[applause] >> the distinguished service medal is awarded to martin dempsey.tionally distinguished service as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff from october 2011 to september 2015. throughout this period martin dempsey provided trusted and insightful guidance to the president, secretary of defense, national security council and others in your governmental leaders on a vast array of complex military and national security issues. he teamed with the joint chiefs to build a joint force with the right capabilities, capacity and readiness and with combat commanders to protect our national security interests. martin dempsey's wise counsel, unwavering integrity and steadfast devotion to duty reflect great credit upon himself and rain keeping with the highest traditions of the united states army and the department of defense. he is also receiving the distinguished service medal of the army, navy, air force and coast guard. [applause] >> at this time general dempsey's son, major chris dempsey will read his father's retirement order. >> attention to warders, headquar

dempsey, martin e., rank of general, signed mark a.millie chief of staff, united states army. >> ladiesting the united states flag to general dempsey for his faithful service to his country. this flag was flown over the pentagon and arlington national cemetery in honor of his retirement and distinguished service to the nation. the distinguished public service award is being presented to deenie dempsey for distinguished public service in the succession of voluntary initiatives to the service members and families of the united states armed forces from october 2011 to september 2015. during this period, mrs. deenie dempsey's patriotism and sincere personal involvement in the welfare of the members of the military community have earned her deep respect from all with whom she has come in contact. as a devoted ambassador of good will and a model example for the spouses of all soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen. she was an untiring advocate for the improvement of their quality of life. mrs. dempsey's presence on numerous trips to visit our stateside bases and overseas deployment areas serve

martin dempsey: yes. i use the phrase as long as possible, and that was the point at which the renegotiation continued. that was my military advice. senator: thank you. i want to ask about an issue, i know senator ernest had talked about. the iranian cyber activity. a number of years ago we saw there was an interruption of iran's nuclear program through some other cyber activity. that was reported in the press i believe. in this agreement, according to 10.2 of annex three of the deal, the united states is obligated under this agreement to help strengthen iran's ability to protect against sabotage of its nuclear program. it might be hard for americans to believe that we would agree to help iran protect against sabotage of its nuclear program in light of its prior intentions. general dempsey, i wanted to ask your opinion on that. you think it is a good idea for the united states to help protect its nuclear program against sabotage? martin dempsey: i had not thought about that. i would like to have the oppor

dempsey, martin e., rank of general, signed mark a. entlemen, please be seated. at this time, secretary carter is presenting the united states flag to general dempsey for his faithful service to his country. this flag was flown over the pentagon and arlington national cemetery in honor of his retirement and distinguished service to the nation. the distinguished public service award is being presented to deanie dempsey for distinguished public service in the succession of voluntary initiatives to the service members and families of the united states armed forces from october 2011 to september 2015. during this period, mrs. deanie dempsey's patriotism and sincere personal involvement in the welfare of the members of the military community have earned her deep respect from all with whom she has come in contact. as a devoted ambassador of good will and a model example for the spouses of all soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen. she was an untiring advocate for the improvement of their quality of life. mrs. dempsey's presence on numerous tr

dempsey, martin e., in the rank of general. signed chief of staff, united states army.the over/under on how long it would take me to cry. i think my classmates are -- probably had a few side bets going on. it was humbling to accept this job four years ago. and it's humbling to relinquish it today. >> i'm confident in telling you, marty, you will be missed. >> marty, for your lifetime of extraordinary service, you have the deepest things of a grateful nation. god bless you. god bless our men and women in uniform. ♪ good-bye and peace to you all ♪ ♪ good-bye and joy lead to you all ♪ >> you got the feeling when he said i'm humbled then and now that he actually meant it. you hear the word i'm humbled a lot. you really felt like he meant it. >> that was beautiful. what a sendoff. if you're going off, you get to sing what you want. >> he was known for having a box on his desk called the make it matter box. it was a cigar box. inside, 132 names of the men he lost when he was a commander in iraq. he traveled all over the worrell as chairman of the joint chiefs. our jennifer gr

it will take 20 years. >> martin dempsey is not exactly george patton, okay? he is not actually general douglas mcarthur. i heard him. if you listen to him, we'll lose to isis. we'll be very, very strong. if i win, our military will be very, very strong. our vets are going to be taken care of which they're not right now. they're treated like dirt. >> let me ask you about pretty much based on the fact you're wealthy, they talk about an ego, you know because you say you want to make the country great again. how do you feel about that? >> well, i feel that putin is somebody i would actually get along with him. i get a lot of heat for that. i had a big event in moscow about two years ago, i think i would have a good relationship. it is ridiculous, he hates obama, he can't stand him. i think obama probably can't stand him either. the relationships we have throughout the world is terrible. the amazing thing, china can't stand us and yet they're making a fortune with us. nobody likes us, and yet they're all taking advantage. we're like the big bully that loses all th

maureen: the 18th chairman of the joint chief of staff general martin dempsey stepped down from his postwith full honors military retirement ceremony was held this afternoon. at joint base meyer anderson hall. president obama attended the vent. dempsey ended his career with 41 years of service in the u.s. armed service. the navy seals want to open doors to women. the commander say it's open for women but he does warn women are at greater risk for injury. allowing women to compete for the job is the right thing to do but said the high standards for joining the unit cannot be lowered. an agreement between the u.s. and china today. the nations agreed not to steal trade secrets. china's president is in washington meeting with president obama and other top leaders. it means the countries will not connect or knowingly allow trade secrets or intellectual property. coming up at "abc7 news at 6:00" -- right now pope francis is celebrating mass at madison square garden. thousands are on hand to witness it. we will have a live report from new york city coming up. cooler temperatures and showers thi

speaker, after 41 years in uniform, general martin dempsey, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and the highest ranking military officer in the land, retires today. more than once this year, we on the armed services committee have expressed our gratitude for his service and bid general dempsey fair well as he testified before -- fare well as he testified before the committee as he testified for what we expected to be his final hearing. but time and time again, world events brought him back to us. that underscore what is a consequential job chairman dempsey has had. he's the senior military advisor to both the legislative and executive branches of government and i am personally very grateful for his willingness to spend time formally and informally with members of our committee discussing our country's security. providing his best military advice on an unprecedented spectrum of serious and diverse threats, during an era of declining resources. and when congress and the president were -- have very different views on national security policy, all of that has been a tremendous chall

. >> martin dempsey will step down at the end of this month as the president's chief military advisor's been focused on conflicts around the world. >> general dempsey sat down with martha raddatz for a look back at his long military career and what helps him stay strong in the face of what's often painful responsibility. >> in his four years as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general martin dempsey has seen the destruction in iraq, the devastation in syria and this week that, gut wrenching reminder of the human toll. >> i've been reflecting about what's changed since i became the chairman and one of the things that's changed is the prominence of this refugee and internally displaced person problem. and it is a huge problem. >> reporter: how much responsibility does the u.s. have because of places like syria, because after places like iraq? >> it's a shared responsibility among you know, the civilized nation states of the world. >> reporter: one of the underlying issues of course, isis. sempcy who never supported a no-fly zone in syria or american ground combat troops in iraq ha

then defense secretary ashton carter and joint chiefs chairman martin dempsey testifying on capitol hill in july about the iran agreement. and later, a few speeches from the senate floor, including mitch mcconnell and senator john cornyn opposing the iran nuclear accord. and then dick durbin whose what's it. here now is secretary kerry at the national constitution center in philadelphia today. he declared that congress's decision on the iran nuclear decision will matter more than any other foreign-policy decision in recent history. [applause] sen. lugar: dear friends, we thank all of you for coming today, for really an historic message from a great american later. -- american leader. let me just add that not too long ago, secretary kerry asked me and my partner sam nunn, who was involved with us in the reduction act to write an op-ed about the iran agreement. we were eager to do so and grateful it has been published. at the same time, the title of this is there is no perfect nuclear agreement. and the gist of the article is what happens next. occurs.implementation no perfect agreement. w

. >> other leaders will look for a way forward in a war that as joint chiefs chairman martin dempsey puts it is now stalemated. let's go to our cnn's nic robertson with latest. putin is saying bashar al assad should stay and obama saying he should go. >> reporter: i think if we looked at this a couple of days ago, there was a language that assad is a figure and we can get beyond him, there was a nuance with russia and u.s. and europeans and iran, something could be worked. that notion really at the moment on the face of it seems to have gone up in smoke. when you look at how you can tackle isis, promiesident obaman a way will find him on the back of the issue. you will see the discussions about bolstering support for libya. the u.n. is trying to bring the two halves together. when you look at isis in syria, they will continue to grow and certainly it seems. until you have a political agreement on the future of bashar al assad, isis have an area where they can continue to recruit and attract people. over the past year, compare to the past year, president obama injected political capit

the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff martin dempsey testified that under no circumstances should the u.s. from the pressure on iran related to ballistic missile cases. with this purported deal that the administration has caved once again on something that the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff is the number one military pfizer to the president of the u.s. said should be off the table. it is apparently part of the deal that we will have an opportunity to vote on in september. president's repeatedly said from the beginning no deal is better than a bad deal and i agree with that. yet right now he and the rest of the administration are telling members of congress and the american people that there is no other option on the table, and it's either this deal or war. there is a third choice, mr. president. there are tougher sanctions that will bring iran to the table for a better deal and a good deal. it's simply unacceptable for the president to be misrepresenting what the options are to congress and the american people by of the american people by saying it's either this deal or war

american top general martin dempsey. the president's principal military advisory.t down with martha raddatz to reflect on his life in the military, his work with president obama and the challenges his successor will face. >> reporter: in his four years as chairman of joints chief of staff, he's seen the destruction? syria and this week, that gutwrenching reminder of the human toll. >> i have been reflecting about what's changed since i became the chairman. one of the things that's changed is the prominence of this refugee and internally displaced person problem. and it is a huge problem. >> how much responsibility does the u.s. have because of places like syria, because of places like iraq. >> it's a shared responsibility among the civilized nation states of the world. >> one of the underlining issues is isis. dempsey who never supported a no-fly zone in syria or american ground combat troops in iraq has critics calling him a reluctant warrior w a legacy of caution. is that the legacy you're after? >> well, look, i think the legacy -- i'm okay with cautious, by the

the outgoing of the chief of staffs general martin dempsey who viewed the force as a crulment of theary strategy in syria and iraq is conferring with top pentagon officials behind closed doors to figure out what options are left for what is widely considered a policy and military failure according to senior defense officials. let's start there let's bring in our panel jonah goldberg senior editor at national review. care citizen powers "u.s.a. today" columnist and syndicated columnist chalk. crawted? , jonah? >> i don't think the country is better shape 15 days before 9/11 or the day after. i think that the war on terror in many ways is worse. certainly the ideology has metastasized that isis is a problem. that is much greater than al qaeda ever was. and talk about syria for just a moment. the effort to combat isis in syria, this its harnt resolve and training of this army that never materialized, you talk to some intelligence people and they say that this makes the bay of pigs look like the normandy landing it has been so unbelievably incompetent. i think that, you know, you can put

the outgoing of the chief of staffs general martin dempsey who viewed the force as a crulment of they strategy in syria and iraq is conferring with top pentagon officials behind closed doors to figure out what options are left for what is widely considered a policy and military failure according to senior defense officials. let's start there let's bring in our panel jonah goldberg senior editor at national review. care citizen powers "u.s.a. today" columnist and syndicated columnist chalk. crawted? , jonah? >> i don't think the country is better shape 15 days before 9/11 or the day after. i think that the war on terror in many ways is worse. certainly the ideology has metastasized that isis is a problem. that is much greater than al qaeda ever was. and talk about syria for just a moment. the effort to combat isis in syria, this its harnt resolve and training of this army that never materialized, you talk to some intelligence people and they say that this makes the bay of pigs look like the normandy landing it has been so unbelievably incompetent. i think that, you know, you can put a

in 2013 when then-defense secretary leon panetta and the chairman of the joint chiefs, general martin dempsey to women's exclusion from all front line combat jobs. the service chiefs have until next year to ask for an exemption. jenna? jenna: what a story. jennifer, thank you. jon: well, right now there may be another shake-up underway in the race for the white house. more than 20 million people tuning into the republican debates this week. the cnn moderator focused many of the questions on donald trump, the front runner. but new data shows the public's interest in trump may be starting to wane. with more on this, let's wring in judith miller, author and fox news contributor. lynn sweet is also with us, washington bureau chief for the "chicago sun-times." welcome to both of you. >> hi, jon. jon: august 6th was apparently the day that donald trump got the most media mentions in headlines and news reports and so forth. he is way down from that since then, lynn. are the media turning on donald trump? >> i think the media is reporting on donald trump's own mistake and missteps and miscalculations

defense secretary ashton carter and joint chiefs staff chairman martin dempsey testify about the iran nuclear accord area they are joined by secretary of state john kerry, energy secretary ernest moneys, and treasury secretary jack lew. all of whom helped negotiate the agreement. from july, this part of the hearing is about two hours. we welcome our distinguished witnesses and thank them for joining us today. we appreciate senators kerry and secretary minis and secretary lou being here. i did not request the presence of secretary kerry or moniz or secretary lew. i am glad they are here at their desire to do so since the focus of today's hearing is on the strategic and military implications of the iran agreement. othere want to know among things as how this agreement will affect regional security, proliferation, and the balance of power in the middle east. what impact it may have on iran's malign activities and hegemonic ambitions in the region. what it means for perceptions of american credibility and resolve among our allies and partners, and what the consequences are for u.s. defens

they haven't even asked us, todd, martin dempsey and john kerry testified before us.hey don't even have the authorize, if you will, to protect the folks that we've trained there. we know that we only have four or five. they haven't asked for the authorize to protect people on the ground. i think we just lost our connection. >> no, you're fine. we're hearing you. all right, senator corker. well, we were hearing you, but apparently you lost on hearing me. that was senate foreign relations chairman, a very despondent senate foreign relations chair, bob corker, calling the entire policy feckless at this point. meanwhile, we'll bring you secretary kerry's statement from the united nations as soon as it happens. you saw, we've been waiting. we'll see if sergei lavrov, his russian counterpart joins him. i showed you a clip of hillary clinton talking to reverend al sharpton, he has a brand new interview with secretary clinton. we got a little bit more from that, her responding to a benghazi issue. stay tuned. any way you want it... sweet, buttery, and creamy. like new pineapp

of our highest military officer, which is the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, chairman martin dempsey. and, in fact, this has been a focus of mine in the senate because i have been concerned that we have heard from, in the armed services committee, from many of our top defense and intelligence officials that the preferred method for iran to deliver a nuclear weapon to the united states of america would be, in fact, an icbm. and that this certainly represents a threat to america and to our allies. in fact, i was so concerned about this that last summer i wrote the president of the united states and 26 senators joined me in the letter that i wrote to the president, and in that letter i expressed to the president the belief that the iranian deal should, in fact, address iran's i.c.e. -- iran's icbm missile program. and the reason that i wrote and led this effort is because we had been hearing for years before the senate armed services committee, from people like the director of national intelligence, james clapper, wh testified before the committee in february of 2014, that we judge tha

of our highest military officer, which is the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, chairman martin dempsey. and, in fact, this has been a focus of mine in the senate because i have been concerned that we have heard from, in the armed services committee, from many of our top defense and intelligence officials that the preferred method for iran to deliver a nuclear weapon to the united states of america would be, in fact, an icbm. and that this certainly represents a threat to america and to our allies. in fact, i was so concerned about this that last summer i wrote the president of the united states and 26 senators joined me in the letter that i wrote to the president, and in that letter i expressed to the president the belief that the iranian deal should, in fact, address iran's i.c.e. -- iran's icbm missile program. and the reason that i wrote and led this effort is because we had been hearing for years before the senate armed services committee, from people like the director of national intelligence, james clapper, wh testified before the committee in february of 2014, that we judge tha

then defense secretary ashton carter and joint chiefs chairman martin dempsey testifying on capitol hill in july about the iran agreement. and later, a few speeches from the senate floor, including mitch mcconnell and senator john cornyn opposing the iran nuclear accord. and then dick durbin whose -- who supports it. here now is secretary kerry at the national constitution center in philadelphia today. he declared that congress's decision on the iran nuclear decision will matter more than any other foreign-policy decision in recent history. morn any other foreign-policy decision in recent history. [applause] sen. lugar: dear friends, we thank all of you for coming today, for really an historic message from a great american later. -- american leader. let me just add that not too long ago, secretary kerry asked me and my partner sam nunn, who was involved with us in the reduction act to write an op-ed about the iran agreement. we were eager to do so and grateful it has been published. at the same time, the title of this is there is no perfect nuclear agreement. and the gist of the article

general martin dempsey, who is the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff of the united states military, told the senate armed services committee -- quote -- "under no circumstances, under no circumstances should we relieve pressure on iran relative to ballistic missile capabilities and arms trafficking. under no circumstances. defense secretary ash carter also testified at the same hearing. now, this hearing, of course, was six days, only six days before the final deal was announced by the president. the secretary of defense said we want them to continue to be isolated as a military and limited in terms of the kinds of equipment and materials they are able to get. six days before the final deal was announced. so what happened? what did the president surrender on? the president of the united states surrender on? with this agreement, iran will have access to ballistic missile technology in as little as eight years, even though the secretary of defense said no, even though the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff said under no circumstances. you know, that's when russia and other countri

this is what general martin dempsey, chairman, joint chiefs of staff testified before the armed servicesommittee in july. that, quote we should under no circumstances relieve pressure on iran, relative to ballistic missile capabilities and arms traffic king, and of quote. so, they didn't listen to the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. so under this agreement, after just five years, the conventional arms embargo will be lifted. after just eight years, the ballistic missile embargo will be lifted. iran has long sought the technology to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles which would be a direct threat to the united states and its allies. iran's past army, arms trafficking to the hezbollah, hamas, and other terrorist organizations has long threatened the state of israel. other middle eastern allies as well and of course it threatens others in the region. once iran has complied with the initial restraint on its nuclear program many sanctions will be lifted. this will release around $100 billion of frozen iranian assets. the lifting of sanctions and release of the funds will only

as for the ships, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff general martin dempsey telling abc news exclusively this is more about economic interest but saying that the more china asserts itself, the quote, more responsibility we both have to avoid miscalculations and interactions that could be unsafe at sea and in the air. amy. >> all right, martha raddatz with the latest in washington. >>> okay, we turn to that manhunt for cop killers in illinois. police swarmed a town near fox lake responding to what turned out to be a false report as they expand the search and gio benitez is on the scene. good morning, gio. >> reporter: george, good morning to you. a woman was actually charged with making that false report. tensions are high here because police desperately want to catch these dangerous men. >> white male wearing a white t-shirt last seen northbound. >> reporter: overnight a fresh lead thwarted. a massive police search after a 911 caller reported seeing two suspicious men in a cornfield five miles away from where lieutenant charles joseph gliniewicz was shot and killed but that caller made i

martin dempsey, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff of the united states military, told the senate armed services committee quote under no circumstances should we relieve pressure on iran relative to ballistic missile capabilities. under no circumstances. defense secretary ash carter testified at the same hearing. this hearing was six days before the final deal was announced by the president. secretary of defense said we want them to continue to be isolated as a military and limited in terms of the kind of equipment and material they are able to get. six days before the final deal was announced what happened? what does the president surrender on? the president of the united states surrender on? this agreement iran will have access to ballistic missile technology in as rit little as eight years even though the chairman of the joint staff said under no circumstances. that is when russia and other countries will be able to sell this deadly technology to iran and i believe iran will use it. now this was a last minute demand that iran made. it should have been easy for president obama t

and general martin dempsey, chairman of the joint chiefs, warned the fight against isis is "stalematedg-term prospects are getting "dimmer." so at the end of the day, did everyone just have different opinions about the intelligence, about what it says about how well the war was going? or was there some fundamental effort to mislead policymakers about what was going on? >> that's a serious, serious issue. thanks, barbara, very much. let's dig deeper with the ranking member of the house intelligence committee, democratic congressman adam schiff of california, thanks for coming in. i'm worried, pretty disturbing if in fact they're trying to spin or manipulate this intelligence. what are you hearing about this inspector general's investigation? >> as you said, this is among the most serious allegations that we ever get. that is that intelligence may be politicized about something as serious as war. and so we take this very seriously. we're awaiting what the inspector general will report to us and certainly we'll be looking into this more thoroughly once we get that report to see, as barbar

in just july the president's senior military adviser, general martin dempsey, the chairman of joint chiefs of staff testified, quote, under no circumstances should we relieve pressure on iran related to ballistic missile capabilities and arms trafficking, close quote. i want to repeat that. under no circumstances, is what he said. why is this important? as stated by your senior d.o.d. leadership the ban on technology for ballistic missiles was critical to meramerica's own security especially since iran's missiles would be dangerous weapons if ever equipped with biological, chemical or even nuclear warheads. if we assume the iranians will honor the nuclear agreement, which we would be foolish to assume, we are paying no attention here to the chemical and biological weapons programs. just this weekend according to press reports 45 emirate soldiers fighting proxies in yemen were killed by a ballistic missile with a warhead. i'll read an excerpt from the most recent arms control compliance board on iran. based on available information, the united states cannot certify whether iran has met its

arms embargo in iran despite testimony from secretary of defense ash carter and joint chiefs martin dempsey that we should do so under no circumstances. they can stockpile conventional weapons and russia and china can legally profit off of major weapons exports to tehran. yet, participation the most troubling aspect of this deal is the inspections regime. gone are the anytime anywhere inspections outlined by the administration. in its place a 24-day notice period combined with secret side deals that this congress has no knowledge of and which proponents of the plan are happily to be blissfully ignoreant. mr. speaker, the proponents of this deal know it does not make us safer nor more secure. they know we cannot trust iran. they know that the verification process is weak and is built upon secret deals and they know we should lift the arms embargo and know that hundreds of billions of dollars being released to the ayatollah will end up on the battlefield in the hands of terroristes that will kill americans and our allies. mr. speaker, they know it's a bad deal. i'm proud to have my name liste

and general martin dempsey, chairman of the joint chiefs warned the fight against isis is stalemated.e adds its long-term prospects are getting, quote, dimmer. >> that was cnn pentagon correspondent barb where starr reporting there. >>> washington, d.c. gun control advocates gathered on capitol hill on thursday. they came together vowing to do whatever it takes to fix what they call america's broken gun laws. the father of a virginia news reporter, who was shot and killed on live television, led the protests and demanded that something be done to stop gun violence in the united states. >> we must continue to mount pressure on our elected officials here in washington and at home in your home state. the overwhelming majority of americans agree with common sense reforms. but too many members of congress remain in the pocket of the gun lobby and that has got to change. we also have to be aware the so-called common wisdom and senator cane put it eloquently when he said, we can't take on the gun lobby. that's just wrong. we can. we must. and we will. >> you'll remember that andy parker's da

yet as the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general martin dempsey, told the senate armed services committee in august, i quote, "under no circumstances should we relieve pressure on iran relative to ballistic missile capabilities and arms trafficking." end of quote. in year eight of the agreement, iran will be removed from the united nations ballistic missile embargo. now, in july of this year, secretary of defense ashton carter confirmed to me in a hearing that under this deal he could not rule out iran acquiring an intercontinental ballistic missile within ten years that could hit the united states. this means that iran would have the capability of producing a nuclear weapon that could reach united states soil in a decade. these comments come after general paul salva, now the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff told me in a separate hearing that iran remains the leading state sponsor of terrorism and resources gained in sanction relief under the nuclear deal could be used by iran to continue sponsoring terrorism. under the agreement, the united states agreed to allow the nucle

in july the president's senior martin adviser general dempsey testified that "under no circumstances should we relieve pressure on iran relative to ballistic missile capabilities and arms trafficking." let me repeat that. under no circumstances -- why it is important, the ban on technology to ballistic milssles is critical to protection. even if we assume the iranians will honor the nuclear agreement -- which we would be foolish to assume -- we are paying no attention to the chemical and biological programs. just this weekend, 45 soldiers fighting iranian proxies in yemen were killed by a ballistic missile with a conventional war head. we don't have missile defense solely because the bad guys may have nuclear capability. i will read an excerpt from the most recent arms control compliance report on iran. based on available information the united states cannot certify whether iran has met its chemical weapons production facility declaration ligations, destroyed its chemical weapons equipment, tranferd cw -- chemical weapons -- or undeclared chemical weapons stockpile. the jcpoa ig no,

general martin dempsey, who is the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff of the united states military, told the senate armed services committee -- quote -- "under no circumstances, under no circumstances should we relieve pressure on iran relative to ballistic missile capabilities and arms trafficking. under no circumstances. defense secretary ash carter also testified at the same hearing. now, this hearing, of course, was six days, only six days before the final deal was announced by the president. the secretary of defense said we want them to continue to be isolated as a military and limited in terms of the kinds of equipment and materials they are able to get. six days before the final deal was announced. so what happened? what did the president surrender on? the president of the united states surrender on? with this agreement, iran will have access to ballistic missile technology in as little as eight years, even though the secretary of defense said no, even though the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff said under no circumstances. you know, that's when russia and other countri

singular leader for our military and our nation, and one of the finest men that i know, general martin dempseyt service chief of staff of the army. we let him enjoy it, for one day. then i asked him to be chairman. so let me say, marty, more important, deanie, this time i promise, no surprises tomorrow. i chose marty for these leadership roles because of his moral fiber and his deep commitment to american strength and american values. i chose him because of his vision for our military as a more versatile and responsive force. i chose him because he had a steady hand we needed in this moment of transition, as we tackle emerging threats and support to me up our troops as they transition to civilian life. and i've watched marty manage each of these challenges with integrity and foresight and care. but perhaps most of all, i chose marty because he's a leader you can trust. marty, you've always given it to me straight. i can't tell you how much i've appreciated your candor and your council. and i seem to build that trust not just with me, but across our military, with our troops and their families,

in 2012, defense secretary leon panetta and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff general martin dempsey testified before the senate foreign relations committee. i was present during that testimony, on how our security interests are intrinsically linked to the freedom of navigation. they testified in favor of the treaty of the sea ratification. the u.s. stands to gain considerably more from the legal certainty and the public order this treaty provides on the oceans than in any other country. u.s. armed forces need the navigable rights and freedom provided under the law of the seas convention, granting global access to the world's oceans to ease and expedite movement to combat areas when necessary to u.s.s. taken -- sustain engaged forces. in 2012, former senate relations committee chairman and ranking member senator richard lugar of indiana made one of the most cogent set of arguments for u.s. secession to the treaty. let me in conclusion quote what senator lugar told us at that time, and i think it is still relevant today. he said, and i quote -- "the substantial case for the law of the