Well, i hope youll all join me in thanking ambassador cui. [applause] a live picture now from the new America Foundation here in washington. They host a discussion looking at the Obama Administration and the press, more specifically a new report by the committee to protect journalists which investigates press Freedom Conditions during the obama presidency. Leonard downie is the journalism professor at Arizona State university and former executive editor of the Washington Post to other speakers included Senior Correspondent for the Washington Post. This is live coverage on cspan2. It should start shortly. Hello, welcome in america. Im managing editor at new america which means i added the new digital magazine weekly walk. Im actually here to welcome you to this event. The Obama Administration and the press. If you havent had a chance to see this report, which i have come it made me want to rename the group that wrote it Community Protect sources. Its all about protecting sources but tho
I am thinking what is happening in washington is our own governments. President obama has played a next role in how he is asserting u. S. Leadership. We have talked about the importance of diplomacy. But in the way that it played out in the area, there is an element of coercive diplomacy. I would like you to comment with use of force in getting action and getting states to act under that make a difference in moving the parties along on this hearing . But more generally, i would like you to say a little bit more about what youre reading is of the u. S. Role. We have rising powers that are warning of a bigger voice and we did not talk about the u. N. Security reform and that is essentially a question for the Member States. But i would like you to comment a little bit about that being role in the United States. Please talk about that. Thank you, i appreciate you having me. I hope that im not disclosing too much of i say that be collective pose, it is in fact growing and it is possible tha
Last year, we declassified the basics of the u. S. Military pot cap towers and the u. S. Militarys counterterrorism activity in yemen and somalia. It was a long and difficult process to get there. Certain people in the white house persevered. We said publicly and officially what we were doing. As far as i can tell, the world has not come to an end. That event is available on our website, cspan. Org. President obama expected to johnson this afternoon. Leftover john cspan starts at 2 00 p. M. Eastern from the rose garden. Live coverage on cspan. The syrian envoy to the u. S. Will speak in washington at 11 00 eastern, we will have live coverage. For guys like us who have been in the game for a long time, we know that there are landmines and that you have to be careful about the way you manage these things. Issues to do with abortion in race, care of, israeli relations. In other countries, i have lived in other countries, they have their own bread lines to be aware of. What a cartoonist ca
Talk to them. G to that is of the way it should be. There is a link between the nsa program and others. There are government surveillance issues that have come up. Let me ask. The post had an exceptional story a few weeks ago about the effect of these leak investigations on the whistleblowers. It catalogued how, going up against the mechanisms of the United States government has one person, can destroy lives, even for those for whom the prosecution fell apart. Do you think these early prosecutions that did not seem pointed towards True National security information that would damage the United States were really done to make a point to say this is what can happen to him you . We do not know that. A previous director of the National Intelligence told a reporter on record that this was his intention, to get the Justice Department to prosecute people so that it would have a Chilling Effect on others. Could you talk about the Insider Threat program . I thought your discussion about that wa
Let me ask about an exceptional story a few weeks ago about the effect of the leak investigations on the whistleblowers. It cataloged about how the United States government against one person can destroy life even for those whom the prosecution fell apart and theyve been fined. The Intelligence Committee was looking at that. The intelligence at the beginning of the administration told the New York Times on the record this was his intention, to get the Justice Department to prosecute some people so it wouldnt have a Chilling Effect on the others. Could you talk a little bit about the Insider Threat program. I thought your discussion was exceptional. And you can imagine how the government would have some sort of a program after the disclosure that Chelsea Manning had taken the scope of the documents that she had. Just to get your arms around how it was being handled. It seems to have become something quite different. Yeah. Its the original president ial directive that set up the study th