mr. brennan: yes. [laughter] mr. brennan: there are things they can do and have done to address some of the terrorist threats they face, which are similar to the ones we face. one of the things about isis that distinguishes it from al qaeda it has an anti-shia dimension to it. that is how it has sort of rolled over many parts of iraq. because of the years where the sunni community felt shia dominated in the influence in baghdad was not addressing the needs of the community. they are very concerned about that. at the same time, iran is still identified as the leading state sponsor of terrorism because of what they have done. they are both a part of the problem, but they are also -- i am hopeful that maybe with the growing influence and ascendance of some the more moderate elements within the iranian government -- that we may see iran truly move towards rejoining the community of nations and fulfilling its role and responsibility. but while it continues to provide support to terrorist organizations and other groups, the

mr. brennan: thank you. thank you so much.you do not mind -- and maybe one without -- you promised me not to use that one. >> thank you all for coming. if you are driving, please drive safety. in any event, please arrive home safely. thank you all so 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] >> there is word this afternoon that hillary clinton will announce her choice for a vice-presidential pick. reuters here -- we may hear that this afternoon. we will cover her rally in tampa this afternoon. she is at the state fairgrounds there. we will have it live at 4:30 eastern on c-span. he will have a front row seat to every minute of the democratic national convention at www.c-span.org. withoutoceedings commentary or commercials, and use our video clipping tool to create your own clip of favorite moments and share them on social media. read twitter feeds from reporters in philad

senator johnson: do you agree with director brennan? mr. mcgurk: the attack like brussels and paris are what they plan from their sanctuaries, so we believe those were organized in raqqa. those attacks are harder to do when you are pressing on their territory. the lone wolf attacks that are very difficult to stop. senator johnson: my point is, until we actually defeat them, we can nibble around the edges, we can make some progress, we can push them out of iraq, and, i mean, i have yet to hear how this administration has a game plan for actually defeating them. i mean, i hear the game plan for making progress, it actually the feeding them, and the best point i'm trying to make, if we do not defeat them, if we do not deny them territory, if we do not deny them the caliphate, if we do not take away those safe havens, they are incredibly sophisticated. what we have seen in san bernardino and in orlando, tragically. there was, by the way, a foiled plot against a masonic temple in wisconsin. also isis inspired. we have to defeat them. where is ou

mr. president. our efforts have not reduced the group's terrorism capability and global reach, that from c.i.a. director brennan. that's a pretty serious indictment of the obama administration's isis strategy or lack thereof. mr. president, if our efforts have not reduced isis terrorism capability and global reach, then our efforts are failing. and we need a new plan. but that's something that president obama seems unlikely to produce, despite a halfhearted campaign against isis, the president has never, never laid out a comprehensive strategy to defeat the terrorist group. and as a result, isis terrorism capability and global reach are thriving. mr. president, keeping americans safe from isis requires a comprehensive approach. it requires not just containing, but decisively defeating isis abroad. it requires controlling our borders and strengthening our immigration system. it requires us to give law enforcement and intelligence agencies the tools and funding they need to monitor threats abroad and here at home. and it requires us to secure the homeland by addressing security weaknesses that would give terroris

mr. palmer for five minutes. >> director comey your statement indicated may or may not have been hacked by foreign power. are you aware that teenage hackers hack personal accounts of john brennan, james clapper and fbi deputy director mark jew giuliani. >> these are protected e-mail accounts that contained no classified information. mrs. clinton used her personal e-mail on a server in her basement without even this basic protection and transmitted classified information through that account. if teenagers in england were able to hack personal e-mail accounts of director of cia, deputy director of fbi does it concern you that sophisticated hackers never attempted? does it seem reasonable that they never attempted or were never successful in hacking mrs. clinton's personal e-mail accounts or one of her devices? >> it concerns me a great deal. that is why we spent so much time trying to see if we could see finger prints of that. >> you said in your statement regarding your recommendation not to prosecute this is not to suggest that in similar circumstances a person who engaged in this activity would face no consequences. to the contrary that is not what we are deciding here. you s

mr. palmer for five minutes. >> director comey your statement indicated may or may not have been hacked by foreign power. are you aware that teenage hackers hack personal accounts of john brennan, james clapper and fbi deputy director mark jew giuliani. >> these are protected e-mail accounts that contained no classified information. mrs. clinton used her personal e-mail on a server in her basement without even this basic protection and transmitted classified information through that account. if teenagers in england were able to hack personal e-mail accounts of director of cia, deputy director of fbi does it concern you that sophisticated hackers never attempted? does it seem reasonable that they never attempted or were never successful in hacking mrs. clinton's personal e-mail accounts or one of her devices? >> it concerns me a great deal. that is why we spent so much time trying to see if we could see finger prints of that. >> you said in your statement regarding your recommendation not to prosecute this is not to suggest that in similar circumstances a person who engaged in this activity would face no consequences. to the contrary that is not what we are deciding here. you s

mr. michael german is a fellow with the liberty and national security program at the brennan center for justice at new york university law school. a graduate of wake forest university and northwestern university law school, he previously worked as a special agent of the fbi. he has taught at the national defense university, the john j. college of criminal justice and spent several years with the american civil liberty union's washington legislative office. and mr. andrew mccarthy is a senior fellow at the national review institute and a contributing editor to national review. a graduate of columbia, he served as a federal prosecutor for 18 years and the united states attorney's office for the southern district of new york. he was the lead prosecutor in the terrorism case against the so-called blind sheik and 11 others convicted in 1995 of conspiring to wage a war of urban terrorism against the united states. mr. mccarthy is the author of several books on terrorism and national security. i would ask that each of you stand and raise your right hand. do you affirm that the testimony you're about t

mr. chairman, ranking members. chairman mccaul: i now recognize myself for questions. there are some that argue our actions in iraq in syria have diminished threat to the homeland. or, you testified on this. john brennanecently gave a failing grade and said ""our efforts have not reduced terrorism capability and global reach." i want to ask this question of each of you. secretary johnson, do you agree with the comments? sec. johnson: i have not read testimony innan's its entirety. i have seen excerpts of it. the way i would assess it is we are making significant progress in isil's ability to maintain any type of caliphate in iraq and syria. i think anytime a terrorist organization is able to establish the caliphate, that has real implications and troubling implications. we have made progress ther in our abilitye to roll back their territory, degrade their ability to finance, degrade their ability to communicate. i agree with nick's assessment that we have to conduct external attacks, not self-radicalize, still very much present. and that is something that we need to continue to focus our u.s. government national security, homeland security resources on. and no respect do i think we are satisfied, that

accounts brennan,rector john director of national intelligence james clapper and fbi deputy director mark giuliano. these are protected e-mail accounts that contained no classified information. yet mrs. clinton used her personal e-mail, not a commercial account on a server in her basement without even this basic protection and transmitted classified information through that account. if teenagers in england were able to hack personal e-mail accounts of the director of cia, director of national intelligence and deputy director of fbi does it concern you that sophisticated hackers or working for foreign interests never attempted? does it seem reasonable that they never attempted or were never successful in hacking mrs. clinton's personal e-mail accounts or one of her devices? dir. comey: it concerns me a great deal. that is why we spent so much time trying to see if we could see finger prints of that. >> you said in your statement regarding your recommendation not to prosecute this is not to suggest that in similar circumstances a person who engaged in this activity would face no consequences. to the contrary, these individuals are often subject to sanctions for those that what we are