involved in triggered the whole , it has become this important initiative. the economic arguments for the tpp in terms of trade, i think the president has presented them eloquently. it is a deal the countries have negotiated. accesse provides market on their side in return for gaining market access on the other side. they are committing to rules. it is a hard fought bargaining ross us. the negotiators spent many trips and nights and many dawns and find out. at the and of it, everybody must decide is a plus or minus for think mikeur case, i froman did a very good job.

ours did the best they could bring back something the political leadership could stand by and support. the an achievement that all members of the tpp at the end of this are still with us. nobody has struck out of this. there is something in it for each one of us. i think we should look at the other side of the economic benefit. i am exporting. i am earning a job. i am spending and i am consuming and importing and because of this, i am getting a wider range of products and services and opportunities that will improve. people talk about walmart with product coming from all over asia. who benefits? people in america. not just exporters. your invisibleof

standard of living. it is real and it is valuable. in terms of the economic benefits, the tpp is a big deal. in terms of america's engagement in the region, you have put a reputation on the line. thing whichg america is doing in the asia-pacific with the obama administration. partners, your friends who have come to the table who have negotiated, each one of them has overcome some objection, some sensitivity, some political cost to come to the table and make this deal. bride doesn't arrive, i hurt people will feel very . several of his predecessors

thought seriously about participating in the tpp. they walked away. he wants to help. he wants his country to benefit and to open up its market. this is one way to do that. you don't do this. it hurts relationship with japan. it hurts your should. agreement with japan and the japanese living in on an uncertain world. they are depending on the american nuclear umbrella. on life-and-death, whom do i have to depend on? this will not be set openly. i have no doubt. i think if you go beyond that, i

would like the tea people question with an earlier question. where do we go for the next 50 years? that depends if we go toward interdependence and therefore peaceful cooperation or we go rivalry, afficiency, higher risk of conflict. asia has tried both. the world has tried both. 1930's, with a very difficult international environment, you had a rivalry with japan which led to war. war, because america was open and because you promoted trade and you encouraged investment and other countries to open up, the asia-pacific has been peaceful.

if over the next 50 years you continue to work toward interdependence and cooperation and neutral prosperity, we can say these have been peaceful years and we have made further progress together. if you go in the opposite direction and you decide that middle.l split down the i think that's a very different world. one of the reasons why you don't have a manageable relationship with china now is because you have trade. it is mutually that official. both sides want to maintain that relationship. if you didn't, it would be like the soviet union during the cold war. to find ways to

work together, but it's much harder. the tpp does not include china. it points the direction toward the world. direction,the wrong in the next 50 years maybe you will turn around, but it will cost you many years in the world will have to pay quite a high price. i am from the business times in singapore. good afternoon. i have two questions. the stakesnows what are. the future of the tpp if it does not get ratified during the lame-duck session? the fear is that if things wait need to bet might

opened up for re-negotiation. reassure the nations and the people there is the political will to get this done as soon as possible? the second question is for president obama. we are almost at the end of your eight years in office. i would like you to evaluate progress regarding a ship. what is the thing you're most proud of? what is something you would have done it differently? what is your message to your successor to engage singapore, southeast asia, the asia-pacific? with respectr lee: to tpp, i thought prime minister lee's points were right on target.

this is an economic agreement. what we have learned in history economics't separate and issues and security issues. the prime minister is right. from a norm used peace and prosperity around the world. unprecedented time where the great powers would not engaged in conflict. this was in part as a growing interdependence. if you think about those parts of the world where we still seek conflict, where we still see high levels of violence, they are places that are less integrated into the world economy. there is a reason for that.

there is a powerful economic case, a bread-and-butter case about why this is good for american workers. it's ultimately good for a major -- american wages if it's structured possibly. -- properly. it's important for people to recognize that the somenative is not tpp or imaginary circumstance in which something we are able to sell goods around the world wherever we want but nobody is able to sell goods to us. we can operate anywhere around .he world

that is not the alternative. the alternative is what we have today. a situation in which we don't have as many protections around aber and environmental issues as we would like. there aren in which countries like japan that sell a lot of goods here, but keep restricted access for u.s. companies and u.s. workers to their markets. prime minister lee is right. the prime minister of japan is taking some risks because he knows he needs to make his economy more competitive. this will open up access we haven't seen in the past. that is a big market. it is still one of the top three economies in the world. the last point i would make around this is china. as prime minister lee mentioned, china is not part of the tpp.

don't establish strong tradeand norms for have and commerce is conducted in the asia-pacific region, china will. china is engaging all the countries in the region around its own version of trade agreements. they are not worried about labor standards or environmental standards or human trafficking or anticorruption measures. standard, lowest common denominator trade deal. is it creating high standards, china's rules will govern in the fastest-growing part of the world. that's bad for us economically.

security bad for interests. it's bad for the interests in promoting norms against child oror or human trafficking making sure everybody is working harder to raise conservation standards. that is the alternative. those are the options. i think it's important for us to get this done. nothing in life is certain. we've got a good track record of getting stuff done when i think it's important. i will say this: this is not just an obama administration initiative. began in at republican administration. we pushed it through. we made it happen.

we made sure that the things that i care about were incorporated into it. historically this is had strong bipartisan support. we will go out there and make those arguments. i think we will be successful. legacy, of my balanced across the board, we are in the game. we are focused on asia and away we weren't when i came into office. the countries have noticed. our alliances are strong. our security arrangements are deeper. whether in australia or the , ourppines or singapore defense budgets reflect our commitment to things like maritime security in the region.

the continuing efforts around building the east asia summit architecture means there is attention around a bunch of issues whether it's disaster relief or public health or counterterrorism. there are council -- consultations today that weren't taking place eight years ago. on every dimension, we are a much stronger position to engage, influence, and learn from our asia-pacific partners. was ourg i enjoyed most young southeast asian leaders program. whenever i meet with the young people, i am inspired. it makes me very optimistic

about the future and what's going to happen. if you ask of them about the future they want to see, they are very much committed to an interdependent world, where people are learning and exchanging ideas and engaged in educational and scientific exchange. a world in which different cultures and backgrounds are a source of strength and cooperation as opposed to conflict in fear. that is true in southeast asia. it is true in africa and latin america. it is true in europe. chestof this fear in the bychoice that was opposed , those whoter lee

opt for rivalry are people looking backwards. you talk to young people around the world, they understand that interdependence is the way we're going to assure peace and prosperity for all of us. that may be the thing that has some of the most lasting impact. there are some future prime minister's and presidents and business leaders and nonprofit leaders that are going to do great things. i am glad to played a part in that. >> as the president and the

prime minister depart, they will return for a state dinner. themll have the arrival of at the north portico. that starts at 6:55 p.m. eastern right here on c-span. this is a welcoming ceremony earlier this morning. he was greeted on the south lawn. they should cancel it visitors and address the crowd. ♪ ♪

>> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states and mrs. michelle obama. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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>> present the honors. president obama: good morning, everybody. >> good morning. today we obama: welcome our friends from singapore. [cheering] president obama: we have some singapore weather. [laughter] you can appreciate that. nation with one four official in whic languages. so let me say good morning. ]speaking foreign-languages president obama: on behalf of michelle and myself and the half of the american people -- and on

to half of the amerco people, i am honored to welcome prime minister lee and mrs. lee to the united states. [applause] president obama: this marks the first official state visit by singapore prime minister in over 30 years. it celebrates the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between our two nations and it is a reflection of my friendship and partnership with prime minister lee over the past eight years. it's an opportunity for me to repay the hospitality that the prime minister and the people of singapore showed me when i visited singapore during my first year in office. we were there for the apex summit with its tradition of dressing and shirts that are somewhat -- in shirts that are somewhat colorful. [laughter] president obama: a tradition that we will reserve for only those summits and we are not duplicating today. one singapore was an island of

crowded tenements, few would have imagined a day like today. singaporeans pride themselves on being the little red dot, the little red dot on many maps with a very big impact on the world. in less than a generation come under the vision and stewardship ,f prime minister lee singaporeans transform their nation from third world to first. they did this with almost no natural resources, except one -- the people of singapore. their commitment to do process and innovation. ur singaporean friends say a long road reveals the strength of your horse, and a long road reveals the heart of your friends. i first saw the heart of singapore as a young boy during my years living in southeast asia.

we see it now in the proud singapore americans who enrich our nation and join us today, including a loof aunts and uncles. we see it and all the singapore officers who attend military , more than the rest of asia combined. we see our friendships and our collaborations between the innovators and entrepreneurs from silicon valley to singapore's block 71. i understand the premise to himself recently wrote a program to solve sudoku puzzles, which michelle will want. [laughter] president obama: then the foreign minister stepped in and translated that program into javascript. so i have to start asking john kerry to do that. [laughter] president obama: today, our friendship and shared interest bring us together in a common pursuit of a common vision -- a peaceful and prosperous asia-pacific and a more secure world.

in the united states, as we balance our foreign policy to the asia-pacific, singapore and prime minister lee in particular have been solid rock partners. singapore is an anchor of our presence in the region. we stand together for a regional order where every nation, large and small, plays and trades by the same rules and we stand together to meet the threats of the 21st century from terrorism to the spread of disease to climate change. in this work, we draw strength from our people -- to societies built on multiculturalism and merit. in united states, we call her cells in melting pot of different religions, races, and creeds. a --ingapore, it is raj different parts united in a harmonious whole. if you work hard and play by the rules, you can make it. said of hisnister

country can be said of us. both are populations of triers prepared to try anything to improve themselves. we only have the future to go in quest of. with her eyes focused on the future and united in our quest for the progress and security of our two peoples, we welcome you to the united states of america. [applause] prime minister lee: thank you. president barack obama and mrs. michelle obama, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, and americans in singaporeans here today, thank you very much for this invitation. i know it's a very busy year. i watched you on television last week, and michelle, too. it is an honor for singapore to be received with such a warm welcome, especially as we celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations. the first official visit by a

singapore prime minister to the united states was in 1967. president lyndon johnson received mr. lee, our founding prime minister. singapore was then newly independent. we were struggling to build a modern economy with no means to depend ourselves in a turbulent southeast asia. to seeklee did not come military or economic aid. at the time, america was divided over the vietnam war. he came to take the measure of america's mood and intentions. he explained to his american friends why asia matter to the active why engagement was important to millions of people living in southeast asia. america's presence helped to contain the spread of communism

and gave non-communist southeast countries security, time, and space to consolidate and prosper. world 50 years later, the has completely changed. the cold war is long over. and the threat of communism has disappeared. though tensions are not entirely absent. southeast asia has prospered, but countries cooperating peacefully. endurance, policies, and actions have contributed greatly to this current peace and prosperity. keeping your markets open to trade, deepening your partnership with us, and cooperating with countries in the region to enhance regional security, you have helped create the basis for a peaceful

rules-based regional and international order. , the u.s.obama rebalance to asia is an important acclamation of a long-standing policy of the united states and has been warmly welcomed by all asean countries. the backdrop for the whole region and beyond. you have personally pushed for the transpacific partnership, growing a small pact that singapore started and what would be a major trading group linking both sides of the pacific. i know that america has many occupations both at home and abroad. they are frustrated with economic uncertainty and the uneven result of globalization, trade, and foreign engagement. the u.s. has many interests,

investments, and friends in the region. these strengthen the united states. singapore fervently hopes that the u.s. will stay engaged and maintain its indispensable role in the asia-pacific. , and i'mular, we hope sure the president sure if hope, that congress will ratify the tpp soon. not only will the tpp benefit ,merican workers and businesses it will send a clear signal and a vital signal that america will continue to lead in the asia-pacific and enhance the partnerships that link our destinies together. singapore's own ties with united states have remained steadfast through nine u.s. presidents -- five republicans and four democrats and three singapore prime ministers.

we will maintain these bipartisan links with whichever party wins the election in november. we will continue to build and deepen our economic and security relationships. we are partners in taxing the therge of isis -- attacking scourge of isis and other forms of violent extremism. our armed forces take part in exercises together and interact regularly. on this visit, president obama and i will discuss expanding our already extensive cooperation to new areas come including cyber security and smart cities. our ties reach beyond the government offices and corporate boardrooms to the hearts and minds of our people. thousands of singapore students and people study and work in america and thousands of companies operate out of singapore. the largest american curriculum school outside of the u.s. in the world is in singapore.

it is a singapore american school. there are some alumni here obviously. [applause] [laughter] prime minister lee: in my many visits to america, i visit many singaporeans living in the states contributing to their host country and the community. i have seen americans to visit singapore telling me about their singaporean friends and a favorite food. i have very grateful for this opportunity to renew our partnership on this 50th anniversary milestone and i look forward to having many more occasions and reasons to celebrate the special relationship together. thank you, president obama. thank you very much. [applause] >> [indiscernible]

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[applause] ♪ [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> a look at the opening ceremony this morning as the

singapore prime minister begins his weeklong visit here in washington. after meetings this afternoon, the prime minister returns to the white house this evening for a state dinner in his honor. we will have live coverage of the guest's arrival and a toast. a short time ago, prime minister lee joined president obama for brief statements after their meeting and to answer reporters questions. mr. primeobama: minister, i want to thank you for the valuable contributions that singapore has made to a central pillar of our foreign policy. today we agreed to continue building on this process. the u.s. and singapore are united in our commitment to enhance regional security and stability. therelationships remains closest with hundreds of american ships rotating through singapore each year. as i told the prime minister, we welcome singapore's

interest in purchasing aircraft and we will also explore the possibility of singapore troops training on qualm. we will continue to strengthen opportunities in line with what we agreed to earlier this year. we are reaffirmed our shared commitment to bringing a regional order where all nations play by the same rules and disputes are resolved peacefully, including the south china sea. we encourage economic growth and innovation among our economies. ,ith a little over a decade trade between our two countries has grown more than 50%. we are collaborating to jumpstart greater digital innovation, research and development into technology, and and promoteove smart cities concept that can improve the daily lives of our citizens. we will do more to connect our vibrant startup communities so

that an engineer in singapore collaborates more easily with silicon valley or austin, texas .trade is an issue that stirs great passion. global trade means that economies around the world are more in a greater than ever and jobs i and capital cross borders. automation means it can be produced with fewer workers and these innovations in technology have not always benefited everyone equally. there are fears and anxieties that people may be left behind. these anxieties are legitimate. they cannot be ignored. they have to be taken seriously. as i've said before, if it means we have to do everything we can to make sure that everybody shares the prosperity, then we have strong rules to protect workers, to promote highway just , and to make sure our citizens are getting the education and the training that they need.

but the answer cannot be to back away from trade and the global economy. it is here to stay. it is not possible to cut ourselves off given how integrated our economies are. to try to pull up the drawbridge on trade would only hurt us and our workers. the answers to make sure that globalization and trade is working for us and not against us. that is why today we are reaffirming our commitment to the transpacific partnership. i'm a strong supporter of tpp because it will reduce tariffsts -- and make it easier for americans to export into the fastest markets of the world. tpp levels the playing field for our workers and help insured countries abide by environmental rules. this is an opportunity to grow our economies and write the rules for trade in the 21st century. it gives us a chance to advance

american leadership and reduce an economic inequality and produce great paying jobs in a vital region. i think not only is tpp important, but the prime minister and i agreed that we need to extend our partnership beyond just regional efforts. we have work to do on a global scale. singapore was the first country in southeast asia to join at the global coalition to destroy isil , and we are grateful that singapore is making new contributions to this effort by providing medical support to coalition forces. as two nations on the forefront of digital innovation, we recognize the growing threats from cyber attacks and we are going to continue to work to strengthen cyber security and to promote peaceful norms of how nations should operate in cyberspace. singapore, the garden city, helped to achieve the paris

climate agreement last year . we thank you for your commitment to work towards joining the paris agreement this year. we are working with the international community to reduce harmful aviation emissions. our two countries will work together to advance global health security so that the world is better prepared to address the threat. the last point -- we agreed to keep promoting people to people ties between our two countries. are expanding our trusted travelers program to make it easier for americans and singaporeans to visit and do business with each other. i welcome the new student exchange program which welcome scholarships of the two countries. and to our young southeast leaders initiative, we will keep empowering people to become leaders of tomorrow in their own communities, business, and in civil society.

i will note that i had a chance to meet one of those young singapore leaders at a summit in kuala lumpur last year. it is a remarkable young woman who is helping underprivileged women become financially self-sufficient. she talked about coming together with young people from across southeast asia. she said we bonded in our common endeavor to seek and understand and learn from one another in pursuit of aspirations to a better world. young people like kerry give me make me confident that singapore and the united states will continue to advance our shared aspirations for a better world for many years to come. with that, i will turn it over imeyou, mr. pre prem minister. prime minister lee: thank you, president obama. i very happy to be here on the 50th anniversary of our diplomatic license. i would like to thank president obama for his hospitality as

well as to the wider asia-pacific and for his good wishes on the condition of our former president. the president and i had conversation on a wide range of to improve our firm and multifaceted long-standing partnership. strong economic ties are underpinned by the u.s. and singapore free trade agreement. singapore is the u.s.'s largest trading partner in southeast asia, where as the u.s. is singapore's largest foreign investor. there are many singapore companies also in america and the relationship is vital. in the defense area, we have robust cooperations from 1990 and the strategic framework agreement that concluded in 2005. last year, we concluded the and hands affects corporation --

cooperation agreement into two areas like disaster relief and counterterrorism. we are also deepening security cooperation between our agencies and areas of counterterrorism come a cyber crime, corruption, transportation security, and trade enforcement. we are expanding into new areas like cyber security while agencies are signing and mo you protecttogether to national security and our economic interest against cyber attacks. we also share an interest in smart cities. cities can usew technology to tackle problems from health care to transportation to delivery of public services. there is a lot of interest from companies on both sides. underpinning the ties between the two countries are the friendships and relationships between our peoples. thousands of american students are studying and working in singapore. thousands of singaporeans are

studying and working in america. hosted a national assembly hosting our embassy here in 600 people showed appeared it is fitting to mark of ourecial occasion 50th anniversary that we are launching a scholarship for to dooreans and americans exchanges with each other's countries and are all young people closer together and to get to know each other in society, culture, strength, an opportunity to cooperate together. and limited a trusted traveler program will also specifically travel singaporeans to the u.s.. the president and i discussed the tpp. just as you heard the president give an eloquent expedition of why it is important to america and to asia. it is an integral component of america's rebalance to asia .

apart from the benefits to trade and market standing, it is vital from a strategic point of view and a strong signal of the u.s. commitment to continue its deep engagement in the region. we greatly appreciate the efforts of the president and his ,eam to push for the tpp which grew from a small think that singapore started together with chile, brunei, and new zealand. now the tpp will be a free trade agreement encompassing 40% of the world population and one third of the world's gdp. we are near the finish line and we hope that the countries, particularly the u.s., will be able to ratify the tpp as soon as possible. finally, the president and i discussed our partnership in tackling global challenges like counterterrorism. it is a problem for all countries. every day in the newspapers the read of new attacks somewhere -- america, europe, the middle east, closer to home in indonesia and asia.

we in southeast asia are very concerned about this because the terrorists are active in many countries in the region. several hundred, perhaps thousands from southeast asia and the middle east fighting isis. we have witnessed attacks in malaysia that were mounted by isis followers under orders from isis operatives in the middle east to launch attacks in their home countries. the efforts to counter isis are crucial and that is why singapore is a member of the coalition and we are making a modest contribution to the effort. we are going to be sending a medical team to iraq. we have already been participating with image interpretation and in other ways and now we are going to send a medical team into iraq. it is also important to fundamental attack the root torce of violent extremism counter the underlying ideology of isis and issues of extremism

and views being propagated. these are major issues which we have discussed amongst our two countries and we look forward to working together and taking a relationship even further. president obama: the first question is margaret brendan. >> thank you, mr. president. given the republican nominee's recent comments about the khan family and his statement that if he was president, he would consider organizing russia's annexation of crimea, does it make you question his fitness to be president? secondly, sir, on libya, yet set in the past that the worst mistake of your presidency may have been your failure to plan for the aftermath of that 2011 nato intervention of libya. do you see your new decision to bomb isis there as a direct result of that? president obama: yes, i think the republican nominee is unfit

to serve as president. and he keepst week on proving it. would attackat he that had mademily such extraordinary sacrifices on , the factour country that he does not appear to have basic knowledge around critical in europe, in the middle , means that he is woefully unprepared to do this job. and this is not just my opinion. i think what has been interesting is the repeated

denunciations of his statements by leading republicans, including the speaker of the house and the senate majority leader and prominent republicans like john mccain. the question i think that they have to ask themselves is, if sayare repeatedly having to in very strong terms that what he has said is unacceptable, why are you still endorsing him? what does this say about your party that this is your standardbearer? this is not a situation where you have an episodic gap.

this is daily and weekly where they are distancing themselves from statements he is making. there has to be a point at which you say this is not somebody i can support for president of the united states. even if he purports to be a member of my party. the fact that that has not yet happened makes some of these denunciations ring hollow. i don't doubt their sincerity. i don't doubt that they are outraged about some of the statements that mr. trump and his supporters made about the khan family, but there has to come a point at which you thoseomebody can makes kinds of statements doesn't have the judgment, the temperament, occupy theanding to

most powerful position in the world, because a lot of people depend on the white house getting stuff right. and this is different than just having policy disagreements. all forize that they family disagreement myself and hillary clinton on tax policy or certain elements of foreign but there have been republican presidents with whom i disagree with, but i do not have a doubt that they could function as president. right and as mitt romney and john mccain were wrong on certain policy issues, but i never thought that they cannot do the job. had they won, i would have been

disappointed, but i would've said to all americans that this is our president and i know that they are going to abide by certain norms and rules and common sense. they will observe basic decency. they will have enough knowledge about economic policy and foreign policy and our constitutional traditions and rule of law. that our government will work and will compete for years from now to try to win an election. but that is not the situation here. that is not just my opinion . that is the opinion of many prominent republicans.

there has to come a point at which he say enough. -- you say enough. the alternative is that the , the republican party, effectively endorses and validates the positions that are being articulated by mr. trump. as i said in my speech last week, i do not think that actually represents the views of a whole lot of republicans out there. , i havepect to libya said on several occasions that we did the right thing in preventing what could've been a massacre, a bloodbath in libya. we did so as part of an international coalition and under u.n. law. i think that all of us collectively were not sufficiently attentive to what had happened happen the day after and the day after and the day after that in order to

ensure that there were strong to assure an place sick security and peace inside -- basic security and peace inside of libya. the good news is that we have the beginnings of a government and a government national court. they are serious about trying to bring all the factions together to start creating a basic security structure, to begin to monitor libya's borders, and to cooperate internationally to and with issues like isil penetration on their territory. at the request of that government, after they had already made significant isil and hadinst

essentially pushed isil into a very confined area in and around an america's national security interest in our fight against isil that they are able to finish the job. we are working in partnership with them to usher that -- assure that isil does not get a stronghold in libya as libya begins what will be a long process to establish a functioning government and security system there. theyood news is that this terrorist organization in their midst is contrary to their national world's.as well as the we are hopeful that having completed this process of

driving isil out that they will be in a position to start bringing parties together inside that country, and not only us but the europeans and other countries around the world have a great interest in seeing stability in libya because the absence of stability has helped to fuel some of the challenges we have seen in terms of the migration crisis in europe and some of the humanitarian tragedies we have seen in the open seas between libya and europe. nicholas.ht, >> thank you. the first question is for prime minister lee. he has spoken about the continuation of the u.s. rebalancing and a significant part of peace and stability in asia. how do you vision this continuation perceived in -- proceeding in the next 50 years? and what role do you see singapore playing in this process?

what are the hot button issues as the u.s. hopefully continues its rebalance? second question -- you mentioned the strong bipartisan links that singapore has had with nine different presidents from both sides of the focal divide -- political divide. how would you address a u.s. leader who has proposed more empty globalization? question --a has a president obama has a question about the cornerstone of the relationship of the u.s. and singapore in response to the medical team from singapore to to iraq. potential for military confrontation in the south china sea, how do you see singapore featuring in the u.s. plans to address this going forward? last question, four more years is a phrase that i think you are

hearing a little bit in the past few weeks and months. while that is not possible, if it were -- [laughter] how would you continue developing relationships with singapore? full of beer key focus going forward in the next few years -- what would be your full key focus going forward in the next two years? prime minister lee: no one can imagine what singapore would be like today or the world will be like today. we have to see a broad relationship and some the things to do together. we will like to build on this for the next 50 years. each of ourn how countries does and singapore were we are able to remain stable and prosperous and open and successful. in america, what the remain wanted dynamic, vibrant leading , and aes in the world world in which there are other centers and creativity and technology and science and

progress. , a unique participant with a history of contributing to the world not just for your own interest, but because you believe that the world would be a better place for all countries . andmerica can do that singapore can maintain our success, then i think there are many opportunities for us to make common cause together. the rebalancing which the president has enunciated will sustain and endure for many years to come. it will be a very different world as countries will grow and others will slow down. demographics will be a big factor to come. when you look at japan, the population has been shrinking and they will have to do something somehow to turn it around. otherwise 50 more years of population shrieking and you have a very small country left in terms of the economy and influence international. singapore has demographic

issues. america has a demographic change. the population is not checking, but the composition is changing. with this situation, we have to adjust to a new world. maintaining our position and our ability to compete and yet knowing that it is not going to be the same as it was in 1946 when america was half the world's gdp. so -- one quarter of the world's gdp. so that is the crucial factor for the next 50 years. as for what we do with bipartisan links if there is a u.s. leader who is more closed off and wants to turn inward, i do not think this is right for -- u.s.lk about you politics at the moment. we will work with whichever party. we have worked with five republicans and four democrat administration.

our experience of american presidential elections has been that many pressures build up during the election campaign. and a calmlections her, cooler atmosphere, positions are besought. strategies are nuanced and a certain balance is kept in the direction. it does not turn completely upside down. the americans take pride in having a system of checks and balances so that it is not so easy to do things, but it is not so easy to completely messed things up. [laughter] and weinister lee: admire that and sometimes we depend upon that. [laughter] he isent obama: absolutely right. [laughter] president obama: the wisdom of our founders. with respect to military

, obviously singapore is a small country, but as i've said before, it carries much of its weight. so much of our work in the asia-pacific region is not a matter of active conflict but rather creating an architecture, a framework of rules and norms that keeps the peace and that has underwritten security for the region and for us for many years now. so often the adult ,n the room, the level head that can help us work with a wide range of countries around certain issues, help defuse tensions. in many ways, the diplomatic work and collaboration that we aswith singapore is

critical, if not more critical, then the work militarily. what is also true is the nature of threats today. cyber threats of or our concern about enforcing sanctions against north korea to ensure non-proliferation of nuclear materials or being able in aunter message isil place like southeast asia and ensure information sharing with countries where there may be a budding terrorist threat, those are all issues of military finesse. and intelligence and precision. those are areas where singapore excels. verydition to being a andrtant logistical hub

center for our operations, the partnership that we are able to to work with aus whole range of other countries much more effectively than we would if singapore worked there and we were having to just try together up all these countries individually. that is where the east asia summit has been very important. it is institutionalizing many of and ways thats hopefully avoids conflict in the first place, which would be in everybody's interest. as where the relationship goes, i think the prime ministers absolutely right. 50 years from now, it is very hard to anticipate where we are going, but there are certain trends that i think are inevitable. the asia-pacific region will and willto grow

continue to account for a larger economy.the world there are going to be countries in the southeast asian region that look to follow the path of singapore into a mature, advanced economy. it is going to be a big market. and the united states is still going to have a massive interest in maintaining itself as a and incific power maintaining strong bonds of trade and commerce and scientific exchange and educational exchange. strategicclose interest, but maybe even more important, the close people to people ties between america and singapore, i think we can anticipate that that will be

just as strong 50 years from now as it is today. has to take into account not just american interest. china is a big neighbor. there are strong commercial ties and cultural ties there as well. in that sense, singapore can actually serve as a useful partner with us and with china to ensure the u.s.-china relationship moves in a productive way, which i think would be in the interest of both countries. be a central to engine for world growth. if we do a good job in maintaining stability and ensuring a rules-based order, continuing to promote greater transparency and reducing corruption in the region so that all people are benefiting from

the rapid growth that has taken place, then i think the future 50 years from now will be bright. >> jordan. >> thank you, mr. president. -- you are here touting the transpacific partnership. hillary clinton is a gues againt it. tim kaine is also against it. donald trump is against it, and that is the whole field. if you take the candidates at their work, how can you get congress to pass this bill as a lame-duck and what is your plan to convince members to do so even the opposition i've just described? secondly, security officials inside and outside the government said they are almost certain that the hack of the democratic national committee came from russia. doesn't look to you like russia is meddling in the u.s. election, and what impact should that have on your relationship for the months to come? president obama: right now, i'm

president and i am for it. i think of got the better argument -- i have got the better argument. i've made this argument before and i will make it again. economy.rt of a global we are not reversing that could . it can't be reversed because it is driven by technology and it is driven by travel and cargo containers. the fact that demand for products inside of our country means we've got to get some things from other places and our export sector is a huge contributor to jobs and our economic well-being. now manufactured products involve a global supply chain where parts are made in all

corners of the globe and converge and then get assembled and packaged and sold. the notion that we are going to pull that uprooted branch is unrealistic -- point number one. point number 2 -- it is absolutely true. somevidence shows that past trade deals have not delivered on all the benefits that were promised and had very localized cost. there were communities that were hurt because plants moved out. people lost jobs. because ofreated those trade deals, but jobs were also lost. people who experienced those losses and those communities did not get as much help as they needed to. true as aso consequence of globalization and

automation, what you have seen as labor -- is labor and workers and beingrage and capital being mobile has contributed to inequality not just here in the united states but many advanced economies. there is a real problem, but the answer is not cutting off globalization. we makeer is how do sure that globalization, technology, automation, those things work for us and not against us? tpp is designed to do precisely that. number 1 -- it knocks out 18,000 tariffs that other countries placed on a mac and products and goods. -- american products and goods. our economy is more open than art trading partners -- many of our trading partners.

if everybody agrees that we're going to have lower terrace, is goodare riffs, that for making workers, then we should want that and pursue it . number 2 -- the complaint about previous trade deals was that labor agreements and environmental agreements sounded good, but they were not enforceable the same way you could complain about cartariffs and complain about s were nott tariff enforced. tpp actually strengthens labor agreements and environmental agreements, and they are just as enforceable as any other part of the agreement. in fact, people taken so seriously that right now, for example, vietnam is drafting and presenting unprecedented labor reforms in vietnam, changing their constitution to recognize

worker organizations in vietnam for the first time. so what we are doing is we are insing standards for workers those countries, which means it is harder for them to undercut labor standards here in the united states. the same is true for environmental standards. the same is true for things like human trafficking, where we have a country like malaysia taking really serious efforts to crack down on human trafficking. why? because tpp says you need to. do gets us leverage to promote things that progressives and people here in this country, including labor unions, say they care. preventing about abusive workers, child labor, wildlife trafficking,

, the decimation of forests, all those things are addressed in this, in this agreement. i've not yet heard anybody make the existinghat trading rules are better for issues like labor rights and environmental rights than they would be if we got tpp past. -- passed. i'm going to continue to make this case. i have some very close friends and people i admire a whole lot. i just disagree with them and that's ok. i respect the arguments that they are making. they are coming from a sincere concern about the position of workers and wages in this country, but i think i've got

the better argument. i've got the evidence to support it. isefully after the election over and the dust settles, there will be more attention to the actual facts and the deal and it will not just be a political symbol or political football. withl actually sit down people on both sides, on the right and on the left. i will sit down publicly with them and we will go through both provisions. i would enjoy that because there's a lot of misinformation. i'm really confident i can make the case that this is good for american workers and the american people. people said we were not going to be able to get the trade authority to even present this there congress, and somehow model through and got it done. i intend to do the same with the

actual agreement. you had a second question. that was a long answer. imepologize, mr. pr minister. oh, the fbi is still doing an investigation. you are right that there have been assessment made that this might have been a russian hack. what i can tell you without commenting on the specifics is that there are a lot of countries out there that are trying to hack into our stuff. databases, but also private sector databases and not-for-profit databases. this is why we have stood up such an aggressive effort to strengthen our cyber security. we have provisions in place where if we see evidence of a malicious attack by a state

potentiallyn impose certain proportional penalties, but that requires us to really be able to pin so i do not want to get out ahead of the legal evidence and facts we may have in order to make those kinds of decisions. more broadly, we are trying to promote international norms and rules that say there are certain things that states should not be doing to each other when it comes to cyber attacks. there are certain things that are out of bounds. and those norms are going to morey build and get adherence over time, but we are still early in the process. in some ways the explosion of the internet and its importance

to communications systems has outstripped our ability to keep up, but we will have to keep on at it. in terms of how it affects our relationship with russia, we have a lot of differences with russia on a bunch of issues. we have been able to try to stay focused on those areas where we still have a comment interest, understanding -- common interests, understanding we have deep differences on issues like ukraine, but how we can bring an end to violence in syria, how we balance those issues. that is pretty standard statecraft at this point with russia. russia engaged in

this activity, it is just one on a long list of issues that me and mr. putin talk about and that i have a real problem with. and so i do not think it wildly swings what is a tough we have with with th russia right now, but it will not stop is pursuing solutions, for example, implementing the minsk agreement and get those separatists to lay down arms. that will not stop us from trying to make sure we can bring a political transition inside of syria that can end the hardship there. prime minister lee: i do not want to wade into your mistake politics, but looking at it on

the other side of the pacific, triggered the whole process because we started the process ll and becametpp fe this important initiative. the economic arguments for the tpp in terms of trade, i think the president has presented them adequately. it is a deal in which the countries have negotiated, each one providing market access on their side in return for gaining market access on the site. to rules inmitting exchange for the other side committing to rules. it is a hard-fought bargaining process. the negotiators spent many trips, many nights, many dawns and find out. it, everybody must decide is it a plus or minus for them, and in your case -- did a good case as

the ustr. our negotiators to their best . that -- it isent an achievement that members of the tpp are with this and have not dropped out. obviously, there's something in it for each one of us. we should look at the other side of the economic and if it cannot which is not produces. , but i am also spending, consuming, importing, and because it is free trade can im making a wider range of products, services, opportunities which will improve my livelihood. products come from all over asia. who benefits? many people in america, not just exporters, even people living in the rust belt, in the midwest.

these are parts of your everyday invisible standard of living, and yet it is real and it is valuable. in terms of the economic benefits, the tpp is a big deal. i think in terms of america's engagement of the region, you have put your reputation online. it is the big thing in which america is doing in asia-pacific the obama administration, consistently over many years of hard work and pushing. your partners, your friends who have come to the table, who have negotiated, each one of them has overcome some domestic political objection, some sensitivity, some political cost to come to the table and make this deal. at the altar,end, the bride does not arrive, i think there are people who are going to be very hurt, not just

emotionally, but really damaged a long time to come. mr. abe, perceval. several of his predecessors thought seriously about and decided not to participate in that tpp. they prepared the grounds. they walked away. abe came through. he wants his country to open up his markets. it hurts your relationship with japan, your security agreement with japan, and the japanese living in an uncertain world, depending on america's nuclear umbrella will have to stay on followamericans cannot through, life or death, you can i depend on? be -- no doubts it will

to go beyond that, i would like to think up the question with another question from nicholas, is where do we go with the next 50 years? hat g depends whether we toward interdependence or whether we go for self-sufficiency, rivalry and higher risk of conflict. asia is tried both. the world has tried but. in the 1930's, with smoot-hawley, with the depression, with a very difficult international environment, you went for protectionist policies. with japanivalry which led to war. after the war, because america was open, because you promoted tray, because you encouraged investments, and encouraged other countries open up, the

asia-pacific has been peaceful and the pax americana has been a pax and not a war. if over the next 50 years you continue to work toward interdependence and cooperation and neutral prosperity, than 50 years from now we can say these have been peaceful years and we have made further progress. if you go in the opposite direction and you decide this is a big pacific, but it is enough to split down the middle and one chuck is mine and another chunk others', it is a difficult world. one of the reasons you have a difficult relation with china is because you have trade. it is enormous, mostly beneficial, and both sides want to retain relationship. if you do not, it would be like the soviet union during the cold war and you have negligible

trait and you have to find ways to work together, but it is much harder. that tpp does not include china, but some people think it does, but the tpp point in the wholeion towards a orientation of your society, and if you set in the wrong direction, may be in the next 50 years sometimes you will turn around, but it will cost you many years and the world will have to pay a quite a high price. you went from the -- good afternoon. i have two questions. the first is a follow-up to the tpp. a lot has been said. everyone knows what is at stake. what is the future of the tpp if it does not get ratified by january, the lame-duck session? the fear is that if things wait might need to be

reopened up for renegotiation and that will probably kill the deal. january -- how can you reassure the tpp nations and the people that there is a political will to get this done as soon as possible? the second question is for president obama. we're almost at the end of your eight years in office. i would like you to evaluate the rebalancen the u.s. to asia. what is something you are most proud of? is there something you would have done different we, and what is your message to your successor to continue to engage singapore, southeast asia, and rest of the asia-pacific? thank you. with respect to tpp, i thought prime minister lee's points were right on

target, and this is an economic agreement, but what we have learned in history is that you cannot separate out economic interests and issues and security issues and interests. and the prime minister is absolutely right. ishave benefited from a norm peace and prosperity around the a norm is peace and prosperity around work, a time when powers were not engaged in conflict, in part because of growing interdependence. if you think about those parts of the world where we still see seelict, where we still high levels of violence, it typically are places that are less integrated into the world economy, and there is a reason

for that. a powerfulthere is economic case, a basic right and better case to be made about why this is good for american workers and exports and ultimately good for american wages if constructive properly, but i think there is a strong security component to this. and what i also think is important for people to recognize that the alternate it alternative is not tpp or some imaginary circumstance in which suddenly we are able to sell goods around the world wherever we want, but nobody is whereo sell goods to us, we can operate anywhere around the world under fair rules, but they cannot operate here in that fashion. that is not -- whatever is being

imagined as the alternative is not the alternate it. the alternative is what we have today where we do not have as many protections around weironmental issues as th would like. there are countries like japan that sell goods here, but keep restricted access for u.s. workers to their markets. and prime minister lee is right that mr. abe has taken significant risks does he knows he needs to make his economy or competitive, and as a consequence -- that is a big market, still one of the top three economies in the world. so the last point i would make around this is china. as prime minister lee measured,

china is not a part of tpp. but if we do not establish strong rules, norms, for how trade and commerce are conducted in the asia-pacific region, then china will. china is already engaging all countries in the region around its own version of trade agreement, and they are not worried about labor standards or and frontal standards or human trafficking -- and environmental standards or human traffic or if i corruption measures. so you get a low standards, lowest common denominator trade america is not creating high standards, then will govern in the fastest-growing part of the world.

that is bad for us economically, but it is also bad for security interests, also bad for the interest in promoting norms against child labor or against human trafficking or making sure that everybody is working harder to raise conservation standards. and that is the alternative. that is the option. i think it is very important for us to get this done. in terms of assurances, nothing in life is certain. but we got a pretty good track records, and i will that this actually is not just an obama administration issue. began in at republican administration.

we pushed it through, made it happen, made sure that the things that i care about in terms of labor and environmental incorporated, but historically it has had strong bipartisan support. the bottom line is we will make those arguments and we will be successful. in terms of my rebalance legacy, across the board, we are just in the gain. we are -- in the game. we are focused on asia in a way that we were not. our alliances are stronger. our security arrangements are austriaweather in or singapore -- whether in australia or singapore.

our commitments to things like maritime security in the region, the continuing efforts around building the east asia summit architecture means that there is a kind of day to day interaction around a whole range of issues, whether it is disaster relief war public health issues or counterterrorism. there is consultations that are taking place today that were not taking place years ago. i think on every dimension we are in a much stronger position to engage, influence, and learn from our asia-pacific partners. think i probably enjoy most has been our young southeast asia leaders program because whenever i meet with the young people from other countries, i'm

inspired. it makes me optimistic about the future and what will happen over the next 50 years, because if you ask them about the future that they want to see, they are very much committed to an interdependent world, a world in which people are learning and exchange ideas and engaged in scientific and educational exchange. people'sld in which different cultures and backgrounds are a source of strength and cooperation as opposed to conflict and fear. and that is true in southeast asia. that is true in africa. that is true in latin america. that a true in europe, lot of this fear, the choice that was posed by prime minister lee between independence and self-sufficiency that is not

achievable and ultimately rivalry and conflict, those who opt for rivalry are folks who are looking backwards. he talked to people around the world -- you talk to young people around the world a understand that interdependence is the way we will assure peace and prosperity for all of us for years to come. and so that may leave the thing -- that may be the thing that has the most lasting aspect. in a town hall meetings i have had, i suspect our future business leaders that will do great things, and i am glad to be able to be a small part of that. thank you. thank youster lee: very much. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.

visit ncicap.org] prime minister lee went to the state department for lunch. he will be back at the white house this evening for a state dinner in his honor, and we will al atthe official arriv 6:55 eastern. you can watch this at season. an member republic and neve of congress has given his support to hillary clinton. hannah said, i think truck is a national endorsement. iftold a syracuse newspaper, he is the guy you want to have the nuclear codes, that while i disagree with him on many -- on

with her on many issues, i will vote for her. thehil read more at l.com. foundation heritage host a discussion on school vouchers and choice in education. scholars will talk about vouchers and other changes that more choicess when educating their children. 3:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. saturday, a look at police and race relations. obama athow president the memorial service for five police officers shot in dallas. president obama: men and women of the dallas police did not flinch and they did not react recklessly. and tim scott giving a speech

on the senate for about his own interactions with police. i was full over for nothing more than driving a new car in the wrong neighborhood -- i was pulled over for nothing more than driving a new car in the wrong neighborhood. followed by a panel with the city's police chief. >> most people get defensive if they feel you are being offenses. being respectful in encounters and request if it is not a dangerous situation request change thends, those dynamics. >> saturday at 8:00 eastern on c-span and www.c-span.org. a gathering of

netroots nation occurred in july. next, what is next for sanders' political revolution and how to down theders up and ballot, especially in congress. >> let's get started. i would to thank everyone for coming today. we will have a question and answer session as we move into this, but i want to start off first by giving everybody a chance to introduce themselves, tell you and tiny bit about themselves and then we will get into some moderated questions and we will open it up for all of you. first, thank you for being here. especially at 9:00 a.m. if you're like me were out extremely late last night and this is super early. thank you very much for taking the time to come here and participate. with that, i would like to give each panelist a chance to briefly introduce themselves.

starting with alexandra rojas. ms. rojas: hello, everyone. my name is alexandra. i used to work on the bernie campaign as a digital field manager on the distributed organizer team. shortly after, brand-new congress is not an old concept in women talking about it for quite some time. the founders, it is not necessarily a new idea. a good place for me to go next after bernie. and just a bit background, i'm 21. i'm still in progress with going to school. but bernie, as many volunteers have, has just consumed. now i'm into political organizing as well as activism. >> we have a state senator running for congress.

>> i was a state representative for three terms and in the second term of my time in the senate with the missouri senate. it was a pleasure to endorse bernie. i think i did that and perhaps may because i wanted to have an opportunity to really listen to the issues that impact the community that i represent, which is ferguson. i heard the message loud and clear and decided to endorse bernie because we needed to go in a new direction, and people who have been voiceless for so long deserve and need to have champions were not only in congress, but also the white house. >> thank you. we also have misty snow who is a democratic candidate for u.s. senate in utah. she is also the first

transgender candidate to win the democratic primary domination. ms. snow: i'm running for u.s. senate in the state of utah. i won the democratic primary. this was the first time i ran for office. a lot of people were surprised. i entered the race kind of late. a guy started six months ahead of me and i felt it was wrong on a lot of issues. i felt that we democrats need to nominate people who are actually going to stand up for things like women reproductive rights, lgbt community, living wage, reforming our criminal justice system which disproportionally incarcerates people of color. it was silent on it. i thought he was wrong. i challenged him for the

nomination, and i just won the primary a couple weeks ago and i'm happy to be here today. thank you all for coming. and you for inviting me and other people. >> thank you. and we have alan grayson running for u.s. senate in florida. he was an early bernie endorser. mr. grayson: i was the fourth member of congress to endorse bernie sanders, and i did so after we set up the website graysonprimary.com, and invited people to come vote for the two candidates but also to ask when why. the vote came in at 86% bernie and 14% secretary clinton, and it was fascinating to make was to see all the explanations. bernie sanders supporters really want to see change in the country, fundamental change. he understands the system is rigged and we need somebody as a leader who will change that.

>> i'm the executive director of democracy for america. we are an organization that started 12 years ago after governor howard dean ran for president and we started a long-term organization of which we elected over 846 candidates to congress up and down the ballot across this country, raised over $50 million for candidates and specifically with the bernie sanders campaign, we endorsed very early, our members participated in over 115,000 phone banks, helping to make 75 million phone calls which is an outrageously awesome number. it is one of the reasons why the media was not capable of killing the campaign. we played a very important part in that. it seems like a perfect way to continue on the work of what democracy for america is all about, which is about fighting a

50-state strategy of fighting up and down the ballot. what we are here for today is we are about the next steps for political revolution. we have some great candidates. bernie is no longer a candidate for the presidency. tech as a, that will be true in a few weeks. since he has endorsed hillary, we can say that confidently. we have political revolution candidates up and down the ballot and are in a position to make headway for the political revolution as soon as the upcoming elections happening right now. that said, this is a long-term movement. if you look at the work of what democracy for america has done, this is 12 years later after a very similar exciting grassroots campaign that and howard grassroots across the country. we are still around 12 years later and bigger than ever. i'm excited to see what happens at the political revolution move

forward and i can only imagine, we only won one state, vermont. we only had about 500,000 people on our interest -- on our e-mail list. we had a sanders campaign that won 22 states and 8 million people and 75 million called. with that, want to put some questions our panelists. pretty straightforward, i like to start with the alex, what did you learn from the sanders campaign as we move forward? >> i would say the biggest lesson i learned from both starting off as a volunteer and entering the campaign is to have trust in grassroots organizing and your volunteers.