Ladies and gentlemen, after election night, we have carried out and analysis about the Election Results, both in the executive committee and in other bodies. We begin with what we did not manage to do. There are a number of colleagues who are no longer going to be members of the german parliament, which is a shame, and sad as an outcome. But that is often part of the results of election night. Naturally, we would have hoped to achieve a higher result. We have of course analyzed, to the extent that one can, the migration of voters to other parties. Were lost toers the sdp, and one million to the asp. In view of the voters to the asp, our aspiration is to solve problems, to make good policy decisions, and to get them back again, but we have also looked in our analysis at the broader based approach, and looked at the election of large popular parties generally. 30 inty achieved over the elections. And of course we have to look at how you can reach out to your voters in times of digitization. We will have to look at this in more detail, and have a closed conference that we will carry out after the elections. What have we achieved . We are certainly the Strongest Party. We have emerged from the elections the strongest. I have thanked everyone here at headquarters, everybody in the grassroots, the youth. We have received a clear government mandate. We have by far the strongest Parliamentary Group. As a result, tomorrow, we will be electing a new Parliamentary Group head. I have proposed a head of the Parliamentary Group, and this seemed to be met with approval. Be speaking with others as to how we proceed from here. In terms of the other parties, we will be having exploratory talks with the sdp and the green, but also with the spd. I believe it is important that germany has a strong, stable government. I have heard what the spds position is, but i believe it is important to stay in a dialogue. This was also the believe put forward by the executive committee. We have also talked about the election facing us in three weeks, the state Assembly Elections in lower saxony. We will be pulling all the stops out to build on our results from last night, to try to do well in these elections. We would like to see a state premier of lower saxony. Thus, we had a very dense had goodn today that sides and bad sides. But was very constructive. Aware as we are of our responsibilities to the future of our country without sweeping anything under the carpet. Could you give her the mic, p lease . Please give her the mic. The chancellor of the csu still wants an upper limit for refugees. The spd does not want a coalition. You do not want one with the afd. How will you be working to prevent new elections . And what sort of upper limit will you have for refugees, if not an upper limit . Chancellor merkel naturally, i will be entering into other parties,th and i remain confident we will find solutions, joining forces, and working together. Tomorrow, we are going to be proposing we have a Parliamentary Group together. First, we will have to have exploratory talks. Before talks have been held, i cannot say whether we will be successful or not. But i think our opinion was all of thely that parties with which we would be prepared to enter into a coalition have a responsibility to ensure that the that germany has a stable government. Chancellor, i would like to know if after an election of this kind the party needs a kind of renewal, a new orientation, whether it is personnel or about content . And was this something that was discussed . Chancellor merkel well, we did from voting that we did not talk about positions. Naturally, we need to talk about the issues. So, what is it that moves the populace . What is it that moves our voters . The question of integrating refugees, of combating the consequences that make people leave their homes in migration these are among many other issues. , people seem to have the impression that nobody is listening to them. Program, wenment have focused on this aspect. This is certainly something we are going to be expanding on. We need to debate these measures. This is why we are going to have a closed Party Conference after the elections. Chancellor, a question about aroundture course european policy. We are going to have the ftp and to d, who are critical in the bundestag, one may be in coalition with you. To what extent will you be able to reassure mr. Macron, regarding policy in the e. U. . Chancellor merkel in talks we are going to have with parties in the days to come, europe will obviously play a role. In which we a phase are talking about strengthening ties and taking further steps to bring europe together. The french president is going to be speaking on the subject tomorrow. I dont want to draw lines in the sand. I think we will support sensible. Pproaches to these issues i think we could use more e. U. , but it has to lead to more competitiveness, more jobs, and a stronger european union. Are notwhy the words important. We need to walk the talk. I am speaking with the french president on this matter, but today is not a day to say we can do that and will not do that. First of all, we need to talk to the ftp and see what the actual positions are. Ms. Merkel, you just said you want to regain the afd voters. How many of them do you think you can actually reach . How do you want to do this, content wise . Does that mean the cdu is going to shift to the right, as suggested in remarks yesterday . Trying toou be attract people from the current afd Parliamentary Group . That might be your first function to dock on to them. A leader has already left the group. Will you reach out to them . One out ofmerkel three voters went from the cdu to the afd. Many were not voters in the last election, because there has been a higher electoral turnout. Obviously, we want to attract these voters back by solving the problems facing the country. I believe you were talking about the right flank, closing the right flank not a shift to the right. I would puterkel it in other words. I think that where there are problems, we need to find solutions. And these are questions around integrating people, questions around illicit migration. Decentis also about health care in rural areas. A question of public transports to rural areas. Looking at the opportunities , a lot ofrs have farmers are very unhappy with the situation. That are many components lead to an attitude that was reflected in this vote for the afd that was seen. I think if we tackle their problems, we will be successful. I have got a question around european foreign and defense policy, with the afd the third Strongest Party in the parliament. Do you be able to influence european policy . Will they be influencing policy . Chancellor merkel i believe that the parties who are able to enter into a coalition will be seeking solutions. There are differences between the conservatives and the green, the conservatives and the spd and the ftp as well. It will depend on the Coalition Agreements we make, and thes differences will be reflected. The afd will have no influence on that. During the election campaign, we saw a great deal of anger and hatred. Also directed to you personally. How do you deal with that . And what do you want to do to try to respond to this . I think theerkel most important thing is that you listen to people. But people who just whistle and shout at you you still have to respond to them, i think. It cannot be the case that you do not go to rallies because of these kinds of responses, but where you do go to them, you have to take on board the fact that there are people who do not want to listen at the moment. You just have to take it as it is. Following on from this, over on the right hand side i see you now. To this previous question, i would just like to tv, youesterday, on the said that the chancellor was always responsible. Did you think about your own role and think about personnel consequences in any form . Chancellor merkel in autumn of last year, i thought that this very, very thoroughly and i did not make the decision to run once again lightly. I mean, for 12 years now, we had responsibility to the government as the Christian Democratic Union. That is a long time. Set in stone that after 12 years, you are requested to form a government once again. I have a real sense of humility. It has been a very difficult term, this last period. And i thought long and hard about whether i should run once again. I knew it was going to be a very difficult election campaign. I knew that i would be challenged from the right wing and from the leftwing. I forecast that there would be a battle for my position. It has taken place. I was prepared for it. And that is why i think the question of the decisions that i made at the time was a strong one. For we have a clear mandate the government, and i want to thank all the voters that voted for us, because we are by far and away the Strongest Party, it is a 12 percentage point difference. I have been chancellor in the and it is only 1 between our party and the social democrats, not 12. I do see, in a sense, the decision i made in autumn was the right one. There is a polarization. Me asy, that is linked to a person. But in recent weeks of the elections, i have said that the basic decisions that we made that i am responsible for, even though i did not make that decision alone as german chancellor, naturally i am responsible for this. I think we made the right decision. We have made a lot of progress, seen a lot of water under the bridge. There has been the e. U. Turkey agreement. Left their homes. There is still a lot of work to be done. To what extent do you see the losses in the boats for the cdu as a personal loss for you . Chancellor merkel i believe i tried to respond to this question just now. On the one hand, we lost some voters to the af the agd afd, and we will fight to get them back again. For some people as the party chair and the main candidate, i have a certain responsibility. I also have a responsibility to my voters, and that is that we have a clear mandate to form a government, and we will do so. Lost 1. 3 million voters to the fdp. Inhad the same situation 2009. This is a signal saying if the grand coalition should come to an end. I think many were hoping that it form ae enough to coalition, that we would have a majority if we combined cdu and fdp. It seems another would have to come into the coalition as well. Solving the problems, we want to focus on the voters that went to the afd. Madame chancellor, you have just said that the voters who have gone to the afd, you would try to bring back with good policy. State Assembly Elections, we heard this again and again. Clearly, you have not made a great deal of progress on this count, or you would not have lost so many voters to the afd. How do you explain this drop in numbers in recent weeks, in terms of the reports . Of a certaines you culpability because you did not want to issue debate about a certain issue. Chancellor merkel let me say it was reported today that there is no difference between those who voted the afd now and those who voted for them over a year ago. But some issues have not disappeared in a short time. Changes, regarding the in the polls over recent weeks, showdown on tv was a situation where we did not talk some much about who was going to be german chancellor we talked about who was going to be the Strongest Party, which is legitimate. Used. S something the fdp there was a situation where we said the Christian Democratic Union have one vote more or less is not important. It is more important that there be a shift and change in the political landscape. Many had hoped we could form a coalition with just the cdu and the fdp. I am not going to spend all of my time analyzing what happened on what day in the past. From where i am standing, after the tv showdown, we were in a different situation. It is certainly not the case that i did not engage with issues. It remains the case, more than ever before, the view that the german election system of having is moredidate interesting to have debates between all of these candidates, not tv showdowns by the two bi ggest. There were other tv showdowns, by the way. For me, it was easy to name the differences between our party and the spd, and the spd found it very easy to name the differences to our party. But whether i am responsible for all of this i mean, so be it. I take the responsibility, then. Before the german elections, there were a number of parties who gave you ultimatums or guarantees, or set conditions. Conditions,e are no you have not said there were any ultimatums. See does your party want to after the Coalition Agreement . Chancellor merkel well, we started talking about this today, but we have not concluded our discussions here. We will be discussing the issues with the csu, first of all. But you can basically assume that a sound budget, or questions of domestic security, will always be important issues for us. Chancellor, this election is a watershed in the sense that now there is a party to the right of the conservatives in parliament. We do see that the way you have dealt with the would you say that the way you dealt with the afd is the right way to go in recent years . Some leading politicians said, we do not talk to them. We do not go to a discussion if they are there. We will sit them out. , on the basis of analysis of what you have done i do not think you really fought for the voters that went to the afd. I would haverkel to say that the best way of dealing with these results is that we solved the problems that were causing this kind of migration to the afd. We have to also look at the limits of what we are prepared to accept. Naturally, we are going to have major differences in policy with the afd, but the question of longer or not we will go a two roundtables where they are there is over. Of course we will. I wonder if you could say there were not just a lot of protests against you in eastern germany, but also the Election Results for the afd in the eastern german states was close to your results, in some ways. And it also contributed to the csu not doing so well in bavaria. I thinkor merkel regarding the eastern german states, people are afraid of losing what they already have. Whether it be through or through a refugee issue. I know from north, around westphalia, we have seen some of the socially difficult areas. There has also been a high level of support for the afd. I am focusing on analyzing the cdu, rather than other people and other parties, and we have a great deal of work ahead of us. Chancellor . As you look back on the election campaign, and voters going to the afb, what have you as a candidate and the cdu made wrong . Differently . U do chancellor merkel seriously, i dont know how we would have to change our strategy. I think we had a well thought through election campaign, and today, the day after the elections, i do not see this any differently. However, i mentioned the autumn of 2016 earlier. I knew it was going to be a very difficult election campaign. Perhaps i did not expect such headwind. And after the big challenge we had to deal with in 2015 and 2016, and the difficult discussions we still have about migrants and libya, and with all the discussions we still have about all the social trouble spots, especially in the east of germany these troubles are not solved, of course. Hasas a result, the afd such a good election result. But let me repeat this. I will continue to try in the future to not just talk about all the others and blame them, but look at the homework we ourselves have to do. Globalization will give us new homework, and i am not pretending that we could live in an ideal world where the euro is stable, or a world in which there would not have been an economic crisis or no refugees. But there will be new tasks ahead. And they might not be cost by us or directly related to us, but because of living in a globalized world, they will affect us. And we have to be open to try to find solutions in accordance with our inner compass, with our principles, and not just complain all the time that there is yet another challenge. Politics is about taking action. And of course you have to think properly before you make a decision. The last few days, we talked a lot about september 2015, and i think back to that decision and i picture the alternative, like using Water Cannons at the german border. I come to the conclusion that yes, it was difficult. But it was still the best that we were able to give under these conditions. But still, it is a task that many would have avoided in the first place. As if there never had been a syrian civil war. British tv, channel four news. Before the elections and after brexit and trump, you have been called a pillar of stability in europe. After this election result, would you say that this is still the case . As you said, chancellor merkel as you said, it was something other people said, so it is up to them to decide how i am. I am interested in these topics, but i never called myself that pillar. But you want to be a pillar of stability, dont you . Chancellor merkel as i said one day before the elections, i want, to the best of my ability, to serve germany and the stability of europe, and that is what i will try to do. And how people judge that remains to be seen. You have just been listening to Angela Merkel giving her response to the Election Results. Lets talk through that further with Thomas Geithner brock of united states. Welcome back to the studio. The interesting to read logo on stage with Angela Merkel said the cdu meets at the middle, which seems to be part of her problem. Her identity. Of what we have seen i think is vintage Angela Merkel. She was trying to display the adult in the room. Understated language. Do not polarize. I would have liked to have been in the room to listen to what, at one moment in her press conference, i think she called there were good moments and bad moments in the Party Leaderships meeting. I would love to have been there, but she actually meant by that. The cause, in her leadership group, there must be and there is quite a bit of dissatisfaction with the historic low that she brought him. For her, going through the middle, capturing the middle of the country in a fundamentally centerleft country for a conservative to be governing for 12 years and be reelected for a fourth term that is only possible if you if you along thed pulled center. She has done that for 12 years. In, the moment has come which she has opened the door to the right, and that is what these discussions with her Party Leadership is all about. It is quite interesting. She is in the mcmahon, Angela Merkel. Most of the time, you listen with one ear to what she says, that you have to watch very carefully what she does. Throughout the press conference today, she was asked time and time again, how will you respond to the afd and when those voters back . We are going to think about this very quickly. Essentially she said, she was right. The migration issue, she said, i was right to allow those people in. Is not goingke she to change. Is she going to change . She is soft spoken, but she does not give in. She does not recognize that there may have been a mistake. At one point she said, i do not see what we would have had to have done differently in this campaign. That is vintage Angela Merkel. I think we have seen her in four campaigns she is not the best communicator, not even the best campaigner, but governing is her forte. Which, to me, makes the answer she gave to the question what would you do differently she said, we have to solve the problems that the individuals, the people told us were problems. When asked about whether her party will now have two moved to the right because of the refugee issue, she corrected the person who questioned her, to say, we do not have to move to the right. He said we have to close the gap to the right. She wants to do with the anybodyn way, and not elses way which is solve the problems her way. We know there has to be some sort of massive coalition. The fdp and the greens are the likely coalition partners. Fdp in their press conference were quite gnomic, playing their cards close to the chest. The greens have said they are interested, and the spd has said, we are not. Angela merkel it takes a bit b a moral lack male lackmail there. She said, it is important for all of us to ensure that germany has a stable government. Regardless of what you are thinking on an individual basis, this is the goal a stable, prosperous germany. She is trying to put the andal democrats up there, remind them of their responsibility. By way of the numbers, there is only two options. One has been unilaterally ruled out of the social democrats last night, for reasons of their own partys health and future. Not a responsibility of governing the country. That is a responsibility towards your party, towards your party base. She has been reminding that in that it isconference upon every one of those who have been elected last night to form a stable government. Therefore, she wants to invite the social democrats in order,f need be, be refuted by them so the population sees the social democrats as not taking responsibility. Did you see that as a tactical move . Or does she really want to go back into coalition with them . It is not a done deal. The gap between these three parties is large, and has grown last night, with the results we have seen. She has to weigh her options. Time whenstill be a she will need to go back to the social democrats. ,he does not want to close that or want the social democrats to close that door. If we look ahead to the cdu, the fdpion , and the greens. The fly in the ointment is the and the fdpe greens really do not like each other. Could you some up for us briefly the essence of that that lack of unity amongst them . Essentially, they fish in the same pool. Their partnership is much more p islar there votershi much more similar than their disagreements make you understand it to be. This is middleclass germany. This is the greens are essentially the new middle class , the people who would go to the have aoods market and sort of left of center urban lifestyle. And the liberals are that same more or less welltodo group of a more freept with market version of that. Those are the two ends of the bourgeois spectrum of german politics, and they are at each others throats. The more we talk about, the more it sounds like a family. We hate each other for now, thank you so much. Today, the Senate Finance committee holds a hearing on the latest republican plan to repeal the Current Health care law. The bills lead sponsors, lindsey and bill cassidy, are scheduled to testify. Cspan 2 will have live coverage starting at 11 00 a. M. Eastern. The measure will come up in the Senate Next Week and you can look at it on our homepage, www. Cspan. Org. Legislative work in the house starts at noon with an faa funding measure and hurricane tax relief bill, and a measure dealing with north korean human rights. At 6 30. Will be held and the senate meets at 4 00 eastern, with votes on the nomination of an alleybased labor lawyer to join the National Labor relations board. Hill reports that the Financial Services company aig will restructure its business and shut down its consumer and commercial divisions in order to avoid stricter federal oversight. The Company Plans on dividing its operations into general insurance, life and retirement planning, and a tech platform, while dropping two major finance units. It falls under the systemically Important Financial Institution regulations category, established mainly to deal specifically with aig. You can read more at thehill. Com. Hillary clinton and mitt romneys former president ial Campaign Managers came together to lead a Server Security project designed to be a First Response to foreign governments that try to interfere in u. S. Elections. The Panel Discussion on digital threats also included googles Information Security manager. Good evening. We have a great group of guests at the Kennedy School to talk about the digital threats to democracy. More often i call it the threat to the digital democracy. You