English subtitles for clip: File:08-20-2012 - President Obama Holds a News Conference.webm

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Mr. Carney:
Looks like there's a
surprise guest here.

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The President:
Jay tells me that you
guys have been missing me.

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(laughter)

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So I thought I'd come
by and just say hello.

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Before I take some questions,
let me just mention,

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since Medicare has been a
little bit in the news lately,

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I thought it would be useful to
start with some actual facts and

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news about the program.

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Today, HHS announced that thanks
to the health care law that we

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passed, nearly 5.4 million
seniors with Medicare have saved

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over $4.1 billion on
prescription drugs.

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That's an average savings of
more than $700 per person.

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This year alone, 18 million
seniors with Medicare have taken

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advantage of new preventive care
benefits like a mammogram or

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other cancer screening
at no extra cost.

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These are big deals
for a lot of Americans,

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and it represents two important
ways that the improvements we

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made as part of the Affordable
Care Act has strengthened

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Medicare and helped seniors
everywhere get better care

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at less cost.

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That's been our goal
from the very beginning,

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and I'm going to continue to do
everything I can to make sure

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that we keep our seniors healthy
and the American people healthy.

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So with that, let me start
off with Jim Kuhnhenn.

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The Press:
Thank you, Mr. President.

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Thank you for being here.

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You're no doubt aware of the
comments that the Missouri

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Senate candidate,
Republican Todd Akin,

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made on rape and abortion.

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I wondered if you think those
views represent the views of the

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Republican Party in general.

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They've been denounced by your
own rival and other Republicans.

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Are they an outlier or
are they representative?

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The President:
Well, let me, first of all,
say the views expressed

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were offensive.

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Rape is rape.

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And the idea that we should
be parsing and qualifying and

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slicing what types of rape we're
talking about doesn't make sense

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to the American people
and certainly doesn't make

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sense to me.

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So what I think these comments
do underscore is why we

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shouldn't have a
bunch of politicians,

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a majority of whom are men,
making health care decisions on

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behalf of women.

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And so, although these
particular comments have led

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Governor Romney and other
Republicans to distance

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themselves, I think the
underlying notion that we should

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be making decisions on behalf
of women for their health care

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decisions -- or qualifying
forcible rape versus

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non-forcible rape -- I think
those are broader issues,

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and that is a significant
difference in approach between

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me and the other party.

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But I don't think that they
would agree with the Senator

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from Missouri in terms
of his statement,

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which was way out there.

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The Press:
Should he drop out of the race?

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The President:
He was nominated by the
Republicans in Missouri.

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I'll let them sort that out.

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Nancy Cordes.

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The Press:
Yes, Mr. President, thank you.

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As you know, your opponent
recently accused you of waging a

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campaign filled with
"anger and hate."

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And you told Entertainment
Tonight that anyone who attends

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your rallies can see that
they're not angry- or

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hate-filled affairs.

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But in recent weeks, your
campaign has suggested

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repeatedly, without proof,
that Mr. Romney might be hiding

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something in his tax returns.

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They have suggested that Mr.
Romney might be a felon for

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the way that he handed
over power of Bain Capital.

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And your campaign and the White
House have declined to condemn

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an ad by one of your top
supporters that links Mr. Romney

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to a woman's death from cancer.

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Are you comfortable with
the tone that's being set by

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your campaign?

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Have you asked them to change
their tone when it comes to

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defining Mr. Romney?

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The President:
Well, first of all, I'm not sure
all those characterizations that

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you laid out there
were accurate.

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For example, nobody accused
Mr. Romney of being a felon.

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And I think that what
is absolutely true is,

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if you watch me on
the campaign trail,

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here's what I'm talking about.

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I'm talking about how we
put Americans back to work.

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And there are sharp differences
between myself and Mr. Romney in

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terms of how we would do that.

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He thinks that if we roll
back Wall Street reform,

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roll back the
Affordable Care Act --

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otherwise known
affectionately as Obamacare --

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that somehow people are
going to be better off.

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I think that if we are putting
teachers back to work and

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rebuilding America and reducing
our deficit in a balanced way,

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that's how you put
people back to work.

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That is a substantive
difference.

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That's what I talk
about on the campaign.

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When it comes to taxes, Governor
Romney thinks that we should be

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cutting taxes by
another $5 trillion,

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and folks like me would benefit
disproportionately from that.

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I think that it makes a lot
more sense and have put out a

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detailed plan for a balanced
approach that combines tough

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spending cuts with
asking people like me --

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millionaires and billionaires
-- to do a little bit more.

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That's a substantive
difference in this campaign.

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Whether it's on wind energy, or
how we would approach funding

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education, those are the topics
that we're spending a lot of

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time talking about
in the campaign.

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Now, if you look at the overall
trajectory of our campaign and

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the ads that I've approved and
are produced by my campaign,

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you'll see that we point out
sharp differences between the

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candidates, but we
don't go out of bounds.

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And when it comes
to releasing taxes,

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that's a precedent that
was set decades ago,

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including by Governor
Romney's father.

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And for us to say that it
makes sense to release your tax

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returns, as I did, as John
McCain did, as Bill Clinton did,

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as the two President Bushes did,
I don't think is in any way

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out of bounds.

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I think that is what the
American people would rightly

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expect -- is a sense that,
particularly when we're going to

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be having a huge debate about
how we reform our tax code and

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how we pay for the
government that we need,

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I think people want to know that
everybody has been playing by

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the same rules, including people
who are seeking the highest

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office in the land.

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This is not an entitlement,
being President of the

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United States.

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This is a privilege.

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And we've got to put ourselves
before the American people to

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make our case.

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The Press:
Well, why not send a message
to the top super PAC that's

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supporting you and say, I
think an ad like that is

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out of bounds?

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We shouldn't be
suggesting that --

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The President:
So let's take that particular
issue, as opposed to --

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because you lumped in a whole
bunch of other stuff that I

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think was entirely legitimate.

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I don't think that Governor
Romney is somehow responsible

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for the death of the woman
that was portrayed in that ad.

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But keep in mind this is an
ad that I didn't approve,

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I did not produce, and as far
as I can tell, has barely run.

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I think it ran once.

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Now, in contrast, you've got
Governor Romney creating as a

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centerpiece of his campaign this
notion that we're taking the

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work requirement out of welfare,
which every single person here

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who's looked at it
says is patently false.

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What he's arguing is somehow
we have changed the welfare

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requirement -- the work
requirement in our welfare laws.

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And, in fact, what's happened
was that my administration,

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responding to the requests
of five governors,

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including two
Republican governors,

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agreed to approve giving
them, those states,

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some flexibility in how they
manage their welfare rolls as

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long as it produced 20%
increases in the number of

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people who are getting work.

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So, in other words, we would
potentially give states more

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flexibility to put more
people back to work,

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not to take them off the work
requirement under welfare.

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Everybody who has looked at this
says what Governor Romney is

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saying is absolutely wrong.

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Not only are his super PACs
running millions of dollars'

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worth of ads making this claim;
Governor Romney himself is

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approving this and
saying it on the stump.

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So the contrast I
think is pretty stark.

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They can run the
campaign that they want,

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but the truth of the matter is
you can't just make stuff up.

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That's one thing you learn as
President of the United States.

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You get called into account.

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And I feel very comfortable with
the fact that when you look at

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the campaign we're running, we
are focused on the issues and

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the differences that matter
to working families all

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across America.

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And that's exactly the
kind of debate the American

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people deserve.

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Jake Tapper.

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The Press:
Mr. President, a
couple questions.

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One, I'm wondering if you could
comment on the recent spate of

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green-on-blue incidents
in Afghanistan,

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what is being done about it, why
your commanders tell you they

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think that there has been an
uptick in this kind of violence;

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and second, with the economy and
unemployment still the focus of

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so many Americans, what they can
expect in the next couple months

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out of Washington, if anything,
when it comes to any attempt to

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bring some more economic
growth to the country.

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The President:
On Afghanistan, obviously we've
been watching with deep concern

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these so-called
green-on-blue attacks,

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where you have
Afghan individuals,

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some of whom are actually
enrolled in the Afghan military,

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some in some cases dressing up
as Afghan military or police,

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attacking coalition forces,
including our own troops.

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I just spoke today
to Marty Dempsey,

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the Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff,

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who happens to be
in Afghanistan.

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He is having intensive
consultations not only with our

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commander, John
Allen, on the ground,

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but also with
Afghan counterparts.

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And I'll be reaching out to
President Karzai as well --

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because we've got to make sure
that we're on top of this.

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We are already doing
a range of things,

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and we're seeing some success
when it comes to better

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counterintelligence, making sure
that the vetting process for

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Afghan troops is stronger.

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And we've got what's called
the Guardian Angel program,

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to make sure that our troops
aren't in isolated situations

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that might make them
more vulnerable.

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But obviously we're
going to have to do more,

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because there has been an uptick
over the last 12 months on this.

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Part of what's taking place is
we are transitioning to Afghan

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security, and for us to
train them effectively,

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we are in much closer contact
-- our troops are in much closer

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contact with Afghan troops
on an ongoing basis.

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And part of what we've got to do
is to make sure that this model

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works but it doesn't make
our guys more vulnerable.

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In the long term, we will
see fewer U.S. casualties and

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coalition casualties by sticking
to our transition plan and

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making sure that we've got the
most effective Afghan security

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force possible.

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But we've got to do it in a
way that doesn't leave our

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guys vulnerable.

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So we are deeply concerned
about this from top to bottom.

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And hopefully, over
the next several weeks,

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we'll start seeing better
progress on this front.

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In terms of the economy, I would
love to say that when Congress

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comes back -- they've got a week
or 10 days before they go out

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and start campaigning again --
that we're going to see a flurry

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of action.

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I can't guarantee that.

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I do think that there's some
specific things they could do

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that would make
a big difference.

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I'll give you a
couple of examples.

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First of all, just making sure
that we've got what's called a

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continuing resolution so that we
don't have any disruptions and

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government shutdowns over
the next couple months,

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that's important.

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It appears that there's
an agreement on that,

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but we want to make sure
that that gets done.

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Number two, we have put forward
an idea that I think a lot of

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Americans think makes sense,
which is we've got historically

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low interest rates now, and the
housing market is beginning to

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tick back up but it's still not
at all where it needs to be.

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There are a lot of families
out there whose homes

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are underwater.

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They owe more than the house
is worth because housing values

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dropped so precipitously,
and they're having

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trouble refinancing.

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We're going to be pushing
Congress to see if they can pass

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a refinancing bill that puts
$3,000 into the pockets of the

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average family who hasn't yet
refinanced their mortgage.

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That's a big deal.

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That $3,000 can be used to
strengthen the equity in that

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person's home, which
would raise home values.

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Alternatively, that's $3,000 in
people's pockets that they can

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spend on a new computer for
their kid going back to school,

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or new school clothes
for their kids,

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and so that would strengthen
the economy as well.

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Obviously, the biggest thing
that Congress could do would be

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to come up with a sensible
approach to reducing our deficit

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in ways that we had agreed to
and talked about last year.

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And I continue to be open to
seeing Congress approach this

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with a balanced plan that
has tough spending cuts,

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building on the trillion
dollars' worth of spending cuts

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that we've already made, but
also asks for additional revenue

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from folks like me, from
folks in the top 1 or 2%,

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to make sure that folks who can
least afford it aren't suddenly

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bearing the burden, and we're
providing some additional

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certainty to small businesses
and families going forward.

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Alternatively, they could go
ahead and vote for a bill that

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we've said would definitely
strengthen the economy,

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and that is giving everybody
who's making $250,000 a year or

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less certainty that their
taxes aren't going to go

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down [sic] next year.

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That would make
a big difference.

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Now, obviously the Republicans
have voted that down

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already once.

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It's not likely, realistically,
that they're going to bring it

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back up again
before Election Day.

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But my hope is
after the election,

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people will step back and
recognize that that's a sensible

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way to bring down our deficit
and allow us to still invest in

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things like education that are
going to help the economy grow.

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Chuck Todd.

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The Press:
Mr. President, could you update
us on your latest thinking of

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where you think things are
in Syria, and in particular,

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whether you envision
using U.S. military,

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if simply for nothing else,
the safe keeping of the chemical

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weapons, and if you're
confident that the chemical

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weapons are safe?

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00:15:52,934 --> 00:15:55,964
I also want to follow up on an
answer you just gave to Nancy.

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You said that one of the reasons
you wanted to see Mitt Romney's

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tax returns was you want to see
if everybody is playing by the

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same set of rules.

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That actually goes to
the question she asked,

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which is this implication, do
you think there's something Mitt

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Romney is not telling us in his
tax returns that indicates he's

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not playing by the
same set of rules?

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The President:
No.

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There's a difference between
playing by the same sets of

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rules and doing
something illegal.

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And in no way have we
suggested the latter.

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But the first disclosure, the
one year of tax returns that he

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disclosed indicated that he
used Swiss bank accounts,

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for example.

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Well, that may be
perfectly legal,

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but I suspect if you ask
the average American,

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do you have one and is that
part of how you manage your tax

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obligations, they would say no.

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They would find that
relevant information,

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particularly when we're going
into a time where we know we're

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going to have to make tough
choices both about spending and

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about taxes.

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So I think the idea that
this is somehow exceptional,

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that there should be a rationale
or a justification for doing

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more than the very bare
minimum has it backwards.

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I mean, the assumption should
be you do what previous

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presidential candidates did,
dating back for decades.

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And Governor Romney's
own dad says, well,

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the reason I put out 10 or 12
years is because any single year

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might not tell you
the whole story.

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And everybody has, I think,
followed that custom ever since.

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The American people have assumed
that if you want to be President

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of the United States, that your
life is an open book when it

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comes to things
like your finances.

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I'm not asking him to disclose
every detail of his medical

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records -- although we
normally do that as well --

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(laughter)

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You know?

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I mean, this isn't sort of
overly personal here, guys.

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This is pretty standard stuff.

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I don't think we're being mean
by asking him to do what every

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other presidential
candidate has done -- right?

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It's what the American
people expect.

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On Syria, obviously this
is a very tough issue.

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I have indicated repeatedly
that President al-Assad has lost

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legitimacy, that he
needs to step down.

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So far, he hasn't
gotten the message,

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and instead has double downed
in violence on his own people.

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The international community has
sent a clear message that rather

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than drag his country into
civil war he should move in the

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direction of a
political transition.

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But at this point, the
likelihood of a soft landing

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seems pretty distant.

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What we've said is, number
one, we want to make sure we're

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providing humanitarian
assistance,

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and we've done that to
the tune of $82 million,

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I believe, so far.

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And we'll probably end up doing
a little more because we want to

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make sure that the hundreds of
thousands of refugees that are

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fleeing the mayhem, that
they don't end up creating --

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or being in a
terrible situation,

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or also destabilizing
some of Syria's neighbors.

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The second thing we've done is
we said that we would provide,

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in consultation with the
international community,

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some assistance to the
opposition in thinking about how

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would a political
transition take place,

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and what are the principles that
should be upheld in terms of

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looking out for minority
rights and human rights.

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And that consultation
is taking place.

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I have, at this point, not
ordered military engagement in

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the situation.

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But the point that you made
about chemical and biological

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weapons is critical.

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That's an issue that
doesn't just concern Syria;

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it concerns our close allies in
the region, including Israel.

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It concerns us.

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We cannot have a situation where
chemical or biological weapons

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are falling into the
hands of the wrong people.

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We have been very clear
to the Assad regime,

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but also to other
players on the ground,

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that a red line for us is we
start seeing a whole bunch of

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chemical weapons moving
around or being utilized.

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That would change my calculus.

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That would change my equation.

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The Press:
So you're confident it's
somehow under -- it's safe?

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The President:
In a situation this volatile,
I wouldn't say that I am

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absolutely confident.

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What I'm saying is we're
monitoring that situation

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very carefully.

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We have put together a
range of contingency plans.

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We have communicated in no
uncertain terms with every

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player in the region that that's
a red line for us and that there

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would be enormous consequences
if we start seeing movement on

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the chemical weapons front or
the use of chemical weapons.

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That would change my
calculations significantly.

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All right?

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00:21:50,166 --> 00:21:51,166
Thank you, everybody.