U.S. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron have pledged to tackle violent extremism after the two leaders met in Washington D.C. on Friday. CCTV America’s Nathan King reported this story from The White House.

In the wake of the attacks in Paris, the meeting was a show of solidarity against what the British prime minister called the poisonous “death cult of Islamic extremism.”

“We continue to stand unequivocally, not only with our French friends and allies, but with all of our partners who are dealing with this scourge,” Obama added.

Part of the fight against terrorism is the ability to tap into encrypted communication, Cameron said. He added that he hoped to use his trip to the United States to get Obama to apply pressure on U.S. tech companies to allow government access.

“We do face a very serious Islamic extremist terrorist threat in America, Europe, and across the world. I’m quite convinced we will come through and overcome it because in the end, the values we hold to, these are the strongest values there can be. In the end we will come through,” Cameron said.

There are also differences over the ambitious free trade deal, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership or T-TIP. Both leaders said they hoped it could be finalized this year.

The countries are also facing another deadline — In a few months, Iran and world powers have to finalize a deal on Tehran’s nuclear program and negotiations are on a knife’s edge. The U.S. Congress meanwhile, including key Obama allies, are considering additional sanctions against Iran. Cameron took the unusual step of contacting U.S. senators to ask them to hold back. Obama warned any congressional moves could “blow up the talks.”

“I am asking Congress to hold off, because our negotiators, our partners, those who are most intimately involved in this assess that it will jeopardize the possibility of resolving, providing a diplomatic solution to one of the most difficult and long-lasting national security problems that we’ve faced in a very long time, and Congress needs to show patience,” Obama said.

The U.S. and U.K. leaders also talked about a new international task force to battle pandemics like Ebola, the need to stand together over Russia, and ways to de-radicalize Muslim youth.

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James Bennett of Economic Policy Centre discusses impact of US-UK talks

CCTV America interviewed James Bennett, a space fellow at the U.K. think tank the Economic Policy Centre about the impact of talks between Obama and Cameron.