for more on this visit by president erdogan, let's move to john hedron. who is live in washington, d.c. what is erdogan doing at the islamic center? >> they're fighting members of other religious to come and use the facilities. here it's a way to give an outreach for turkish culture and gives a place for people to come here to play who are muslims in the washington, d.c. area where 45 minutes drive north of washington. and there are a number of muslim who is live in this area. you can see the people behind me, there are hundreds there. what you don't see there are thousands more just who have come to see erdogan speak. he has engenerated some enthusiasm on what otherwise would be a controversial trip in washington, d.c. >> he sought to meet obama, but that isn't did happen. is that being read as a snub? >> it is, indeed. obama was intended to be here. that's what the church wanted to happen. erdogan wanted him to be on this stage behind me with erdogan himself. and when had a wasn't going to happen the turkish people--the turkish government has asked for

i speak with john hedron who joins us from maryland. i imagine that the turkish president is not there just to open this particular mosque. what else is he up to? >> i'm sorry, i can't hear you. you can hear the opening music right now. rain will have stopped by then. he's opening the islamic cultural center. it will have a mosque and designed to spread turkish culture, and also to give a place to pray. of course, that is a diverse group here on the east coast of the united states. this is something that erdogan is doing in other countries as well and he's expected to do tend it is funded by the turkish government. >> president obama had been invited to this event, the white house cited a conflict of schedules erdogan wanted a bilateral meeting, an one-on-one that is a prestigious thing that erdogan was attending and the white house said it could not accommodate that request. president obama did speak with erdogan on the sidelines of that event, but that was a lower-profile incident. it was not a bilateral meeting and clearly a snub. du

. >> let's go to john hedron. >> the president same here for a summit. a summit of nuclear correspondence. there was a melee scuffle between his security guards and protesters who have been dogging him through his visit here. of course they're capping off the shift here. this is a turkish cultural center. and even includes a turkish baath. >> there is a large muslim population and you can't see it over here but behind the cameras there are hundreds of people waiting. this is standing room only here. lots of turkish flags. there is a need for something like this in this area. >> president erdogan wanted to have official talks with president obama, and you could regard that as a snub? >> definitely a snub. erdogan and the obama standing behind him on the stage with him. president obama cited scheduling conflicts. then he wanted to have a formal visit in a formal setting, and president obama said no. hpresident obama had expressed concern about a crackdown on the press, while they were here they withdrew many from the air base in turkey. none of that made e

well, let's cross live now to john hedron who is in maryland for us. what more erdogan say as he opened the center? >> well, that line about islamophobia got a very strong response here from a largely pro turkish crowd. we have people waving turkish flags here as well. he asked everybody to remember that turkey has been hit harder. there have been suicide bombs and the u.s. military has pulled the families of its forces out of the area in southeastern turkey. and he focused a lot on the price that turkey had to pay, and asked people--essentially islamophobia is on the rise, and centers like this in suburban washington, d.c. are necessary to help people here in the u.s. and elsewhere understand the problems that come with islamophobia. >> john, he has faced some controversy in this trip, hasn't he? >> he sure has, he has had protesters dogging him every step. the turkish security guards were trying to bar certain journalists that the turks felt were too critical from entering that event. there were clashes. at some point the security had to operate the