Obama is repeating information he received in a policy briefing.
What happened: Obama, smarting from Romney’s on-target, blistering criticism, responds like a whiny, immature adolescent in order to make what he thinks is a smart political point and to preserve his fragile ego. In the process he stupidly antagonizes a nuclear power that has very recently demonstrated the willingness to aggressively annex its neighbor. Brilliant! As someone else said, this is what happens when you have an affirmative action President.