believe has a role in serious future because of his brutal and the war against the syrian people is the primary root cause of this crisis. what is different this time and what gives us some degree of hope is that, as i said, all major company -- countries on all side of the syrian conflict agree on a process necessary to end this war so while we are clear eyed about the very difficult approach ahead, the united states in partnership with our coalition will remain relentless on all fronts. military, humanitarian, and of the medic. we have the right strategy and we will see it through. i will take some questions and .egin with jerome thank you mr. president.

129 people were killed in paris on friday night. isil claimed responsibility, sending the message that they could now target civilians all of the world. is it time for your strategy to change? pres. obama: keep in mind what we have been doing. thatve a military strategy involves putting enormous pressure on isil through puttrikes that has assistance and training on the ground with iraqi forces who are now working with syrian forces to squeeze isil and cut off their supply lines. we have been working internationally to reduce their financing capabilities, the oil they are trying to ship outside.

we are taking strikes against high-value targets, including most recently against the individual who was on the video executing civilians who had already been captured as well as the head of isil in libya so it's not just iraq and syria. front,on the military we are continuing to accelerate what we do as we find additional partners on the ground that are effective, we work with them more closely. i have authorized additional special forces on the ground who will be able to improve that coordination. front,counterterrorism keep in mind that since i can't office, -- since i came into office we have been worried about these kinds of attacks. vigilance the united states

government maintains and the cooperation we are consistently expanding with our european and other partners in going after every single terrorist network is robust and constant. meet withweeks i've my entire national security team and we go over every threat stream presented. where we have relevant information we share with our counterparts in and around the world.and in aviation security we have been working so that at various airport sites, not just the united states but overseas, we are strengthening our mechanisms to screen and discover passengers who should not be boarding flights, and improving the matters in which we are screening luggage that is going on board. on the diplomatic front, we have

been consistently working to try to get all parties together to recognize that there is a moderate opposition inside of syria that can form the basis for a transition government and to reach out not only to our friends but also to the russians and iranians who are on the other side of this to explain to them that ultimately an organization bike isil is the greatest danger to them as well as to us. there will be an intensification of the strategy that we put forward, but the strategy that we are putting forward is the strategy that ultimately will work. as i said from the start, it will take time. what has been interesting is in the aftermath of paris as i listen to those who suggest ,omething else needs to be done

typically the things they suggest need to be done are things we are already doing. is that thereion have been a few who suggested we should put large numbers of u.s. troops on the ground. mind we have the finest military in the world and the finest military minds in the world. i have been meeting with them ,ntensively for years now discussing these various options. it is not just my view, that the view of my closest military and civilian advisers that would be a mistake. -- that that would be a mistake. not just because our military could march into mosul or ramadi and temporarily clear out

we would see ase repetition of what we've seen before which is if you do not have local populations that are committed to inclusive and who are pushing back against ideological extremes, that they resurface. to have aare prepared permanent occupation of these countries. let's assume we were to send 50,000 troops into syria. what happens when there is a terrorist attack generated from yemen? do we then send the troops there, or libya? or if there is a terrorist network operating anywhere else in north africa? or in southeast asia? a strategy has to be one that can be sustained.

the strategy we are pursuing, which focuses on going after targets, limiting wherever possible the capabilities of isil on the ground systematically going after their leadership and infrastructure, strengthening syrian and iraqi forces and kurdish forces prepared to fight them, cutting and squeezingers, the space in which they can operate until we are ultimately able to defeat them, that is the strategy we will have to pursue and we will continue to generate more partners and for that and there will be things that don't work and some strategies we try to do work. when we find what does we will double down. margaret, cbs.

>> thank you mr. president. a more than your long bombing campaign in iraq and syria has to contain the ambition and ability of isis to launch attacks in the west. have you underestimated their abilities and will you widen the rules of engagement for u.s. forces to take more aggressive action? pres. obama: we haven't underestimated our abilities, this is precisely why we are in iraq as we speak and operating in syria as we speak. have precisely why we mobilized 65 countries to go after isil. and why i hosted, at the united nations, an entire discussion of counterterrorism strategies and curbing the flow of foreign fighters. and why we have been putting pressure on those countries that have not been as robust as they need to be in tracking the flow

of foreign fighters in and out of syria and iraq. been an acute awareness on the part of my administration from the start ant it is possible for organization like iso- --like isil that has such a twisted ideology and has shown such extort mary brutality and -- extraordinary brutality and disregard for innocent lives that they would have the capabilities to potentially strike in the west and because thousands of fighters have flowed from the west and our european citizens. a few hundred from the united states but far more from europe that, when those fighters return, it poses a significant danger.

worked withistently our european partners, this groups in disrupting some cases, sadly this one was not disrupted in time. understand that one of the challenges we have is if you have a handful of people who don't mind dying, they can kill a lot of people. that's one of the challenges of terrorism. ors not their sophistication the weapons they possess, but it is the ideology they carry with them and their willingness to die. in most circumstances, tracking each individual, making sure that we are disrupting and preventing these attacks is a constant effort in vigilance.

it requires extraordinary coordination. part of the reason that is important in what we do in iraq and syria is that the narrative that isil developed of creating this caliphate makes it more attractive to potential recruits. when i said that we are containing their spread and iraq in fact they control less territory than they did last year. the more we shrink that territory, the less they can pretend that they are somehow a functioning state, and the more it becomes apparent that they are simply a network of killers who are brutalizing local populations. that allows us to reduce the

flow of foreign fighters which then, over time, will lessen the number of terrorists that can potentially carry out terrible acts like in paris. that's what we did with al qaeda. that doesn't mean that al qaeda no longer possesses the capabilities of potentially qaeda andhe west, al the peninsula that operates primarily in yemen has consistently tried to target the west. we are consistently working to disrupt those acts. that they havet not gotten as much attention as isil, they still pose a danger. our goals here consistently have and too be aggressive leave no stone unturned, but also recognize this is not

conventional warfare. narrativeto the isil when we act like their state -- they are a state. and we use routine military tactics that are designed to fight a state that is attacking another state. that's not what's going on here. these are killers. glory.ve fantasies of they are very savvy when it comes to social media. and they are able to infiltrate the minds of not just iraqis or disaffected individuals around the world. when they activate those individuals, those individuals can do a lot of damage. ofhave to take the approach

being rigorous on counterterrorism efforts and consistently improve and figure out how we can get more information and infiltrate these networks and reduce their operational space even as we amount ofo shrink the territory they control to defeat their narrative. reclaim territory the them, it will require ending of the syrian civil war which is by diplomatic efforts are so important. and it will require an effective hiaqi effort that bridges sd sunni differences. >> thank you mr. president. in the days and weeks before the terrorist attacks, did you receive warning in your daily intelligence briefing that an attack was imminent?

if not, did that not call in to question the current assessment that there is no immediate specific credible threat to the united states today? secondly, if i could ask you to address your critics who say you are reluctant to enter another middle eastern war and your preference of diplomacy over using the military makes the united states weaker and emboldens our enemies? day webama: jim, every have threat streams coming through the intelligence transit. every several weeks, we sit down with all of my national security intelligence and military teams to discuss various threat streams that may be generated. the concerns about potential is

il attacks in the west have been there for over a year now. they come through periodically. there were no specific mentions of this particular attack that would give us a sense of something that we need, that we could provide french authorities, for example. or act on ourselves. typically, the way the intelligence works is there will be a threat stream that is from one source. how reliable is that source, perhaps some signal in intelligence gets picked up. it is evaluated. some of it is extraordinarily vague and unspecific and there's no clear timetable. some of it may be more specific and folks chased on that thread

to see what happens. i am not aware of anything specific in the sense of giving a premonition about an action in for lawat would allow enforcement or military actions to disrupt it. with respect to the broader , to somemy critics degree i answered earlier. i think that when you listen to what they actually have to say, what they are proposing, most of the time when pressed, they describe things we are already doing. maybe they are not aware we are doing them. some of them seem to think that if i were just more bellicose in expressing what we were doing, that would make a difference.

that seems to be the only thing they are doing. talking as if they are tough. i have not seen particular strategies that they would suggest that would make a real difference. there are a few exceptions. is thosery exception who would deploy u.s. troops on a large scale to retake territory either in iraq or in syria. the honestyy have to go ahead and say that's what they would do. i just addressed why i think they are wrong. there have been some who are well-meaning. their sincerity when it comes to the issue of dire humanitarian situations in syria.

for example calling for a no-fly zone or a safe son of some sort. -- safe zone of some sort. this is an issue where i will sit down with our top military and intelligence advisers and we will painstakingly go through what something like that looks like. typically after we have gone through a lot of planning and discussion and working it through, it is determined that it would be counterproductive to take both steps, in part because isil does not have planes. the attacks are on the ground. a true saison requires us to set zone a true safe requires us to set up ground operations. the situations have come about not because of regime bombing but because of on the ground

casualties. who would come in, who would come out of that saison? ford become a magnet further terrorist attacks? how many personnel would be required question mark there are a whole set of questions that have to be answered there. my only interest is to end suffering and keep the american people safe. if there is a good idea out there, we will do it. i don't think i've shown hesitation to act, whether it's respect to bin laden or respect to sending additional troops in afghanistan or keeping them there. it is determined that it would actually work. but what we do not do, what i do actions eitherke

because it is going to work politically or it is going to , in the abstract, make america look tough. or make me look tough. maybe part of the reason is because every few months i go to walter reed. i see a 25-year-old kid paralyzed or has lost his limbs. some of those are people i've ordered into battle. to play some of the political games others may. we will do what's required to keep the american people safe. i think it's entirely appropriate in a democracy to

have a serious debate about these issues. folks want to pop off and have opinions about what they think they would do. present a specific plan. if they think that somehow their advisors are better than the chairman of my joint chiefs of staff, and the folks on the ground? i want to meet them. we do have that debate. -- we can have that debate. what i'm not interested in is notionor pursuing some of american leadership or america winning or whatever other slogans they come up with. no relationship to what is actually going to work to protect the american people and

to protect people in the region who are getting killed and to protect our allies and people like france. i'm too busy for that. thank you very much mr. president. i wanted to go back to something you said to margaret earlier when you said you had not underestimated isis'abilities. this is an organization you teamibed as a jv that is not able to use a safe haven to it launch attacks in other parts of the world. how is that not underestimating their capabilities and how is that contained? i think a lot of americans have this frustration that they see the united states has the greatest military in the world, the backing of nearly every other country when it comes to taking on isis.

i guess the question is if you will forgive the language, why can't we take out these pastorates -- bastards? pres. obama: i just spent the last three questions answering that. i don't know what more you want me to add. i have described specifically what our strategy is, and very specifically why we do not pursue some of the other strategies that have been suggested. said, anot, as i've traditional military opponent. we can retake territory. as long as we leave our troops there, we can hold it. that does not solve the underlying problem of eliminating the dynamics that are producing these kinds of violent extremist groups.

we are going to continue to pursue the strategy that has the best chance of working, even though it does not offer the headlineion of a neat or an immediate resolution. part of the reason, as i've said, is because there are costs to the other side. i just want to remind people. -- is not an extraction abstraction.\ when we send troops in, they get injured. our country spends hundreds of billions of dollars and given the fact that there are a enormous sacrifices involved in any military action, it is best shoot first and

him later -- aim later. it's important for us to get the strategy right and the strategy we are pursuing is the right one. ron allen. >> thank you mr. president. i think a lot of people around the world in america are concerned because the strategy you are pursuing, it has been now, thean a year capabilities of isis seem to be expanding. were you aware they have the capability of pulling off the kind of attack they did in paris? are you concerned and do you think they have that same capability to strike in the united states? do you think that, given all you've learned about isis over the past year or so, and given the criticism about your underestimating them, the you think you really understand this enemy well enough to defeat them and protect the homeland?

pres. obama: this is another variation on the same question. let me try it one last time. theave been fully aware of potential capabilities of them carrying out a terrorist attack. that is precisely why we have been mounting a very aggressive strategy to go after them. as i've said before. about there talking ability of a handful of people wildly sophisticated whotary equipment, weapons,

are willing to die, they can kill a lot of people and preventing them from doing so is challenging for every country. swift and quick solution to this, i assure you that not just the united states and turkey and others who have been subject to these terrorist attacks would have implemented their strategies. there are certain advantages the united states has in preventing these kinds of attacks. after 9/11 we hardened the homeland, set up a whole series protectional steps to aviation, to apply lessons learned. we have seen better cooperation fbi, state governments, local governments.

there are some advantages to geography with respect to the united states. having said that, we have seen the possibility of terrorist attacks on our soil. there was the boston marathon bombers. obviously it did not result in the scale of death we saw in but that was a serious attempt at killing a lot of people by two brothers and a crockpot. it gives you some sense of the kinds of challenges that are going to be involved in this going forward. has serious capabilities. capabilitiesnique, other terrorist organizations that we track are paying attention to possess as well.

we are going after all of them. is the unique about isil degree to which it has been able to control territory that then allows them to attract additional cruets -- recruits and the effects they have on social media and the ability to use that to not only attract recruits to fight in syria but carry out attacks in the homeland and europe and other parts of the world. shrink the space in which they can operate, combined with a resolution of a serious situation which will reduce the freedom with which they feel they can operate, and getting local forces who are able to hold and keep them out over the long-term. that ultimately will be what makes a difference. it will take time but it's not something that at any stage have

we not been aware needs to be done. >ok go ahead. i can hear you. [indiscernible] pres. obama: this is something we spoke a lot about at g 20.

the overwhelming majority of the victims of terrorism over the last several years, and certainly the majority of victims of isil are themselves muslims. islam.es not represent it is not representative in any attitudes of the overwhelming majority of muslims. this is something that has been ,mphasized that muslim leaders whether it is president erdogan or the president of tunisia or malaysia, or other countries but are majority muslim have shown themselves to be tolerant and work to be inclusive in their political process. to the degree that anyone would actions thatrrible

took place in paris with the views of islam, those kinds of stereotypes are counterproductive, they are lead, i think,l to greater recruitment in the terrorist organizations over time if this becomes somehow problem asa muslim opposed to a terrorist problem. what is also true is that the terroristus organizations at the moment are ones that claim to be speaking on behalf of true muslims. muslims around , religious leaders,

political leaders, ordinary ask very serious questions about how did these extremist ideologies take root. even if it's only affecting a very small fraction of the population, it is real. and it is dangerous. it has built up over time and with social media it is now accelerating. i think, on the one hand, ,on-muslims cannot stereotype but i think the muslim community has to think about how we make sure that children are not being affected with this twisted notion that somehow they can kill innocent people. and that that is justified by religion. degree, that is

something that has to come from within the muslim community itself. i think there have been times there has not been enough pushback against extremism. there are some who say we don't believe in violence, but are not as willing to challenge some of the extremist thoughts or rationales for why muslims feel oppressed. i think those ideas have to be challenged. let me make one last point about this. then i have to take a flight to manila but i am looking forward to seeing that but i hope i can come back to turkey when i'm not so busy. you're seeingces this play itself out is on the refugee issue. and, i gather, it started popping up while i was

back in the united states. syriaople who are fleeing the most harmed by terrorism. they're the most vulnerable as a consequence of civil war. and strife. parents, they are children, they are orphans. is very important, and i was glad to see this was affirmed again and again by the g 20. todo not close our hearts these victims of such violence. somehow, start equating the

issue of refugees with the issue of terrorism. in europe, i think people like chancellor merkel are taking a very courageous stance and moral it is our obligation as hell human beings to help people who are in such vulnerable situations. i know that it is putting enormous strains on the resources of the people of europe. nobody has been carrying a bigger burden than the people here in turkey. but 2.5 million refugees. and people of jordan and lebanon who are also admitting refugees. the fact that they have kept their borders open is a signal of their belief in a common humanity. we have to, each of us, to our

partner. -- do our part. the united states has to step up and do ours. say maybe weolks should just admit the questions but not muslims, -- admit the christians but not muslims, when i hear political leaders are just there would be a religious a person fleeing from a war-torn country is admitted. when some of those folks themselves come from families who benefited from protection when they were .leeing political persecution that's shameful . that's not american. that's not who we are. we don't have religious test to our compassion.

visit,pe francis came to the united states, and he gave a speech to congress, he didn't k about christians being persecuted, he didn't call on the catholic church to admit the same people of the religious faith, he said protect those were vulnerable. i think it is very important for us, right now, particularly those in leadership. particularly those who have a platform and can be heard. trap andll into that feed that dark impulse. i've had a lot of disagreements with george w. bush on policy. 9/11 when proud after he was adamant and clear about

the fact that this is not a war on islam. the notion that some of those taken on leadership in this party would ignore all of that. that's not who we are. on this, they should follow his example. it's our better impulse. whether you are european or the values that we are defending, the values we are fighting against isil are that we don't discriminate against people because of their faith. because kill people

they are different from us. that's what separates us from them. we don't feed that kind of notion. that somehow christians and muslims are at war. we should not promote that kind of ideology and attitude. the muslim way community has an obligation not to, in any way excuse anti-western or anti-christian sentiment, we have the same obligation. it is good to remember that the united states does not have a religious test and we are a nation of many peoples of different faiths. this means we show compassion to everybody, those are the universal values we stand for.

that's what my administration intends to stand for. thank you very much everybody. >> finishing up with the president from the g 20 summit this morning, president obama arriving ahead of schedule. i want you to know we did record his remarks and we will have it later on c-span in its entirety and also at c-span.org. the president touching on a number of topics like the case for syrian refugees. we had a related question on facebook, should the u.s. close its borders to syrian refugees? a number of you have responded. anita says they are not refugees, stop importation of foreigners. mark says after the oklahoma city bombing, did we close

borders to white christian extremist? blair potter has an interesting perspective, she says i live in rome and we are flooded with them. most are not women and children but rather military age men. at least two of the shooters were documented as syrian refugees. close the borders while you are still ahead. we are open to your facebook comments at facebook.com/cspan. also from the hill, the islamic state and iraq and syria has a thatideo -- has a warning countries -- isis warms that countries that take part in the crusader campaign will have a day like france. theyhey struck france and promise to strike america in washington. the authenticity of the video could not be immediately verified.

today, a live picture of the flag over the capital. not very windy but the flag is there. the president ordered the flag lowered until thursday in honor of the victims of the paris attacks. earlier, cia director john brennan made remarks about u.s. national security in light of the terror attacks. he said he didn't expect this to be a one-off event. before his appearance at the center for strategic teaching and studies. [applause] thank you very much, john. thank you for those kind words and for the invitation to invite me to speak your this morning at csis and the global security forum. i had the pleasure of speaking here at his previous residence when i was serving at the white

as assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism. it's a privilege to come back and share my thoughts this morning on some of the key global challenges that our country faces. i also want to take this opportunity to express my deep appreciation to john henry who has led this for nearly 16 years and is one of the leading lights in the field of national security. distant which career, john has continued to make important contributions to national security and i think i speak for all of us for thanking him for adding such wisdom and value to the public conversation on global issues. [applause] john brennan: in many respects, goals of thehe intelligence community, to identify, and hopefully successfully address the myriad security issues that we face in a dynamic and dangerous world.

a very dangerous world indeed. my opening remarks are different from those i've reviewed and in the early afternoon we havefferent because been jarred once again by the horrific violence perpetrated upon the innocent in the streets, cafes, and concert halls of the beautiful city of .aris our hearts ache for the scores killed and injured in those attacks. our thoughts are with them and their families. likewise, our condolences and thoughts go out to those killed in the crash of the russian airliner a little over two weeks ago in the sinai egypt. ofle we await confirmation culpability, they each bear the hallmarks of terrorism carried out by the so-called islamic state of his lock and live on --- iraq and lavant.

sociopaths under bogus religious pretenses. with its roots in al qaeda in iraq and empowered by a large influx of foreign adherence, isil over the past several years has swallowed up swaths of territory in iraq and syria, brutally killing thousands upon thousands of men, women, and children. to limiting its killing fields to iraqi and syrian lands and setting up local franchises in other countries of the middle east, south asia, and africa, isil has developed an external operations agenda and is now implementing it with lethal effect. i am sure we will talk more about them and the question and answer session but let me note the greatest threat posed by the phenomenon of isil makes it imperative the international to achieving an even greater and unprecedented level of cooperation,

collaboration, information sharing, and joint action. in intelligence, law enforcement, and military operations and diplomatic channels. the threat demands it. close toa, we look foreign intelligence and security forces around the globe to advance our shared counterterrorism goals. over the course of many years we have forged broad and deep partnerships with our closest allies in europe such as great britain, france, and many others. these strategic relationships have been instrumental in helping connect together a transnational architecture that allows counterterrorism officials and experts to work closely together across sovereign borders to disrupt terrorist plans and activities. while many terrorist operations have been ported as a result of strong transnational teamwork, tragically, not all plans are uncovered all the time. these strategic counterterrorism relationships need to stretch

far beyond the traditional trans-atlantic environment and alliances. this is why we are working closely with so many services in different parts of the world. for instance we are working with our egyptian partners who are working tirelessly to prevent isil terrorists from launching attacks that are aimed at derailing egypt's political reform initiatives and economic development objectives. i reiterated our commitment to strengthening our counterterrorism partnership with cairo and a coral -- in a call to mike counterpart this weekend. moscow has significant policy differences on how best to bring the bloodshed in syria to a close. i have had several conversations to one of my russian counterparts over the past several weeks about ways to strengthen u.s., russia counterterrorism cooperation specifically on the isil threat. these relationships are an essential adjunct to military and automatic operations --diplomatic operations.

we benefit from a wider net of collection and insights of local services, all of which enhance the intelligence we provide policymakers. , timely,lligence accurate, and insightful, is the cornerstone of almost every aspect of national security policy. for military action to diplomacy, to international law enforcement. with good intelligence, policymakers can better understand the risks, challenges, as well as opportunities attendant to key national security issues which is ever more important than the unprecedentedly complex and overlapping array of major challenges to u.s. and global security that we face today. impression one might get from the daily headlines is that the world has become more unstable. indeed, the historical record supports that judgment. in the past three years there have been more outbreaks of instability than at any time

since the collapse of the soviet union. max -- matching the rate of decolonization in the 1950's. this is not been a. put breakdowns in many states abilities to govern. ongoing conflict in syria and iraq and ukraine and parts of africa are clear examples. the human toll is reflected in the u.n. recent announcement that the number of refugees and internally displaced persons is the highest it has been since world war ii. all of this localized strife advent of to the international terrorism. once cia analysts look for the cause they find nationalistic, sectarian, and technological factors eroding the structure of the international system. trends, socioeconomic

climate change, and other elements that are cause for concern. let me touch upon a few of those. institutions,as, and states that have undergirded the system are under stress. the developing world is certainly what we see states that have failed and borders that no longer carry any practical effect such as the border between syria and iraq. there is considerable stress on governments and the world's most stable regions. crisis,e, the migration sluggish economic growth, and a host of factors have given rise to heightened nationalism, secession movements, and the popularity of political parties on the far right and far left. even ideas that were the pillars of the continents postwar prosperity such as economic integration and the moxie itself are being questioned in some

corners.across the globe in both authoritarian and him credit societies, governments are finding it increasingly difficult to meet the demands, realistic or not, of their skeptical and restive populaces. the so-called arab spring revolutions were not fought for democracy per se as much as they were fought for regimes that had failed to meet basic standards of governance and civil society. as we have seen, when people become disillusioned with the powers that be, social media enabled them to more quickly and easily form associations that the five -- that defy the status quo. landscape has been changing in a faster and more disruptive pace. how nations respond to this, i'd up to them, and evolve will be one of the great plot lines of the 21st century. when i meet with my foreign counterparts, both from friendly and not so friendly governments, i sense a very real apprehension

of about instability in its various manifestations. terrorism, you military and crises, proliferation, and so on. fromr this even individuals or percent of governments whose policies are arguably contributing. europe, after moscow demonstrated its willingness to use military and paramilitary forces in ukraine. and the south china sea, tensions persist as china unilaterally pursues its territorial claims, including actions that rival claimants perceive as violating 70. time, the principle of democratic governments is under siege. for the 19, more declines have been reported then gains in democracy worldwide. worsening of no sectarian and socioeconomic --

heavy-handed propaganda is used in favor of -- criminalization of dissent and control of elections. second, the resumption of strong, sustained growth in the wake of the financial crash and eurozone crisis has been elusive for some of the world's largest economies. economy with its seemingly endless potential for growth is slowing. [no audio]

director john brennan: especially in already fragile regions such as africa, the middle east, and south asia. compromised access to food and water greatly increases the prospect for famine and deadly epidemics. ofally, the rapid advance information technology has given rise to an entirely new and wide-open domain for human interaction and progress. the cyber realm.

as an intelligence officer, much of my job involves dealing with the unintended consequences of the cyber revolution. for as much as it brings the world together, it also serves the purpose of those who wish us harm. the greatest concern, the cyber realm gives individuals the potential to inflict damage on a scale previously restricted to nationstates. while states are largely theonal actors subject to turns, the same does not apply to terrorists and criminals. governments and individuals are under constant attacks. home at security reports more than 630,000 affected federal agencies in fiscal year 2014. the massive and prolonged hackings of employee records held by the office of personnel management underscores the intensity of government i.t. systems. i am all-too-familiar with the ease of which miscreant hackers use social engineering

techniques to perpetrate attacks into personal e-mail accounts. information technology and community edition systems. unfortunately there is every reason to expect this to increasing quantity, cunning, and impact. the economics of cyber attacks are skewed to favor the attacker. or malicious software tools are easily acquired. the prices are falling dramatically and in some criminal markets, not just because of the clinic wer -- declined demand but because of increasingly competitive marketplace. these can be reused on multiple targets and the likelihood of detection and punishment remains low in most instances. while the vast majority of cyber money, target proprietary information and privacy itself, we need to of potentialange targets is greater. recently cannot discount the real possibility of attacks

against vital infrastructure. transportation, and other essential underpinnings of modern civilization. the world has changed dramatically since i first raised my hand and swore an oath of allegiance to the united state government as a newly minted cia officer eager to make a difference in august of 1980. ira member vividly taking a seat in my first desk on the sixth floor of the langley headquarters putting my hands not on the keyboard of a computer but the keys of an electric type writer. 35 years later, our lives as well as our fingers are linked to the cyber realm. the new digital frontier, where most human interactions, transactions, and communications take place. digital environment holds tremendous potential and opportunity for the further advancement of humanity, our increasing dependence brings obvious risks and challenges. to deal with those risks and

challenges, we strategies are insufficient. there has to be systemic learning informed by constant information sharing so that when organizations detection becomes another's prevention. countering several threats is a team effort. 85% of the world wide web's infrastructure is held by the private sector. a privately owned and operated environment in which the rules remain uncertain at rest. a number of efforts have promoted the sharing of cyber information between the private sector and governments. dhs and fbi have programs to share cyber threat information with a broad community of industry stakeholders. we should be sharing a lot more information than we do as a nation. as well as concerns about privacy and government have

hampered progress. congress has tried to pass laws addressing the need for comprehensive cyber policy. 20th century laws cannot effectively deal with 20th century threats. the senate passed the cyber security information sharing act, which is similar to bills passed in the house. built bye a conference early next year, which may be an important step forward. as our country deals with this issue, specifically to security and privacy concerns that revolve around information sharing, it is important to note that security and privacy, while certainly not neutrally exclusive. the benefits can be achieved in a manner that protects privacy and civil liberties. is that america, ideally, along with allies and partners, can eventually adopt a

withoutnsive approach being forced to it by a catastrophic cyber attack. 9/11 forced our country to integrate assets in a more rational and effective way against terrorism. to the after i returned agency i started to consider what we could do to ensure that is well-prepared for the opportunities and challenges of the future. the digital world stood out as an area that required special and immediate attention. group of oura senior officers to ponder the agency's future, combat with a strategic plan, they agreed we have to do a much better job of raising and leveraging the revolution. one of the pillars of our modernize asian program was the addition of a directorate as part of the biggest change to cia's structure.

this new directive is at the center of the agency's effort to hasten the adoption of digital solutions into every aspect of worth. it is responsible for accelerating the integration of capabilities across all of our mission areas. espionage, open source intelligence, and covert action. have respondedts to the challenges of the digital era. to excel we must place our activities and operations at the very center of all of our endeavors. a new digital directorate was launched last month and we expected to contribute enormously to every facet of our global mission. alongside partners across the intelligence community, we will be more capable and effective in safeguarding our country from the full range of threats beyond and within our borders.

saying toclude by each new class of agency officers to whom i administer the oath of office every month in our headquarters in langley, i have the best job in the world bar none. i work with some of the most courageous and patriotic individuals this country has to offer. in light of the nature and scope of the national security challenges, the contributions have never been greater. thank you, i look forward to taking your questions. >> i think we can all see why we are so grateful. you are a wonderful leader. are going to take some questions and i'm going to moderate this a little bit.

you are going to get a humiliating response from me. youry came to listen to thoughts, i want to hear his. we are going to start with you. >> good morning i am a reporter with bloomberg view. thank you for your time and your service. i think i give way to the question a lot of us have in this country when i ask how was this allowed to happen? we are talking about an attack that involves dozens of people for perhaps a weeks or months. the rld's leading intelligence agencies didn't even catch a whiff of it. wrong and what needs to be done now to make sure this never happens again?

>> many of these terrorist operations are uncovered and thwarted before they are able to be carried out. when i think about what happened in paris, clearly there was an effort underway for quite some time that was fairly sophisticated because of the nature of the attacks in terms of their simultaneous nature. we work closely with our french partners. i have a strong relationship with the heads of the external and internal services. of our partners are facing in a lot of challenges in terms of the number of individuals who to syria or iraq and back again. their goal to monitor and surveilled these individuals is under strain. are going toench be looking at what might have slipped through the crack's. i can tell you it is not a

surprise this attack was carried out from the standpoint that we did have a strategic warning. knew plotting by issa was underway, looking at europe in particular. there has been a significant increase in the number of these operatives and the terrorist networks. they have gone to school on what it is they need to do in order to keep their activities concealed from the authorities. there are a lot of capabilities make it exception -- make it exceptionally difficult technically and legally for intelligence services. i do think this is the time for europe and the united states to see whether or not there had been some or intentional gaps

that have been in created -- that have been created to protect the people they are asked to serve. several years, because of a number of disclosures and a lot of hanging -- a lot of hand wringing over the government's role and effort to try to uncover these terrorists, there have been some actions taken that make our ability to find these terrorists much more challenging. i do hope this will be a wake-up europe, where there has been a misrepresentation of what the intelligence security services are doing. they are designed to undercut those capabilities.

>> i'm with the naval postgraduate school. you used a very important phrase called systemic learning. i am struck by the imposition of asking questions. i have been with the department for 40 years and there have been some really interesting techniques. everyone is told if you don't know, ask, we all learn together. the volume, how would you do that? verily -- i very intentionally use the term systematic learning. the world is changing. last 35 years since i have been involved, the technological revolution has totally transformed not just the intelligence work but our daily lives.

people growing up today are going up with technology in their hands. but that technology has tremendous implications. it can be done for good or harm. society, as aa government, we need to make sure we are not making faulty assumptions because of what the past has told us. we need to make sure we understand. that is why we created this. i want to make sure we understand all the implications of the digital environment. i want toit mean if have my officers operate clandestinely overseas? whether we go to starbucks and pay with our rent a car. we create a friends occasions -- a forensic history. people today have a forensic history already.

i want to make sure we are able to operate the way we always have in terms of our ability to collect intelligence for mass security in this world. acrossc learning means all the various realms we operate in and particularly in that cyber realm. >> good morning. if you look at who was involved in this attack. like the exact same connection between brussels and france. whether it is unmonitored where they get their weapons. i am just wondering after the charlie hebdo attack, what kind of change did they make in that relationship and what more could they have done? >> i will defer to my french partners to talk about the types of things they are doing.

as you point out, the plot that was uncovered has all the similar types of hallmarks in terms of individuals to carry out these attacks. we know there are smuggling networks inside of europe. the 1990's,errun in i think there is an active black market that a lot of these criminal elements will be able to take advantage of. when i look at the interaction between various countries in europe, you can travel across the borders, it means that the challenge for the french as well as other security services becomes that much more daunting. i do think part of the issue is there is an overwhelming number of cases they need to pursue.

i was just reading the prime minister cameron announced there will be 1900 and -- 1900 additional security officers, because of the need to make sure you have the experts able to deal with these issues, so we are not limited in terms of who we can look at closely or who we can follow. a number of countries are going to take note of what happened in paris and see what they can do to boost not just their capabilities but resources. i think the u.s. has significantly increased our resources since 9/11. every day we are constantly evolving. process.ontinuous we are working with our partners now to understand some of the mechanisms and techniques that these operatives use. operational security is really quite strong.

>> thank you so much. number oflarge european citizens that have traveled to the conflict region and involved isis activities, and the possibility of ceiling borders against these vast tidal waves, should we regard this or do we have to contemplate the terrible possibility that this could be normal? >> i would not consider it a one-off event. it is clear to me isil has an external agenda. determined to carry out these types of attacks. this is not something done in a matter of days. elaboratelything and carefully planned over the course of several months in terms of making sure they have the operatives, the weapons, explosives. would anticipate this is not

the only operation they have in the pipeline. security intelligence services are working feverishly to see what they can do in terms of uncovering it. i do believe this is something we are going to have to deal with for quite some time. the challenge is something that is going to take quite a bit of time to be able to destroy them. it is not going to contend itself with the syrian and iraqi borders. it is going to be looking abroad. we have seen what happens in lebanon and in southern beirut. it is not just europe, we obviously have to be quite vigilant. with georger

washington university center on cyber and homeland security. my question is given the concert , the the restaurant private sector, many organizations over the recent years have increased their awareness they have in the security role. you see more vice presidents of security. do you foresee movement toward more cooperation with the private sector and though security components within the private sector that can play a role in this kind of fight? >> certainly in this definition there has to be that partnership. what we need to do as a country, we need to find that type of relationship with the private sector built on mutual confidence and trust in terms of

what the respective roles and responsibilities are. there is reluctance on the part of many to share information with some of the internal operations and penetrations of their systems because of concerns it could affect their stock prices. i think we need to find the mechanisms where there can be confidence on both sides, information can be shared. also just on the physical security side, it was outside of a soccer stadium. is a very close cooperation between law enforcement and homeland sports, with major franchises, teams, organizations, making sure those venues are strong in terms of percussions they take. homeland security has done a good job reaching out to state and locals.

this is not something the government itself can handle. it shows that united states is a big country, europe is a big continent, and there are not enough resources to be able to aoint everybody to be government intelligence security or law enforcement officer. there needs to be responsibilities in the private sector as well as individual citizens. i think this is unfortunately a feature of our time. >> there has been a lot of discussion about whether the u.s. has underestimated the ,hreat from the islamic state perhaps focusing on issues of containment in the middle east. .ut not looking at the capacity i don't think we are under

intimidating at all. it is growth over the last several years in particular. it had its roots in al qaeda and iraq. it was pretty much decimated. and then it grew quite a bit in the last several years when it split from al qaeda and syria and set up its own organization. effort to real contain its spread. think there has been a containment of that momentum. it has not had that type of momentum inside of those two countries, which is why they are looking abroad to have these spectacular attacks.

what they want to do is further narrow narrative. i think one of the most awaytant things is to take any type of momentum or success in the area as well as beyond. a number ofen successes that have prevented them from moving people to carry out attacks. justtunately this attack shows what devastating impact it can have. their agenda is to kill. pure and simple. they have this nihilistic approach that they are trying to kill as many people, young children, whatever, it doesn't matter to them. do everything we can is urgently as we can to contain growth inside and also beyond. >> a former diplomat.

we could jordanian airplanes over the islamic state. you attack paris and you get planes over the sky. as one who may be privy to the internal dialogue, can you shed any light on the logic of passing off yet another country and getting bombers over your territory? and is there any chance they will start playing games in israel? which is guaranteed to deliver plenty of bombers over their territory. >> it is incumbent upon those governments that have been discouraged to be able to respond and prevent follow-up attacks. there have been efforts on the parts of coalition partners to make sure you go to the source of the terrorism.

we know the area where i so really has the base for its external operation activities, what we need to be able to do is notess the external agenda, just as his citizens to put operatives in other countries but at the source of it. israel is in a challenging and dangerous neighborhood. it is something we're looking at closely, not just on syria or iraq it also lebanon, and other areas. this is something we will have to deal with in the coming months and years. we need to not assume that anybody or any country is immune their touch. >> many intel services all over -- given the

classification. it is time to review this work together? arease the term sociopath do you think they will take a rational method of operations. they seem to know what they are doing and they are quite efficient in their work. >> as far as intelligence agencies working around the world together, this is challenging. there are multiple agencies. all operating under different types of legal parameters. i always use the term about

systems engineering, we have many federal departments and agencies. .ity organizations try to create that architecture where you can move information and data, taking into account the different types of limitations, requirements, responsibilities, and authorities is really quite a challenge. i think we still have a ways to go. when you have somebody different organizations from around the world, we are still working through that. i do believe it is something we will make further progress on. technology was there. i think this is one of the challenges in terms of how do you balance all of that? sociopaths can carry out any

number of violence. it doesn't mean they are rational, it means they are just opposed to civil society, law and order, and resist the recognized authorities and systems of governance that we have. and'sk the isolate here -- the isil adherence is misguided. under this false banner of religion. >> my question is how do you [indiscernible]

>> my conversations with my have takennterpart place a number of times over the last year. including over the last several weeks, after military forces found their way into syria. trying to prevent the flow of individuals out operations. there are 3000 russian nationals that come down in other areas into the syria iraq area. there are a number of individuals within isil. a very real concern to the russians. we need to help russia prevent the flow of tourists inside their territory. maybe destined to carry out some attacks.

i am determined to be able to work with my russian counterpart because of the importance that we each can bring to this issue in terms of insights. i think they greatly value the support and information. disagreements of policy over syria. work withmined to other country services the best i can to be able to prevent successful terrorist attacks. >> what is your recommendation on the borders? even closed on the system for a while. >> one of the things we have to keep in mind is we don't want to succeed interrorists taking away the freedoms and liberties we pride ourselves on,

whether be the united states or europe. i know there is some who say the borders should be closed. with whatconsistent our society has been founded on in the last several hundreds of years. what we need to be -- what we need to do is be mindful of the risks and make sure we are taking the appropriate steps to understand who they might the. i don't think what we want to do is just seal our borders because that is not something that is sustainable from a cultural or trade economic standpoint. we have to take into account what happened recently and how isil could take advantage of some of these flows. able to filter out those individuals trying to do us harm.

>> given that these attacks seem to have an's -- seem to happen sporadically. they can't be entirely protected -- are would never say attacks inevitable. we work around the globe in order to prevent attacks from eating placed. our goal is to prevent every single one of them from taking place. i have tenants -- i don't have a sense of inevitability. it would undermine the commitment of individuals working on this. isilthink it is inevitable is going to try to attempt to carry out these attacks. that is an inevitability as for as the eye can see. today -- to me it is not

inevitable they are going to succeed. >> i promise he would be able to leave here. reassured we have a man of this character. i'm now going to my partner. he is going to say a few words from his guidance here. i'm going to take the secretary out. >> thank you very much. a great way to start this conference, this is the sixth since we sponsored this conference. to theience going back windows, it gets bigger every year.

sis -- a tribute to see to csis. this reflects their billeted to attract outside of that outside experts. you will see a variety of topics covering the full gamut of global security challenges, ending with an interview and moderated discussion with henry kissinger. i want to close and thank everybody. at see sis -- at csis for 15 years. in going through the senate and into the senior positions of the department of defense and still chairs the defense policy board.

his real mark has been to build this institution and this wonderful facility. as well as the intellectual leadership he demonstrates in this community. able to cross partisan and political boundaries in an era when that is becoming increasingly difficult. i want to recognize them for their leadership. the form will reconvene -- the forum will reconvene in about 35 minutes. look in your agenda. there will be three panels and later in the set

morning. at this point you can fight your way through to the coffee. thank you. >> appears to have declared war on islamic state in syria. in the wake of friday's devastating terror pat terror attacks bit in an unverified spokesperson warned that the group -- warned to the group that war was declared. "you should know that we will find you and not let you go. we will lock up -- we will

launch the biggest operation ever against you. read more about this at the hill.com. capitale of the u.s. where president obama has ordered flags to be flown at half staff in tribute to the victims of the paris terror attacks. earlier today president francois hollande tells a meeting of french parliament at the palace -- he requested a three-month state of emergency in his country. >> this is the palace of their psi where french president francois hollande is due to address the upper houses of parliament. there's a french president walking past the guards at the versailles palace. .t is highly symbolic only the second time it has ever happened. hollande said to

address the whole political class, the upper and lower houses. it is everybody from world french politics. tight,y is extremely coming in light of the paris attacks. the worst attacks on french soil since the second world war. the french president is about to speak.

>> mr. speaker of the congress, mr. president, prime minister, members of the government, parliamentarians. france is at war. the acts committed on friday evening in paris were acts of war. killedt 129 people were and many more people were injured. it represents an attack of

aggression against our country, against its of values, against its eu, against its way of life. created by are group who are fighting france because it is a country of freedom, because we are the country of human rights. i devote to speak to both houses toparliament in congress mark our national unity in the face of this abominable act to determinationold to the horrible act which horrible acto the which targeted our country. worsee overcome even

adversaries. cannot be bogged down by such people. my determination is to use the for the the state protection of our citizens. i know we can count on the service and loyalty of the law enforcement organizations and you. show aw the need to sense of sacrifice when necessary. the terrorists believe free by thecan be intimidated horror of their act. the french republic has overcome and is still there alive. those who intend to defy the republic have always lost out.

it will be the same this time. the french people are valiant people, courageous people. they do not give up, they do not resign themselves. resistand up and whenever a child of the country has been attacked by deliberately attacking. they are shooting at people who were unarmed. these assassins don't represent civilization. and not only france. in this war, which began several , we are fully aware of the fact it will take time, and

it will require patience. and because of the tough challenge ahead of us, they use the most vile methods to kill. but they cannot get away with it. they are not out of our reach. in these very difficult times for our citizens who have felt the horror, they must keep calm ouronce again i call on all fellow countrymen, all of our compatriots, to show the virtues we are proud of. perseverance, unity, and dignity.

today our country is morning. we are thinking of those innocent people who died in the streets of paris. thinking of their families who are suffering the most under considerable pain. young boys and girls, young men and women, who were traumatized by this terrible attack. fightinghem are still or survival, still fighting for their lives. i would like to pay tribute to the emergency services who have mobilized all the resources since friday. our system was up to the challenge. once again our health system showed it can fulfill its missions. tributealso like to pay

to the law enforcement organizations who are committed to ensuring the security of french citizens. once again they have shown courage. when they had to free the hostages, the hostages would have died. they showed once again their determination and that they were able to surpass themselves. france was the target. sport, culture. france is all this diversity. the france the assassins wanted to kill were the young people of france in all their diversity. most of those who died were

under 30. what was the crime they had committed? their crime was simply being alive. several dozen foreign friends of different nationalities were among the victims. since friday evening i have received messages of solidarity from heads of state from all over the world. the frencholors of flag are displayed all over the world, which reminds them france remained a begin for humanity. it is the world that feels attacked. the acts of war committed on friday were decided on an planned in syria.

they were organized in belgium and perpetrated on our territory. objective, to instill fear in people and to divide us and put pressure on us to prevent us from fighting against terrorism in the middle east. organization an territorial base, financial resources, and military capabilities. since the beginning, this organization has notably attacked paris, denmark, india, kuwait, saudi, arabia, turkey.

and every day they are massacring people and depressing the population. that is the reason why there is the need to destroy those. i have asked the security council to convene as early as possible to adopt a resolution that will express our joint resolution against terrorism. france will intensify military operations in syria. i ordered 10 french fighter-bombers to bomb the .eadquarters in rocca they destroyed a training camp and i would like to sit -- i would like to congratulate the french pilots who succeeded. the mission was a success. i would like to think our american allies who supported us

in this operation. weould like to make it known will continue these airstrikes in the weeks to come. the aircraft carrier will be leaving france on thursday and will go to the middle east. this will triple our resources and capabilities. we will not stop our efforts. those who ordered the attacks in paris must know that their instead of reducing our resolution, they have reinforced our determination to destroy them. we fight against this everywhere, where survival is under threat. today our military is also

haram iswhere boko kidnapping and raping people. terrorism tonst enable the authorities to restore their sovereignty over the country. are seeking a political solution in which the shar al-assad cannot be a part. aiming -- wemply need to destroy this organization, both to save the people, the people of syria and iraq. of lebanon,e people jordan, turkey, and all the neighboring countries. us inalso to protect

order to prevent more attacks on our country. foreign fighters to commit terrorist attacks on our country. syria has become the biggest manufacturing center of terrorists in the world. communityternational can do i have often observed this. the international community is divided. asked -- france asked from the very beginning of the international community should act in a more unified way. airstrikes, we need more support. we must bring together all those who can really fight against this terrorist army within the

framework of large single coalitions. we will be working in that direction. i will be meeting president obama and president clinton. a result which from the moment was still in the distant future. france speaks to everybody. attacks -- the paris attacks took place at the very moment when the meeting was being held in vienna to find a political solution to the situation in syria. today everybody has to face his responsibilities.

i have asked the minister of to invoke an article of the european union, which all the member states the member states solidarity. the enemy is not an enemy of france. it is an enemy of europe. cannot continue living with the idea that the crises around it has no impact on it. and the questions of the refugees is directly linked with the war in syria and iraq. the inhabitants of those those who notably come from the areas -- they have experienced.

they are the same victims of the terrorist system. that is why it is of vital importance that we should have a right to asylum and some the back to their home country, those who have no right to asylum. effectiveovide protection of our external borders. we were the first who warned europe about this. france and germany is making are facingies that major flows of migrants will be supported. and they are countries in the region itself. they do not keep control of external borders and we have already seen this today in terms -- there will be a return to national borders, fences on our

borders, which amounted to the deconstruction of the european union. the is essential that theest france has made -- fight against trafficking of arms, the implementation of systematic control at the borders. and the implementation of the european pnr to ensure the traceability of the jihadists and those who have been arrested. these are the requirements. a meeting that will be taking place on friday. the border, which has taken place on our territory, and which has been following the

attacks since the seventh and eighth of january of this year in themany other crimes name of this jihadist doctrine, we must be merciless. it is cruel to say it is french citizens on friday who have killed other french citizens. on their territory their individuals who, from ordinary crimes, have moved on to radicalization and terrorism. networks,they set up which train, depending on circumstances, or help each to carry out at a moment , to commit terror

attacks. we have seen that in the past month. we have seen what this preparation leads to. we must react in an emergency situation and over a long period. when we count the dead after the shootings, i convened at the council of ministers and order the reestablishment of controls at the borders. and i declared a state of emergency. extended the possibility

of carrying out searches on the order of the administration in the territory. over 104 persons were placed under house arrest and 168 searches have taken place. there will be more. the enemy has gone a step further. we have the ability to react, the declaration of human rights and citizens says that the security and resistance to oppression are fundamental rights. we must exercise these rights. we will be providing the means of the security of our citizens. parliament will be extending a draft bill,

extending the state of emergency to a three-month period and will adapt to the evolution of technology. the law, which governs the state is no longer in conformity with the state of technology that we see today. it contains tita exceptional measures. house arrest and the administrative searches. tose provide useful means prevent the appropriation of new terrorists. i wish to extend the scope. the prime minister will be proposing to the parliament that a regime be a doubt that for each of these two positions. and i encourage you to vote for this by the end of this week.

we must go beyond the state of emergency. i thought about this a great deal. i believe we need to change our constitution to enable public authorities to act in conformity with the rule of law against an act of war. today two regimes are still suited. article seven of the constitution, it implies the regular operation be interrupted. the president takes special measures. 36.e is article

siege was declared in a case of immediate danger. another -- a number are transferred to the military authority. these regimes are adapted to the situation we see today. it is not conceivable to transfer to military authorities with special powers. however we are at war. this war of a different type, given that we are faced with a new enemy, should enable us to manage the state of crisis. a possible evolution to our constitution.

suggested that article 36 of our toic constitution be amended include the state of emergency. law would be determining the supposed -- determining the circumstances in which this would be applied. able to take exceptional measures without resorting to the state of emergency and without compromising public liberties. this must be accompanied by other measures. , such as the loss of nationality, the loss of toionality should be able

, who has attacked the fund mental interests or submitted an act of terrorism. on the condition we also be able to prevent someone with dual citizenship from rush hour returning to our territory if the person constitutes a risk of terrorism nless the person agrees to surveillancestrict regiege as is the case for our -- regime as is the case for our british bends frends. there are cases where extreme consequences but this is something that we must do for our interest. d there are possibilities of

increasing the surveillance of people who have the object of intelligence reports. the opinionequiring of the council of state to verify the conformity of these proposals with our text and it this opinion will be made public and we'll draw the consequences of this. think seriously about this decision. our constitution is our collective compact. it unites all of our citizens. .t is the common rule it carries principles. it is preceded by a preamble which states that france is a state where law rules. the constitution is our common charter. it is the document which unites all the citizens of the country.

and since our constitution is the compact which is essential it us to all live together, is essential that the text should have answers to fight against those who attack us. just as we will be dissolving associations or de facto associations it is which express hatred or encourage the perfect tration of acts of terrorism. ladies and gentlemen of the congress, i ask you to think about the decision i have taken and i ask the prime minister to prepare this rescission of the constitution with you so that it can be adopted as early as ossible. we will be extending the state of emergency beyond the 12-day period for three months, but beyond the three-month period we must be in a state of law to fight terrorism.

and since the threat will be weighing on us cureably and the fight will be mobilizing us for quite some time to come on the external front as well as inside of our country, i have decided to substantially strengthen the means available for the judiciary system and deportment services. the investigation services, message straits should be able to call on the full range of intelligence means and technology whose use is authorized by the new law on intelligence. the trimal -- criminal should alasak closely as possible the specificity the terrorist threat. p magistrate should have better access to means of investigation

or sophisticated means of investigation to fight in particular against the trafficking of arms because the of is with the weapons criminals that these attacks are perpetrated. the sentences will be considerably increased. way in which the police officers are authorized to use their weapons, that will have to be examined. these different topics will be part of the major legislative effort that i am asking all the ministers so that we examine in the action me

in which we are engaging. the different teams will complete all the different measures which have been adopted since 2012, the anti-terrorist law, law on agency, strengthening of means and i'm also aware of the fact that we must further increase our means. basically we are at war. it cannot be what we had a few years ago with the military programming law or other types which had been imagined to ensure the security of our citizens. 5,000 additional posts will be created for police officers and gendarmes within the next three years so as to increase the total number of new jobs in the to 10,000 for the

five-year period. five-year mandate. it's a considerable effort given the present budgetary context. and that will simply enable us to restore the level of forces to what it was in 2007. that will benefit the fighting against terrorism, border police, and the overall security of the country. and it will be accompanied with equipment to carry out these missions. the ministry of justice will be provided with 2,500 additional posts for the administration of prisons and the judiciary services. and i'm not forgetting the where 1,000 additional posts will be created. as to our

the armies, which are called upon more and more for our external operations that we will be continuing and called upon for the security of our that tion, i have decided we will not reduce the defense 2019. until and the reorganization of the army will favor the operational units, cybersecurity, and our intelligence services. so without delay, we will be presenting a new plan for managing the human resources of our armies by 2019. we also need to capitalize more on the use of our reserve forces. we have reserve forces which we can call on. they are also a link between the

armies and the people. they are resources reserved for good form, national guard, which could be very effective. all these budgetary decisions will be taken under the finance bill which is being discussed for 2016. and it will necessarily result, and i will assume responsibility for this, it will result by more expenditures, but in the current circumstances i believe that our security pact requires this investment in order to ensure the stability of our country. the faces of those who died and who were injured last friday, the faces of the families who are mourning are home to my mind and the memories, these memories are reinforcing my resolution

and yours, i know, it in our determination to fight against terrorism, i want france to remain what she is. the barbarians who want to disfigure france must not be allowed to do so. and they will not allow -- we will not allow them to change the face of france. we don't want them to damage france's soul. and we will prevent them from -- they will not prevent us from living fully the life we -- way of life that we have. the freedom. that we must do this in a calm way. i'm thinking of our youth, the youth who feel attacked, hurt by all these victims and who are wondering if they will be able to continue living under the rule of law. and we continue to work

must continue to go out and to live, and enjoy life, and to try to influence the world. that's why the big event which will take place in pairs in will not he crop-21 only maintain but will be a of hope and solidarity a moment of hope because we will be talking about the future of our planet, and also a moment of solidarity over 100 heads of state and government will be here in paris to negotiate a sustainable, binding agreement to allow us to live and to allow our children and grandchildren to continue to enjoy the planet they have inherited, that they will also come and tell france, a country of freedom, how much the world is fuse solidarity, the whole world feels solidarity

for france and prepared to mobilize against terrorism. our same way the -- democracy will not give in to blackmail, regional elections will take place as planned next month, and our political life will continue. it is our duty to do so. mr. speaker solidarity over of the congress. president of the senate, ladies and gentlemen who represent the nation, the whole of the nation, you represent the nation in all its diversity and also it in order -- you represent a free people who are invincible when they are united. it is our most precious asset and we must avoid drifting away from these values. at is also our duty as -- by

renouncing the fight for republican values that in certain circumstances in the past we have drifted away from our values. let's make sure we don't do the same thing today. the republic we want to give the republic all the resources that this new context requires, the war, to enable it to eradicate in line with our values whilst respecting our values, without losing the guarantees of the rule of law. -- we will eradicate terrorism because the fremp want to live together without fear, without living in fear. we will eradicate terrorism because we are attached to liberty and to the international reputation of france across the world. we will eradicate terrorism in order to allow free movement of people mixing of cultures that that human nd

civilization will be enriched by this. we will eradicate terrorism so that france will continue to show the way. terrorism will not destroy the republic because it is the republic which will destroy terrorism. long live the republic. long live france. [applause]

]singing france national anthem

>> london's guardian newspaper today say how senior united kingdom officials are working flatout to prevent terrorists attacking france. trying to uncover how islamic ate jihaddy inflicted -- jihadi inflicted damage on paris. they are involved in scores of live terrorism investigations -- uding those wherey haddy

jihaddi is working. they are currently working on hundreds of active investigations and making on average an arrest a day. he added that the scale of the attacks in paris and range of weaponry used by the terrorists are serious cause for concern. read the rest of that article at theguardian.com. if you're planning to come to washington, d.c., to visit the u.s. capitol you'll find heightened security in the wake of what happened in paris. live picture there with flags flying at half state for those filled in france. "roll call" reporting today, the capitol place department continue tobs on highest alert and is enhancing security around the complex following the terrorist attacks in paris. as with many law enforcement agencies around the nation, the u.s.c.p. has increased visibility in a number of areas. the increased presence and visibility is a protective enhancement of our already heightened security posture. can you read of rest of of that

story in role call today. president obama was attending meetings with g-20 members and held a news conference with reporters this morning. he addressed national security in the wake of the attacks in paris and was peppered with questions about the u.s. response to terrorism. >> good afternoon, let me begin by thanking the president and the people of turkey for their outstanding work in hosting this summit. this is beautiful. the hospitality of the turkish people is legendary. i haveturkish friends -- been practicing that. at the g-20 our focus was how to get the global economy growing faster and creating more jobs for our people.

and i'm pleased that we agree growth has to be influencive to address the rising inequality around the world. even growing cyberthreats we committed to a set of norms drafted by the united states where our governments should conduct themselves in cyberspace, including not to engage in the cyberleft of intellectual property for commercial -- cybertheft of intellectual property for commercial gain. as we head to global climate talks, all g-20 countries submitted our targets and we pledged to work together for a successful outcome in paris. of course much of our attention has focused on the heinous attacks that took place in paris. as cross the world, in the united states, the american flag are at half-staff in solidarity with our french allies. working closely with our french partners as they pursue their investigations and track down suspects. france is already a strong counterterrorism partner and today we are announcing a new

agreement, streamlining the process by which we share intelligence and operational military information with france. this will allow our personnel to pass threat information including on isil to our french partners even more quickly and more often. because we need to be doing everything we can to protect more -- protect against more attacks and protect our citizens . tragically. bearis is not alen. we have seen outrageous attacks last month inrut, anchora, routinely in iraq. here at the g-20 our nation sent an unmistakable message, we are united against this threat. isil is the face of evil. our goal as i said many times is to degrade and ultimately destroy this barbaric terrorist

rganization. we have a comprehensive strategy using all elements of our power -- military, intelligence, economic, development, and the strength of our communities. we have always understood that this would be a long-term campaign. there will be setbacks and there will be successes. the terrible event in paris were obviously a terrible and sickening setback. even as we grieve with our french friends, however, we can't lose sight that there has been progress being made. object the military front, our coalition has air strikes, more than 8,000 to dafmente we are taking out isil leaders, commanders, their killers. we have seen that when we have an effective partner on the ground isil can and is pushed

back. so local forces in iraq backed recently n airpower liberated sinjar, iraqi forces are fighting to take back ramadi. we have stepped up our support of opposition forces who are working to cut off supply lines to isil strongholds. so in short both in iraq and syria, isil controls less territory than it did before. i made the point to my fellow leaders if we want this progress to be sustained, more nations need to step up with the resources that this fight demands. of course, the attacks in paris remind us that it will not be enough to defeat isil in syria and iraq alone. here antalya, we are strengthening border patrols, sharing more information, and stepping up our efforts to prevent the flow of foreign fighters in and out of syria and

iraq. as the united states just showed in libya, isil leaders will have no safe haven anywhere and we'll continue to stand with leaders in muslim communities, including faith leaders, who are the best isil's discredit warped ideology. on the humanitarian front, our nations agree we have to do even more individually and collectively to address the agony of the syrian people. the united states is already the largest donor of humanitarian aid to the syrian people. some $4.5 billion in aid so far. as winter approaches, we are donating additional supplies including clothing and generators through the united nations. but the u.n. appeal for syria still has less than half the funds needed. i'm calling on more nations to contribute the resource that is this crisis demands. -- resources that this crisis

demands. it's clear that lebanon and jordan, already bearing an extraordinary burden, cannot be expected to do so alone. at the same time, all of our countries have to ensure our security and as president, my first priority is the safety of the american people. and that's why even as we accept more refugees, including syrians , we don't only subject them to rigorous screening and security checks, we also have to remember refugees are hese the victims of terrorism themselves. that's what they are fleeing. slamming doort in their faces would be a betrayal of our values. our nations can welcome refugees who are desperately seeking safety, and ensure our own security. we can and must do both. finally, we have begun to see me modified moves on the front.

the vienna talks mark the first time all the key countries have come together. as a result i would add of american leadership and reached a common understanding. with this weekend's talks there is a path forward. negotiations between the syrian opposition and the syrian regime under the auspicious of the united nations a transition toward a more inclusive representative government, a new constitution, followed by free elections, and alongside the political process, a cease-fire in the civil war even as we continue to fight against isil. these are obviously ambitious goals. hopes for diplomacy in syria have been dashed before. there are any number of ways that this latest diplomatic push could falter. and there are still disagreements between the parties, including most critically over the fate of bashar asad who we do not believe has a role in syria's future because of his brutal rule, his war against the syrian

people is the primary root cause of this crisis. what is different this time and what gives us some degree of hope is that, as i said, for the first time all major countries on all sides of the syrian conflict agree on a process that is needed to end this war. so while we are very clear-eyed about the very, very difficult road still ahead, the united states in partnership with our coalition is going to remain relentless on all fronts -- military, humanitarian, and diplomatic. we have the right strategy and we are going to see it through. so with that i'm going to take some questions and i will begin of a.f.p. >> thank you, mr. president. 129 people were killed in paris

on friday night. isil claimed responsibility for the massacre, sending the message that they could not target civilians all over the world. the equation has clearly changed. is it time for your strategy to change? president obama: keep in mind what we have been doing. we have a military strategy that involves putting enormous pressure on isil through air strikes that has put assistance and training on the ground with iraqi forces. we are now working with syrian forces as well to squeeze isil, cut off their supply lines. we have been coordinating internationally to reduce their financing capabilities. the oil they are trying to ship outside. we are taking strikes against high valued targets, including

most recently against the individual who was on the video executing civilians who had already been captured, as well as the head of isil in libya. it's not just in iraq and syria. so on the military front we are continuing to accelerate what we do as we find additional partners son on the ground that are effective, we work with them more closely. i have already authorized additional special forces on the ground who are going to be able to improve that coordination. on the counterterrorism front, keep in mind that since i came into office we have been worried about these kinds of attacks. the vigilance that the united states government maintains and the cooperation that we are consistently expanding with our european and other partners in

going after every single andorist network, is robust constant. and every few weeks i meet with my entire national security team and we go over every single threat stream that is presented. and where we had relevant information, we shared immediately with our counterparts around the world, including our european partners. on aviation security, we have over the last several years been various that at airport sites, not just in the united states, but overseas, we are strengthening our mechanisms and discover passengers who should not be boarding flights. and improving the manners in which we are screening luggage that is going onboard. and on the diplomatic front we have been consistently working t all the parties

together to recognize that there is a moderate opposition inside of syria that can form the basis for a transition government. and to reach out not only to our friends but also to the russians and the iranians on the other side of this equation to explain to them that ultimately an organization like isil is the greatest danger to them as well as to us. so there will be an intensification of the streanl that we put forward -- strategy that we put forward, but the strategy that we are putting forward is the strategy that ultimately is going to work. but as i said from thet all the it's going to take time. and what's been interesting is in the aftermath of paris, as i listened to those who suggest something else needs to be done, typically the thing they suggest

need to be done are things we are already doing. the one exception is that there have been a few who suggested that we should put large numbers f u.s. troops on the ground. keep in mind that we have the finest military in the world and we have the finest military minds in the world. and i have been meeting with them intensively for years now discussing these various options and it is not just my view but closest military and civilian advisors that that ould be a mistake. not because our military could not march into mosul or raqqa or ramadi and temporarily clear out isil. but because we would see a

repetition of what we have seen before which is, if you do not have local populations that are committed to inclusive governance and who are pushing back against ideological extremes, that they resurface unless we are prepared to have a permanent ok tation of these countries. let's assume we were to send 50,000 troops into syria, what happens when there is a terrorist attack generated from yemen? to we then send more troops into there? or libya, perhaps? or if there is a terrorist network that's operating anywhere else in north africa or in southeast asia? so a strategy has to be one that can be sustained. and the strategy that we are pursuing, which focuses on going after targets, limiting wherever

possible the capabilities of isil on the ground, systematically going after their leadership, their infrastructure, strengthening shiia, strengthening syrian and iraqi forces and kurdish force that is are prepared to fight them, cutting off their borders, and squeezing the space in which they can operate until ultimately we are able to defeat them, that's the thread we are going to have to purr sufmente and we will continue to generate more partners for that strategy and they are going to be something that we try that don't work. there will be some strategy that is we try that do work. when we find strategy that is work, we'll double down on those. margaret brennan, cbs. >> thank you, mr. president. a more than year-long bombing

campaign in iraq and in syria has failed to contain the ambition and the ability of isis to launch attacks in the west. have you underestimated their ability? will you widen the rules of engagement for u.s. forces to take more aggressive action? president obama: we haven't underestimated our abilities, this is precisely why we are in iraq as we speak and why we are operating in syria as we speak. d it's precisely why we have mobilized 65 countries to go after isil. and why i hosted at the united nations an entire discussion of counterterrorism strategies and curbing the flow of foreign fighters. and why we have been putting pressure on those countries that have not been as robust as they need to in tracking the flow of foreign fighters in and out of

syria and iraq. and so there has been an acute awareness on the part of my administration from the start that it is possible for an organization like isil that has such a twisted ideology and has shown such extraordinary brutality and complete disregard or innocent lives, that they would have the capabilities to potentially strike in the west, and because thousands of fighters have flowed from the west and are european citizens, a few hundred from the united states, but far more from europe, that when those foreign fighters returned, it posed a significant danger. we have consistently worked

with our european partners disrupting plots in some cases, disrupted one was not in time. but understand that one of the challenges we have in this situation is that if you have a handful of people who don't mind dying, they can kill a lot disrd in time. of people. that's one of the challenges of terrorism. it's not their fix -- sophistication or particularly weaponry they possess, but it's the ideology they carry with them and willingness to die. in most circumstances tracking each individual, making sure that we are disrupting and preventing these attacks, is a vigilance andt in

requires extraordinary coordination. part of the reason that it is important what we do in iraq and syria is that the narrative that isil developed of creating this caliphate makes it more attractive to potential recruits. so when i said that we are containing their spread in iraq and syria, in fact they control less territory than they did last year. and the more we shrink that territory, the less they can pretend that they are somehow a functioning state. and the more it becomes apparent at they are simply a network of killers who are brutalizing local populations, that allows us to reduce the flow of foreign fighters, which then over time will lessen the numbers of

terrorists who can potentially carry out terrible acts like they did in paris. and that's what we did with al qaeda. that doesn't mean, by the way, that al qaeda no longer possesses the capabilities of potentially striking the west. al qaeda in the peninsula that operating primarily in yemen we know has consistently tried to target the west. and we are consistently working to disrupt those acts. but despite the fact this they have not gotten as much attention as isil, they still pose a danger as well. and so our goals here consistently have to be to be aggressive and to leave no stone unturned, but also recognize this is not conventional warfare.

we play into the isil narrative when we act as if they are a state. and we use routine military tactics that are designed to fight a state that is attacking another state. that's not what's going on here. these are killers. with fantasies of glory, who are very savvy when it comes to social media, and are able to infiltrate the minds of not just iraqis or syrians, but disaffected individuals around the world. and when they activate those individuals, those individuals can do a lot of damage. and so we have to take the approach of being rigorous on our counterterrorism efforts and consistentlyism prove and figure out -- consistently improve and

figure out how we can infiltrate their networks and reduce their operational space even as we also try to shrink the amount of territory they control to defeat their narrative. territory to reclaim from them is going to require, however, an ending of the syrian , which -- civil war, which is why the diplomatic efforts are important. an iraqi effort that bridges shiia and sunni differences, which is why our diplomatic efforts inside iraq are so important as well. jim avala. >> thank you, mr. president. in the days and weeks before the paris attacks, did you receive warning in your daily intelligence briefing that an attack was imminent? if not, is that not call into question the current assessment

that there is no immediate specific credible threat to the united states today? and secondly, if i could ask you to address your critics who say your reluctance to ebter another middle east war and your preference of diplomacy using the military makes the united states weaker and emboldens our enemies. every day bama: jim, we have threat streams coming through the intelligence trend. as i said every several weeks we sit down with all my national security intelligence and ilitary teams to discuss various threat streams that may e generated. the personals about potential

isil attacks in the west have an there for over a year now. and they come through periodically. there were no civic mentions of this particular attack that would give us a sense of something that we need -- that we could provide french authorities, for example, or act on ourselves. but typically the way the intelligence works is there will from hreat stream that is one source, perhaps some signal intelligence gets picked up. it's evaluated. some of it is extraordinarily vague and unspecific and there is no clear timetable. some of it may be more specific and then folks chase down that threat to see what happens. i am not aware of anything that

was specific in the sense that would have given a premonition about a particular action in paris that would allow for law enforcement or military actions to disrupt it. with respect to the broader to some y critics, degree i answered the question earlier. i think that when you listen to what they actually have to say, what they are proposing, most of the time when pressed they describe things that we are already doing. maybe they are not aware we are already doing them. some of them seem to think that if i were just more bellicose in expressing what we are doing that that would make a difference. because that seems to be the nly thing that they are doing.

is talking as if they are tough. but i haven't seen particular strategies that they would suggest that would make a real difference. now, there are few exceptions. as i said, the primary exception is those who would deploy u.s. oops on a large scale to in iraq rritory either or now in syria. and at least they have their honesty to go ahead and say that's what they would do. i just addressed why i think they are wrong. there have been some who are well-meaning. and i don't doubt their the ity when it comes to issue of the dire humanitarian situation in syria who, for example, call for no-fly zones or safe zone of some sort. and this is an example of the

kind of issue where i will sit down with our top military and intelligence advisors and we will painstakingly go through what does something like that look like? and typically after we have gone through a lot of planning and a lot of discussion and really working it through, it is determined that it would be counterproductive to take those steps. in part because isil does not have planes. so the attacks are on the ground. a true safe zone requires us to set up ground operations. and the bulk of the deaths that occurred in syria, for example, have come about not because of regime bombing, but because of on-the-ground casualties. who would come in, who would come out of that safe zone, how

would it work? would it become a magnet for further terrorist attacks? and how many personnel would be required and how would it end? there's a whole set of questions that have to be answered there. this, jim, int is my only interest is to end suffering and keep the american people safe. and if there is a good idea out there, then we are going to do it. i don't think i have shown hesitation to act whether it's to spetoket to -- respect bin laden or respect to sending additional troops in afghanistan or keeping them there, if it is determined that it's actually going to work. we do not do, what i do

not do is to take actions either because it is going to work politically or it is going to somehow in the abstract make america look tough. or make me look tough. and maybe part of the reason is because every few months i go to and i see a 25-year-old kid who is paralyzed or has lost his limbs and some of those are people i have ordered into battle and so i can't afford to play some of the political games that others may. we'll do what's required to keep the american people safe. and i think it's entirely appropriate in a democracy to have a serious debate about these issues.

folks want to pop off and have opinions about what they think they would do, present a specific plan. if they think that somehow their advisors are better than the chairman of my joint chiefs of staff, and the folks who are actually on the ground, and i w to meet them. and we can have that sbate debate. but what i'm not interested in or pursuing some notion of american leadership or america winning or whatever other slogans they come up with, that has no relationship to what is actually going to work to protect the american people and to protect people in the region

who are getting killed and to protect our allies and people like france. i'm too busy for that. jim. >> thank you very much, mr. president. i wanted to go back to something that you said to margaret earlier when you said that you have not underestimated isis' abilities. this is an organization that you once described as the j.v. team that evolved into a force that has now occupied territory in iraq and syria and now able to use that safe haven to launch attacks in other parts of the world. how is that not underestimating their capabilities? how is that contained, quite frankly? i think a lot of americans have this frustration they see the united states has the greatest military in the world, it has the backing of nearly every other country in the world when it comes to taking on isis, and i guess the question is, if you'll forgive the language, is what can't we take out these bastards?

president obama: jim, i just spent the last three questions answering that very question. so i don't know what more you want me to add. i think i described very specifically what our strategy is. and i described very specifically why we do not pursue some of the other strategies that have been suggested. this is not, as i said, a traditional military opponent. we can retake territory. and as long as we leave our troops there, we can hold it. but that does not solve the underlying problem of eliminating the dynamics that are producing these kinds of violent extremist groups. and so we are going to continue to pursue the strategy that has

the best chance of working even though it does not offer the a neatction, i guess, of headline or an immediate resolution. and part of the reason, as i said, jim, is because there are costs to the other side. i just want to remind people. this is not an abstraction. when we send troops in, those troops get injured. they get killed. they are away from their families. our country spends hundreds of billions of dollars. so given the fact that there are enormous sacrifices involved in any military action, it's best shoot first and aim later. it's important for us to get the strategy right and the strategy

that we are pursuing is the right one. ron allen. >> thank you, mr. president. i think a lot of people around the world and in america are concerned because given the strategy that you're pursuing and it's been more than a year now, isis' capability seems to be expanding. were you aware that they had the capability of pulling off the kind of attack that they did in paris? are you concerned and do you think they have that same capability to strike in the united states? and do you think that given all you have learned about isis over the past year or so, given all the criticism about your underestimating them, do you think you really understand this enemy well enough to defeat them and to protect the homeland? president obama: this is another variation on the same question.

and i guess -- let me try it one last time. the ve been fully aware of potential cape inter-- capabilities of them carrying out a terrorist attack. that's precisely why we have been mounting a very aggressive strategy to go after them. when you're ore, talking about the ability of a ndful of people with not wildly sophisticated military equipment, weapons, who are willing to die, they can kill a lot of people and preventing them from doing so is challenging for every country.

and if there was a swift and quick solution to this, i assure you that not just the united states but france and turkey and others who have been subject to these terrorist attacks would have implemented those strategies. there are certain advantages the united states has in prevepting these kinds of attacks. obviously after 9/11 we hardened the homeland. set up a whole series of additional steps to protect aviation. to apply lessons learned. we have seen much better f.b.i., on between the state governments, local governments. there is some advantages to geography with respect to the

united states. but having said that, we have seen the possibility of terrorist attacks on our soil. there is the boston marathon bombers. obviously it did not result in the scale of death that we saw a seriousbut that was attempt at killing a lot of people. by two brothers. and a crockpot. and it gives you some sense of, i think, the kinds of challenges that are going to be involved in his going forward. again, isil has serious capabilities. its capabilities are not unique. they are capabilities that other terrorist organization that is we track and are paying attention to possess as well. we are going after all of them. what is unique about isil is the

degree to which it has been able to control territory that then allows them to attract additional recruits. and the greater effectiveness they have on social media and their ability to use that to not only attract recruits to fight in syria, but also potentially to carry out attacks in the homeland and in europe and other parts of the world. and so our ability to shrink the space in which they can operate, combined with a resolution to the syria situation, which will reduce the freedom with which they feel they can operate. and getting local forces who are able to hold and keep them out over the long term, that ultimately will be what's going to make a difference. it's going to take some time, but it's not something that at any stage in this process have we not been aware needs to be one.

i can hear you. > thank you so much. inaudible] president obama: this is something we spoke about at the -20. the overwhelming majority of victims of terrorism over the last several years, earn

certainly the overwhelming majority of victims of isil, are themselves muslims. isil does not represent islam. it is not representative in any way of the attitudes of the overwhelming majority of muslims. this is something that's been mphasized by muslim leaders, whether it's the president of indonesia or the president of malaysia. countries that are majority muslim. but have shown themselves to be tolerant and to work to be inclusive in their political process. and so to the degree that anyone would equate the terrible actions that took place in paris with the views of islam, those

kind of stereotypes are counterproductive. they are wrong. hey will lead, i think, to greater recruitment in the terrorist organizations over time if this becomes somehow defined as a muslim problem as opposed to a terrorist problem. now, what is also true is that the most vicious terrorist organizations at the moment are es that claim to be speaking on behalf of true muslims. muslims think that around the world, religious leaders, political leaders,

ask verypeople have to serious questions about how did these extremist ideologies take root. even if it's only affecting a very small fraction of the population, it is real. and it is dangerous. and it has built up over time and with social media it is now accelerating. and so i think on the one hand non-muslims cannot stereotype, but i also think the muslim community has to think about how we make sure that children are not being infected with this twisted notion that somehow they can kill innocent people and that that is justified by religion. to some degree that is something that has to come from within the muslim community itself.

and i think there have been mes where there has not been enough pushback against extremism. there's been pushback -- there are some who say well we don't believe in violence, but are not as willing to challenge some of he extremist thoughts or rationales for why muslims feel oppressed. i think those ideas have to be challenged. . let me make one last point about this. i am looking forward to see manila but i hope i can come back to turkey when i'm not so busy. one of the places that you're seeing this debate play itself out is on the refugee issue. th in europe and i gather it started popping up while i was gone back in the united states.

the people who are fleeing the most harmed by terrorism. they are the most vulnerable as a consequence of civil war and strife. they are parents. they are children. they are orphans, and it is very important -- and i was glad to see this was affirmed again and again by the g-20 -- that we do not close our hearts of such ictims iolence, and somehow start equating the issue of refugees with the issue of terrorism.

you know, in europe i think people like chancellor merkel have taken a very courageous stance in saying it is our moral obligation as fellow human beings to help people who are in such vulnerable situations. and i know that it is putting enormous strains on the resources of the people of europe. nobody's been carrying a bigger burden than the people here in turkey with 2 1/2 million refugees, and the people of jordan and lebanon who are also admitting refugees. the fact they kept their borders open to these refugees their belief in a common humanity. each of us do to

our part, and the united states . s to step up and do its part and when i hear folks say that, well, maybe we should just admit the christians but not the muslims, when i hear political leaders suggesting that there would be a religious a person who is fleeing from a war-torn country is admitted, when some of those folks themselves come from families who benefited from protection when they were fleeing political persecution, that's shameful. that's not american. that's not who we are. we don't have religious tests to our compassion.

hen pope francis came to visit the united states and gave a speech before congress, he didn't just speak about christians who were being persecuted, he didn't call on all catholic parishes just to admit those who are of the same religious fate. he said protect people who are vulnerable. and so i think it is very important for us right now, particularly those who are in leadership, particularly those platform and can be eard not to fall into that trap. not to feed that dark impulse inside of us. you know, i had a lot of disagreements with george w. bush on policy, but i was very proud after 9/11 when he was

adamant and clear about the fact that this is not a war on and the notion that some of those who have taken on leadership in his party would not all of that, that's who we are. on this they should follow his example. it was the right one. it was the right impulse. it's our better impulse, and whether you are european or american, the values that we are defending, the values that we're fighting against isil for re precisely that we don't discriminate against people because of their faith. we don't kill people because

they're different than us. that's what separates us from them. and we don't feed that kind of notion that somehow christians and muslims are at war. and if we want to be successful defeating isil, that's a good place to start, by not promoting that kind of ideology, that kind of attitude. in the same way that the muslim community has an obligation not to in any way excuse anti-western or anti-christian sentiment, we have the same bligation as christians, and we are -- it is good to remember that the united states does not have a religious test and we are a nation of many peoples of different faiths which meebs that we show compassion to everybody -- means that we show compassion to everybody. those are the universal values

we stand for. that's what my administration intends to stand for. all right. thank you very much, everybody. [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] >> you heard the president talk about syrian refugees during his news conference and we'd like your comments on whether the u.s. should close its borders to syrian refugees. on our facebook page, robert walker says -- you can continue to leave your mments on twitter or facebook.com/cspan. this morning's c.i.a. director john brennan talked about the

terror attacks in paris and some of the challenges facing intelligence agencies. here are his remarks at the center for strategic and international studies. john brennan: thank you very much, john. thank you for those kind words and for the invitation to invite me to speak here this morning at csis and the global security forum. i had the pleasure of speaking here at his previous residence when i was serving at the white house as assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism. t's a privilege to come back and share my thoughts with you this morning on some of the key global challenges that our country faces today. i also want to take this opportunity to express my deep appreciation to john henry who ho has led csis for nearly 16 years and is one of the leading

lights in the field of national security. after a distinguished government career, john has continued to make important contributions to national security and i think i speak for all of us for thanking him for adding such wisdom and value to the public conversation on global issues. hank you, john, so much. [applause] john brennan: in many respects, csis shares the mission of our intelligence community, to help policymakers identify, and hopefully successfully address the myriad security issues that our nation faces in a dynamic and dangerous world. a very dangerous world indeed. my opening remarks are different from those i've reviewed and finalized in the early afternoon of last friday. they are different because our sensibilities and our souls have been jarred once again by the horrific and wanton violence perpetrated upon the innocent in the streets, cafés, and concert halls of the beautiful city of paris.

our hearts ache for the scores killed and injured in those savage attacks, and our thoughts are with them and their families. likewise, our condolences and our thoughts go out to those killed in the crash of the russian airliner a little over two weeks ago in the sinai egypt. and while we await confirmation of cal pabblet for these tragedies, they each bear the hallmarks of terrorism carried out by the so-called islamic state of iraq and lavant, or isil, an organization by crazed sociopaths under bogus religious pretenses. with its roots in al qaeda in iraq and empowered by a large influx of foreign adherence, isil over the past several years has swallowed up swaths f territory in iraq and syria, brutally killing thousands upon thousands of men, women, and

children along the way. not content to limiting its killing fields to iraqi and syrian lands and setting up local franchises in other countries of the middle east, south asia, and africa, isil has developed an external operations agenda and is now implementing with lethal effect. i am sure we will talk more about isil in the question and answer session but let me note the greatest threat posed by the phenomenon of isil makes it imperative the international community commit to achieving an even greater and unprecedented level of cooperation, collaboration, information sharing, and joint action. in intelligence, law enforcement, and military operations and diplomatic channels. the isil threat demands it. at c.i.a., we work closely with foreign intelligence and security forces around the globe to advance our shared counterterrorism goals. over the course of many years we have forged broad and deep partnerships with our closest

allies in europe such as great britain, france, and many others. these strategic relationships have been instrumental in helping to knit together a transnational architecture that allows counterterrorism officials and experts to work closely together across sovereign borders to disrupt terrorist plans and activities. while many terrorist operations have been thwarted as a result of strong transnational teamwork, tragically, not all plans are uncovered in time. these strategic counterterrorism relationships need to stretch far beyond the traditional trans-atlantic environment and alliances. which is why we are working closely with so many services in different parts of the world. for instance we are working very closely with our egyptian partners who are working tirelessly to prevent isil terrorists from launching attacks that are aimed at derailing egypt's political reform initiatives and economic development objectives. i reiterated our commitment to strengthening our

counterterrorism partnership with cairo in a call to my egyptian counterpart this weekend. and while moscow has significant policy differences on how best to bring the bloodshed in syria to a close, i have had several conversations to one of my russian counterparts over the past several weeks about ways to strengthen u.s.-russian counterterrorism cooperation specifically on the isil threat. these relationships are an essential adjunct to diplomacy and military and diplomatic operations. we benefit from a wider net of collection and insights of local services, all of which enhance the intelligence we provide to policymakers. the fact is, good intelligence, timely, accurate, and insightful, is the cornerstone of almost every aspect of national security policy today, from military action to diplomacy to international law enforcement.

with good intelligence, our policymakers can better understand the risks, the challenges, as well as the opportunities attendant to key national security issues which is ever more important than the -- given the unprecedentedly complex and overlapping array of major challenges to u.s. and global security that we face today. the impression one might get from the daily headlines is that the world has become more unstable. and indeed, the historical record supports that judgment. in the past three years there have been more outbreaks of instability than at any time since the collapse of the soviet union. matching the rate we saw during decolonization in the 1960's. this has not been -- this has just not been a period of protest and change but of violent insurgency and in particular breakdowns in many states' ability to govern. ongoing conflicts in syria, iraq, ukraine, libya and parts

of africa are clear examples. the human toll is reflected in the u.n.'s recent announcement that the number of refugees and internally displaced persons in the world is the highest it has been since world war ii. and of course, all of this localized strife gives rise to the advent of international terrorism. when c.i.a. analysts look for the deeper cause they find nationalistic, sectarian, and technological factors that are eroding the structure of the international system. they also see socioeconomic trends, the impact of climate change and other elements that are a cause for concern. and so let me touch upon a few of those this morning. first, the ideas, institutions, and states that have undergirded the post-cold war system are under stress. it's easy to see this is -- the developing world is certainly what we see states

that have failed and borders that no longer carry any practical effect such as the border between syria and iraq. but there is considerable stress on governments and the world's most stable regions. in europe, for instance, the migration crisis, sluggish economic growth, and a host of factors have given rise to heightened nationalism, secession movements and the increasing popularity of political parties on the far right and far left. even ideas that were the pillars of the continent's postwar prosperity such as economic integration and the moxie itself are being questioned in some corners. across the globe in both authoritarian and democratic societies, governments are finding it increasingly difficult to meet the demands, realistic or not, of their skeptical and restive populaces. the so-called arab spring revolutions were not fought for democracy per se as much as they were fought for regimes -- fought for relief from regimes that had failed to meet basic standards of governance and civil society. as we have seen, when people

become disillusioned with the powers that be, social media enabled them to more quickly and easily form associations that defy the status quo. and in part, that is why the global landscape has been changing at a faster and much more disruptive pace. how nations respond to these challenges, adapt to them and evolve will be one of the great plot lines of the 21st century. when i meet with my foreign counterparts, both from friendly and not so friendly overnments, i sense a very real apprehension about instability in its various manifestations. terrorism, humanitarian crises, proliferation and so on. interestingly, i hear these concerns from individuals or governments whose policies are arguably contributing. in europe, anxiety has risen demonstration

of its willingness to use military and paramilitary forces in ukraine. and the south china sea, tensions persist as china unilaterally pursues its territorial claims, including actions that rival claimants per receive as violating their sovereignty. at the same time, the principle of democratic governance is under age. more declines than gains have been reported in democracy worldwide. worsening socioeconomic -- heavy-handed propaganda is used in favor of -- media ma lipiation, surveillance, criminalization of dissent and controlled elections. second, the resumption of strong, sustained growth in the wake of the 2008 financial crash and eurozone crisis has been elusive for some of the world's largest economies. even china's economy with its

seemingly endless potential for growth is slowing. in many developing societies, growing pessimism about the prospects for economic advancement is fueling instability. regions with burgeoning youth populations, such as the arab world, has -- high unemployment rates. perceptions of growing ib equality have resulted in more assertive street politics and populism. at the same time slower growth has left these nations with fewer resources to devote to economic, humanitarian and peacekeeping assistance to address these challenges. mankind's relationship with the natural world is aggravating these problems and is a potential source of crisis itself. last year was the warmest on record and this year is on track to be even warmer. extreme weather, along with public policies affecting food and water supplies, can worsen or create humanitarian crises. of the most immediate concern,

sharply reduced crop yields in multiple places simultaneously could trigger a shock in food prices with devastating effect. especially in already-fragile regions such as africa, the middle east, and south asia. compromised access to food and water greatly increases the prospect for famine and deadly epidemics. finally, the rapid advance of information technology has given rise to an entirely new and wide-open domain for human interaction and progress. the cyberrealm. as an intelligence officer, much of my job involves dealing with the unintended consequences of the cyberrevolution. for as much as it brings the world together, it also serves the purpose of those who wish us harm. the greatest concern, the cyber realm gives small groups and even individuals the potential to inflict damage on a scale previously restricted to nationstates. while states are largely

rational actors subject to deterrence, the same does not apply to terrorists and criminals. both governments and individuals are under constant attacks. the department of homeland security reports that more than 640,000 cyber-related incidents affected federal agencies in fiscal year 2014. the massive and prolonged hacking of employee records held by the office of personnel management underscores the intensity of assaults on government i.t. systems. and i am personally all-too-familiar with the ease with which misceant hackers use social engineering techniques to perpetrate attacks into personal email accounts and information technology and community edition systems. unfortunately there is every reason to expect this to increasing quantity, cunning, and impact. for one thing, the economics of cyberattacks are skewed to favor the attacker. exploits or malicious software tools are easily acquired.

in fact, their prices are falling dramatically in some criminal markets, not just declined demand but because of increasingly competitive marketplace. these exploits can be reused on multiple targets and the likelihood of detection and punishment remains low in most instances. while the vast majority of cyberattacks target money, proprietary information and privacy itself, we need to realize the range of potential targets is greater. we simply cannot discount the real possibility of attacks against vital infrastructure. utilities, transportation, and other essential underpinnings of modern civilization. the world has changed dramatically since i first raised my hand and swore an oath of allegiance to the united state government as a 24-year-old newly minted c.i.a. officer eager to make a difference in august of 1980. i remember vividly taking a seat at my first desk on the

sixth floor of the langley headquarters putting my hands not on the keyboard of a computer but the keys of an electric typewriter which was high tech at the time. 35 years later, our lives as well as our fingers are linked to the cyberrealm. the new digital frontier, where most human interactions, transactions, and communications take place. while that digital environment holds tremendous potential and opportunity for the further advancement of humanity, our increasing dependence brings obvious risks and challenges. to deal with those risks and challenges, reactive strategies are insufficient. there has to be systemic learning informed by constant information sharing so that one organize's detection becomes another's prevention. in other words, countering cyberthreats is very much a team effort. a crucial point to bear in mind, 80% of the worldwide web's critical infrastructure is held by the private sector.

this is a privately observed and operated environment in which the rules remain uncertain at best. a number of federal efforts in recent years have promoted the sharing of cyberthreat information between the private sector and government. d.h.s. and f.b.i., for example, have programs to share cyberthreat information with a broad community of industry stakeholders. we should be sharing a lot more information than we do as a nation, but program @ic, technical and legal challenges as well as concerns about privacy and the role of government have hampered progress. congress over the past few years has tried, so far without success, to pass laws addressing the need for comprehensive cyberpolicy, especially on information sharing. the fact is 20th century laws cannot effectively deal with 21st century threats. within the past few weeks, the senate passed the cybersecurity information sharing act which is roughly similar to two bills passed in the house.

a conference bill by early next year which would be a very important step forward. and as our country deals with this issue and specifically the security and privacy concerns revolve -- e -- the benefits of improved information sharing -- civil liberties. my hope is that america, ideally, along with our allies and partners, can eventually adopt a comprehensive, legal approach to this threat without being forced to it by a catastrophic cyberattack in the same way that forced our country to integrate our national security assets in a more rational and effective way against terrorism. shortly after i returned to the agency some 2 1/2 years ago, i started to consider what we can do to ensure that c.i.a. is well prefared for both the --

prepared for both the challenges and opportunities in the future. when i asked a group of our senior officers last fall to ponder the agency's future and come back with a strategic plan, they agreed we had to do a much better job of embracing and leveraging the digital revolution. consequently, one of the pillars of our mod rnization program that we launched this past march was the addition of a fifth directorate as part of the biggest change to c.i.a. structure in five decades. this new directorate is at the center of the agency's effort to hasten the adoption of digital solutions into every aspect of our work. it is responsible for accelerating the integration of our digital and cybercapabilities across all of our mission areas,ess p.j.age, open source intelligence and covert action. multiple elements of the agency in the past have responded to

the challenges of the digital era. but if we are to excel in the wired world, we must place our opportunities in the digital domain at the very center of all of our endeavors. our new digital directorate was launched last month and we expect it to contribute enormously to every facet of our global mission. alongside our partners across the intelligence community, we at c.i.a. will be more capable and effective in safeguarding our country from the full range of threats we face beyond and within our borders. and let me conclude by saying what i have always -- what i always say to each new glass of agency officers to whom i administrator the oath of office every month at our headquarters in langley, i have the absolutely best job in the world, bar none, because each day i work with some of the most dedicated, talented, courageous and patriotic individuals this country has to offer. and in light of the nature and scope of the national security

challenges i just highlighted. the need for the contributions of the individuals at c.i.a. has never been greater. thank you. i look forward to taking your questions. [applause] john: john, thank you very much. we're so grateful you are serving at such a crucial time. you are a wonderful leader. will he me just say we are going to take questions. i'll moderate this just a bit. no lectures. i'm going to cut you off. if i get a lecture you will get a humiliating response from me. nobody came here to listen your thoughts. they want to listen to his. josh, we're going to start with you. josh: good morning. my name is josh roguean. i'm a reporter with bloomberg view. director brennan, thank you for your time today and thank you for your service. the paris attacks, the blame,

of course, lies primarily at the feet of the terrorists, but i think i give voice to the question a lot of us have in this room and around the country when i ask -- how was this allowed to happen? we're talking about an attack that involved dozens of people communicating from multiple countries planning for perhaps weeks or months and yet the world's leading intelligence agencies didn't even catch a whiff of it as far as we are to understand. is that right? what needs to be done now to make sure this never happens again? thank you. john brennan: many of these terrorist operations are uncovered and thwarted before they're able to be carried out. and when i think about what happened in paris, clearly there was an effort that was under way for quite sometime that was fairly sophisticated because of the nature of the attacks in terms of their simultaneous nature. we work very, very closely with

our french partners. i have an exceptionally strong relationship with the heads of the external and internal services. a lot of our partners right now in europe are facing a lot of challenges in terms of the numbers of individuals who have traveled to syria and iraq and back again. and so their ability to monitor and surveil these individuals is under strain. now, i know the french are going to be looking at what might have slipped through the cracks, but i can tell you that it's not a surprise that this attack was carried out from the standpoint of we did have strategic warning. we knew that these plans plotting by isil was under way. looking at europe in particular as the venue for carrying out these attacks. but i must say that there has been a significant increase in the operational security of a number of these operatives and terrorist networks as they have gone to school on what it is that they need to do in order

to keep their activities concealed from the authorities. and as i mentioned, there are a lot of technological capabilities that are available right now that make it exceptionally difficult, both technically as well as legally for intelligence security services to have the insight they need to uncover it. i do think this is a time for particularly europe as well as for the united states for us to take a look and see whether or t there have been some inadvertent or intentional gaps that have been created and the ability of intelligence and security services to protect the people that they are asked to serve. and in the past several years because of a number of unauthorized disclosures and a lot of hand wringing over the government's role and the effort to try to uncover these

terrorists, there have been some policy and legal and other actions that are taken that make our ability collectively internationally to find these terrorists much more challenging. and i do hope that this is going to be a wake-up call, particularly in areas of europe where i think there has been a misrepresentation of what the intelligence security services are doing by some quarters that are designed to undercut those capabilities. john: mitzi. mitzi: thank you. i'm mitzi werth. the naval postgraduate school. you used a very important phrase called systemic learning. i'm struck by the inhibition of asking questions that exist. i've been with the defense department for almost 40 years, and apple has a really interesting technique. everyone that goes to apple is told, if you don't know ask.

we all learn together. and i urge that to you and every leader in government because the volume -- how would you do that? [laughter] john brennan: i use the term systemic learning. the world is changing before our eyes. as i mentioned, in the last 35 years since i've been involved in national security, the technological revolution has totally, totally transformed, not just the intelligence work but our daily lives. and so the people who are growing up today, they're growing up with technology in their hands, but that technology has tremendous, tremendous implications. it could be done for good or it could be done for harm in terms of use of that technology and i do think you're right. as a society, as a government we need to make sure that we're not making faulty assumptions because of what the past has told us. we need to make sure we

understand, and this is why we created this directorate of digital innovation. i want to make sure that we in c.i.a. understand all of the implications of that digital environment. what does it mean if i want to ve my officers operate can destinly and covertly overseas when we pick up digital dust, whether we go to a starbucks and pay with our credit card, rent a car, go to bank, a.t.m., whatever, we create a forensic history. people who are joining the agency have a forensic history already. so i want to make sure we're able to operate the way we always have in terms of our ability to collect intelligence that is necessary for this national security in this new digital world. so systemic learning means to me across all the various rell ms that we operate -- -- realms that we operate particularly in the cyberrealm. john: margaret. margaret: margaret warner from the pbs.

if you look at who was involved in this attack, it really looks like the exact same connection between brussels and france. you know, whether it's the visa travel unmonitored, whether it's where they get their weapons and how they go back and forth. i'm wondering after the charlie b dough a-- hebdo attacks, what could they have done? john brennan: well, i'll defer to my french partners to talk about the things they are doing and what they did after the charlie hebdo attacks. the -- it has all the similar hallmarks in terms of the individuals that were directed to carry out those attacks. we know they're smuggling networks inside of europe, not the n terms human, but a.k.'s and other things, i

think there is an active black market that a lot of these criminal elements will be able to take advantage of. so when i look at the interaction between the various countries in europe and the ease with which -- because you can travel across borders, it makes those borders quite porous which means the challenges for the french as well as other security intelligence services becomes more daunting and i think part of the issue there is an overwhelming number of cases they need to pursue. i was just reading in the press that prime minister cameron announced there will be an additional 1,900 british intelligence and officers that will go to m.i.-5 because of the need to make sure you have the experts to be able to deal with these issues and so that we're not limited in terms of who we can look at more closely or who we can follow. so i think a number of european countries will take note of what happened in paris and see what they can do to boost not

just their capabilities but their resources. margaret: is the u.s. going to do the same? john brennan: i think the u.s. has significantly increased our resources certainly since 9/11 but every day we are constantly evolving. to me it's a continuous improvement process and the systemic learning, so we are working very closely with our french partners how to understand exactly some of the mechanisms and techniques that these operatives used. as i said their operational security really is quite strong. -- >> reporter: thank you for your comments today. given the large european citizens who as you said traveled to the conflict region and been involved in isis activities and the impossibility of ceiling europe's borders against these vast tidal waves, should we regard this type of attack as a one-off event or should we

contemplate that this could be a new normal? john brennan: i would not consider it a one off event. it is clear to me that isil has an external agenda, that they are determined to carry out these types of attacks. this is not something that was done in a matter of days. this was something that was deliberately and carefully planned over the course of i think several months. in terms of making sure they had the operatives, the weapons, the explosives with the suicide belts and so i would anticipate this is not the only operation that isil has in the pipeline. and security intelligence services in europe and elsewhere are working feverishly to see what they can do in terms of uncovering it. i do believe that this is something we're going to have to deal with for quite sometime. the challenge inside of syria and iraq in dealing with isil is something that is going to i think take quite a bit of time yet to be able to destroy isil,

but it's not going to content itself with violence inside of the syria and iraqi borders. it's going to be looking abroad. we see what happened recently in lebanon as well in terms of attack in southern beirut which, again, bears all the hallmarks of isil. so it's not just europe. i think we here in the united states have to be quite igilant. ron: ron taylor with the george washington university of cyber and homeland security. my question is, given the concert hall, the restaurant, more in the private sector domain, many private sector organizations over the recent years have increased their awareness that they have the security role. so you see more chief security officers, more vice presidents of security. do you foresee kind of a moving

-- movement toward more cooperation with the private sector and in particular those security compontse within the private sector that could play a role in this kind of fight? john brennan: well certainly by definition in the cyberrealm i mentioned 85% of the worldwide web is owned by the private sector. what need to do as a country, not just our country but other countries, we need to find the type revelationship with the private sector that is built on mutual confidence and trust and understanding in terms of what the respective roles and responsibilities are. i think we still have a ways to go in that area. there is reluctance on the part of many within the private sector to share information about what's some of the internal operations and maybe penetrations of their systems because of concerns that could affect their stock prices or whatever. i think we need to find the mechanisms where there will be confidence on both sides that information can be shared without having the implications

that some fear. but also on just the physical security side, as was pointed out, it was outside of a soccer stadium. there is very close cooperation between the united states and security officials, homeland security with major sports franchises, teams, organizations making sure those venues are strong in terms of their precautions they take. the homeland security department has done a very good job reaching out to state and local to make sure the extension to the private sector. this is not something that the government itself can handle. i think it shows that the united states is a big country. europe is a big continent. and there are not enough resources to be able to anoint everybody to be a government intelligence security or law enforcement officer. so -- and there needs to be responsibilities on the part of individual actors in the private sector as well as individual citizens. i think this is unfortunately a

feature of our time. reporter: good morning. can i ask, there's been a lot of discussion whether or not the u.s. has underestimated the threat from the islamic state and perhaps focusing on issues of containment in the middle east and iraq and syria and even on the threat of lone wolves but not looking at the capacity of the organization to stage the kinds of attacks that we've seen in paris and beirut. john brennan: i don't think we are underestimating at all the capabilities of isil. it is -- its growth over the last several years in particular but as you know it had its roots of al qaeda in iraq. it was pretty much disamated when u.s. forces was there in iraq. it had maybe 700 or so adherence left. and then it grew quite a bit in the last several years when it

split then from al qaeda in sear & head -- set up its own organization. the -- there is a real effort on the part of the united states and coalition countries to contain its spread inside of eerk and syria. i think there has been a containment of that momentum. syria ome territory in but it hasn't had the momentum inside the two countries which is why they're looking abroad now to have the spectacular attacks because what they want to do is to further their narrative about the caliphate which is growing and is successful. i think one of the most important things for us to do is to be able to take away any type of momentum and success, both in the area, as well as beyond. i said there has been a number of successes that have prevented isil from moving people, moving material and other things to carry out attacks. but unfortunately this attack several days ago in paris shows

at devastating impact it can have, because their agenda is to kill, pure and simple. i remember to them as murderous societyio paths. they have a nileistic approach that they're trying to kill as many people, young children, whatever, it doesn't matter to them. it's a warped, a twisted mentality and that's why we have to do everything we can, as urgently as we can pks in my view, to --,, in my view, to contain it both inside the midfield east and beyond. peter: former diplomat. you burn a jordanian pilot, you get jordanian airplanes over the islamic state. you attack paris and you get airplanes in the sky over raqqah. as one who may occasionally be privy of the internal dialogue of the caliphate, can you shed the light of pissing off another country and getting bombers over your territory? and secondly, is there any chance that they will start playing games in israel?

which is guaranteed to deliver plenty bombers over their military. john brennan: i don't understand the first part of your question. it's incumbent on those governmentes that have particularly been affected by the scourge of isil's terrorism to be able to respond and try to prevent follow-on attacks. and there have been efforts on the part of coalition partners as well as the united states to make sure you go to the source of the terrorism. because we know that in syria, in raqqah, that's the area where isil really has the base for its external operations activities. and so what we need to be able to do is address isil's external agenda, not just as it is be able to put operatives in other countries, but also at the source of it. and israel is in a very challenging and dangerous neighborhood. it is something that, you know, we are looking at very closely in terms of what is the impact

of isil, not just on syria, iraq, jordan, but also lebanon, israel and other areas. so, again, this is something we have to deal with in the coming months and years, i fear. so what we need to do is not to assume that anybody or any country is immune from isil's touch. reporter: good morning. hamid. center at m.c.u. isil has probably been infiltrated by many intel services from all over the world since it's an overt organization versus al qaeda since it is covert. since the entities doesn't work together given their classifications, do you think it's time to review the way this organization -- the intel works together? and secondly, you use the term societyio path. do you think that will take away actually their rational mode of operations because they

seem to know what they're doing and are quite efficient in their work? are bathists behind this? -- baathists behind us? john brennan: as far as them working around the world, this is challenging because there are multiple organizations and agencies in multiple countries each with their own authorities, each operating under certain types of legal parameters and then what you need to be able to do is to be able to interoperate as much as possible. i always use the terms about the importance of systems engineering. we here in the united states, we have many federal departments and agencies as well as state and local, city organizations, police departments and others trying to create that architecture where you can move it with a speed of light taken into account the limitations, requirements, responsibilities and authorities is really quite a challenge. i think we've done a great job here in the united states over the last 10 other 15 years.

i think we still have a ways to go. but creating -- extending that architecture then internationally when you have so many different organizations around the world, we are still working through that, and i do believe that is something we're going to make further progress on. technology is there, but making sure that we can handle information while at the same time protecting privacy rights, civil liberties, i think this is one of the challenges in terms of how do you balance all of that. and as far as sociopaths, sociopaths can carry out any number of acts of violence. doesn't mean they are rational. it means they are just opposed to civil society, law and order and resist the recognized authorities and system of governance that we have. so, again, i think that the isil adherence are misguided. unfortunately, the narrative that comes out of isil in syria and iraq, they're making great

use of youtube and various social media as a way to attract people. under the false banner of religion and that's what it is. it's a false banner. reporter: sergei. two quick questions. >> one question. reporter: how do you feel about cooperation with russia from your talks with russian colleagues? thanks. especially in light of sanctions which are impacted? john brennan: my conversations with my russian counterpart which have taken place a number of times over the last year and as i said, including over the last several weeks after russian military forces found their way into syria, and these talks focus on what it is that we can do together to try to prevent the flow of individuals into and out of that theater of

operations. there are over 2,000, maybe 3,000 russian nationals that have come from chechnya, others into the syria, iraq area. there are a number of individuals who senior officials within isil so it's a very real concern to the russians and what we need to do is to be able to help russia prevent the flow of terrorists inside of their territory that are maybe destined to try to carry out some terrorist attacks. so we've been exchanging some information. i think it needs to be enhanced, but i am determined to continue to work with my russian counterparts because of the importance that i think we each can bring to this issue in terms of our insights, our information, our data and sharing it. we work very closely with the russians in the olympics and i think they greatly valued the support we provided, the information we provide. i want to continue to do that, irrespective of disagreements over policy over sear yarks i am determined to work with

other countries' services the best i can to be able to prevent successful terrorist attacks. john: stefan. stefan: thank you. from few nick. -- few nick. implement instructer border patrols? john brennan: one of the things we have to keep in mind, what we don't want to do is to have these terrorists succeed in taking away the freedoms are and liberties that we pride ourselves on. whether it be here in the united states or in europe. and i know that there is a rush by some to say that borders should be closed. we should isolate ourselves. that is inconsistent with what i think our societies have been founded on over the last several hundreds of years. what we need to do is be mindful with the risks of the individuals that are flowing and to make sure we're taking the appropriate steps to vet and to understand exactly who they might be. but i don't think what we want

to do is to just seal our borders because, again, that is not something that is sustainable from a social, cultural, trade, economic, political standpoint. again, i just think we have to take into account what has happened recently and how isil can try to take advantage of some of these flows and what can we do to be able to optimize our confidence that we're able to filter out those individuals that are trying to o us harm. reporter: given these attacks seem to happen sporadically, should the public accept this sort of coordinated attack is inevitable to some degree, that it can't be entirely prevented despite the fact that a number of attacks are prevented every year? john brennan: i would never say that attacks are inevitable. we work tirelessly, 24/7, around the clock, around the

globe in order to prevent attacks from taking place. and our goal is to prevent every single one of them from taking place. so i don't have a sense of inevidentibility. if there is a sense of inevitablity, i think it would undermine the commitment of individuals who are working on this. but i do think it's inevitable that isil and other terrorist groups are going to continue to try and to attempt to carry out these attacks. that is inevitablity as far as the eye can see, but to me it's not inevitable that they are going to see. john: i have to get the director out of here. i promised he would be able to -- five to.y 5:00 don't you feel good about having a man of this intellect to be leading us? has this shakee for congress this coming week? how will they be dealing with a terrorist attacks?

guest: it is good to be with you. so far, we have not seen the kind of scheduling announcements or changes that one might expect in the wake of an event like the terror attacks in paris. that is partly because congress was on recess when the incident happened. i think that what is going to be happening and what your viewers can look forward to, as can lawmakers and their staffs, is that there is going to be a fairly quick succession of scheduling of hearings, both in the house and the senate, both open and closed sessions, as is customary in these matters. the senate intelligence committee, for instance, meets regularly every tuesday and thursday afternoon anyway enclosed session.

one would expect that the terror attacks in paris and the response and the actions that have been taking place throughout europe over the weekend are going to be first and foremost on the agenda for the intelligence committee on tuesday. you should expect no shortage of other briefings and hearings related to that. as for the floor schedule, we have not seen some sort of or any sort of immediate reaction, in terms of changing the floor schedule as a result. however, one of the items that had been rumored for consideration in the senate for a test vote at some point this week -- there is a rumor that was advanced by democrats that there is a possibility that there could be legislation regarding immigration sanctuary

cities, which are those communities that don't necessarily enforce all federal immigration laws. i think that if that is the term that is taken, there would be more debate about the question you were talking about. host: one issue that congress has very much been involved in is guantanamo bay, cuba, the the white house efforts to shut the prison down. the pentagon transferred five yemeni detainees who had been held for more than a decade guantanamo bay to the united arab emirates. that was announced yesterday. do you think congress will be picking up on this issue this coming week? guest: the guantánamo issue has had a group ofas republican lawmakers that have

already been very engaged, themcularly the three of are senator tim scott from south carolina, senator pat roberts from kansas, and cory gardner from colorado, who are republican senators who are all from states where there were sites that were surveyed for possible sites for housing detainees currently at gitmo. isould say one of the issues there was -- that is going to become an issue throughout the week, whenever that announcement comes. but there was some talk and a lot of people expected that the guantánamo closure executive action or whatever it might have been would have come last week, while congress was away. now, president obama is overseas.

it is possible the announcement could come while he is overseas. changedg seems to have with the timeline on gitmo. it is not clear that there is going to be anything to host: what are the key deadlines this week that congress is facing? is the schedule does not change, one of the key issues? the scheduler changes or not, they will have to advance at least a short-term patch continuing funding for highway programming, which runs out at the end of the week. the current stopgap extension period negotiators, from the various transportation related committees, have been working on putting together a compromise highway bill.

your viewers are probably going to remember the house passed its version of the highway bill just before recess. they have to pass at least a short-term extension. the house schedule for today, monday, has a note about extension.ort-term is the real thing that has to be done in one form or another before lawmakers can depart for the holiday. host: of course, viewers can go to roll call to check out all of >> and the u.s. house is about to gavel in to begin its workweek in a couple of moment including ones dealing with the transportation security administration's prohibited

items list. an expansion of the health care law and f.c.c. standards. also a two-week extension of the highway bill through december 4 as talks continues over house and senate differences in a long-term bill that's passed both houses. now to live coverage of the house here on c-span. ays before a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's rooms, washington, d.c. november 16, 2015. i hereby appoint the honorable virginia foxx to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, paul d. ryan, speaker of the house of representatives. sean: the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. loving and gracious god, we give you thanks for giving us another dafmente -- day. help us this day to d