[applause] running on the positive side of things doesn't always get you the attention. peoplegot friends and here who are here with me today, will and steve, i've known these people for 30 years. of me.e actually proud if i start doing things the -- i don't want to disappoint them. more important things in life and winning every inning. now we are starting to rise. last night town hall on fox, lots of publicity today. this will go to an open convention and when we have gone to open conventions before in the republican party, of the 10 we have had, seven times the person who was not leading got picked. [applause] here is what is really cool.

some guy when i was walking into this diner in philadelphia this morning -- you know what he said? he said it's so nice to see you, governor lincoln. [laughter] it google and find out what he could mean by that. i'm not going to take the low road to the highest office. [laughter] [applause] all right. go ahead. yeah. ok. shout it out, kid. >> i myself am an immigrant. about your policy with illegal immigration, i completely agree. unfortunately, there's a problem that forroblem is people who come in here legally with their families like my

family, we have to wait many years and we are still waiting for our legalization, our green card. if you propose that we are going to help all of these illegal immigrants, which i still support with a path to legalization -- >> you can have a path to citizenship, they can never have that. . >> ok. want to know something. there is always an element of unfairness in our lives. they just is. so we have two ways to think about it. we can either get furious and angry or we can say i'm going to count my blessings and it's the job of public officials to try to sort this out in

that child. my grandfather was a coal miner. he would dig coal all day long and they would say we can only pay you have. who stuck up for my grandfather? nobody. this guy whot lived across from us, he would get up early, home -- come home late, dirty. he didn't have anyone sticking up for him. our job is to try to make sure we have a sense of fairness in our country but what do you are going to get the most fairness and justice and if we get it here, be thankful. that whole process of how you get a path to citizenship, all of these things need to be looked at because sometimes we are using early 20th century technology to live in a 21st

century world and there are probably ways to improve this system, which we should do. but just remember, count your blessings. [applause] why are you not in school, young man? [laughter] you are kind of stumbling. phi beta kappave day. don't know why but we are celebrating something about college. >> are you going to go to college? what is yes. >> what are you going to be when you grow up? >> i know is always changing so i decided not to make my decision this early. [laughter] [no audio] [applause] >> what are you leaning towards? >> pretty much just seeing what would be best for me and what i could do to help the world.

>> what is your question? >> i haven't heard a lot about this, especially with all of the candidates. i am really interested. how are you going to help the environment? >> how old are you? >> 11. >> who are you here with? >> my parents. >> you come with me. country go around the and you wonder about our future -- let me tell you, it's why we have to do everything we can to make sure he can have a robust future. did you say 11? >> 11. >> he is 11 years old. this is a foreshadow of where this kid is going. could you have done this when you were 11 years old? a lot of people couldn't do it when it is 111 years old.

where is his mom and dad? are you his mother or his sister? [applause] a picture now. where is the camera? i mean, come on. i'm not calling you up here. it's the kid. [laughter] give me that camera. give me that camera. get up here. alex, get up here. come on, mom. get over here. [applause] you are welcome. his question is what are you going to do about the we haveent and i think to be careful about the environment. i'm the one republican that believes there is climate

change. and i believe we affect it. [applause] you know what i heard? there is a very conservative, wealthy, big republican giver talking about his concerns about climate change. when you read about the bleaching of the corals and the fierceness of the storms, some of it is connected to global warming. but i have little doubt human beings have an impact. i will not create a program to throw everybody out of work but there are steps we can take that are reasonable in the reasonable steps are things like developing .enewables, solar, wind the reason why solar doesn't work that great in ohio because we don't get great days

like this. when the sunshine's, with battery technology, we can capture the energy and store it. an advocate of putting a wind turbine in front of every statehouse in america. and -- [applause] and then the laughter rolls over the crowd. when the wind doesn't blow, you can still store it. have any of you seen this tesla car? it is amazing. it is the bad everybody battery when theset long so batteries come -- and that thegs about the effort of united states of america to engage in basic science. we have these national laboratories. to steal a painting

in paris than it is for a business to have access to a research site. we need to upgrade and modernize. with the environment, we want to make sure we are good stewards. we want to make sure we have a nice environment but we also want to make sure you have work. when this man stands up and put one finger up, that means it's time for us to go. what do you have to say to him? [booing] >> let me get a couple. in the back. young lady. clerics my question is it's very important for everybody in america to have health care so if president obama has started

to give everybody that with obama care, how are you going to work harder to make that a better system? question and it easy question. [applause] america should lose their health care because they have a pre-existing condition. no one should be bankrupted because of their health. that is number one. [applause] idea itwo, you have no don't believe -- let me ask you this. is there anybody here who can make an assessment of the quality and cost of the hospitals in your region?

we need a total transparency. we need to know what they charge, their quality. i have to tell you we are doing this now. just because you charge a lot doesn't get you high quality. and just because you charge less doesn't mean you don't have a quality. we are bringing total transparency to all of our hospitals in our state, which we should do across the country. let me ask you about your primary care doctor. do you know how your primary care doctor compares? if you go get a me operation here and he goes over to baltimore and is the same operation, the differences can be like $10,000. why is that? nobody knows. we need complete transparency and for those people in the

medical field and this was put together without from the clean -- the clinic. providing quality health care below the average, we will give you a financial reward. downwardo put a pressure on the health care system because your deductibles are so high, you might as well have a catastrophic policy. with transparency and the market and getting the consumer knowledge and the ability to choose, we can get on top of this health care issue as long as we do the things like eliminating people losing their health care. i think this will work nationally and it's something that can help america to give us good quality and good knowledge.

i have to go to pittsburgh. thank you all very much. [applause]

[and discernible -- indiscernible conversations]

>> we will have more live wrote the white house coverage on seas in. campaigning in franklin, indiana. the indiana presidential primary next tuesday. at 7:00, donald trump campaigning in pennsylvania where the presidential primaries will be held tomorrow. with 800 45 leading

delegates followed by ted cruz with five hundred 59 and john kasich with 148. thee numbers from associated press. hillary clinton has 1941 delegates and bernie sanders, 1191. madam secretary, we probably 72 of our delicate votes to the next president of the united states. [cheers]

>> president obama will be delivering his last speech at the white house correspondents dinner thursday night. five years ago, donald trump was a guest. here's a look. obama: no one is prouder to put this a birth certificate matter to rest of them the donald so we can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter like did we fake the moon landing? [laughter] what really happened to rouse love? [laughter] tupac?re are biggie and [laughter] [applause] all kidding aside, we all know about your credentials and experience. [laughter] example, in an episode of

celebrity apprentice -- [laughter] team did notoking impress the judges fro.. there was a lot of blame to go around but you, mr. trump, recognize the real problem was a lack of leadership so ultimately you did not blame littlejohn or meatloaf. -- busey.gary beasley decisionskinds of that would keep me up at night. [laughter] thisspan's coverage of year's white house correspondents dinner starts saturday. president obama's last speech at this annual event. the president is wrapping up a trip to the middle east in europe today. he attended an industrial trade show in hanover where he spoke

about his plans to deploy a 250 additional u.s. troops in syria to combat isis. >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome president barack obama. [applause] thank you so much. [applause] thank you. guten tag. it is wonderful to see all of you, and i want to begin by thanking chancellor merkel for being here.

[applause] on behalf of the american people, i want to thank angela for being a champion of our alliance. and on behalf of all of us, i want to thank you for your commitment to freedom, and equality, and human rights, which is a reflection of your inspiring life. i truly believe you've shown us the leadership of steady hands -- how do you call it? the merkel-raute. [laughter] and over the last seven years, i have relied on your friendship and counsel, and your firm moral compass. so we very much appreciate your chancellor, angela merkel. to the members of the bundestag, prime minister weil, mayor schostock, distinguished guests, people of germany. and i'm especially pleased to see the young people here -- from germany and across europe. we also have some proud americans here.

i have to admit that i have developed a special place in my heart for the german people. back when i was a candidate for this office, you welcomed me with a small rally in berlin, where i spoke of the change that's possible when the world stands as one. as president, you've treated me and michelle and our daughters to wonderful hospitality. you've offered me excellent beer --[laughter] and weisswurst in krun. you've now hosted our delegation here in hannover. my only regret is that i have never been to germany for oktoberfest. [laughter] so i will have to come back. and i suspect it's more fun when you're not president. so my timing will be good. [laughter] [applause]

and as always, i bring the friendship of the american people. we consider the german people, and all of our european allies, to be among our closest friends in the world -- because we share so much experience and so many of the same values. we believe that nations and peoples should live in security and peace. we believe in creating opportunity that lifts up not just the few but the many. and i'm proud to be the first american president to come to europe and be able to say that, in the united states, health care is not a privilege, it is now a right for all. we share that as well. [applause] perhaps most importantly, we believe in the equality and inherent dignity of every human being. today in america, people have the freedom to marry the person that they love.

we believe in justice, that no child in the world should ever die from a mosquito bite; that no one should suffer from the ache of an empty stomach; that, together, we can save our planet and the world's most vulnerable people from the worst effects of climate change. these are things that we share.

it's borne of common experience. and this is what i want to talk to you about today -- the future that we are building together -- not separately, but together. and that starts right here in europe. and i want to begin with an observation that, given the challenges that we face in the world and the headlines we see every day, may seem improbable, but it's true. we are fortunate to be living in the most peaceful, most prosperous, most progressive era in human history. that may surprise young people who are watching tv or looking at your phones and it seems like only bad news comes through every day. but consider that it's been decades since the last war between major powers. more people live in democracies. we're wealthier and healthier and better educated, with a global economy that has lifted up more than a billion people from extreme poverty, and created new middle classes from the americas to africa to asia. think about the health of the average person in the world -- tens of millions of lives that we now save from disease and infant mortality, and people now living longer lives.

around the world, we're more tolerant -- with more opportunity for women, and gays and lesbians, as we push back on bigotry and prejudice. and around the world, there's a new generation of young people -- like you -- that are connected by technology, and driven by your idealism and your imagination, and you're working together to start new ventures, and to hold governments more accountable, and advance human dignity. if you had to choose a moment in time to be born, any time in human history, and you didn't know ahead of time what nationality you were or what gender or what your economic status might be, you'd choose today -- which isn't to say that there is not still enormous suffering and enormous tragedy and so much work for us to do.

it is to remember that the trajectory of our history over the last 50, 100 years has been remarkable. and we can't take that for granted, and we should take confidence in our ability to be able to shape our own destiny. now, that doesn't mean that we can be complacent because today dangerous forces do threaten to pull the world backward, and our progress is not inevitable. these challenges threaten europe and they threaten our transatlantic community. we're not immune from the forces of change around the world. as they have elsewhere, barbaric terrorists have slaughtered

innocent people in paris and brussels, and istanbul and san bernardino, california. and we see these tragedies in places central to our daily lives -- an airport or café, a workplace or a theater -- and it unsettles us. it makes us unsure in our day-to-day lives -- fearful not just for ourselves but those that we love. conflicts from south sudan to syria to afghanistan have sent millions fleeing, seeking the relative safety of europe's shores, but that puts new strains on countries and local communities, and threatens to distort our politics. russian aggression has flagrantly violated the sovereignty and territory of an

independent european nation, ukraine, and that unnerves our allies in eastern europe, threatening our vision of a europe that is whole, free and at peace. and it seems to threaten the progress that's been made since the end of the cold war. slow economic growth in europe, especially in the south, has left millions unemployed, including a generation of young people without jobs and who may look to the future with diminishing hopes. and all these persistent challenges have led some to question whether european

integration can long endure; whether you might be better off separating off, redrawing some of the barriers and the laws between nations that existed in the 20th century. across our countries, including in the united states, a lot of workers and families are still struggling to recover from the worst economic crisis in generations. and that trauma of millions who lost their jobs and their homes and their savings is still felt. and meanwhile, there are profound trends underway that have been going on for decades -- globalization, automation that -- in some cases, of depressed wages, and made workers in a weaker position to bargain for better working conditions. wages have stagnated in many advanced countries while other costs have gone up. inequality has increased. and for many people, it's harder than ever just to hold on. this is happening in europe; we see some of these trends in the united states and across the advanced economies.

and these concerns and anxieties are real. they are legitimate. they cannot be ignored, and they deserve solutions from those in power. unfortunately, in the vacuum, if we do not solve these problems, you start seeing those who would try to exploit these fears and frustrations and channel them in a destructive way. a creeping emergence of the kind of politics that the european project was founded to reject -- an "us" versus "them" mentality that tries to blame our problems on the other, somebody who doesn't look like us or doesn't pray like us -- whether it's immigrants, or muslims, or somebody who is deemed different than us.

and you see increasing intolerance in our politics. and loud voices get the most attention. this reminds me of the poem by the great irish poet w.b. yeats, where the best lack all conviction, and the worst are full of passionate intensity. so this is a defining moment. and what happens on this continent has consequences for people around the globe. if a unified, peaceful, liberal, pluralistic, free-market europe

begins to doubt itself, begins to question the progress that's been made over the last several decades, then we can't expect the progress that is just now taking hold in many places around the world will continue. instead, we will be empowering those who argue that democracy can't work, that intolerance and tribalism and organizing ourselves along ethnic lines, and authoritarianism and restrictions on the press -- that those are the things that the challenges of today demand. so i've come here today, to the

heart of europe, to say that the united states, and the entire world, needs a strong and prosperous and democratic and united europe. [applause] perhaps you need an outsider, somebody who is not european, to remind you of the magnitude of what you have achieved. the progress that i described was made possible in large measure by ideals that originated on this continent in a great enlightenment and the founding of new republics. of course, that progress didn't travel a straight line. in the last century -- twice in just 30 years -- the forces of empire and intolerance and extreme nationalism consumed this continent.

and cities like this one were largely reduced to rubble. tens of millions of men and women and children were killed. but from the ruins of the second world war, our nations set out to remake the world -- to build a new international order and the institutions to uphold it. a united nations to prevent another world war and advance a more just and lasting peace. international financial institutions like the world bank and international monetary fund to promote prosperity for all peoples. a universal declaration of human rights to advance the "inalienable rights of all members of the human family." and here in europe, giants like chancellor adenauer set out to bind old adversaries through commerce and through trade.

as adenauer said in those early days, "european unity was a dream of a few. it became a hope for the many. today it is a necessity for all of us." [applause] and it wasn't easy. old animosities had to be overcome. national pride had to be joined with a commitment to a common good. complex questions of sovereignty and burden-sharing had to be answered. ant at every step, the impulse to pull back -- for each country to go its own way -- had to be resisted. more than once, skeptics predicted the demise of this great project. but the vision of european unity

soldiered on -- and having defended europe's freedom in war, america stood with you every step of this journey. a marshall plan to rebuild; an airlift to save berlin; a nato alliance to defend our way of life. america's commitment to europe was captured by a young american president, john f. kennedy, when he stood in a free west berlin and declared that "freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free." with strength and resolve and the power of our ideals, and a belief in a unified europe, we didn't simply end the cold war -- freedom won. germany was reunited. you welcomed new democracies into an even "ever closer

union." you may argue over whose football clubs are better, vote for different singers on eurovision. [laughter] but your accomplishment -- more than 500 million people speaking 24 languages in 28 countries, 19 with a common currency, in one european union -- remains one of the greatest political and economic achievements of modern times. [applause] yes, european unity can require frustrating compromise. it adds layers of government that can slow decision-making. i understand. i've been in meetings with the european commission.

and, as an american, we're famously disdainful of government. we understand how easy it must be to vent at brussels and complain. but remember that every member of your union is a democracy. that's not an accident. remember that no eu country has raised arms against another. that's not an accident. remember that nato is as strong as it's ever been. remember that our market economies -- as angela and i saw this morning -- are the greatest generators of innovation and wealth and opportunity in history. our freedom, our quality of life remains the envy of the world, so much so that parents are willing to walk across deserts, and cross the seas on makeshift rafts, and risk everything in

the hope of giving their children the blessings that we -- that you -- enjoy -- blessings that you cannot take for granted. this continent, in the 20th century, was at constant war. people starved on this continent. families were separated on this continent. and now people desperately want to come here precisely because of what you've created. you can't take that for granted. and today, more than ever, a strong, united europe remains,

as adenauer said, a necessity for all of us. it's a necessity for the united states, because europe's security and prosperity is inherently indivisible from our own. we can't cut ourselves off from you. our economies are integrated. our cultures are integrated. our peoples are integrated. you saw the response of the american people to paris and brussels -- it's because, in our imaginations, this is our cities. a strong, united europe is a necessity for the world because an integrated europe remains vital to our international order.

europe helps to uphold the norms and rules that can maintain peace and promote prosperity around the world. consider what we've done in recent years. pulling the global economy back from the brink of depression and putting the world on the path of recovery. a comprehensive deal that's cut off every single one of iran's paths to a nuclear bomb -- part of our shared vision of a world without nuclear weapons. in paris, the most ambitious agreement in history to fight climate change. [applause] stopping ebola in west africa and saving countless lives. rallying the world around new sustainable development, including our goal to end extreme poverty. none of those things could have happened if i -- if the united states did not have a

partnership with a strong and united europe. [applause] it wouldn't have happened. that's what's possible when europe and america and the world stand as one. and that's precisely what we're going to need to face down the very real dangers that we face today. so let me just lay out the kind of cooperation that we're going to need. we need a strong europe to bear its share of the burden, working with us on behalf of our collective security. the united states has an extraordinary military, the best the world has ever known, but the nature of today's threats means we can't deal with these challenges by ourselves.

right now, the most urgent threat to our nations is isil, and that's why we're united in our determination to destroy it. and all 28 nato allies are contributing to our coalition -- whether it's striking isil targets in syria and iraq, or supporting the air campaign, or training local forces in iraq, or providing critical humanitarian aid. and we continue to make progress, pushing isil back from territory that it controlled. and just as i've approved additional support for iraqi forces against isil, i've decided to increase u.s. support for local forces fighting isil in syria.

a small number of american special operations forces are already on the ground in syria and their expertise has been critical as local forces have driven isil out of key areas. so given the success, i've approved the deployment of up 250 additional u.s. personnel in syria, including special forces, to keep up this momentum. they're not going to be leading the fight on the ground, but they will be essential in providing the training and assisting local forces that continue to drive isil back. so, make no mistake. these terrorists will learn the same lesson as others before them have, which is, your hatred is no match for our nations united in the defense of our way of life. and just as we remain relentless on the military front, we're not going to give up on diplomacy to end the civil war in syria, because the suffering of the syrian people has to end, and that requires an effective political transition. [applause] but this remains a difficult fight, and none of us can solve this problem by ourselves.

even as european countries make important contributions against isil, europe, including nato, can still do more. so i've spoken to chancellor merkel and i'll be meeting later with the presidents of france and the prime ministers of great britain and of italy. in syria and iraq, we need more nations contributing to the air campaign. we need more nations contributing trainers to help build up local forces in iraq. we need more nations to contribute economic assistance to iraq so it can stabilize liberated areas and break the cycle of violent extremism so that isil cannot come back. these terrorists are doing everything in their power to strike our cities and kill our citizens, so we need to do everything in our power to stop them. and that includes closing gaps so terrorists can't pull off attacks like those in paris and brussels. which brings me to one other

point. europeans, like americans, cherish your privacy. and many are skeptical about governments collecting and sharing information, for good reason. that skepticism is healthy. germans remember their history of government surveillance -- so do americans, by the way, particularly those who were fighting on behalf of civil rights. so it's part of our democracies to want to make sure our governments are accountable. but i want to say this to young people who value their privacy and spend a lot of time on their phones -- the threat of terrorism is real. in the united states, i've worked to reform our surveillance programs to ensure that they're consistent with the rule of law and upholding our values, like privacy -- and, by the way, we include the privacy of people outside of the united

states. we care about europeans' privacy, not just americans' privacy. but i also, in working on these issues, have come to recognize security and privacy don't have to be a contradiction. we can protect both. and we have to. if we truly value our liberty, then we have to take the steps that are necessary to share information and intelligence within europe, as well as between the united states and europe, to stop terrorists from traveling and crossing borders and killing innocent people. and as today's diffuse threats evolve, our alliance has to evolve. so we're going to have a nato summit this summer in warsaw, and i will insist that all of us need to meet our responsibilities, united,

together. that means standing with the people of afghanistan as they build their security forces and push back against violent extremism. it means more ships in the aegean to shut down criminal networks who are profiting by smuggling desperate families and children. and that said, nato's central mission is, and always will be, our solemn duty -- our article 5 commitment to our common defense. that's why we'll continue to bolster the defense of our frontline allies in poland and romania and the baltic states. so we have to both make sure that nato carries out its traditional mission, but also to meet the threats of nato's southern flank. that's why we need to stay nimble, and make sure our forces are interoperable, and invest in new capabilities like cyber

defense and missile defense. and that's why every nato member should be contributing its full share -- 2% of gdp -- towards our common security, something that doesn't always happen. and i'll be honest, sometimes europe has been complacent about its own defense. just as we stand firm in our own defense, we have to uphold our most basic principles of our international order, and that's a principle that nations like ukraine have the right to choose their own destiny. remember that it was ukrainians on the maidan, many of them your age, reaching out for a future with europe that prompted russia to send in its military. after all that europe endured in the 20th century, we must not allow borders to be redrawn by brute force in the 21st century. so we should keep helping ukraine with its reforms to

improve its economy and consolidate its democracy and modernize its forces to protect its independence. and i want good relations with russia, and have invested a lot in good relations with russia. but we need to keep sanctions on russia in place until russia fully implements the minsk agreements that chancellor merkel and president hollande and others have worked so hard to maintain, and provide a path for a political resolution of this issue. and ultimately, it is my fervent hope that russia recognizes that true greatness comes not from bullying neighbors, but by working with the world, which is the only way to deliver lasting economic growth and progress to the russian people. now, our collective security rests on a foundation of prosperity, so that brings me to my second point. the world needs a prosperous and growing europe -- not just a strong europe, but a prosperous and growing europe that generates good jobs and wages

for its people. as i mentioned before, the economic anxieties many feel today on both sides of the atlantic are real. the disruptive changes brought about by the global economy, unfortunately, sometimes are hitting certain groups, especially working-class communities, more heavily. and if neither the burdens, nor the benefits of our global economy are being fairy distributed, it's no wonder that people rise up and reject globalization. if there are too few winners and too many losers as the global economy integrates, people are going to push back. so all of us in positions of power have a responsibility as leaders of government and

business and civil society to help people realize the promise of economic and security in this integrated economy. and the good news is, we know how to do it. sometimes we just lack the political will to do it. in the united states, our economy is growing again, but the united states can't be the sole engine of global growth. and countries should not have to choose between responding to crises and investing in their people. so we need to pursue reforms to position us for long-term prosperity, and support demand and invest in the future. all of our countries, for example, could be investing more in infrastructure. all of our countries need to invest in science and research and development that sparks new innovation and new industries. all of our countries have to invest in our young people, and make sure that they have the skills and the training and the education they need to adapt to this rapidly changing world.

all of our countries need to worry about inequality, and make sure that workers are getting a fair share of the incredible productivity that technology and global supply chains are producing. but if you're really concerned about inequality, if you're really concerned about the plight of workers, if you're a progressive, it's my firm belief that you can't turn inward. that's not the right answer. we have to keep increasing the trade and investment that supports jobs, as we're working to do between the united states and the eu. we need to keep implementing reforms to our banking and financial systems so that the excesses and abuses that triggered the financial crisis never happen again. but we can't do that individually, nation by nation, because finance now is

transnational. it moves around too fast. if we're not coordinating between europe and the united states and asia, then it won't work. as the world has been reminded in recent weeks, we need to close loopholes that allow corporations and wealthy individuals to avoid paying their fair share of taxes through tax havens and tax avoidance, trillions of dollars that could be going towards pressing needs like education and health care and infrastructure. but to do that, we have to work together. here in europe, as you work to strengthen your union -- including through labor and banking reforms, and by ensuring growth across the eurozone -- you will have the staunch support of the united states. but you're going to have to do it together, because your economies are too integrated to try to solve these problems on your own.

and i want to repeat: we have to confront the injustice of widening economic inequality. but that is going to require collective work, because capital is mobile, and if only a few countries are worrying about it, then a lot of businesses will head toward places that don't care about it quite as much. for a lot of years, it was thought that countries had to choose between economic growth and economic inclusion. now we know the truth -- when wealth is increasingly concentrated among the few at the top, it's not only a moral challenge to us but it actually drags down a country's growth potential. we need growth that is broad and lifts everybody up. we need tax policies that do right by working families.

and those like me who support european unity and free trade also have a profound responsibility to champion strong protections for workers -- a living wage and the right to organize, and a strong safety net, and a commitment to protect consumers and the environment upon which we all depend. if we really want to reduce inequality, we've got to make sure everyone who works hard gets a fair shot -- and that's especially true for young people like you -- with education, and job training, and quality health care and good wages. and that includes, by the way, making sure that there's equal pay for equal work for women. [applause] the point is, we have to reform many of our economies. but the answer to reform is not to start cutting ourselves off from each other. rather, it's to work together. and this brings me back to where i began.

the world depends upon a democratic europe that upholds the principles of pluralism and diversity and freedom that are our common creed. as free peoples, we cannot allow the forces that i've described -- fears about security or economic anxieties -- to undermine our commitment to the universal values that are the source of our strength. democracy, i understand, can be messy. it can be slow. it can be frustrating. i know that. i have to deal with a congress. [laughter] we have to constantly work to make sure government is not a collection of distant, detached institutions, but is connected and responsive to the everyday concerns of our people. there's no doubt that how a

united europe works together can be improved. but look around the world -- at authoritarian governments and theocracies that rule by fear and oppression -- there is no doubt that democracy is still the most just and effective form of government ever created. [applause] and when i talk about democracy, i don't just mean elections, because there are a number of countries where people get 70, 80 percent of the vote, but they control all the media and the judiciary. and civil society organizations and ngos can't organize, and have to be registered, and are intimidated.

i mean real democracy, the sort that we see here in europe and in the united states. so we have to be vigilant in defense of these pillars of democracy -- not just elections, but rule of law, as well as fair elections, a free press, vibrant civil societies where citizens can work for change. and we should be suspicious of those who claim to have the interests of europe at heart and yet don't practice the very values that are essential to europe, that have made freedom in europe so real. so, yes, these are unsettling times.

and when the future is uncertain, there seems to be an instinct in our human nature to -- there seems to be an instinct in our human nature to withdraw to the perceived comfort and security of our own tribe, our own sect, our own nationality, people who look like us, sound like us. but in today's world, more than any time in human history, that is a false comfort. it pits people against one another because of what they look like or how they pray or who they love. and yet, we know where that kind of twisted thinking can lead. it can lead to oppression. it can lead to segregation and internment camps. and to the shoah and srebrenica.

in the united states, we've long wrestled with questions of race and integration, and we do to this day. and we still have a lot of work to do. but, our progress allows somebody like me to now stand here as president of the united states. that's because we committed ourselves to a larger ideal, one based on a creed -- not a race, not a nationality -- a set of principles. truths that we held to be self-evident, that all men were created equal. and now, as europe confronts questions of immigration and religion and assimilation, i want you to remember that our countries are stronger, they are more secure and more successful when we welcome and integrate people of all backgrounds and faith, and make them feel as one. and that includes our fellow citizens who are muslim.

[applause] look, the sudden arrival of so many people from beyond our borders, especially when their cultures are very different, that can be daunting. we have immigration issues in the united states as well, along our southern border of the united states, and from people arriving from all around the world who get a visa and decide they want to stay. and i know the politics of immigration and refugees is hard. it's hard everywhere, in every country. and just as a handful of neighborhoods shouldn't bear all the burden of refugee

resettlement, neither should any one nation. all of us have to step up, all of us have to share this responsibility. that includes the united states. but even as we take steps that are required to ensure our security even as we help turkey , and greece cope with this influx in a way that is safe and humane, even as chancellor merkel and other european leaders work for an orderly immigration and resettlement process, rather than a disorderly one, even as we all need to collectively do more to invest in the sustainable development and governance in those nations from which people are fleeing so that they can succeed and prosper in their own countries, and so that we can reduce the conflicts that cause so much of the refugee crisis

around the world -- chancellor merkel and others have eloquently reminded us that we cannot turn our backs on our fellow human beings who are here now, and need our help now. [applause] we have to uphold our values, not just when it's easy, but when it's hard. in germany, more than anywhere else, we learned that what the world needs is not more walls. we can't define ourselves by the barriers we build to keep people out or to keep people in. at every crossroads in our history, we've moved forward when we acted on those timeless ideals that tells us to be open to one another, and to respect

the dignity of every human being. and i think of so many germans and people across europe who have welcomed migrants into their homes, because, as one woman in berlin said, "we needed to do something." just that human impulse to help. and i think of the refugee who said, "i want to teach my kids the value of working." that human impulse to see the next generation have hope. all of us can be guided by the empathy and compassion of his holiness, pope francis, who said "refugees are not numbers, they are people who have faces, names, stories, and they need to be treated as such." and i know it may seem easy for me to say all this, living on the other side of the ocean. and i know that some will call it blind hope when i say that i am confident that the forces that bind europe together are ultimately much stronger than those trying to pull you apart.

but hope is not blind when it is rooted in the memory of all that you've already overcome -- your parents, your grandparents. so i say to you, the people of europe, don't forget who you are. you are the heirs to a struggle for freedom. you're the germans, the french, the dutch, the belgians, the luxembourgers, the italians -- and yes, the british -- who rose above old divisions and put europe on the path to union. [applause] you're the poles of solidarity and the czechs and slovaks who , waged a velvet revolution. you're the latvians, and lithuanians and estonians who linked hands in a great human chain of freedom. you're the hungarians and austrians who cut through borders of barbed wire.

and you're the berliners who, on that november night, finally tore down that wall. you're the people of madrid and london, who faced down bombings and refused to give in to fear. and you are the parisians who, later this year, plan to reopen the bataclan. you're the people of brussels, in a square of flowers and flags, including one belgian who offered a message, we need more. more understanding, more dialogue more humanity. , that's who you are. united, together. europe, united in diversity guided by the ideals , that have lit the world, and stronger when you stand as one. [applause] as you go forward, you can be confident that your greatest

ally and friend, the united states of america, stands with you, shoulder-to-shoulder, now and forever, because a united europe, once the dream of a few, remains the hope of the many and a necessity for us all. thank you very much. thank you. [applause] ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ this weekend, more like

coverage of president obama at the annual white house correspondents dinner. one of the biggest social event in washington dc of the year. you can watch the arrivals on the red carpet company president 's remarks, and this year's featured comedian, larry wilmore. saturday starting at six clock p.m. eastern time on c-span. housead to the white coverage continues this afternoon with road to the white house coverage in indiana. it will be speaking with eastern s at 6:30 p.m. senator cruz and john kasich states inlans to cede the primary to one another in order to stop donald trump from securing the republican nomination. we will be hearing from donald trump in pennsylvania, who holds its primary tomorrow. that is at 7:00 eastern time.

with five states holding primaries tomorrow, live coverage of results, candidate speeches, and your phone calls and comments. live coverage on c-span. >> our c-span campaign 2016 bus continues to travel across the country to honor winners from this year's student cam competition. students from laramie high school were recognized for their honorable mention video. our bus traveled to south dakota to visit with winners in rapid city and sioux falls. the final stop included a visit to delano middle school in north , with students being honored for their video on water pollution. a special thanks to our table partners for helping coordinate

c-span's community visits. sure toy this month, be watch one of the winning entries before a.m. eastern time "washington journal." >> independent media is the oxygen of a democracy. it is essential. holding those in power accountable. to conservehere some kind of corporate agenda. when we cover war and peace, we are not brought to you by the weapons manufacturers. a," 80ay night on "q and goodman from "democracy now!" talks about some of the stories and people the show is covered. amy: it really hasn't changed. bringing out the voices of people at the grassroots in the united states and around the

world. they very much represent, i think, the majority of people. i think people who are concerned deeply about war and peace, about the growing inequality in this country, about climate change, the state of the planet are not a fringe minority, not even a silent majority, but a silenced majority silenced by the corporate media, which is why we have to take it back. the director of national intelligence, james clapper, talked about national security issues recently during a breakfast held by the "christian science monitor." he spoke for about an hour.

>> space for coming.

-- thanks for coming. our guest this morning is james clapper. visit from ourst proof. career armyas a intelligence officer and our guests grew up on antenna farms throughout the world. sue, haveuture wife, an antenna farm in northern virginia. her dad was also in the signals intelligence business. tact isup, our guest parents tvs -- our guest hacked said so he can listen to the philadelphia police department. he transferred to the air force rotc program and was commissioned when he graduated from the university of maryland. trained as a single intelligence officer, a fox service in vietnam, where he shared a trailer with his dad, who was

also on duty there. later, he flew 73 combat missions in thailand. he rose to become a three-star general and served in the defense intelligence agency before retiring from the military in 1995. after several years in executive positions in the private sector, he returned to government service as the first civilian director of what is now called the national geospatial services agency. sworn as thee fourth national director of intelligence in 2010. now, onto this morning's mechanics. first, thanks to our underwriter northrop grumman. we are on the record here. please, no live blogging or eeting.g -- or tw thee is no embargo when session ends at 10:00.

we will e-mail several pictures of the session to all the reporters here as soon as the breakfast ends. as regular attendees know, if you would like to ask a question, do the traditional thing and send me a subtle, nonthreatening signal. interest ineen today's guest, i will limit myself to one question and ask that you restrain the urge to .ost multipart series we will start off by offering director clapper the opportunity opening comments. mr. clapper: what are we just go to questions? -- why don't we just go to questions? left. 270 days david: let me start with a

little softball and then we will move on to my hard-hitting colleagues. the new book "the president's focuses on the daily breeze and how it has evolved. book describes president obama as reading the breathing alone but not as interested in in person discussions, and not usually including the briefer in follow-on policy discussions with his aides. how would you describe him as an intelligence consumer, and how do his preferences change the way the intelligence community deals with the white house? i can't make in person comparisons with any other president. this is the only one i have done this with. but, in my almost six years experience with president obama, i have found him to be a very voracious and astute consumer of

intelligence. he is a faithful reader of the which,nt's daily brief unlike in the past, we don't breathe him because he reads it. i know he does because of the references he makes to the articles in the pdb. that is supplemented by the session we have every day, schedule permitting, and of course if he is in town, with additional briefing items that complement, supplement what is in the pdb. i think having read the of how the for me, dci's, andfore me,

now in this position, each president has his own style of ingesting intelligence. but you don't feel that the community is neglected? mr. clapper: no. on the contrary. in addition to engagement in the that weice is the fact have a whole range of interagency meetings, deputy committee meetings, principal committee meetings, a lot of which are chaired by the national security advisor, and national security council meetings, which the president himself chairs. each one of those requires intelligence. apparatusal security is driven by intelligence. across the board, i think thelligence pervades decision-making process. david: we will go first to eli

lake of bloomberg and aaron kelly of usa today, chuck ross of the st. louis dispatch. -- [indiscernible] clearly, this is an ongoing -- now, it has entered into military litigation. so, it is going to be handled in accordance with the uniform code of military justice. i probably shouldn't comment specifically. espionage case, particularly one that reaches the point of a prosecution is, by definition,

serious. >> i need to ask you about encryption. tothe administration going come out in support of the bill to compel companies to comply with court orders? mr. clapper: i can't answer that. i think the issue with encryption, i would defer to what the president said about it. that is, people taking absolutist positions on it. i think we in the intelligence i have been, as has fbi,tor call me of the pretty consistent -- director fbi, have been pretty consistent. i don't know the technicalities

of how we might arrive there, but that has been the characteristic of this country, a way of fighting to thread the needle so that we ensure privacy and security on an individual inis, as well as security the context of what is best for the collective good. that is, right now, kind of an elusive holy grail that we are now pursuing. i am not going to take a position on behalf of the administration on legislation like that. i will refer to what the president said about neither camp assuming absolutist positions. >> i have a few more questions on the encryption issue. mike haydenirector

has said that encryption is really more of an issue for the law enforcement community. -- howh of a challenge much of a challenge is the end encryption for the intelligence community, and particularly nsa and cia, and did the intelligence community actually tried to find vulnerabilities that could help the fbi crack fa rouk's iphone. mr. clapper: i'm not going to speak to the latter point, i will leave that to the fbi. i will tell you that, as a result of the snowden revelations, the onset of commercial encryption has accelerated by about seven years. it has had and is having profound effect on our ability to collect, particularly against

terrorists. the most sophisticated user by far of the internet and the technologies that are available privately to ensure and to end encryption. inhibitor to major discerning plotting going on, principally by isil or others. so, with the growing , this is obviously a challenge for us. kristin donnelly. >> can you talk a little bit about the 28 pages?

obviously, these are declassified, but bob grant said on meet the press that it be several weeks or a month. can you talk about the process, what is going on right now. can you talk a little bit about the speculation that there is some type from the saudi government -- some tie from the saudi government and government sponsored charities with 9/11? you for the thank question, as they say on capitol hill. are in the position of trying to coordinate interagency position on the declassification of the 28 pages. senator graham mentioned on "meet the press" yesterday that the white house had told him

that they had hoped to have the action completed by june. i think that is certainly a realistic goal. >> thank you for joining us. nda justow, the announced st. louis as a site for its new facility. there is somewhat of a cross-border war, with the -- with the illinois delegation across thehould be river near an airport base. can you tell us why it is going to tentatively be in st. louis, and what is being taken into account when these new agencies are built -- these new facilities are built? mr. clapper: the current set up at 2nd street, if you are -- that with it

lowestg has one of the facility condition indexes of any such facility in the intelligence community. it is very old. building there has been historically preserved back to the 40's. it has an adequate electrical system, plumbing. it is next door to a chemical plant. there is a railroad track behind it where we have no insight into what is in the rolling stock, and it is in a floodplain. other than that, it is a good facility. , we did allcredit we could to sustain the building facilities and the quality of life for the employees there. it needs a new facility. nga, it is his

recommendation, because this process is not finished yet. it is his recommendation that it site ined in another st. louis. obviously, we knew from the get-go that one delegation or the other was going to be unhappy about this decision-making process. yet, i'mis not over not going to prejudice that one way or the other. i will simply say that i have no robert's countermanded decision. >> give your extensive background, from a marine to a lieutenant general in the air force, to the head of the dia, and now the director of national intelligence, i know you don't wade into political matters. extensive your

military and intelligence background, i wonder if you can tell us how important it is that there be a steady hand on the ship of state? mr. clapper: the intelligence ship of state? >> you have probably been to a lot of parties in the last month, and people all want to know about some of these candidates. they are nervous, they are concerned. how does that affect your job? how relevant is it? or doesn't it make any difference at all? it personally doesn't make any difference to me because i am out of here on january 20, 2017. certainly, you worry about rhetoric on the campaign trail. i think that history has been that, once a president is inaugurated and in office, and

realizes the burden and the theonsibilities of position, i think that has a tempering effect on anyone. i think it will hear regardless of who is elected. simpleruck with how things are on the campaign trail and how those very same issues are very hard in the confines of the situation room. just about any example you want to name. there are far more complexities, policy implications, legal implications to things that would appear on the campaign trail. i will not cite specific examples at risk of finger-pointing at one candidate or another. and going to dustin, brown, julian

hatton, robert schlesinger, tim johnson. this is just a test as how, as an old man, i can remember names. corrects a letter to you and your office last week for a public estimate -- >> a letter to you at your office last week -- theystimate of believe this is possible and they are ok with a one time privacy concern that would arise from such an estimate. possible for you to give us an estimate, and do you plan to do so publicly? mr. clapper: first, i just have

to say how important section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act is to the nation's safety and security. terrific reducer terrific producer of critical intelligence for this country and our allies. point two is that if you could make such an estimate that was explainable and without compromise, we would have done so. we are looking at several options right now, none of which are optimal. they all have drawbacks. irony is, as we have found out many times, is that to actually render an accurate number we have to be more invasive and identify more u.s. persons in order to come up with an accurate number.

many people find that unsatisfactory, but that is the fact. we are looking at this. letter, or i read about it in the media before i received it. we are going to do our best. any methodology we come up with be completely satisfactory to all parties. >> thank you very much. is thereion is this -- any evidence that isis or al qaeda are planning any actions in the coming months that would influence the u.s. elections, and are they encouraged in any way by trump as a candidate? mr. clapper: i cannot point to any evidence that would indicate a preference on the part of isis

to who is elected in our presidential election. and whether or not they might do something that could have a could, on it, well, they particularly if they do something in this country. that would probably have some impact. that certainly could influence how people vote in the election. month, thethis talked about the privacy demands of americans online compared to security implications. my question is, when it comes to that philosophy, what expectations should americans have for online privacy to receive proper security? i think they should

upgrade assurance despite the hyperbole in the media, because of the many safeguards, oversight by all three branches of the government, aggressive oversight by all three branches we're government, that going to be as precise as we possibly can be in exploiting foreignrnet for intelligence purposes. i often long for the healthy on days of the cold war -- the halcyon days of the cold war. we had two intelligent systems. with advent of the internet, everything was interconnected. so, all of those billions of innocent transactions by millions and millions of innocent people are all mixed up with various activities by nefarious people.

the challenge is picking up the needles from hundreds and thousands of haystacks without in any way jeopardizing the privacy of americans. we go to and have gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure that those rights are not infringed upon. by the way, all of us are american citizens, and i certainly care about our own privacy as well. >> you have spoken about the it but of cyber attacks, on the lot --, but only law is acement side, there response to encryption. you are not an i.t. person, but

how do you square that? what kind of questions do you ask yourself when you make the decisions about unbreakable encryption? i place great faith the tremendousin technological ingenuity and creativity that we have in this country. this is one case where there needs to be a partnership between industry, commercial sector, and the government. i would hope that the companies would devote some serious efforts to research, development , some other alternative methods by which we can continue to safeguard the security -- the private security of people as well as ensuring the public's ability -- public security.

do you think there are circumstances under which we need unbreakable encryption? mr. clapper: you mean it is and it is to break ensuring that the terrorists get a pass? >> you probably know more about the definitions than i do. mr. clapper: in the history of mankind, since we have been doing signal intelligence, there is really no such thing, given ,roper time, proper application and the application technology. again, i think your question gets back to what -- and i will just repeat what the president said about people assuming absolutist positions, which is not helpful. defenseck tucker from one. year, northhis

korea did an underground nuclear bomb test. they claimed it was for a hydrogen bomb. reports suggest it is not a hydrogen bond. some people suggest it may have been a so-called boosted bomb, a bomb that has some characteristics of a hydrogen bomb but not be magnitude. can you tell today, do you feel on the roadorea is to creating a hydrogen bomb in the next five years? mr. clapper: i can't say that. i will say that, aspirational he, the current regime in north toea is very determined portray to the world that north korea is in fact a nuclear power , and he wants recognition of that. despite some of the failures that they recently incurred,

they will come in my view, continue to press on to develop nuclear capabilities. think, probably would capabilities,en but i certainly can't describe a timeline. >> it has been a month now since the attacks in brussels. what has the intelligence community learned since then? they have cee that lls in places like germany, england, italy? mr. clapper: yes, they do. that is a concern of ours and our european allies. i assure you that we are doing all we can to share with them. i was recently in europe.

-- in europe as part of the u.s. delegation there to try to provoke more sharing between and .mong the nations in europe that, right now, is a major and mrs. of hours, to promote more sharing and to do all we can to share with them. we continue to see evidence of isil.in on the part of the countries you named. we learned that they are fanatic, very operation security conscious, they are very mindful of that, they have taken advantage, to some extent, of the migrant crisis in europe, something which the nations, i

think, have a growing awareness of. >> going back to the north korea issue, they talked a little bit about their hydrogen bomb. not as though that were a fact. >> in terms of developing these capabilities. assessmentr threat of ballistic missiles? there was reports of a successful ballistic missile test recently. mr. clapper: we might disagree with the north korean claims of a success. reading that out overa technical assessment whether there sobm worked or

not. we have to assume the worst. that is traditionally what we do in the intelligence community. themcribe capability for to have fielded an intercontinental ballistic missile. that,e low confidence in because they have never successfully tested one. that has a bearing on the assessment. if you think about it, the north koreans, in a sense, have created at least the psychology of deterrence, which is what they are very interested in. my brief sojourn there in november of 2014, when i engaged clearlym some, they are

in siege mentality mode, and they think that we are bent on on and sortingnd absorbing the dprk. they want recognition as a nuclear power and they want the capability that they view fundamentally. >> there is a lawsuit that was allowed to proceed last week involving cia contractors in spoke a couple washington. it was in regards to their work in the eic program the cia conducted. i wonder if you have any concern about the implications of that going forward or that hinders in any way outside contractors to work with dic in the future?

yes.shington, if there are any concerns about whether it is allowed to go goesrd, whether it forward, will it discourage cooperation in the future? mr. clapper: i don't know. i'm reluctant to comment on an ongoing matter of litigation. sayally can't and shouldn't anything about it. the likelihood that we are going contractorsd hire to do extraordinary interrogation techniques, i think that is slim and none. point, maybe not. speak ton't really

what the total and final legal implications of that case are. >> a question about syria. as you know, the president announced today that he has 250oved the deployment of additional special operations troops on the ground in syria. this comes after several years in which the assessment of most of the intelligence community was that the arab opposition forces in syria really had very little capability in terms of organization, military impact, saying power, anything you wanted. , andhat assessment changed yet to set out any plausible timelines if there capability increases, if pressure on isis continues, for raqfall of rocca -- fall of

qa. mr. clapper: realistically, i can't project any timelines. the request for additional troops is a manifestation of the need to and the effectiveness of advising and assisting, and being on the ground with not just the arabs, but with the others who were there, principally various factions of the kurds. so, the complexity of the situation in syria is unbelievable. and, to the extent that we can promote proxies who have villages,n their own their own towns, their own

communities, and, as well, from my standpoint, to gain more on the ground insight, is a good thing. what isannot project going to be the incremental 250,t of these additional and how long it will take before resolutionme sort of . i can't say that. we're going to go next to -- sometimes i am looking too hard. mcclatchy. from i would like to refer to the panama papers that came out earlier this month. rather immediate reaction from the established democracy iceland in terms of shaking up thepolitical established --

political status quo. not so in russia, china. impact ofnk there is knowledge of offshore wealth held by leaders? mr. clapper: it is hard to make a generalized response. i think it will defend very much -- it will depend very much on individual cases. one of the reason it hasn't invoked a lot of reaction in russia is kind of obvious. have a little tighter control on your counterparts there. that that isd going to come close to or touch president putin, i think, is pretty remote. other places, it depends on, politics, and how individual countries or individual legal system respond. it is hard to make a generalized answer to your question. >> to follow-up on the question about the new deployment of

troops in syria, can you say 50 --tively what 200 and 250 or 300 soldiers can do that 300 soldiers cannot? -- that 50 soldiers cannot? mr. clapper: i can't. it is not an intelligence issue. decide how fast they will go and arrange the furniture on the decks. i really can't say. >> part of the task is to gather intelligence and you talked about how they would be able to diffuse different groups. mr. clapper: on the ground insight, intelligence gathering, and anone task, ancillary task. anytime you get ears and eyes on the ground, that is a good thing. but, that doesn't necessarily

mean that arithmetically, we put more people, that would improve. i can't say what impact it will have. shane harris for "the daily beast." party candidates for each receiving security briefings, is that still the plan regarding whoever the democratic and republican nominees are, and what steps would you take to ensure the proper handling? mr. clapper: we have already established a plan for briefing both candidates when they are named, and certainly after november when the , and itt-elect is known gets more intensive. we already have a team setup to lead,t, and a designated

who is not a political appointee. all of those who are currently involved will not be involved in that other than to oversee it to ensure that everybody gets the same information and that we do the needs to protect sources and methods and comply with security rules. >> how will they get that? mr. clapper: we normally arrange those depending on the schedules and where they are. we normally will accommodate their needs through a local secure facility. david: we will go next to alexis from real clear politics. follow-up about what you have learned since the europe attacks. you are talking about your conviction that there are other cells in europe.

can you expand on that and describe two things? one is, how much have we learned about the threat of additional attacks? also, if you're making such an effort to promote information howing, can you expand on much time it may take for the information sharing to reach a level that you think would be optimal? mr. clapper: the challenge we that, inhese plots is many cases, we are only seeing a stream. or an anecdotal we don't have the total picture all the time. if we did, then the plot would easily be thwarted. isil's mindfulness of the efforts mounted to monitor

them, they are very, very security conscious. they are more and more going to the use of encrypted applications. it makes it all the tougher. have, iacles in europe sort, somewhat, to do with of the fundamental conflict between, on the one hand, the european union incentives and andes to promote openness free movement of people and , which is, in with the in conflict responsibility that he's country to protecttionstate the security of its borders and people. those are sort of countervailing processes. each of these countries have , with respect to

privacy, and sharing information between their intelligence and law enforcement entities, something that we have worked pretty hard in this country since 9/11. >> is it realistic to expect that sharing to happen? it was very i think significant when the european parliament, after some 4.5 years of the liberation, it did pass a law that at least authorizes member nations to take two years to figure out how to better coordinate selective airline passenger data. but, that is fairly limited. so, how long this will take, i don't know. i will tell you that i was in after the attack on november 13.

of course, after that, followed by the brussels attacks. i think there is growing public awareness when these attacks happen that something needs to be done. certainly, with our counterpart organizations, intelligence and security organizations, there is a greatly heightened awareness of the need to share. >> back to syria. for a long time, another reason that we haven't gotten involved in syria were concerns about the ,ntertwining extremists islamist groups in particular, al qaeda, job on al nusra, with the other opposition groups. i wonder with the larger number of advisors and special ops if we are getting a

better hold on how to separate them out or is it just means we are going to work more with the kurds? mr. clapper: there are two zones if you will in syria. there is the western spine sort of going from the south, south of damascus and north to aleppo and the extreme east and the phenomenon we're dealing with is the term of art that is used is marbling, where you have these groups and there are hundreds of them. at one point we estimated 1,500 or 1,600 of these various separate groups of varying stripes of ideology and commitment. on the battlefield, there have been tactical marriages of convenience, particularly with