All language subtitles for The.Final.Year.2017.1080p.WEBRip.x265-RARBG2_English

Samantha Power:
No, no, sweetie,
we gotta go, man.

Mommy, I want five of them.
You're gonna get
five kisses and hugs.

Where's my bagel?
No, I need it for the car.
I need it for the car, actually.

Your bagel?
That's a good question.

Maria, could you
just get her bagel
which is right there?

I'll get it, actually.

Thank you.

Where'd it go?

Maria, what did you--
Maria: I'll find it.

No, no, I literally
just had it.

Okay, great. Okay.

(elevator dings)

Thank you, sir.

John Kerry:
How are you?

Sorry, we're running
a little late.

Guess what,
I forgot my phone.

Good catch!

Hey! Sorry.
Went the wrong way.

Rumana Ahmed:
All right, that's okay.

So I'm pulling you
still at 3:15.

Do they know about HBO?
Yes, they do.
I gave them a handbook already.

All right, well, uh,
thanks everybody,

and, uh, thanks
for bearing with.

The HBO folks have been making
a documentary about our

administration's diplomacy
for a few months now.

♪ ♪

(indistinct chatter)

Albright was here
the full time,

and Kirkpatrick
and Susan.

♪ ♪

(indistinct chatter)

Yes.
Go down the stairs?

Hey, John!

Mr. President.
Thank you.

You're welcome.
Good to see you.

Kerry:
Now, I met President Obama
when I ran for president.

Mr. John Kerry.

Kerry:
And I asked him
if he would be willing

to be the keynote speaker
for my convention.

When we send our young men
and women into harm's way,

we have a solemn obligation
not to fudge the numbers,

or shade the truth
about why they're going,

and to never, ever...
(applause and cheers)

...go to war without
enough troops

to win the war,
secure the peace,

and earn the respect
of the world.

Ben Rhodes:
I was very much
one of those people

who got hit by lightning
when he gave that speech.

And I immediately made it
my single-minded mission
to work for this man.

Barack Obama:
People of the world,

this is our moment.

This is our time.

Power:
I was a professor at Harvard,

and I got an email
from this first-term Senator.

I went and I met him,

and started talking
about the book I had done

on American responses
to genocide.

Talking about the state
of the world, you know,

brainstorming about how
it could be done differently.

And I heard myself saying,
"Why don't I leave my job

and come and intern
in your office?"

But I'd like to just
sketch a few examples

of what Obama
has done on
foreign policy,

and what
he's capable of...

Rhodes:
It felt very much
like a pickup team.

You know, Samantha,
like, she gets excited,

and we're talking about
these ideas, and I'm thinking,
"Wow, this is great."

Like, we're gonna
change the world.

(crowd cheering)

♪ ♪

Power:
Seeing President Obama
not long after he was elected

and seeing this dramatic
shift in his demeanor

was to be reminded of what
these individuals take on.

Obama:
Perhaps the most
profound issue

surrounding my receipt
of this prize

is the fact that I am
the commander in chief

of a nation in the midst
of two wars.

Power:
We came in wanting to repair

America's standing
in the world.

Obama:
We will show
the courage to try

and resolve our differences
with our nations peacefully.

Not because we are naive
about the dangers we face,

but because engagement
can more durably lift

suspicion and fear.

Susan Rice:
Many of us who are still
on the president's team today

began with him
before the administration.

Each of us brings
something to the table,

informed by our history,

by our experience,
by our background.

Rhodes:
The president knew
what team he was building.

He knew Samantha
was gonna be

trying to hold his
conscience accountable.

He knew John Kerry
was gonna be an activist.

For the sake of our
national security,

we must give diplomacy
a chance to succeed.

I say this recognizing
that diplomacy is hard.

That it's rarely
politically popular.

Let us reach for the world
that ought to be.

Clear-eyed,
we can understand

that there will be war
and still strive for peace.

We can do that,

for that is the story
of human progress.

♪ ♪

No, 'cause I think they're
gonna come to the...

Rhodes:
The first day I walked
into this building,

the first thing I noticed

and was struck by
was how small it was.

And you realize
there's nobody else.

You know, this is it.

There's, like,
30 people who work here

who are setting the direction
for the entire US government,

and in that way,
the entire world.

Woman:
They've agreed to sign
an agreement with us

which formalizes
sharing of information

about foreign
terrorist fighters.

Okay.
And that's gonna allow us
to make real progress

in the counter-ISIL fight.
Good.

We'll try to build
on that, uh,

because part
of what we need

is better information
sharing among the Europeans.

Not just between us
and the Europeans.

Exactly.
The, uh, and on the
climate change side,

our, uh... in terms of bringing
the Paris agreement into force,

Obama:
I'm always feeling
a sense of urgency

to try to get as much
done as possible,

because this office
is a singular privilege.

All good? Ready to go?

You know, you have
the ability to press levers

and push buttons
that are different

from any other job
you're ever gonna have,

and, hopefully, uh,
you've set a course,

and then you pass the baton,

and you know that you're
gonna have to see, uh,

some other folks
continue that process.

♪ ♪

Newswoman:
The Obama administration

has just one more year
to make changes to US policy

in a way that it hopes
the next US president
won't reverse.

Newsman:
Well, the president has said

a lot of stuff happens
in the fourth quarter.

Newsman 2:
During his final
year in office,

President Obama will spend
much of his time traveling.

Okay, I am POTUS.
I'm coming in.

Oh my gosh, I see
my friends. I recognize--

Can I introduce to you, uh,
Khadija Najefi, Mr. President?

Yes! And then, you have
your natural reaction

that I've told you
to have five times.
Uh-huh.

Man:
Can I introduce to you
Khadija Najefi?

How are you?
It's nice to meet you.

So nice to meet you.

Newswoman:
Are we seeing
the creation

of the president's
foreign policy legacy?

Newsman:
Republicans are blaming Obama
for foreign policy failures.

I feel like we should have,
you know, a clock up

with the days counting down.

Because what
we have set in motion

with the Cuba normalization,

climate change, Syria.

You know, incredibly
important issues

of our national security.

You know, all of that
is at stake.

Newsman:
A lot of people are running
to succeed President Obama.

Republicans have the largest
primary field ever.

Newsman 2:
Seventeen candidates
are now in the race

who promise to undo
much of his work

on climate and foreign policy.

Rhodes:
One of the things I wanna do
with the time remaining,

you know,
is to just try to convey

that this is a different way
of doing foreign policy.

It's less militarized,

and it's more
engagement-focused,

and the areas where
we're actually making progress,

and achieving big results
in foreign policy

are areas where we've been
able to re-elevate diplomacy.

The Cuba opening,

Paris climate accord,

the Iran deal.

Obama:
We're dealing with
a country, Iran,

that has been
a sworn adversary
of the United States

for over 35 years.

Newsman:
This deal wouldn't have
happened without John Kerry.

His persistence.

Newsman 2:
This was the longest

we've ever seen
a secretary of state

outside the United States

working on one project
in decades.

Today marks the moment

that the Iran nuclear
agreement transitions

from an ambitious
set of promises on paper...

Done.

...to measurable action
in progress.

Thank you very much
everybody.
(applause)

All right!

Kerry:
I think undoing the potential
of a nuclear weapon...

is about as serious
a moment in diplomacy

as you can get.

I mean, yeah, you're happy
when you can get something
like that done.

It doesn't happen every day.

But you're on to the next.

You know, Syria,

Yemen,

Libya, North Korea,

climate change.

Now we have about
as full an agenda,

as I think any administration
has ever had.

♪ ♪

Thank you very much.
Take care.

(horns honk)
(siren whoops)

Power:
You did good
on the reading, Dec.

You were, you were
actually blasting through/
If we had, uh--

That we almost got--

We didn't do our five pages,

but we did, I think
we made substantial progress.

Declan:
I think you're trying
to trick me about the donut.

Power:
I'm not trying
to trick you, honestly.

I'm trying to come up
with a compromise.

Declan:
I think you are,
okay? If I--

You think I'm gonna say
I'm gonna get you a donut

and not get you one?
Yeah.

You think I'm that
kind of person.

Damn.

All right, all set.

What do you mean "damn"?

(laughs)

I mean, no,
I'm not that kind of person.

Darn, how could
you think that?

Declan:
'Cause we can't find the...

I think the key is when does
the secretary general arrive.

Right.

Uh, so I don't want
to be late for him,

but everybody else I can be
a little bit late for.

Power:
I have been struck initially
as a journalist in Bosnia

and now, certainly
as a diplomat,

at the extent
to which discussions

about what to do
about problems

seem completely removed
from those problems.

This is Dina,
the Jordanian ambassador.
(translating)

She's the one
who's willing to,

to brave her soul
here today so.

Power:
For me it wasn't
some conscious choice

where I sat around
with my team and said,

you know I'm going
to do things differently.

We are going
to take ourselves

out to the field
as often as possible

and sit down
with the people

who are affected
most by conflicts.

It's amazing...
It was just instinct.

It was how I used
to report stories.

I don't-- I'm okay
without the umbrella.
I'm okay.

I'm okay, I'm okay.

Power:
Bearing witness
is both an instinct

and a responsibility.

It is also the best way
I know of convincing people,

which is the essence
of what I'm trying
to achieve as a diplomat.

Wow, never been
in here before.

There's Gabo.
Hi. Hi, Gabo.

Thank you so much for coming.
Thank you so much.
This is beautiful.

When did the UN get modern?

Do you have, uh,
do you have, like,
15 minutes right now?

Yes.
You should go--
no, not to talk to me.

You should go
into this booth.

They take you--

They'll put a pair
of glasses on you,

and they take you into
the Za'atari refugee camp.

Abdallah Al-Mouallimi:
Okay.

Thank you. Thank you, wow.
That's very powerful.

Whoo.

Power:
And then they hook you up

to talk to a person
in the camp.

Wow, this is amazing!

Hello.

I'm well.

Brings home
the serious stakes.
I'll do it. Thank you.

It's just right there,

and I'm gonna try
to go to the SG
and get him to keep it,

because it's...
Yes.

If we're trying to raise money
and, you know, get people

to support these people
in the camps, and--

Excellent, excellent.

Anyway, but--
but otherwise, bad day,
Thank you.

because of what's
going on in...
I know.

It's unbelievable.
They hit the--

they hit the Free
Syrian Army.

Yes, they did.
Of course, they did.

Seriously, if you
do nothing else
I ever ask you to do,

just do this
thing, really.
I'll do it.

Really, okay.
It's really amazing.

It's right there.

Woman:
Uh, and one other thing
they sent over,

there is a
op-ed about Iran,

that we're preventing
business.

I know State can get
a little hysterical,

but I'm-- I'm actually beginning
to get a little hysterical.

'Cause, like,
at a certain point,

the Iranians have, like, a...

fairly substantial
body of evidence

to say that they don't need
to abide by the deal.

You know, so, we may
lose control of it today.

The last thing is
that there's this

massive dead cockroach

like right under this chair.

Rhodes:
There are nights sometimes
when you hear the rats

scurrying around
in the ceiling, too.

Man:
Yeah.

♪ ♪

Rhodes:
What makes America great
is who we are as a country

and what we do
around the world.

Rhodes:
My job defies, like,
easy description,

but I oversee
the president's
speech writing,

our press,
our public engagement.

You know, what is he
doing and saying

and what are we communicating
about foreign policy.

I mean, that's the core
of my job.

So, I added this line.

In Germany of all places,

we know the last thing
the world needs
is more walls.

Rhodes:
And I've been on every
foreign trip except one.

So, you know, I tend to live

trip to trip
or speech to speech,

or, you know,
finding the priorities

that he wants
me to focus on.

Rice:
Ben's one of the
longest and closest,

uh, advisors
to the president.

Ben, as-- as few others do,

um, have with the president,
a sort of mind-meld.

They are not only
good friends,

uh, but they see
many issues eye to eye

and that's very, uh, valued
by the president, I know.

Power:
Having started
in the campaign together,

and worked together
for four years
at the White House,

uh, you could just see
he was creative,

strategic, impassioned,

irreverent,

but stubborn.

I mean, he doesn't care
if everyone in the room--

If the herd is going
in a direction,

he'll interrupt and say,

"What are you people
talking about?"

Uh-oh.

♪ ♪

Rhodes:
We're actually
doing some things

that question certain
underlying assumptions

of the conduct
of American foreign policy.

He's been saying
for ten years

that American exceptionalism
is rooted in

what we stand for
and how we act.

Um, and not
just in our ability

to impose our will on people,

in part,
cause it doesn't work.

♪ ♪

Rhodes:
So I think the main
thing for them

is drawing the arc
of progress.

Like how far
this place has come
and how tied that is

to the relationship with us.

And our whole theory,

not just in Vietnam,
but frankly of
foreign policy, right,

is that engagement is gonna
make it more possible

for us to make progress
on these issues.

This is why
I really thought

you got to come
to this part of the country,

'cause it's just so, you know.

Well, and there is--

A lot happening,
a lot happening here.
Yeah.

I think we're ready to--

And then, how many--
how many questions
do you want to take?

I'd say he take two.
I'll do whatever
you want. I don't care.

No, take two
and let us deal with this.

(laughing)
Whatever.
Two is good.

You don't want to subject
yourself to too much at once.

All right.
Great, that's good.

Kerry (on video):
My sitting up here
is really symbolic.

I'm not here as John Kerry.

I'm here as
a small representation

of a very much larger group
of veterans in this country.

Millions of men
who have been taught

to deal and to trade
in violence,

and who are given
the chance to die

for the biggest
nothing in history.

Kerry:
I was a very angry guy

who had seen
a lot of carnage,

and loss of friends
as a result of
bad decisions being made.

You know
I've been very blessed

to be able to go through
a progression of experiences

which underscore
the value of experience.

Obama:
When I think about the
trajectory of his career,

from somebody
who was fighting in the war

to somebody who was
protesting against the war

to somebody who helped
bring about a reconciliation

to now.

Nice to see you.

Obama:
You know, this is a reflection
of the work of decades.

How are you?
I'm good. I'm good.
How are you?

Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you.

Rhodes:
She went to Stanford.
I didn't get into Stanford.

Obama:
You know, well...
(laughing)

There are a lot of places
you didn't get in.
Yes.

Me neither.

(cheers and applause)

Obama:
You know, this is one of the
favorite things that I do.

And just about every country,
where we have the time,

uh, is to set up
one of these forums

and just hear
what's on the minds

of the young people
around the world.

And you are a very
great leader.

And we are young leaders.

Do you have any advice that
how can we be great like you?

Oh, wow.
(cheers and applause)

One of the things that...

uh, I've learned about
being a leader is,

sometimes we think people
are motivated only by money

or they're only
motivated by power

or these very
concrete, uh, incentives.

But people are also
inspired by stories.

You think about the
United States of America.

We have a really good story

called the Declaration
of Independence.

"We hold these truths
to be self-evident

that all men
are created equal."

It was just a good story
that they were telling

about what could be.

So, it's worthwhile
to listen to other people,

and ask them
questions about

the stories that are
important to them.

(applause)

Obama:
Let's see, uh...

I'll be right there, Josh.
I just have to do one thing.

Rhodes:
I remember walking
home on 9/11.

I was 23 years old.

Um, my life was
planned out for me.

You know, I was
gonna live in New York

and try to write novels.

And I remember just thinking,

"I'm gonna do
something different.

I don't know what,
but it's gonna be about this."

It is Monday,
and we're in Hanoi.

And the speech is Friday.

People sometimes think
we write these things,
like, weeks in advance,

and given how busy
we are, we don't.

These are the remarks
that the president
will give in Hiroshima

after he tours
the peace memorial.

One of the things you do
when you write a speech often,

is you read
the other speeches

that people have given
in that circumstance.

And there's nothing
that I could find

that was similar
to this, you know.

It's a pretty unique, uh, thing.

'Cause I mean,
other people have given
speeches in Hiroshima,

but then, not as the
president of the country
that dropped the bomb.

And, uh, he may completely
rewrite it, I don't know.

'Cause he'll have a very
personal view of what to say.

Greg Barker:
And just, I mean, you don't
have to answer this but just...

Uh, um...

um...

Well, I'll answer it,
'cause what the hell.

This doesn't
come out for a while.

They were pretty awful.
Man: Ben Rhodes!

Ben Rhodes.
Ben Rhodes.

One of the president's
top aides.

Newswoman:
An article from the
New York Times Magazine

has stirred days
of controversy.

Newsman:
A 10,000-word profile
of Ben Rhodes.

I'd never actually done
a profile like that of myself.

But the New York Times
Magazine seemed like,

you know, fine,
I'll do this one.

Um... and-- and
we talked about everything

from Cuba to Burma,

to Iran to speech-writing.

So, I-- I actually didn't
know exactly where--

what the angle
of the article was.

Newsman:
Rhodes ripped
the Washington press corps,

called the American
foreign policy establishment
"the blob,"

and bragged about the
echo chamber he orchestrated

to sell the Iran nuclear deal.

Rhodes:
You know when I read it,

you know,
I immediately felt...

"Huh, well, that Iran section
is a little weird."

And, frankly, that was the
author's view and not mine,

and frankly, it's his view,
he's entitled to it.
I don't agree with it.

Newsman:
New York Times Magazine used
quotes from Rhodes himself

to portray him as having
sold the Iran nuclear deal.

Newsman 2:
Most of the reporters, who
are on average 27-year-olds,

and knew, as he put it,

literally nothing
about world affairs.

Newswoman:
What he clearly
views as a stupid,

compliant, lazy press corps.

Newswoman 2:
They literally know--

Newswoman 3:
Literally know nothing!

Uh, you know, uh...

I don't want
to take, you know,

uh, bits of quotes that were,

um, pulled out
of different places.

Those of you who have
worked with me know

how much I respect the media.

We have to go.

Look, uh, again. I'm not gonna--
I'm not gonna parse quotes.

I think I have a body
of experience,

and you can make
your judgments

based on that body
of experience.

Schultz:
Thank you.

Rhodes:
Sometimes, I felt like
the personal attacks on me

were a way of avoiding
the actual questions

that were being raised.

'Cause it's easier
just to attack me
for being an asshole

than to, uh,
think about, well...

why do we keep getting
into wars in the Middle East?

But what I hope...

and I actually was just
talking to the president
about this,

is somehow we can use
the rest of this year

to keep surfacing
these questions

about war and peace,

uh, that he's been
wrestling with

for the last seven
and a half years.

And just going to Hiroshima,

that's gonna surface
some of these questions.

(helicopter blades whirring)

Obama:
The Hiroshima speech,

it wasn't connected
to a particular policy...

but told a story.

From my perspective,
it was a story about

the inevitable tragedy of war.

Seventy-one years ago,

on a bright,
cloudless morning,

death fell from the sky,

and the world was changed.

A flash of light

and a wall of fire
destroyed a city.

Mere words cannot give voice
to such suffering.

But we have a shared
responsibility

to look directly
into the eye of history.

And ask what we
must do differently

to curb such suffering again.

We must change our mindset
about war itself.

To prevent conflict
through diplomacy.

Ordinary people
understand this, I think.

They do not want more war.

I had a chance to say
hello to a gentleman

who had survived the war,

who had taken the time
to find families

of American POWs
who had also died,

insisted that their names
be enshrined

so that they were recognized.

And to see how much a moment
like this meant to him.

It's ultimately where

politics, government,
diplomacy...

uh, has to be rooted.

In that moment, in that belief
in a common humanity.

Without being naive,

understanding that the world
is a dangerous

and difficult place.

Without being so idealistic
that you don't

protect and preserve
America's core interests.

But wherever we can make
those kinds of connections,

I think in some
small increment,

we're making the world
a little bit better.

Power:
What is missing
from this memo

is under
atrocity prevention.

You know, where does
Boko Haram fall on this?

If-- if it's not part
of this document,

then why would we spend ten days
traveling to four countries?

We have to know what we, and I
am seeking to achieve in 2016.

And without that,

we can't make
the kinds of choices
that we need to make

given the--
the time we have left.

Power:
We're all just passing
through these jobs,

and I think I-- I feel
the urgency of these,

you know, incredibly
challenging, uh, conflicts.

We-- we can't
leave that hanging.

We've got to--
we've got to make sure

we have reengaged in a way

that really acutely advances
US national interests.

So that it'll be harder
to dismantle

in the event that, uh...

you know, we take a--
a different turn.

(siren wailing)

Copy. Correct, thanks.

Hi, sweetie. It's me calling.

I've just been trying
to reach you during the day,

'cause we haven't chatted.

So, um, I'm about
to take off tonight,

and I wanted to try
to talk to you before I go.

Love you, take care.

Hi to everybody. Bye.

We're on a tight
schedule there,

so guys, we'll have to--

Man:
Pretty much all day.
Really move fast.

Got a packed day.

Kerry:
The clock is ticking
'cause I would like

to put a few things
in a better place

before we-- we finish.

And Syria is clearly
one of them,

but it's very, very difficult.

(engines whooshing)

♪ ♪

Newswoman:
Largest ever diplomatic
push for peace in Syria

is underway this morning
in Vienna.

Newsman:
Top diplomats from
over 20 countries

and representatives from
several international bodies.

Newswoman:
US Secretary of State
John Kerry

is hopeful about
delivering a breakthrough.

Kerry:
I think I'm an optimist
by nature.

I will never stop trying
to stop people from waging a war

if I think that,
uh, there's a chance

of finding a way forward.

Our job is to try
to find a way

to the negotiating table
and to political solutions.

Finer:
We're the State Department,
we're not the Pentagon,

so our big resource is

not things like,
you know F-16s.

What we have
is the-- the time,

uh, and energy of our--
our senior diplomats.

And we have a secretary who,
while, uh, 72 years old,

has got a boundless
amount of energy,

and so, we've got
30 hours of meetings
over the two days.

Quite busy,
but, uh, you know

when you're half the age
of your boss,

you can't very well
complain too much about,

uh, wanting to get
more sleep.

If somebody could
put that call in,
I'd appreciate it.

I'd love to be able
to go into the opera,

but we don't have
much time unfortunately.

In a normal life.
(chuckles)

Man:
Can I take a selfie?

Selfie, selfie, selfie,
selfie, selfie, selfie.

Thank you very much.

This is a major
diplomatic challenge.

And I'm grateful
to the president
for trusting me,

and empowering me
and giving me
a pretty long leash,

and letting me go out there
and take risks,

and, uh, trying
to fight for things

that some people
think are impossible.

Newsman:
John Kerry and Barack Obama

have sold out
the Syrian people.

Newsman 2:
250,000 dead.

Millions of refugees.

Newswoman:
The direction that
Syria is going,

it's becoming a failed state

that ultimately
is going to threaten
our very security.

Rice:
My mood all the time
on Syria is pained.

And fraught by-- by the
complexity of the challenge.

But we have an opening.

I'm not overly optimistic,

but I think any opening

that can end
the suffering potentially,

and create the space
for political settlement

is one we are obliged
to explore.

Rhodes:
Russia would benefit

from there being
a political resolution

inside of Syria
that can end the violence.

Uh, at the same time,

uh, Russia wants, it says,

to go after Al-Qaeda and ISIL.

Kerry:
Syria is tough because

there are a lot
of competing interests.

What we're trying to do
is get the Russians
to get aligned better

and after as much suspicion
and as much doubt,

um, given Ukraine, Crimea,
and other things,

is-- is not easy either.

A thief can steal property,

but that does not confer
the right of ownership.

What Russia has done is wrong,

as a matter of law,

wrong as a matter of history.

Power:
At the same time

that I was blasting
the Russian Federation

for lopping off
part of a neighbor,

using bunker buster
bombs in Syria,

you know, often I'm also
working with Russia.

Power:
In the EU session,
Russia just blasted her.

I was like
you gotta fight back!

(laughter)
Come on!

Take it to 'em!

They-- they bully, and if they
just are allowed to bully,

they just bully more.

I'm in awe of the refugees
who've traveled so far.

Anyone who wants to share,

I'd be-- I and my team would
be very grateful to hear it.

(exhales deeply)

Man:
Me and my friends who
have, uh, families in Syria,

they are sinking, sinking,

and you-- you can't help them.

(sighs deeply)
I'm sorry.

Power:
It-- it is heart-wrenching.

I mean, I wake up in the night
thinking about it.

I go to bed
thinking about it.

You know, it is
the most catastrophic

humanitarian situation
of our time.

So, working
with Secretary Kerry,

that is atop
the priority list.

It's also atop the degree
of difficulty list.

So, we have our work
cut out for us,

and-- and a short
period of time

left to-- to work with.

(engine whooshing)

Rhodes:
To the establishment
in-- in Washington,

foreign policy
is basically, like,

the Middle East and Russia.

And then maybe how
those two things enter Europe.

Um, and those are all
very important,

but, you know,
American foreign policy--

if we are gonna remain
the global leader,

it has to be global.

♪ ♪

Rhodes:
After the, uh, reelection,

uh, we looked at the world

and decided where we wanted
to do things affirmatively.

The thing I asked
to do was Cuba.

♪ ♪

But on Cuba, I was
the principal negotiator,

and we actually
got a lot farther

than I ever imagined.

You know,
I just look at the...

American and Cuban flags
next to each other,

and become
overcome with emotion.

And it was about
the US and Cuba,

but it was about, you know,

something bigger
than that, too.

I mean it was about...

if these two countries can try
to put the past behind them,

you know, maybe...

maybe we-- we all
can do that, you know?

Hey, man,
how's it going?

(chanting in foreign language)

Rhodes:
So we have a whole
team that's visiting

different places the president
might go while he's here.

'Cause we see it
as an historic visit.

The first time a US president
is gonna visit Laos.

And, and also it will frankly,

just help Americans confront
that part of our history,

which is not a good
part of our history.

♪ ♪

(inaudible)

(inaudible)

(indistinct chattering)

I don't think so. I, uh...

I-- I know, um,
you know, Hillary Clinton
and her team very well.

You know,
I could do something

for Hillary Clinton
just 'cause it--

So you're saying
Hillary Clinton
will be selected?

I think she'll--
I think she'll win.
Not Donald Trump?

No. No.
No, you don't, no?

Surely?
I'm sure.

Yeah, no, no,
that, that, that--

that shows you that
anything can happen.

Rhodes:
The foreign minister
asked me about it

and asked me about Trump.

And to be asked, you know
by a foreign minister

and then a-- a young
exchange participant,

uh, just shows you
how much it's permeated.

It's already having a cost.

I mean, it's already,
uh, just-- just the--

the rhetoric
and the divisiveness,

and the-- the profile of--
of the campaign.

It's clearly making people
around the world think,

"Well, what's going
on in America?"

Men and women:
♪ The land of the free ♪

♪ And the home ♪

♪ Of the brave ♪

My two kids are six
and three years old.

And one woman who is becoming
a citizen with you today,

has helped me raise them.

Maria and I are not
related by blood,

but we are family.

And it's very
humbling for me to--

to get to be a part of this.

As I rode here this morning,

I remembered when
I was sitting as you are now,

It was 36 years ago when
I came to this country.
I was nine years old.

I emigrated to the United States
from my native Ireland.

One of the characteristics
that defines us

as immigrants
in this country

is we never
lose sight of the fact

that we might not
have made it to America.

Were it not, uh,
I get-- it's very moving.

My son warned me
I was gonna cry.

(laughter)

Were it not for the remarkable
bravery of my mother

and my dad,

and-- and the tremendous
generosity of this country,

I would not be here,

and I wouldn't get to do
so many of the things
I get to do.

I wouldn't get to be
the person I am.

And serving, as I do,

every day
at the United Nations,
it's surreal as an immigrant,

I get to go to work every day
and there's a placard

that says
United States of America.

And I, an immigrant, get to
represent this country. Right?

None of you
lose sight of that.

The ability to shape America
is now your right,

and we are counting on you
to exercise it.

We welcome you with open arms.

Thank you so much.
(applause)

(Samantha laughs)

(engines roaring)

Rhodes:
The president just had, um,

his bilateral meeting
with President Xi of China.

Frankly, every bilateral
meeting in a summit room,

I've been to hundreds of them,

looks basically like this.

You know, a hotel
conference room, a table.

So, uh, they just
finished meeting in here
about 15 minutes ago.

And the president
sits right here,
and there's his tea.

You're sitting here
and you're realizing,

um, the scope of what
has been done for eight years

just in this one relationship.

The stakes
in the relationship--

I mean, the whole world kind of
depends on the US and China

being able to figure out
how to work things out
and get along.

And-- and look,
I've gotten in trouble
for talking about this,

but we're in a meeting
with the leader of China
and the United States

talking about
the global economy,

and climate,
and the transition
to a green economy,

and the South China Sea.

And none of these things

are being discussed
in the United States.

They're talking about
Donald Trump's Twitter feed.

(traffic noise)

Declan:
I know where Chad is.

Power:
That big one, right?
Now they have a lot
of animals in Chad.

Now, show me Nigeria.

Declan:
No, I know
where Nigeria is!

Power:
Can you show
me Nigeria?

There.
There's Nigeria.
Good job, Dec.

Can I tell you
about Nigeria?
Yeah.

So, there were
all these girls

and they were working
really hard in school

just like Declan's been doing,

and they were learning
to read, and they were
amazing, amazing girls.

And these really bad people
came and took them away.

Declan:
Are they fighting right now?

Power:
They're fighting right now,
but Mommy's going in order--

Rian:
What did you say?

Are they crying?

They're probably--
a lot of people are crying,
unfortunately.

♪ ♪

Power:
This is a Boko Haram
centered trip.

We really want to bring
more international attention

to what this monstrous
movement is doing.

It is amazing
that a group of kids

who are just trying to study

and improve their lives
could get taken.

And that two years later,

we'd not have made
a dent in-- in finding them.

So to bring media,

to bring a full
US government delegation
from across the sectors,

it's-- it-- you know.

With all the suffering that's
going on right now in the world

and all the terror,

it's a horrible time
to be a victim.

(horns honking loudly)

Is this our entrance? Jesus.

(people singing
in foreign language)

♪ We shall always
fight for girls ♪

♪ All we are saying ♪

♪ Is bring back our girls ♪

Crowd: Now! And alive!

Oby Ezekwesili:
Can we please take our seats?

We'll make it fast.
No problem at all.

No, this is the most
important part of my day.

As I stand before you,
Madam Ambassador,

Aisha Ezekiel is now
your daughter.

You have to remember
that your daughter

has been in captivity
for 738 days.

And they're waiting
to be brought back home.

As long as Chibok girls
are in captivity,

we all are in captivity!

Humanity is in captivity!

We do not have any moral
justification as parents

to tell our children
to go to school

when we cannot protect them.

I-I-I as a-- as a parent...

as a human being,

I-I can't even imagine
the frustration that you feel.

And I'm sure having
a senior US official come here

only exacerbates
that frustration,

'cause you think
we're the superpower.

If we really wanted this,

we could just snap our fingers
and make it happen,

and I wish that were so.

But we have to bring
back these girls

by pursuing military force,

and by respecting
human rights on the ground,

so that more terrorists
aren't created.

We are bringing more
resources to bear every day.

(inaudible)

Power:
What I can tell you

as a personal representative
of President Obama,

is that we will
never give up,

just as you will
never give up.

We will never give up.
(crowd applauds)

(turn signal
indicator clicking)

One of my most
frustrating things is...

we were in Paris
for the Paris talks,

shortly after the--
the terrorist attack.

In our press, you know,
it's complicated,

climate change issues,
but, you know, some of them,
they can do it.

But the kind of cheap headline

political press
just kept asking me,

"What's a bigger threat?

ISIL or climate change?"

And the thing is,
they know we think

climate change
is a bigger threat, right?

But they want us to say that
so that there's like a--

Then they can debate
on cable news and go,

"Obama thinks climate change
is bigger threat than terrorism.
He doesn't get it."

You know,
and it's like, well...

like one thing could destroy,
like, the world, you know.

I mean, I said,
"Well, they're both threats,

and we need to take
them both seriously."

But just the fact
that it's still viewed

as, like, a political
vulnerability.

♪ ♪

Man:
You can see everything
from space, from satellites,

but you need
instruments in the water

that can actually
transmit real-time.

Is anybody doing that
at this point?
It's not something you can
do in one country.

It's something we need
to collaborate on.

We need to collaborate.
Well, we need to collaborate.

Man:
And, uh, I think
it's meant...

Kerry:
This is seeing firsthand
things I've read about.

And I think it'll make me
a more urgent advocate,

and hopefully
a better advocate.

And you're multi-tasking.

Uh, no other issue,

I mean, Libya doesn't stop
or Yemen or Syria or whatever.

I just had a conversation
on the bridge of this ship

with our team, uh,
that's working on the issue

of a cessation
of hostilities on Syria.

My job is to keep fighting
and keep working.

And if I wasn't an optimist,

I wouldn't be able
to do this job.

♪ ♪

Newswoman:
What is it that
makes you believe

that the Russians
are your partners in trying

to get a ceasefire
and a political resolution

when they're actually
Assad's partner,

certainly in trying
to regain--

Newsman:
What is Putin's game here?

To outflank the Obama
administration in Syria.

Sameh!
Sameh:
Good to see you.

How are you?

All right, come on in.
Come on in.

We're gonna go
into my office.

Kerry:
If you're gonna
get something done,

you have to keep
trying to work at it.

And, uh, you know
Ronald Reagan sat down
with Gorbachev.

Uh, Nixon sat down
with Mao Zedong
and went to China,

and people in his own party
vilified him for,

you know, diverting
from the orthodoxy.

But it made the difference.

And-- and we--
we've learned through history,

you can not only avoid war,

you can actually make peace.

♪ ♪

Rhodes:
In Washington,
there is a kind of default

that we've been
trying to break,

which is that the way
in which we demonstrate

that we're serious
about a problem

is by using military force.

Or the way in which
we establish

our own credibility
on an issue

is by demonstrating

that we're willing
to use military force.

♪ ♪

Nixon:
There are no American
combat forces in Laos.

We do have aerial
reconnaissance.

Uh, we do have, perhaps,
some other activities.

I won't discuss those other
activities at this time.

♪ ♪

Obama:
It was a secret war.

Over nine years
from 1964 to 1973,

the United States
dropped more than

two million tons
of bombs here in Laos.

More than we dropped
on Germany and Japan combined

during all of World War II.

It made Laos, per person,

the most heavily bombed
country in history.

Many of the bombs that dropped
were never exploded.

Over the years,
thousands of Laotians
have been killed or injured.

Farmers tending their fields,
children playing.

(cameras clicking)

Obama:
How many victims do you still
see every year, do you think?

Man:
Last year, we had 50,
so it seems like--

It's-- it's coming
down hopefully?
Coming down every year.

And if we can get rid of--

Man:
Yeah, because of the support
from the US government,

and different governments.

Rhodes:
You know, here we are,

and there's still people who
are being killed and maimed

by bombs that we dropped
decades ago.

You know, if we--
we cannot think that through

before we get
involved militarily,

then we shouldn't.

♪ ♪

(indistinct chatter)

Woman: Do you have
any advice on...

Like how do you find, like,
who takes the leading role?

Well, I think that you
got to switch off, right?

Yeah.
So, uh, there are times
where Michelle has...

uh, sacrificed for me.

Times where--
And when have you
sacrificed for her?

Right after I finish this.
(laughter)

Okay. That's awesome.

From here on out,
she gets to do
whatever she wants.

All right, we're ready?
It's great to see you.

Power:
This is a book on America's
national parks,

which are our--
our effort to preserve
our nature.

Merci. Thank you
very much.

Power: We agreed to
a really important,

uh, set of priorities

for the United States
to partner with Cameroon

in defeating Boko Haram
in the long-term.

Michael Hoza:
That was incredible.

A speech,
impromptu remarks.
(Samantha laughs)

After three bilaterals,

one of which
was with a head of state.

Power:
All right, that's good.

Bruce Warton
and I together--

Do I get a beer,
a beer on the plane?
You get a beer on the plane.

The public stuff, you just
don't want to make a mistake.

Right.
And get-- you know,
make your job harder,

'cause you're the ones
pursuing implementation, but...

You're out there
making sure that

American foreign policy
is based on values.

But I reject that.

I am about, I--
You-- you do. I wanna--

What you do is,
you set yourself up

for a conversation that says

there's values,

and then there's interests
like security.

And so, I'll--
I'll hear, you know,
at meetings with DOD,

"I agree with Ambassador Power
from a values standpoint.

But you know,
we live in th real world."
But...

But we live in the
real world, yeah.

Power:
And I'm like...

"I live in the
real world, man!"
Exactly.

Like this is a
terrorism problem.

It's not a values
problem alone.

Correct.

♪ ♪

(helicopter blades whirring)

Newswoman:
The US Ambassador
to the United Nations,

Samantha Power is visiting
Boko Haram victims.

Newswoman 2:
It's called the Extreme North,

and one politician
described it

as a region of extremes,

and so it has been hard hit
by the Boko Haram insurgency.

Power:
Well, there has been
a longstanding debate

in the history of American
foreign policy between,

uh, the so-called Realists,

who believe the States
pursue their power

and their self-interest.

And then there's another camp
who have long argued

that, uh, people
need to be at the center

of our foreign policy thinking.

Both because they're people

and they deserve
respect and dignity,

but also because that advances
our national security.

(indistinct chattering)

♪ ♪

Power:
Was Boko Haram chasing you?
Yes.

(woman speaking indistinctly)

Oh! Oh gosh.

They took her husband
and her children.

Oh, God. I'm so sorry.

(clears throat)

(speaking in
foreign language)
Man: Don't cry.

Power:
She can cry. It's okay.

It's okay. We all cry.

We all should cry.

(speaking in French)
(crying)

Just, maybe just tell her
we'll do everything in our power

to try and help her.
(speaking French)

It was a dark,
devastating day.

Really devastating.

Man (on radio):
Uh, vehicle seven,
vehicle seven.

This is vehicle four.
Be advised they sent
an ambulance to the scene.

I've already spoken with them.

There's an ambulance
right now there.

Newswoman:
Joining us right now
is NPR's Michele Kelemen.

She's traveling
with the ambassador.

Kelemen:
A small boy,
he was seven years old,

ran in front of, uh,
one of the cars in the convoy.

Apparently he was
going to look up at

one of the helicopters
that was overhead.

And just ran into the street,

and one of the cars hit him.

Um, unfortunately he died.

And at the end of the day,

Ambassador Power
ended up stopping by

to visit the parents
to express her
personal condolences.

Power:
The father, you know,
they had that strength

that I-- I can't even imagine
as a-- as a parent.

But this beautiful boy
was playing

at this time yesterday,

and now he's--
he's gone, so that's--

You know, of course,
you think about your family.

Your-- my son is gonna
be seven on Sunday, so...

Rhodes:
Three.

Ben and Ella Rhodes:
Four, five...

six... seven...

eight... nine...

ten... eleven...

twelve... thirteen...

Four--?
Fourteen?

Fifteen?

Sixteen?

An airplane.
An airplane!

Rhodes:
Yeah, up in the sky.

A bus! Bus!

Bus.
Buses!

Josh Earnest:
So, Ben, you'll start.
I think it makes sense

for you to sort of start
and walk through the schedule.

I'll get the Putin question
and everything,

but I'll deal with that.
Earnest: Right. Right, okay.

Anything else?
What have
we forgotten?

You'll get a li--
The only thing
we didn't do, uh,

before that is like, uh,
China in the context
of our election.

You know, uh, there's gotta be
some question about Trump and--
Oh, yeah.

China, and you know,
the optics of China and...

Mm-hmm.
It's--

Man:
It could also be Trump
and Paris agreement.

That's an easy one to do.
Yeah.

Well, we've got our--
we've got our case
to make about why that's--

Unilateral
withdrawal is not...

Complete isolation
of the United States...

Yeah.
...and condemning our children
to a future of, yeah.

Okay, you got the door
behind us?

Okay.

All right.

(reporters murmuring)

Earnest:
All right, good afternoon,
everybody.

♪ ♪

Newsman:
Today, President Obama
received

an extraordinary
letter from Syria.

A plea for help from 15
of the last remaining
doctors in Aleppo.

Newsman 2:
It has been an act of real
delinquence on our part

to stay away
from this conflict,

which is rippling across
the world now.

Newswoman:
There appears to be dissent
in the White House

over the handling
of the crisis.

Newswoman:
Pressure mounting
for President Obama

to step up military
action against Syria.

Woman (on speaker phone):
Is the president feeling
like he needs to, once again,

lay out the pretty
detailed defense

for not using more
military intervention in Syria?

The-- The president
has been more than willing

to use military force
against threats
to the United States.

If you actually
look at his record,

he's been much more aggressive
about going after terrorists

and terrorist networks
wherever they are,

um, than any other president.

Um, in Syria,

at no time has there
been a clear plan

that could make the situation
demonstrably better.

Despite Vietnam,
I'm not a pacifist.

I'm not a pacifist even
after that experience.

I do think that the
United States of America

has to be able
to reinforce our diplomacy

with the use of force.

Um, and there were
debates about that.

Power:
There's no issue
that we've worked on

where there was
such a divergence,

uh, among people who, on
some issues might be aligned,

but on this, just saw it
very differently.

Rhodes:
Samantha and I,
we have split, um,

in some important ways.

You know she sustains
that kind of original idealism

around our ability
to save lives

and make things better.

I sit close to the president,

and when you're president,
you know,

you know he has
to think about

"What is Congress
gonna do about this?

"How is this gonna be received
by the American people?

"How am I gonna
measure this against

every other priority
I have in the world?"

Power:
Certainly what's happening
in Syria is beyond frustrating.

It's haunting.

There is no issue...

where my thoughts
and my feelings

and my ideas

have made such a marginal
impact on desperate people.

Power:
The regime
of Bashar al-Assad,

Russia, Iran,
and their affiliated militia

are responsible for
what the UN called,

"a complete meltdown
of humanity."

Power:
Of course,
I asked myself

had I made an
argument differently,

I think we could have
tried other things.

But there's a whole--
there's a whole drama there, so.

Kerry:
She'll put her
point of view out there

as tough as
anybody else, but...

We joke and we
commiserate at times

when we both were
in the same place,

and didn't, uh,
get what we wanted.

I mean,
sometimes we have

some tough arguments
in this business.

Rice:
You don't want
a groupthink around a table

that serious, right?

That would be dangerous
in my opinion.

Rice:
Everybody is heard.

And then out of our
structured decision-making

come recommendations that

we can present
to the president

whether unanimously
or with a split.

Obama:
National security debates,

when we make big decisions
about war and peace,

we've got to be able
to build coalitions

and get others involved.

Rhodes:
I had been for military
intervention in Syria.

I argued for it
in the situation room.

And the president
explained his thinking to us.

I could see exactly
what he was talking about

'cause basically
what he said is,

"Look, you don't have
international support.

"You don't have
congressional support.
You know, you don't--

"You don't have
any of the things

that allow a military
intervention to succeed."

And he's like...

"That's a hell of a way
to start a war."

Obama:
I like about America, the fact
that we want to do something,

and not just stand there.

But even when we're on
the right side of issues,

we have to understand
that war always has a--

a tragic toll.

Not just on the countries
with which we may be at war,

but also on our troops,

on our veterans,
on their families.

I will become the first
President of the United States

to serve two full terms
during a time of war.

I have met our
wounded warriors,

and I've grieved
with gold star families.

Let me say that
our nation owes you

an unbelievable
debt of gratitude.

Power:
What, perhaps,
is not on display

except to those of us
who are privileged

to have worked with him
for so long and so closely

is just-- he carries
around the--

the human consequences
of his decision-making.

The toll it takes on just
a narrow slice of our society

when we go
and fight these wars.

♪ ♪

I mean,
his heart is breaking

for the people
in Aleppo right now.

Um, and his heart
has broken

every time he's had
to call a family

of an American soldier
who's been killed
or injured in battle.

♪ ♪

Rhodes:
If we had gone
full-bore into Syria,

we wouldn't be sitting here
with the climate agreement.

We'd have no Iran agreement,
we'd have no--

I don't think we would've
had the time to do Cuba.

Like that's all
we would be doing.

Um, and this is
what, you know,

what's striking to me,
I mean,

it's like Iraq didn't happen

because we spent
a trillion dollars
in a country

and have 150,000 troops
there for eight years,

and we didn't fix
that country.

Why-- why would it be
different in Syria?

Obama:
I genuinely believe that
if I could have ordered

a limited military operation

that would have
stopped the bloodshed,

it would have been
worth the sacrifice.

Uh, the problem is that
the lesson we learned

from Iraq and Afghanistan

is that in the absence
of our willingness

to govern these areas,

oftentimes our intervention,
uh, doesn't solve the problem.

And in fact,
can make it worse.

Newsman:
Save your hand-wringing,

Obama administration officials,
just save it.

Newsman 2:
He has consistently painted
himself into a corner,

and the options
are pretty limited.

Newsman 3:
As a consequence of the West
not having done anything--

Newsman 4:
It has actually led to
the festering of extremism.

Newsman 5:
The re-emergence of Russia.

Newsman 6:
The size of the
refugee problem.

Newsman 7:
I think the president's been
a foreign policy disaster.

Earnest:
...expect to get more
on at some point

is Trump's erratic position
on immigration.

It seems to keep changing.

He is? Nice!

(indistinct chattering)

(inaudible)

Rhodes:
When I am really stressed
and pressed on a deadline,

I try to find some space where
I can get away from everybody.

It's fairly Spartan, but,
you know, it does the trick.

I'm working on the UN
General Assembly speech.

I think he sees it
as a kind of

farewell address
to the world,

so it's more thematic
about the moment,

uh, in history
that we're in.

Greg Barker:
And just finally, are you
at all getting anxious

with these poll numbers
coming out?

Showing Trump's numbers,

messing up everything that
you guys have been working on.

Is it in jeopardy?

You know, I've never
really considered

that he has any opportunity
to win the election.

I've just been operating
under the assumption

that she was gonna win.

So, if--

If I did think about it,
I would... (laughs)

I would freak out, but, uh,

uh, I'm not there yet.

Oh! Sorry.

(applause)

Peter Thomson:
On behalf of the
General Assembly,

I have the honor to welcome
to the United Nations,

his excellency,
Barack Obama,

President of the United States
of America.

(applause)
Newsman: He arrives
at the UN at a time when

you've got this on-again,
off-again ceasefire in Syria.

You've got an election.

You have a terror attack
in New York and New Jersey

over the weekend while
the president was here.

As I address this hall
as president for the final time,

let me recount the progress
that we've made.

A quarter century after
the end of the Cold War,

the world is by many
measures, less violent,

and more prosperous
than ever before.

And yet our societies
are filled with uncertainty

and unease...

and strife.

You know, I had this huge fight
with Samantha last night.

(laughing):
You can ask her
about it, but, um...

I think she thought it was--

Well, I don't want
to speak for her,

but she-- she was concerned.
Is it too optimistic?

It wasn't just me and Ben
who were fighting.

Obama was in the argument
as well, so-- (laughs)

And he's kind of the
most important person
in the discussion, but um...

Our perspectives are just

fundamentally
different perspectives.

The president and Ben,
you know, want to affirm,

uh, just how peaceful, uh,
our cities have become
relatively speaking.

Obama:
Indeed our international order
has been so successful

that we take it as a given

that great powers
no longer fight world wars.

That the end of the Cold War

lifted the shadow
of nuclear armageddon.

Power:
My world is a world where
we have 65 million displaced.

Yemen and Syria and Iraq.

Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad,

Central African Republic,

Burundi, South Sudan, Darfur.

Um, you know the list--

Afghanistan, of course.
Venezuela imploding.

We had basically
end up having a long debate

about how bad this moment is.

There are concerns
about terrorism

and there is a fear
of the other.

And where all the
trend lines on democracy,

right now at least, are going
in the wrong direction.

Whereas the president
is saying,

for all of these
problems, like,

this is actually
the best time to be alive

in human history, you know.

Um, I think she felt that
that was potentially

discordant with the mood.

Thank you very much.
(applause)

Obama:
As heartbreaking as events are
around the world, uh, today,

the truth is
is that the levels
of conflict and violence

that we're experiencing
so far in the 21st century

pale in comparison
to what we saw in the 20th.

The question is can we
sustain that trend line?

♪ ♪

Kerry:
You know, the world
won't necessarily see it,

but in this week
of intensified diplomacy,

we have done a lot!

Finer:
The UN General
Assembly is, uh,

the secretary sometimes
jokingly refers to it

as diplomatic speed dating.

I think he did more
than 70 meetings last year...

(applause)
...on an extremely
wide range of topics.

You take advantage of the fact
that everybody's in one place,

uh, and you can get
a lot of business done

that would take you,
maybe months if not years,

absent that opportunity.

Today, the United States
and Russia

are announcing a plan
which, we hope,

has the ability to provide
a turning a point,

a moment of change.

Power:
In order for that deal
to come into effect,

we need to see seven days
of relative calm

and ultimately,
it's incumbent on Russia

to deliver the Syrian regime.

♪ ♪

Obama:
I'm here today,
I called this summit,

to assist the world's
displaced people and refugees.

Power:
Sixty-five million
displaced people.

More than at any time
since World War II is--

(applause)
stands out as this
sort of iconic example

of the international system
not delivering.

So he's decided to try to use
his last General Assembly

to mobilize commitments.

Obama:
Today's commitment means

that we're going
to be creating

employment opportunities

for more than
220,000 refugees.

There's been no end
to the opportunities

to probe and push and cajole.

Kerry:
In Colombia, we helped
sign a peace treaty

that brings to end the longest
conflict in the hemisphere.

We were able to get over
the threshold of 55 nations

signing up for the global
climate change agreement
of Paris.

Now, we got
a pacifier that fell.

(crowd laughs)
And could pose a danger
to the president.

(laughter)
Obama: There ya go.

We had bilateral meetings today
with the prime minister of Iraq,

which is very positive,
and also the premier of China.

Kerry:
We had a trilateral
with Japan

and worked
through North Korea,

the nuclear testing.

♪ ♪

Kerry:
Over the weekend,
I read a story

that referred to the
US/Russia plan as, quote,

"flawed and full of caveats."

Flawed compared to what?

Compared to nothing?

Power:
He's completely undeterrable.

He knows his odds in Syria,

but his answer is,

"Oh, so the alternative is
to just walk away

"when, you know, this
number of lives is at stake?

"I've gotta try.
I've got to see
what we can do here,

and use the time we have."

♪ ♪

...must figure out how we--

...make something work.
Right.

Mm-hmm.
Well, just-- that's it.

And then,
after a few days,

maybe we can think
about opening a JIB.

I mean, you can't make
this thing out of nothing.

Newswoman:
American war plans bombed
the Syrian Army by mistake.

Newsman:
Mr. Secretary,
the Syrian military

is saying the seven day
ceasefire is over.

It'd be good if they didn't
talk first to the press,

but if they talked
to the people

who are actually
negotiating this.
(cameras clicking)

It-- it's just so frustrating,

because we really
had an agreement

that could have worked.

And unfortunately,
we have some people

who didn't want to cooperate.

Uh, it's like so much
in diplomacy if--

if a country wants
to do something,

you know,
you just can't sometimes

get them to switch gears.

And-- and so, when our guys
accidentally hit 70 soldiers,

and the other guys didn't
believe it was accidental,

and then on Sunday,

the Assad regime attacked
a humanitarian convoy and boom!

(explosion)

Newsman:
In a brutal war, a new low.

The food for 78,000
people targeted.

Russia says it didn't do it,
nor did Syrian aircraft.

It blames rebel fire.

Rhodes:
What have we said publicly?

What we've said last night
in the background,

and what we're prepared
to say now,

is that whether it was
the regime of the Russians,

the Russians
are responsible.
It's an airstrike.

And it's absolutely
an airstrike,

and everyone is comfortable
confirming that.

Because it's an airstrike
that only leaves
two possibilities anyway.

Price:
And DOD was very firm
that it was not any sort

of US operation
or coalition operation.

And so what are we
saying about then

the future of the agreement?

So while it's suffered
a serious blow,

uh, we're still working
to advance it,

and you know, we're looking
for steps from the Russians.

Doubts are very high.

The Russians have put out
drone footage of the convoy.

Rhodes:
Just to, like, make clear
to everybody what it was?

Carlin Woog:
They're saying that--
that the opposition

must have taken action
to strike that convoy.

Rhodes:
This is fucking sick even
by their standards, man.

Rhodes:
There are no consequences
for anybody

for bombing this convoy,
are there?

Right?

Yeah.
Earnest: Yeah.

Russians seem to care deeply
about that, don't they?
Price: Yes, yes.

"...of the world."

"And plain common sense."
That's good.

Finer:
All of this stuff

was painstakingly
negotiated by people

who really know what
they're doing, and so,

the fact that that convoy
ended up getting struck

certainly felt like
far from an accident.

Russian translator:
Many said that it, it could
have been a, a, a rocket

or an arti--
or, or artillery shelling

that was, uh, what the
initial reports were.

Then helicopters or,
or warplanes were mentioned

so I think we need to refrain
from emotional reactions.

And we insist, uh,
on a very thorough

and impartial
investigation
of the attack

on the
humanitarian
convoy.

Thank you very much.

I listened to
my colleague
from Russia.

And-- and I sort of
felt a little bit

like they were sort of in
a parallel universe here.

Everyone is entitled
to their own opinion,

but you are not entitled
to your own facts.

And as President
John Adams once said,

"Facts are stubborn things."

Yes, the coalition did
hit people on Saturday.

We did it.

A terrible accident.

But I gotta tell you,
people running around
with guns on the ground,

from the air,

is a very different thing
from trucks in a convoy

with big UN markings
all over them.

On Monday,
20 aid workers
were killed

in an outrageous,
sustained,
two-hour attack

directed at a
fully authorized

humanitarian mission

near Aleppo,
fully authorized.

There are only two countries
that have airplanes

that are flying
in that particular area.

Russia and Syria.

Kerry:
Those are facts.

The primary question is
no longer, "What do we know?"

The primary question is,
"Collectively, what are we
going to do about it?"

Power:
Well, the Russian Federation

doesn't care about atrocities

committed against people--

maybe would sooner atrocities

you know didn't
have-- that their ally

weren't perpetrating
atrocities maybe,

um, but certainly wasn't
motivated by that.

That's not-- when Putin
wakes up in the morning,

doesn't think, "How can I
prevent mass atrocities today?"

And then became
a party to the conflict,

and was part of
carrying out atrocities.

Are you truly
incapable of shame?

Is there literally nothing
that can shame you?

Rhodes:
The error that
we may have made is...

Putin doesn't seem
to pursue Russia's
national interests.

Uh, he pursues
Putin's interests.

You know, Russia's
national interests

are actually not to have
a shrinking economy

and to be this
kind of rogue actor.

Their-- their best and brightest
are leaving, like, you know.

So I think, probably for,
uh, you know,

and we figured that out,

but I think that
that did take us...

(sighs) uh...

you know, that that
was a thing that took us,

you know,
too long in retrospect

to separate
Putin out from Russia.

(inaudible)

And the irony
of the Obama years

is going to be that, you know,

he was advocating
an inclusive global view

rooted in common humanity
and international order,

amidst this kind of,
you know, roiling ocean

of growing nationalism
and authoritarianism.

(indistinct chattering)

Power:
There she is!

I'm gonna put my-- my son's
broccoli in the plant.

Madeleine Albright:
How are ya? Good to see you!

What a night.
What a night!

♪ What a night,
what a night, what a night ♪

Power:
All right, everybody!
We're gonna just--

Madeleine's not
gonna be with us

for-- for, uh,
the whole night

but we may be seeing the first
woman president elected tonight.

We have with us the first
American Secretary--

woman Secretary of State!
(cheers and applause)

Tonight is a seminal
American event

being lived with the 37 women
ambassadors to the UN.

There are 193 countries,
37 women.

We have invited Gloria Steinem,

an icon to women
all around the world.

Madeleine Albright, one of
my predecessors in the job.

A hero of mine.

This is great,
breaking the glass ceiling.

The glass ceiling,
that's right!

(indistinct chatter)

(indistinct chattering)

Newsman:
And you look at the only numbers
that really matter tonight

and that is the race to 270.

Newsman 2:
This is much closer than
the Democrats were saying.

You have to be worried tonight
if you're a Democrat.

It's scary, right?
It's looking scary, yeah.

Yeah, it's not that ideal.

In the Obama election
four years ago,

look all that blue.

Donald Trump has taken them,

and he's turned them
red tonight.

Did you come in
thinking we're good,

or did you just know
that it was gonna be...?

I didn't think it would
be this bad.
(laughs)

Newsman:
And here we go.

In California--

Yay! 55 votes now!
Make it look close!

(cheering)

Newsman:
...red this evening.
We have a call.

The state of Florida.

The apparent winner:
Donald Trump.

I need to interrupt
with another one.

Trump wins Iowa.

The projected-- Donald Trump
is being awarded North Carolina.

It's over.
(groaning)

Newsman:
Just came in.
15 electoral votes.

They have a very realistic
possibility tomorrow

of controlling both
the House, the Senate,

and, uh, the White House.

(inhales deeply)
To think of them
in control of the Senate,

the House,
and the Presidency.

Newsman 2:
I mean, it's almost like
the Civil War, you know?

Newsman 2:
Donald Trump did not run
to unify the country.

Newsman 2: No.
Newsman 3: That was
the last thing that he did.

(inaudible)
The country did not
vote to be unified.

Newsman 2:
Look, this is the
second of four

really consequential
global elections.

This phenomenon
is playing out

across the whole
of the western democracies.

♪ ♪

Rhodes:
I just came outside to try
to process all this.

Um...

It's a lot to--
a lot to process.

I mean, uh...

Like I-I can't even...

Uh...

Uh, I can't...

I mean, I-I...

I-I-I can't...

(scoffs)
I can't-- I can't put it
into words.

I-I don't know
what the words are.
I mean, it's...

(inaudible)

Rice:
On-- on a personal level,
this is tough.

My daughter was at home
and went to bed before,

uh, she knew
what the outcome was.

And so I had to explain it
to her in the morning,

and it took her a while
to absorb and digest.

She thought I was
joking at first.
(chuckles)

(laughing):
It's like, no, I'm not joking.

(crowd clamoring)
Thank you everybody.
We're not--

We are not going to be
taking any questions.

Thank you guys. Thank you.

Kerry:
I think we have
to be realistic

about the nature of the
challenges that we face.

Our job is to make sure
the team coming in

has a sense of the stakes,

because they don't get higher.

You have a responsibility,
morally,

to make judgments
that are based on facts!

Not fiction.

So, I'll do everything
in my power to put
that kind of evidence

in front of them
as they come in.

Newsman (on TV):
The President-elect
Donald Trump busy on Twitter

(lowers volume)
slamming Hillary Clinton.

Rhodes:
You think about the, you know,

people around the country
who are afraid.

My assistant who works for me
is a Muslim who wears a hijab,

and she's--
was crying for days.

You know, that's what's
immediately on your mind,

and then you're thinking about
things that we worked on.

Cuba, Iran, climate.

You know, what-- what is
gonna happen to those things?

And I-- I cannot
stress to you enough,

there's no backstop here.

I mean, I think
people assume...

Well, there's some
grownup somewhere, right,

who will make sure
he doesn't, you know...

screw up too bad
or something, there's not.

There's no-- this is it.

Like, you're in the office.

You decide whether to...

take a strike
that kills somebody,

or you decide
whether to start a war.

The presidents had
to make a hundred,

hundreds of those decisions.

He will have to make
hundreds of those decisions.

That will happen
every week here, you know,

and there's not anybody else

(knocking at door)
who will make those
decisions for him.

(door opens)

Hey.

I think we're wrapping
anyway, so...

(engines whining)

(Commander shouts in Greek)

(fanfare playing)

(inaudible)

So, he's--
Woman (over PA):
Ladies and gentlemen...

He's the expert.
Phonetics based
on his, uh...

Yassas!
Very good.

Kalispea.

Kalispe-ra.

Kalispera.
There's an R missing.

There's an R missing.

Kalispera.
Kalispera.

Come on.

Kalispera. I'll--
I'll figure that out.

All right.

Philoxenia.

This is where you intonate.
Philoxenia.

Philoxenia!
Very good.

Philoxenia. Philoxenia.

Philoxenia.
All right, let's do this.

(crowd cheering, applause)

(cheering continues)

As many of you know,
this is my final trip overseas

as President
of the United States.

And I was determined
on my last trip

to come to Greece.

Partly because
I've heard about

the legendary hospitality
of the Greek people.

Your philoxenia.

(cheers and applause)

But also because I came here

with gratitude
for all that Greece,

this small great world,

has given to humanity
through the ages.

Twenty-five centuries ago...

in the rocky hills
of this city...

democracy was born.

♪ ♪

After eight years of being

President of the
United States,

♪ ♪

having traveled
around the globe,

I still believe
the fundamental desire

to have control of our lives,

and our future,

and our nations.

♪ ♪

These yearnings
are universal.

They burn in
every human heart.

That's why the most important
office in any country

is not president
or prime minister.

The most important title
is citizen.

Obama:
Uh, it's been interesting
talking to my staff,

my team,
many of whom are younger.

I-I just have to remind them,

and do you notice
I've been sticking this

in probably all my remarks,

history really doesn't
follow a straight line.

It-- it zigs and zags.

But the trend lines...

ultimately will be in
the direction of...

is less violent,

more empathetic,
more generous world.

And that requires individuals

uh, fighting for that future.

Rhodes:
There's this generation
that seems to be coming up

that seems to share a very
Obama view of the world.

In the United States and--
and all these other places.

And then there are these
retrenchment forces,

kind of pushing back
from the other direction,

um, who have
actually gotten the--

their hands on the levers
of power now.

Rhodes:
In a strange way, like...

it may just be
that this has to happen.

You know, that people
just have to...

confront the ugly
reality of that.

I've begun to just think
about the next thing.

You know, and I'm gonna keep
working for President Obama

in his international work.

He's 55 years old.

I'm 39 years old.

Um, and...

You know, the--
the pendulum will swing back.

And I think
we have the template...

for when that happens.

There-- there is a lot
that we have done

that we will--

how do I put this?

Um...

Whatever it, uh, let me--

We're all exhausted.
(laughing)

So tired.

Uh, we all need to
reintroduce ourselves

to, uh, loved ones

who have been incredibly
patient with us.

Um...

But I think any thought that
any of us might have had

that we could go
gently into the night,

uh, that thought
has been vanquished.

So we're in this
for the long, long haul.

♪ ♪

Obama:
I always like visiting
these ancient sites,

whether it's the pyramid
or Petra or the Parthenon,

because it gives you
perspective.

In today's world,

we live so much day to day.

We're looking at stock numbers
and poll numbers and...

uh, the latest tweet,

and it-- it just fills us
with distractions.

With anxieties, fears.

You know you visit
a place like the Parthenon,

and you're reminded
that we're just part
of this long chain.

Uh, and we do our best
with the little link

of that chain
that is allotted to us.

♪ ♪

Rhodes:
It's-- it's made me rethink

kind of how we measure
what we got done.

You know, you can measure
the impact of the Cuba deal.

But there are these
things that we do

that are really important

that don't show up
on that scorecard.

And I'm thinking
about like, you know

these visits to,
you know, to Vietnam,

and-- and Hiroshima,

and Laos.

The impact you have
on people's lives

that the president
is speaking to,

and connecting with
and giving resources to.

And you know, cause
when you meet them,

they tell you that
they trace back, you know,

their decision to start
an organization,

or to start a business,

or to go into government,

you know, to some interaction
with the president.

So that's what I'm excited
to-- to watch.

That's a long, long game.

I mean, that-- we won't know
that for 20 years, but...

you know, maybe there's a--

there's a different
happy ending. (chuckles)

♪ ♪

Obama:
I think of all
the young people

who I've met around the world.

You know, they are
representative

of a lifetime of potential

that's gonna be realized
in all kinds of ways

we can't even anticipate
at this point.

Imagine what kind of
amazing revolutions for good

they can inspire.

The speeches
they're gonna make.

The policies that
they're gonna implement.

The laws that
they're gonna pass.

Girl:
Um, I feel that we have
a great responsibility

to take part in our community.

More of an opportunity to play,
but you have to study!

Obama:
That-- that's not the--

the side of
foreign policy that...

attracts attention.

But may ultimately,

uh, be the thing that, uh,

has the most impact.

Barker:
Thank you, Mr. President.
Good.

Appreciate it.
Appreciate it.

All right!

See you guys.

You all good?

Man: Good.
We outta here?

♪ Mmm ♪

♪ Come gather round people ♪

♪ Wherever you roam ♪

♪ Whoa ♪

♪ Gather round ♪

♪ And admit that the waters ♪

♪ Around you have grown ♪

♪ And accept it that soon ♪

♪ You'll be drenched
to the bone ♪

♪ If all your time to you ♪

♪ Is worth savin' ♪

♪ Then you better
start swimmin' ♪

♪ Or you'll sink
like a stone ♪

♪ For the times ♪

♪ They are a-changin' ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Come writers ♪

♪ Critics ♪

♪ Prophesied... ♪

This is the job description

that they had me write
for this job in 2009.

Oh, gosh!
Yeah!

♪ Gather round ♪

♪ And keep your eyes wide ♪

♪ The chance won't come again ♪

♪ And don't speak too soon ♪

♪ For the wheels
are still in spin ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ For there's
no tellin' who ♪

♪ That it's namin' ♪

♪ The loser now ♪

(cheering)
♪ Maybe later to win ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ ♪

Kerry:
You never fail

when you try greatly to go out
and make things happen.

♪ Everybody
comes to the river ♪

♪ Come congressmen ♪

♪ Please heed to the call ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Heed the call ♪

♪ Don't you stand
in the doorway ♪

♪ And don't you
block up the hall ♪

Long day.

Long day.
♪ For he that gets hurt ♪

♪ Will be he who has stalled ♪

♪ There's a battle outside ♪

♪ And I tell you it's ragin' ♪

♪ It'll soon shake
your windows ♪

♪ And then it'll
rattle your wall ♪

♪ For the times ♪

♪ They are ♪

♪ A-changin' ♪

♪ ♪