English subtitles for clip: File:12-13-16- White House Press Briefing.webm
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1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:03,069 Mr. Earnest: Good afternoon, everybody. 2 00:00:03,069 --> 00:00:05,271 Happy Tuesday. 3 00:00:05,271 --> 00:00:09,042 As advertised, I'm going to be joined today by 4 00:00:09,042 --> 00:00:09,776 Brett McGurk. 5 00:00:09,776 --> 00:00:14,381 Brett has been here a couple of times before. 6 00:00:14,381 --> 00:00:16,181 Brett just left a National Security Council meeting 7 00:00:16,181 --> 00:00:17,549 with the President. 8 00:00:17,550 --> 00:00:18,985 The President, as you know, convenes his National 9 00:00:18,985 --> 00:00:22,355 Security Council every few weeks to review the progress 10 00:00:22,355 --> 00:00:25,692 that we're making against ISIL. 11 00:00:25,692 --> 00:00:28,762 Brett participated in the meeting and is now here to 12 00:00:28,762 --> 00:00:32,799 provide an update to all of you on that progress. 13 00:00:32,799 --> 00:00:34,234 Brett's title -- I was asking him just before we 14 00:00:34,234 --> 00:00:38,071 walked in -- is Special Presidential Envoy to the 15 00:00:38,071 --> 00:00:40,073 Global Coalition Against ISIL. 16 00:00:40,073 --> 00:00:42,842 He's got a presentation that he'll offer up and then 17 00:00:42,842 --> 00:00:44,376 he'll take some questions. 18 00:00:44,377 --> 00:00:46,713 He'll leave and then I can take your questions on 19 00:00:46,713 --> 00:00:48,314 non-ISIL-related topics from there. 20 00:00:48,314 --> 00:00:53,319 So with that, Brett, do you want to take it away? 21 00:01:01,561 --> 00:01:08,134 Mr. McGurk: So thanks for having me. 22 00:01:08,134 --> 00:01:10,303 I thought I would give an update on the counter-ISIL 23 00:01:10,303 --> 00:01:11,003 campaign. 24 00:01:11,004 --> 00:01:12,972 The last time I was here I think was about six months 25 00:01:12,972 --> 00:01:15,607 ago, and I have a lot of new information, which 26 00:01:15,608 --> 00:01:16,976 I'll convey. 27 00:01:16,976 --> 00:01:19,112 The President just convened, as Josh mentioned, his 28 00:01:19,112 --> 00:01:21,247 National Security Council today to discuss the current 29 00:01:21,247 --> 00:01:24,284 status of the global campaign against ISIL. 30 00:01:24,284 --> 00:01:26,119 The meeting provided an in-depth overview of where 31 00:01:26,119 --> 00:01:28,621 we are in this campaign, and I want to provide just an 32 00:01:28,621 --> 00:01:30,423 update overall. 33 00:01:30,423 --> 00:01:33,059 So as you know, we analyze ISIL and focus our policy on 34 00:01:33,059 --> 00:01:35,728 destroying it in really three dimensions -- its core 35 00:01:35,728 --> 00:01:37,696 in Iraq and Syria and shrinking its physical 36 00:01:37,697 --> 00:01:40,300 space; its network, so that's foreign fighters, 37 00:01:40,300 --> 00:01:43,369 finance and propaganda media networks; and then the 38 00:01:43,369 --> 00:01:45,905 so-called affiliates, made of affinities, affiliates 39 00:01:45,905 --> 00:01:48,741 around the world, of which Libya has been of particular 40 00:01:48,741 --> 00:01:49,409 concern to us. 41 00:01:49,409 --> 00:01:53,980 The United States, we have an Integrated Campaign Plan 42 00:01:53,980 --> 00:01:56,683 that incorporates our entire government -- Defense, 43 00:01:56,683 --> 00:01:59,586 State, Treasury, Justice, Homeland Security, and the 44 00:01:59,586 --> 00:02:03,323 intelligence community -- around specific lines of effort. 45 00:02:03,323 --> 00:02:05,758 It's called the ICP, and it's an effort we review and 46 00:02:05,758 --> 00:02:08,995 refresh really each quarter to help identify 47 00:02:08,995 --> 00:02:10,896 opportunities, reinforce areas where we're having 48 00:02:10,896 --> 00:02:14,466 success and address areas that may have fallen behind. 49 00:02:14,467 --> 00:02:16,836 The President received a detailed update on this ICP 50 00:02:16,836 --> 00:02:18,771 this morning. 51 00:02:18,771 --> 00:02:21,173 We also, of course, lead a global coalition of 68 52 00:02:21,174 --> 00:02:23,576 members -- this is one of the largest coalitions of 53 00:02:23,576 --> 00:02:26,779 its kind in history -- to relentlessly combat ISIL 54 00:02:26,779 --> 00:02:28,982 across all lines of effort. 55 00:02:28,982 --> 00:02:31,651 So, militarily, on the ground in Iraq and Syria, 56 00:02:31,651 --> 00:02:33,653 we're supporting partners with training, equipping, 57 00:02:33,653 --> 00:02:35,421 advising and airstrikes. 58 00:02:35,421 --> 00:02:39,626 That's 17,455 airstrikes against ISIL terrorists as 59 00:02:39,626 --> 00:02:41,127 of this morning. 60 00:02:41,127 --> 00:02:42,896 Through law enforcement cooperation, where we're 61 00:02:42,896 --> 00:02:45,364 sharing information to find and disrupt plots around 62 00:02:45,365 --> 00:02:46,933 the world. 63 00:02:46,933 --> 00:02:48,734 Through intelligence, homeland security and other 64 00:02:48,735 --> 00:02:50,870 channels to help combat the flow of foreign fighters 65 00:02:50,870 --> 00:02:52,472 across borders. 66 00:02:52,472 --> 00:02:54,874 Through treasury and finance to destroy ISIL's 67 00:02:54,874 --> 00:02:57,109 economic infrastructure. 68 00:02:57,110 --> 00:02:58,945 And through both governments and the private sector to 69 00:02:58,945 --> 00:03:01,114 combat ISIL's poisonous ideology and their 70 00:03:01,114 --> 00:03:04,517 propaganda online, their ability to recruit. 71 00:03:04,517 --> 00:03:06,553 Our global coalition has also provided billions of 72 00:03:06,553 --> 00:03:08,755 dollars to support stabilization in areas 73 00:03:08,755 --> 00:03:12,292 cleared of ISIL, enabling citizens to return. 74 00:03:12,292 --> 00:03:13,560 And this is not only a U.S. 75 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:16,062 effort; ISIL is an enemy that threatens the entire 76 00:03:16,062 --> 00:03:19,299 world, so we have leveraged resources from around the 77 00:03:19,299 --> 00:03:23,369 world, including more than $2 billion pledged for 78 00:03:23,369 --> 00:03:25,672 humanitarian, stabilization efforts in Iraq during 79 00:03:25,672 --> 00:03:27,874 coalition meetings in July. 80 00:03:27,874 --> 00:03:30,043 But U.S. leadership matters on this. 81 00:03:30,043 --> 00:03:31,945 And that's why I want to thank the Congress for their 82 00:03:31,945 --> 00:03:34,079 close coordination in supporting a counter-ISIL 83 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:35,815 budget amendment in the recently passed 84 00:03:35,815 --> 00:03:37,750 continuing resolution. 85 00:03:37,750 --> 00:03:39,519 These funds will be essential to help us 86 00:03:39,519 --> 00:03:42,221 accelerate the campaign and support efforts such as 87 00:03:42,221 --> 00:03:44,724 demining that allows people to return to their homes. 88 00:03:44,724 --> 00:03:47,025 And I'll be calling on coalition partners to make 89 00:03:47,026 --> 00:03:49,529 similar contributions here over the coming days. 90 00:03:49,529 --> 00:03:54,133 Let me update you briefly on some of the update -- the 91 00:03:54,133 --> 00:03:56,703 campaigns we have ongoing now, particularly in Sirte, 92 00:03:56,703 --> 00:04:00,273 Libya; and Raqqa and Mosul. 93 00:04:00,273 --> 00:04:03,076 In Sirte, about a year ago ISIL controlled 94 00:04:03,076 --> 00:04:05,978 approximately 150 kilometers of land on the 95 00:04:05,979 --> 00:04:08,081 Mediterranean coastline. 96 00:04:08,081 --> 00:04:10,583 It was using Libya as a haven from which to plan 97 00:04:10,583 --> 00:04:13,186 attacks in neighboring Tunisia, and ISIL leaders 98 00:04:13,186 --> 00:04:16,155 were encouraging people to travel to Libya, instead of 99 00:04:16,154 --> 00:04:17,556 Syria, to join ISIL. 100 00:04:17,557 --> 00:04:20,693 They saw it as their growing safe haven. 101 00:04:20,692 --> 00:04:23,630 Since that time, at the President's direction, we've 102 00:04:23,630 --> 00:04:26,633 eliminated the mastermind of the Tunisia attacks, 103 00:04:26,633 --> 00:04:30,402 Noureddine Chouchane; the leader of ISIL in Libya, Abu 104 00:04:30,403 --> 00:04:33,773 Nabil, who came from Syria to lead ISIL in Libya. 105 00:04:33,773 --> 00:04:36,175 And now we've just completed operations to liberate Sirte 106 00:04:36,175 --> 00:04:38,111 and its surrounding areas. 107 00:04:38,111 --> 00:04:39,945 So in Operation Odyssey Lightning, U.S. 108 00:04:39,946 --> 00:04:42,615 military forces conducted almost 500 airstrikes in 109 00:04:42,615 --> 00:04:44,384 support of units fighting under the authority of 110 00:04:44,384 --> 00:04:47,620 Libya's Government of National Accord. 111 00:04:47,620 --> 00:04:49,656 And while we've still got work to be done, this 112 00:04:49,656 --> 00:04:51,858 strategic location in the Mediterranean is no longer 113 00:04:51,858 --> 00:04:53,960 accessible to ISIL terrorists. 114 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:57,296 We'll, of course, continue to support the Government of 115 00:04:57,296 --> 00:04:59,032 National Accord as it pursues ISIL throughout 116 00:04:59,032 --> 00:04:59,698 the country. 117 00:04:59,699 --> 00:05:04,037 In Raqqa -- Raqqa remains ISIL administrative capital 118 00:05:04,037 --> 00:05:07,272 and it is under more pressure now than ever before. 119 00:05:07,273 --> 00:05:09,409 Forces partnered with our coalition have now entirely 120 00:05:09,409 --> 00:05:13,212 severed routes between Raqqa and ISIL locations in Iraq. 121 00:05:13,212 --> 00:05:15,682 And the Syrian Democratic Forces, a coalition of local 122 00:05:15,682 --> 00:05:18,317 Arabs and Kurds, are steadily advancing on Raqqa 123 00:05:18,317 --> 00:05:21,654 with the aim to isolate or really strangulate the city. 124 00:05:21,654 --> 00:05:24,624 Since this operation began about one month ago, the SDF 125 00:05:24,624 --> 00:05:27,727 has cleared 700 square kilometers north of Raqqa, 126 00:05:27,727 --> 00:05:30,363 and just on Saturday began a second phase of operations 127 00:05:30,363 --> 00:05:32,365 along the new access just to the west, and this is 128 00:05:32,365 --> 00:05:34,634 proceeding quite well. 129 00:05:34,634 --> 00:05:37,036 The pressure in Raqqa is bearing fruit as ISIL 130 00:05:37,036 --> 00:05:40,339 leaders come out of hiding, which allows us to kill them. 131 00:05:40,339 --> 00:05:42,942 Today we confirm the deaths by precision coalition 132 00:05:42,942 --> 00:05:46,379 airstrikes of three terrorist leaders in Raqqa 133 00:05:46,379 --> 00:05:51,384 -- Salah Gourmat, Sammy Djedou, Walid Hamman. 134 00:05:54,220 --> 00:05:57,390 Gourmat was a French Algerian, Djedou a Belgian. 135 00:05:57,390 --> 00:05:59,491 They were responsible for planning and facilitating 136 00:05:59,492 --> 00:06:03,196 the November 13th attacks in Paris last year. 137 00:06:03,196 --> 00:06:05,865 They were also actively plotting attacks when they 138 00:06:05,865 --> 00:06:09,602 were killed on December 4th in the streets of Raqqa. 139 00:06:09,602 --> 00:06:11,637 Hamman had been convicted by a Belgian court for a 140 00:06:11,637 --> 00:06:16,542 terrorist plot in 2015, and he was working with Gourmat 141 00:06:16,542 --> 00:06:19,445 and Djedou to plan new attacks. 142 00:06:19,445 --> 00:06:21,247 So these three dead terrorists in Raqqa join a 143 00:06:21,247 --> 00:06:23,382 growing list from ISIL's what we call their external 144 00:06:23,382 --> 00:06:26,886 operations network that we have targeted and eliminated. 145 00:06:26,886 --> 00:06:28,755 Last month, coalition forces eliminated 146 00:06:28,755 --> 00:06:30,723 Abd al-Basit al-Iraqi. 147 00:06:30,723 --> 00:06:32,525 He was the ISIL emir for attacks throughout the 148 00:06:32,525 --> 00:06:35,260 Middle East region and a key facilitator for terrorist 149 00:06:35,261 --> 00:06:37,163 travel through Turkey. 150 00:06:37,163 --> 00:06:39,966 Coalition strikes also killed Boubaker al-Hakim, an 151 00:06:39,966 --> 00:06:44,437 ISIL leader planning attacks in France and throughout Europe. 152 00:06:44,437 --> 00:06:46,906 And a leader of all ISIL external operations, of 153 00:06:46,906 --> 00:06:50,510 course, Muhammad Adnani, was killed on August 30th as he 154 00:06:50,510 --> 00:06:51,978 traveled from Raqqa to Bab. 155 00:06:51,978 --> 00:06:55,815 So the point is, even as operations continue to move 156 00:06:55,815 --> 00:06:58,684 towards Raqqa, our coalition is relentlessly reaching 157 00:06:58,684 --> 00:07:01,654 into Raqqa to eliminate ISIL leaders with a particular 158 00:07:01,654 --> 00:07:04,323 focus on those planning and plotting against our 159 00:07:04,323 --> 00:07:07,226 homeland and our partners. 160 00:07:07,226 --> 00:07:09,796 For the operation to seize and hold Raqqa, which will 161 00:07:09,796 --> 00:07:11,631 be coming, we're in close consultation with our 162 00:07:11,631 --> 00:07:13,299 partners including Turkey. 163 00:07:13,299 --> 00:07:15,334 I was in Ankara last week for talks on this and other 164 00:07:15,334 --> 00:07:18,805 topics and these talks were quite fruitful. 165 00:07:18,805 --> 00:07:20,339 And the President's authorization over the 166 00:07:20,339 --> 00:07:23,075 weekend for an additional 200 Special Operations 167 00:07:23,075 --> 00:07:25,745 Forces in Syria will help further accelerate our 168 00:07:25,745 --> 00:07:28,314 campaign to eject ISIL from Raqqa. 169 00:07:28,314 --> 00:07:31,184 I visited these Special Operators several times and 170 00:07:31,184 --> 00:07:34,420 they are doing truly heroic work to protect our homeland 171 00:07:34,420 --> 00:07:37,190 and to eliminate this haven of ISIL in Syria. 172 00:07:37,190 --> 00:07:41,060 And I'll briefly discussed the Mosul campaign. 173 00:07:41,060 --> 00:07:42,829 We're now in month two of what is really the most 174 00:07:42,829 --> 00:07:46,566 complex operation to date -- the liberation of Mosul -- 175 00:07:46,566 --> 00:07:48,501 and thus far we've seen a very steady and deliberate 176 00:07:48,501 --> 00:07:51,637 advance along all axes against ISIL terrorists, 177 00:07:51,637 --> 00:07:54,640 which are using the civilian population in Mosul as 178 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:56,474 human shields. 179 00:07:56,475 --> 00:07:58,945 I just visited the eastern axis, just in the outskirts 180 00:07:58,945 --> 00:08:00,580 of Mosul, last week. 181 00:08:00,580 --> 00:08:03,515 Secretary Carter was in Iraq, and he visited the 182 00:08:03,516 --> 00:08:06,085 Qayara airbase, south of Mosul, over the weekend. 183 00:08:06,085 --> 00:08:08,820 And General Votel, our CENTCOM commander, was in 184 00:08:08,821 --> 00:08:12,258 the same area just yesterday and gave a very detailed to 185 00:08:12,258 --> 00:08:13,960 the President this morning. 186 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:16,495 And all of us witnessed this unprecedented cooperation 187 00:08:16,495 --> 00:08:18,931 between the Iraqi security forces and Kurdish 188 00:08:18,931 --> 00:08:23,335 Peshmerga, which has really been essential to this campaign. 189 00:08:23,336 --> 00:08:25,838 Our coalition since the beginning of this campaign, 190 00:08:25,838 --> 00:08:28,674 about two years ago, we've trained over 65,000 Iraqi 191 00:08:28,674 --> 00:08:31,277 personnel who are now fighting professionally and 192 00:08:31,277 --> 00:08:33,011 performing heroically. 193 00:08:33,011 --> 00:08:35,414 So ISIL terrorists are now trapped in Mosul. 194 00:08:35,414 --> 00:08:37,482 They're unable to resupply or replenish their 195 00:08:37,482 --> 00:08:39,217 dwindling ranks. 196 00:08:39,217 --> 00:08:41,786 Throughout this campaign, which began just a couple 197 00:08:41,787 --> 00:08:43,956 months ago now, we've already conducted over 500 198 00:08:43,956 --> 00:08:47,727 airstrikes, destroyed about 100 car bombs, 100 tunnels, 199 00:08:47,727 --> 00:08:51,163 300 bunkers -- this is ongoing every single day. 200 00:08:51,163 --> 00:08:53,532 We're often asked how long this is going to take, and 201 00:08:53,532 --> 00:08:55,568 the answer is, in Mosul, it will take as long 202 00:08:55,568 --> 00:08:56,235 as it takes. 203 00:08:56,235 --> 00:08:58,337 I think it's useful to remember other campaigns 204 00:08:58,337 --> 00:08:59,672 against ISIL. 205 00:08:59,672 --> 00:09:02,108 Kobani, Raqqa, Baiji oil refinery are very 206 00:09:02,108 --> 00:09:06,244 significant campaigns; each of them took about six months. 207 00:09:06,245 --> 00:09:08,314 Some have gone faster -- Fallujah went a little 208 00:09:08,314 --> 00:09:09,714 faster than anticipated. 209 00:09:09,715 --> 00:09:12,351 And the key thing is that, what ISIL does in these 210 00:09:12,351 --> 00:09:14,186 cities is they set up concentric rings of 211 00:09:14,186 --> 00:09:16,689 defenses, and once you break through the crust of that 212 00:09:16,689 --> 00:09:19,125 defense, you don't know what's going to come next. 213 00:09:19,125 --> 00:09:20,993 Eventually they reach a culmination point; they 214 00:09:20,993 --> 00:09:24,230 simply cannot resupply, they run out of suicide bombers, 215 00:09:24,230 --> 00:09:25,631 and they culminate. 216 00:09:25,631 --> 00:09:27,466 And in Mosul, we don't when that will come. 217 00:09:27,466 --> 00:09:29,435 It could come very soon; it could come a couple months 218 00:09:29,435 --> 00:09:30,202 from now. 219 00:09:30,202 --> 00:09:33,439 But our momentum will be sustained and we'll provide 220 00:09:33,439 --> 00:09:39,211 relentless pressure on the enemy throughout Mosul. 221 00:09:39,211 --> 00:09:43,382 Every single operation in Iraq that we have supported 222 00:09:43,382 --> 00:09:46,452 has succeeded, and all the ground that has been retaken 223 00:09:46,452 --> 00:09:49,422 from ISIL in Iraq has been held, and Mosul will 224 00:09:49,422 --> 00:09:51,624 be no different. 225 00:09:51,624 --> 00:09:53,592 Let me very briefly, in about five minutes, just go 226 00:09:53,592 --> 00:09:55,461 through some of the indicators that I discussed 227 00:09:55,461 --> 00:09:57,964 last time when I was here in June -- there's about eight 228 00:09:57,964 --> 00:10:00,333 of them, but I'll go them fairly quickly -- of how we 229 00:10:00,333 --> 00:10:03,235 track this overall campaign and how we measure how 230 00:10:03,235 --> 00:10:04,603 we're doing. 231 00:10:04,603 --> 00:10:06,037 The first is territory. 232 00:10:06,038 --> 00:10:08,541 And we actually have a new map here which just came out 233 00:10:08,541 --> 00:10:11,644 this morning from our intelligence community, and 234 00:10:11,644 --> 00:10:13,612 the map demonstrates that ISIL continues to lose 235 00:10:13,612 --> 00:10:14,546 significant ground. 236 00:10:14,547 --> 00:10:15,614 And why is this important? 237 00:10:15,614 --> 00:10:18,751 Because what has made ISIL this global phenomenon, with 238 00:10:18,751 --> 00:10:20,853 all of these recruits from all around the world -- 239 00:10:20,853 --> 00:10:22,988 although that's rapidly diminishing -- is this 240 00:10:22,989 --> 00:10:25,358 notion of this homeland and caliphate. 241 00:10:25,358 --> 00:10:27,993 And all of their propaganda used to talk about this 242 00:10:27,994 --> 00:10:31,163 expanding homeland, this expanding movement, and they 243 00:10:31,163 --> 00:10:33,666 can no longer say that because their territory is 244 00:10:33,666 --> 00:10:36,068 now rapidly shrinking. 245 00:10:36,068 --> 00:10:38,704 So in Iraq now, about 61 percent of territory that 246 00:10:38,704 --> 00:10:41,574 had been controlled by ISIL has now been reclaimed, and 247 00:10:41,574 --> 00:10:43,809 in Syria, about 28 percent. 248 00:10:43,809 --> 00:10:45,778 But what is most significant -- I think the last time I 249 00:10:45,778 --> 00:10:48,714 was here there was still a 98-kilometer strip of border 250 00:10:48,714 --> 00:10:51,183 with Turkey in which ISIL terrorists were still able 251 00:10:51,183 --> 00:10:54,620 to come in and out, and that is where the Paris 252 00:10:54,620 --> 00:10:56,956 attackers, the Brussels attackers transited through 253 00:10:56,956 --> 00:10:58,157 this route. 254 00:10:58,157 --> 00:11:00,426 So since then, over the last six months, we've worked 255 00:11:00,426 --> 00:11:03,863 very closely with the Syrian Democratic Forces, and also 256 00:11:03,863 --> 00:11:06,999 with Turkey and the moderate opposition to close off 257 00:11:06,999 --> 00:11:07,666 that route. 258 00:11:07,666 --> 00:11:09,602 It's at the number one in the map. 259 00:11:09,602 --> 00:11:13,005 So ISIL now has no access to an international border, and 260 00:11:13,005 --> 00:11:15,174 this is significantly impacted the overall 261 00:11:15,174 --> 00:11:18,877 campaign because they are now a very isolated entity 262 00:11:18,878 --> 00:11:21,680 within Syria and Iraq, and, most importantly, it is much 263 00:11:21,680 --> 00:11:24,483 harder for them to come in and out, which is critical 264 00:11:24,483 --> 00:11:27,218 for them to project their terrorist acts outside of 265 00:11:27,219 --> 00:11:29,121 Iraq and Syria. 266 00:11:29,121 --> 00:11:31,390 So territory we're continuing to shrink as we 267 00:11:31,390 --> 00:11:33,025 speak, and that will continue. 268 00:11:33,025 --> 00:11:34,093 Leadership. 269 00:11:34,093 --> 00:11:36,194 ISIL's leadership ranks are dwindling. 270 00:11:36,195 --> 00:11:38,064 I already mentioned some of the recent strikes against 271 00:11:38,064 --> 00:11:39,531 their leaders in Raqqa. 272 00:11:39,532 --> 00:11:41,534 But since the start of the campaign we've eliminated 273 00:11:41,534 --> 00:11:44,503 nearly all of Abu Bakr Baghdadi deputies and his 274 00:11:44,503 --> 00:11:46,205 trusted advisors. 275 00:11:46,205 --> 00:11:48,707 That includes his likely successor, Haji Imam; his 276 00:11:48,707 --> 00:11:51,510 ministers for war, finance, oil and gas, security, and 277 00:11:51,510 --> 00:11:53,212 external operations. 278 00:11:53,212 --> 00:11:55,814 And as these leaders are replaced, we target and kill 279 00:11:55,815 --> 00:11:56,549 their replacements. 280 00:11:56,549 --> 00:11:59,251 And we've seen a significant degradation in their overall 281 00:11:59,251 --> 00:12:01,353 capabilities and ranks. 282 00:12:01,353 --> 00:12:04,189 Baghdadi himself -- he claims to be the caliph -- 283 00:12:04,190 --> 00:12:08,327 we have not seen his face in well over a year. 284 00:12:08,327 --> 00:12:11,397 He issued an audiotape about a month ago, but issuing 285 00:12:11,397 --> 00:12:14,300 audiotapes deep in hiding is not really a sign of a 286 00:12:14,300 --> 00:12:16,202 confident leader, particularly in today's 287 00:12:16,202 --> 00:12:17,403 media age. 288 00:12:17,403 --> 00:12:20,005 So eventually, we will find and eliminate him as well, 289 00:12:20,005 --> 00:12:23,776 but the leadership ranks continue to diminish. 290 00:12:23,776 --> 00:12:26,112 Third indicator, their overall fighting capacity, 291 00:12:26,112 --> 00:12:28,680 their overall strength, overall fighters. 292 00:12:28,681 --> 00:12:30,749 The number of battle-ready fighters inside Iraq and 293 00:12:30,749 --> 00:12:33,886 Syria is now at its lowest point that it's ever been. 294 00:12:33,886 --> 00:12:36,555 We estimate about 12,000 to 15,000. 295 00:12:36,555 --> 00:12:39,925 And ISIL is unable to replenish its ranks. 296 00:12:39,925 --> 00:12:42,194 Whereas we used to see about a thousand foreign fighters 297 00:12:42,194 --> 00:12:44,896 in the 2014 time frame flowing into Syria, coming 298 00:12:44,897 --> 00:12:46,999 from all around the world -- I've mentioned this before 299 00:12:46,999 --> 00:12:49,568 -- an unprecedented number of these foreign fighters, 300 00:12:49,568 --> 00:12:52,071 these jihadi fighters coming from all around the world, 301 00:12:52,071 --> 00:12:56,175 almost 40,000 -- it's now down to really what is quite 302 00:12:56,175 --> 00:12:58,611 a negligible amount, in our estimation. 303 00:12:58,611 --> 00:13:01,380 And that's really thanks, again, to our efforts on the 304 00:13:01,380 --> 00:13:03,115 ground and our Special Operators that have done an 305 00:13:03,115 --> 00:13:06,652 incredible job to clear out that area of the border just 306 00:13:06,652 --> 00:13:10,656 south of Turkey, and now the intervention from Turkey to 307 00:13:10,656 --> 00:13:12,992 protect its border, make sure that these terrorists 308 00:13:12,992 --> 00:13:15,127 cannot get in and out. 309 00:13:15,127 --> 00:13:17,795 We are also making sure that foreign fighters cannot 310 00:13:17,796 --> 00:13:19,165 transit across borders. 311 00:13:19,165 --> 00:13:21,634 So about 60 countries within the coalition have really 312 00:13:21,634 --> 00:13:24,436 strengthened their laws against the transit of 313 00:13:24,436 --> 00:13:25,671 foreign fighters. 314 00:13:25,671 --> 00:13:27,740 Plots have been disrupted in about 15 countries, 315 00:13:27,740 --> 00:13:28,541 and this continues. 316 00:13:28,541 --> 00:13:31,544 One of the unsung efforts of our coalition which has 317 00:13:31,544 --> 00:13:34,780 really strengthened is the information-sharing among 318 00:13:34,780 --> 00:13:36,182 different capitals. 319 00:13:36,182 --> 00:13:38,784 This is something that has now really accelerated, and 320 00:13:38,784 --> 00:13:42,354 it's increased our ability to stay well ahead 321 00:13:42,354 --> 00:13:44,523 of this enemy. 322 00:13:44,523 --> 00:13:46,792 Fourth indicator, briefly, is revenue. 323 00:13:46,792 --> 00:13:48,894 We're destroying ISIL's economic base. 324 00:13:48,894 --> 00:13:51,263 Just last week -- it's only one example, but last week, 325 00:13:51,263 --> 00:13:56,068 our air coalition destroyed about 168 ISIL oil tankers, 326 00:13:56,068 --> 00:13:57,436 the largest strike of its kind. 327 00:13:57,436 --> 00:13:59,738 And we've continued to target their oil and gas 328 00:13:59,738 --> 00:14:02,875 infrastructure, their bulk cash storage sites and their 329 00:14:02,875 --> 00:14:04,677 financial facilitators. 330 00:14:04,677 --> 00:14:06,045 They cannot pay their fighters. 331 00:14:06,045 --> 00:14:07,813 The fighters come thinking they're going to have this 332 00:14:07,813 --> 00:14:09,682 lavish lifestyle -- that is not happening. 333 00:14:09,682 --> 00:14:12,751 Their fighters are not getting paid, and we have 334 00:14:12,751 --> 00:14:14,185 multiple indications of that. 335 00:14:14,186 --> 00:14:15,654 And we will continue to maintain this 336 00:14:15,654 --> 00:14:17,756 relentless pressure. 337 00:14:17,756 --> 00:14:19,824 The fifth indicator is one I mentioned -- this was really 338 00:14:19,825 --> 00:14:21,594 critical when we started this -- was their access 339 00:14:21,594 --> 00:14:22,828 to borders. 340 00:14:22,828 --> 00:14:26,098 Again, they were flowing in and out by almost over 1,000 341 00:14:26,098 --> 00:14:26,966 a month. 342 00:14:26,966 --> 00:14:28,634 That is no longer happening. 343 00:14:28,634 --> 00:14:31,203 So quite significant development to close off 344 00:14:31,203 --> 00:14:34,540 their entire access to international borders. 345 00:14:34,540 --> 00:14:37,409 Sixth indicator, media propaganda. 346 00:14:37,409 --> 00:14:40,446 ISIL used to have this very slick, sophisticated media 347 00:14:40,446 --> 00:14:44,917 information apparatus, and it was led by two people. 348 00:14:44,917 --> 00:14:46,986 One was Muhammad Adnani, their chief spokesman and 349 00:14:46,986 --> 00:14:50,021 also their head of external operations; and, two, a very 350 00:14:50,022 --> 00:14:54,226 sophisticated media expert named Dr. Waeli. 351 00:14:54,226 --> 00:14:57,229 He was kind of the head of all those slick videos they 352 00:14:57,229 --> 00:14:58,530 used to produce. 353 00:14:58,530 --> 00:15:01,333 Both of them are no longer around. 354 00:15:01,333 --> 00:15:03,401 We also have been working very closely with the 355 00:15:03,402 --> 00:15:05,838 private sector and within the coalition to get their 356 00:15:05,838 --> 00:15:09,942 content off the Internet, to make it far harder to access. 357 00:15:09,942 --> 00:15:12,511 Their overall output is down by about 75 percent. 358 00:15:12,511 --> 00:15:14,280 If you just measure -- we measure these things in 359 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:18,150 12-month increments -- from August of 2015 to August 360 00:15:18,150 --> 00:15:21,553 this year, decrease of 75 percent. 361 00:15:21,553 --> 00:15:24,423 Twitter -- just one example -- have taken down 400,000 362 00:15:24,423 --> 00:15:26,825 pro-ISIL Twitter handles. 363 00:15:26,825 --> 00:15:29,895 And the ratio of anti-ISIL information to pro-ISIL 364 00:15:29,895 --> 00:15:32,531 information has totally flipped from where it was 365 00:15:32,531 --> 00:15:33,665 two years ago. 366 00:15:33,666 --> 00:15:35,134 And we'll keep this going. 367 00:15:35,134 --> 00:15:36,635 This is also a global effort. 368 00:15:36,635 --> 00:15:38,904 So ISIL tries to recruit with different messages 369 00:15:38,904 --> 00:15:40,572 around the world. 370 00:15:40,572 --> 00:15:43,776 So in the UK, we have the UK leading an effort to really 371 00:15:43,776 --> 00:15:46,545 target those who might be recruited in Europe. 372 00:15:46,545 --> 00:15:48,613 In the Gulf region, we're working very closely with 373 00:15:48,614 --> 00:15:49,281 the UAE. 374 00:15:49,281 --> 00:15:53,419 I met them -- really incredible young people who 375 00:15:53,419 --> 00:15:56,954 are working 24/7 to counter the toxic ideology and 376 00:15:56,955 --> 00:15:59,091 poisonous messages of ISIL. 377 00:15:59,091 --> 00:16:01,393 Saudi Arabia is helping quite a bit with that. 378 00:16:01,393 --> 00:16:03,529 And even in Southeast Asia, Malaysians and other 379 00:16:03,529 --> 00:16:05,964 critical partners within our coalition are helping to 380 00:16:05,964 --> 00:16:07,966 counter the message in that part of the world. 381 00:16:07,966 --> 00:16:09,635 Very different messages in different parts of the 382 00:16:09,635 --> 00:16:12,438 world, and we work to adapt to that. 383 00:16:12,438 --> 00:16:16,809 Seventh indicator, briefly, is what we call global cohesion. 384 00:16:16,809 --> 00:16:19,278 ISIL had sought to be a global organization with 385 00:16:19,278 --> 00:16:23,415 direct links, financial fighters, leaders, between 386 00:16:23,415 --> 00:16:25,016 its core in Iraq and Syria to these 387 00:16:25,017 --> 00:16:27,186 so-called affiliates. 388 00:16:27,186 --> 00:16:29,188 So in response, we've strengthened a global 389 00:16:29,188 --> 00:16:32,491 coalition to find and sever all of those links. 390 00:16:32,491 --> 00:16:34,760 The result has been a weakening of their so-called 391 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:36,095 affiliates across the board. 392 00:16:36,095 --> 00:16:38,764 I mentioned Libya, but also Boko Haram in the Lake Chad 393 00:16:38,764 --> 00:16:42,534 Basin, and Afghanistan -- all of these entities are 394 00:16:42,534 --> 00:16:45,504 being significantly degraded. 395 00:16:45,504 --> 00:16:48,540 Importantly, our coalition also includes multinational 396 00:16:48,540 --> 00:16:51,377 organizations, such as INTERPOL and Europol, to 397 00:16:51,377 --> 00:16:54,912 help develop a global database of ISIL-affiliated 398 00:16:54,913 --> 00:16:58,517 fighters to stop, again, their transit across borders. 399 00:16:58,517 --> 00:17:00,285 My deputy, Lieutenant General Wolfe, was at the 400 00:17:00,285 --> 00:17:02,621 INTERPOL annual meeting last month to try to strengthen 401 00:17:02,621 --> 00:17:05,858 these relationships and make sure that we are sharing the 402 00:17:05,858 --> 00:17:08,993 information we need to stay ahead of this threat. 403 00:17:08,993 --> 00:17:11,429 So as ISIL's global cohesion weakens, ours is 404 00:17:11,430 --> 00:17:15,567 strengthening with cooperation across the globe. 405 00:17:15,567 --> 00:17:16,969 I would just say in conclusion -- and I 406 00:17:16,969 --> 00:17:19,405 mentioned this last time -- we are having tremendous 407 00:17:19,405 --> 00:17:21,039 success against this enemy. 408 00:17:21,039 --> 00:17:22,174 It is accelerating. 409 00:17:22,174 --> 00:17:24,343 We are now putting pressure on its two so-called 410 00:17:24,343 --> 00:17:28,080 capitals of Mosul and Raqqa -- simultaneous, 411 00:17:28,079 --> 00:17:28,847 relentless pressure. 412 00:17:28,847 --> 00:17:30,048 That will continue. 413 00:17:30,048 --> 00:17:31,083 We are killing their leaders. 414 00:17:31,083 --> 00:17:33,385 We're taking off their ability to finance and 415 00:17:33,385 --> 00:17:34,887 resource themselves. 416 00:17:34,887 --> 00:17:36,621 But this remains an unprecedented threat. 417 00:17:36,622 --> 00:17:38,891 The fight is not over. 418 00:17:38,891 --> 00:17:41,093 This will remain a multiyear effort. 419 00:17:41,093 --> 00:17:43,929 But we have developed a campaign that is global, and 420 00:17:43,929 --> 00:17:45,898 I hope I've demonstrated the overall breadth 421 00:17:45,898 --> 00:17:47,765 of the campaign. 422 00:17:47,766 --> 00:17:50,235 I also just want to say, since we've been doing this 423 00:17:50,235 --> 00:17:52,204 for a couple of years, and I visit our guys in the field 424 00:17:52,204 --> 00:17:55,706 all the time, we've lost five Americans in this campaign. 425 00:17:55,707 --> 00:17:58,110 Five of our military personnel have been killed 426 00:17:58,110 --> 00:17:59,678 in this campaign. 427 00:17:59,678 --> 00:18:02,681 And it's important to keep in mind, because I saw with 428 00:18:02,681 --> 00:18:05,284 my own eyes the casualty collection points just 429 00:18:05,284 --> 00:18:08,086 outside Mosul of the Iraqis who are fighting. 430 00:18:08,086 --> 00:18:10,088 We are advising them to fight and retake their 431 00:18:10,088 --> 00:18:13,258 territory, similar to our Syrian partners. 432 00:18:13,258 --> 00:18:16,361 And their casualties are very high. 433 00:18:16,361 --> 00:18:18,964 An operation in Manbij, Syria, for example, which 434 00:18:18,964 --> 00:18:21,899 was really important to protect us -- Manbij is 435 00:18:21,900 --> 00:18:23,769 where the foreign fighters were flowing through. 436 00:18:23,769 --> 00:18:26,238 It's where they were planning external operations. 437 00:18:26,238 --> 00:18:29,274 And the Syrian Democratic Forces in that operation had 438 00:18:29,274 --> 00:18:31,310 over a thousand casualties. 439 00:18:31,310 --> 00:18:34,012 Similar in Mosul, the Iraqi security forces that we are 440 00:18:34,012 --> 00:18:36,081 training, advising and enabling are 441 00:18:36,081 --> 00:18:36,948 fighting heroically. 442 00:18:36,949 --> 00:18:39,251 They are taking casualties and continuing to advance. 443 00:18:39,251 --> 00:18:41,687 And I think we're all very proud to work with them 444 00:18:41,687 --> 00:18:42,353 and grateful. 445 00:18:42,354 --> 00:18:45,057 And it's also just a reminder of the different 446 00:18:45,057 --> 00:18:48,494 mode of operation we have here -- enabling, advising 447 00:18:48,494 --> 00:18:51,897 local partners to take back the ground that they have lost. 448 00:18:51,897 --> 00:18:54,233 And I think it is significant that all the 449 00:18:54,233 --> 00:18:57,402 ground we have taken as a coalition, working with 450 00:18:57,402 --> 00:19:00,739 locals, everything we've taken back from ISIL -- 451 00:19:00,739 --> 00:19:04,009 that's over 60 percent in Iraq, 28 percent in Syria -- 452 00:19:04,009 --> 00:19:06,445 none of it ISIL has been able to retake. 453 00:19:06,445 --> 00:19:10,014 And that is because before we do any of this we have a 454 00:19:10,015 --> 00:19:12,885 tremendous effort -- sometimes months long, 455 00:19:12,885 --> 00:19:15,120 sometimes shorter -- to prepare the ground 456 00:19:15,120 --> 00:19:18,122 politically, economically, to get the stabilization 457 00:19:18,123 --> 00:19:20,459 resources in place to help make sure people can return 458 00:19:20,459 --> 00:19:23,095 to their homes, and make sure that the defeat of ISIL 459 00:19:23,095 --> 00:19:24,863 is a lasting one. 460 00:19:24,863 --> 00:19:27,833 So it is significant that to date ISIL has not retaken 461 00:19:27,833 --> 00:19:30,435 any of the ground it has lost in operations we 462 00:19:30,435 --> 00:19:31,136 have enabled. 463 00:19:31,136 --> 00:19:33,972 And we're going to make sure it continues that way. 464 00:19:33,972 --> 00:19:36,575 That's quite a different approach, I will just say in 465 00:19:36,575 --> 00:19:38,510 closing, than the Russians. 466 00:19:38,510 --> 00:19:42,014 The Russians have really had one counter-ISIL mission -- 467 00:19:42,014 --> 00:19:43,447 they claim to be fighting ISIL -- they've had one 468 00:19:43,448 --> 00:19:47,119 counter-ISIL mission and that was Palmyra. 469 00:19:47,119 --> 00:19:48,553 And they made a big deal about that. 470 00:19:48,554 --> 00:19:51,390 They had a big concert and they invited members of the 471 00:19:51,390 --> 00:19:52,824 media to come see it. 472 00:19:52,824 --> 00:19:55,294 And ISIL has now retaken Palmyra. 473 00:19:55,294 --> 00:19:58,163 In our operations, ISIL has not retaken a speck of 474 00:19:58,163 --> 00:19:59,798 ground that we have taken from them. 475 00:19:59,798 --> 00:20:03,335 And I think it is fairly significant that the one 476 00:20:03,335 --> 00:20:06,071 operation the Russians touted as a counter-ISIL 477 00:20:06,071 --> 00:20:09,474 operation ISIL has now retaken. 478 00:20:09,474 --> 00:20:10,775 We're not pleased about that. 479 00:20:10,776 --> 00:20:13,879 We want to wipe ISIL entirely off this map. 480 00:20:13,879 --> 00:20:16,380 The point of the map -- as I have explained before, 481 00:20:16,381 --> 00:20:18,951 everything that's in color on this map used to be 482 00:20:18,951 --> 00:20:20,652 controlled by ISIL. 483 00:20:20,652 --> 00:20:23,722 So the summer of 2014, everything there was part of 484 00:20:23,722 --> 00:20:25,857 the caliphate. 485 00:20:25,857 --> 00:20:28,594 Everything in green has been retaken, and everything in 486 00:20:28,594 --> 00:20:32,230 dark green is just what has been retaken in the last month. 487 00:20:32,230 --> 00:20:35,067 The dark red splotches in the southwest are areas that 488 00:20:35,067 --> 00:20:37,069 actually ISIL has gained over the last two years -- 489 00:20:37,069 --> 00:20:39,671 very small areas and areas that we primarily 490 00:20:39,671 --> 00:20:41,707 do not operate. 491 00:20:41,707 --> 00:20:44,242 And I'll just say finally on the situation, of course, in 492 00:20:44,242 --> 00:20:46,912 Aleppo -- this was discussed briefly in the meeting this 493 00:20:46,912 --> 00:20:50,282 morning, and there is a very active effort going on to 494 00:20:50,282 --> 00:20:51,149 try to resolve this. 495 00:20:51,149 --> 00:20:54,252 The Security Council, of course, will be convening 496 00:20:54,252 --> 00:20:55,654 later today. 497 00:20:55,654 --> 00:20:58,790 But of course, we've said a lot what we think about the 498 00:20:58,790 --> 00:21:03,095 tactics the Russians, the regime are using -- tactics 499 00:21:03,095 --> 00:21:06,198 that are totally different than anything we do against 500 00:21:06,198 --> 00:21:07,466 ISIL in Mosul. 501 00:21:07,466 --> 00:21:10,901 We are cognizant of every single innocent life in Mosul. 502 00:21:10,902 --> 00:21:13,472 We're fighting an enemy that is using human shields, and 503 00:21:13,472 --> 00:21:15,774 we're acting with tremendous precision. 504 00:21:15,774 --> 00:21:18,075 And if you see what the Russians are doing with the 505 00:21:18,076 --> 00:21:21,546 regime in Aleppo, it could not be any different. 506 00:21:21,546 --> 00:21:24,049 So the contrasts I think are quite stark. 507 00:21:24,049 --> 00:21:27,319 With that, I will leave it there. 508 00:21:27,319 --> 00:21:30,088 And I think overall, the campaign here against ISIL 509 00:21:30,088 --> 00:21:31,123 has momentum. 510 00:21:31,123 --> 00:21:33,492 We're always looking for ways to accelerate it and 511 00:21:33,492 --> 00:21:35,860 we're always talking about that, and we will not stop 512 00:21:35,861 --> 00:21:36,962 until we destroy this enemy. 513 00:21:36,962 --> 00:21:38,563 Mr. Earnest: Thanks, Brett. 514 00:21:38,563 --> 00:21:39,998 Mark, do you want to start? 515 00:21:39,998 --> 00:21:40,599 The Press: Sure. 516 00:21:40,599 --> 00:21:45,037 Can you say how you hand over an operation as complex 517 00:21:45,037 --> 00:21:48,206 as this to a new administration? 518 00:21:48,206 --> 00:21:52,110 And have you yet briefed any Trump transition personnel? 519 00:21:52,110 --> 00:21:54,846 Mr. McGurk: It's a great question. 520 00:21:54,846 --> 00:21:56,181 We were just talking about this. 521 00:21:56,181 --> 00:21:59,184 So just in my own experience, I was here in -- 522 00:21:59,184 --> 00:22:02,320 I was senior director for Iraq and Afghanistan in the 523 00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:03,187 Bush administration. 524 00:22:03,188 --> 00:22:06,925 It was the first transition in wartime in 40 years. 525 00:22:06,925 --> 00:22:10,729 And we worked very hard with President Bush and the 526 00:22:10,729 --> 00:22:12,631 incoming President-elect, President Obama, to have a 527 00:22:12,631 --> 00:22:14,800 very seamless transition, given the importance of a 528 00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:16,635 transition in wartime. 529 00:22:16,635 --> 00:22:19,104 So this is similar -- a transition in wartime. 530 00:22:19,104 --> 00:22:20,505 It's complex. 531 00:22:20,505 --> 00:22:22,674 And the direction very clearly from President Obama 532 00:22:22,674 --> 00:22:24,643 is to make sure were doing all we can to ensure it can 533 00:22:24,643 --> 00:22:26,445 be a seamless transition. 534 00:22:26,445 --> 00:22:28,112 There, of course, will be a lot of continuity on the 535 00:22:28,113 --> 00:22:30,849 military side, and so we're doing all we possibly can to 536 00:22:30,849 --> 00:22:31,750 support that effort. 537 00:22:31,750 --> 00:22:32,551 I'll leave it there. 538 00:22:32,551 --> 00:22:36,053 The Press: Have you conferred with Trump officials? 539 00:22:36,054 --> 00:22:39,024 Mr. McGurk: I think there's constant transition meetings 540 00:22:39,024 --> 00:22:41,359 going on, particularly in the State Department. 541 00:22:41,359 --> 00:22:42,694 I think those meetings are ongoing now. 542 00:22:42,694 --> 00:22:43,528 The Press: Have you yet? 543 00:22:43,528 --> 00:22:46,465 Mr. McGurk: I won't talk about the individual 544 00:22:46,465 --> 00:22:47,131 meetings were having. 545 00:22:47,132 --> 00:22:48,867 Those meetings are ongoing constantly. 546 00:22:48,867 --> 00:22:49,634 Mr. Earnest: Justin. 547 00:22:49,634 --> 00:22:50,769 The Press: On a few things. 548 00:22:50,769 --> 00:22:52,504 First was Libya, and I know you outlined a 549 00:22:52,504 --> 00:22:54,606 lot of progress. 550 00:22:54,606 --> 00:22:58,910 The estimates have been that there were between 5,000 and 551 00:22:58,910 --> 00:23:01,279 8,000 ISIL fighters there. 552 00:23:01,279 --> 00:23:04,850 Obviously they weren't all killed, and so there's I 553 00:23:04,850 --> 00:23:07,886 think a kind of outstanding question about if those 554 00:23:07,886 --> 00:23:10,989 estimates were high, or if not, if they've escaped in a 555 00:23:10,989 --> 00:23:13,759 way that they could regroup and pose a problem later. 556 00:23:13,759 --> 00:23:16,361 And the other question was about oil revenues. 557 00:23:16,361 --> 00:23:18,497 You talked about that a lot the last time we saw you. 558 00:23:18,497 --> 00:23:23,168 And I'm wondering if the rise in oil prices globally 559 00:23:23,168 --> 00:23:28,139 could help ISIL in a way that sort of counteract some 560 00:23:28,140 --> 00:23:29,341 of the gains that you outlined here, or if you 561 00:23:29,341 --> 00:23:34,279 feel like they're cut off at this point from the global oil. 562 00:23:34,279 --> 00:23:34,746 Mr. McGurk: Thanks. 563 00:23:34,746 --> 00:23:35,814 Two very good questions. 564 00:23:35,814 --> 00:23:39,184 So in Libya, it's hard to get a precise estimate of 565 00:23:39,184 --> 00:23:39,684 how many. 566 00:23:39,684 --> 00:23:41,286 We think most of them were probably killed in Libya -- 567 00:23:41,286 --> 00:23:44,523 or in Sirte in that campaign. 568 00:23:44,523 --> 00:23:47,091 But they really holed up -- I mentioned this is what 569 00:23:47,092 --> 00:23:49,494 they do -- this is their defense strategy. 570 00:23:49,494 --> 00:23:52,129 They have these kind of rings of defense and then 571 00:23:52,130 --> 00:23:53,965 they have a little citadel in the middle where they try 572 00:23:53,965 --> 00:23:54,666 to hole up. 573 00:23:54,666 --> 00:23:57,601 And in Sirte, they did that for some months in a little 574 00:23:57,602 --> 00:24:00,472 final area of the city. 575 00:24:00,472 --> 00:24:02,941 Our Ambassador, Peter Bodde, our Ambassador to Libya, is 576 00:24:02,941 --> 00:24:05,377 in discussions with Prime Minister Sarraj about the 577 00:24:05,377 --> 00:24:07,913 next steps in this campaign and what support the Libyans 578 00:24:07,913 --> 00:24:08,580 might want. 579 00:24:08,580 --> 00:24:10,348 And of course, we'll be discussing that with him. 580 00:24:10,348 --> 00:24:13,185 We want to make sure, in our view, that ISIL and 581 00:24:13,185 --> 00:24:15,352 extremist groups cannot have safe haven and sanctuary 582 00:24:15,353 --> 00:24:17,589 anywhere in Libya. 583 00:24:17,589 --> 00:24:19,858 On the oil trade, we have significantly reduced their 584 00:24:19,858 --> 00:24:22,394 ability to generate any serious revenue from oil. 585 00:24:22,394 --> 00:24:24,696 Of course, though, it does continue, but it's all 586 00:24:24,696 --> 00:24:25,831 self-generated. 587 00:24:25,831 --> 00:24:29,033 I mean, they cannot get any oil out of their little 588 00:24:29,034 --> 00:24:30,635 self-contained entity. 589 00:24:30,635 --> 00:24:32,671 There is definitely trade going on between different 590 00:24:32,671 --> 00:24:34,573 groups -- this is a very chaotic situation, 591 00:24:34,573 --> 00:24:37,976 particularly in Syria -- but their ability to replenish 592 00:24:37,976 --> 00:24:40,712 their resources is just significantly degraded. 593 00:24:40,712 --> 00:24:44,216 And whenever we find where they are extracting oil we 594 00:24:44,216 --> 00:24:45,583 make sure that we eliminate that. 595 00:24:45,584 --> 00:24:48,920 The Press: The concern seems to be, though, that fighters 596 00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:50,055 were able to escape. 597 00:24:50,055 --> 00:24:51,489 And you're discounting that? 598 00:24:51,489 --> 00:24:55,827 You think sort of the -- our allies were able to sort of 599 00:24:55,827 --> 00:24:57,896 fully encapsulate the city? 600 00:24:57,896 --> 00:24:59,764 Mr. McGurk: We don't get into numbers. 601 00:24:59,764 --> 00:25:01,832 We think we eliminated quite -- the vast majority there 602 00:25:01,833 --> 00:25:02,901 in Sirte. 603 00:25:02,901 --> 00:25:06,338 But if they try to regroup, I'm certain we'll find a way 604 00:25:06,338 --> 00:25:06,805 to deal with that. 605 00:25:06,805 --> 00:25:08,106 Mr. Earnest: Mark. 606 00:25:08,106 --> 00:25:10,575 The Press: The information-sharing with the 607 00:25:10,575 --> 00:25:13,645 Turks, it's been really strained on the diplomatic 608 00:25:13,645 --> 00:25:19,216 level -- obviously the whole question of cooperation with 609 00:25:19,217 --> 00:25:23,521 the coup and the allegations and the request for the 610 00:25:23,521 --> 00:25:26,658 return of the fellow that they think was involved in 611 00:25:26,658 --> 00:25:27,324 the coup. 612 00:25:27,325 --> 00:25:28,627 Has that been reflected at all in the cooperation 613 00:25:28,627 --> 00:25:31,428 you've seen in the counter-ISIL campaign? 614 00:25:31,429 --> 00:25:33,565 Mr. McGurk: Obviously it's a complex relationship. 615 00:25:33,565 --> 00:25:36,801 I was in Ankara about four or five days ago, had very 616 00:25:36,801 --> 00:25:39,604 good, very detailed meetings in Ankara about the 617 00:25:39,604 --> 00:25:41,306 overall situation. 618 00:25:41,306 --> 00:25:44,709 And the Turks have done an awful lot here over the last 619 00:25:44,709 --> 00:25:47,312 year, very close cooperation with us in the counter-ISIL 620 00:25:47,312 --> 00:25:50,282 fight, and I felt very good coming out of those meetings 621 00:25:50,282 --> 00:25:52,951 about the way forward. 622 00:25:52,951 --> 00:25:55,220 General Dunford is in regular contact. 623 00:25:55,220 --> 00:25:57,188 The day before I was in Ankara he was in Incirlik 624 00:25:57,188 --> 00:25:59,257 meeting his counterpart, General Akar. 625 00:25:59,257 --> 00:26:03,028 So our communications with Turkey is extremely close. 626 00:26:03,028 --> 00:26:05,263 They are doing an operation now -- just south of that 627 00:26:05,263 --> 00:26:07,999 green splotch here, near Al-Bab -- and obviously 628 00:26:07,999 --> 00:26:12,804 we're looking for ways to try to help them defeat ISIL 629 00:26:12,804 --> 00:26:15,273 in that particularly sensitive area. 630 00:26:15,273 --> 00:26:17,141 It's also a sensitive area of the country because you 631 00:26:17,142 --> 00:26:18,810 have a number of different forces converging. 632 00:26:18,810 --> 00:26:21,780 So a lot of what we do every single day is try to make 633 00:26:21,780 --> 00:26:25,283 sure that we deescalate any tension between non-ISIL 634 00:26:25,283 --> 00:26:28,687 affiliated forces that we have relationships with so 635 00:26:28,687 --> 00:26:31,121 everybody is focused on the same enemy. 636 00:26:31,122 --> 00:26:32,891 This is extremely hard. 637 00:26:32,891 --> 00:26:34,960 And that's why I mentioned there's another model for 638 00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:37,262 doing this -- we can send in the 82nd Airborne to go in 639 00:26:37,262 --> 00:26:38,929 and do all this kind of stuff. 640 00:26:38,930 --> 00:26:41,733 We do not think that that would be a lasting, 641 00:26:41,733 --> 00:26:43,467 sustainable way to do it. 642 00:26:43,468 --> 00:26:45,303 We think what is sustainable, particularly in 643 00:26:45,303 --> 00:26:47,939 something as complex as Syria, is advising, 644 00:26:47,939 --> 00:26:49,240 assisting, enabling. 645 00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:51,076 And I think the record of what we've been able to 646 00:26:51,076 --> 00:26:53,078 clear out proves that. 647 00:26:53,078 --> 00:26:55,146 But it makes it complex, because we're trying to 648 00:26:55,146 --> 00:26:57,081 encourage our partners that were working with on the 649 00:26:57,082 --> 00:27:00,919 ground, you guys need to go that way, when sometimes 650 00:27:00,919 --> 00:27:02,253 they want to go a different way. 651 00:27:02,253 --> 00:27:05,357 So this is what the daily communication and constant 652 00:27:05,357 --> 00:27:07,826 discussions are with the Turks and different actors 653 00:27:07,826 --> 00:27:08,727 on the ground. 654 00:27:08,727 --> 00:27:11,162 But I was very encouraged by my meetings in Ankara last 655 00:27:11,162 --> 00:27:13,098 week that we have a shared way forward, and it's going 656 00:27:13,098 --> 00:27:14,699 to continue. 657 00:27:14,699 --> 00:27:17,335 The Press: They're fighting the ISIL forces as much as 658 00:27:17,335 --> 00:27:18,136 they want to fight the Kurds? 659 00:27:18,136 --> 00:27:20,004 Mr. McGurk: Well, right now they are engaged in a 660 00:27:20,005 --> 00:27:23,708 hostile fight against ISIL, and Turkey soldiers have 661 00:27:23,708 --> 00:27:24,709 taken casualties. 662 00:27:24,709 --> 00:27:27,145 And I think we have to extend our condolences to them. 663 00:27:27,145 --> 00:27:28,913 I did that when I was there. 664 00:27:28,913 --> 00:27:30,515 They are engaged in a fight against ISIL on the 665 00:27:30,515 --> 00:27:31,883 ground, definitely. 666 00:27:31,883 --> 00:27:32,684 Mr. Earnest: Michelle. 667 00:27:32,684 --> 00:27:34,853 The Press: About a week ago, there were reports in Syria 668 00:27:34,853 --> 00:27:37,255 the ISIS leadership or what's left of it was 669 00:27:37,255 --> 00:27:41,126 meeting to try to pick a al-Baghdadi successor. 670 00:27:41,126 --> 00:27:42,160 What do you know about that? 671 00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:46,064 Do you think al-Baghdadi is wounded or incapacitated in 672 00:27:46,064 --> 00:27:46,765 some way? 673 00:27:46,765 --> 00:27:49,801 And even if he were taken out of the picture, how much 674 00:27:49,801 --> 00:27:52,270 of an effect would that have on their strength? 675 00:27:52,270 --> 00:27:54,039 Mr. McGurk: So it's a great question. 676 00:27:54,039 --> 00:27:56,875 I saw those reports, which we can't confirm. 677 00:27:56,875 --> 00:27:58,743 I would say any ISIL leaders have a pretty good 678 00:27:58,743 --> 00:28:00,979 succession plan because we're removing them at a 679 00:28:00,979 --> 00:28:02,947 pretty fast clip. 680 00:28:02,947 --> 00:28:05,382 Baghdadi is unique because he's the guy that rose in 681 00:28:05,383 --> 00:28:08,520 the Grand Mosque in Mosul and declared a caliphate, 682 00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:11,756 which I think I mentioned this the last time I was 683 00:28:11,756 --> 00:28:13,625 here -- but I travel now all around the world to 684 00:28:13,625 --> 00:28:15,994 countries in which their young men, and in many 685 00:28:15,994 --> 00:28:17,695 cases, young women, have been attracted to 686 00:28:17,695 --> 00:28:19,431 this movement. 687 00:28:19,431 --> 00:28:21,433 And when you say what is it that has attracted your 688 00:28:21,433 --> 00:28:23,435 young people to this movement, there's a number 689 00:28:23,435 --> 00:28:25,970 of different answers, but there's a common denominator 690 00:28:25,970 --> 00:28:29,441 -- this notion of a homeland and a caliphate. 691 00:28:29,441 --> 00:28:32,043 And Baghdadi claims to have a unique -- this phony 692 00:28:32,043 --> 00:28:36,447 unique claim to being a caliph. 693 00:28:36,448 --> 00:28:40,085 This is all a total fraud, but he claims to have this 694 00:28:40,085 --> 00:28:41,886 unique lineage that makes him a caliph. 695 00:28:41,886 --> 00:28:44,689 So I definitely think that when we do eliminate 696 00:28:44,689 --> 00:28:47,025 Baghdadi it will make a significant difference. 697 00:28:47,025 --> 00:28:50,161 I also think it is significant that he tried to 698 00:28:50,161 --> 00:28:53,598 be a kind of new type of terrorist leader -- giving 699 00:28:53,598 --> 00:28:56,734 public speeches, going to the Grand Mosque and giving 700 00:28:56,734 --> 00:29:00,138 this sermon in the summer of 2014 -- and he is now in 701 00:29:00,138 --> 00:29:01,906 deep, deep hiding. 702 00:29:01,906 --> 00:29:03,975 And we have not heard from him until he issued this 703 00:29:03,975 --> 00:29:06,543 audiotape a couple months ago, and it was a very 704 00:29:06,544 --> 00:29:07,579 defensive message. 705 00:29:07,579 --> 00:29:10,682 It basically said, for all of the fighters in Mosul, 706 00:29:10,682 --> 00:29:12,617 stay and fight to the death. 707 00:29:12,617 --> 00:29:14,619 But all the indications we're getting is that many 708 00:29:14,619 --> 00:29:17,688 did not take that message well because where is Baghdadi? 709 00:29:17,689 --> 00:29:20,358 He is somewhere in hiding. 710 00:29:20,358 --> 00:29:24,629 And we also know he hides with slaves and all sorts of 711 00:29:24,629 --> 00:29:26,197 terrible things. 712 00:29:26,197 --> 00:29:29,533 This guy is one of the most despicable we've ever seen. 713 00:29:29,534 --> 00:29:31,536 So we're doing all we can to find and eliminate him. 714 00:29:31,536 --> 00:29:34,005 As I mentioned, all of his deputies -- nearly all of 715 00:29:34,005 --> 00:29:35,373 his deputies have been eliminated. 716 00:29:35,373 --> 00:29:37,675 And it's a matter of time before we find him. 717 00:29:37,675 --> 00:29:40,578 I do think it will make a significant difference on 718 00:29:40,578 --> 00:29:43,114 ISIL as an organization, as a movement, once he's 719 00:29:43,114 --> 00:29:46,417 eliminated, but it will not eliminate this kind of 720 00:29:46,417 --> 00:29:48,218 global jihadi terrorist threat, obviously. 721 00:29:48,219 --> 00:29:49,888 Mr. Earnest: Ron. 722 00:29:49,888 --> 00:29:53,725 The Press: Given all the progress, does ISIS still 723 00:29:53,725 --> 00:29:57,529 have the ability to plot and orchestrate attacks against 724 00:29:57,529 --> 00:30:00,899 the United States and our allies from the territory 725 00:30:00,899 --> 00:30:01,933 that they have remaining? 726 00:30:01,933 --> 00:30:04,335 And will President Obama leave office with that 727 00:30:04,335 --> 00:30:06,804 ability apparently still intact? 728 00:30:06,804 --> 00:30:09,674 And on Aleppo, you said it was discussed briefly. 729 00:30:09,674 --> 00:30:12,543 There are reports that there are scores of civilians 730 00:30:12,544 --> 00:30:16,381 being massacred by the advancing Syrian army. 731 00:30:16,381 --> 00:30:19,083 There are also reports of a ceasefire. 732 00:30:19,083 --> 00:30:21,085 Did those issues come up, and was there any response 733 00:30:21,085 --> 00:30:23,655 to that from the President? 734 00:30:23,655 --> 00:30:26,891 Mr. McGurk: So in terms of plotting, this is what they 735 00:30:26,891 --> 00:30:28,426 want to do. 736 00:30:28,426 --> 00:30:31,763 ISIL wants to attack us, and they want to attack 737 00:30:31,763 --> 00:30:32,864 our partners. 738 00:30:32,864 --> 00:30:36,100 And they're very sophisticated -- the Paris 739 00:30:36,100 --> 00:30:39,003 attacks, the Brussels attacks, those were planned 740 00:30:39,003 --> 00:30:40,038 in Raqqa. 741 00:30:40,038 --> 00:30:41,539 They ran through some of these other towns I 742 00:30:41,539 --> 00:30:44,442 mentioned and they would deploy their operatives to 743 00:30:44,442 --> 00:30:46,311 carry out attacks. 744 00:30:46,311 --> 00:30:49,112 We think we significantly degraded their ability 745 00:30:49,113 --> 00:30:49,781 to do that. 746 00:30:49,781 --> 00:30:54,552 But they do have operatives in a number of places in 747 00:30:54,552 --> 00:30:56,486 which they are planning external attacks. 748 00:30:56,487 --> 00:30:59,557 This is something that is the primary focus of ours, 749 00:30:59,557 --> 00:31:01,092 to eliminate what I call that external 750 00:31:01,092 --> 00:31:02,760 operations network. 751 00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:04,762 So the head of it was Mohammad Adnani. 752 00:31:04,762 --> 00:31:08,533 That's why targeting him was so significant. 753 00:31:08,533 --> 00:31:10,968 Most of this is also being done in Raqqa, but I think 754 00:31:10,969 --> 00:31:15,840 we have demonstrated these three I mentioned today that 755 00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:19,543 were eliminated just a few days ago were part of this 756 00:31:19,544 --> 00:31:21,746 very sophisticated terrorist plotting network. 757 00:31:21,746 --> 00:31:24,349 So every single opportunity we get we are degrading this 758 00:31:24,349 --> 00:31:26,484 network, but it still exists. 759 00:31:26,484 --> 00:31:28,453 This is still a threat. 760 00:31:28,453 --> 00:31:31,155 They are trying to recruit -- not planned, 761 00:31:31,155 --> 00:31:32,924 sophisticated attacks -- they're trying to do that, 762 00:31:32,924 --> 00:31:35,093 but they're also trying to recruit deranged individuals 763 00:31:35,093 --> 00:31:37,762 from all over the world to act in their name. 764 00:31:37,762 --> 00:31:40,598 And that is something that is very hard to stop, which 765 00:31:40,598 --> 00:31:42,100 is why the information-sharing and 766 00:31:42,100 --> 00:31:44,401 everything we're doing kind of behind the scenes as a 767 00:31:44,402 --> 00:31:47,038 coalition is so critical. 768 00:31:47,038 --> 00:31:49,140 I can't speak to what's happening in Aleppo right now. 769 00:31:49,140 --> 00:31:51,376 I will just say, as I think I mentioned at the outset, 770 00:31:51,376 --> 00:31:53,011 this is a horrific situation. 771 00:31:53,011 --> 00:31:57,482 I think it demonstrates once again the tactics that the 772 00:31:57,482 --> 00:32:01,386 Russians are using in support of the regime are 773 00:32:01,386 --> 00:32:03,655 something that is truly beyond the pale, could not 774 00:32:03,655 --> 00:32:06,024 be any different than the types of tactics that 775 00:32:06,024 --> 00:32:07,391 we utilize. 776 00:32:07,392 --> 00:32:10,728 And I've also seen these reports of the ceasefire and 777 00:32:10,728 --> 00:32:13,398 a potential agreement, but I can't confirm any of that 778 00:32:13,398 --> 00:32:14,932 because this is all fairly late-breaking. 779 00:32:14,932 --> 00:32:16,868 But I understand the Security Council will be 780 00:32:16,868 --> 00:32:18,669 convening later today to discuss it. 781 00:32:18,670 --> 00:32:19,971 Mr. Earnest: Andrew. 782 00:32:19,971 --> 00:32:22,307 The Press: I wanted to follow up on your trip 783 00:32:22,307 --> 00:32:23,241 to Ankar. 784 00:32:23,241 --> 00:32:25,543 What did you hear from the Turks that made you so 785 00:32:25,543 --> 00:32:29,179 confidant, vis-à-vis what they planned in Al-Bab and 786 00:32:29,180 --> 00:32:32,583 with regards to what you just said? 787 00:32:32,583 --> 00:32:34,218 Mr. McGurk: Well, I'd just say this. 788 00:32:34,218 --> 00:32:39,991 Turkey is at war against ISIL. 789 00:32:39,991 --> 00:32:42,126 There's no question about that. 790 00:32:42,126 --> 00:32:44,062 They are fighting on the ground, they are 791 00:32:44,062 --> 00:32:45,862 taking casualties. 792 00:32:45,863 --> 00:32:49,233 And ISIL is a significant threat to Turkey, and that 793 00:32:49,233 --> 00:32:55,139 is something that they see very clearly, and so we're 794 00:32:55,139 --> 00:32:58,443 working through various ways in which we can help them. 795 00:32:58,443 --> 00:33:01,312 We do have disagreements, of course, in terms of some 796 00:33:01,312 --> 00:33:03,648 things going on in Syria, which we also have very 797 00:33:03,648 --> 00:33:05,850 candid discussions about. 798 00:33:05,850 --> 00:33:09,153 When it comes to Raqqa, we want to get ISIL out of 799 00:33:09,153 --> 00:33:12,123 Raqqa as soon as possible, but this will be a 800 00:33:12,123 --> 00:33:13,791 sequence campaign. 801 00:33:13,791 --> 00:33:14,826 That's the only way to do it. 802 00:33:14,826 --> 00:33:16,761 So we're in the isolation, kind of the strangulation 803 00:33:16,761 --> 00:33:17,995 phase now. 804 00:33:17,995 --> 00:33:21,399 And then we have to identify the force to actually move 805 00:33:21,399 --> 00:33:22,632 in and seize and hold the city. 806 00:33:22,633 --> 00:33:24,502 There are a few options for that. 807 00:33:24,502 --> 00:33:26,303 One of the options, of course, is working very 808 00:33:26,304 --> 00:33:28,573 closely with Turkey, and we are having a detailed 809 00:33:28,573 --> 00:33:30,575 discussion with them about this. 810 00:33:30,575 --> 00:33:33,578 But the most significant thing when I was in Turkey 811 00:33:33,578 --> 00:33:36,114 was just their threat perception of ISIL as a 812 00:33:36,114 --> 00:33:37,715 significant threat to Turkey, which it is. 813 00:33:37,715 --> 00:33:41,218 Turkey has suffered more casualties in ISIL attacks 814 00:33:41,219 --> 00:33:43,921 than almost any of our other coalition partners. 815 00:33:43,921 --> 00:33:47,425 And so while we've had some disagreements over the 816 00:33:47,425 --> 00:33:49,427 years, I thought we had a pretty good shared 817 00:33:49,427 --> 00:33:50,328 way forward. 818 00:33:50,328 --> 00:33:52,830 Not to say there isn't some tension, obviously. 819 00:33:52,830 --> 00:33:55,265 The Press: I also wanted to ask, are U.S. 820 00:33:55,266 --> 00:33:58,236 forces embedding with the Popular Mobilization Forces? 821 00:33:58,236 --> 00:34:01,005 Mr. McGurk: Embedding with popular -- I think you're 822 00:34:01,005 --> 00:34:03,374 talking about a report in which there was a photograph 823 00:34:03,374 --> 00:34:07,545 of some training of -- so Popular Mobilization Forces 824 00:34:07,545 --> 00:34:10,548 are known as being primarily Shia militia forces, many of 825 00:34:10,547 --> 00:34:12,449 which operate outside the command and control of the 826 00:34:12,449 --> 00:34:15,152 Iraqi government, which is a significant problem, not 827 00:34:15,152 --> 00:34:17,687 only to us but also to the Iraqi government. 828 00:34:17,688 --> 00:34:19,857 But under the umbrella of the Popular Mobilization 829 00:34:19,857 --> 00:34:23,494 Forces, there are local forces from these areas to 830 00:34:23,494 --> 00:34:27,064 hold the ground after operations conclude. 831 00:34:27,063 --> 00:34:30,467 Many of these are locals from Nineveh Province -- so 832 00:34:30,467 --> 00:34:32,670 Sunnis, Christians, all sorts of -- it's a very 833 00:34:32,670 --> 00:34:33,905 diverse province. 834 00:34:33,905 --> 00:34:35,440 I'll give you an example. 835 00:34:35,440 --> 00:34:37,708 In Anbar Province, under the umbrella of the Popular 836 00:34:37,708 --> 00:34:41,212 Mobilization Forces, about 15,000 local Anbari tribal 837 00:34:41,212 --> 00:34:43,514 fighters mobilized to fight Daesh. 838 00:34:43,514 --> 00:34:48,152 That is one reason why, from the four to the five, all of 839 00:34:48,152 --> 00:34:49,487 that is green. 840 00:34:49,487 --> 00:34:52,190 We cannot do that only with the Iraqi security forces. 841 00:34:52,190 --> 00:34:55,426 We needed the tribes to be mobilized. 842 00:34:55,426 --> 00:34:57,261 So those are all Sunnis from Anbar. 843 00:34:57,261 --> 00:34:59,297 They're being paid by the government to fight ISIL, 844 00:34:59,297 --> 00:35:01,365 and we're, of course, supporting them. 845 00:35:01,365 --> 00:35:02,399 Mr. Earnest: Richard. 846 00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:05,770 The Press: Could you tell us a little more about the 847 00:35:05,770 --> 00:35:07,338 coalition partners? 848 00:35:07,338 --> 00:35:09,807 Are they just as resolute as the U.S. 849 00:35:09,807 --> 00:35:11,042 in continuing further? 850 00:35:11,042 --> 00:35:14,278 And can you tell us -- the operation themselves, how -- 851 00:35:14,278 --> 00:35:19,383 what's the percentage of the operation being done by the 852 00:35:19,383 --> 00:35:21,752 U.S., and the coalition -- the percentage by the 853 00:35:21,752 --> 00:35:22,420 coalition partners? 854 00:35:22,420 --> 00:35:25,323 Besides Turkey? 855 00:35:25,323 --> 00:35:29,426 Mr. McGurk: So a very good question. 856 00:35:29,427 --> 00:35:31,762 I've been at this from the beginning, the inception of 857 00:35:31,762 --> 00:35:35,766 the coalition, when we had about 15 countries, and 858 00:35:35,766 --> 00:35:37,835 there was always a question of what will this grow into. 859 00:35:39,837 --> 00:35:42,707 In the last three weeks, we had all 68 -- ambassadors 860 00:35:42,707 --> 00:35:44,741 from all 68 members at the State Department, and we 861 00:35:44,742 --> 00:35:47,111 also held what's called kind of the small group of 862 00:35:47,111 --> 00:35:50,548 coalition countries, over 20 countries, in Berlin, just a 863 00:35:50,548 --> 00:35:51,314 couple weeks ago. 864 00:35:51,315 --> 00:35:54,485 And what is fairly extraordinary about this is 865 00:35:54,485 --> 00:35:58,122 the sense of international consensus about the need to 866 00:35:58,122 --> 00:36:01,424 basically destroy this enemy, and the sense of 867 00:36:01,425 --> 00:36:02,360 burden-sharing. 868 00:36:02,360 --> 00:36:04,795 As I mentioned, the United States will not do this -- 869 00:36:04,795 --> 00:36:07,732 we cannot succeed in this alone. 870 00:36:07,732 --> 00:36:10,434 And the coalition remains extremely strong. 871 00:36:10,434 --> 00:36:13,070 So Secretary Carter will be seeing his counterparts in 872 00:36:13,070 --> 00:36:15,006 London here in a few days. 873 00:36:15,006 --> 00:36:17,975 And the overall cohesion of the coalition across all 874 00:36:17,975 --> 00:36:19,710 these multiple lines of effort -- the military gets 875 00:36:19,710 --> 00:36:21,646 a lot of the focus, but it is counter-finance, 876 00:36:21,646 --> 00:36:26,017 counter-propaganda, counter-foreign fighters, 877 00:36:26,017 --> 00:36:28,618 and everything kind of working together -- that we 878 00:36:28,619 --> 00:36:30,721 have coordinating mechanisms throughout the coalition. 879 00:36:30,721 --> 00:36:33,324 It is working extraordinarily well. 880 00:36:33,324 --> 00:36:35,960 And the international consensus behind this effort 881 00:36:35,960 --> 00:36:38,763 is something I think we have to continue to build upon, 882 00:36:38,763 --> 00:36:41,432 because it is something that's quite extraordinary. 883 00:36:41,432 --> 00:36:44,569 In terms of overall effort, I mentioned there's been 884 00:36:44,569 --> 00:36:47,605 about -- over 17,000 airstrikes now. 885 00:36:47,605 --> NaN:NaN:NaN,NaN I think if you add them up, about 4,500 or so have been 886 00:36:47,572 --> 00:36:48,239 coalition airstrikes. 887 00:36:48,239 --> 00:36:53,744 So, definitely U.S. 888 00:36:53,744 --> 00:36:56,614 military forces are doing the bulk of the airstrikes. 889 00:36:56,614 --> 00:36:58,482 There's a reason for that -- we have the best military in 890 00:36:58,482 --> 00:36:59,684 the world. 891 00:36:59,684 --> 00:37:01,953 But the number of coalition partners operating to 892 00:37:01,953 --> 00:37:03,721 support that effort is quite significant. 893 00:37:03,721 --> 00:37:05,556 And, of course, we couldn't do this without flying out 894 00:37:05,556 --> 00:37:07,758 of Incirlik Airbase, flying out of some other areas 895 00:37:07,758 --> 00:37:09,660 within the region. 896 00:37:09,660 --> 00:37:11,428 And we're obviously very grateful for that. 897 00:37:11,429 --> 00:37:15,066 Without the coalition, we would not be able to defeat 898 00:37:15,066 --> 00:37:15,866 this enemy. 899 00:37:15,866 --> 00:37:17,134 Mr. Earnest: We probably have time for two more and 900 00:37:17,134 --> 00:37:18,769 then we're going to let Brett go. 901 00:37:18,769 --> 00:37:19,403 Kevin. 902 00:37:19,403 --> 00:37:20,171 The Press: Thanks, Josh. 903 00:37:20,171 --> 00:37:22,038 I just want to sort of follow up, especially as it 904 00:37:22,039 --> 00:37:24,141 relates to the coalition and strikes. 905 00:37:24,141 --> 00:37:26,410 There's been some reporting, Brett, that the U.S. 906 00:37:26,410 --> 00:37:28,846 needed to use the Australians to conduct 907 00:37:28,846 --> 00:37:31,649 strikes against some of the Paris attackers, and I 908 00:37:31,649 --> 00:37:33,284 wonder if you can sort of help me unpack the 909 00:37:33,284 --> 00:37:36,454 complications as it relates to the chain of command that 910 00:37:36,454 --> 00:37:40,057 the United States might have in conducting airstrikes and 911 00:37:40,057 --> 00:37:42,827 having to utilize coalition partners like Australia 912 00:37:42,827 --> 00:37:43,494 and others? 913 00:37:43,494 --> 00:37:46,998 And second, I wanted to ask you about Saudi Arabia. 914 00:37:46,998 --> 00:37:49,133 That story has come out today and I wondered if you 915 00:37:49,133 --> 00:37:51,968 could sort of help unpack this idea that the U.S. 916 00:37:51,969 --> 00:37:55,072 is limiting military support for the Saudis because of 917 00:37:55,072 --> 00:37:56,974 what's been happening vis-à-vis civilian 918 00:37:56,974 --> 00:37:58,142 casualties in Yemen. 919 00:37:58,142 --> 00:38:02,279 Mr. Earnest: I can take the Yemen one, Brett. 920 00:38:02,279 --> 00:38:03,214 Mr. McGurk: So let me -- I'll just say about the -- 921 00:38:03,214 --> 00:38:07,451 and I defer to my DOD colleagues who work this 922 00:38:07,451 --> 00:38:10,254 every single day -- this has been the most precise air 923 00:38:10,254 --> 00:38:11,288 campaign in history. 924 00:38:11,288 --> 00:38:13,691 I mean, I think it will be studied in the future and 925 00:38:13,691 --> 00:38:17,194 people will -- the most precise air campaign in history. 926 00:38:17,194 --> 00:38:21,666 And all of our airstrikes go through a common structure 927 00:38:21,666 --> 00:38:24,335 in terms of validating the targets. 928 00:38:24,335 --> 00:38:27,271 And it is really moving at an incredible clip. 929 00:38:27,271 --> 00:38:29,306 I can't get into the details of sometimes who does a 930 00:38:29,306 --> 00:38:30,941 strike and everything. 931 00:38:30,941 --> 00:38:33,843 What I will say is, when I mentioned today -- and this 932 00:38:33,844 --> 00:38:36,047 was mentioned also by Secretary Carter earlier 933 00:38:36,047 --> 00:38:39,417 today -- eliminating these external plotters in the 934 00:38:39,417 --> 00:38:44,321 streets of Raqqa, painstaking, tireless work 935 00:38:44,321 --> 00:38:47,725 by coalition actors, our military forces, our folks 936 00:38:47,725 --> 00:38:49,727 on the ground, our intelligence apparatus -- 937 00:38:49,727 --> 00:38:52,730 all working as one team. 938 00:38:52,730 --> 00:38:54,932 And it doesn't always work that well, but it is working 939 00:38:54,932 --> 00:38:56,067 quite, quite well. 940 00:38:56,067 --> 00:38:59,537 But I just can't get into in terms of who does what. 941 00:38:59,537 --> 00:39:02,839 But it is the most precise air campaign in history. 942 00:39:02,840 --> 00:39:05,676 We're very proud of it, and that will continue. 943 00:39:05,676 --> 00:39:07,444 I'll just say about Saudi Arabia -- I was in Saudi 944 00:39:07,445 --> 00:39:12,383 Arabia a couple weeks ago to meet with Deputy Crown 945 00:39:12,383 --> 00:39:13,651 Prince Mohammad bin Salman. 946 00:39:13,651 --> 00:39:16,754 I've seen him a number of times, including also with 947 00:39:16,754 --> 00:39:17,855 Muhammad bin Nayef. 948 00:39:17,855 --> 00:39:20,825 And Saudi Arabia also is in this fight. 949 00:39:20,825 --> 00:39:23,861 I mean, ISIL is a fundamental threat to 950 00:39:23,861 --> 00:39:25,362 Saudi Arabia. 951 00:39:25,362 --> 00:39:27,398 If you read ISIL's propaganda, if you read what 952 00:39:27,398 --> 00:39:30,434 Baghdadi writes, he's obsessed with Saudi Arabia 953 00:39:30,434 --> 00:39:31,936 and striking in Saudi Arabia. 954 00:39:31,936 --> 00:39:35,106 So we are working very closely with the Saudis in a 955 00:39:35,106 --> 00:39:38,509 whole range of areas in order to help degrade ISIL, 956 00:39:38,509 --> 00:39:40,845 particularly on a lot of the counter-ideological fights. 957 00:39:40,845 --> 00:39:42,212 So they're very much in this as well. 958 00:39:42,213 --> 00:39:44,181 And I'll let Josh address the Yemen question. 959 00:39:44,181 --> 00:39:46,183 Mr. Earnest: Gardiner, I'll give you the last one. 960 00:39:46,183 --> 00:39:49,453 The Press: John Brennan has suggested that the campaign 961 00:39:49,453 --> 00:39:52,323 on the ground and the campaign against ISIL 962 00:39:52,323 --> 00:39:55,359 globally are going in two opposite directions. 963 00:39:55,359 --> 00:39:57,795 He said this summer, we still have a ways to go 964 00:39:57,795 --> 00:39:58,929 before we're able to say that we've made some 965 00:39:58,929 --> 00:40:00,097 significant progress. 966 00:40:00,097 --> 00:40:03,534 And he warned that the trajectories for this ISIS 967 00:40:03,534 --> 00:40:06,971 religious state or caliphate and global violence point in 968 00:40:06,971 --> 00:40:08,105 opposite directions. 969 00:40:08,105 --> 00:40:10,941 "As the pressure mounts on ISIL," he said, "we judge 970 00:40:10,941 --> 00:40:13,577 that it will intensify its global terror campaign to 971 00:40:13,577 --> 00:40:16,514 maintain its domination of the global terrorism agenda." 972 00:40:16,514 --> 00:40:18,582 You're sort of saying the opposite thing. 973 00:40:18,582 --> 00:40:21,618 You're saying that these two campaigns are going in 974 00:40:21,619 --> 00:40:24,355 exactly the same directions instead of opposite 975 00:40:24,355 --> 00:40:27,291 directions, and you're pointing to the three deaths 976 00:40:27,291 --> 00:40:31,095 recently of these external plotters as evidence of that. 977 00:40:31,095 --> 00:40:33,596 Tell me why there's such a difference between what 978 00:40:33,597 --> 00:40:37,535 you're saying and what some other intelligence people in 979 00:40:37,535 --> 00:40:39,203 the administration are saying. 980 00:40:39,203 --> 00:40:42,339 Why are you so convinced these two things are going 981 00:40:42,339 --> 00:40:44,942 together while other say it's sort of like squeezing 982 00:40:44,942 --> 00:40:47,745 a balloon -- if you squeeze it here, they're going to 983 00:40:47,745 --> 00:40:48,578 show up someplace else? 984 00:40:48,579 --> 00:40:50,481 Mr. McGurk: I don't think it's so much of 985 00:40:50,481 --> 00:40:51,782 a disagreement. 986 00:40:51,782 --> 00:40:55,820 In fact, all of our intelligence assessments 987 00:40:55,820 --> 00:40:59,056 inform the way we obviously discuss this and prosecute 988 00:40:59,056 --> 00:41:00,558 the campaign. 989 00:41:00,558 --> 00:41:03,794 I said this will be a multiyear effort. 990 00:41:03,794 --> 00:41:05,296 Be very clear about that. 991 00:41:05,296 --> 00:41:08,031 The number of foreign fighters, the number of 992 00:41:08,032 --> 00:41:10,201 people indoctrinated into this ideology is something 993 00:41:10,201 --> 00:41:13,737 that will not be overcome for a number of years. 994 00:41:13,737 --> 00:41:17,775 And while the notion of the caliphate is what kind of 995 00:41:17,775 --> 00:41:20,978 led to this explosive growth of ISIL -- that is why 996 00:41:20,978 --> 00:41:26,283 shrinking the caliphate is so important -- but their 997 00:41:26,283 --> 00:41:30,254 desire to inspire attacks around the world as they 998 00:41:30,254 --> 00:41:32,857 lose their territory is something that we expect 999 00:41:32,857 --> 00:41:34,625 will probably increase. 1000 00:41:34,625 --> 00:41:35,993 How do they want to stay relevant? 1001 00:41:35,993 --> 00:41:39,395 They're trying to spark and inspire attacks around 1002 00:41:39,396 --> 00:41:40,564 the world. 1003 00:41:40,564 --> 00:41:43,533 That's why they used to say -- Muhammad Adnani's last 1004 00:41:43,534 --> 00:41:45,269 statement was very interesting. 1005 00:41:45,269 --> 00:41:47,303 If you read of Muhammad Adnani, the spokesman, all 1006 00:41:47,304 --> 00:41:50,474 of his propaganda, again, it used to be about, come to 1007 00:41:50,474 --> 00:41:54,445 the homeland, or retain and expand the caliphate. 1008 00:41:54,445 --> 00:41:56,480 Most of their propaganda were these sundrenched 1009 00:41:56,480 --> 00:41:59,183 scenes of children and families and a very 1010 00:41:59,183 --> 00:42:02,853 optimistic message, actually. 1011 00:42:02,853 --> 00:42:04,989 His last message before his death was very different. 1012 00:42:04,989 --> 00:42:07,791 It actually said, we might lose all of our territory, 1013 00:42:07,791 --> 00:42:10,227 but we'll still be around, and, in fact, if you can't 1014 00:42:10,227 --> 00:42:12,029 come -- because you can't because it's hard to get in 1015 00:42:12,029 --> 00:42:14,698 here now -- stay home, pick up a knife, and attack 1016 00:42:14,698 --> 00:42:15,566 someone down the street. 1017 00:42:15,566 --> 00:42:17,500 It was a very different message. 1018 00:42:17,501 --> 00:42:19,837 It's a message that does not appeal to a broad segment of 1019 00:42:19,837 --> 00:42:20,571 the population. 1020 00:42:20,571 --> 00:42:21,906 It's a message that appeals to really 1021 00:42:21,906 --> 00:42:23,741 deranged individuals. 1022 00:42:23,741 --> 00:42:26,043 But they are trying to remain relevant as they lose 1023 00:42:26,043 --> 00:42:29,146 their homeland -- what they call their homeland -- by 1024 00:42:29,146 --> 00:42:30,648 trying to inspire these attacks. 1025 00:42:30,648 --> 00:42:32,449 And that is something that will continue. 1026 00:42:32,449 --> 00:42:35,352 And that is why one thing we've done in the coalition, 1027 00:42:35,352 --> 00:42:38,022 we talk about even as we degrade their ability to 1028 00:42:38,022 --> 00:42:41,491 have territory in Iraq and Syria, we need to adapt as a 1029 00:42:41,492 --> 00:42:43,928 coalition to increase our ability to share 1030 00:42:43,928 --> 00:42:47,665 information, our hubs of sharing information, to be 1031 00:42:47,665 --> 00:42:49,366 able to stay ahead of the threat. 1032 00:42:49,366 --> 00:42:51,168 So that's something as a coalition I think will 1033 00:42:51,168 --> 00:42:52,937 continue for some time. 1034 00:42:52,937 --> 00:42:55,372 So the military-focused coalition of taking back 1035 00:42:55,372 --> 00:42:58,241 these cities, which we will do, will evolve into a 1036 00:42:58,242 --> 00:43:00,678 coalition focused on the information-sharing, the 1037 00:43:00,678 --> 00:43:03,547 patterns of interaction among capitals, among 1038 00:43:03,547 --> 00:43:05,182 intelligence communities, among law 1039 00:43:05,182 --> 00:43:06,783 enforcement communities. 1040 00:43:06,784 --> 00:43:08,585 It's something we have to continue to expand 1041 00:43:08,585 --> 00:43:09,653 upon and grow. 1042 00:43:09,653 --> 00:43:10,520 The Press: But, Brett, that's a much less 1043 00:43:10,521 --> 00:43:16,493 optimistic, even frightening message for those of us in 1044 00:43:16,493 --> 00:43:19,330 this part of the world, because it's suggesting that 1045 00:43:19,330 --> 00:43:22,866 your success there only increases the dangers here, no? 1046 00:43:22,866 --> 00:43:25,569 Mr. McGurk: No, because what they can do inside of Iraq 1047 00:43:25,569 --> 00:43:28,138 and Syria are these big spectacular attacks. 1048 00:43:28,138 --> 00:43:29,473 Make no mistake, these are terrorists. 1049 00:43:29,473 --> 00:43:31,909 It's an international terrorist organization that 1050 00:43:31,909 --> 00:43:35,779 has the same ideology as Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda. 1051 00:43:35,779 --> 00:43:38,882 The only difference between ISIL and al Qaeda is that 1052 00:43:38,882 --> 00:43:41,752 ISIL said, let's do a caliphate now, whereas al 1053 00:43:41,752 --> 00:43:43,620 Qaeda said, well, we'll do a caliphate down the road. 1054 00:43:43,620 --> 00:43:45,189 That's the key difference. 1055 00:43:45,189 --> 00:43:48,524 But they aspire to do massive spectacular attacks 1056 00:43:48,525 --> 00:43:51,695 around the world, and in order to do that, they need 1057 00:43:51,695 --> 00:43:54,198 territory to plan and plot and resource. 1058 00:43:54,198 --> 00:43:56,133 And so we're making sure that they are on their heels 1059 00:43:56,133 --> 00:43:58,702 every single day, but I would never get up here and 1060 00:43:58,702 --> 00:44:01,338 say this threat is something that is going to go away or 1061 00:44:01,338 --> 00:44:04,942 something that we cannot remain absolutely vigilant on. 1062 00:44:04,942 --> 00:44:08,078 And which is why, as I mentioned, it's not just DOD 1063 00:44:08,078 --> 00:44:10,913 and State; it's our entire government working as part 1064 00:44:10,914 --> 00:44:13,584 of this integrated campaign plan to stay ahead of it 1065 00:44:13,584 --> 00:44:14,518 because it's different tools. 1066 00:44:14,518 --> 00:44:17,254 It's military, law enforcement, intel, and 1067 00:44:17,254 --> 00:44:18,522 counter messaging. 1068 00:44:18,522 --> 00:44:20,958 So we need to stay at it every single day and remain 1069 00:44:20,958 --> 00:44:23,327 vigilant for a long time to come. 1070 00:44:23,327 --> 00:44:25,195 Mr. Earnest: Thank you, Brett. 1071 00:44:25,195 --> 00:44:26,063 I appreciate it. 1072 00:44:26,063 --> 00:44:35,372 Mr. McGurk: Okay, thank you. 1073 00:44:35,372 --> 00:44:37,040 Mr. Earnest: Okay, we can go back to our regularly 1074 00:44:37,041 --> 00:44:37,775 scheduled programming now. 1075 00:44:37,775 --> 00:44:39,309 (laughter) 1076 00:44:39,309 --> 00:44:40,144 Kevin, do you want to start? 1077 00:44:40,144 --> 00:44:40,843 The Press: Sure. 1078 00:44:40,844 --> 00:44:47,017 Josh, I did want to ask about laying the blame for 1079 00:44:47,017 --> 00:44:52,022 Palmyra to Russia, but now that it has been retaken, or 1080 00:44:52,022 --> 00:44:54,825 partially been retaken, what is the strategy 1081 00:44:54,825 --> 00:44:55,893 going forward? 1082 00:44:55,893 --> 00:45:00,531 Is the U.S. going to be involved in that operation? 1083 00:45:00,531 --> 00:45:03,267 It would seem to be a ripe target now that you have 1084 00:45:03,267 --> 00:45:06,403 these forces there that we know about. 1085 00:45:06,403 --> 00:45:09,573 Or are we going to leave that to the Russians 1086 00:45:09,573 --> 00:45:10,641 to deal with? 1087 00:45:10,641 --> 00:45:13,977 Mr. Earnest: Well, as Brett mentioned, this obviously is 1088 00:45:13,977 --> 00:45:15,446 something that we're concerned about. 1089 00:45:15,446 --> 00:45:20,451 I do think that it exposes the failed strategy, or at 1090 00:45:22,619 --> 00:45:24,655 least calls into question the integrity of those who 1091 00:45:24,655 --> 00:45:25,656 are describing their strategy. 1092 00:45:25,656 --> 00:45:30,094 Their strategy, as they stated, is to be focused on 1093 00:45:30,094 --> 00:45:33,363 ISIL and to be focused on extremists and terrorists. 1094 00:45:33,363 --> 00:45:35,098 But the truth is the real consequence of their 1095 00:45:35,099 --> 00:45:38,802 strategy, which appears to be an intense focus on 1096 00:45:38,802 --> 00:45:42,573 bombing innocent civilians into submission so that the 1097 00:45:42,573 --> 00:45:49,179 Assad regime can enjoy some tactical gains, actually 1098 00:45:49,179 --> 00:45:53,350 results in fueling the kind of extremism that we know 1099 00:45:53,350 --> 00:45:56,353 extremists rely on to thrive. 1100 00:45:56,353 --> 00:46:06,997 It also is exhibit A when you consider this is an 1101 00:46:06,997 --> 00:46:09,633 example of Russia taking their eye off the ball when 1102 00:46:09,633 --> 00:46:11,067 it comes to terrorists. 1103 00:46:11,068 --> 00:46:13,937 That they did have this one limited successful operation 1104 00:46:13,937 --> 00:46:16,140 against Palmyra -- one that the United States was not 1105 00:46:16,140 --> 00:46:20,310 involved in but one that we were obviously pleased, and 1106 00:46:20,310 --> 00:46:24,515 we said so at the time, that this was territory that had 1107 00:46:24,515 --> 00:46:29,853 been taken away from ISIL -- but the strategy that Russia 1108 00:46:29,853 --> 00:46:32,389 has employed has caused them to take their eye off the 1109 00:46:32,389 --> 00:46:34,825 ball, allow ISIL to make some gains, but it also 1110 00:46:34,825 --> 00:46:39,562 continues to fuel the kind of extremism that only makes 1111 00:46:39,563 --> 00:46:44,568 Syria a haven for terrorist organizations that plot 1112 00:46:46,837 --> 00:46:48,572 violence not just in the region but around the world. 1113 00:46:48,572 --> 00:46:53,310 The Press: You've left that particular battle to Russia, 1114 00:46:53,310 --> 00:46:57,814 and I guess the question now going forward, is that 1115 00:46:57,814 --> 00:46:59,316 strategy going to change? 1116 00:46:59,316 --> 00:47:01,952 Will the U.S. get involved in the fight for this? 1117 00:47:01,952 --> 00:47:04,655 Mr. Earnest: Well, I don't have any operational updates 1118 00:47:04,655 --> 00:47:08,392 at this point, so I can't tell you sort of where this 1119 00:47:08,392 --> 00:47:11,194 will fall in terms of any planned military operations 1120 00:47:11,195 --> 00:47:13,363 on the part of our coalition. 1121 00:47:13,363 --> 00:47:15,098 But it's obviously a situation that we're 1122 00:47:15,098 --> 00:47:16,033 watching closely. 1123 00:47:16,033 --> 00:47:18,602 Ayesha. 1124 00:47:18,602 --> 00:47:23,640 The Press: Iran today ordered its scientists to 1125 00:47:23,640 --> 00:47:26,676 start developing nuclear-powered marine 1126 00:47:26,677 --> 00:47:31,348 vessels for what it said as a response to a U.S. 1127 00:47:31,348 --> 00:47:33,984 violation of the atomic deal. 1128 00:47:33,984 --> 00:47:39,456 So I was wondering, how much of a concern is this, this 1129 00:47:39,456 --> 00:47:44,461 kind of maybe tit for tat, the idea that Iran is now 1130 00:47:44,461 --> 00:47:48,765 saying that it's responding to actions taken by Congress 1131 00:47:48,765 --> 00:47:54,437 by building these nuclear-powered vessels? 1132 00:47:54,438 --> 00:47:57,574 Is there a concern that this is going to be an ongoing 1133 00:47:57,574 --> 00:47:59,810 thing and that there's going to be kind of back and 1134 00:47:59,810 --> 00:48:02,179 forth now? 1135 00:48:02,179 --> 00:48:06,883 Mr. Earnest: Well, I would agree with your assessment 1136 00:48:06,883 --> 00:48:11,421 that the timing of this announcement to coincide 1137 00:48:11,421 --> 00:48:15,192 with the President's signing of the Iran Sanctions Act is 1138 00:48:15,192 --> 00:48:20,897 not likely a coincidence, but we've been clear even 1139 00:48:20,897 --> 00:48:24,534 through much of the congressional debate in 1140 00:48:24,534 --> 00:48:28,205 Congress about the Iran Sanctions Act that the 1141 00:48:28,205 --> 00:48:30,073 President would not sign into law a piece of 1142 00:48:30,073 --> 00:48:33,644 legislation that undermined the international agreement 1143 00:48:33,644 --> 00:48:37,180 to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. 1144 00:48:37,180 --> 00:48:39,915 The extension of the Iran Sanctions Act does not 1145 00:48:39,916 --> 00:48:43,253 undermine the international agreement to prevent Iran 1146 00:48:43,253 --> 00:48:44,588 from obtaining a nuclear weapon. 1147 00:48:44,588 --> 00:48:48,992 And we've -- that's been our position from the beginning. 1148 00:48:48,992 --> 00:48:51,528 We've explained that quite clearly in public and we've 1149 00:48:51,528 --> 00:48:53,529 explained that in private to the Iranians. 1150 00:48:56,400 --> 00:48:58,669 At the same time, the announcement from the 1151 00:48:58,669 --> 00:49:03,406 Iranians today does not run counter to the international 1152 00:49:03,407 --> 00:49:04,941 agreement to prevent Iran from obtaining a 1153 00:49:04,941 --> 00:49:07,209 nuclear weapon. 1154 00:49:07,210 --> 00:49:12,282 We continue to be able to watch closely Iran's nuclear 1155 00:49:12,282 --> 00:49:18,655 program, starting in the uranium mills and throughout 1156 00:49:18,655 --> 00:49:22,459 the nuclear supply chain. 1157 00:49:22,459 --> 00:49:27,263 That is an unprecedented insight into any country's 1158 00:49:27,264 --> 00:49:29,333 nuclear program, and allows us to verify their ongoing 1159 00:49:29,333 --> 00:49:31,735 compliance with that program. 1160 00:49:31,735 --> 00:49:36,073 And our expectation is that as they undertake these 1161 00:49:36,073 --> 00:49:40,477 kinds of research-and-development 1162 00:49:40,477 --> 00:49:42,212 efforts, that they will do so consistent with their 1163 00:49:42,212 --> 00:49:44,214 international obligations. 1164 00:49:45,415 --> 00:49:48,552 And we have the ability, because of the cooperation 1165 00:49:48,552 --> 00:49:51,321 with the Iranians under the agreement, to verify their 1166 00:49:51,321 --> 00:49:52,889 ongoing compliance with the agreement. 1167 00:49:52,889 --> 00:49:54,891 The Press: But does this kind of -- going forward, 1168 00:49:54,891 --> 00:50:02,399 should this be something of a warning to Congress or to 1169 00:50:02,399 --> 00:50:06,370 the next administration that there could be repercussions 1170 00:50:06,370 --> 00:50:09,705 for pursuing more sanctions, or anything like that? 1171 00:50:09,706 --> 00:50:12,776 Mr. Earnest: No, I wouldn't be particularly concerned 1172 00:50:12,776 --> 00:50:13,509 about that. 1173 00:50:13,510 --> 00:50:17,114 There are a range of Iranian activities that are a source 1174 00:50:17,114 --> 00:50:20,884 of concern to the international community and 1175 00:50:20,884 --> 00:50:23,653 to President Obama outside the scope of the 1176 00:50:23,653 --> 00:50:25,488 international agreement to prevent Iran from obtaining 1177 00:50:25,489 --> 00:50:26,456 a nuclear weapon. 1178 00:50:26,456 --> 00:50:29,426 The reason that we pursued that international agreement 1179 00:50:29,426 --> 00:50:35,432 is because Iran's ability to get access to and 1180 00:50:35,432 --> 00:50:38,267 potentially use a nuclear weapon was the number-one 1181 00:50:38,268 --> 00:50:41,037 concern of the United States and the international 1182 00:50:41,037 --> 00:50:43,740 community with regard to Iran. 1183 00:50:43,740 --> 00:50:47,511 So we've taken that top concern off the table 1184 00:50:47,511 --> 00:50:50,547 without firing a single shot. 1185 00:50:50,547 --> 00:50:52,549 And this is something that even the harshest critics of 1186 00:50:52,549 --> 00:50:55,018 the deal acknowledge has been accomplished. 1187 00:50:57,087 --> 00:50:59,656 It didn't eliminate all of our concerns with Iran, but 1188 00:50:59,656 --> 00:51:02,526 it did eliminate our number-one concern about 1189 00:51:02,526 --> 00:51:05,761 Iran, and that's ultimately the point. 1190 00:51:05,762 --> 00:51:08,064 There are other concerns that we have about Iran's 1191 00:51:08,064 --> 00:51:10,634 behavior that include their support for terrorist 1192 00:51:10,634 --> 00:51:13,036 organizations and other destabilizing elements in 1193 00:51:13,036 --> 00:51:15,372 the Middle East, like Hezbollah. 1194 00:51:15,372 --> 00:51:18,341 We are concerned about the way that Iran continues to 1195 00:51:18,341 --> 00:51:21,011 menace Israel, and we continue to be concerned 1196 00:51:21,011 --> 00:51:24,047 about the Iranian regime's lack of respect for basic 1197 00:51:24,047 --> 00:51:25,715 universal human rights. 1198 00:51:25,715 --> 00:51:29,419 And we have a variety of ways of countering all of 1199 00:51:29,419 --> 00:51:31,354 that activity -- some of that involves additional 1200 00:51:31,354 --> 00:51:32,556 financial sanctions. 1201 00:51:32,556 --> 00:51:34,858 Some of that involves close cooperation with our 1202 00:51:34,858 --> 00:51:35,725 partners in the region. 1203 00:51:35,725 --> 00:51:42,031 But the number-one objective of the international 1204 00:51:42,032 --> 00:51:43,733 agreement to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear 1205 00:51:43,733 --> 00:51:46,837 weapons was to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. 1206 00:51:46,837 --> 00:51:50,207 And that objective has been achieved. 1207 00:51:50,207 --> 00:51:54,377 And because of our ability to monitor Iran's nuclear 1208 00:51:54,377 --> 00:52:01,284 program, we can verify the ongoing success of that effort. 1209 00:52:01,284 --> 00:52:04,354 And it certainly is something that makes the 1210 00:52:04,354 --> 00:52:05,388 world a safer place. 1211 00:52:05,388 --> 00:52:07,656 It enhances the national security of our closest ally 1212 00:52:07,657 --> 00:52:08,992 in the Middle East, Israel. 1213 00:52:08,992 --> 00:52:11,795 It enhances the national security of our NATO 1214 00:52:11,795 --> 00:52:13,897 partners in -- NATO allies in Europe. 1215 00:52:13,897 --> 00:52:17,801 And it enhances the national security of the American 1216 00:52:17,801 --> 00:52:20,569 people, and it will be an important part of President 1217 00:52:20,570 --> 00:52:23,039 Obama's foreign policy legacy. 1218 00:52:23,039 --> 00:52:23,707 Justin. 1219 00:52:23,707 --> 00:52:25,542 The Press: The Energy Department said today that 1220 00:52:25,542 --> 00:52:27,410 it wasn't going to be turning over names of 1221 00:52:27,410 --> 00:52:30,046 individual employees involved in the President's 1222 00:52:30,046 --> 00:52:34,216 climate change efforts to the transition team, the 1223 00:52:34,217 --> 00:52:38,088 Trump transition team, and said that the request left 1224 00:52:38,088 --> 00:52:39,756 employees unsettled. 1225 00:52:39,756 --> 00:52:43,827 I'm wondering if you can explain if that was the only 1226 00:52:43,827 --> 00:52:49,065 reason that that was made, and why this doesn't sort of 1227 00:52:49,065 --> 00:52:51,668 -- if it was information that the Trump transition 1228 00:52:51,668 --> 00:52:54,170 team wanted -- violate the President's sort of edict 1229 00:52:54,170 --> 00:52:57,040 for helping them as much as they can to smooth over 1230 00:52:57,040 --> 00:52:58,308 the transition. 1231 00:52:58,308 --> 00:53:00,243 Mr. Earnest: Well, we do continue to work closely 1232 00:53:00,243 --> 00:53:02,245 with the transition team to ensure a smooth and 1233 00:53:02,245 --> 00:53:03,145 effective transition. 1234 00:53:03,146 --> 00:53:07,083 And that is work that is going on across a variety of 1235 00:53:07,083 --> 00:53:11,655 federal agencies, including at the Department of Energy. 1236 00:53:11,655 --> 00:53:15,425 But there were reports about what certainly could have 1237 00:53:15,425 --> 00:53:21,831 been an attempt to target civil servants, career, 1238 00:53:21,831 --> 00:53:24,801 federal government employees. 1239 00:53:24,801 --> 00:53:26,136 The kinds of people that we're talking about at the 1240 00:53:26,136 --> 00:53:29,973 Department of Energy are scientists and lawyers and 1241 00:53:29,973 --> 00:53:36,446 other experts who are critical to the success of 1242 00:53:36,446 --> 00:53:39,816 the federal government's ability to make policy. 1243 00:53:39,816 --> 00:53:44,486 And their work transcends the term of any one President. 1244 00:53:44,487 --> 00:53:45,555 That's by design. 1245 00:53:45,555 --> 00:53:48,658 That's to ensure the continuity of the federal 1246 00:53:48,658 --> 00:53:51,661 government and to ensure that effective 1247 00:53:51,661 --> 00:53:57,434 decision-making and policy planning is undertaken 1248 00:53:57,434 --> 00:54:00,203 regardless of which political party is in charge 1249 00:54:00,203 --> 00:54:00,904 of the Oval Office. 1250 00:54:00,904 --> 00:54:04,274 If we had to replace the entire Department of Energy 1251 00:54:04,274 --> 00:54:07,509 every time a new President was elected, that is 1252 00:54:07,510 --> 00:54:10,513 certainly going to undermine the ability of those at the 1253 00:54:10,513 --> 00:54:12,515 most senior levels to implement a coherent and 1254 00:54:12,515 --> 00:54:15,618 effective energy policy. 1255 00:54:15,619 --> 00:54:18,788 Our principle -- and this is a principle that Presidents 1256 00:54:18,788 --> 00:54:21,791 in both parties have long abided by -- is that we 1257 00:54:21,791 --> 00:54:24,861 should observe the protections that are in 1258 00:54:24,861 --> 00:54:29,866 place that ensure that career civil servants are 1259 00:54:32,035 --> 00:54:37,007 evaluated based on merit and not on politics. 1260 00:54:39,109 --> 00:54:41,077 And I'm sure that the President-elect used the 1261 00:54:41,077 --> 00:54:44,114 same kind of criteria when choosing his new Department 1262 00:54:44,114 --> 00:54:46,916 of Energy Secretary as well. 1263 00:54:46,916 --> 00:54:47,817 Don't you think? 1264 00:54:47,817 --> 00:54:48,885 (laughter) 1265 00:54:48,885 --> 00:54:51,354 The Press: Well, I'll let you interpret that one. 1266 00:54:51,354 --> 00:54:52,022 Mr. Earnest: Okay. 1267 00:54:52,022 --> 00:54:53,189 (laughter) 1268 00:54:53,189 --> 00:54:56,826 The Press: But the President mentioned in his "Daily 1269 00:54:56,826 --> 00:54:58,428 Show" interview last night that he planned to do some 1270 00:54:58,428 --> 00:55:01,031 speeches after leaving office, and seemed to 1271 00:55:01,031 --> 00:55:03,700 purposefully delineate those from political speeches that 1272 00:55:03,700 --> 00:55:07,470 he might give if Donald Trump and his administration 1273 00:55:07,470 --> 00:55:11,441 did something politically that he disagreed with. 1274 00:55:11,441 --> 00:55:13,643 So assuming that these are paid speeches -- I mean, 1275 00:55:13,643 --> 00:55:17,213 this is something that maybe is on your mind, as well -- 1276 00:55:17,213 --> 00:55:19,883 I'm wondering if the President is going to be 1277 00:55:19,883 --> 00:55:23,319 putting any sort of self-imposed restrictions on 1278 00:55:23,319 --> 00:55:24,988 who -- you know, this was a big campaign issue in 1279 00:55:24,988 --> 00:55:26,122 Wall Street. 1280 00:55:26,122 --> 00:55:29,692 Education, foreign governments, that sort of 1281 00:55:29,693 --> 00:55:31,561 thing -- if those sort of things are being set 1282 00:55:31,561 --> 00:55:32,495 out already. 1283 00:55:32,495 --> 00:55:33,863 Mr. Earnest: I would anticipate that there will 1284 00:55:33,863 --> 00:55:37,299 be significant interest in hearing from former 1285 00:55:37,300 --> 00:55:38,802 President Obama once he's left office. 1286 00:55:38,802 --> 00:55:41,271 So he'll have an opportunity to be choosy about which 1287 00:55:41,271 --> 00:55:45,041 invitations he accepts. 1288 00:55:45,041 --> 00:55:49,946 And I don't have any criteria to lay out for you 1289 00:55:49,946 --> 00:55:53,583 at this point about how he will choose which 1290 00:55:53,583 --> 00:55:56,386 invitations to accept, but I'm confident that there 1291 00:55:56,386 --> 00:55:59,154 will be a high standard that he'll observe. 1292 00:55:59,155 --> 00:56:00,090 Kevin. 1293 00:56:00,090 --> 00:56:01,491 The Press: Thanks. 1294 00:56:01,491 --> 00:56:02,125 Can I circle back on Yemen? 1295 00:56:02,125 --> 00:56:02,826 Mr. Earnest: Yes. 1296 00:56:02,826 --> 00:56:04,561 The Press: The United States' support for the 1297 00:56:04,561 --> 00:56:07,864 Saudis, at least bringing it back, I'm understanding, 1298 00:56:07,864 --> 00:56:10,967 because in part of the civilian casualties in Yemen. 1299 00:56:10,967 --> 00:56:13,703 Can you give me sort of an update on why that decision 1300 00:56:13,703 --> 00:56:15,538 was made and what that means moving forward? 1301 00:56:15,538 --> 00:56:17,307 Mr. Earnest: Kevin, we have long expressed some pretty 1302 00:56:17,307 --> 00:56:20,743 significant concerns about the high rate of civilian 1303 00:56:20,744 --> 00:56:23,012 casualties in Yemen. 1304 00:56:23,012 --> 00:56:29,285 And many of those casualties have been as a result of 1305 00:56:29,285 --> 00:56:34,824 operations carried out by the Saudi-led coalition in 1306 00:56:34,824 --> 00:56:35,859 the region. 1307 00:56:35,859 --> 00:56:37,761 Not all of them -- there have also been civilian 1308 00:56:37,761 --> 00:56:41,431 casualties as a result of operations carried out by 1309 00:56:41,431 --> 00:56:43,199 their adversaries, as well. 1310 00:56:43,199 --> 00:56:46,436 But of course, the United States is playing a role in 1311 00:56:46,436 --> 00:56:48,905 supporting the Saudi-led coalition. 1312 00:56:48,905 --> 00:56:51,508 And in light of the high rate of civilian casualties, 1313 00:56:51,508 --> 00:56:54,176 there was -- the President ordered a review of the kind 1314 00:56:54,177 --> 00:56:59,249 of assistance that the United States provides to 1315 00:56:59,249 --> 00:57:01,584 the Saudis as they undertake this effort. 1316 00:57:01,584 --> 00:57:06,022 That review is ongoing, but there are a couple of steps 1317 00:57:06,022 --> 00:57:12,295 that the United States is prepared to take to change 1318 00:57:12,295 --> 00:57:14,330 some of the assistance that we provide. 1319 00:57:18,535 --> 00:57:23,506 That includes refocusing our efforts to support the 1320 00:57:26,109 --> 00:57:29,312 Saudis when it comes to enhancing their border 1321 00:57:29,312 --> 00:57:31,714 security and their territorial integrity. 1322 00:57:31,714 --> 00:57:33,650 The concerns that the Saudis have expressed, which is 1323 00:57:33,650 --> 00:57:37,854 entirely legitimate, is that you have an organization 1324 00:57:37,854 --> 00:57:40,924 that has overthrown the government of Yemen and has 1325 00:57:40,924 --> 00:57:47,130 menaced Saudi Arabia, on a number of occasions even 1326 00:57:47,130 --> 00:57:49,465 breaching their borders. 1327 00:57:49,465 --> 00:57:52,235 So Saudi Arabia's concerns about this I think are 1328 00:57:52,235 --> 00:57:53,536 entirely legitimate. 1329 00:57:53,536 --> 00:57:56,139 And so we are going to focus our efforts on helping the 1330 00:57:56,139 --> 00:58:00,844 Saudis protect their border. 1331 00:58:00,844 --> 00:58:04,814 We also are going to undertake steps to refocus 1332 00:58:04,814 --> 00:58:09,586 our information-sharing and the responsibilities of our 1333 00:58:09,586 --> 00:58:16,091 personnel in Saudi Arabia to be focused on this effort. 1334 00:58:16,092 --> 00:58:28,504 In addition, we've also decided to -- well, I think 1335 00:58:28,504 --> 00:58:29,172 that covers it. 1336 00:58:29,172 --> 00:58:31,307 And I think this is reflective of the fact that 1337 00:58:31,307 --> 00:58:33,343 we have these longstanding concerns. 1338 00:58:33,343 --> 00:58:35,111 This review has been ordered. 1339 00:58:35,111 --> 00:58:38,214 And these are some changes that we've made, but this 1340 00:58:38,214 --> 00:58:41,084 review is ongoing. 1341 00:58:41,084 --> 00:58:45,654 And as this process moves forward, I wouldn't rule out 1342 00:58:45,655 --> 00:58:48,658 additional steps that we may take to address the concerns 1343 00:58:48,658 --> 00:58:49,325 that have been raised. 1344 00:58:49,325 --> 00:58:50,792 The Press: Just a couple more, really quickly. 1345 00:58:50,793 --> 00:58:52,862 A number of electors, you were told yesterday, were 1346 00:58:52,862 --> 00:58:55,899 requesting an intelligence briefing, and you said you 1347 00:58:55,899 --> 00:59:00,435 hadn't had a chance to sort of look over that letter. 1348 00:59:00,436 --> 00:59:01,804 Have you had a chance to look that over? 1349 00:59:01,804 --> 00:59:03,172 And what's your reaction to that? 1350 00:59:03,172 --> 00:59:04,507 Mr. Earnest: I've seen some more of the 1351 00:59:04,507 --> 00:59:05,174 published reports. 1352 00:59:05,174 --> 00:59:09,178 Look, when it comes to the Electoral College, we're 1353 00:59:09,178 --> 00:59:14,584 talking about some of the more esoteric aspects of the 1354 00:59:14,584 --> 00:59:15,652 functioning of our democracy. 1355 00:59:15,652 --> 00:59:16,786 The Press: Yeah, we are. 1356 00:59:16,786 --> 00:59:18,988 Mr. Earnest: But it certainly is important that 1357 00:59:18,988 --> 00:59:20,323 individuals who are entrusted with that 1358 00:59:20,323 --> 00:59:25,595 responsibility do so with a seriousness of purpose. 1359 00:59:25,595 --> 00:59:29,031 So at this point, I don't have a formal response to 1360 00:59:29,032 --> 00:59:31,234 the letter to put forward. 1361 00:59:31,234 --> 00:59:35,305 The Press: But would you support that idea of having 1362 00:59:35,305 --> 00:59:38,374 the report sent to electors prior to them casting 1363 00:59:38,374 --> 00:59:39,408 their votes? 1364 00:59:39,409 --> 00:59:41,644 Mr. Earnest: Well, look, I know that some of the 1365 00:59:41,644 --> 00:59:44,314 request was for classified information, and it's not 1366 00:59:44,314 --> 00:59:47,683 clear that all of the electors -- and I'm sure 1367 00:59:47,684 --> 00:59:49,986 most of them don't -- they don't have 1368 00:59:49,986 --> 00:59:51,154 security clearances. 1369 00:59:51,154 --> 00:59:53,957 So this is an unusual request, maybe 1370 00:59:53,957 --> 00:59:55,158 even unprecedented. 1371 00:59:55,158 --> 00:59:58,027 I'm not a historian, but it's hard to imagine a 1372 00:59:58,027 --> 01:00:02,265 scenario where a similar question arose. 1373 01:00:02,265 --> 01:00:06,069 So we'll let you know if we have more of a response. 1374 01:00:06,069 --> 01:00:07,904 The Press: Last one. 1375 01:00:07,904 --> 01:00:11,007 Is the White House aware of post-election intelligence 1376 01:00:11,007 --> 01:00:15,812 that actually shows anything to do with the hackers' intent? 1377 01:00:15,812 --> 01:00:18,014 We've talked a bit about that, because there have 1378 01:00:18,014 --> 01:00:20,016 been widely differing assessments. 1379 01:00:20,016 --> 01:00:22,552 I'm just wondering if the White House remains 1380 01:00:22,552 --> 01:00:25,722 confident that the intelligence has not in fact 1381 01:00:25,722 --> 01:00:26,389 been politicized. 1382 01:00:26,389 --> 01:00:29,092 Mr. Earnest: The President is certainly confident. 1383 01:00:29,092 --> 01:00:33,696 And he insists that the intelligence that he is 1384 01:00:33,696 --> 01:00:35,398 provided as the Commander-in-Chief by our 1385 01:00:35,398 --> 01:00:39,002 intelligence agencies is not clouded by political 1386 01:00:39,002 --> 01:00:41,770 politics or partisan politics. 1387 01:00:41,771 --> 01:00:43,940 He insists that that material, that that 1388 01:00:43,940 --> 01:00:47,577 intelligence that he is provided is not clouded by 1389 01:00:47,577 --> 01:00:52,682 the pursuit of an agenda, a political agenda or otherwise. 1390 01:00:52,682 --> 01:00:57,419 The President can only make good decisions -- the 1391 01:00:57,420 --> 01:00:59,188 Commander-in-Chief, any Commander-in-Chief can only 1392 01:00:59,188 --> 01:01:02,191 make good decisions when they have information that 1393 01:01:02,191 --> 01:01:04,926 is accurate, that is timely, and that is reliable. 1394 01:01:04,927 --> 01:01:06,996 And that's what the President insists on. 1395 01:01:06,996 --> 01:01:09,665 And that also means that the President wants to hear the 1396 01:01:09,665 --> 01:01:10,967 unvarnished truth. 1397 01:01:10,967 --> 01:01:12,301 He doesn't want anything shaded. 1398 01:01:12,301 --> 01:01:16,005 He doesn't want any intelligence professional to 1399 01:01:16,005 --> 01:01:19,075 fear retribution for presenting bad news to the 1400 01:01:19,075 --> 01:01:20,743 President of the United States. 1401 01:01:20,743 --> 01:01:22,511 In some ways, that's actually the basic job 1402 01:01:22,512 --> 01:01:23,980 description of an intelligence professional 1403 01:01:23,980 --> 01:01:27,917 who's briefing a principal, and that is to be able to 1404 01:01:27,917 --> 01:01:31,554 give an unvarnished assessment, even if it's bad 1405 01:01:31,554 --> 01:01:35,058 news, without fear of any retribution. 1406 01:01:35,058 --> 01:01:37,060 And the President has confidence that that's the 1407 01:01:37,060 --> 01:01:43,366 kind of guidance and information that he's been 1408 01:01:43,366 --> 01:01:46,069 provided by the intelligence community. 1409 01:01:46,069 --> 01:01:49,005 The Press: Any intelligence as to the intent of the hackers? 1410 01:01:49,005 --> 01:01:52,909 Mr. Earnest: I don't have any updated assessment to 1411 01:01:52,909 --> 01:01:56,546 share at this point, but there certainly seem to be a 1412 01:01:56,546 --> 01:02:00,348 not insignificant number of intelligence professionals 1413 01:02:00,349 --> 01:02:03,786 who appear to be sharing their opinion with all of 1414 01:02:03,786 --> 01:02:06,222 you on an anonymous basis. 1415 01:02:06,222 --> 01:02:09,525 I obviously don't have the luxury of doing that, but 1416 01:02:09,525 --> 01:02:11,427 when there is a formal assessment to share from the 1417 01:02:11,427 --> 01:02:14,897 intelligence community, and if that's something that can 1418 01:02:14,897 --> 01:02:17,933 be shared publicly, that's something that we'll try to do. 1419 01:02:17,934 --> 01:02:21,704 The President does believe that we should -- 1420 01:02:21,704 --> 01:02:24,974 particularly when it relates to something as central to 1421 01:02:24,974 --> 01:02:28,578 our democracy as the conduct of a national election, the 1422 01:02:28,578 --> 01:02:30,513 President does believe that we should share as much 1423 01:02:30,513 --> 01:02:32,048 information as possible with the public. 1424 01:02:32,048 --> 01:02:35,151 And that is why the intelligence community, on 1425 01:02:35,151 --> 01:02:38,053 October 7th -- more than a month before the election -- 1426 01:02:38,054 --> 01:02:41,090 issued a statement that represented the unanimous 1427 01:02:41,090 --> 01:02:45,795 assessment and conclusion of all 17 national security 1428 01:02:45,795 --> 01:02:48,364 agencies that have an intelligence arm. 1429 01:02:48,364 --> 01:02:53,536 And they concluded that Russia was engaged in 1430 01:02:53,536 --> 01:02:56,873 malicious activity in cyberspace that was aimed at 1431 01:02:56,873 --> 01:02:58,508 destabilizing our elections. 1432 01:02:58,508 --> 01:03:02,178 And we made -- the President made clear, we made clear 1433 01:03:02,178 --> 01:03:07,049 that a proportional response to that was appropriate. 1434 01:03:07,049 --> 01:03:09,018 But the President's first concern and the first steps 1435 01:03:09,018 --> 01:03:10,086 that were undertaken by the U.S. 1436 01:03:10,086 --> 01:03:18,227 government were to ensure that the equipment and 1437 01:03:18,227 --> 01:03:23,633 systems that were used to register voters, allow 1438 01:03:23,633 --> 01:03:25,433 voters to cast ballots and to ensure that those ballots 1439 01:03:25,434 --> 01:03:29,872 were counted were protected. 1440 01:03:29,872 --> 01:03:32,040 And the intelligence community has assessed -- 1441 01:03:32,041 --> 01:03:34,443 and this is something that they've also said publicly 1442 01:03:34,443 --> 01:03:38,014 -- that they did not observe an increase in malicious 1443 01:03:38,014 --> 01:03:41,317 cyber activity from the Russians on Election Day 1444 01:03:41,317 --> 01:03:43,953 that could have disrupted the casting and accurate 1445 01:03:43,953 --> 01:03:44,820 counting of ballots. 1446 01:03:44,820 --> 01:03:50,793 But for a more detailed assessment about what 1447 01:03:50,793 --> 01:03:53,896 Russia's motives are, or what else Russia may have 1448 01:03:53,896 --> 01:03:56,899 been engaged in in the context of the election, are 1449 01:03:56,899 --> 01:03:58,868 a series of questions that will be considered in this 1450 01:03:58,868 --> 01:04:01,037 review that President Obama has ordered. 1451 01:04:01,037 --> 01:04:04,707 Our expectation is that this is a review from the 1452 01:04:04,707 --> 01:04:07,777 intelligence community that will be completed in advance 1453 01:04:07,777 --> 01:04:09,312 of January 20th. 1454 01:04:09,312 --> 01:04:12,748 And we're going to make public as much of that 1455 01:04:12,748 --> 01:04:14,350 review as possible. 1456 01:04:14,350 --> 01:04:15,051 Michelle. 1457 01:04:15,051 --> 01:04:16,552 The Press: Will the President talk a little bit 1458 01:04:16,552 --> 01:04:20,690 about the hacks, since he announced the review last night? 1459 01:04:20,690 --> 01:04:26,195 And he said that it was nothing fancy; that we saw 1460 01:04:26,195 --> 01:04:29,732 -- it's been happening, coming from Russia, seeming 1461 01:04:29,732 --> 01:04:32,835 to put it into a bigger perspective. 1462 01:04:32,835 --> 01:04:35,605 And he also talked about how he felt that the emails were 1463 01:04:35,605 --> 01:04:38,241 the things that became the obsession, not the fact that 1464 01:04:38,241 --> 01:04:40,576 this was coming from Russia, even though he just said 1465 01:04:40,576 --> 01:04:42,311 that was really nothing new in the same breath. 1466 01:04:42,311 --> 01:04:47,016 But it seems like what we should be identifying there 1467 01:04:47,016 --> 01:04:51,354 is the poor state of cybersecurity in this country. 1468 01:04:51,354 --> 01:04:53,856 The fact that we're even sitting here talking about 1469 01:04:53,856 --> 01:04:58,261 this being a possibility, and the strong possibility 1470 01:04:58,261 --> 01:05:01,397 that the election could have been influenced by this, 1471 01:05:01,397 --> 01:05:06,102 doesn't that really point to the fact that our defenses 1472 01:05:06,102 --> 01:05:08,437 -- whether they're government systems or 1473 01:05:08,437 --> 01:05:13,009 campaign systems -- the strength of them pales in 1474 01:05:13,009 --> 01:05:16,512 comparison to the ability of a state actor like Russia to 1475 01:05:16,512 --> 01:05:18,714 affect things here? 1476 01:05:18,714 --> 01:05:23,819 Mr. Earnest: Well, let me start by acknowledging at 1477 01:05:23,819 --> 01:05:25,788 least one aspect of your premise that I think we can 1478 01:05:25,788 --> 01:05:31,394 agree on, which is that cybersecurity should be, and 1479 01:05:31,394 --> 01:05:33,763 is, a critical national security priority of the 1480 01:05:33,763 --> 01:05:34,964 United States. 1481 01:05:34,964 --> 01:05:40,703 And President Obama has spent a significant portion 1482 01:05:40,703 --> 01:05:46,709 of his presidency trying to strengthen the defenses of 1483 01:05:46,709 --> 01:05:47,942 the United States. 1484 01:05:47,943 --> 01:05:50,880 And we've made important progress in doing so. 1485 01:05:50,880 --> 01:05:53,683 Some of his proposals for doing so -- increasing our 1486 01:05:53,683 --> 01:05:56,519 investments in cybersecurity -- have unfortunately fallen 1487 01:05:56,519 --> 01:05:58,053 on deaf ears in Congress. 1488 01:05:58,054 --> 01:06:00,823 And you'll recall that there was a substantial increase 1489 01:06:03,292 --> 01:06:04,927 that was included in the President's budget for 1490 01:06:04,927 --> 01:06:08,130 cybersecurity that Republicans in Congress 1491 01:06:08,130 --> 01:06:09,632 refused to even consider. 1492 01:06:09,632 --> 01:06:10,966 They wouldn't even hold a hearing. 1493 01:06:10,966 --> 01:06:13,234 This was the first time in 40 years that Republicans in 1494 01:06:13,235 --> 01:06:14,904 the Congress wouldn't even hold a hearing on the 1495 01:06:14,904 --> 01:06:16,339 President's budget. 1496 01:06:16,339 --> 01:06:18,841 And there wasn't the kind of robust consideration in 1497 01:06:18,841 --> 01:06:24,080 Congress, let alone a vote, on the substantial increase 1498 01:06:24,080 --> 01:06:26,282 in cybersecurity resources that President Obama 1499 01:06:26,282 --> 01:06:26,949 had identified. 1500 01:06:26,949 --> 01:06:31,420 So when it comes to ensuring that the U.S. 1501 01:06:31,420 --> 01:06:34,223 government is focused on cybersecurity, that is a 1502 01:06:34,223 --> 01:06:36,425 message that apparently has not been received by 1503 01:06:36,425 --> 01:06:39,028 Republicans in Congress, and, yes, that makes the 1504 01:06:39,028 --> 01:06:41,731 United States of America more vulnerable to a wide 1505 01:06:41,731 --> 01:06:42,531 range of threats. 1506 01:06:42,531 --> 01:06:44,100 And that is something that the President continues to 1507 01:06:44,100 --> 01:06:45,735 be deeply concerned about. 1508 01:06:45,735 --> 01:06:47,136 The other thing that the President has done is 1509 01:06:47,136 --> 01:06:50,973 ordered this review by a bipartisan Blue Ribbon Panel 1510 01:06:50,973 --> 01:06:55,177 to help the incoming administration formulate and 1511 01:06:55,177 --> 01:06:58,714 take additional steps to implement an enhanced 1512 01:06:58,714 --> 01:07:01,116 cybersecurity strategy. 1513 01:07:01,117 --> 01:07:03,552 And that's a report that the President received just 1514 01:07:03,552 --> 01:07:05,121 last week. 1515 01:07:05,121 --> 01:07:06,856 And that's one that we'll be passing on to the next 1516 01:07:06,856 --> 01:07:11,293 administration, and should position them for success. 1517 01:07:11,293 --> 01:07:14,797 But it's going to require the Republican White House 1518 01:07:14,797 --> 01:07:17,032 being more persuasive with Republicans in Congress to 1519 01:07:17,032 --> 01:07:18,367 actually pay attention to this issue. 1520 01:07:18,367 --> 01:07:20,736 Because there's been a tendency on the part of 1521 01:07:20,736 --> 01:07:25,473 Republicans in Congress to ignore or reject every 1522 01:07:25,474 --> 01:07:27,610 proposal that we've put forward, even when it comes 1523 01:07:27,610 --> 01:07:31,814 to something as apolitical and central to our national 1524 01:07:31,814 --> 01:07:34,450 security as cybersecurity. 1525 01:07:34,450 --> 01:07:38,453 So that all being said, I don't think anybody 1526 01:07:38,454 --> 01:07:40,723 envisions a scenario in which the federal government 1527 01:07:40,723 --> 01:07:44,393 of the United States steps in to assume responsibility 1528 01:07:44,393 --> 01:07:48,164 for the cybersecurity of a national political party or 1529 01:07:48,164 --> 01:07:50,166 of an individual political operative. 1530 01:07:54,003 --> 01:07:55,371 I don't think there's anybody that thinks that 1531 01:07:55,371 --> 01:08:00,376 that would be appropriate or even effective. 1532 01:08:04,647 --> 01:08:06,615 Is this a lesson for all of us to try to be more 1533 01:08:06,615 --> 01:08:09,685 conscientious about our cyber hygiene? 1534 01:08:09,685 --> 01:08:10,352 Yes. 1535 01:08:10,352 --> 01:08:15,357 But state actors have substantial capabilities. 1536 01:08:18,027 --> 01:08:20,429 Russia has substantial capabilities. 1537 01:08:20,429 --> 01:08:22,498 They're not as significant as the capabilities that are 1538 01:08:22,497 --> 01:08:27,202 wielded by the United States, but they are substantial. 1539 01:08:27,203 --> 01:08:30,439 And establishing rules for the road -- rules of the 1540 01:08:30,439 --> 01:08:35,911 road for effective and acceptable conduct in 1541 01:08:35,911 --> 01:08:40,816 cyberspace is an important challenge, and one that 1542 01:08:40,816 --> 01:08:42,484 we've made some progress on. 1543 01:08:42,484 --> 01:08:46,287 For example, the President last fall, a little over a 1544 01:08:46,287 --> 01:08:50,225 year ago now, worked with the Chinese to reach an 1545 01:08:50,225 --> 01:08:55,930 agreement about at least one norm that should be 1546 01:08:55,930 --> 01:09:00,001 observed, which is that state actors should not be 1547 01:09:00,002 --> 01:09:03,138 engaged in cyber-enabled theft for commercial 1548 01:09:03,138 --> 01:09:04,473 purposes or for commercial benefit. 1549 01:09:04,473 --> 01:09:11,412 That had been a previous activity on the part of the 1550 01:09:11,412 --> 01:09:13,515 Chinese government that had attracted significant 1551 01:09:13,515 --> 01:09:15,584 concerns, not just by the U.S. 1552 01:09:15,584 --> 01:09:16,551 government but also by U.S. 1553 01:09:16,551 --> 01:09:18,053 businesses, I think for obvious reasons. 1554 01:09:18,053 --> 01:09:23,058 And that is one norm that we have made a lot of progress 1555 01:09:25,928 --> 01:09:27,729 in establishing in cyberspace. 1556 01:09:27,729 --> 01:09:30,799 But we clearly have more work to do. 1557 01:09:30,799 --> 01:09:33,736 But I don't think there's anybody who thinks that the 1558 01:09:33,736 --> 01:09:37,673 answer to this situation is for the federal government 1559 01:09:37,673 --> 01:09:39,241 of the United States to be responsible for the 1560 01:09:39,241 --> 01:09:40,743 cybersecurity of the Democratic and 1561 01:09:40,743 --> 01:09:41,410 Republican Parties. 1562 01:09:41,410 --> 01:09:43,645 The Press: But by the same token, it seems like we're 1563 01:09:43,645 --> 01:09:49,451 seeing that the weakness of individuals' email systems 1564 01:09:49,451 --> 01:09:52,855 collectively, in the sense that a foreign state could 1565 01:09:52,854 --> 01:09:57,825 come in and try or succeed in affecting an election, is 1566 01:09:57,826 --> 01:10:01,530 almost a threat to national security, or at least a 1567 01:10:01,530 --> 01:10:05,467 threat to the functioning of democracy in this country. 1568 01:10:05,467 --> 01:10:10,673 So has the weakest link kind of become an individual's 1569 01:10:10,673 --> 01:10:11,340 email account? 1570 01:10:11,340 --> 01:10:13,642 Mr. Earnest: No, I don't think so, because I don't 1571 01:10:13,642 --> 01:10:20,683 think that's what the President has identified. 1572 01:10:20,683 --> 01:10:27,122 This is going to be a challenge for our democracy 1573 01:10:27,122 --> 01:10:30,059 as the American people consume information in the 1574 01:10:30,059 --> 01:10:32,061 modern age. 1575 01:10:36,065 --> 01:10:41,202 The fact that this information that was leaked 1576 01:10:41,203 --> 01:10:44,573 from a variety of places, including John Podesta's 1577 01:10:44,573 --> 01:10:50,679 Gmail account, that was the source of intense media 1578 01:10:50,679 --> 01:10:55,317 interest, primarily because of the gossip that may or 1579 01:10:55,317 --> 01:10:58,153 may not be contained in those emails -- not because 1580 01:10:58,153 --> 01:11:01,690 of the fact that Russia was releasing that information 1581 01:11:01,690 --> 01:11:07,196 as a transparent effort to, at a minimum, erode 1582 01:11:07,196 --> 01:11:09,465 confidence in our democracy. 1583 01:11:09,465 --> 01:11:14,336 And I think that there are obvious questions about 1584 01:11:14,336 --> 01:11:16,772 cybersecurity that I covered in response to your 1585 01:11:16,772 --> 01:11:17,706 first question. 1586 01:11:17,706 --> 01:11:20,709 I think what the President is raising is the need for 1587 01:11:20,709 --> 01:11:25,714 careful evaluation about our public debate, about the way 1588 01:11:25,714 --> 01:11:28,050 that these views are communicated -- or the way 1589 01:11:28,050 --> 01:11:31,987 this news is communicated and the way that it is 1590 01:11:31,987 --> 01:11:34,089 consumed by people all across the country. 1591 01:11:34,089 --> 01:11:39,728 And if we lose the ability as a democracy to 1592 01:11:39,728 --> 01:11:44,733 acknowledge generally accepted facts, basic facts, 1593 01:11:47,202 --> 01:11:50,539 or if we lose the ability -- or at least norms are 1594 01:11:50,539 --> 01:11:55,544 eroded, such that you have Republicans cheering for 1595 01:11:59,448 --> 01:12:03,619 Russians to hack their political opponents. 1596 01:12:03,619 --> 01:12:05,688 And what's troubling about this situation is it wasn't 1597 01:12:05,688 --> 01:12:08,323 just any old Republican who was doing that, it was the 1598 01:12:08,323 --> 01:12:10,459 Republican nominee for President who was doing that. 1599 01:12:13,062 --> 01:12:14,496 That's problematic. 1600 01:12:14,496 --> 01:12:17,433 That doesn't have anything to do with cybersecurity. 1601 01:12:17,433 --> 01:12:20,769 It has something to do very basically, though, with the 1602 01:12:20,769 --> 01:12:26,275 kind of political debate and political discourse and 1603 01:12:26,275 --> 01:12:27,543 democracy that we want to have. 1604 01:12:27,543 --> 01:12:30,646 The Press: And we're hearing some pushback, strong 1605 01:12:30,646 --> 01:12:32,915 pushback today from some Democrats on the 1606 01:12:32,915 --> 01:12:34,717 President-elect's picks for Secretary of State and 1607 01:12:34,717 --> 01:12:38,019 Deputy Secretary of State -- ties to Russia, deals with 1608 01:12:38,020 --> 01:12:42,658 Russia, views on sanctions, among other things. 1609 01:12:42,658 --> 01:12:46,428 Do you have anything to add, even in a general sense, on 1610 01:12:46,428 --> 01:12:48,464 those choices? 1611 01:12:48,464 --> 01:12:51,233 Mr. Earnest: I think what I would say generally is that 1612 01:12:51,233 --> 01:12:56,271 throughout his campaign, the President-elect indicated 1613 01:12:56,271 --> 01:13:00,709 his intent, if elected President, to pursue warmer 1614 01:13:00,709 --> 01:13:02,911 relations with Russia. 1615 01:13:02,911 --> 01:13:04,980 So what better way to do that than to choose somebody 1616 01:13:04,980 --> 01:13:07,683 who has been awarded the Order of Friendship by 1617 01:13:07,683 --> 01:13:10,753 Vladimir Putin to be your Secretary of State? 1618 01:13:10,753 --> 01:13:14,490 So this is not a particularly surprising or 1619 01:13:14,490 --> 01:13:16,492 even unexpected development. 1620 01:13:20,062 --> 01:13:24,833 I suspect that there will be many members of Congress in 1621 01:13:24,833 --> 01:13:30,472 both parties that have some questions about that. 1622 01:13:30,472 --> 01:13:33,742 I've previously stated the principle that President 1623 01:13:33,742 --> 01:13:35,644 Obama believes that any President should have some 1624 01:13:35,644 --> 01:13:41,450 latitude in assembling his team, but there is a process 1625 01:13:41,450 --> 01:13:45,354 for members of the Senate to consider the nomination of 1626 01:13:47,623 --> 01:13:49,691 people who will serve in the Cabinet. 1627 01:13:49,691 --> 01:13:53,762 And, look, Mr. Tillerson is a seasoned business 1628 01:13:53,762 --> 01:13:58,733 executive and he's got some skills in answering tough 1629 01:13:58,734 --> 01:14:01,937 questions in public, and I suspect he'll have to put 1630 01:14:01,937 --> 01:14:06,407 them to use in the spring. 1631 01:14:06,408 --> 01:14:07,009 Chris, go ahead. 1632 01:14:07,009 --> 01:14:07,910 The Press: Thanks. 1633 01:14:07,910 --> 01:14:10,813 It was only until President Obama signed an executive 1634 01:14:10,813 --> 01:14:13,582 order in 2014 barring federal contractors from 1635 01:14:13,582 --> 01:14:15,217 discriminating against federal workers that 1636 01:14:15,217 --> 01:14:20,355 ExxonMobil adopted a policy to prohibit discrimination 1637 01:14:20,355 --> 01:14:22,958 against their employees who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, 1638 01:14:22,958 --> 01:14:24,058 or transgender. 1639 01:14:24,059 --> 01:14:28,764 And the shareholders of that company, prior to that 1640 01:14:28,764 --> 01:14:31,533 annual meetings had rejected such a policy 17 1641 01:14:31,533 --> 01:14:33,135 consecutive times. 1642 01:14:33,135 --> 01:14:37,873 Given the practices of that company, does that raise 1643 01:14:37,873 --> 01:14:40,107 concerns about, first of all, whether the President's 1644 01:14:40,108 --> 01:14:43,545 adaption of LGBT human rights as part of foreign 1645 01:14:43,545 --> 01:14:45,347 policy will be in jeopardy in the next administration, 1646 01:14:45,347 --> 01:14:47,416 as well as the non-discrimination policy 1647 01:14:47,416 --> 01:14:50,819 that he's put in place for federal contractors? 1648 01:14:50,819 --> 01:14:53,455 Mr. Earnest: Well, let me start by making an 1649 01:14:53,455 --> 01:14:58,961 observation, Chris, which is that we have often talked 1650 01:14:58,961 --> 01:15:04,500 about how disappointed we've been that at various stages 1651 01:15:04,500 --> 01:15:09,504 Congress has not made progress on a range of 1652 01:15:11,740 --> 01:15:14,742 issues that the President has prioritized, including 1653 01:15:14,743 --> 01:15:19,047 ensuring that we treat LGBT Americans fairly and not 1654 01:15:19,047 --> 01:15:20,715 discriminate against them. 1655 01:15:20,716 --> 01:15:23,485 And we haven't seen as much legislation passed by 1656 01:15:23,485 --> 01:15:25,654 Congress as we would like to see that would ensure that 1657 01:15:25,654 --> 01:15:27,456 those protections are in place. 1658 01:15:27,456 --> 01:15:31,894 So the President has turned to using the executive 1659 01:15:31,894 --> 01:15:34,096 powers at his disposal to try to advance 1660 01:15:34,096 --> 01:15:34,763 those policies. 1661 01:15:34,763 --> 01:15:36,398 And we have acknowledged at every turn that those 1662 01:15:36,398 --> 01:15:38,867 executive actions are not a substitute for 1663 01:15:38,867 --> 01:15:39,768 legislative action. 1664 01:15:39,768 --> 01:15:41,870 And there's been a skepticism expressed by 1665 01:15:41,870 --> 01:15:46,041 some, most of them Democrats, who say that, 1666 01:15:46,041 --> 01:15:52,581 well, an executive action isn't as forceful or as 1667 01:15:52,581 --> 01:15:54,216 broad as legislation. 1668 01:15:54,216 --> 01:15:56,418 They're right about that of course. 1669 01:15:56,418 --> 01:15:59,054 But you have highlighted, actually, a good example 1670 01:15:59,054 --> 01:16:01,323 where the President taking executive action hasn't just 1671 01:16:01,323 --> 01:16:06,361 had an impact in the government, but it's also 1672 01:16:06,361 --> 01:16:10,766 had an impact in the private sector as well. 1673 01:16:10,766 --> 01:16:15,771 So I think this is just one example of how the 1674 01:16:18,240 --> 01:16:21,843 President's judicious use of executive authority has been 1675 01:16:21,843 --> 01:16:26,581 effective in changing minds and practices not just 1676 01:16:26,581 --> 01:16:27,916 inside the federal government, but in the 1677 01:16:27,916 --> 01:16:31,053 private sector as well. 1678 01:16:31,053 --> 01:16:36,023 More broadly, I think it's hard to tell exactly what 1679 01:16:39,328 --> 01:16:43,465 this particular personnel announcement says about the 1680 01:16:43,465 --> 01:16:47,002 kinds of policies that President Trump will pursue 1681 01:16:47,002 --> 01:16:52,007 once he is in office with regard to ensuring that 1682 01:16:54,776 --> 01:16:56,178 Americans are not discriminated against 1683 01:16:56,178 --> 01:16:58,180 because of their sexuality. 1684 01:17:00,182 --> 01:17:06,088 And I think, to put it generously, we've gotten 1685 01:17:06,088 --> 01:17:09,691 some mixed signals publicly about what the 1686 01:17:09,691 --> 01:17:12,094 President-elect's intent is. 1687 01:17:12,094 --> 01:17:16,732 So as with so many other issues that are important, 1688 01:17:16,732 --> 01:17:19,601 we'll have to wait and see what policy he 1689 01:17:19,601 --> 01:17:21,068 intends to pursue. 1690 01:17:21,069 --> 01:17:22,304 Ellen. 1691 01:17:22,304 --> 01:17:26,041 The Press: My question is, how is the President 1692 01:17:26,041 --> 01:17:29,945 planning on integrating the fact that -- into this 1693 01:17:29,945 --> 01:17:32,481 security report -- the fact that Julian Assange from 1694 01:17:32,481 --> 01:17:34,816 WikiLeaks and the former British ambassador to 1695 01:17:34,816 --> 01:17:37,085 Uzbekistan says it wasn't Russia at all, that they met 1696 01:17:37,085 --> 01:17:40,689 with the person that leaked this, it was an inside job, 1697 01:17:40,689 --> 01:17:42,357 et cetera? 1698 01:17:42,357 --> 01:17:46,428 Mr. Earnest: Well, I have not seen reports citing the 1699 01:17:46,428 --> 01:17:50,632 British ambassador to Uzbekistan, so I compliment 1700 01:17:50,632 --> 01:17:53,902 you on the breadth of your reading. 1701 01:17:53,902 --> 01:18:01,143 What I will just say is the view that Russia was 1702 01:18:01,143 --> 01:18:09,818 actively involved in cyber activity that was aimed at 1703 01:18:09,818 --> 01:18:15,857 eroding public confidence in our political system is the 1704 01:18:15,857 --> 01:18:20,629 unanimous, high-confidence conclusion of all 17 1705 01:18:20,629 --> 01:18:23,331 intelligence agencies in the United States. 1706 01:18:23,331 --> 01:18:24,866 That is not a recently known fact. 1707 01:18:24,866 --> 01:18:27,669 That is not a recently disclosed conclusion. 1708 01:18:27,669 --> 01:18:31,273 That is a conclusion and a finding and an assessment 1709 01:18:31,273 --> 01:18:33,275 that was released a month before the election. 1710 01:18:34,843 --> 01:18:37,579 So I know that the President-elect himself has 1711 01:18:37,579 --> 01:18:39,915 raised doubts about that assessment. 1712 01:18:39,915 --> 01:18:44,319 Apparently, the British ambassador to Uzbekistan has 1713 01:18:44,319 --> 01:18:47,222 made common cause with the President-elect to raise 1714 01:18:47,222 --> 01:18:47,889 those doubts. 1715 01:18:47,889 --> 01:18:51,827 But the American people will have to judge for themselves 1716 01:18:51,827 --> 01:18:54,296 whether they have more confidence in the ability of 1717 01:18:54,296 --> 01:18:56,531 the United States intelligence community to 1718 01:18:56,531 --> 01:18:59,568 unanimously reach the same conclusion on this matter, 1719 01:18:59,568 --> 01:19:04,573 or if they trust the conclusion of the British 1720 01:19:07,676 --> 01:19:10,512 ambassador to Uzbekistan. 1721 01:19:10,512 --> 01:19:11,713 Maggie. 1722 01:19:11,713 --> 01:19:12,581 The Press: Circling back, back to the Department of 1723 01:19:12,581 --> 01:19:15,517 Energy, is this the first time that the administration 1724 01:19:15,517 --> 01:19:18,220 has flat-out denied a request made by the Trump 1725 01:19:18,220 --> 01:19:22,290 transition team? 1726 01:19:22,290 --> 01:19:24,326 Mr. Earnest: Look, I think it's an entirely 1727 01:19:24,326 --> 01:19:25,060 legitimate question. 1728 01:19:25,060 --> 01:19:28,630 I don't think I can get into all of the conversations 1729 01:19:28,630 --> 01:19:30,765 that are taking place at federal agencies all across 1730 01:19:30,765 --> 01:19:34,069 this town and all across the country to ensure a smooth 1731 01:19:34,069 --> 01:19:35,704 and effective transition. 1732 01:19:35,704 --> 01:19:37,938 I can tell you that, in general, the administration 1733 01:19:37,939 --> 01:19:42,511 has worked hard to diligently provide as much 1734 01:19:42,511 --> 01:19:46,681 information as possible to the incoming team. 1735 01:19:46,681 --> 01:19:49,951 And that is not the kind of work that you can do just at 1736 01:19:49,951 --> 01:19:51,186 a moment's notice. 1737 01:19:51,186 --> 01:19:53,155 This is a lot of work that requires months and months 1738 01:19:53,155 --> 01:19:56,023 of planning, and this administration has planning 1739 01:19:56,024 --> 01:19:59,694 since the beginning of the year to compile and prepare 1740 01:19:59,694 --> 01:20:04,065 materials for the review of the incoming administration. 1741 01:20:04,065 --> 01:20:08,570 And obviously we envisioned a different kind of process 1742 01:20:08,570 --> 01:20:13,275 and a different kind of transition, but we remain no 1743 01:20:13,275 --> 01:20:16,611 less committed to ensuring that the incoming 1744 01:20:16,611 --> 01:20:18,680 administration can hit the ground running. 1745 01:20:18,680 --> 01:20:23,018 And that means providing extensive information to the 1746 01:20:23,018 --> 01:20:28,123 incoming administration, and that effort will continue 1747 01:20:28,123 --> 01:20:30,959 through Inauguration Day. 1748 01:20:30,959 --> 01:20:33,394 The Press: Since you brought it up earlier, care to 1749 01:20:33,395 --> 01:20:36,097 elaborate on your thoughts on President-elect's pick 1750 01:20:36,097 --> 01:20:38,233 for Energy Secretary? 1751 01:20:38,233 --> 01:20:39,234 Mr. Earnest: I think I've said enough about that. 1752 01:20:39,234 --> 01:20:41,002 (laughter) 1753 01:20:41,002 --> 01:20:41,803 Andrew. 1754 01:20:41,803 --> 01:20:42,737 The Press: Thanks, Josh. 1755 01:20:42,737 --> 01:20:45,740 I wanted to ask what the President's thoughts are 1756 01:20:45,740 --> 01:20:49,644 today regarding Aleppo and what the fall of the city 1757 01:20:49,644 --> 01:20:50,679 means for his legacy? 1758 01:20:50,679 --> 01:20:56,885 Mr. Earnest: Listen, Andrew, as Brett alluded to, the 1759 01:20:56,885 --> 01:21:00,055 situation in Aleppo remains deeply troubling, and the 1760 01:21:00,055 --> 01:21:03,325 innocent loss of life there that has persisted for years 1761 01:21:03,325 --> 01:21:06,228 at the hands of the Assad regime, enabled by the 1762 01:21:06,228 --> 01:21:10,465 Russians and Iranians, is deplorable. 1763 01:21:10,465 --> 01:21:13,468 And the United States has played a leading role in the 1764 01:21:13,468 --> 01:21:15,804 international community to try to facilitate a 1765 01:21:15,804 --> 01:21:20,709 diplomatic resolution to the situation there, at least to 1766 01:21:20,709 --> 01:21:23,411 just try to reduce the violence and increase the 1767 01:21:23,411 --> 01:21:28,216 consistent flow of humanitarian relief. 1768 01:21:28,216 --> 01:21:31,653 And I understand that at some point later today, and 1769 01:21:31,653 --> 01:21:33,622 maybe even right now, the United Nations Security 1770 01:21:33,622 --> 01:21:37,792 Council is meeting to consider such a proposal. 1771 01:21:37,792 --> 01:21:43,798 Obviously, if this ends up being a proposal that will 1772 01:21:43,798 --> 01:21:47,736 result in a reduction in the violence and an increase in 1773 01:21:47,736 --> 01:21:49,838 the provision of humanitarian assistance, 1774 01:21:49,838 --> 01:21:52,706 then it's something that the United States will not just 1775 01:21:52,707 --> 01:21:56,278 enthusiastically support but we're going to be actively 1776 01:21:56,278 --> 01:21:59,180 encouraging all parties to support it, and actively 1777 01:21:59,180 --> 01:22:02,684 encouraging all sides to implement it effectively so 1778 01:22:02,684 --> 01:22:05,887 that the people in Aleppo who have been suffering in 1779 01:22:05,887 --> 01:22:08,723 unthinkable circumstances can finally get some measure 1780 01:22:08,723 --> 01:22:09,424 of relief. 1781 01:22:09,424 --> 01:22:11,559 The Press: You talk about the Syrians, and the 1782 01:22:11,559 --> 01:22:14,496 Russians, and the Iranians and what they've done, but a 1783 01:22:14,496 --> 01:22:16,498 lot of the anger over what's happened in Aleppo is 1784 01:22:16,498 --> 01:22:18,500 directed at this White House and this presidency. 1785 01:22:18,500 --> 01:22:21,069 Do you think that's fair? 1786 01:22:21,069 --> 01:22:23,471 Why do you think that is? 1787 01:22:23,471 --> 01:22:28,476 Mr. Earnest: Well, first of all, I think I'm going to 1788 01:22:28,476 --> 01:22:30,779 refrain from criticizing people who are having an 1789 01:22:30,779 --> 01:22:34,683 emotional reaction to the terrible violence that they 1790 01:22:34,683 --> 01:22:35,350 have faced. 1791 01:22:35,350 --> 01:22:40,355 And their feelings of anger and frustration I think are 1792 01:22:46,461 --> 01:22:48,697 entirely understandable given what they've been through. 1793 01:22:51,866 --> 01:22:56,871 And I think it would be inappropriate and maybe even 1794 01:22:56,871 --> 01:23:00,175 immoral for me to stand here and criticize them. 1795 01:23:00,175 --> 01:23:02,777 What I will say is something that you've heard me say 1796 01:23:02,777 --> 01:23:08,149 before, which is that President Obama has -- and 1797 01:23:08,149 --> 01:23:13,588 Secretary Kerry -- have been at the leading edge of a 1798 01:23:13,588 --> 01:23:16,558 tireless effort to try to bring that violence to an 1799 01:23:16,558 --> 01:23:20,595 end, or at least reduce it enough that humanitarian 1800 01:23:20,595 --> 01:23:23,331 assistance can get to those people that need it the most. 1801 01:23:27,769 --> 01:23:29,337 And this administration and this President certainly 1802 01:23:29,337 --> 01:23:33,074 makes no apologies for that tenacious pursuit of the 1803 01:23:33,074 --> 01:23:36,009 kind of solution that would bring relief to the 1804 01:23:36,010 --> 01:23:38,780 suffering people of Aleppo. 1805 01:23:38,780 --> 01:23:41,549 And it's not particularly surprising to me, given this 1806 01:23:41,549 --> 01:23:46,388 long-running, bloody conflict, that the people of 1807 01:23:46,388 --> 01:23:53,061 Aleppo are angry that this hasn't been solved more quickly. 1808 01:23:53,061 --> 01:23:58,133 The Press: Related to the rest of the world -- I mean, 1809 01:23:58,133 --> 01:24:00,934 I guess the question is, why do you think that U.S. 1810 01:24:00,935 --> 01:24:04,339 military action in Iraq can bring out millions of people 1811 01:24:04,339 --> 01:24:07,709 onto the streets around the world, but Russian and 1812 01:24:07,709 --> 01:24:14,849 Iranian actions in Aleppo don't have the same response? 1813 01:24:14,849 --> 01:24:19,988 Mr. Earnest: Well, look, I think it's hard to paint 1814 01:24:23,158 --> 01:24:25,960 with a broad brush about how the international community 1815 01:24:25,960 --> 01:24:28,463 is responding to this situation. 1816 01:24:33,101 --> 01:24:38,039 I think that you have seen many moral consciences 1817 01:24:38,039 --> 01:24:43,745 aroused by the violence in this part of the world, and 1818 01:24:43,745 --> 01:24:48,950 it shows itself in a variety of ways. 1819 01:24:48,950 --> 01:24:55,190 Sometimes it is the photograph of a small boy in 1820 01:24:55,190 --> 01:25:00,195 the back of an ambulance who has barely escaped a Syrian 1821 01:25:02,764 --> 01:25:05,133 government bomb. 1822 01:25:05,133 --> 01:25:08,269 There was a pronounced public reaction to 1823 01:25:08,269 --> 01:25:10,271 that photograph. 1824 01:25:11,339 --> 01:25:15,477 These kinds of images do tug at the conscience of people 1825 01:25:15,477 --> 01:25:16,376 around the world. 1826 01:25:16,377 --> 01:25:19,481 It certainly tugs at the conscience of everybody in 1827 01:25:19,481 --> 01:25:21,282 the Obama administration, and that's why the Obama 1828 01:25:21,282 --> 01:25:24,986 administration has pursued so tirelessly the kind of 1829 01:25:24,986 --> 01:25:30,325 diplomatic solution that would bring that violence to 1830 01:25:30,325 --> 01:25:31,025 an end. 1831 01:25:31,025 --> 01:25:33,995 And that's what we're seeking, and hopefully we'll 1832 01:25:33,995 --> 01:25:35,163 be able to make some more progress on that at the U.N. 1833 01:25:35,163 --> 01:25:36,865 Security Council today. 1834 01:25:36,865 --> 01:25:38,233 Yes, ma'am, I'll give you the last one. 1835 01:25:38,233 --> 01:25:40,268 The Press: Hi, Rosslyn Jordan with Al Jazeera, 1836 01:25:40,268 --> 01:25:41,970 following up on his point on Aleppo. 1837 01:25:41,970 --> 01:25:43,071 Mr. Earnest: Nice to see you, Rosslyn. 1838 01:25:43,071 --> 01:25:45,073 The Press: Hi, nice to see you. 1839 01:25:45,073 --> 01:25:47,442 The civil war in Syria has been going on for almost 1840 01:25:47,442 --> 01:25:48,142 six years. 1841 01:25:48,142 --> 01:25:49,043 Mr. Earnest: It has. 1842 01:25:49,043 --> 01:25:50,678 The Press: The estimates between the U.N. 1843 01:25:50,678 --> 01:25:53,915 and various human rights groups is that at least 1844 01:25:53,915 --> 01:25:57,785 400,000 to 470,000 Syrians have been killed. 1845 01:25:57,785 --> 01:26:00,255 At least 32,000 of those people have been killed 1846 01:26:00,255 --> 01:26:02,056 in Aleppo. 1847 01:26:02,056 --> 01:26:04,826 Some of those people have been on social media. 1848 01:26:04,826 --> 01:26:06,561 They've been able to go on TV today. 1849 01:26:06,561 --> 01:26:09,764 They fear they are living the last days or hours of 1850 01:26:09,764 --> 01:26:10,431 their lives. 1851 01:26:10,431 --> 01:26:13,067 And they are asking: Where is the world? 1852 01:26:13,067 --> 01:26:16,204 In particular, where is the United States? 1853 01:26:16,204 --> 01:26:18,673 And the question is -- and I understand that the 1854 01:26:18,673 --> 01:26:23,210 President did not want to launch a regional war -- but 1855 01:26:23,211 --> 01:26:26,814 if ever there were an argument -- say, human 1856 01:26:26,814 --> 01:26:30,218 rights advocates -- to act on the responsibility to 1857 01:26:30,218 --> 01:26:34,022 protect, Syria is that situation. 1858 01:26:34,022 --> 01:26:36,324 Why did not the administration intervene 1859 01:26:36,324 --> 01:26:38,960 militarily in the Syrian civil war? 1860 01:26:38,960 --> 01:26:41,696 Mr. Earnest: Rosslyn, the answer is simple, and it's 1861 01:26:41,696 --> 01:26:44,732 one that we've said on a number of occasions: There's 1862 01:26:44,732 --> 01:26:48,002 no military solution to the civil war in Syria. 1863 01:26:48,002 --> 01:26:50,738 The Press: But how can (inaudible) the job? 1864 01:26:50,738 --> 01:26:53,575 Mr. Earnest: But, Rosslyn, what is the military 1865 01:26:53,575 --> 01:26:55,677 proposal that has been tabled that would 1866 01:26:55,677 --> 01:26:59,714 effectively prevent those deaths? 1867 01:26:59,714 --> 01:27:01,883 Is the suggestion that somehow the United States 1868 01:27:01,883 --> 01:27:04,952 should just occupy the nation of Syria? 1869 01:27:04,953 --> 01:27:07,822 Do we really think that's going to reduce the violence 1870 01:27:07,822 --> 01:27:09,791 in Syria? 1871 01:27:09,791 --> 01:27:11,726 I don't think there's any evidence to substantiate 1872 01:27:11,726 --> 01:27:15,196 that claim, even if that's one that is being made. 1873 01:27:15,196 --> 01:27:17,899 I haven't heard any other sort of suggestion. 1874 01:27:20,535 --> 01:27:23,371 The only solution is a diplomatic one, and no 1875 01:27:23,371 --> 01:27:25,940 country in the world has expended more of an effort 1876 01:27:25,940 --> 01:27:27,775 to pursue that diplomatic solution than the United 1877 01:27:27,775 --> 01:27:28,476 States of America. 1878 01:27:28,476 --> 01:27:31,411 The United States has a special responsibility 1879 01:27:31,412 --> 01:27:34,048 because we have the most influential, strongest 1880 01:27:34,048 --> 01:27:35,550 country in the world. 1881 01:27:35,550 --> 01:27:37,819 And we readily accept the responsibility, certainly 1882 01:27:37,819 --> 01:27:39,420 under President Obama's leadership -- we've readily 1883 01:27:39,420 --> 01:27:41,623 accepted responsibility for working through the 1884 01:27:41,623 --> 01:27:44,058 international community and using that influence to try 1885 01:27:44,058 --> 01:27:45,393 to bring that violence to an end. 1886 01:27:45,393 --> 01:27:47,261 The United States is the largest bilateral donor of 1887 01:27:47,261 --> 01:27:48,796 humanitarian assistance. 1888 01:27:48,796 --> 01:27:51,466 We've provided substantial resources to try to meet the 1889 01:27:51,466 --> 01:27:54,369 basic humanitarian needs of Syrians who are fleeing 1890 01:27:54,369 --> 01:27:58,072 violence, and there has been a substantial U.S.-military 1891 01:27:58,072 --> 01:28:01,643 commitment to organizing the international community to 1892 01:28:01,643 --> 01:28:06,180 try to address some of the consequences of the chaos in 1893 01:28:06,180 --> 01:28:10,184 Syria, and that is the extremism that has fueled so 1894 01:28:10,184 --> 01:28:14,355 much terrorism in that region of the world. 1895 01:28:14,355 --> 01:28:17,625 But when it comes to addressing and solving the 1896 01:28:17,625 --> 01:28:21,396 underlying violence and chaos, that is ultimately a 1897 01:28:21,396 --> 01:28:25,800 political question and a political that's needed. 1898 01:28:25,800 --> 01:28:28,102 It's the failed political leadership of Bashar 1899 01:28:28,102 --> 01:28:30,905 al-Assad that has brought us to this point. 1900 01:28:30,905 --> 01:28:34,776 And it's resolving that political problem that will 1901 01:28:34,776 --> 01:28:39,180 be necessary to definitively end the violence and ensure 1902 01:28:39,180 --> 01:28:41,049 that the people of Aleppo, who have been under siege 1903 01:28:41,049 --> 01:28:43,518 for years, can get some relief. 1904 01:28:43,518 --> 01:28:46,821 The Press: But the question has to be raised: Given how 1905 01:28:46,821 --> 01:28:51,025 often Secretary Kerry has personally lobbied the 1906 01:28:51,025 --> 01:28:53,695 Russian government, has personally lobbied the 1907 01:28:53,695 --> 01:28:56,998 Foreign Minister, Mr. Lavrov, as recently as 1908 01:28:56,998 --> 01:29:01,001 this weekend, and yet, oh, this isn't the right time to 1909 01:29:01,002 --> 01:29:03,671 have a ceasefire, the United States is simply protecting 1910 01:29:03,671 --> 01:29:08,443 the rebels who are holed up in Aleppo -- at some point, 1911 01:29:08,443 --> 01:29:10,611 shouldn't this administration be calling 1912 01:29:10,611 --> 01:29:14,949 Moscow's bluff and actually forcing them to do what they 1913 01:29:14,949 --> 01:29:17,719 have promised to do, which is to call back the Syrian 1914 01:29:17,719 --> 01:29:20,822 military and prevent them from committing what some 1915 01:29:20,822 --> 01:29:22,924 are now alleging are human rights violations? 1916 01:29:22,924 --> 01:29:26,194 Mr. Earnest: Well, as we've indicated before, the United 1917 01:29:26,194 --> 01:29:30,064 States strongly supports and would support an effort to 1918 01:29:30,064 --> 01:29:34,569 ensure that the Assad regime, and those who are 1919 01:29:34,569 --> 01:29:37,371 culpable for the Assad regime's actions, 1920 01:29:37,371 --> 01:29:40,575 accountable for the tactics that have been used inside 1921 01:29:40,575 --> 01:29:42,175 of Syria. 1922 01:29:42,176 --> 01:29:45,847 Far too many innocent lives have been lost, women and 1923 01:29:45,847 --> 01:29:51,652 children included, and we believe in 1924 01:29:51,652 --> 01:29:53,721 some accountability. 1925 01:29:53,721 --> 01:29:57,058 And hopefully that is something that the next 1926 01:29:57,058 --> 01:30:03,297 administration will continue. 1927 01:30:03,297 --> 01:30:09,070 But when it comes to Russia, they've spent significant 1928 01:30:09,070 --> 01:30:13,974 amounts of credibility in trying to describe to the 1929 01:30:13,975 --> 01:30:15,943 international community their response to 1930 01:30:15,943 --> 01:30:18,279 this situation. 1931 01:30:18,279 --> 01:30:21,449 And as we discussed earlier, as Brett referenced, the 1932 01:30:21,449 --> 01:30:23,718 Russians regularly like to say that they are focused on 1933 01:30:23,718 --> 01:30:27,789 taking ISIL fighters off the battlefield in Syria, but 1934 01:30:27,789 --> 01:30:30,657 the truth is they've taken their eye off that ball, and 1935 01:30:30,658 --> 01:30:33,995 the one measurable gain that they've previously been able 1936 01:30:33,995 --> 01:30:39,066 to point to against ISIL has now been rolled back. 1937 01:30:39,066 --> 01:30:41,936 So I think it is very difficult not just to 1938 01:30:41,936 --> 01:30:47,375 justify, but even to explain what sort of strategy Russia 1939 01:30:47,375 --> 01:30:49,377 is trying to pursue inside of Syria. 1940 01:30:52,046 --> 01:30:53,948 Well, maybe I should say it this way: It's hard to 1941 01:30:53,948 --> 01:30:56,918 reconcile their explanations about what they're doing 1942 01:30:56,918 --> 01:31:00,021 inside of Syria with the truth. 1943 01:31:00,021 --> 01:31:01,789 The truth of the matter is, they're focused on propping 1944 01:31:01,789 --> 01:31:03,825 up the Assad regime, and the Assad regime is trying to 1945 01:31:03,825 --> 01:31:06,160 bomb civilians into submission so that he can 1946 01:31:06,160 --> 01:31:08,329 try to get control over his country again. 1947 01:31:08,329 --> 01:31:10,197 He's lost control over his country, he's lost 1948 01:31:10,198 --> 01:31:11,666 legitimacy to lead. 1949 01:31:11,666 --> 01:31:14,168 And the concern from the United States isn't just 1950 01:31:14,168 --> 01:31:16,637 about the humanitarian situation there, it's about 1951 01:31:16,637 --> 01:31:20,474 how that chaos has fueled extremism and given life to 1952 01:31:20,474 --> 01:31:22,810 terrorist organizations that threaten the United States 1953 01:31:22,810 --> 01:31:24,178 and our interests around the world. 1954 01:31:24,178 --> 01:31:26,214 So this is a complicated problem, but we're attacking 1955 01:31:26,214 --> 01:31:26,948 it from every angle. 1956 01:31:26,948 --> 01:31:29,383 And you heard from Brett the efforts that we're 1957 01:31:29,383 --> 01:31:31,853 undertaking and that are making significant progress 1958 01:31:31,853 --> 01:31:33,588 against ISIL. 1959 01:31:33,588 --> 01:31:36,891 But the role for diplomacy and the leading role that 1960 01:31:36,891 --> 01:31:39,427 the United States has played in pursuing that diplomacy 1961 01:31:39,427 --> 01:31:42,295 to address the political situation in Syria is 1962 01:31:42,296 --> 01:31:44,098 something that we've been pursuing for years and 1963 01:31:44,098 --> 01:31:45,132 continues to this day. 1964 01:31:45,132 --> 01:31:48,635 The Press: Is this administration considering 1965 01:31:48,636 --> 01:31:52,907 in its final weeks any punitive actions against 1966 01:31:52,907 --> 01:31:55,176 Vladimir Putin's government because of its ongoing 1967 01:31:55,176 --> 01:31:59,046 support -- militarily, financial, diplomatic -- for 1968 01:31:59,046 --> 01:32:01,482 Bashar al-Assad's government? 1969 01:32:01,482 --> 01:32:05,119 Mr. Earnest: Well, there are a range of steps that we 1970 01:32:05,119 --> 01:32:06,888 have been considering. 1971 01:32:06,888 --> 01:32:10,925 And the truth is, because of some of Russia's actions in 1972 01:32:10,925 --> 01:32:13,527 Ukraine, violating the territorial integrity of 1973 01:32:13,527 --> 01:32:16,330 that country, they're already facing significant 1974 01:32:16,330 --> 01:32:20,300 isolation that has eroded their status diplomatically 1975 01:32:20,301 --> 01:32:21,769 and has hurt their economy. 1976 01:32:21,769 --> 01:32:29,210 So Russia is already suffering the consequences 1977 01:32:29,210 --> 01:32:33,714 of the kind of international behavior that has been 1978 01:32:33,714 --> 01:32:39,687 repudiated by the international community, but 1979 01:32:39,687 --> 01:32:43,190 I wouldn't rule out potentially applying 1980 01:32:43,190 --> 01:32:47,361 additional steps because of the way that they have 1981 01:32:47,361 --> 01:32:50,064 behaved in Syria, as well. 1982 01:32:50,064 --> 01:32:50,731 Thanks, everybody. 1983 01:32:50,731 --> 01:32:51,331 We'll see you tomorrow.