Transcripts For CSPAN Key Capitol Hill Hearings 20240622

Two outcomes, to be killed by defenders or coalition air. Recent activities rendered very clear messages. There are places within the infrastructure where the morale is not good. As we begin to strangle the itenses, the finances, becomes more difficult to payain their operations and fighters. That will create additional problems. General allen now serves as a special president ial envoy for the coalition to counter isis. You can watch the presentation at 8 00 p. M. When the senate takes its august break, we will feature book tv programming weeknights and prime time. At the end of the summer, look for two look tv programs. Programs. We are live from the National Book festival. Followed by an event with lynne cheney. Book tv. Television for serious readers. White housetodays briefing with press secretary josh earnest. Ernest lets go to your questions. The meeting the president is having, i am wondering if the timing was arranged so his meeting would follow the israeli Prime Ministers webcast. With American Jewish leaders opposed to iran. Arnest this meeting has been in the works for several days. It will include those who articulated their support and a group who have not yet expressed an opinion. It is not for candy for the president to lay out his case to all of them about why he toieves this is the best way prevent iran from obtaining a Nuclear Weapon. He will make it clear that this agreement builds on the most intrusive set of inspections ever imposed on a countries there will be an opportunity for those who are to spain questions directly to the president. They will have an opportunity to make clear the concerns they have and ask questions about the details of the agreement. Be there tot will answer questions. We will provide you with a list of those who participated. You will be able to examine for yourself the diverse composition of opinions included in the meeting. Did i go on too long . Obviously. I probably did. I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to answer your question. Whether the meeting is a response to i would merely say that Prime Minister netanyahu has had ample opportunities to make public his views of the situation. Youll recall, i guess five a jointgo, he spoke to session of the u. S. Congress live on television in the u. S. Organized aeam has webcast to make his views known. It is clear he has availed himself of variety of opportunities. The president has his own views as well as. The Prime Minister has had an opportunity to make his views clear and has taken advantage of that. The president will make it clear he believes this effort to prevent iran from obtaining a Nuclear Weapon isnt just in the best interests of the u. S. , but in the National Security interest of our closest ally in to prevent israel, iran from obtaining a Nuclear Weapon through diplomacy. It is a view he has made public and will reiterate in the context of this meeting with leaders in the American Jewish community. Is going tooned he take questions to celebrate the anniversary of the Voting Rights act. Will he put himself in a position where he can take questions on the iran deal . Maybe the white house would consider doing a town hall . That is an intriguing idea. Nothing like that on the the 50 moret for days the congress has to and 4550 days for the president to make his case public, obviously the president has taken questions in a variety of settings. A day after announcing this agreement, he took questions from all of you in the east room. Or many of you. Maybe the jurys still out on that question. There is no doubt people in this room have been following this issue as closely as anyone. To of you have access information and that is why the president made a point of spending more than an hour with all of you answering questions to discuss this. I wouldnt rule out future public engagements in which the president takes questions on this. You all have reported on the wide variety of private meetings the president had with individual members of congress. Many of them have been characterized by a lot of q a and giveandtake, both in settings involving a large number of members of congress and also in oneonone settings. The president has not been shy about his willingness to do some q a on this. I would not rule out he might do some in the future. Jeff . Is the white house considering returning the chinese businessmen to china on their request . Mr. Earnest i am limited on what i can say about this particular matter. There are a couple i can say. The u. S. And china regularly engage in Law Enforcement matters of mutual concern including fighting corruption. Through the u. S. China liaison group. U. S. Law enforcement officials emphasize is it is incumbent upon them to provide u. S. Officials with significant, clear, and convincing evidence to allow our Law Enforcement agencies proceed with investigations and even removals and prosecutions of fugitives. Times ine stated many the past, the u. S. Is not a safe haven for fugitives from any country. Support anyat we are hindering a campaign against corruption do not stand up to the reality. The u. S. Is an International Leader and we will work with partners across the globe to work with partners to advance the fight of corruption. It comes to the details of any particular case, including this which has attracted attention in the last 24 hours, i am not able to comment on details. Mr. Earnest are you willing to say whether you consider him a fugitive . Able to render jen render judgment. Looking forward to the president of china come to the u. S. , how does this issue as well as other major irritations and the relationship, like the aggression,hinas some would say, in the southside china sea, how does that affect the visit . You have listed a couple of the irritants in the relationship. The one that is most regularly cited, the Law Enforcement action carried out by the department of justice a year or chineseto indict five military officials for their actions in cyberspace. That is an irritant because the has concerns about the activities of those individuals. The Chinese Government expressed frustration and concern about the public action taken against five military officials. To we knowledge have acknowledged these kinds of differences exist in our relationship. We have raised concerns about our concern about china i insufficiently protecting intellectual property. At the same time, the u. S. Has been able to work effectively with china to advance mutual interests of our countries. Good are a couple of examples on high profile issues to read the first is when the president traveled to china last fall, and president obamas stood next to the chinese president and announced steps to curb carbon pollution. I will remind you china was an active participant in the p5 plus one negotiations to reach a diplomatic agreement with iran. Thoseare neither of are insignificant issues. Those are examples where the u. S. And china have been able to effectively Work Together in ways that we could make progress for the citizens of our country that may not have been possible had we been working alone. U. S. Is an indication usefulent with china is in protecting and even advancing the u. S. We are alwaysn going to agree but it does mean it is useful in preserving a working relationship. President se desire to have an effective relationship. Even for thosebt areas where we can cooperate, at least some of that meeting will be dedicated to some of the differences that exist between our countries. Publicly oray formally who is behind mr. Earnest i dont have Additional Information on that. There has been public speculation about the attribution of some of those concerning actions in cyberspace. I do not have any new information to share today. Issues, img rights going to ask one thing. Does the administration find irony that the anniversary, 50 years, and you where many of them are not feeling the ironyrnest one persons maybe anothers servant of pity. Maybe there will be an opportunity for republicans to talk about the importance of every american to cast a vote. On the president comes out talking about restoration, 50 years ago there was a focus on Southern States with the problem in poll taxes. Making sure africanamericans were able to vote. Now there are different challenges. Where does the president stand as it relates to restoring the Voting Rights act . Which parts does he want to keep and bolster or take out . Mr. Earnest you will have an opportunity to hear more from him later this week. As a general matter, i will say he has been concerned and dismayed by the significant amount of energy and effort expended all exclusively by republicans to make it more difficult to eligible citizens to cast a ballot. The spirit of the country, the values of the country, would reinforce the view that every eligible american should have an opportunity to participate in their government and a democracy. That is what motivates the president s view. That is why the president is marking the 50th anniversary of this legislation. Family filed as lawsuit after the government how doesd there was the white house feel about that . Mr. Earnest i dont have any comments on the civil litigation. I will confirm the department of justice continues to monitor the situation in texas. Local prosecutors continue to examine the circumstances of the case. But i dont have Additional Information about federal action that has been taken at this point. Can i follow quickly on the Voting Rights . There was a question from congressional democrats, essentially dropping their flying or objection to confederate flags and military oneteries to getting a vote Voting Rights. I am wondering if the white house will endorse that . Mr. Earnest im not aware of any discussions between the white house and leaders in aucuses. Ic c the administration is interested in making progress. You heard the president say forcefully speak forcefully about his support for the Voting Rights act. Defaulting, iico, wondered if you could talk about what the administration is doing at this point to help address and there are concerns that could impact the u. S. Economy . Mr. Earnest im not going to be in a position to comment on decisions puerto ricos leaders have made. I will reiterate we believe Puerto Rico Needs an orderly process to restructure their liability. Unfortunately, the challenges did not begin overnight. This is set against broader economic challenges across the island. Ae president did establish task force on puerto rico. Essentially and Interagency Task force to leverage available federal assistance to assist leaders as they confront these financial challenges. Forcethe work of the task to coordinate efforts with leaders in puerto rico. The have said, administration does not envision a bailout for puerto rico. Where available federal assistance can be leveraged to assist the leaders of puerto rico in meeting some of their financial obligations, we stand ready to help. Iran, there was a letter yesterday saying it was imperative for congress to review the disagreement between aea. And the i i know what you had to say about there not being a started deal sided deal. I am wondering about two specific questions can read the first, you are asked last week. Whether the white house is confident it has satisfied legal erms of turning turn over information. The second is whether the president would veto legislation about turning this over to congress. I can say all the available information the administration has about the stigmatic effort has been turned over to congress. I believe that was done on july 19 or 20th. Whatever that sunday was. I think was the 20th. That has been completed. The presentation of those documents is what initiated the 60 day clock that congress has imposed for the consideration of this agreement. Indicated is a willingness above and to be on that were required to be to spend time with the experts responsible for briefing that includes detailed classified briefings about the nature and content about the iranment reached between and the iaea as a relates to the possible military dimensions of the program. That briefing has already occurred for a large number of house members. I know there is a classified briefing for senators scheduled later this week. I know the director general of a series ofplanning meetings as well. This is an indication of fornistrations desire congress to understand as much as possible about this agreement so they can judge for themselves about the success we believe ensure toment will prevent iran from obtaining a Nuclear Weapon. I have not seen the specific legislative puzzles. Proposals. It is not immediately obvious to me what sort of congressional what sort of oversight congress would have overnight agreement between iran and the iaea. Impact thee what legislation would have. I am not sure congress cant compel [indiscernible] mr. Earnest i guess what i answerefer you to is the i just said. I believe we have produced all the Material Congress needs and we have followed up the presentation with in person briefings. Have taken place in classified settings and one on one meetings. They have taken place under oath before congressional committees. There are a variety of ways in thesethis information, briefings have taken place. All in an effort to help members of Congress Learn what is in the agreement. On the campaign trail and the thursday night debate, we will hear republican candidates say how when they get to be president , they will tear up the agreement. Review time,60 day it is limited. Can a republican president come in and tear it up question m . I can explainhat is it would be foolish for a future president to do this. Primarily because this is an agreement that has been implemented. We will have an opportunity over the next 1. 5 years to and women the agreement and verify irans compliance. Keep in mind if iran does not able toand we will be tell because we have the most intrusive set of inspections iranimposed, if we detect is not abiding by this commitment, sanctions will snap back into place. Preserve the international unanimity of opinion confronting iran and their Nuclear Program. That International Unity would anotheretely gutted if president were to take office and despite irans compliance were to unilaterally withdraw. It is unclear what that would accomplish. There is a suggestion they would withdraw the u. S. And impose additional sanctions unilaterally on iran. The reason that would be foolish, we have talked about the reason our sanctions regime was successful in compelling iran to come to the negotiating table is it required not just action by the coordinated action all around the globe. Not just among the members of p5 plus one but other significant economies with close economic ties including countries like india and south korea and japan. It is not obvious the u. S. Unilaterally withdrawing, we would have any standing or success in persuading other countries around the world to go along with this, particularly if we had been able to verify irans compliance with the agreement. Keep in mind, compliance includes reducing their nuclear 98 , reducing 13,000 centrifuges, and gutting the core of their heavy water plutonium reactor. The reason i would describe that action as foolish, it is not clear what that would accomplish. Making a military confrontation in the middle east more likely. Conversely, is there anything in the agreement that would bind a future president . Mr. Earnest the binding comes in with the inherent, the significant inherent value of preserving the International Coalition to prevent iran from obtaining a weapon. That would be significantly undermined if the u. S. Were to unilaterally withdraw. Getting back to justins question about the site agreements, the one that exists and iran, theea thrust of a concern is it would set a precedent that iran can withe have this agreement the iaea, we dont have to comply with other parts of the deal. Be the thrust of his concern. How do you address that . There first way is, already is a precedent. The iaea has Bilateral Agreement of 180on the order countries around the world. Those are Bilateral Agreements, in this case between the iaea and iran. The key here is our negotiating team is aware of what is included and that is why we have been willing to communicate the contents of that agreement to congress. It includes Sensitive Information including information related to Nuclear Proliferation which we dont want to advertise broadly on the internet. You are talking about what is in the Side Agreement, youre not showing the text. Does the misdirection have the text . Does secretary kerry have it . Is a text to shared between the iaea and iran. I would not describe it as a Side Agreement. The information is information the iaea needs to write a report about the military dimensions of the Nuclear Program. Thisve made it clear agreement will not go forward until iran has complied with all access to write that report. I would not describe this as a Side Agreement. Directlyagreement between iran and the iaea. What we have made clear is any sanctions relief will not be has i e provided until iran complied to the iaea agreement. Iaea toll be up to the determine whether iran has complied. Agreed toplus one has opinion is iaeas correct. They are a group of international experts. Be inspections will conducted by the iaea. With the u. S. And International Community is doing as we are coming on on the iaea and iran that they must cooperate at every turn. When it comes to repairing their report about the military dimensions. Moving forward, the International Community is going to insist, including the u. S. , that iran cooperate with iaea inspectors responsible for verifying compliance. They are responsible for the permanent, never ending commitment iran has made to never develop a Nuclear Weapon. That is why there will be permanent inspections in place by iaea nuclear experts. What has happened is iran has given the iaea the runaround. The International Community has come forward and said, if you want relief from these sanctions that have had the decimating affect on your economy, you need to cooperate with the iaea. ,oth when it comes to access you will also need to cooperate moving forward. Satisfied none of that little room is built into this sidecar or whatever you call it. The reason i resist calling it a Side Agreement is the agreement does not go forward and less iran performs and follows through with commitments to the iaea to write this report. Have set a deadline for that compliance. We have insisted iran provide that access and information by october 15. If they do not, there will not be forthcoming sanctions relief. To have accessa so theyas possible can complete their report by the end of the year. We asked a question about the and aents speech comparison to kennedys speech. Do like that . Mr. Earnest president kennedy, more than 50 years ago, entered into a diplomatic agreement with an adversary of the u. S. The cold war was a long time ago. Might this go on for another couple decades before iran and the u. S. Can be in the same place where this u. S. And soviet union were at the end of the 1980s . That is a difficult historical analogy to draw. It is not just senator kennedy an adversary of the u. S. Another thing president kennedy had to do. He had to make concessions on the part of the u. S. Elementse commitments, of our Nuclear Program rolled back in the context of that agreement with the soviet union in the early 1960s. In the context of this agreement, you have president obama who entered into a diplomatic agreement to advance the National Security of the u. S. Heres the catch. The u. S. Did not have to make concessions. There is no impact on the u. S. And our nuclear or military programs. To the strength of this agreement. He is aiming for that comparison with the speech. Mr. Earnest it is a comparison we welcome when it comes to this about the effectiveness of smart diplomacy, even with our adversaries, to events the security interests of the u. S. On a separate subject, is the Obama Administration doing anything in terms of oversight investigations to what is being alleged occurred inside planned parenthood facilities . Withinivity whatsoever the administration . House looking at them and saying they are selectively edited to indict planned parenthood . Or is there some concern within the administration . Mr. Earnest you have heard me say it a couple of times that these were videos released for their shock value. They clearly are shocking. That is the reason you saw the president of land parenthood statements a the day or two bank after the videos were released. These are Health Care Facilities and the ministries and has a responsibility to monitor them. For questions about oversight of health care, i would refer you to hhs. I. C. E. Has been an issue for some time among advocates for reform to administration. Now there is some sort of pushed back among municipal governments about whether they want to cooperate with the president s. Rogram have a credibility problem . Frequently, they have not followed with the administration wants to be done. Who have deported people were not criminals. That is not Administration Policy from what i understand. Does ice have a credibility problem . There are a variety of ways in which our broken immigration system has had an impact on Law Enforcement officials. The lack of clarity about immigration policy is why the president leaves reform is badly needed. The president is supportive of rm that brings greater accountability. Our system has resulted in a lot of frustration about the best way to protect the communities they are sworn to serve and protect. There has been frustration expressed by ice officers. Federal officers, about how to use their limited to resources to enforce the law and also protect communities across the country. Thats why the president was a strong advocate of comprehensive reform. Bipartisanstrong majority. We were particularly disappointed republicans in the house of representatives blocked the passage of that compromise proposal. That compromise comprehensive Immigration Reform proposal made borderric investment in security. It would have enhanced the Law Enforcement resources to enforce the law and protect our communities. That is why does a shame, even a tragedy, republicans in congress blocked comprehensive Immigration Reform. Housee of the efforts of republicans to block it. The initiation has to deal with what is going on now. Follows not consistently with their bosses are telling them to do. With the president has said, and these are part of the executive actions he rolled out at the end of last year, that was to pursue a policy at focus that would resources on those individuals who pose a significant threat to safety and security. Individuals with a record of committing violent crime, gang affiliations, even individuals who have repeatedly violated law by crossing the border again and again. They were made a priority. Individuals the administration believes should be the focus of Law Enforcement efforts and deportation efforts. There have been deportations of families, of people for not criminals. Criminals likee, the one apparently in San Francisco have not been deported. The emphasis that the administration once being carried through . I cannot speak to individual cases, by the president and secretary of Homeland Security have been clear about what they believe is the best way to bring accountability to the system. Set enforcement priorities in the way i described. Ultimately, it is the response ability of Law Enforcement officers or dealing in a challenging environment with enforceresources to a fundamentally broken system. It is a shame and tragedy the republicans in congress blocked a solution to this problem. It is why the president has tried to impose a solution that would bring muchneeded accountability to the system. Afteralso why, even taking that action, we urge congress to take legislative action to address this. Today,usa today report mass public shootings have increased from 18 year to about 4. 5 a year. From one a year to 4. 5 a year. People are dying every year because of Mass Shootings. Does the president have a plan to reintroduce new guncontrol while he is still president . Or has he given up . Mr. Earnest it was in the interview the president conduct with the bbc shortly before departing for africa that he the inability was of congress to take even common communitiesto make more safe by keeping guns out of the hands of those who should not have them has been the source of his biggest frustration as president. There are dozens of executive actions the ministrys and has taken to try to plug holes and fill some gaps. These are common sense steps we can take without in any way infringing on the basic Constitutional Rights of lawabiding citizens predicted by the second amendment. There are additional steps wouldss could take that protect those Constitutional Rights well at the same time protecting communities including those that are increasingly home to the victims of gun violence. Is not just Mass Shootings that attract so much attention. It is those shootings that have become all too common in large urban areas. We should not expect significant legislative initiatives by the white house before president obama leaves . Mr. Earnest he has made it clear he does not expect a change of heart in congress until the American Public makes clear that their decisions when it comes to provisions that ared reduce gun violence voting decisions that are going to be accounted for at the ballot box on election day. We have not yet seen that kind of significant outpouring of support from the American Public, at least in a sufficient quantity to change the minds of individual members of congress. That is ultimately the key. There is no legislative strategy that is going to change the outcome. Delia thing that will change the outcome is a strong, clear outpouring of public support from the people. That means he is leaving it to the next president. An issuest this is the president will continue to but the way we are going to see the decisions made by members of Congress Change is when we see members of the American Public change their minds. To follow up on that, the president inks given the current political climate, he has done everything he can do in terms of proactively advancing guncontrol . Mr. Earnest when it comes to the legislative process, the president has been clear, human only way to change the minds of members of congress is if members of the American Public these kinds of decisions are going to be taken into account when they are casting their ballot. Seen enough outpouring of support from the public to change many minds on capitol hill. Certainly the president is going to continue to be an advocate on this issue because he is concerned about the impact that violence is having on communities. That have surely been the site of tragic Mass Shootings. Also those communities that are the subject of what our ofgically routine incidents gun violence. The president is concerned and is an advocate for policies that would reduce gun violence. Successe going to have in the legislative process, it is because numbers of Congress Change their minds to be the only people who have the authority or power to change the minds of embers of congress are their constituents. Senator was having a press conference and in addition for heling for new legislation, called for the Justice Department to make recommendations for how states deal with Mental Health issues. Is that somebody president will get behind . Looked att i havent the specific proposal. I will be happy to take that question. A number of the executive actions the administration announced almost two years ago included steps that it would make sure Mental Health information is more effectively shared between medical professionals and Law Enforcement. To again do some common sense things to keep guns out of the hands of individuals who should not have them. Says he has not made a decision to support the iran deal. He is a key player, someone widely respected. I wonder how much conversation there has been, if you can share anything from either the president or other members of the administration. I can tell you there have been extensive conversations between Senior Administration officials and predate themer that completion of the comprehensive agreement announced a couple of weeks ago. This is an issue senator schumer takes seriously and to his credit, he has closely studied the agreement. He takes his response abilities in this matter seriously. Responsibilities in this matter seriously. He has actively sought the input and of briefings and information from senior officials as it relates to this agreement. The administration has readily engaged in those conversations. The senate has only confirmed five judicial nominees and they are getting ready to leave for a month. Is the president frustrated i the pace of his initial confirmation and what is the white house doing if anything . Mr. Earnest the administration is interested in seeing congress act to advise and consent on a wide variety of nominees can you not just traditional but also executive branch. Wide variety of nominees. Not just judicial but also executive. Even when it came to confirming someone like attorney general with strong bipartisan support and impeccable it took almost as long as the four or five attorneys general nominees combined to get her confirmation completed. We have expressed our frustration about the inability perform. S. Senate to one of their most basic functions which is to offer advice and consent. Has the white house been working with the Senate Republican leadership on this . I know there have been conversations but i dont have details to share. We are coming up on the one Year Anniversary of the u. S. Bombing the Islamic State in iraq and syria. Does the president feel like theres a point at which the amf cannot be used anymore . Say in the i would proposed legislation that administration put forward, several months ago, it included theuage that would repeal refine thend aim to 2001 aumf. Speechesdent has given indicating his concerns with the overly broad in nature of the 2001 aumf. Are a lot of logical asked donations for why that is the case, but there is not a good explanation for why congress has not taken steps now to fix it. The president has made it clear what steps he believe are necessary. Ownomebody that our proposed language to address some of those concerns. We submitted to some of our own proposed language to address those concerns. That has been a source of some is ahead onhat cspan. A discussion on the threat of isis with john allen from the aspen security for them. Later, a hearing on challenges facing the federal prison system, including piper kerman of orange is the new black. Is resolution introduced of disapproval of president obamas nuclear deal today. And majority whip promised it will get a vote when congress returns. This on the same day the Obama Administration efforts to round out support on their side. Senator bill nelson. Announce my decision on the Iranian Nuclear agreement. The joint comprehensive plan of action. This decision of mine comes after considerable study of the issue, as have our colleagues in the senate taken this quite seriously. I have talked with folks on all sides of the issue. These include colleagues as well as constituents. It includes experts on the middle east and central asia, arms control experts, foreign allies, and as we say in my constituency, it includes just plain folks. I want to say that secretary moniz, a nuclear physicist, has been especially helpful. Needless to say, i wish that the three americans jailed in iran and bob levinson, a former f. B. I. Agent missing in iran for rat senator nelson represents florida, a state with a large jewish population. He is a key democratic vote on the issue. Comesr bill nelson conditionally for in a ron deal he ran deal. Congress unlikely to override a veto now. President obama will be to legislation that tries to stop the agreement. Two thirds of lawmakers are needed to halt the accord. Sin republicans oppose the deal. Senator jerry moran of kansas came to the senate floor speaking against the iran Nuclear Agreement. It concedes to munch while securing too little. The key is keeping Nuclear Weapons out of the hands of irans. That is keeping Nuclear Weapons permanently the capacity, to permanently disable iran and use the technology to produce nuclear materials. This deal fails to achieve this goal by allowing iran to retain nuclear facilities. Those though some of it will be limited in the near term, if centrifuges will not be the centrifuges will not be destroyed. This deal allows irans program to be on standby. Also troubling is the lack of restrictions on research and development. Iran seeks to replace its current enrichment technologies with advanced centrifuge that more efficient wily enriches nuclear material. By failing to restrict research and development now we are priming the program to hit the looking ahead, Mitch Mcconnell wants senators to remain at their desks during the debate on the Nuclear Agreement with the ron iran. The debate is expected in september. President obama will speak about the agreement at American University live in the morning at 11 20 eastern on cspan. Now a discussion on the threat of isis with john allen. He serves as the special president ial envoy for the global call coalition. Moderator good afternoon. My name is Brian Michael jean dickens. Of the Aspen Institute Homeland Security group. Pleasure to introduce you to the next panel. N ever worse now tha before. Leading to the overall question, which is whether the admittedly brutal stability of the saddam , and theegime in iraq prerevolutionary assad regime in syria were more in line with american interests. Is this the best outcome now . That is a status quo antebellum. So what . I will leave that to the Panel Moderated by my friend eric schmidt. He covers terrorism and National Security matters. He is the coauthor of a terrific book. Id wrought an extra copy. The untold story of america secret campaign against al qaeda. He has spent two decades covering military and National Security affairs. Troops toe dozens of iraq, afghanistan, pakistan, and africa. Much. Thank you very i want to thank you for allowing me to moderate a panel here. We save the most uplifting news for this afternoon. Iraq and syria. You have the full bios in your program. General john allen, the president special envoy on Global Coalition to counter isil. Ally commanderr in afghanistan and served in iraq. On his left, one of the u. S. Governments top sanctions buster cops. Terroristore about finance than any one. Ambassadorleft is lukman faily. I guess looking at this topic you need to have this duration doing this. Im going to start, there is a lot of breaking news on this topic today in a hearing in washington. Senator john became declared isis is winning. Ash carter was in iraq on one of his trips. It will be 18 weeks before the doing outside of ramadi operations will be able to conduct a full offensive. In many ways, it is a difficult situation. Side. Y on the iraq the turkish government, after , includingegotiation one of the panelists, has allowed warplanes and drugs to fly from one of their airbases for targets. A major shift on the part of turkey in the fight against isis. I want to turn to you since you return from a trip to turkey and had visited 30 capitals. Where are we in this fight . Are things as gloomy as senator mccain said, or are there bright spots . Mr. Allen well, first, thanks , and for your patience inviting me a third year and a row. It is great to be on a panel with two good friends. We just got back from turkey. It was our tents contact with them 10th contact with them. A whole series of conversations that have been increasingly. Roductive and fruitful we are old friends with turkey. We have been allies for a long time. We are faced with the real isil. Here with regard to we are faced with a real crisis. Turkey has for a long time doubt with 1. 52 2 million person refugee program. We have seen the evolution of the conversation with turkey take a very important turn of late. I believe to commentary on what the pieces of that are. It is encouraging and important. Eric houston could warplanes be flying from there . Mr. Allen i will leave that to washington to comment. If it works out, we will be pleased. To your specific point, a year ago today we were facing the real possibility of rack was going to come apart. We were seeing public execution literally. S, 1700 or so recruits. Christians, others going under the knife. We werent sure where this was going to go. The seventh or eighth of september the new Prime Minister was designated, dramatically different than his predecessor. The president with secretary kerry and a number of other close traditional partners called for the establishment of went to work. At wer 62 partners today. We operate along five lines of effort. A counter and finance line of effort. Countering the flow of foreign fighters, countering messaging and humanitarian support. The coalition is engaged in all of those lines. The effort is intended to achieve our strategic outcome. Formedhe coalition has the effort with respect to we have seen significant progress. The push against isil has in fact produce outcomes we were hoping for. The government administered program, we are beginning to press on ramadi. We have a number of training bases that have been established. Hasthe air campaign support. The kurds have been successful. If you look at a report of where esh was, the surface area and the population that is under their direct control has shrunk significantly. It is going to continue to shrink. Is inf the Turkish Border the hands of friendlys. There is a portion that will be taken as we continue to close those aspects of the Turkish Border and we can have a sex. Im alway. Momentum daeshs remains unchecked. I do feel it has remained checked. It isnt just a military campaign. There is a counter finance campaign. There is a humanitarian piece. They have confluence to strategic influence. Eric talk about the Islamic State and its finances. Banks, that it took over tens of not hundreds of dollars allied airespite the coalition. Even with the constraints put on the last 10 months or so, thriving as an economic entity. Start byr i should thanking the Aspen Institute for inviting me to this and underscore what an honor it is to be here on this panel with these colleagues. It has been an honor to serve under his leadership in this fight. What i thought i would do was run down what isil sources of revenue on. And talk very briefly about our strategy. As i have been listening to panelists, previously over the course of the day coming a lot of people have been coming back to stress that isil has presented us with a new set of challenges, a unique set of challenges. That is certainly the case fighting against isil. Ever seenink we have a terrorist organization that have the ability to command, to draw from its own internal territory. There have been terrorist organizations in the past that control hamas and gaza. It is truly unprecedented. Sources that can derive from the territory they control. On the run down some numbers on that. The most important source of revenue, the money in the bank when isil was there took control of the territory. The central bank of iraq in mozilla. Sul. Ozill when you add that up the numbers come somewhere between 500 million and up to close to 1 billion area that is just in the bank vault to start with. The good news is that is nonrenewable. Once they were in through that it will not be available. It is money at their disposal. Moving on, there are renewable sources of wealth they have. The most important would be extortion or taxation. The normal way a extracts well from its territory. Isil does that to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars per year. They will continue to have access to those resources. The control is highly liquid. Cash continues to be infused in that territory. And just general commerce that continues to go on with respect to those territories. Ofi said to the tune hundreds of millions of dollars per year. Then the third most important source of revenue is the sale of oil. Have been a lot of numbers thrown out. I think all the numbers are soft. We believe in a onemonth isil may 40 million in one month off of the sale of oil. You get to 500 million in the course of the year. This is internally generated. Once you look at the other sources of wealth it is much less significant. Kidnapping for ransom, foreign donations, these are sources of wealth but they are tiny, a drop in the bucket compared to what they could generate. That has had to inform our. Trategy to combat this the traditional tools we have to target a group like al qaeda arent as relevant. We have a fourpart strategy. First, to cut them off from the sources that we can. To the extent that they are deriving well from foreign donors. And ae applied sanctions certain number of instances in that case. We work very closely with the turks, the kurdish authorities on customs issues to make sure that smuggling is reduced as much as it can. They have made Great Strides in that area. The most important area of our strategy is the second element, isolating isil controlled territory. These are the methods we use with respect to when we want to broad sanctions. We are using those same strategies in this case. We are working extremely close with the iraqi government. I just got back. Im going back to iraq next week to work with the iraqi authorities are making sure banks and iraq cannot be used by isil. Off to sure they are cut work with them to make sure Exchange Matters and money matters. They are going to have this money, we can make it less valuable to them. If all they can do is circulate within their own territory. That is the most important part of our strategy. That is of course also includes working with other countries in the region. Turkey, lebanon. And to bring add up to the coalition that general allen leads with countries around the world. The third part of the strategy understanding their internal financial architecture, identifying who the key financers are, targeting them. ,he military targeting targeting with the treasury tools. We are actively engaged with that as well. The fourth is to identify external networks. As the campaign wages on they are going to need to have access to spare parts. Theyre going to need access to a variety of International Networks that are going to allow materials they need. That gets back to classical authorities. That is the strategy. We are in early days. Isil has plenty of money. Maybe i should have just said one quick word about their expenses. If you look at the high end of the estimates, that is 30,000. The highend. How much money has been reported they make. That is the high end. Salary. Lion a year in that would be presumably be there major expense. They can cover that. Itallenge is to bring would be great to bankrupt isil. There is a challenge to disrupt their financing and bring their revenue down to make it harder for them to meet their costs. That is an achievable goal. One of the other eric within a racket has been concern about whether the army can muster enough troops to mount the offensive in places like ramadi and falluja. Well the sunni tribes in the west work with a government they dont trust in baghdad. Reconcilingee this itself . They are not sending in tens of thousands of troops. Getiraqis dont seem to along on this. Thank you for the time and allowing me to participate. I would like to thank general alan. They have done a tremendous job. They have done more air miles that anyone else. Generalsked him to be that hasnt been taking place. The challenges we face is not just security aspect. Political to do with access in the region. Tribes, political resolve. I think he has done a tremendous job there. We have more legacy challenges in relation to cohesion and social contracts between the and that is going to take some time. The focus, the defeat of isis. Isis can be a good project for us to enhance social cohesion and focus on the commonalities of that threat. In that sense, our strategy is one of attrition. Here we significantly need to in relation to finance, the is an international commodity. We need International Support there. Jihadist transport. Resolutions, chapter seven, talk to the jihadists. Here are neighbors have not played a better part. They need to have a sense of urgency. In relation to twitter and others, we need the u. S. To play significant control. This is an international dimension. We need a sense of urgency. The challenge is not small. He needs support from all. Ofeology aspect of the it has to be strong. Actave to get our politics together. We are working hard on that. I dont think it is an issue of the will. We continually deal with it. We want to go through the painful process for our own sake , for our own longterm policies. To that effect i dont think you fault. Iraqis at they have been doing it tremendously. , falluja. We are continuing to do that. We will continue to do that. We have no plan b. We cannot coexist with isis. Mr. Faily the u. S. Has not given us any red lines. It is more to do with operational needs then to see how we can help. We understand the politics of washington and react accordingly. But we have is to push our neighbors to act and be responsible to the challenge. They get the challenge but physically, change in their procedures, controlling their borders, it hasnt taken place. Here we have a question mark against the urgency of others. Eric you commanded in and bar. Is it possible for the iraqis to pull this off in terms of putting together an iraqi army that can go into these sunni cities, not rely on shia , and second, going back to the turkey issue, the isis has been supported greatly by. Hese foreign fighters mr. Glaser i spent a lot mr. Allen i spent a lot of time with the tribes. The ability to organize the tribes and motivate them ultimately was the principal and deciding factor in that part of the war. I still have maintain close contact. They are very committed to the defeat of al qaeda, the defeat of daesh. Very importantly, while they were skeptical of the maliki regime, from the governors i have spoken to of the sunni provinces, they have seen a big difference between the sense of attitude from [inaudible] and the attitude today. He has made it opening of the tribes is something that he supports. He issued a plan with unanimous consent ultimately to take back our lumbar as the precursor. Eric why has it taken so long . Mr. Allen we have to understand that the Iraqi Security forces took a heck of a beating a year ago. Reconstituting that force from top to bottom and building capacity back through training, especially with focus on leadership will take some time. They have been in battle. They have fought. They did clear to create tikrit. What we would call the regular forces, where the shia volunteers who answered to the fatwa, they prevented that from reinforcing or from daesh from escaping. It is going to have to be a combination of our training the regular forces, empowering the tribes, managing the role of Popular Mobilization force in combination to achieve our military objectives. Many of those elements are scheduled with the intent of the Prime Minister to be the base elements for the National Guard brigades. The tribal elements that are , those will be the base elements of their as they come along. There will be a purpose for them over the long term. Eric isis continues to draw 1000 foreign fighters a month. Many have come through turkey. What will this new deal emerging today change of this . Or will they come in another way . Mr. Allen they are always going to try to get in. It is no secret the principal avenue approach into the region, not just to syria, has been through the Turkish Border. The turks in the last year have really done a substantial effort to multiply the capacity of their no entry list. It is well up over 10,000 now. They have worked and reached out to our European Partners. Many of whom are working the issue of their own foreign fighters. We didnt perfect the process of sharing information and sharing intelligence until this emergency exploded in our faces. What we have seen his greater cooperation between European Partners and turkey over the the year, given turkey ability to take action. The point that needs to be made is the first line of defense entering syria isnt the Turkish Border. The first line of defense occurs in the homelands wherever they may be. This is prevented measures that are necessary and the legal measures taken for accountability that must be imposed as well. Stopping the foreign fighter flow is and what happens at the turkish voter Turkish Border. Countering violent extremism, and the measures, legal measures taken to make it difficult to move from source countries to transit countries. Asc you describe ice is now in pretty good financial shape. What did the u. S. Government syria thatstern gives you greater pause about you, andt may surprise what you tell us about some of the things you have learned that may be able to exploit in general terms . Operation was important for us. One of the most important things were doing now is simply gathering intelligence. Knowledge about isis and its leadership, how much it improve visibility . Mr. Allen i dont know about the basic knowledge of its leadership. It has been a real treasure trove of information for us on the financial side. It is information eric what do not know . Mr. Allen i cant get into the specifics that we received but he was a financial figure. Eric do you now see them as a component adversary as you did before . Mr. Glaser our information is Getting Better and better. There has been many other intelligence operations that have given us increasing insight into their finances. They have a lot of money. We knew that before. We know that even more after. They have a lot of money. The more details we can get, more individuals involved, more that we can ask understand their networks, the more were going to work with our partners shutting them down. That is something we are actively doing and our partners are joining us in. Eric tell us about the role iran is playing on the ground with its actual trainers on the ground and militias that have been trained, economically perhaps. Give us more of a regional perspective. We have been talking about iraq. What is going on in syria . Things seem to be constricting assade sod regime regime. People need to understand the importance of the country is not just in relation to recent history. It is a fault line in relation to nationality, nonarabs, ethnicity, the main shia center fault line, to all the countries versus the geography of iraq in the south. Factors, whichl will continue a role for iraq to be important. , the threatto iran of isis is a threat to know National Security. Whether it is the borders. 40 climate away from the borders. 40 kilometers away from the borders. What do you need . They offered anything we wanted. Troops and everything else. Air force, everything else. Controllable in what we can use. Anthink this is primarily iraqi project. We cannot do without the support. At the same time we need to go through that. Eric that has given many pause. Mr. Faily that is a washington problem. Not an iraqi problem. Eric how do they deconflict . Mr. Faily i have yet to find any instance where the u. S. And the iranians have said we have problems with each other. We in iraq have been careful in how do we deal with that relationship . We understand the extreme nuances and we have not asked both parties to be in cooperation with iraq. What are the commonalities . Operation withn the united states, very significant with allies in baghdad. That is very important for us. We have they have been more forward positions. There are a few advisors if you compare them to the u. S. 200 iranian fighters on the ground. Mr. Faily the problem is not that. They are literally advising us [indiscernible] eric iranians on the ground. Mr. Faily at least they have different experience and so on. We can see commonalities. We have extremely careful to not make policies. There was a report in belgium. We do not need belgian military support. We need belgium political support. We need all parties to help us. We see a common threat. With other countries, and the sense of isis. , we haves we can get no psychological obstacle to the support of the country. Eric one more question and i will turn it over to the audience. One of the main messages that has come from the director through secretary johnson is this messaging campaign. The strength of the counter Propaganda Machine that isis has been generating in recent months. Allen, you have said this cannot be a message that was an american message. Ambassador, im sure you have been working hard. What is going on in iraq, working within the countries in the gulf to combat this message, where presumably you can make more credibility. Mr. Faily the messaging we are talking about is isis is a cancer in our body. We need to get rid of that, and all methods. We need to deal fast with it. That is the key message. It is this foreign entity that should not hijacked a sunni brand, islamic brand. It should not be perceived as what you might Call International jihadist tourism. To that effect, people now do thesee they do not see trendiness of isis. Eric they dont see it . Mr. Faily no. The richness of them. You dont need to be very rich to be destructive. They do not maintain a state. Salaries from everything else, they do not pay them. Hey do have a destruction do they hijacked the majority, no. Do you have a silent majority . Yes. Way to make them more vocal in the fight against isis. Eric sound like they have the money to spend the money to burn. Attracting the classic foreign fighters but also families. How do you combat that . Mr. Glaser my specialty is an encounter messaging in counter messaging. Inare going to succeed depriving them of their ability to use their resources. Ive been at the Treasury Department for 15 years and i have spent that time listening to people explain to me the Financial Measures that dont work and cant work. I was there in 2006 when we first started to devise our own sanctions strategy. The one thing everyone agreed on was that sanctions cannot work. Now the only thing everyone agrees on is what brought them to the table is the financial pressure. We can do this pretty we know how to do this. We will succeed in depriving them of their ability to use resources. Said in a speech that the counter messaging part is an uphill battle. As you go around the world talking to people, this message seems to be resonating with young people who are prime to hear it. How do you counter that . Mr. Glaser we are constant mr. Allen we are console looking at the strategy. It is about reinforcing regional norms racial, religious that work. The family is, the aspects of create asocieties that strength, and an ability to be impervious to this message. We are constant looking for ways to counter the message and strengthen the faith of islam and regional norms. We do that by talking constantly with our regional partners within the middle east. You will hear king of dollar talk about it regularly. We must take back our faith, which we agree with him on. He has been clear in saying in the middle east the counter messaging and the importance of the messaging must have an air face and a muslim voice. When i spoken with leaders in southeast asia, they are deeply concerned about the potential for the spread of violent extremism, and groups that will be destabilizing over the longterm. We will probably see, as was , wently opened in abu dhabi are probably going to see one of those come to fruition in southeast asia. We are looking for them in other places as well speaking create a regional, International Network of regional messaging centers we can energize, with localized messaging that can provide support we need to target the populations. Eric none of that has relevance unless you deal from defeats to isis on the ground. You have to create the perception that isis is losing. Mr. Allen isis is losing. When you listen to their communications they have morale. With a number of foreign fighters rebelled against that brutality and they were executed by the central government. A, a was during cobol moment in the campaign when everyone said we were going to lose that. Daesh impaled itself on the kobani. Of cobonnie recent activities along the border rendered other similar clear messages that there are many places within the daesh infrastructure where morale is not good. As we strangle the defenses, finances, that is going to create additional morale problems. In relation to many extreme islam is losing the battle. , in the senseam of focus messaging, that is an issue we all have to work on to make sure that Vulnerable People are not attracted to it. That is a global thing we have to live with. The other aspect is any rack in iraq, there is a coalition focus on it. Centralized,s more the brand devices will not diminish. Toc i will turn it over questions. If you can identify yourselves. Thank you. A question for general allen. Discussionsribe the with the turkish government about the possibility of instituting some air exclusion zone. It has been well known the turks have asked for that and would like to see some kind of regime. Ut in place by our assets was that in any way part of the discussions to obtain the use of answer look . Something that is ongoing in your discussions. Mr. Allen it is not part of the discussion at all. A question for mr. Glaser. There were conflicting reports moneywhether general sula was in line to have sanctions lifted as part of this. Can you clarify, is he in line to have those sanctions lifted, and was your office consulted before his name was put on the list . Im not here to talk about the details of the negotiations with iran. As a general matter the Nuclear Related sanctions will be lifted at the time that irans compliance has been verified. With respect to details on that i would have to get back to you. Is he on what list . Isthe extent that he designated for his involvement in terrorist activities, he would remain sanctions. The sanctionsthat against him are related to the Nuclear Program, those sanctions will be lifted. Those sanctions will be lifted when ayn rands compliance has been verified. Eric in the back. Id like to have a question to the ambassador. Mr. Ambassador. What is iraq . Groupsunni, shiite, or a have bandedsts that together to form a new country . Where is it going from here . How do you see it today . Geopolitics or history. Im a kurd and a shia. Where do you put me in that . Has evolved as a country. 2003 has given us a new focus, a different project based on democracy, liberalism, market economy. Dictatorship. We are an evolving country in the sense of a new project, social contract between the communities. Do we move forward, it is ongoing. It is up to us how much we want to have interdependency to strengthen not just the issue of identity but the issue of interest and prosperity of that country. Challenges is not unique to iraq. , the shapeal support spring, it isab in our hands what we can do about it. The country has an identity. It is up to us to identify two to find that identity moving forward. Some European Countries are trying a new approach, additionally. Denmark is focusing on foreign fighters returning to the country, trying to find those who might be disillusioned and would be acting as advocates. Gainst daesh that is a strong message as we saw last week on german tv when one return fighter actually said this has nothing to do with islam. This is a pure slaughter of women and children. I was wondering, is that in approach we should pursue . Mr. Allen it is. It is something we have spent time looking at. When foreign fighters, home, they are going to come home one way or another. How we deal with them is going to be important. The idea of a single sanction solution which has longterm imprisonment is probably not going to end up delivering us where we want to being. Want to be. Denmark is a leader in this area. Saudi arabia. A leader in this. The country that i have spent a good bit of time studying has been singapore, one of the key members of the coalition. They have an active d Radicalization Program for foreign fighters a have arrested or have come home with the intention ultimately of not permitting longterm detention to be the outcome. The reason for that is if you view the dealing with foreign fighters in a circular way rather than linear way, it begins at the point of radicalization, whether it is social media or the mom, or the family. You can have a powerful effect upon that moment of radicalization by recruiting foreign fighters, rehabilitating them, reintegrating them so their voice is our prominent in the process at the front end. The two most important forces we have heard in this process, something we are watching very has been the foreign fighter who was disillusioned and able to survive to get home, to tell the message of the harbor. This isnt an islamic utopia. This is a nightmare. Very powerfulis pretty other voice that is powerful in impeding or preventing radicalization is the mother of a family that has given up someone to be a foreign fighter. They are gone, the have lost complete contact or they have been killed. Or they have come back and they are and longterm detention. Those two factors are very deradicalization. We are watching it closely. Eric in the yellow. Following on this gentlemans question and your point about morale, a couple of months go we heard isis had to create the Truck Drivers want to pick up fighters along the road because they were concerned people were deserting. In you seeing any uptick desertion from some fighters . Mr. Allen we are. Reporting is sketchy. Of aeporting, the sense disillusionment with the reason they came to begin with, this sense of being empowered from wise,er point of origin of joining a holy cause to support the caliphate is often dispelled very quickly when they get to the region. Desertions. D about we have seen foreign fighters who come home who have talked about disaffection in ranks. Even with those reports we have heard significant reporting about executing elements of the foreign Fighter Community that display any willingness to take a path apart from the caliphate or the daesh internal regulations. Are anse that they monolith, a juggernaut, inevitable, all of that is far from the truth. It is nowhere near the truth. Eric right in the middle. Thank you. It seems that this is mostly about a battle for hearts and minds. Treatedl as it is being as a military operation. To what extent has or should our government be trying to win the hearts and minds insofar as, what is going on within the mideast is a perfect example of why there should be a separation of mosque and state. And sunni us shia are fighting, every country proves the point that the mixture of religion and statehood is a bad idea. Mr. Glaser can you get to your eric can you get your question. Billions are spent on public diplomacy. Can you comment on what should be done in that area . The military side instance of not getting isis or daesh breathing space to have control land be on the offensive, that affected other areas. It requires focus on the military side. Has its own destruction. Until that moment, in relation to ethnicity, heritage, others, that is a threat. In itselfthat daesh inl floor nurse daesh itself will flourish. As first trying to contain the problem, i dont think it is just sectarian. It has nothing to do with the sunni versus shia. What you saw with the jihadist to try to go to france or ofgium, it is more disillusionment, which we need to focus on. Getunited states should not to and say islamic messaging. It needs to bring parties together. Egypt, or niger , or saudi arabia to pass the message. That is an islamic obligation. I dont think you can separate the state from the church aspect of it or the mosque in our region. It is to diluted. It will be a futile project. For the state to have rule of law, respect of International Understanding to have a nationstate concept, that is a clear message we have to work on. That is our obligation. Eric that is a great note to end on. I want to thank the panelists and the audience for great questions. [applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2015] as Congress Continues to review the a Nuclear Agreement president obama will speak about it at American University live at 11 20 a. M. Eastern on cspan. It will cover a hearing on lifting the sanctions on iran as part of the new year deal. At 10 00 eastern on cspan three. Our coverage of the aspen withity panel continues Cyber Security threats. A reminder you can see more of the forum at cspan. Org. Good afternoon. Im a former assistant secretary for policy. A member of the aspen group. Tes security im delighted to introduce our next section. We have talked a little bit about some of the threats and concerns in cyberspace. Hackers, criminals, and the stateors three of actors