"The last question is about Syria. I wonder if you can speak about how you personally, morally, wrestle with the ongoing violence there," former Obama campaign aide Chris Hughes asked the president.

"Every morning, I have what's called the PDB—presidential daily briefing—and our intelligence and national security teams come in here and they essentially brief me on the events of the previous day. And very rarely is there good news. And a big chunk of my day is occupied by news of war, terrorism, ethnic clashes, violence done to innocents.