And getting him the budget agreement. So now hes just getting across the finish line. You have to be able to work with democrats in the house and senate. Ryan. S a test for boehner said, the next 72 hours will be a good barometer for his skill level as speaker at this point. The congressional reporter from the associated press, thank you for being a part of newsmakers. She was such an authentic person. I always thought it was more to the story of lady bird than anybody i had covered. She became the first modern first lady. She had a big staff, she had an important project. She wrote her book as soon as she left the white house. She really invented the modern first lady. Tonight the historian discusses her book lady bird. She incorporates recently released pages of the former anst ladys diary giving important look at lady bird and lyndon johnson. Is ady bird johnson perfect example of the conclusion i came to which is that those women saw something in those men. The ambition, the opportunity to climb and make a mark on the world and they married them in spite of parental objection so she is a good example of that and that is why i decided i had to find out more about her. Q a. Night on cspans republican president ial candidate john k sick talked about Foreign Policy and International Allies of the u. S. And remarks at the council on Foreign Relations in new york city wednesday. After the speech, john kasich took questions on Foreign Policy and the usled coalition. [applause] good afternoon, im richard haas and i want to welcome everyone to the council on Foreign Relations. To those of you in the room or watching who may not know us we are an independent nonpartisan membership organization, think tank and publisher. Researchted to being a of nearly 5000 members for government officials, is this executives, educators, students and others to help them better understand the world and the Foreign Policy choices in these and other countries. Consistent with this mission we are making ourselves a resource for president ial candidates and their stabs as well as the American People in the runup to the 2016 election. Toward that end i had written to the democratic and republican candidates offering briefings as well as the opportunity for them to come here speak and take questions from our members. So fighter so far in new york or washington weve heard from marco rubio, jim webb, Hillary Christie thes governor of new jersey. Today were pleased and honored to host the governor of ohio john kasich. He has been a governor of ohio since 2011 and he previously served for 18 years as a member of congress from ohio. Beays conversation will conducted by john mikel fleet. Hes the editor and chief of Bloomberg News and was formerly the editor and chief of the economist. The scenario will be first from the governor who will give us his prepared remarks and afterwards he will take questions from mr. Mikel for weight and the governor has agreed to take questions from you council on Foreign Relations. Let me welcome you to the podium and the council on Foreign Relations. [applause] thank you. Normally, i would go off the cuff, but it is too much of a distinguished group to do that just kidding. It is great to be here at the council and to have a forum like this so i want to give you a comprehensive view of my view of the world. I would like to take a few minutes to describe my vision of what i view as the right way forward and secure our nations future. I do so with the fundamental recognition that policy security encompasses several broad areas. Necessaryconomy, the resources to secure our vital interests and the strategies which must be supported by new commitment to our allies and took revitalizing our Public Diplomacy. View it will my take broad bipartisan support to secure our national objectives. It is the same approach pursued by president reagan at the very onset. The communication revolution has created the interconnectedness that we enjoy today and it is ironic to consider the apparent contra diction of extremism. Contradiction of extremism. Patient negotiations played a central role in ending the cold war and it led to a long period of International Stability and i was there for much of it. Is both the soviet union and the western alliance wanted to stay alive. Today dont care if they or anybody else lives or dies and this is new and different for the civilized world. These opponents pose a challenge that does not limit itself to resolution bite negotiation. Resolution by negotiation. The dont want to occupy territories or cities, they want to defeat the west. There can be no further delay in the concerted effort required to defend ourselves and our allies and defeat the terrorist threat. I dont think anyone will disagree when i say or present policies and military posture are not adequate to meet the real threat that we face. Extremist groups like i. S. Are among the most pressing problems currently confronting us. Diplomatic negotiations to solve the Syrian Crisis are underway yet i am not convinced that the agreement being negotiated in vienna will be implemented on any realistic schedule. I think what is happening in vienna are empty and unrealistic promises. With isis having threatened to attack the u. S. Homeland, either we and our allies engaged out with our full capacity and determination or we will continue to be engaged at times and places at extreme levels of violence when we least expect it. We cannot wait. Instead of signaling that we will not become more deeply involved, we must stand ready to support france as i have called for initially to invoke article five of nato which would bring us together to help our or we wl continue to be engaged at times and places at extreme levels of violence when we least expect it. Allied friends. France did not go in that direction. They chose to invoke the eu National Defense act instead of nato because our position was made clear and it is disappointing. I agree with president hollande that the attacks were an active war by isis and therefore an attack on america and every other nato state. Aid after 9 11r and must be ready to do so again. We must tighten the security checks that africans for visas undergo to Work Together to that. About since we are a nation of laws, efforts to counter terrorists, criminals and spies can be done in a way that protects against civil liberties. The government must be able to monitor individuals it has reasonable cause to believe means us harm. Sometimes, especially with individuals off the radar enabling intelligence agencies to analyze data quickly could play an essential role in uncovering terrorist planning and networks. I do believe that the American People would support the capture and storage of this information for defense purposes provided that access will not be abused. We may need to reexamine the. Of time through which the data should be required to be held in storage, specifically for counterterrorism purposes. That review should look into it i can criteria for access to the data and strong sanctions should follow if there is any abuse. We need to intensify International Intelligence by identifying, exchanging information, tracking and helping to arrest thousands of those currently fighting with isis. A number of home returned to their home countries to commit atrocities such as those witnesses in paris. We also need to ensure that our joint Terrorism Task force and personnel have the resources they need to track potential domestic terrorists. We need to understand the effectiveness of our joint Terrorism Task forces. Run by the fbi and comprised of local law enforcement. We should provide far more support to the kurds in syria and iraq. Theyre one of the few groups friendly to us that really has demonstrated they know had to take the fight to isis. We must arm them much more effectively than we have. Turkey of course has legitimate concerns about arming the kurds. To work to address president erdogans concerns even as we insist on addressing a threat to the final interest of america and the world. In other words, we have to come to terms with erdogan when it comes to the ultimate resolution of the kurdish issue. Must create safe havens protected by nofly zones in syria. I first called for nofly zones early last month. The sanctuary should be located on the turkish and jordanian borders and our jordanian and kurdish allies could provide protection on the ground while the United States provides protection from the air. Somebody asked me, in regard to russia, if they were to fly into a nofly zone, an amateur what answer one way, if they flew in the first time i would let them fly out. If they flew in the second time there would not be any plane leaving the nofly zone. Thanks to mike 18 years on the House Armed Services committee i knew many months ago that the only way to solve this problem was to call for an International Coalition to defeat isis in syria and iraq. Allies ton with our organize an International Coalition to defeat isis on the ground and to deny them the territory that they need to survive. Those with long experience know that an air campaign on its own is simply not enough. The morer we wait difficult it will be and the more costly it will be in many different ways. Mark my words. We will all be on the ground sooner or later. Sooner is better than later. The loss of life and the delay will be greater in the mission will be more difficult. We need to make it clear to our european allies that just sending some people to drop bombs is not going to solve their problem in their homeland or our ability as a civilized world to defeat isis. To sustain the gains that such coalition makes by defeating isis on the ground we have to win the war of ideas. U. S. Public diplomacy and International Broadcasting have lost their focus on making the case for the ideas of the civilized world which means the and civilized life, respect for women and the rule of law these ideas are more powerful then our own policynda and are public efforts must be consolidated and reorganize fundamentally to defeat their extremist ideology. A newot recommending department or expanded government, im recommending we take institutions like voice of america, or radio liberty. So many of the committee cases tools we use in the cold war to tell the truth. Today its not just about a radio broadcast, its about everything. A social media effort. All designed to tell the world that life is greater than your own life. There is respect for women and equality for women and the right to protest and the right to free speech. These are things that i believe rest in the hearts of all human beings. Sometimes they are overwhelmed by the propaganda of those intent on killing us and give broadcasting to those confused or who have been propagandized through other life. Ideas, to win the war of at the same time that we win the battle of bullets. The challenges proposed by isis in syria and iraq is a symptom of the greater weakness. Afraid to do so today for fear possibly offending someone. A great nation that walks with the earth. Its a nation that cannot lead. Particularly when that leadership is indispensable to the world. Others and some who may harbor unfriend unfriendly views our failure to act against isis in places such as syria and iraq, and let me add, ukraine our weaknesses. The administrations desire for a Nuclear Agreement with iran at any other cost is an example. A report of the iaea which did not receive full cooperation and information on possible military dimensions of Irans Nuclear program. It states that the military related were continued in iran as latest 2009. Ofiran and iraq, the lack cooperation with i8 ea does not bode well for future agreements. The administration should review and reassess the agreement. We should be prepared to act immediately in concert with our allies in the event that iran violates the agreement. The president of the United States not to be preparing with our allies in europe for the possibility that we will not delay in imposing sanctions. Without that work being done, i tell you what i fear money will be the order of the day and we will be forced to act unilaterally. It would not allow us to be as effective as if we act in concert with our allies. I believe that weakness invites challenge in the kind of opposition we have seen from nations do not share our values. I invading georgia, annexing crimea, propping up assad, monitoring provocative air and sea patrols. An baseian and belarus structure once again becomes a threat to european security. Russia does not respect territorial order and the rule of law. Those are basic norms of International Relations and russias failure to respect them is not compatible with constructive relations with the west. We should Work Together with our european allies which includes training and Arming Ukrainian forces with the weapons they have requested repeatedly which congress has already approved. Ensuring that what is provided is actually in working condition, not a heavily used castoff. It also means focusing on the new nato Member States such as poland, latvia, lithuania, estonia. We must focus on equipping them to achieve interoperability. Repositioning existing u. S. Forces in europe near there is borders, increasing cooperation with nonnato finland and sweden with building a new strong integrated Defense System to cover natos eastern edge. I welcome the fact that montenegrin will soon join as the 20th member state to develop an exercise contingency plans for dealing with future ruffin russian provocations. Thing asther is such a a little green men or volunteers. In the future, any such combatants must be treated as what they are witches and attacking russian army. If they reappear, i would strengthen u. S. Forces in europe and around the world to enable timely intervention in support of our friends and allies. Even while russias Actions Force us to take tough measures to strengthen ourselves and our allies, i would encourage the door to negotiations remain open. Peace through strength has become our touchstone and our president and great general as anower adopted them essential message of our president ial campaign and it was a central part of president reagans campaign in 1980 and he acted on in office. Withconfident that talking our allies in russia and america can create the conditions to build a new Security Architecture that accommodates the interests of all. To achieve this we dont need another failed reset but a clear and credible statement of how we will respond to further russian aggression. All of this should apply to our relationship with russia as well. Lack of clarity we are shown is no different from that have demonstrated toward china. The chinese efforts to steak and outrageous claim to control the entire South China Sea and its seabed resources to which it is clearly not entitled are stark violations of International Rules and norms. These are efforts by china to oley neighbors and because of those efforts we must now stand firm in support of our Pacific Basin allies who may be threatened by chinas moves. Were working closely with regional allies specifically to increase our military presence if only to ensure that the freedom of navigation for the 5. 3 trillion in annual trade that currently passes through those sea lanes. When initiative would be to deploy our commander in guam. Green corps units in the western pacific. We should increase joint allied western pacific freedom with patrols, submarine controls and Amphibious Landing exercises. Is strong elation ship essential to safeguarding the vast pacific waters. We should support our japanese allies as they defend territorial waters and the number of things we can do. Mine laying equipment, enhanced seabed acoustic systems in dealing with the ever present Nuclear Threat imposed by north work will stop i would with the republic of korea, japan, and other regional allies to have joint counter the activities and build joint ballistic fences. We dont seek confrontation with china, but why would we . For justwe should forge Innovative Solutions and institutions that respect and accommodate the National Security interests of every pacific nation. Leadership from the front has not been a priority for the obama administration. Grownhe military we have our alliances have grown weak and afraid. Nations sorelyur neglected military from the bottom up i dont mean we should fulfill every military services socalled wish list the threats we face suggest that we build corresponding capabilities and never become inferior to literally. What it really means is that we build what we need based on the threat that we have. Pork,is no room for logrolling or using the Defense Budget is a jobs program. Build what we need to meet the threat that we have here in the 21st century. Be careful about how we spend military dollars especially weapon systems. Costed to reward on target estimates and insist on prototyping providing incentives for contractors come in ahead of schedule and under budget. Commercial offtheshelf Technology Needs to be used and establish tough criteria for costly designed changes. I served in the Defense Committee for 18 years and i was involved in many massive reforms. Procurement reform, Goldwater Nichols to get the services to Work Together, and powering Combatant Commanders to have a say. Has to be reformed. After some who runs that building and brings a team and that is not total tough so the bureaucracy will run the other way and not too is he so they can be run over. Somebody that can get it done right with the president who constantly looks over at that building. Any of the dollars that we waste our dollars that are not going to support our men and women in the military. Can we fix it . I dont think so. Can we improve the building . No question. We need to do it at a time and we have a significant increase in the amount of dollars we put interNational Defense. Reagan came into office with a clear understanding and instituted a program of National Defense and military finalization duties to provide for our defense is even now. As i have noted we need to build a strong Bipartisan Team to implement his innovative policies. We have to do that again and we have to think about what the future is. Also proposed an economic revival plan that will provide the growth we need to be strong economically and militarily. My plan will balance our legit as i have alans federal budget of the United States working with some of my colleagues and i balance the budget in ohio for the last five years. We cannot keep adding to our National Debt particularly when other countries own or are paying our bills. We lose our leverage. That theggest to you dysfunction we see in washington , the inability to solve problems, what kind of a message do you think that sends to the world. It sends a message at home that we dont think we can get anything done and a message of what is happening to america. Partisanship and self interest has to be overcome. Can it be . Absolutely. With the right leader, leaders committed a message. You about you know what have to do, even though you dont want to do it. But we are going to do it together to solve our problems and rebuild our economy strengthening the United States of america. Also anately, there are new dimensions that have been added to the threats to our National Security and one on our doorstep today is a large and growing threat to our Information Security called the cyber threat. Billion in estimated cost of cybercrime to the u. S. Economy they are hacking everything. From our companies to our banks to our government. In the scale of industrial problems this causes we need to make Cyber Defense in International Component of our strategy. Mustering thinner defenses and prepare to recover nimbly from such attacks as they occur and to respond swiftly and decisively to the defined attackers. Im told we do have the technology located in the nsa. We just dont have a policy or a direction. We not only need to defend against these attacks, but we need to make it clear that we have the ability to identify and destroy those systems attacking the United States. Technologyion increasingly available poses a growing challenge to our nations defense. The next generation of easytouse encryption is rapidly approaching. Let me just explain, we knew of four or more individuals whom our Security Team had been watching. Workple in San Bernardino on indicating with those people. Strong encryption, we did not detect it. In the case of San Bernardino, there were some red flags, people building an arsenal, neighbors who might have suspected something. We need to watch and we need to report. Record but when people can use Encryption Technology to avoid detection has to be solved. The minute you begin to solve the encryption problem by giving our Security Officials the ability to get in a backdoor, it opens the possibility for criminals to be able to use that exploit accesso to the encrypted technology. So, what do you do . You sit down with people in the technology community, the intelligence community, the legislative community, and you fix it. There is not a single problem that we see that cannot be fixed if we get smart people in a room with good intentions. You can fix it. Ive seen things fixed in washington of which ive been a part, balancing budgets, changing welfare, reforming entitlements. And in ohio, a move from a loss of 350,000 jobs, an 8 billion hole, to the growth of jobs and a surplus how does he get done . How does it get done . Smart people solving problems. After 9 11, i was invited to a meeting with secretary rumsfeld. Because of our lagging technology, it was suggested we bring civil can we bring people from Silicon Valley to help. Be a person toto lead the best and the brightest from Silicon Valley to deal with our problems, and they were there to help. But as Congress Moves to put more rules and regulations that smartest and best in our and relations, then our smartest and best in our society say i dont want to be involved anymore. Lets use our common sense to solve vexing problems in technology and restructuring government. Ur intelligence agencies must have the ability to monitor foreigners who we believe to be potential security threats. We must intensify International Intelligence cooperation. Relationships with our allies will be critical to all we do. Friends in europe have been ignored. Charlie, with one Million People standing in the town square in paris, the United States did not see fit to send a major official to mourn with the people of france it is inexplicable. Nd allies like israel the Prime Minister of israel comes to United States and i am president , he will have a meeting. Maybe we wont have 50 cameras there, but we are not going to disrespect our ally. Our most meaningful Alliance Relationships are not just based on common interests, but they are rooted as well in shared universal values, respect for human life, freedom of thought, and religion, and the right of every person to have a chance to learn, grow, and achieve. These values have guided our civilization for centuries. They are enshrined in our magna carta, the constitution, and in the constitutions of so many other nations around the world, as well as in the universal declaration of human rights. Some consider it is somehow politically incorrect to call america exceptional. Along with most americans in the political mainstream, i dont believe i know america is exceptional, and i wont equivocate on the matter. It is rather simply a statement of the obvious. We are exceptional because of our uniqueness. America is not a language for ethnic group or religion. It is a melting pot of every group of people in the world. Tocqueville recognized this. Niqueness as he wrote, sometimes we argue. We can argue. Thats part of the normal perhaps even, demanded for part of any vibrant democracy. That we have internal disagreements is part of how our system is designed to work, but disagreement is a hallmark of freedom. But at all times throughout our history, we united the nation and we come together in common cause. We are so much stronger when we come together. Republicans and democrats, liberals and conservatives, independents together. We stand together. And with unity, we have power and confidence to believe we are, in such a time today. A lot of the changes im talking some of them are large, unleashing the economy, strengthening our military and alliances, engaging our adversaries, and if all else fails being willing to project force decisively. Im confident we can do it. I know we can do it. Americas National TripNational Security transcends partisanship. Weve done it before. Our power is in our people. We should use that power to keep our people safe. Our willingness to strive together, to sacrifice together, to serve one another those are our essential strengths. Wekeep americas strength, will forge a new consensus around a realistic and sustainable vision for our future, National Security, and the tools with which to implement it our future National Security and the tools with which to implement it. Thanks for your attention. I will stand for a few questions. [applause] thank you, governor. I will ask you one question to do with news at the moment. Trumpd not mention donald s answer to National Security to ban all muslim immigrants. Is it beneath contempt, or is it something that moderate, pragmatic republicans like you should take on headon . Kasich i have been attacking Donald Trumps ideas that divide this country for a very long time, and im glad to provide a little bit of cover for those who are beginning to wake up who are running for president , whether it is his plans to attack hispanics, muslims, databases, insults to to make funr as of a reporter with a disability. This is not what leads to a strong america. I mean, and now, this latest declaration look, people dont buy this. There may be a few, but this doesnt represent what we are. Think an kasich when you are American Idol weve never been strong by focusing on things that are designed to divide us. Ive been encouraged here by the number of moderate muslims who have come out. Theyve said their religion has been hijacked. They have condemned aggressively all over the world. Bernard lewis wrote a great book where he talked about the need. Or islam to reclaim itself out with a, you came passionate and detailed recent to put boots on the ground in syria. Kasich and amr. Iraq. What would happen when you came up against Russian Troops . N the ground mr. Kasich there can be times when we Work Together for a common purpose. But we cant let other people inbreedinginbreedin our friends in Eastern Europe our friends in Eastern Europe. If you look at the number of isisinspired attacks throughout europe, we hear about some of them. There are so many we dont really see because some are larger than others. This is an attack on all of us. These are not going to go away. Whether it is who would have dreamt we would see what we are seeing in brussels . Its everywhere. There are two ways to deal with it. You have to do go to where the problem you have to go to where the problem is. You dont have to lecture, but you have to talk to Prime Ministers and leaders of countries to Prime Ministers and leaders of countries. Merica needs to lead when we are not leading, they are not going. When we lead, we can convince them. I remember in the first gulf war think about this. The first goagulf war was nothing more than saddam invading kuwait. I remember when the egyptian ambassador to the United States stood in the rose garden and pledged our support. We are talking about an abodental x essential ut an existential threat to everybody. Egypt . You think about i think it is possible to put a coalition together if we lead, and the people can count on us. The red line was devastating to us. Airpower important. But if you are not on the ground, it is not going to work. In syria a lot of this is what should we have been doing. We should have been supporting rebel forces early on. I believe we ought to continue to support rebel forces. Has to go. Ssad clearly, the president thinks his policies are working. You think you could sell that policy in toledo as well as riyadh . Mr. Kasich no doubt. I have been talking about this since last february. This is nothing new. Leaders that run on the basis of polls are not leaders. Dont we have enough of focus groups and i will put my finger in the air when i was governor of ohio, the first year, we were devastated. At the end of my first year, i was the most unpopular governor in the country, but i won 86 out of 88 counties when people saw the results. We want leadership. You got to be smart about it. Youve got to have the right tone. Youve got to know how to encourage people, put your arm around them. You need to be the one out there doing the leading. Across the country, im told more and more people understand this threat. People want this dealt with. Is there any part of Barack Obamas current policy that you admire and would want to keep . I think he has done a few things, like sending naval sea. S into the china that would be one thing that stands out. It was not enough. I dont spend all my time adding up the things i disagree with the president on. He has a different view of the world than i do. I dont know if he said it, but he thinks we should lead from behind. Thats a new way in the 21st century to lead from behind. He has a different view. He thinks that america leading is negative. I think that American Leadership is frankly indispensable to world peace and our ability to deal with this problem, as it has been accelerating. Lets get questions. Two brief, pointed questions. You mentioned donald trump. Yesterday, tom ridge said if trump was nominated, he would not support or vote for him. How about you . If nominated, will you support or vote for him . The defense establishment has said that Climate Change is a National Security problem. Do you believe in it . Do you take it seriously . Do you think it is a National Security problem . Kasich right after the attacks in paris, the president says we are going to fight terrorism by doing Climate Change. I never understood that at all. Secondly, do i believe that human beings affect the client . I do. The degree to which, im not sure. Neither is anybody else. Imposing willynilly goals and rules that may not even be able to be achieved, while displacing people in the workplace, is not my idea of how you would handle this issue. Renewables,er in but i believe in the whole series of energy resources, and i think they need to be exploited. Secondly, in terms of trump, i signed a pledge. Thats why you have to be careful with pledges you sign. Support that i would the republican nominee. Is it possible to change your mind . It would take something extreme to do it. I will tell you, sir, there is no way the donald trump is going to be president. I dont even take it seriously. He is not going to win. Its not going to happen. Maybe we could all learn a little lesson from all of this. Thank you. , over 300t 10 years americans have been killed by terrorism. Period,ame paper over 300,000 americans have died from gun violence. Would you support a ban on assault weapons . Would you support closing the loophole on gun shows . And would you support a ban on weapons availability to those who are on the nofly list . Mr. Kasich let me say one thing about the nofly list. We stopped people in ohio who are on the nofly list im sorry, the terrorism watchlist. The one thing we dont want to do we want to make sure we know what they are doing. We want to follow them and understand it. And when you look at the nofly list, my concern with the nofly list is you could be on the nofly list. We ought to make sure the people who are on that list are people who should not fly on airplanes. And if we determine that they shouldnt be on airplanes, i think if they have some due process, i dont think they should be able to purchase firearms. Let me also tell you, if you take guns away from all of the lawabiding people, bad people will still have guns, and we wont. I have two 16yearold daughters and a beautiful wife, and i want to be able to defend myself if somebody is going to do harm. Forget about the terrorism side. Talk about the mass shooting side. Most of the mass shooters come from broken families, from neighborhoods that have fallen apart. We wonder where are the siblings, where are the fathers, what are we doing on Mental Illness . I have an Extensive Program in ohio on emergency beds and treating the mentally ill, but we need to look deeper as to some of the causes of what happens here. When people are isolated, mentally ill, feel as though their lives have no meaning, they can do really crazy things to harm others. I think we need to go deeper on the gun debate than just the guns and get to the root cause of whats happening in our society and what is it we are not doing to strengthen families, to strengthen neighborhoods, to be in a position to deal with the really serious problem of Mental Illness. Under the question another question. The man in the white. Can you identify yourself , please . If mr. Trump invites you to join the ticket as Vice President , will you refuse . Mr. Kasich i am not running for Vice President on any ticket. I have the secondbest job in america, governor of ohio. Vice be thinking about president. It aint going to happen. Because i think i can win. We know New Hampshire is going to be important to us. Just keep your eyes on the ball. We will see what happens here. Can i ask a question on that . In terms of the way you look to Foreign Policy, what sort of people would you want to bring in . Who would you see as the gurus of Foreign Policy to you . Mr. Kasich what ive learned for the many years dealing with the National Security issues is you want to get kinds of groups of people. You want your traditional military people and those who think differently. Theres always been a struggle between those who believe in the traditional military operations and those who have spent more time in things like special forces. You want to have a divergence of opinions between your traditionalists and those who are not traditionalists. And this ancient hold true in the civilian advisers and the same should hold true in the civilian advisers. Richard allen is just terrific, former National Security advisor of president reagan. I asked one person with a long record in the cia if they thought the cia was capable of targeting you remember when we launched a drone strike and we hit the wrong target. This person who served a long time in the cia said i dont think the cia is great at targeting. I think this is something that ought to be done inside of the pentagon. I like that guy, because i like to hear divergent opinions about how to do things. You want a variety of opinions. One when ittrue comes to how many forces are on the ground it is not the job of the president to determine troop levels. Its the job of the commanderinchief to decide we are going to go, give me a program, give me two or three s sit downnd let and discuss the alternatives. So much of what we do in the president ial Campaign Today is i have to give you a slick, little answer. When we talk about the problems of the nofly list or the problem of encryption or cyber warfare, these things dont lend themselves to some little soundbite. It requires smart people with good intentions, intellectually honest in solving problems. If i find somebody that i work with that doesnt operate that. Ay, i dont keep them involved most people want to contribute to something greater than themselves. Thats kind of the way i would do it. From austin,im texas. Im an investor. Could you expound further on what you would do with israel . Mr. Kasich isnt it true that sometimes we are tougher on our families than we are on people that we know . The same is true sometimes in International Relations we are tougher on our friends than our enemies. Israel is our great ally. If i have anything to say to them as president that i dont like that they are doing, im going to do it in a back room somewhere where no one else can hear me. Im not going to do it with a bank of Television Cameras to embarrass our friends. Frankly, i dont know what all the big discussion is about israel. They are a great ally. Their existence is in question almost every day. I was somewhere, somebody said, well what are you going to do about the Peace Process . When you have to go from saudi arabia and fly the egypt in r to get to israel if you are in saudi arabia, you cant even find israel on a map. Why dont we recognize their right to exist question mark until that happens, why do we undermine them to exist . Until that happens, why do we undermine them . In regard to israel, visavis the problems there, there are no final answers. The approach, to me, in the middle east with regard to getel, is how do we stability . There is no single simple resolution to the challenge that we have there, but we cant forget they are our great friends. Turkeys relationship with israel do you think you could use turkey and still retain israel as an ally . Mr. Kasich i believe that turkey is a critical country. We had a conversation in the back about the one in the back about erdogan, and i wonder where he is. I watch his interviews. I dont think about politics. I think about sitting in a chair across from him. I think the eu made a big mistake when they refused to allow turkey to be part of their economic program. Turkey needs to be pulled to the west. They dont need to be they could be a bridge to the middle east. People have told me that erdogan, who i guess spoke here i saw his picture on the wall here. He is a tough character. Some people have said the russian plane went in briefly, they shouldnt have shot it down. I dont know what the truth is for sure. But when somebody invades your airspace and you take action, you dont apologize to the country that invaded the airspace. It seems to me as though we should have been saying to the turks, they entered your airspace. We support you. The economics to turkey may be a way to be able to get there. We are going to have to deal with turkey when it comes to longterm resolution of the kurdish issue. The turks live in total fear of an independent kurdistan. The kurds are going to have to have some place, maybe a confederation, i dont know. But we are going to have to think about and about it and work with erdogan. I want to understand what we can do to move them our way. I think it is vital. There is a long history of turkish and israeli good, positive relationships. I dont think one precludes the other. I think Public Diplomacy has been at an alltime low. I believe around the world not only should we have a military and general jones, a former commander of nato and former head of the marine corps, has said, look, we need military, we need diplomatic, and let me tell you, you are an investor from texas. We need to have our business friends and partners around the world having something to say also. I know some of the that runs a Major Oil Company that i think knows more about putin than the entire state department. We need to be able to listen. They are americans and they have a lot to say. Public diplomacy i have friends in columbus, ohio, who have opened the company in turkey. In turkey. Company it would be interesting to hear what they have to say. I would work aggressively to try to bring the turks toward the west. Governor, you made your mark in washington on the federal budget as somebody who knows it inside and out. Could you explore a bit with us the financial implications of your foreignpolicy vision . And on the nonmilitary hardware side, do you see the investments we make in diplomacy, in the state department, in International Developed aid, in things like the younger president bushs health care initiatives, etc. , u. N. Peacekeeping to africa is this something we need to expand along with the defense spending for the future, or is this where we have to economize in order to keep our budgets in balance . Mr. Kasich in a nutshell i think it is very quickly. I get a budget that gets us to balance in eight years, but are not promising you flat taxes and no irs. Come on, folks. Lets grow up. Lets be real about whats going to happen. I would bring the top rate down to 28 . I would have a simplified system. And an increase in the earned income tax credit, so people at the bottom have an incentive to work. In the corporate world, i would bring the corporate rate down to 25 , have expensing in one year, accelerate deceleration. Bring all your money back from europe. Tax. 6 after that, no more double taxation. That would provide about onepoint in economic about growth. T in economic i would move welfare, job training, transportation, and medicaid out of washington, into the states, with greater flexibility, with some guardrails. Then i would increase defense spending by 100 billion. I would freeze all federal regulations for one year, except for health and safety, and make a real effort to reduce our overregulated society. That adds up to about 3. 9 growth, which would get us to a i think itdget would be much sooner than what we expect. The agency for International Developed was supposed to take people from developing to developed. In history of their existence, no one has ever gone from developing to developed. I think our foreign aid leaves a lot to be desired. In 1998 or 99, i was the guy who hill and to capitol worked with, believe it or not, andkennedy and jesse helms Ronald Reagan and Pat Robertson to pass the first debt relief measure. Why . Because when our bombers fly over an african village and the men are shaking their fists, i want the women to say, the United States vaccinated my children. Is important. Diplomacy is critically important