Following Obama’s approximately three-minute address to reporters, the presidential motorcade headed back to the airport at 11:02 p.m., arriving at 11:07 p.m. Obama quickly boarded Air Force One, which soon departed for Hawaii, where the family is now spending the Christmas holiday.
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“It was as if he was a member of our family”. The meetings took place in the library of Indian Springs High School, with the president and first lady taking almost three hours to speak individually with each group of relatives.
“In 2016, I’m going to leave it all out on the field”, he said.
The president said he would make a determination on using executive action to shutter Guantanamo only after testing Congress’ willingness to act on a closure plan he will release early next year. “I’ll remember how important – I think – it was for them to meet with each family”, she said.
The president also said that despite the pain and the heartache of those affected were feeling, “they could not have been more inspiring and proud of their loved ones”.
“And, as hard as this time is for them and for the entire community, they also represent the strength and the unity and the love that exists in this community and in this country”.
Speaking after meeting the families, Mr Obama said: “It was so moving for Michelle and myself, in part because it was so representative of the country”. “I hope that’s something that gives all Americans a sense of pride and a sense of hope”.
The declaration means that state agencies will be able to help San Bernardino County officials deal with the aftermath of the violence.
During his San Bernardino stop, Obama will visit privately with families of victims.
Obama says numerous people he spoke with asked “how we can prevent shootings like this from happening in the future”. “There just wasn’t that moment”, Curt Hagman said.
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Fourteen people died in the shootings in San Bernardino, California on December 2, when radicalized Muslims Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik opened fire on Farook’s co-workers at a holiday party.
