Detailed Instructions: Write an inquisitive question about a specific text span in a given sentence such that the answer is not in the text.
Q: Sentence: In an interview aired late Monday by a new cable television outlet , Fusion , President Barack Obama declined to discuss the communications monitoring operations of the National Security Agency , including whether the NSA tapped the telephones of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and 34 other world leaders .<sep>Span: declined to discuss the communications
A:
Why did he decline to discuss it?