Transcripts For CSPAN CIA Director John Brennan Discusses Global Threats 20160703

He made it his life work to ensure the horrors of the holocaust that are never forgotten repeated. This will forever be his legacy. Nancy pelosi said in her wiesels that elie moral compass got a people around the world to choose courage in the face of prosecution, peace instead of violence, and hope of her despair. These outside saturday in new york after a long illness. He was 87. I never felt the urge as i mentioned before make money. What turned me on the 60s and admirer of the kennedys was to make policy. Thats always a trophy. Tonight on q a, a twopart interview with former Public Interest lawyer and politician mark green. Author of bright copper infinite future, a generational memoir on the progressive rise. And when she talks about his life and career in public office. Thatu have to have a drive may be undesirable and espoused forefront, the user make up and go to sleep and think i want this so much, i will if you do everything, you win. Part one errors tonight at eight eastern on cspans q a. Part two will air tonight at 9. M. Eastern on cspan 2 cia director john brennan talks about the recent suicide bombings in istanbul turkey and says he expects that the Group Responsible is plotting attacks within the u. S. He gave his remarks during a speech on global security. He also talked about proliferation, cyber threats, and bioterrorism. This is just over an hour. Hello everybody and welcome to the caps on from relations. Delighted to introduce our speaker this afternoon. I dont think there could be a better time for a moment for us to hear from the director of the central. Without further ado, please welcome director john brennan. [applause] director brennan thank you very much, judy. Good afternoon everyone. It is indeed a pleasure to be back at the council to compare notes on a remarkably complex and Dynamic International scene. I very much look forward to talking with judy and Council Membership on the many topics during the headlines. I would for a sec to offer some brief opening remarks to kick off the conversation today. Whenever i administered the oath of office to new officers at our headquarters in langley, virginia, i tell them they are coming aboard at a critical moment in our agencys history. In the 36 year since afrocentric government, i have never been witnessing a time for such a daunting array of challenges to a nation security. Notable among the challenges is that some of the institutions and relationships that have been pillars of the postcold War International system are under serious stress. Know, United Kingdom voted last week to leave the european union. Of all the crises , the eu and spaces recent years, the u. K. Vote of the video may well be its very greatest challenge. Exit is pushing the eu into a. Of introspection that will persuade basically everything the eu doesnt the coming weeks, months, and even years ahead. Europe,tics around including and denmark, france, italy, and the netherlands, are demanding their own referendums on multiple eu issues. This will surely make decisionmaking and forging consensus in the eu much harder. No member state has ever left the union. So europe is entering a. Of uncertainty as the u. K. And the eu take stock of the situation and begin staking out the negotiate positions. Discussions about how an exit will work will dominate the eu agenda in the months ahead. For the exit agreement will not begin until the Prime Minister formally notifies the eu of the uks intention to leave. Which Prime Minister David Cameron will share under his successor. Leadersr state excluding the u. K. Will be meeting in the coming days and weeks and begin laying the groundwork for those negotiations. Regardless of what lies ahead, i would like to take this opportunity to say that the bags of vote will not adversely affect the Intelligence Partnership between United States and the United Kingdom and the months and years ahead. Indeed, i spoke to my counterpart in london early monday morning and we reaffirm to one another that the bonds of friendship and cooperation between our services are only destined to grow stronger in the years ahead. These ties are and will always be essential to our collective security. I presume a few of your questions about terrorism and. He socalled Islamic State o i know that our collective hearts go out to the families of the latest victims of the horrific terrorist attacks perpetrated as well as infected by isil. The despicable attack it is symbols International Airport yesterday that killed dozens and injured many more certainly sars the hallmarks of isil the privity. Let me take a few moments to say some very about important issues that we had the cia in our colleagues wrote the Intelligence Community are watching closely. I will start with the overarching challenge of instability, which continues to have large sections of the globe. Global instability is one of the defining issues of our time. It is implications are hard to overstate. As instability spreads, extremists and terrorists are finding sanctuary in ungoverned spaces. Energy supplies of being disrupted, political reform suffering, as too many measurests opt for that the expense of democratic principles and respect for human rights. Most devastating of although, is the human toll attendant to instability. Last week, the United Nations reported that the number of people displaced by global instability and conflict have reached 65 million. The highest figure ever recorded. A host of countries from east asia to the middle is, to west africa, governments are under institutionsvic struggling to provide basic services and to maintain a law and order. As governments in these regions received from the center of national life, more people are shifting their allegiances away from the nation state and towards subnational groups and identities. Leading societies that once embraced a National Identity to fracture along ethnic and sectarian lines. Nowhere is this trend more evident than in the middle east. A reason that ive studied closely for much of my life. , i likethere years ago to walk through neighborhoods and villages to observe the rhythms of daily life. I remember seeing people of different backgrounds and Police Living sidebyside. Relations among these groups are too often marred by suspicion and distrust and even outright hostility. Extremist groups have played it to be role in these tensions. In some areas, a generation is growing up in an environment without a just about skills to contribute or even to engage in modern day society. The underlying causes of these trends are complex and difficult to address. The longterm consequences of these developments are deeply troubling. Global instability is an issue that affects all countries. From russia, china, to united it must be met by strong collective response from the International Community. Im certain that this issue will loom large on the agenda of the next administration. Another should future challenges dealing with the tremendous power, potential, opportunities, and risks president resident in the digital domain. No matter how many geopolitical crises seizing the headlines, the liability, security, vulnerability, and the range of human activity taking place within cyberspace are constantly on my mind. Organizations35, of all kinds are under constant attack from a range of actors. Foreign governments, criminal gangs, trim his goods, cyber activist, and many others. In this new and relatively uncharted frontier, speed and agility are king. Malicious actors have shown that they can penetrate the network and withdraw in very short order. Plundering systems without anyone knowing they were there until maybe after the damage has been done. I served at the white house it was always the subject that gave me the biggest headache. Cyber attackers are determined and adopted. They often covered and share expertise. And they, even so many different ways with an everchanging array of tools, tactics, and techniques. Notover, our laws have quite yet adequately adapted to the emergence of this new digital frontier. Most worrisome for my perspective is that there is still no political or National Consensus on the appropriate role of the government. , lawenforcement, henan security, and intelligence agencies in safeguarding the security, liability, resiliency, and prosperity of the digital domain. The Intelligence Community is making Great Strides in countering cyber threats, but much work needs to be done. As a new forward on this issue, one thing we know is private industry will have a huge role to play as the vast majority of the internet is in private hands. Protecting it is not something the government can do on its own. Right up there with terrorism, global instability and Cyber Security is Nuclear Proliferation and the incumbent developments of Delivery Systems both tactical and should take it to make also really potential for a nuclear event. Unsurprisingly, the top of my list of countries of concern is north korea. Whose authoritarian and brutal leader has pursued a Nuclear Weapons program. Instead of taking care of the impoverished and politically repressed men, women, and children of the three. North korea. What else is there be such terrorism, global security, Cyber Security that worries the cia effort officer. Guy from thearts baby boomer generation, the rapid pace of technological change during my lifetime has been simply dizzying. As we of sema just about every scientific report, new technology often carry substantial risk to the same degree that they hold tremendous run is. Promise. Nowhere on the state time for National Security than the field of biotechnology. Recent advances in genome editing that offer Great Potential for breakthroughs in Public Health are also calls for concern. Because the same methods could be used to create genetically engineered biological warfare agents. And those of the overwhelming majority of nationstates at 10 refrain from unleashing a menace of such unpredictable consequences and subnational terrorist and to seek such as isil wouldnt have two compunctions in wheeling such a weapon. The scope of the buyer risk is more potential measures are clearlylate last october and the bipartisan reports of the blueribbon study panel on by a defense. As with the cyber threat, the International Communitys response to this issue like behind the Technology Driving it. Effectively countering this danger requires the development of national and international strategies. Along with the consensus of the laws, standards, and authorities that would be needed. A cia officers and their Intelligence Committee colleagues work hard to protect our country, from the darker side of change, we are mindful of how even beneficial advances can have destabilizing of x in the long run. Effects in the long run. Drying from Academic Studies and elements of the everexpanding open sourceal information cd offer our National Leaders Early Warning of potential challenges that could arise from the advances we are seeing today across the spectrum of technological endeavors. As former defense secretary asiana director bob gates is fond of saying, when Intelligence Officers wallflowers, they look around for a coffin. That remains a pretty good depiction of our intelligence mindset. [laughter] a pagemple, again taking from the biotech and my sciences sectors, is how a wide range of breakthroughs that potentially expectancy, life such as new methods of fighting cancer and a greater understanding of the aging process, could reinforce the trend towards older populations in advanced nations. Some of the worlds leading economies and even the lesser economies, could face Even Stronger headwinds and having significantly larger proportions of retired people and older another example is the array of technologies often referred to collectively as geoengineering. They could potentially help reverse the warming effects of Global Climate change. One that has gained my personal attention is stratospheric aerosol injection. Or sai. A method of seating the stratosphere with particles that can help reflect the suns heat in much of the same way that volcanic eruptions do. A program could limit global temperature increases, reducing some risk associated with higher temperatures and providing the World Economy additional time to transition from fossil fuels. This process is also relatively inexpensive. The National Research council estimates a fully deployed program would cost about 10 billion yearly. As promising as it may be, moving forward would also raise a number of challenges for our government and for the International Community. On the technical side, Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions would still have to accompany sai to address other Climate Change effects such as ocean acidification. Sai alone would not remove Greenhouse Gases from the atmosphere. On the geopolitical side, the technologys potential to alter weather patterns and benefit certain regions of the world at the expense of other regions could trigger sharp opposition by some nations. Others might seize on the sai benefits and back away from their commitments to Carbon Dioxide reductions. And as with other break your tash breakthrough technologies, global norms and standards are lacking to guide the employment and implementation of sai and other geoengineering initiatives. I could go on about things that fascinate me, but rather than talk about them, i thought i would stop here and start the conversation with judy. And then i can take some questions. I very much appreciate the invitation to come back here. To the council on foreign relations. As i say to other groups and speak to, it is a tremendous honor and privilege every day to be referred to as a director of Central Intelligence agency. I lead an organization full of patriotic men and women who take great risks and put themselves in the front lines in order to keep your fellow americans safe and secure and to do what they can to keep the countrys security secure. Thank you so much. [applause] judy i think we are all impressed with the array of challenges and issues you deal with on a regular basis, director brennan. I do want to come back and i want to come back to what is in the news right now. That is the latest attack in istanbul. What the administration has been saying, and i think you referenced it just now, is that it has the earmark of isis. How much is known about who is behind this and why does it point in their direction . Mr. Brennan to my knowledge, there is no credible responsibility of this point, but that is not surprising. In most instances, isis is not has not claimed credit responsibility for attacks perpetrated inside of turkey. I think what they do is they carry out these attacks to gain the benefits from it in terms of sending a signal to our turkish partners. At the same time, not want to potentially alienate some of those individuals inside of turkey that they may still be trying to gain support. Judy why are they able to pull off these attacks with what seems to be great regularity without the ability to prevent them ahead of time. Mr. Brennan i think there is a variety of reasons. First, when individuals are committed to carrying out these attacks, these socalled suicide attacks, they kill and maim so many people, they really dont have to worry about an escape route. It makes carrying out the attack so much easier because what they do is they just want to make sure theyre able to penetrate whatever sort of perimeter defense there might be. In a lot of these civilian areas, there is no perimeter defense. That is part of what an open society is. They are able to get their hands on weapons, automatic weapons, whether they are legally procured in some countries or through the black market in others. Also, they are able to take advantage of the technology that allows them to communicate quite securely without having intelligence agencies able to understand what it is they are plotting. Being able to fabricate a plot, carry it out among a small group of individuals, 1, 2, or more, it is unfortunately a feature of our times that isil has been determined to carry out these attacks. Judy is it something the rest just has to get used to . Mr. Brennan i dont think we should ever get used to it. I think what we have to do is try to redouble our efforts to try to uncover what they are doing, stop them, and also go to the source. Those who are directing and orchestrating these attacks. And isil most of the attacks are either directed or incited by their external Operations Group which is resident in syria. Judy in several news interviews you have done recently, you made a point of saying our efforts have not reduced isiscapability and global reach. There is a frustration that seems to come through, not that there is an expression on your face, but what is it . What does it mean to someone who has been working in this area for so long . Mr. Brennan any intelligence or Law Enforcement professional who has responsibilities to prevent these attacks from occurring, those involved in counterterrorism for quite some time, are interested and determined to do what we can to destroy these organizations that give birth to these horrific attacks. As i have said recently, we have made significant progress with Coalition Partners in syria and iraq where most of the isis members are resident right now. But, isiss ability to continue to propagate its narrative as well as to incite and carry out these attacks, i think we still have a ways to go before we are able to say we have made significant progress against them. Judy is it a need for better intelligence . Do we need more resources, more money . What is it . Mr. Brennan the challenge with isis, as compared al qaeda. Al qaeda had a core of several hundred individuals. Isis has tens of thousands of individuals scattered to west africa, Southeast Asia and beyond. There is the scope of the problem, number one. Number two, they have made sophisticated use of communication systems. They have fed upon the instability that has racked the middle east. Isis and al qaeda had nothing to do with the initiation of error spring, for they have taken advantage of the collapse of governments and the movement of people, goods in this 21st century world. I think in many respects they can facilitate but isis is what it is isis is trying to do. We have seen that they dont even have to reach out and touch somebody. The horrific attacks in orlando, an individual was able to access the material. They are also able to guide and direct and deploy. There is a range of challenges that intelligent security agencies have. Also, it is sharing information among nations around the world. We saw that in the aftermath of the brussels attacks and paris. Were trying to work with european partners. There are 28, soon to be 27 eu members. They have different legal systems, different structures. How are they going to share information in a rapid fashion in order to stop individuals who we may have a bit of data on . Judy speaking of that, with the brexit vote you said its not going to affect the u. S. Partnership of great britain, with the u. K. , but what about these other 27 or 28 members give or take . How can it not affect your ability, the ability of the cia and other members of the Intelligence Community in the u. S. To deal with every one of these different entities . Mr. Brennan that is what we do right now. Much of our interaction is with the Intelligence Security services and bilateral channels. Were trying to have multilateral sharing arrangements where we can all collectively use the information that we individually collected. And have access to. The eu has not been an operational element of the counterterrorism effort. It is more of a policy and governance structure. I do not see it affecting our ability to work with the eu on the counterterrorism front. Judy ecc must cooperation with the partners of the u. S. The have with intel sharing . Mr. Brennan i dont think i said seamless. I dont think that the brexit is going to adversely affect how we deal with the brits. I think there is a lot of work to be done to put together a Mission Architecture that will allow europe as a whole to share information in a timely fashion. We are working with the brits as well as the rest of the europeans, but it is not just a european issue. Its middle eastern and african countries. This will be a journey we will be on for quite some time. Judy here in the u. S. With the orlando attack, with what happened in san bernardino, do you feel you have learned something from those incidents that they put you in a better position to understand what to do to prevent or to get into the minds of these young people, mainly young men, who are carrying out these isis inspired, what appear to be isisinspired attacks . Mr. Brennan the take away is that this country has done a great job since 9 11 making the American Homeland much more difficult for terrorists organizations to penetrate, physically. And send people over because of things like the watchlist and very close cooperation between Law Enforcement and intelligence. I have tremendous respect for the fbis capabilities. I interact with jim coming on a regular basis. The fbi has a real challenge because there are individuals who could be in their home who have no interaction with other people, but will be on the internet and will be shaped, and influenced, by what they are seeing in terms of its narrative and will decide on their own, maybe with a spouse or others, or maybe alone, to carry out an attack. If they get their hands on a weapon or explosive material, they could do great damage for the signatures that are traditionally associated with traditional terrorist groups are seen. Judy what is the cias role in working with the fbi on that . It is a domestic challenge, but the cia mr. Brennan the cia are working with our other partners, the nsa and others, we share as much Data Information as possible. Any lead we may have from overseas collection or access, we make sure it is shared with our partners. Any of the trends or developments we see in terrorist organizations in terms of their modus operandi, we share that immediately. And so, its a constant interaction between all the different elements of the u. S. Counterterrorism community. It has helped protect this country. The vulnerabilities that existed at 9 11 that the hijackers took advantage of, they no longer exists. However, there are other ways that isis can adapt to the reality to be able to carry out these attacks. Judy i want to come back to isis in syria and iraq because yes, there has been some progress as you say, but it is frustratingly slow. You are dealing with you have the iranians playing a role in iraq and to a lesser extent in syria. Certainly in iraq. Do you see the iranians as being supportive, being in a supportive role, because of the side they had taken in iraq . Or do you see them as being in the opposite . Mr. Brennan yes. [laughter] mr. Brennan there are things they can do and have done to address some of the terrorist threats they face, which are similar to the ones we face. One of the things about isis that distinguishes it from al qaeda it has an antishia dimension to it. That is how it has sort of rolled over many parts of iraq. Because of the years where the Sunni Community felt shia dominated in the influence in baghdad was not addressing the needs of the community. They are very concerned about that. At the same time, iran is still identified as the leading state sponsor of terrorism because of what they have done. They are both a part of the problem, but they are also i am hopeful that maybe with the growing influence and ascendance of some the more moderate elements within the iranian government that we may see iran truly move towards rejoining the community of nations and fulfilling its role and responsibility. But while it continues to provide support to terrorist organizations and other groups, there is a real problem with tehran. Judy what is the level of communication between your agency and iran . Mr. Brennan i dont communicate with iran. Judy zero communication . Indirect, not personally. Mr. Brennan i do not have any formal leads or relationship or engagement with iran. Judy the agency . Mr. Brennan the agency does not. No formal intelligence relations. Judy maybe somebody adhere to phrase it better . Mr. Brennan no. [laughter] mr. Brennan but we know the iranians very well. [laughter] mr. Brennan just saying. Judy president assad does not seem to be, certainly weakened to some extent, seem to be hanging on in syria. There does not seem to be much evidence right now he is budging from his position. How do you weigh where the syrian conflict stands right now . Mr. Brennan last year at this time assad was on the ropes. The Syrian Military was taking it on the chin and a number of areas north of damascus. That is what prompted moscow to decide to send several thousand Russian Military personnel, aircraft, weaponry, artillery, tanks, you name it, to prop up the regime they have invested in in the last 50 years. The downward trajectory of their fortunes were reversed as a result of that engagement on the part of moscow. We believe fervently that assad is part of the problem, not the solution. He is the reason, after the atrocities he has perpetrated on his people, that he is lost a he has lost all legitimacy in terms of ruling that country. That is also one of the reasons why we have so many Syrian People in arms against assad and the government in damascus and foreign fighters. We believe that although he is strengthened on the battlefield relative to last year, we are continuing to push the russians because the russians play a Critical Role in this. There will be no way forward in the political front without active russian cooperation, as well as true and genuine russian interest in trying to find a political path. This is not going to be resolved on the battlefield. Mr. Brennan i have had numerous interaction with my russian counterparts. I visited moscow and talked with them. I feel as though they can do more. They probably feel that we can do more. I do not believe they have lived up to their commitments as far as honoring the cessation of hostilities and getting the trajectory of the syrian conflict on a better course. Particularly on the political transition front. Judy how do you turn that around . How do you change that . Mr. Brennan the dogged determination of our diplomats led by the indefatigable john kerry who works with others. We have interaction with our counterparts on the russian intelligence side that try to have a common appreciation of what the situation is inside of syria. I have no doubt the russians are motivated in part in terms of their investment in syria out of concern about the growth of isis and terrorist forces there. Whether it be isis, or al qaeda in syria, they are determined to, i think, try to crush those forces. At the same time, we need to recognize these forces have grown because of the problems that have existed in syria and the syrian government. Judy last question, and then we will open it up to the audience. You said the greatest Nuclear Proliferation threat still comes from north korea. Is there any progress in terms of intelligence, information, communication with the north . Is it still chiefly through china . Help us understand where that is. Mr. Brennan that is another one of the more frustrating aspects of our international agenda. You have someone like kim jongun who continues to pursue these nuclear and ballistic capabilities irrespective of what his people need. I do not believe he has yet come to realize that the International Community is going to remain united against the nuclearization of the korean peninsula, and that we are not going to accept north korea as a nuclear state. Which is what he is demanding. I think the International Community want to be able to bring north korea out of its international isolate station isolation. There needs to be a better appreciation on the part of kim jongung that his continued pursuit will only undermine his longterm prospects. He seems to be exceptionally stubborn and not a very good listener. Judy i now want to invite all of you to ask questions. Im told the meeting is on the record. I think we already knew that. We have microphones we will bring to you. Hand. Your then, stand up. Were asking you to tell us who you are, give us your affiliation, keep it to one question so we can get to as many of you as possible. Who has the first question . Right here on the third row . The gentleman in the middle. David goldwyn, atlantic council. I wonder if you could comment on the iraniansaudi rivalry and how it may help or hurt that relationship . Mr. Brennan it is a longstanding rivalry that predates the current leadership. Unfortunately, it has undermined efforts in the past to bridge the gap. Unfortunately, the continued problems that exist inside of iraq and syria do not help to facilitate even the productive dialogue between charon and syria. There are sharp differences of view about what the future of syria and iraq should look like. So it is important for two large and important and influential countries. And the gulf region, to be able to find some type of we are hoping from cash for some of the actors to recognize that inside of iran are going to recognize that there needs to be a type of accommodation with the saudi leadership and government and in my engagements with the saudis, and i do have a relationship with saudi arabia, they are interested in pursuing that if they feel as though the iranian leadership is generally interested in pursuing something other than antagonistic relationships. Judy is that something the u. S. Is trying to persuade them of . Mr. Brennan i think one of the real motivating factors behind the jcpoa in addition to stopping irans pursuit of the program, it was to tamp down the tensions arriving as a result of that with the ultimate aim of having the gulf states, the ones in that region, find a better way to communicate with one another, first of all, and secondly, to see whether or not there will be a repair a of those relationships. In the past, there have been times in saudi arabia and iran when leaders have been able to Work Together. There are areas where there has been quite a bit of interaction. The iranians have decided not to send this year and because of send pilgrims to mecca this year because of the antagonism that continues to exist. We are encouraging this tamping this type of tamping down of tensions and dialogue. We are only going to improve relations if we have dialogue. Judy ok. Far against the wall over here. John John Sullivan with george mason university. There have been a number of excellent articles recently in publications talking about the erosion of the democratic trend around the world and the revival of autocratic tendencies. That was not one of the factors you listed, but i wonder in your major and overarching concerns, to what degree do you worry about this fracturing of democracy and the increase of the authoritarian revival . Mr. Brennan well, we will make my remarks available on the cia website later today. Www. Cia. Gov. I say in there a lot of these governments and regimes have opted on democratic principles opted for autocratic measures at the expense of democratic principles and human rights. I do think that there, unfortunately, some of these governments feel as though they are being overwhelmed by the security challenges they face and they will be welcoming they will resort back to the traditional measures of suppressing the challenges with authoritarian measures. We have to recognize that westernstyle democracy, which has taken several hundred years to really take root, and it is continuing to be a journey for us, that it is not a light switch that can be just flipped in these middle Eastern Countries and arab states. From very traditional societies, with having the trappings of modernization in some of these cities, there is still socially, culturally, politically, very unfamiliar with the practices and democratic principles that we hold so dear. So, i think we have to be understanding that this is going to take some time. At the same time, we, the u. S. Government and the caa, are very clear the cia are very clear in the types of behaviors and actions that we will not tolerate. If that type of suppression and abuse of human rights, we cia have not only threaten to cut off relations with some of these liaison partners, we have information that they practice. We have cut off relations. I think we need to keep the pressure on them and make sure that the navigation of the shawl between these governments today and a thriving democracy are significant. We have to help them navigate it. One of the real concerns i have is that the economic challenges these countries face are overwhelming. When i think about the suffering that is taking place in yemen, and it is still in the midst of active fighting, the reconstruction that is going to be required to put the country back together, and syria and iraq and libya, and the economic reform that has taken place in some of the countries in the region that are not rocked by this instability are also very not insignificant. How do you make the changes while dealing with some of these insidious threats that some individuals who purport to want to demonstrate a protest in the name of democracy are not really interested in a flourishing democracy. Theyre interested in bringing down one authoritarian regime in order to put up another one. This middle east is wracked by a number of problems that i think its going to be front and center for this United States government in the next administration for many years to come. Judy yes, in the back. This woman right here. Thank you. Kim kim dozier with the council. You mentioned that in recent testimony, isis, daesh, would have to lose a lot of money, or we really see them on the back foot. Is that also possibly time to retire phrases like on the back foot or in retreat . All of these have seemed to change names but the ideology just switches to a new group. Mr. Brennan terrorism has been with us for millennia, used by groups over the years for all sorts of political and ideological purposes. The sad fact is that carrying out these acts of terrorism can be relatively inexpensive and relatively easy to fabricate, put together, and then carry out. When you have a motivational engine like isil that is able to encourage as well as to participate in this, it makes the situation and potential even that much more greater and more serious. When i commented in recent testimony that we have made progress on the battlefield, we are still a ways from being able to say we are successfully able to thwart this isil growth. It really has been generated by what has happened, the phenomenon in the syriairaq theater, it has a trajectory and momentum carrying it forward. We need efforts designed to go upstream inside of syria and iraq. We need to be attacking the networks in terms of flows of individuals, as well as flows of the narrative and the points that go out as well as working downstream to stop the attacks. Whether it be in istanbul, paris, belgium, wherever. It needs to be a collective and combined effort to attack all of these areas. Right now, i am still very concerned that the isil generated engine of foreign terrorism outside of syria and iraq still has a lot of momentum that we cannot rest at all and we have to increase efforts. I was struck after i gave that testimony, how a lot of members of the esteemed media were trying to highlight how my comments different from the white houses comments. I must tell you, i am hardpressed to think about where president obama and i differ on this issue, in terms of what we have been able to talk about with syria and iraq. At the same time, our concern about what this can bring to all theout the can bring to basis all of our communities either because the hand can reach that far and they have taken advantage of the openness of our society or because they are doing it via the internet. I think we share a similar view on the status of isils fortunes both inside the theater and in terms of what they can do in terms of external operations. Judy in the very back, with the hand up, thank you. Yes, you. Thank you. Mr. Brennan, you said in an interview yesterday that you would be very surprised if isis was not plotting an attack in the United States. Do you have credible evidence that such an attack is in the works and has the chance of such an attack gone up in recent months and weeks . Mr. Brennan what i was saying was that we have seen isil carry out and incite an array of terrorist attacks in the region, beyond the region, directly and indirectly. I would be surprised that isil is not considering carrying out these attacks in the near abroad or the far abroad. The United States is leading the coalition to destroy as much of this poison inside of syria and iraq as possible. It would be surprising to me that isil is not trying to hit us, both in the region as well as in the homeland. I think what you see in the propagation in their material, they have a magazine that goes out, it says exactly that. It exhorts individual to do it. If anybody here believes the u. S. Homeland is hermetically sealed and that daesh or isil would not consider that, i would not guard against that. Judy do you think we are more hermetically sealed, or more sealed than we were after 9 11 . Mr. Brennan absolutely. We have gone to Great Lengths and briefed foreign partners about how we learned some painful lessons as a result of 9 11. And so, the intelligence, Law Enforcement, homeland security, other communities are working better today than ever before. There is a tremendous volume of information and data that is out there. Some of it, accurate, so of it, bogus. Trying to make sense of it all and put the other pieces together is challenging. I think were less vulnerable to the penetration, but physical because of the actions taken. As we have seen with the internet as well as with isil taking advantage of technology that allows them to communicate in a very secure fashion, it is certainly worrisome. Judy second row, yes. Jim jim man, author. Johns hopkins. In your list of challenges, you did not mention china, though there are several areas like cyber, for example, where it might seem to fit in one way or another. Where does it fit into your list of challenges . Mr. Brennan as i said, i could have gone on and on about all of the challenges out there. It did not mention ukraine or a lot of issues related to russia. China is a growing power of great economic, political, and increasingly, military influence and presence. As we look at what is happening in the south china sea, there is a region for the United States to Pay Attention to what china is doing on a number of fronts, which we are. That is why the pivot asia or making sure that our allies and partners in that region know that we have not neglected that area. I was out in singapore at this rillashangrila conference. I was at a conference and met with the heads of Intelligence Services as a way to maintain dialogue and let them know the United States treats this region of the world very seriously, and we have important National Security interest we will not get away from. We need to keep our eye on all these balls simultaneously. This is not an effort to try to contain china but to ensure that our interests are protected in advance, as are the interest of allies in the region and we fulfill our obligations. Particularly in the area of navigation and the seas. Judy over here. Christine hello, christine vargas. Thank you being here today. Another one on iran. Given sanctions, we are seeing a challenge investing in iran because european banks are taking a look and saying the financial system, maybe i wont touch it. Given that dynamic, are you seeing the moderates in politics surviving until such time as those financial benefits come through, and what event could tip the scales one way or another . Thank you. Mr. Brennan we are going through a transition period from the time when enron was sanctioned across the board on and Financial Institutions and companies adapted to the framework they were prevented from engaging with iran. Now, we are positioning to the new environment in terms of what allowed under jcpoa. It is an adjustment that needs to be made and i know officials and others are working with the iranian as well as third parties to make sure what is permissible is understood and how these things can be done. That takes some time. Anytime youre going to make a major adjustment like that. Do i think the moderates will survive . Absolutely. I think the expectations among some in iran wants to be the agreement was signed they were quite high. And there will be immediate relief as well as immediate dividends as a result of this. There were some. I think there was a lot be that the iranian Central Government had to do in terms of structural and strategic macroeconomic issues. And so, the effect and impact on individual iranians is going to take place over time and we are very much hoping that that impact is going to be felt sooner than later as a way to validate the course that the president is on. This will take some time. Im sure some people may be frustrated by it. I know that our government is working to fulfill the obligations that are attended to the agreement. This is taking a bit of time. Judy the third row. Forgive me, and administrative question. Judy you have to give us your name and affiliation first. Years ago, i heard you say there was a need for more Language Training in the agency. I think im advanced in that direction because i think, around the world, i am encountering people, and they dont seem to speak the local language. You did say he wanted to do it, and i am just curious to know if it was done . Mr. Brennan we only let you encounter the people we want to let you encounter. [laughter] mr. Brennan we continue to hide our presence overseas. Mr. Brennan well, i go to many stations and to our folks overseas. They are proficient in a variety of languages. We have a language where we continue to provide incentives, rewards, recognition for individuals able to not just enhance their language but expand their repertoire of lang uages. It is something that is critically important. I take your point. We need to have greater language capabilities inside the cia. Given that we have Global Coverage that we need to fulfill, and the list of issues we need to deal with continues to grow and grow and grow, and resources are finite. We need to be able to spread them around. Having the language capability is going to give us the opportunity that we need in order to fulfill our various missions, particularly on the human front, it is important for you to be able to have the ability to interact with individuals you want to work closely with. Judy this gentleman in the fourth row right here in the aisle. Director Brendan Scott harold from the rand corporation. Thank you for all of your efforts. I wonder if you could come back to china. We had a new election in taiwan in january that process power, the tpp in taipei, there are signs that china is looking to make that relationship more old. More difficult to impose costs. I wonder if you could describe your sense of the growing threat from china to taiwan . Mr. Brennan i think under president xi jinping, putting new effects in the ground, as well as the relationship he wants with the country and others in the region. I think the relationship with taiwan and other regions is an important one. Whether or not there will be an adjustment in that, it will be dependent on how beijing views taiwan and vice versa. Given there is a new administration in taiwan and given that there is a rather important dynamic going on the region with how china is flexing some of its muscle, i think this also is in a period of transition. It is not a secret to anybody that i think Mainland China use that views china views taiwan in a very special way. It has aspirations to further solidify relations. I think this is all a part of that adjustment with new leadership. I think there is sometimes Campaign Rhetoric that takes place not just here but also overseas that once the reality of governance sets in, sometimes those views are tempered as far as the nature of interstate relations. I will leave it there. Judy lets see. How about in the middle back there in the blue shirt . George salem. My question concerns the 28 pages you have been on record about, your view of their relative lack of value. My question is timing of release and declassification whether they will also be released with the investigative report which puts it all in context . Mr. Brennan i am only the director of the cia, so i do not make decisions about the release of a congressional document and the joint inquiry made in 2002 that subsequently was followed up with the 9 11 commission that thoroughly investigated all of the allegations and information in the 28 or 29 pages. There is an executive branch responsibility because the document cited executive branch information. It has been said publicly there has been a review that has been underway, so there will be the appropriate discussions that need to take place between the executive and legislative branches to finalize. I believe it is important for that document to get out because there is so much conjecture about it. There are a lot of things in there that i think will be used by some to misrepresent the facts or history, but that is why the 9 11 commission thorough Research Investigation really should be seen by folks as a much more dispositive of it. There are some other documents that may come out at the same time, as you point out, but i defer to others who have that decisionmaking responsibility. Judy ok. Lets see. Trying to get to somebody, next to the last on the third and. You have had your hand up a long time. Yes. Simon henderson. The Washington Institute for near east policy. In todays washington post, we can get a passing reference. Mr. Brennan i did talk to David Ignatius prior to that. Is a reference to me. He did not imply you did. The headline on the online version is the 30yearold prince could jumpstart the kingdom or drive it off a cliff. What can the u. S. Do and what should it do to get a good outcome in saudi arabia . Mr. Brennan continue to work very closely with the saudi leadership and the saudi government. President obama has been there many times during his administration. We have constant interaction with the saudi government and the Political Economic Security Intelligence and military realms. We have very close alignment of objectives in some areas and need to continue to work with them. The saudi 2013 vision the saudi 2030 vision spearheaded by Prince Mohammed is an ambitious view of the future. I think the saudi leadership as a whole deserves credit for thinking about how saudi arabia will prosper in the future across a number of different areas in terms of development, investment, employment, diversification of its economy. It is a very, very important country to the regions ability, to u. S. National security interests, and so, what we are trying to do is make sure there is an active dialogue and an open and candid discussion. Between ourselves and saudi arabia. The president has engaged extensively and has been open and honest and candid. We want to Work Together because we agree, and there are areas where there are disagreements. I have been impressed the dialogue has been so candid. It is particularly important now because you have a new leadership. They need to be working as a team. They have a number of challenges on the security front, given what is going on inside of yemen, along the border and inside of other countries. It is a critically important relationship that we are going to continue to nurture and develop. Judy ok. This gentleman here, third in right here. Mohammed. Would you give us your assessment on whether your agency with egypt is upfront . Mr. Brennan we do cooperate with egyptians. We want to make sure we can do what we can to protect individuals inside of egypt and others. In sinai, there is an isil group there but it used to be a local group. That basically pledge allegiance to isil. This was a very active group for the sinai for a number of years and now it is part of the isis global architecture. Their responsibility for carrying out attacks against egyptian security, military there, they pose a threat to the Multinational Force observers inside the sinai. We work closely with egyptians and we try to give them the information we need to prevent these outrageous terrorist attacks from taking place. Whether it be in sinai or other areas. We also have close and open and candid conversations with egyptians and there are areas in which we believe egyptians need to step up their game in terms of their capabilities but also in terms of how they deal with some of these very challenging issues that crossed both the security and political realms. We do have an active engagement with egyptians. Judy all right, i think were out of time unless somebody has a very short question. Anybody volunteer . [laughter] mr. Brennan i knew that was going to happen. An old journalist kind of question. When do you start briefing donald trump and Hillary Clinton . [laughter] judy you took my question away. Mr. Brennan on these things, we always go one question too long. [laughter] mr. Brennan it is up to the president and the director of National Intelligence to make that offer as they have done the past, to candidates of the two principle Political Parties after they are formally nominated. The director of National Intelligence takes the lead on that. And so, the timing as well as the willingness and interest, of the candidates, it is something that will be determined as a result of engagements with their respective staffs. Judy you wont do that briefing personally, will you . Mr. Brennan i fulfill my cia responsibilities to the best of my abilities. If there is a need for me to be personally involved in this, i will try to carry out my response to these. [laughter] mr. Brennan if there is not a need, i will not. Judy please thank john brennan, the director of the Central Intelligence agency. [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. 2016] coming up on cspan, vice , themajor topic investigation into Hillary Clintons private email server when she was secretary of state and reactions to the meeting between bill clinton and loretta lynch. If there are no indictments, if she and her aides do not face action, is the meeting called into question . I