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Agenda. In a few minutes, president obama is expected to step before the cameras and speak with reporters before heading back to the United States. I want to take you to washington now to world blitzer er wolf blitzer. Thank you very much. As you mentioned, russia clearly a key focus for this twoday summit which addresses issues like Climate Change trade, the fight against isis. Thats a huge issue at this summit. Cnn is covering the global and domestic impact of this meeting from all angles. My colleague the chief washington correspondent jake tapper is here. Hes joining me here in washington. Also traveling with the president senior White House Correspondent jim acosta chief National Correspondent jim sciutto, josh rowgan and the former Obama Administration official van jones. Set the scene for us jake. What do we expect from hear from the president. He has russian aggression in ukraine, isis aggression in iraq and syria for that matter. He has a lot of issues on the agenda. Not to new england themention the deadline for negotiations with iran. A lot of thorny issues. President obama and his team have made it very clear, wolf that one of the key items they are focusing on at this g7 summit exemplified by the fact this is the second g7 summit and not g8 because they have kicked russia out is russias continuing aggression in ukraine. There was an agreement that russia has not abided by, the minute minsk agreement in march. President obama is trying to get sanctions extended against russia for its aggression in ukraine. Hes got the approval of Angela Merkel to continue the sanctions. Thats right. And he finds himself in a little bit of a vise because theres pressure from some in ukraine and domestically in the United States for him to provide lethal aid to the ukrainians weapons and ways to defend themselves from russian aggression and the aggression of the prorussian groups but merkel and others do not want to do that. They fear an escalation of the conflict in ukraine that could affect more largely other parts of europe. Lets go to jim acosta our senior White House Correspondent traveling with the president right now. Jim, in addition to russia, russian agrethsgressionaggression ukraine, isis much on the agenda and the president has been meeting with the iraqi Prime Minister. There was an awkward moment earlier though today. Reporter thats right, wolf. And this g7 summit is sort of a summit without any deliverables in search of some deliverables and al abadis visit to the alps is another example. The iraqi Prime Minister came here hoping for all sorts of military support coming from the g7 countries and he just sat down with president obama for a bilateral discussion before the president s News Conference. The president said during his discussion with al abadi and this was on camera that the u. S. Will be ramping up assistance in training for the iraqis but there were no ferm pledges, not a laundry list of items to be send to iraq to take on isis there in the critical battlegrounds lycra mehdi, but youre right. Earlier this morning there was one of those awkward moments when the president was talking to some other leaders who are gathered at the g7 summit. He was really focused and fixated on the conversation and sort of unbeknownst to him the iraqi Prime Minister sat down hoping to get a few moments of conversation with the president. The president did not even acknowledge his presence did not even realize he was there, and then the Prime Minister stood up and walked away. There was some talk as to whether or not there was a snub. I think it might be a stretch. The president shook his hand in a meeting that occurred before that awkward photoop that you saw there, and hes having a bilateral now. So why would the president snub him and then hold a bilateral discussion . Doesnt make much sense. One thing i want to mention is theres also a diplomatic goal for the president in meeting with the iraqi Prime Minister. He needed to smooth over some of the rough edges left after ash carter told cnn, our barbara starr, he thought the iraqis did not have the will to fight. I think the president during his discussions probably added some context to ash carters remarks, wolf. The president about to walk into that room over there. Hell open with a statement and then answer reporters questions. Jim sciutto is our chief National Security correspondent. Jim, i know that the president is obviously very very concerned about whats going on in iraq right now because isis seems to be making some serious headways even though they seem to have had a setback in the oil refinery town earlier in the day. They did. Iraqi forces seeming to take control, but thats one of the towns, lycra mehdi, thats been on a seesaw between iraqi and isis forces and those are really towns with the u. S. Led air campaign those iraqi forces should have been able to secure. When you look at those two key issues the coalition fight against isis and the efforts to repel russia from ukraine, theres really not a lot of success in those policies. They have hard questions as to whether the current policy is working. And when you look at ukraine here very strong statement reiterating our condemnation of the illegal annexation of the criminal crimean peninsula, but there are concerns about that coalition splintering. Putin will go to italy and meet with renzi. Hes the one g7 leader who has not spoken out strongly against russia. Lots of talk about putin trying to splinter off one of those members of the eu and thereby undermine that coalition of sanctions going forward. But even if he doesnt do that you have to ask the question is the policy working . Its been in place for a number of months but russia still holds crimea. Its not mofgving back from Eastern Ukraine and theres a lot of fighting along that border. When you look to isis the map of control of isis in syria and iraq besides these g7 countries as well as many others taking part in the coalition, that map hasnt changed either in a number of months. So as jim acosta was saying its a summit without deliverables but it has very deep questions about the effectiveness of two key policies. And the president will have to answer for that. Im sure hell be asked questions about it even if he doesnt address it in his Opening Statement. Were awaiting the president of the United States. Hes going to be opening his remarks presumably on what happened at this g7 summit in europe and then answering reporters questions. American reporters are gathered in the room. Here comes the president. Good afternoon. Let me begin by once again thanking chancellor merkel and the people of bavaria and germany for their extraordinary hospitality here at the g7. My stay here has been extraordinary. I wish i could stay longer and one of the pleasures are being president is scouting out places that you want to come back to where you dont have to spend all your time in a conference room. The setting is breathtaking. Our german friends have been absolutely wonderful. And the success of this summit is a tribute to their outstanding work. The g7 represents some of the largest economies in the world, but in our g7 partners the United States also embraces some of our strongest allies and closest friends in the world. So even as we work to promote the growth that creates jobs and opportunity, were also here to stand up for the fundamental principles that we share as democracies. For freedom, for peace, for the right of nations and peoples to decide their own destiny, for universal human rights and the dignity of every human being. And im pleased that here we showed that on the most pressing global challenges america and our allies stand united. We agree that the best way to sustain the Global Economic recovery is by focusing on jobs and growth. Thats what im focused on in the United States. On friday we learned that our economy created another 280,000 jobs in may, the strongest month of the year so far, and more than 3 million new jobs over the past year nearly the fastest pace in over a decade. Weve now seen five straight years of private sector job growth 12. 6 million new jobs created, the longest streak on record. The Unemployment Rate is near its lowest level in seven years wages for American Workers continue to rise and since i took office the United States has cut our deficit by twothirds. So in the Global Economy, america is a major source of strength. At the same time we recognize that the Global Economy while growing is still not performing at its full potential, and we agreed on a number of necessary steps. Here in europe we support efforts to find a path that enables greece to carry out key reforms and return to growth within a strong stable and growing eurozone. I updated my partners on our effort with congress to pass trade promotion authorities so we can move ahead with tppp in the asiapacific region and ttip in europe. Agreements with high standards to protect workers, Public Safety and the environment. We continue to make progress toward a strong Global Climate agreement this year in paris. All the g7 countries have now put forward our post2020 targets for reducing Carbon Emissions and well continue to urge other significant emitters to do so as well. Well continue to meet our climate finance commitments to help developing countries transition to low carbon growth. As weve done in the u. S. The g7 agreed on the need to integrate Climate Risks into Development Assistance and investment programs across the board and to increase access to Risk Insurance to help developing countries respond to and recover from climaterelated disasters, and building on the Power Africa Initiative i launched two years ago, the g7 will work to mobilize more financing for Clean Energy Projects in africa. With respect to security the g7 remains strongly united in support for ukraine. Well continue to provide economic support and Technical Assistance that ukraine needs as it moves ahead on Critical Reforms to transform its economy and strengthen its democracy. As weve seen again in recent days Russian Forces continue to operate in Eastern Ukraine violating ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity. This is now the second year in a row that the g7 has met without russia. Another example of russias isolation, and every member of the g7 continues to maintain sanctions on russia for its aggression against ukraine. Now, its important to recognize the russian economy has been seriously weakened. The ruble and Foreign Investment are down inflation is up the Russian Central Bank has lost more than 150 billion in reserves. Russian banks and firms are virtually locked out of the international markets. Russian Energy Companies are struggling to import the services and technologies they need for complex energy projects. Russian defense firms have been cut off from key technologies. Russia is in deep recession so russias actions in ukraine are hurting russia and the russian people. Here at the g7 we agreed that even as we will continue to seek a diplomatic solution sanctions against russia will remain in place so long as russia continues to violate its obligations under the minsk agreements. It means extending the eus existing sectorial sanctions beyond july and the g7 is making it clear if necessary we stand ready to impose additional significant sanctions against russia. Beyond europe we discussed the negotiations over Irans Nuclear program and we remain united heading into the final stages of the talks. Iran has a historic opportunity to resolve the International Communitys concerns about its nuclear program, and we agreed iran needs to seize that opportunity. Our discussions with Prime Minister abadi of iraq the president of tunisia and the president of nigeria were a chance to address the threats of isil and boko haram. The g7 countries agreed to Work Together and with our partners to further coordinate our counterterrorism efforts. As many of the worlds leading partners in Global Development joined by leaders of ethiopia liberia, nigeria, senegal, and the african union, we discussed how to maximize the impact of our development partnerships. We grodagreed to continue Food Security and nutrition. Our effort to lift 5 Million People out of hunger and malnutrition by 2030. Well continue to work with our partners in west africa to get ebola cases down to zero and as part of our Global Health security agenda, im pleased that the g7 made a major commitment to help 60 countries over the next 5 years achieve specific targets to better prevent, detect and respond to future outbreaks before they become epidemics. And finally, i want to commend chancellor merkel for ensuring this summit included a focus on expanding educational and Economic Opportunities for women and girls. The g7 committed to expanding Career Training for women in our own countries and to increase technical and Vocational Training in developing countries which will help all of our nations prosper, so again i want to thank angela and the people of germany for their extraordinary hospitality. I leave her confident when it comes to the key challenges of our time america and our closest allies stand shoulder to shoulder. So with that i will take some questions and i will start off with jeff mason. Thank you, mr. President. After your meetings here you mentioned greece in your Opening Statement. Do you believe that the europeans are being too tough on greece in these talks and what else needs to be done on both sides to ensure theres a deal and to ensure that there isnt the undo harm to Financial Markets youve warned about . And on a separate and spra related topic, the french told reporters today that you said at the to g7 leaders youre concerned that the dollar is too strong. What did you say exactly and are you concerned that the dollar is too strong . First of all, dont believe unnamed quotes. I did not say that and i make a practice of not commenting on the daily fluctuations of the dollar or any other currency. With respect to greece i think that not only our g7 partners but the imf and other institutions that were represented here feel a sense of urgency in finding a path to resolve the situation there and what its going to require is greece being serious about making some important reforms not only to satisfy creditors but more importantly to create a platform whereby the Greek Economy can start growing again and prosper, and so the greeks are going to have to follow through and make some tough political choices that will be good for the long term. I also think its going to be important for the International Community and the International Financial agencies to recognize the extraordinary challenges that greece faced, and if both sides are showing a sufficient flexibility, then i think we can get this problem resolved, but it will require some tough decisions for all involved and we will continue to consult with all the parties involved to try to encourage that kind of outcome. Do you think before the deadline . I think everybody wants to make it happen and theyre working hard to get it done. Nejdra . Thank you, mr. President. How frustrated are you that after you personally raised your concerns about Cyber Security with the chinese president , that a massive attack on u. S. Personnel files seems to have originated from china . Was the Chinese Government involved and separately as a sports fan, can you give us your reaction to the fifa bribery scandal . Thank you. With respect to fifa i cannot comment on a pending case by our attorney general. I will say that in conversations i have had here in europe people think it is very important for fifa to be able to operate with integrity and transparency and accountability and so as the investigation and charges proceed, i think we have to keep in mind that although, you know football soccer, depending which side of the atlantic you live on is a game its also a massive business. It is a source of Incredible National pride, and people want to make sure it operates with integrity. The United States by the way, since we keep on Getting Better and better at each world cup, we want to make sure that, you know a sport thats gaining popularity is conducted in an upright manner. I dont want to discuss, because we havent publicly unveiled who we think may have engaged in these cyber attacks, but i can tell you that we have known for a long time that there are significant vulnerabilities and that these vulnerabilities are going to accelerate as time goes by both in systems within government and within the private sector. This is why its so important that Congress Moves forward on passing cyber legislation, Cyber Security legislation that weve been pushing for. Why, you know, over the last several years i have been standing up new mechanisms inside of government for us to investigate what happens and to start finding more effective solutions. Part of the problem is that weve got very old systems, and, you know we discovered this new breach in opm precisely because weve initiated this process of inventorying and upgrading these old systems to address existing vulnerabilities, and what we are doing is going agency by agency and figuring out what can we fix with better practices and better computer hygiene by personnel and where do we need new systems and new infrastructure in order to protect information not just of Government Employees or government activities but also most importantly where theres an interface between government and the American People and this is going to be a big project, and were going to have to keep on doing it because both state and nonstate actors are sending everything theyve got at trying to breach these systems. In some cases its nonstate actors who are engaging in criminal activity and potential theft. In the case of state actors theyre probing for intelligence or in some cases trying to bring down systems in pursuit of their various Foreign Policy objectives. In either case we will have to be much more aggressive much more attentive than we have been and this problem is not going to go away. It is going to accelerate and that means that we have to be as nimble as aggressive and as well reresourcesourced as those trying to break into the system. Justin sink. Thanks mr. President. I want to ask about two things on the agenda at the g7. The first was the islamic state. You said yesterday ahead of your meeting with Prime Minister cameron that you assessed what was working and what wasnt. So im wondering bluntly what is not working in the fight against the islamic state, and in todays bilateral Prime Minister abadi pledged to step up assistance assistance. On trade, chancellor merkel said she was pleased you would get fast track authorities. I wonder if that means you gave her or other leaders assurance it would go through the house and if it doesnt what does it say about your ability to achieve meaningful agreements with congress for the remainder of your time in the office. On the latter question im not going to hypothesize about not getting it done i intend to get it done. Hopefully well get a vote soon because i think its the right thing to do. With respect to isil we have made significant progress in pushing back isil from areas in which they had occupied or disrupted local populations, but weve also seen areas like in ramadi where theyre displaced in one place and they come back in in another, and theyre nimble and theyre aggressive and theyre opportunistic. So one of the areas where were going to have to improve is the speed at which were training iraqi forces. Where weve trained iraqi forces directly and equipped them and we have a train and assist posture, they operate effectively. Where we havent, morale lack of equipment, et cetera may undermine the effectiveness of Iraqi Security forces so we want to get more Iraqi Security forces trained, fresh, well equipped and focused, and president abadi wants the same thing. So were reviewing a range of plans for how we might do that essentially accelerating the number of iraqi forces that are properly trained and equipped and have a focused strategy and good leadership and when a finalized plan is presented to me by the pentagon then i will share it with the American People. Its not we dont yet have a complete strategy because it requires commitments on the part of the iraqis as well about how recruitment takes place, how that training takts placees place. Is it fair to say additional u. S. Military personnel are part of whats under consideration . I think what is fair to say is that all the countries in the International Coalition are prepared to do more to train Iraqi Security forces if they feel like that additional work is being taken advantage of and one of the things were still seeing is in iraq places where weve got more training capacity than we have recruits. So part of my discussion with Prime Minister abadi was how do we make sure that we get more recruits in. A big part of the answer there is our outreach to sunni tribes. We have seen sunni tribes who are not only willing and prepared to fight isil but have been successful at rebuffing isil but its not been happening as fast as it needs to. So one of the efforts that im hoping to see out of Prime Minister abadi and the Iraqi Legislature when theyre in session is to move forward on a National Guard law that would help to devolve some of the security efforts in places like anbar to local folks and to get those sunni tribes involved more rapidly. This is part of what helped defeat aqi, the precursor of isil during the iraq war in 2006. Without that kind of local participation, even if you have a shortterm success, its very hard to hold those areas. The other area where weve got to make a lot more progress is on stemming the flow of foreign fighters. Now, you will recall that i hosted a u. N. General Security Council meeting specifically on this issue, and weve made some progress but not enough. We are still seeing thousands of foreign fighters flowing into first syria and then often times ultimately into iraq and not all of that is preventable, but a lot of it is preventable if weve got better cooperation, better coordination better intelligence if we are monitoring whats happening at the turkish syria border more effectively. This is an area where weve been seeking deeper cooperation with turkish authorties who recognize its a problem, but havent fully ramped up the capacity they need and this is something that i think weve got to spend a lot of time on. If we can cut off some of that foreign fighter flow then were able to isolate and wear out isil forces that are already there because were taking a lot of them off the battlefield, but if theyre being replenished, then it doesnt solve the problem over the long term. The final point that i emphasized to Prime Minister abadi is the political agenda of inclusion remains as important as the military fight thats out there. If sunnis kurds, and shia all feel as if their concerns are being addressed and that operating within a legitimate political structure can meet their need for security prosperity nondiscrimination, were going to have a much easier time and the good news is Prime Minister abadi is very much committed to that principle, but obviously hes inheriting a legacy of a lot of mistrust between various groups in iraq. Hes having to take a lot of political risks. In some cases there are efforts to undermine those efforts by other political factions within iraq so we have to continue to monitor that and support those who are on the right side of the issue there. Thank you, mr. President. You mentioned that the u. S. And its european allies have reached a consensus on extending the sanctions against russia. Is there a consensus though about what specifically the next step should be if russia continues to violate the minsk agreement and also can you deter russian agretion in other parts of Eastern Europe without a permanent u. S. Troops presence. Separately, i wanted to ask you about the possibility that the court battle over your actions on immigration could extend late into your term. Do you think that theres anything more that you can do for the people who would have benefitted from that program and now are in limbo and how do you view the possibility of your term ending without accomplishing your goals on immigration . On ukraine and russia and minsk, there is strong consensus that we need to keep pushing russia to abide by the terms of the minsk agreement. We need to continue to support and encourage ukraine to meet its obligations under minsk. That until thats completed, sanctions remain in place. There was discussion about additional steps that we might need to take if russia working through separatists doubled down on aggression inside of ukraine. Those discussions are taking place at a technical level, not yet at a political level, because i think the first goal here going into a european Council Meeting thats coming up is just rolling over the existing sanctions. But i think at a technical level we want to be prepared. Our hope is that we dont have to take additional steps because the minsk agreement is met, and i want to give enormous credit to chancellor merkel and president hollande who has shown patience in trying to get that done. Ultimately this is going to be an issue for mr. Putin. Hes got to make a decision does he continue to wreck his countrys economy and continue russias isolation in pursuit of a wrongheaded desire to recreate the glories of the soviet empire or does he recognize that russias greatness does not depend on violating the territorial integrity and sovereignty of other countries. And, you know, as i mentioned earlier, the costs that the russian people are bearing are severe. Thats being felt. It may not always be understood why theyre suffering because of state media inside of russia and propaganda coming out of state media in russia and to russian speakers but the truth of the matter is that the russian people would greatly benefit, and ironically one of the rationals that mr. Putin provided for his incursion into ukraine was to protect russian speakers there. Russian speakers inside of ukraine are precisely the ones who are bearing the brunt of the fighting. Their economy has collapsed. Their lives are disordered. Many of them are displaced. Their homes may have been destroyed. Theyre suffering, and the best way for them to stop suffering is if the minsk agreement is fully implemented. Oh immigration. With respect to immigration, obviously im frustrated by a District Court ruling that now is wending its way through the appeals process. We are being as aggressive as we can legally to first and foremost appeal that ruling and then to implement those elements of immigration executive actions that were not challenged in court, but obviously the centerpiece, one of the key provisions for me was being able to get folks who are undocumented to go through a background check, criminal background check, pay back taxes and then have a legal status and that requires an entire administrative apparatus and us getting them to apply and come clean. I made a decision, which i think is the right one, that we should not accept applications until the legal status of this is clarified. I am absolutely convinced this is well within my legal authority, the department of homeland securitys legal authority. If you look at the precedent, if you look at the traditional discretion that the executive branch possesses when it comes to applying immigration laws im convince what had were doing is lawful and our lawyers are convinced that what were doing is lawful. But the United States is a government of laws and separations of power, and when even if its an individual District Court judge who is making this determination determination, we have to go through the process to challenge it and until we get clarity there, i dont want to bring people in have them apply, and jump through a lot of hoops only to have it deferred and delayed further. Of course, theres one really great way to solve this problem, and that would be Congress Going ahead and acting which would obviate the need for executive actions. The majority of the American People i think still want to see that happen. I suspect it will be a major topic of the next president ial campaign and so we will continue to push as hard as we can on all fronts to fix a broken immigration system administratively. Well be prepared if and when we get the kind of ruling that i think we should have gotten in the first place about our authorities to go ahead and implement, but ultimately this has never fully replaced the need for congress to act, and my hope is that after a number of the other issue that is were working on currently get cleared, that theres some quiet conversations that start back up again, particularly in the Republican Party about the shortsighted approach theyre taking when it comes to immigration. Okay. Christy parson. Thank you, mr. President. More than 6 million americans may soon Lose Health Insurance if the Supreme Court this month backs the latest challenge to the Affordable Care act. A growing number of states are looking for assistance as they face the prospect that their residents may lose federal insurance subsidies and their Insurance Markets may collapse. Yet your administration has given very little to no guidance on how states can prepare. What can you tell state leaders and advocates who worry that Health Care Markets in half the country may be thrown into chaos. What i can tell state leaders is that under well established precedent precedent, there is no reason why the existing exchanges should be overturned through a court case. It has been well documented that those who passed this legislation never intended for folks who were going through the federal exchange not to have their citizens get subsidies. Thats not just the opinion of me. Thats not just the opinion of democrats. Thats an opinion of the republicans who worked on the legislation. The record makes it clear, and under well established statutory interpretation approaches that have been repeatedly employed not just by liberal democratic judges but by conservative judges like some on the current Supreme Court, you interpret a statute based on what the intent meaning, and the overall structure of the statute provides for, and so this should be an easy case. Frankly, it probably shouldnt have even been taken up and since were going to get a ruling pretty quick, i think its important for us to go ahead and assume that the Supreme Court is going to do what most legal scholars who have looked at this would expect them to do. But, look i have said before and i will repeat again, if, in fact, you have a contorted reading of the statute that says federal run exchanges dont provide subsidies for folks who are participating in those exchanges, then that throws off how that exchange operates. It means that millions of people who are obtaining insurance currently with subsidies suddenly arent getting those subsidies, many cant afford it, they pull out, and the assumptions that the Insurance Companies made when they priced their insurance suddenly gets thrown out the window and it would be disruptive not just by the way, for folks in the exchanges, but for those Insurance Markets in those states generally. So its a bad idea. Its not something that should be done based on a twisted interpretation of four words as we were reminded repeatedly in a couple thousand page piece of legislation. Whats more the thing is working. I mean part of whats bizarre about this whole thing is we havent had a lot of conversation about the horrors of obamacare because none of them have come to pass. You have 16 Million People who have gotten Health Insurance. Overwhelming majority of them are satisfied with the Health Insurance. It hasnt had an adverse effect on people who already had Health Insurance. The only effect its had on people who already had Health Insurance is they now have an assurance they wont be prevented from getting Health Insurance if they had a preexisting condition and they have additional protections with the Health Insurance they do have. The costs have come in substantially lower than even our estimates about how much it would cost. Health care inflation overall has continued to be at some of the lowest levels in 50 years. None of the predictions about how this wouldnt work have come to pass and so im a, im optimistic that the Supreme Court will play it straight when it comes to the interpretation and, b, i should mention that if it didnt congress could fix this whole thing with a onesentence provision. But im not going to go into a long speculation anticipating disaster. Youre a plan ahead kind of guy. Why not have a plan b . Well you know i want to just make sure that everybody understands that you have a model where all the pieces connect, and there are a whole bunch of scenarios, not just with relation to health care but all kinds of stuff that i do where if somebody does something that doesnt make any sense, then its hard to fix, and this would be hard to fix. Fortunately, theres no reason to have to do it. It doesnt need fixing. All right . Thank you very much. Thank you to the people of germany and bavaria. You guys were wonderful hosts. All right. So there he is, the president of the United States wrapping up a news conversation with an extensive Opening Statement but then answering several questions, several reporters asking two or three questions as part of one question. Most of the questions revolving on iraq and isis russia and putin, health care as you just heard. Im wolf blitzer in washington. I want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. Lets get some analysis on what we just heard. Jake tapper youre here with me. Jake lets talk about iraq and isis. The president saying hes still waiting for a plan from the pentagon on training and arming the Iraqi Military to go ahe and fight isis. Thats right. He said that they dont have a complete strategy as of right now, but theyre looking for one from the pentagon when it comes to getting the Iraqi Forces Trained more quickly, equipped. Theyre waiting for information from the iraqis presumably thats one of the things he and Prime Minister abadi will discuss, so that was one of the works in progress that he discussed. He also wolf, talked about ukraine, and he held out the threat of further sanctions. He said very specifically that there was a lot of discussion about making sure that russia and ukraine uphold their commitments made in the minsk agreements in march and then he said there was also discussion about additional steps should russia double down on the aggression not just directly by russians but by prorussian separatists in ukraine. So those are two things where clearly theres a lot of discussion about trying to get prepared for the future. Where he would not engage about preparing for the future was about whether or not the Supreme Court decides that these state exchanges are contrary to the obamacare law. He said it was a bad idea not something that should be done based on a twisted interpretation of four words in a severalthousandpage law, but he would not answer Christy Parsons from the Chicago Tribune her questions about what would be the plan b. What should the states, the governors, advocates do if in fact millions of individuals who have Health Insurance through obamacare or on the state exchanges are suddenly no longer allowed to use state exchanges because the Supreme Court says theyre contrary to the law. And the Supreme Court is supposed to make a decision between now and the end of this month so in the coming days well hear from the Supreme Court. Obviously, a very very important decision from the u. S. Supreme court. Jim acosta is travelings with the president. Hes joining us right now. Actually we dont have jim. We do have jim sciutto. What did you hear from the president as far as iraq is concerned . We clearly heard him giving at least some indirect lecturing to the Prime Minister al abadi who was there with him in germany today, some indirect lecturing. You got to get your act together. You got to work not only with iraqi shia but also with the sunnis and the kurds. He does but at the same time we also heard some acknowledgements admissions from the president on where the current strategy isnt working. He said that about isis that if theyre displaced in one place, they show up in another place, kind of this whack a mole phenomenon you have seen where you might have had a victory in tikrit but a few weeks later you have isis take over ramadi. And the president acknowledging that the foreign fighter flow continuing despite a great effort by a number of nations involved. The president saying that even though in his words, were taking a lot of them out, theyre being replenished and that doesnt solve the prauk problem in the long term. Those are two fairly significant admissions they havent stopped the foreign fighter flow so all that body count talk we had last week really irrelevant because even if you kill 10,000 or 13,000 and theyre being replern replenished replenished, whats the effect on the battlefield . In terms of territory, if you win somewhere, the coalition, they come back somewhere else and thats a real problem, and as you and jake noted, to say the president to say really the onus is on iraqi forces to fight them on the ground but the u. S. Is still figuring out how its going to help those iraqi forces and as you note wolf this old issue thats been there for a long time that that government in baghdad isnt seen as representing the whole country, particularly the sunnis thats an old problem. Thats been around for years. If that hasnt been addressed, it raises real questions about how quickly youre going to be able to change that dynamic on the battlefield no matter how many more iraqi forces you train or how many more weapons, antitank weapons, et cetera that you send them there. Its a real problem. Its a real question about the effectiveness of the Current White House strategy. And as we said the president did make it clear hes waiting for a plan from the pentagon to continue arming and training these Iraqi Military. He says once theyre armed and trained, presumably theyll do a better job fighting isis. Well see about that. Jim acrossosta is with us now. Hes joining us from the scene. Jim, what stood out from your mind . You have been covering the president now for a long time. Youre there with him on the ground. Well wolf as we were saying earlier, this is a g7 summit without a lot of sur stance. Unfortunately, i think the president added some substance inadvertently not only with this awkward photoop earlier in the day but this awkward phraseology of saying we dont have a complete strategy for training the Iraqi Security forces. Of course, he was talking about in a larger context this plan hes hoping to receive from the pentagon shortly that will expand that training expand that arming so they can take the fight to isis but in this day and age, wolf when a fraction of a statement can be pulled out of context, magnified, and tweeted, the president is going to have a problem on his hands and hes going to have a problem on his hands with what he just said at that News Conference with respect to the battle against isis. At the same time you heard the president say during this News Conference conference really praising al abadi, saying he is trying to overcome some of the problems he inherited from his predecessor who was not uniting the country, who was really waging sort of a onereligion government in terms of the shia muslims in that country, and so that al abadi is trying to pick up the pieces from that and the president is trying to give him some time. Wolf when i talked to Senior Administration officials inside the white house at just about every level, they say time and again, this president is not going to go against his original mandate and put u. S. Combat troops on the ground and when it comes to turning around this fight against isis it appears there really is no other alternative than to do that. You can wait years and years for the Iraqi Security forces to be able to do this fight, but unless there are u. S. Combat troops on the ground in massive numbers, its really hard to see how isis is going to be quickly defeated and that is why you hear the president on down trying to prepare the American People although they dont say it publicly very often, that this fight, this war is going to take a very very long time, wolf. I want to be precise, we have to take a quick break, but what the president did say, he said when a finalized pran is edd plan is presented to me by the pentagon i will share it with the American People. We dont yet have a complete strategy because it requires commitments on the part of the iraqis. Lets take a quick break. Well have much more right after this. You probably know xerox as the company thats all about printing. But did you know we also support hospitals using Electronic Health records for more than 30 million patients . Or that our Software Helps over 20 million smartphone users remotely configure email every month . Or how about processing nearly 5 billion in electronic toll payments a year . In fact, todays xerox is working in surprising ways to help companies simplify the way work gets done and life gets lived. With xerox, youre ready for real business. Verizon say neversettle. Tmobile agrees. Never settle for verizons overpriced gimmicks. Try the uncarrier riskfree for 14 days youll love it, or well pay for you to go back. Get the complete balanced nutrition of ensure. With nine grams of protein. And 26 vitamins and minerals. And now with. Twice as much vitamin d. Which up to 90 of people dont get enough of. The sunshine vitamin ensure. Take life in. We dont yet have a complete strategy because it requires commitments on the part of the iraqis as well about how recruitment takes place. How that training takes place, and so the details of that are not yet worked out. President obama speaking only moments ago about the situation in iraq the war against isis uttering those words, we dont yet have a complete strategy. Jake tapper as jim acosta pointed out, probably if taken out of context, those words will come back to haunt the president. Well it recalls when he said at a press conversation roughly a year ago or so they didnt have a strategy yet to combat isis but specifically what president obama was referring to was they dont have a complete strategy the pentagon when it comes to improving and quickening the pace of training of iraqi forces and then came a question about whether or not u. S. Troops further u. S. Troops there are already about 3,000 in iraq, whether that would be on the table and what president obama said was basically that the countries in the g7 were openminded to sending troops but iraq this is my language not his, needs to get its act together. As soon as the iraqi forces show they are capable of standing their ground and not leaving as we have seen time and time again, then there can be discussion of additional troops from other countries, but until that happens, that seems to be off the table. Lets get some more analysis. Josh rogan is joining us, the columnist for bloomberg view. Also joining us Rick Francona and van jones, our political commentator. Josh a lot of people will start asking why doesnt the pentagon have a strategy for arming and training the Iraqi Military . This war has been going on now for quite a while. Its because the situation on the ground keeps changing so rapidly and our process here in washington where we make these kinds of decisions just isnt nimble enough to respond to the quick flay tour of the way that isis operates. What were getting at here even though the president didnt really need to say we dont have a strategy it kind ever feeds into this perception this narrative, thats been driven a lot by his critics which is what were doing doesnt have the chance of achieving the goal of defeating isis which is what the president has said is the objective. While the pentagon can make tweaks here and there, increase the training increase the arms theres not a lot of expectation that thats going to achieve success in the mission anytime soon. And this reflects a huge disconnect between the president s time line which is years for defeating isis and what the iraqis and a lot of people in Congress Want to see, which is a much quicker time line which would mean a much bigger u. S. Commitment. I assume colonel francona to do serious training and arming of the Iraqi Military a lot more u. S. Military personnel are going to have to be sent over there. Right now about 3,000 u. S. Troops are in iraq. If he wants to increase the speed of the training as he said hes going to have to put more american boots on the ground to do that. But i think josh has a key point here is that there was a strategy. The pentagon had a strategy. It was to train the iraqis to be the Ground Forces and it would be used in conjunction with u. S. And Coalition Air power. What were seeing is just not working. What the plan that the strategy they have now isnt working. They need to change the strategy and they need to up the amount of air power theyre using and better control it. Right now were in a reactive state. Isis is actually calling the shots. Theyre making the moves. Were reacting. We need to take the fight to them. What about that van jones . What did you think . Well a couple things. As soon as he made that comment, i winced because in this media environment you know one Statement Like that is going to be taken out of context, and he will pay a cost for it. I think sometimes this president has a tendency to wander into being sort of the professor in chief kind of thinking about things a little bit too much out loud and forgetting that theres an opportunity there just to be the commander in chief and to give those short, declarative, reassuring statements about the forward direction of where hes going, not talking so much about where we are. So i think hes going to pay a price for that. I do want to say though that there were this was not just about a military policy. There was also a lot of talk about domestic policy and also a quick reference on the trade policy. You have to give the president some credit. He did not convey when he was giving his remarks about trade policy that he is in fact, in the middle of a fullscale revolt here in the United States from his own party trying to dump overboard the very deal hes trying to sell to the europeans. Hes not sold it to his own party in the United States. When it comes to the domestic front, talking about obamacare talking about immigration, talking about trade policy very smooth very reassuring but i think he did do himself some harm today, missed an opportunity to show that same assurance on foreign and military policy. Van jones, thanks very much. Lieutenant francona josh rogin. Jake you will be back at 4 00 p. M. Eastern on the lead. I will be back in one hour on cnn and Cnn International later 5 00 p. M. Eastern in the situation room. Well have complete coverage of all of the days events. Thats coming up right now at this hour with berman and bolduan. Starts right now. An elaborate prison break a desperate manhunt under way right now for two killers. Now, a female prison worker is being questioned. Were going to speak live with two former inmates who spent years at this same maximum security prison. Police say he had plans to kill cops and behead an activist. Just moments from now for the first time the public will see the video of his confrontation with police. How close did he come to a kill . And pool party erupts in chaos. An officer now under fire for pulling his gun and his take down of a teenage girl. What happened in the moments before the video started rolling

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