Obama: Clinton made mistake; security not endangered

[webfact]

Obama: Clinton made mistake; security not endangered
By KEVIN FREKING

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton's use of a private email server to conduct government business when she served as secretary of state was a mistake but didn't endanger national security, President Barack Obama said during an interview airing Sunday on CBS's "60 Minutes."

Obama said public officials have to be more sensitive about how they handle information and personal data. Yet he also said the criticism of Clinton has been "ginned up" because of politics.

"I think she'd be the first to acknowledge that maybe she could have handled the original decision better and the disclosures more quickly," Obama said.

Obama downplayed the threat to national security, and when it was pointed out that his administration has prosecuted people for having classified material on their private computers, the president said he didn't get the impression there was an intent to "hide something or to squirrel away information." He also said he was not initially aware of her use of the private email server.

There are still questions being raised about the security of that system.

Senate investigators recently discovered that Clinton's private server was subjected to unspecified hacking attempts in 2013 from China, South Korea and Germany. The FBI is still examining her system, and that review could reveal evidence, if any, of unauthorized intrusions into her server or any attempts to siphon off her data.

Clinton has yet to answer specific questions about the security protections in her unusual email setup, which ran out of her New York home and not in a professional data center during her time as secretary of state.

Obama also weighed in on the 2016 presidential elections. The president called current GOP front-runner Donald Trump "the classic reality TV character" and a "great publicity-seeker."

"He is tapped into something that exists in the Republican Party that's real," Obama said. "I think there is genuine anti-immigrant sentiment in the large portion of at least Republican primary voters. I don't think it's uniform."

On Trump's election prospects, Obama said: "I don't think he'll end up being president of the United States."

Obama would not say if he wants his vice president, Joe Biden, to get into the presidential race. Many expect Biden to make his decision soon.

"If you're sitting right next to the president in every meeting and, you know, wrestling with these issues, I'm sure that for him, he's saying to himself, "I could do a really good job.'"

When the president was asked if he believed he could win a third term if he were allowed to run again, he had a simple reply: "Yes."

Obama also discussed his views on Syria during the interview. The administration said Friday it is abandoning a failed Pentagon effort to build a new ground force of moderate rebels and overhauling its approach to instead partner with established rebel groups. The change also reflects growing concern in Obama's administration that Russia's intervention has complicated the Syrian battlefield and given new life to President Bashar Assad.

Obama said he was "skeptical from the get-go" about the notion of creating an army of moderate forces within Syria. "My goal has been to try to test the proposition, can we be able to train and equip a moderate opposition that's willing to fight ISIL? And what we've learned is that as long as Assad remains in power, it is very difficult to get those folks to focus their attention on ISIL," Obama said.

Obama said part of the strategy behind the administration's efforts was to "try different things." He added that "in a situation that is as volatile and with as many players as there are inside of Syria, there aren't any silver bullets."

While the Pentagon is abandoning its effort to train rebels, a CIA program that since 2013 has trained some 10,000 rebels to fight Assad's forces is ongoing.
___

Associated Press writer Jack Gillum contributed to this report.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-10-12

[ezzra]

So now the two lovey dovey birds of yesterday are turning on each other, all fair

in love, war and politics...

[happynthailand]

What a bunch of B/S

[stevenl]

What a bunch of B/S

What is BS? Are you saying this is not political?

Please enlighten us so your post might actually contribute something here.

Edited October 12, 2015 by stevenl

[Boon Mee]

Dropping the name of a foreign national source in unsecured email is not security endangered?

What color is the sky of the planet these Clinton apologists live on?

[Hayduke]

"I think she'd be the first to acknowledge that maybe she could have handled the original decision better and the disclosures more quickly," Obama said.

Hey Barry....wait a minute....hold on....time out.

Ms Clinton was just about the last person to (grudgingly) acknowledge (as a result of severe arm-twisting) any of this. Remember?

And....since her great email adventure has yet to be completely exposed or adequately analyzed; how can you possibly say that there have been no security compromises?

Isn't this something that remains to be seen?

Reality check anyone?

Edited October 12, 2015 by Hayduke

[Pinot]

Republicans think American's actually care about Hillary's email. It's Benghazi all over again. Throw everything at her and see if something sticks.

The Republican's got nothing. No electable candidates, no discernible ideology, no policy agenda, nothing! All they have is fear and lies.

The lunatic fringe is now the Republican base.

[ggt]

Call off the FBI investigations...the President of the United States has already weighed-in and declared her innocent of any wrong doing and pointing to the elections as the reason we are having this harassment of poor Ms Clinton...

Justice has not been served...in many high level cases...with this...the most self proclaimed transparent Presidency in US history...

I think I may throw up...

[Jingthing]

It's going to be very interesting if Biden runs. Surely it is well known that Obama likes Biden personally a lot more than Hillary Clinton.

[connda]

Just like Thailand, the US has a two-tiered system of justice.

Nothing to see here folks...move along.

[ace]

Obama said he was "skeptical from the get-go" about the notion of creating an army of moderate forces within Syria. "My goal has been to try to test the proposition, can we be able to train and equip a moderate opposition that's willing to fight ISIL?

<deleted>? 250,000 dead and you're playing games?!? There are no words...

[Credo]

Nobody is playing games. ISIS is like a cancer and there is no one single treatment that works.