from getting a budget agreement. that there example,

are many republicans who are exercised about planned parenthood. i deeply disagree with them on that issue. i think that it is -- hasacterized mischaracterized what planned parenthood does, but i understand that they feel strongly about that, and i respect that. but you can't have an issue like that potentially right the entire u.s. economy -- right the k the entirewrec u.s. economy, anymore than i should hold the entire budget hostage to do something about gun violence. i feel just as strongly about that. i think i have better evidence for it. woulde notion that i threaten the republicans that unless they passed gun safety massres that would stop

shootings, i'm going to shut down the government and not signe an increase in the debt ceiling, would be irresponsible of me. the american people likely would reject that. same is true for them. there are some fights we fight individually. they want to defund planned parenthood, there is a way to do it. pass a law and overwrite my veto. that is true across a whole bunch of issues that they disagree with me on. that's how democracy works. i have no problem with that. but you have to govern. i am hoping that the next speaker understands that the problem speaker boehner or mitch mcconnell had in not dismantling obamacare or not eliminating the , or notnt of education

deporting every immigrant in , was not because it's speaker boehner or mitch mcconnell did not care about conservative principles. it had to do with the fact that they can't do it in our system of government, which requires compromise. like i can't do everything i want and pass an immigration bill or pass a gun safety bill. that does not mean that i have to throw a tantrum and try to thee the economy -- wreck economy and put hard-working americans who are just now digging themselves out of a massive recession, putting them in harms way. it's the wrong thing to do. here alexander. -- peter alexander. reporter: thank you, mr. president. i want to follow up on john's isstions on the issue that

deeply personal, the gun issue. apart from congressional actions, apart from the desire for new laws, and apart from the gun lobby's, even though the pattern is that these perpetrators are angry, grieved, oftentimes mentally ill young men, is there something that you can do with the bully pulpit with your moral authority, with your remaining time in office, to help reach these individuals who believe that gun violence is the way out? pres. obama: no. continue to speak to the american people as a whole and hopefully model for basic social norms about protecting violence and cooperation and caring for other people, but there are a lot of young men out there. having been one myself once, i us being ablehat

to identify or can point to might have problems is extraordinary difficult. -- or can point to might have pointnms -- or who might have problems is extraordinarily difficult. i think we should talk to our kids about conflict resolution and discouraging violence. nowink that there are actions that used to be settled by fistfights being settled with guns, or maybe mentorships can work -- that is becoming thing we are trying to encourage through my brother's keeper. but when it comes to reaching ,very disaffected young man

99.9% of whom will ultimately go out of it -- grow out of it, i don't think there is a silver bullet there. the way we are going to solve this problem is that when they act out, when they are disturbed , when that particular individual has a problem, that weapons't easily access that can perpetrate mass violence on a lot of people, because that is what other countries do. i want to emphasize this. there is no showing that somehow we are inherently more violent than any other advanced nation. or that young men are inherently more violent in our nation than other nations. i will say that young men are inherently more violent than the rest of the population. -- there is no sense that there is something in the american character that is

creating this. levels of violence are on par between the united states and most countries. what is different is homicide rates and got violence rates. rates.violence in mass shooting rates. -- and mass shooting rates. so it's not that the impulses are necessarily different as much as it is that they have access to more powerful weapons. edwards. reporter: thank you. you just said that you reject --eons approach to syria putin's approach to syria and its attacks on moderate opposition forces. you said it is a recipe for disaster, but what are you willing to do to stop president putin and moderate opposition fighters? would you go as far to acquit moderate rebels with weapons tot

prevent them from era tax? and how do you respond to critics who say that putin is outsmarting you, that he took a measure against you and ukraine, and that he -- you thought he could get away with it? pres. obama: i have heard them all. [laughter] pres. obama: i have to say, i am always struck id degree to which, not just critics -- let's think about this. when i came into office seven and a half years ago, america had precipitated the worst financial crisis in history, dragged the entire world into a massive recession. we were involved in two wars without coalition support. u.s. opinion about the united was poor. we were just barely above russia at that time, and i think below china.

we were shedding 800,000 jobs a month and so on and so forth. today, we are the strongest advanced economy in the world, probably one of the few bright spots in the world economy. our approval ratings have gone up. on moreore active international issues and forge international responses to everything from ebola to countering isil. meanwhile, mr. putin comes into the office at a time when the economy had been brewing, and they were trying to give it to a more diversified economy, and as a consequence of these brilliant moves, they are economy is contracting 4% this year. they are isolated in the world community, subject to sanctions

that are not just applied by us, but by what used to be their closest trading partners. their main allies in the middle syria, mr.ibya and gaddafi and mr. assad. and those countries are falling apart. he has now just had to send in troops and aircraft in order to prop up his regime at the risk of alienating the entire sunni world. so, what was the question again? [laughter] pres. obama: i think it is really interesting to understand . stronger as a consequence of what they have

been doing. they get attention. the sanctions against ukraine are still in place. but i have consistently offered, from a position of strength, because the united states is not subject to sanctions, and we are not contracting 4% a year, what i have offered is a pathway where they can get back on a path of growth and do right by their people. mr. putin's actions have been successful only in so far as it has boosted his poll ratings inside of russia, which may be the beltway is so impressed, because that tends to be the measure of success. docourse, it is easier to

when you've got a state-controlled media. not a smart, strategic move on russia's part. what russia has now done is not only committed its own troops which theuation in overwhelming majority of the syrian population sees it now as an enemy, but the sunni population threat the middle as ais going to see it supporter, an endorser of those , atel bombs landing on kids a time when russia has a significant muslim population inside its own borders that it needs to worry about. successful.a to be

this is not a contest between the united states and russia. it is in our interest for russia affectivesponsible, actor on the international stage that can work with us, along with china, europe, japan, and other countries, because the problems we have our big. i am hopeful that mr. putin, having made this doubling down of the support she has provided , recognizes that this is not going to be a good long-term strategy and that he works instead to bring about a political settlement, just as i the that they can resolve issues with ukraine in a way that recognizes russian equities, but upholds the basic principle of sovereignty and independence that the ukrainian people should enjoy like everybody else.

but until that time, we are going to continue to have tensions and differences. makee are not going to syria into a proxy war between the united states and russia. that would be bad strategy on our part. this is a battle between russia, iran, and assad against the overall majority of the syrian people. our battle is with isil and with the entire international community to resolve the conflict in a way that can and cash and bank the bloodshed and end the refugee crisis -- end the bloodshed and end the , and be able to send kids to school. this is beside we are on. this is not some superpower chessboard contest. anybody who frames it in that

way is not paying close attention to what has been happening on the chessboard. last question. reporter: mr. president, good to see you. pres. obama: good to see you. reporter: for the children, i promise i will not take long. pres. obama: i have been fine, i guarantee you. [laughter] but i will put up with this. reporter: understood. mr. president, to what extent whethertell the country you were changed or moved when you met privately with pope francis, and how he will affect the country long term. and is it too late for joe biden to decide whether he will run for president? and lastly, just to clarify -- [laughter] didrter: to what degree hillary clinton's endorsement yesterday of a no-fly zone approach a had eight assessment of syria -- half-baked

assessment of syria that is borderline mumbo-jumbo? pres. obama: on the last question you asked, hillary innton is not half-baked terms of these problems. she was obviously my secretary of state. but i also think there is a difference between running for president and being a president. and the decisions that are being the discussions i am having with the joint chiefs become much more specific and require, i think, a different kind of judgment. that is what i will continue to apply as long as i am here. if and when she is president, then she will make those judgments, and she has been there enough that she knows that these are tough calls -- reporter: [indiscernible] pres. obama: no, that's not what

i said. that is perhaps what you said. when i am saying is we all want to try to relieve the suffering in syria, but my job is to make whatever we do, we are doing it in a way that serves national security interest of thatmerican people, doesn't lead to us getting into things that we can't get out of or that we cannot do effectively. and as much as possible, that we are working with international partners. we will continue to explore things that we can do to protect people and deal with the humanitarian situation there and provide a space in which we can the kind of political transition that is going to be required to solve the problem. i think hillary clinton would be when you to say that

are sitting in the seat that i am sitting in in the situation room, things look different. because she has been right there next to me. biden.joe he's got his own decisions to make, and i will leave it at that. meantime, he is doing a great job as vice president and has been really helpful on a whole bunch of issues. pope francis, i love him. he is a good man. with a warm for. -- heart. imagination.ral inhink he had such an impact his visits year as he has had around the world because he cares so deeply about the least of these. and in that sense, expresses

what i consider to be the essence of christianity. and he's got a good sense of humor. i can't share all of his jokes -- they were all clean. [laughter] and as i said in in the southion lawn when he appeared at the white house, i think it is really useful that he makes us uncomfortable in his gentle way, that he is constantly prodding and askingnsciences people all across the political spectrum what more you can do to loveind and be helpful in -- be kind and be helpful, and to love, and to sacrifice, and

to serve. in that sense, i don't think he is somebody where we should be applying the typical american , liberal andsures conservative, left and right. i think he is speaking to all of our consciences. we all have to search ourselves to see if there are ways that we better. know, we can do i think that when i have spent time with somebody like the , and there are other individuals, some of who famous, some of whom are not, but who moralod people and deeply

, that it makes me want to be better. those people are great gifts to the world. sometimes they are just a teacher in a classroom, and sometimes they are your neighbor, and sometimes they are your mom, or your wife. sometimes they are your kids. but they can encourage you to be better. that is what we are trying to do. part of the wonderful thing about pope francis, the humility that he brings to this. of the absolutism right and i am 100% you are 100% wrong, but rather we are all sinners and children of god. that is a pretty good starting

point for being better. all right? thank you, guys, for your patience. you can now go home. [laughter] pres. obama: all right. thanks. networkr: the c-span features a weekend full of politics, books, and american history. saturday at 10 a.m. eastern on

c-span, with nasa's announcement of liquid on mars, the science community talks to experts about the announcement and the possibility of life in space. sunday evening at six: 30, policymakers, business leaders, and millet -- media ideas.lities discuss on c-span twos book tv, saturday night at 10:00 eastern, on afterwords, martha kumar discusses her new book on presidential transitions. sunday, at noon on in-depth, we are alive with nationally syndicated talk show tom hartman, who has offered several books,- authored several including "threshold ergo -- threshold." on american history tv on c-span3, saturday afternoon at

2:00, in his book "the dead shall rise," author steve roney discusses the murder of 13-year-old mary sagan in marietta, georgia, and the arrest and lynching of a jewish factory owner. sunday afternoon at 4:00, on "real america," the 1975 energy administration documentary on the supply and demand of fossil fuels in the u.s., have a look at alternative energy sources. get our complete weekend schedule at www.c-span.org. announcer: next, oregon governor kate brown giving it up to -- getting an update on yesterday's choosing at umpqua -- shooting at umpqua community college. by senators and congressmen. this is 15 minutes. host: good morning, everybody.

my name is tim freeman. i am a douglas county commissioner. thank you for being here. this morning, i am here to introduce each of our speakers, but before i do that i want to thank our governor and our federal delegation for being here to support us in these very difficult days. each of the speakers will give their statement and we are not going to do any questions. we are here today to let this federal delegation have the thoughts explain their , and as time goes by we will have more opportunity to understand more of what has happened and how to further dialogue. the first speaker i would like to introduce, and i am very thankful for the governor for being here and coming out yesterday to help us with this difficult situation, is governor brown. governor? gov. brown: thank you. thank you, commissioner freeman, and thank you for your leadership yesterday.

:00of oregon stands with community college -- umpqua community college and the city of roseburg. i am proud of how the roseburg community pulled together to care for and comfort each other during this were a take crisis. -- horrific crisis. i want to thank our police, our firefighters, our dispatchers, our emergency medical personnel, and all those at the college for their heroic efforts yesterday. oregon has worked continuously to present these kind of tragedies, but they continue to happen here and across the nation. it is going to keep happening until we decide we want them to stop. there is no single solution that will prevent every shooting, but , and we will, do better to prevent these types of

senseless violence. this is a conversation that we will have, but today is not the day. focused onust be providing the support and condolences and help this community heal. as we move forward, we can honor the lives lost at umpqua community college best by remembering what it means to be , toring community demonstrate more kindness, respect each other more, and take the time to truly connect to the people around us. this is a very difficult time for all of us, and of course, especially those in douglas county, whose lives and families were changed by the events of yesterday. one person's arranged act may may haveeranged act

broken our hearts, but he cannot prevent our hearts from growing back bigger and stronger and more committed to the oregon that we all love so very much. thank you. [applause] thank you, governor brown. our next speaker, and i should mention the next three speakers got on planes and throughout from washington, d.c. to be with us today. i am very grateful for their efforts. the next speaker is senator ron wyden. in the last 24 hours, oregonians struggled with foreakable tragedy, grieved the victims and their families a day,ed ones, and gave to ourks -- thanks courageous first responders. right now is a time for healing

and helping the community. future, it is clear that it does have to be about more than words and good intentions if this carnage can finally end. as a country, we cannot just shrug our shoulders and move on. view, ending these massacres is going to require compromise. rightmise that is about and responsibility. gun owners have rights under the must be there responsibilities if these massacres are going to anend.

and oregon is exactly the place to lead this conversation. what we have shown is oregonians again and again -- we can step people, as help our we seek to help this community today, and show a bit of light for the rest of the nation. what any of about us in the united states congress have voted for in the past. it is about what common ground we as people, who don't always agree, can find in the future. [applause] host: thank you, senator. next, we have senator hartley.

sen. merkley: we have a long list of names across the nation, columbine and sandy hook, and now we have umpqua community college. it is a list of names that no community ever wants to have be included in. at this moment, this horrific, senseless act has broken hearts, every heart, here. this is a small community. it is a community where everyone knows someone who was hurt or killed yesterday. the community has come together

in an extraordinary fashion. the first responders responded quickly and competently. , countyiff commissioners, the mayor, the city manager, all jumped in to make these decisions and a flash , to respond and address these situations. , butdid an incredible job there is no response that can repair the broken hearts. back toy when i walked the capital to the office building, i was told there had been a tragedy in organ. there is been a mass shooting in oregon on. oregon.n -- your homet is from

county, douglas county. i have a special place in my heart for this county. i was born in myrtle creek, just south of here. when i was two, we moved to roseburg. i want to first grade here. i have family on both sides -- my father's side and my mother's -- and this morning,. i was asked about my family down here. say, i never thought it could be that my family, my extended family, my cousins were directly affected. but as i said, this is a small town and everyone is affected. individuals who died is the great granddaughter of my first cousin, so she is my cousin. -- every heart is damaged and broken.

this community is coming together to embrace each other, companionship, couldaffection -- no one envision that here in this wonderful, beautiful place of roseburg that this could happen. it is going to give us all food for thought. this long list gets longer with every passing week and month we -- every passing week and month. we have had 18 school shootings in the year 2015. we have had 45 mass shootings in america in the year 2015. we all carry in our hearts not only the sorrow, but also the

responsibility to ponder what we can do that there will be fewer cities, that this list will not continue to grow as it has. thank you. host: thank you, senator will stop -- senator. so our last speaker today is representative peter defazio. here,efazio: approximately 25 hours after this tragedy, this is a day for died andrn those who two give as much as we can, our hearts and our prayers, to their family and their friends. and to pray for those who are still in the hospital, and for this community -- for the college, for the town, for the

of mpeople, today is a day ourning. we will go through grief. we will have memorials. and then we will get to a time where we have all the facts from the investigation, which is ongoing, that we may find deal withays to problems such as this in the future. unfortunately, this is not the first time i have spoken at a .ews conference like this the first 1 took place two miles from my home. there is a tremendous demand for information, which is not yet readily available, for solutions, which we cannot even begin to think of until we know all the facts, and the impatience. this is not a time to be impatient. it is a time first to come together in solidarity and to give what solace we can for

those who have lost so much. there will come a time when we will move forward with ideas and solutions. i expect this delegation to move forward together in unison, but that is not today. that is for the future. thank you. host: i would like everybody to come in closer, please. ladies and gentlemen, thank you for being here today. on behalf of the board of commissioners, i want to thank this group of people that has responded, at all levels of government -- city, county, ,tate, federal -- to help us and i really want to thank the first responders behind us. to support toe victims and families of this horrible incident. thank you.

[applause]

>> the resignation of arne duncan and taking questions. presentat, democratic -- presidential candidate hillary clinton in florida. at a white house news conference, president obama announced that he will risen -- reluctantly accept the resignation of arne duncan.