People who speak up for freedom in regimes that are oppressive are often a threat.

I've made my own comments as to our vales as well in a speech I gave to the State Department.

I think what we're hopeful is through this Syrian process, working with coalition members, working with the U.N., and in particular working through the Geneva process, that we can navigate a political outcome in which the Syrian people, in fact, will determine Bashar al-Assad's fate and his legitimacy.

President Xi Jinping clearly understands, and I think agrees, that the situation in North Korea has intensified and has reached a certain level of threat that action has to be taken. And, indeed, the Chinese, even themselves, have said that they do not believe the conditions are right to engage in discussions with the government in Pyongyang. And so what I think we're hopeful is that we can work together with the Chinese to change the conditions in the minds of the DPRK leadership.

We've seen what violent regime change looks like in Libya and the kind of chaos that can be unleashed. And, indeed, the kind of misery that it enacts on its own people.

My understanding, I was not standing nearby, but my understanding is that President Xi Jinping said, "Well, no one should kill children." The Chinese have since issued their own statement on the Syria attack itself.

Obviously, the United States' own founding principles are self-determination. And I think what the United States and our allies want to do is to enable the Syrian people to make that determination. You know, we've seen what violent regime change looks like in Libya and - and the kind of chaos that can be unleashed.