Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
President Obama Holds Live Town Hall Meeting in France
Aired April 03, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And live pictures to show you this morning. This is in Strasbourg, France. This is the Rhenus Arena where President Obama in the next few minutes. We understand, about five minutes from now, will be holding a town hall style meeting where he will take questions from the audience.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A couple of people showed up.
ROBERTS: A couple -- it looks like a campaign rally, doesn't?
I just want to tell you the format of this is what's going to be, what's called consecutive translation, which means that the question will be asked, we expect in French, though some people may ask questions in English, if they are fluent. And then there will be the translation and the president will give the answer and then there will be the translation of the president's answer as well.
So that process is going to be somewhat time-consuming, but we'll stick with it here because we think it's an important event to bring you this morning.
COSTELLO: Yes. I like the fact that we've been looking at these pictures and people have been holding up their cell phone cameras to take pictures, it kind of draws us all together globally. Everybody does the same thing in these kinds of setting.
ROBERTS: What do you think, Christiane? It's not the sort of thing that we see every presidential visit.
AMANPOUR: We don't. But remember, in July when candidate Obama made his trip to Europe, in Berlin, I was there and 200,000 people thronged the Victory Monument to come and see him. In Paris, there wasn't the opportunity, although as I was saying, people did line up the streets, but at that time he didn't get out and wade in and say, hi, to the crowd.
I think what is really interesting, as we lead up to this, is the fundamental shift in tone. Of course, look, President Sarkozy did bring a shift in tone with his election, even with President Bush. The whole hysteria of the U.S. reaction to France over the Iraq war started to calm down with President Sarkozy's election.
And let's not forget that while, you know, the U.S. Congress was banning the term "French fries" and all of this was going on and wine was being poured down the drains, in fact the French president was absolutely right about what happened in Iraq. So he was right about what happened after that war. But now, today, President Sarkozy in relation to many of these issues that I trust President Obama. I trust his word, his word is his bond. Carol, I haven't heard a French president say that since de Gaulle said it about Kennedy in the Cubin Missile Crisis when the U.S. offered to show them the satellite images of the emplacement of the missiles. De Gaulle said you don't have to show me anything, we're with you, I trust the president of the United States.
So, this is a return to that really close alliance, that closed cooperation.
COSTELLO: I'm going to play the cynic for just a second because President Sarkozy's approval ratings are very low in France and the French really love President Obama, as evidenced by this huge showing in the arena. So, for President Sarkozy to stand beside President Obama, and President Obama to be singing his praises, this helps Sarkozy, too.
JEFFREY SACHS, DIRECTOR, EARTH INSTITUTE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: I think all of the European leaders are happy to have Obama there. That was clear also at the G-20, everybody wanted their picture taken. He is the rock star of the world and so they wanted to be together with him. But I think substantively, there is a tremendous change from the confrontation to recent years to really a search for some common purpose. That's in economics and in foreign policy.
ROBERTS: Well, but some people might say that President Obama is giving the French some of what it wants and other European leaders like the closing of Guantanamo Bay and supposedly we're moving the troops from Iraq very soon. These are things that Europeans wanted.
SACHS: Well, of course, but that's part what have it means to have a convergence or cooperation. In fact, President Obama wanted some other things that the G-20 summit, more fiscal stimulus from Europe. They didn't do it, but rather than complaining, berating and so on, as might have been the case a few years ago, President Obama and the rest of the leaders reached a consensus where each gave some, each got some, and the benefit for the world of not having a fractious world was improved as a result of this. So, I think this is the point, it's trying to find some shared ground rather than open fight.
COSTELLO: I'm being devil's advocate because some critics say, you know, President Obama is giving too much away, he's deferring too much.
AMANPOUR: Can we just be counter-devil's advocate? Obama is not closing Guantanamo for the Europeans; he's closing it because it has caused the single biggest anti-American sentiment around the world and because it violates America's principles, its morals, its rules of law and all of the rest of it. He's not doing it for the Europeans, he's not bringing the troops out of Iraq for the Europeans. He's making his own considered judgment on the war Iraq for American reasons, those happen to be shared by the Europeans and that will help in that way, but he's not outsourcing American foreign policy for any other country. It's national interest and it happens to be one that converges with one of the rest of the world. ROBERTS: Of course, one piece of the big pieces of business this year at the NATO summit is the return of France to the military leadership. And at the press conference just a few minutes ago, the leaders spoke about that.
Let's listen to a little of what was said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We want strong allies. We would like to see Europe have much more robust defense capabilities. That's not something we discourage, we're not looking to be the patron of Europe. We're looking to be partners with Europe. And the more capable they are defensively, the more we can act in concert on the shared challenges that we face.
And so, you know, one of my messages to our NATO allies is going to be the more capability we see here in Europe, the happier the United States will be, the more effective we will be in coordinating our activities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And just prior to President Obama saying that, French president Nicolas Sarkozy said a military strong Europe is in the best interest of the United States. And Jeff, you mentioned this a few minutes ago, what we saw there, that exchange a long way from when then secretary defense Donald Rumsfeld stood up and said there is the old Europe and then there is the new Europe.
SACHS: That was a shocking statement that reverberated for years, but it did show a point of view, which was our way or the highway and that was a failure. And so we're getting back to finding consensus, finding agreement. In the economics, it's the same, do you want your trading partners to be weak or do you want them to be robust and, therefore, buying your goods? And that's why you're not out to dominate the solutions, you're out to find ways to boost the whole world economy together. And that was the economics counterpart of what we're seeing today on foreign policy.
COSTELLO: You know, there's so much going on in the world. Our Ed Henry is in France, he stood up and asked that question and President Sarkozy, a question about North Korea who is supposed to launch this missile maybe by this weekend. Here's how President Obama responded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Should North Korea decide to take this action, we will work with all interested parties in the international community to take appropriate steps to let North Korea know that it can't threaten the safety and security of other countries.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So, Christian, the United States initially was thinking of maybe shooting this thing down if it went up and now it's not and now everyone is sort of backing off. So, what does his answer really mean?
AMANPOUR: Well, look, there's no military solution to this, the United States has said this for a long time. There was a lot of heated rhetoric about whether multiple countries would shoot it down. Again, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has really brought that back over the last two days.
Japan, which originally said it might, is now saying it might take defensive measure to prevent the debris falling down if, in fact, the rocket with the satellite or the missile, depending on how it's determined, actually crosses its territory. They were talking about punitive measures within the United Nations Security Council if North Korea does launch, it is a violation of the U.N. Security Council rules.
President Obama calls it "unhelpful" he called it "provocative" he says that it diminishes the ability of the six-party talks. And the most important thing to the United States is to get Iraq - Iraq - North Korea back to the six-party talks to continue its disarmament, its nuclear disarmament and this, you know, was going well. You know? Suddenly, last summer, the whole thing sort of came to a screeching halt and all of these provocative measures were taken.
But remember, North Korea saying it is just sending a satellite into orbit. It does violate the U.N. Security Council, but it's not saying it's testing a nuclear weapon as it did back in 2006.
ROBERTS: But the launch is effectively a test of that long-range missile, is it not?
AMANPOUR: Yes, which is why everybody's against it.
ROBERTS: All right. A lot to come this morning. We got the town hall meeting there at the Rhenus Sports Arena. And you can see, by looking at the pictures here, that it's full to capacity. People wanting to ask the American president questions, eager to do it. We'll have that for you in its entirety coming up. Should be just a few minutes away.
We'll take a quick break. We'll be right back, seven and a half minutes, now, after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
ROBERTS: And good morning, welcome back. Thanks for joining us on this Friday, the 3rd of April.
You're looking at a live picture of the Rhenus Sports Arena in Strasbourg, France, where in the next few minutes; President Obama will be holding a town hall meeting. Thanks for joining us.
COSTELLO: I was going to say I'm John Roberts and I'm Carol Costello, happy Friday to you.
ROBERTS: There you go. All right, we're back with the most news in the morning, here.
COSTELLO: We are we're looking at pictures in that arena. And we heard clapping so that may mean that President Obama is about to step out, but when does, we'll take that live.
ROBERTS: We had the five-minute warning about six minutes ago, so it should be very close. At any rate, here's what's on this morning's agenda, stories that we'll be breaking down for you, here in the next 15 minutes. President Obama and the first lady getting ready to leave France for Germany and the NATO summit, the president met with French President Sarkozy this morning, they held a joint press conference. We'll recap some of that for you, coming up.
Violent anti-war protests in advance of that NATO summit. Three- hundred people were arrested in clashes with riot police in Strasbourg and Kehl, Germany, just across the border; authorities are expecting tens of thousands of demonstrators to stage rallies on both sides of the border during that summit.
And a court in Malawi has rejected Madonna Madonna's second request to adopt a child from the African country. A judge says perspective parents must be a resident in that country for at least 18 months. Madonna's bid for adoption had received the full support of Malawi's child welfare minister, but the court said no.
COSTELLO: President Obama and First Lady Michelle receiving a warm welcome in France this morning as they met with the French president Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife, Carla Bruni. After visiting with the French first couple, President Obama held a joint press conference with his counterpart and here's the president and what he said just minutes ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: America is not only grateful for the friendship with France, but I, personally, am grateful to the friendship that we've developed, one that lasts before either of us -- that actually developed before either of us were even elected to office.
I want to echo what President Sarkozy just said. We want strong allies. We would like to see Europe have much more robust defense capabilities. That's not something we discourage. We're not looking to be the patron of Europe. We're looking to be partners with Europe.
I made the decision to close Guantanamo because I do not think it makes America safer. I've -- on doing so, I've been very clear that we're going to see it carefully, we're going to do it thoughtfully and in order to do it carefully and thoughtfully, we are going to consult with our allies and, in certain cases, we're going to need help with detainees that may still pose a risk, but we may not be able to repatriate of their countries of origin.
I think we have to send a very clear message to Russia that we want to work with them, but that we can't go back to the old ways of doing business. I do believe that the United States and Russia, the Europeans, and the United States, all have an interest in preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. And that there should be a mechanism that respects Iran's sovereignty and allows them to develop peaceful nuclear energy, but draws a clear line we cannot have a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And as you can probably tell, we took the best of President Obama's news conference and edited bits and pieces together. As you can see, both men covered a lot of ground. And he mentioned Russia. We have Christiane Amanpour and Jeff Sachs from Columbia University.
And I wanted to talk about Russia because we really haven't touched on that much, and the subject of Iran came up. What did you hear from the president this morning?
AMANPOUR: Well, just then, you heard substance on Iran. And this is quite critical because as you know, since he was a candidate he talked about reaching out in a diplomatic way and engaging Iran. This would be a change of 30 years of U.S. policy.
Now, he has made no formal outreach to Iran, so there are all of these things that are being said in press conferences, in interviews, in, you know, President Obama's take nor his message, and he is trying to walk a line showing that he respects the sovereignty of Iran, that the United States is not about to overthrow Iran, regime change of the Bush administration is out of the window, but, yet, they haven't quite said this is how we want to do it, let's do it.
Iran, on the other hand, has been saying we are ready and welcome, let's do it on a basis of mutual understanding. He also discussed that obviously with the Russians, plus the idea of reducing their nuclear warheads, renegotiating arms control treaties and also the idea of moving materiel from the Russian territories and areas into Afghanistan to beef up their Afghan effort.
ROBERTS: Well, we're hearing some cheering there in the arena. Looks like, oh something, a little bit of motion there behind the stage. Don't know if the president is coming out just yet or if that was just one of his aides. We're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back. Keep it right here, because we'll be back with this town hall meeting. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
COSTELLO: Oh, we're looking at the sports arena in Strasbourg, France and we're awaiting Barack Obama. He's supposed to speak at this town hall meeting. And as you can see, thousands and thousands of people are waiting to ask him questions. And I can't hear the tape because I'm having problems with my earpiece, John.
ROBERTS: No problems...
COSTELLO: Do you hear clapping yet?
ROBERTS: Yes, well he's not out there yet, but he should be arriving in a few minutes' time. He is at least five minutes overdue. Let's bring in Jeff Sachs from Columbia University here quickly, because he was at the G-20 summit yesterday.
And all this talk that we hear the talk about new regulation and money being made available for loans and all of that, what does that mean for the average American?
SACHS: The point on this is that -- oh, we have the president coming out.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: We wanted the president to come out, but just through Jeff Sachs a question because three times now -- all right, there we go. This is, the first lady is being introduced ,here. Sorry about that, Jeff.
SACHS: No problem.
ROBERTS: That means the president will be coming out shortly. Let's just listen in, because this is amazing...
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: Thank you so much. Good afternoon.
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(APPLAUSE)
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
It is a great honor for me to be here in Europe, to be here in Strasbourg. I want to make just a few acknowledgments. I want to thank the president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, for being such a terrific friend. I want to thank his wife, Madam Sarkozy. They just hosted us at the palace and could not have been more gracious.
I want to thank the charge d' affaires Mark Pacala and his wife, Maria, who were helping to organize us. Vincent Carver, who is the consul general in Strasbourg. And I want to thank the mayor of Strasbourg, Roland Ries, for his hospitality.
(APPLAUSE)
It is wonderful to be here with all of you and to have an opportunity not only to speak to you, but also to take some questions. You know, oftentimes during these foreign trips, you see everything from behind a window, and what we thought was important was for me to have an opportunity to not only speak with you, but also to hear from you, because that's, ultimately, how we can learn about each other. But, before I take some questions, I hope you don't mind me making a few remarks about my country and yours, the relationship between the United States and the relationship between Europe.
Strasbourg has been known throughout history as a city of the crossroads. Over thousands of years, you've straddled many kingdoms and many cultures. Two rivers are joined here. Two religions have flourished in your churches. Three languages compromise an ancient oath that bears the city's name. You've served as a city of industry and commerce, a seat of government and education. Where Gertha (ph) studied and Pasteur taught and Gutenberg imagined his printing press.
So it's fitting, because we find ourselves at a crossroads, as well -- all of us. For we have arrived at a moment where each nation and every citizen must choose, at last, how we respond to a world that has grown smaller and more connected than at any time in its existence.
You know, we've known for a long time that the revolutions and communications and technology that took place in the 20th century would hold out enormous promise for the 21st century. The promise of broader prosperity and mobility, of new breakthroughs and discoveries that could help us lead richer and fuller lives.
But, the same forces that have brought us closer together have also given rise to new dangers that threaten to tear our world apart, dangers that cannot be contained by the nearest border or the furthest ocean. Even with the Cold War now over, the spread of nuclear weapons or the theft of nuclear material could lead to the extermination of any city on the planet.
And this weekend in Prague, I will lay out an agenda to seek the goal of a world without nuclear weapons.
(APPLAUSE)
We also know that the pollution from cars in Boston or from factories in Beijing, are melting the ice caps in the Arctic and that that will disrupt weather patterns everywhere. The terrorists who struck in London and New York plotted in distant caves and simple apartments much closer to your home. And the reckless speculation of bankers that has now fueled a global economic downturn that's inflicting pain on workers and families is happening everywhere all across the globe.
The economic crisis has proven the fact of our inner dependence in the most visible way yet. Not more than a generation ago it would have been difficult to imagine that the inability of somebody to pay for a house in Florida could contribute to the failure of the banking system in Iceland. Today, what is difficult to imagine is that we did not act sooner to shape our future.
Now, there's plenty of blame to go around for what has happened. And the United States certainly shares its -- shares blame for what has happened. But every nation bears responsibility for what lies ahead, especially now. For whether it's the recession or climate change or terrorism or drug trafficking, poverty or the proliferation of nuclear weapons, we have learned that without a doubt, there's no corner of the globe that can wall itself off from the threats of the 21st century.
The one way forward, the only way forward, is through a common and persistent effort to combat fear and want wherever they exist. That is the challenge of our time. And we cannot fail to meet it -- together. We take for granted the piece of a Europe that's united, but for centuries, Strasbourg has been attacked and occupied and claimed by the warring nations of this continent.
Now, today in this city, the presence of the European Parliament and the Council of Europe stand as symbols of a Europe that is united, peaceful, and free.
(APPLAUSE)
Now we take this peace and prosperity for grant but this destination was not easily reached, nor was it predestined. The buildings that are now live monuments to Europe unity were not drawn from simple blueprints; they were born out of the blood of the first half of the 20th century and the resolve of the second. Men and women had to have the imagination to see a better future and the courage to reach for it.
Europeans and Americans had to have the sense of common purpose to join one another and the patience and the persistence to see a long twilight struggle through.
It was 61 years ago this April that a marshal plan to rebuild Europe helped to deliver hope to a continent that had been decimated by war. Amid the ashes and the rubble that surrounded so many cities like this one, America joined with you in an unprecedented effort that secured a lasting prosperity, not just in Europe, but around the world, on both sides of the Atlantic.
One year later, exactly 60 years ago tomorrow, we ensured our shared security when 12 of our nations signed a treaty in Washington that spelled out a simple agreement, an attack on one would be viewed on an attack on all. Without firing a single shot, this alliance would prevent the Iron Curtain from descend is free nations of Europe. It would lead eventually to the crumbling of a wall in Berlin and an end to the communist threat.
Two decades later, with 28-member nations that stretch from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, NATO is the strongest alliance that the world has ever known. At the crossroads where we stand today, this shared history gives us hope, but it must not give us rest. This generation cannot stand still. We cannot be content merely to celebrate the achievements of the 20th century or the comforts of the 21st century, we must learn from the past to build on its success.
We must renew our institutions, our alliances. We must seek the solutions to the challenges of this young century. This is our generation. This is our time. And I am confident we can meet any challenge, as long as we are together. (APPLAUSE)
Now, such an effort is never easy. It's always harder to forge true partnerships and sturdy alliances than to act alone, or to wait for the action of somebody else. It's more difficult to break down walls of division than to simply allow our differences to build and our resentments to fester.
So, we must be honest with ourselves. In recent years, we've allowed our alliance to drift. I know that there have been honest disagreements over policy, but we also know that there is something more that has crept into our relationship. In America, there is a failure to appreciate Europe's leading role in the world. Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive.
But in Europe, there is an anti-Americanism that isn't once casual, but can also be insidious. Instead of recognizing the good that America so often does in the world, there have been times where Europeans choose to blame America for much of what's bad. On both sides of the Atlantic, these attitudes have become all too common. They are not wise, they do not represent the truth, They threaten to widen the divide across the Atlantic and leave us both more isolated. They fail to acknowledge the fundamental truth that America cannot confront the challenges of this century alone, but that Europe cannot confront them without America.
So, I've come to Europe this week to renew our partnership, one in which America listens and learns from our friends and allies, but where our friends and allies bear their share of the burden. Together, we must forge common solutions to our common problems.
So, let me say this as clearly as I can, America is changing, but it cannot be America alone that changes. We are confronting the greatest economic crisis since World War II. The only way to confront this unprecedented crisis is through unprecedented coordination. Over the last few days, I believe that we have begun that effort.
The G-20 summit in London was a success of nations coming together working out their differences, and moving boldly forward. All of us are moving aggressively to restore growth and lending. All of us have agreed to the most substantial overhaul of our international financial system in a generation.
No one is exempt. No more will the world's financial players be able to make risky bets at the expense of ordinary people. Those days are over. We are ushering a new era of responsibility and that is something we should all be proud of.
As we take these steps, we also affirm that we must not erect new barriers to commerce. Trade wars have no victories. We can't give up on open markets, even as we worked to ensure that trade is both free and fair. We cannot forget how many millions the trade has lifted out of poverty and into the middle class. We can't forget the part of the freedom that our nation stood for throughout the cold war, was the opportunity that comes from free enterprise and individual liberty.
I know it can be tempting to turn inward and I understand how many people and nations have been left behind by the global economy. And that is why the United States is leading an effort to reach out to people around the world who are suffering, to provide them immediate assistance and to extend support for food security that will help them lift themselves out of poverty. All of us must join together in this effort, not just because it is right, because by providing assistance to those countries companies most in need, we will provide new markets. We will drive the growth of the future that lifts all of us up.
So it's not just charity. It's a matter of understanding that our faiths are tied together. Not just the faith of Europe and America, but the fate of the entire world. And as we restore our common prosperity, we must stand up for our common security. As we meet here today, NATO is still embarked on its first mission overseas in Afghanistan. My administration has just completed a review of our policy in that region.
Now, I understand that this war has been long. Our allies have already contributed greatly to this endeavor. You've sent your sons and daughters to fight alongside ours and we honor and respect their service and sacrifice. And I also know that there is some who have asked questions about why are we still in Afghanistan? What does this mean? What is its purpose? Understand we would not deploy our own troops if this mission was not indispensable to our common security.
As president, I can tell you there is no decision more difficult, there is no duty more painful than signing a letter to the family of somebody who has died in war. So I understand that there's doubt about this war in Europe. There is doubt, at times, even in the United States, but know this, the United States of America did not choose to fight a war in Afghanistan. We were attacked by an al Qaeda network that killed thousands on American soil, including French and Germans.
Along the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan, those terrorists are still plotting today and if there is another al Qaeda attack, it is just as likely, if not more, that it will be here in Europe, in a European city. So I've made a commitment to Afghanistan and I've asked our NATO partners for more civilian and military support and assistance. We do this with a clear purpose, to root out the terrorists who threaten all of us, to train the Afghan people to sustain their own security and to help them advance their own opportunity and to quicken the day when our troops come home.
We have no interest in occupying Afghanistan. We have more than enough to do in rebuilding America. But this is a mission that tests whether nations can come together in common purpose on behalf of our common security. That's what we did together in the 20th century. Now we need an alliance that is even stronger than when it brought down a mighty wall in Berlin. That is why we applaud France's decision to expand and deepen its participation in NATO, just as we support a strong European defense. That's why we welcome Croatia and Albania into the fold and that is why we must ensure that NATO is equipped and capable of facing down the threats and challenges of this new age. This is one of our central tasks. We also know that in the 21st century, security is more complex than military power. This is the generation that must also stop the spread of the pollution that is slowly killing our planet from shrinking coastlines and devastating storms to widespread misery of famine and drought. The effects of the climate change are now in plain sight.
Europe has acted with the seriousness of purpose that this challenge demands. And in the last few months, I'm proud to say that America has begun to take unprecedented steps to transform the way that we use energy. We appointed a special envoy to help us lead a global effort to reduce the carbon that we send in the atmosphere. But we all know that time is running out and that means that America must do more. Europe must do more. China and India must do more.
Rolling back the tide of a warming planet is the responsibility that we have to ourselves, to our children and all of those who will inherit god's creation long after we are gone. So let us meet that responsibility together. I am confident that we can meet it, but we have to begin today.
(APPLAUSE)
And let us resolve that when future generations look back on ours, they will be able to say that we did our part to make this world more peaceful. It's perhaps the most difficult work of all to resolve age-old conflicts, to heal ancient hatreds, to dissolve the lines of suspicion between religions and cultures, and people who may not look like us or have the same fate that we do or come from the same place, but it's just because it's difficult does not make the work any less important.
It does not absolve us from trying and to that end, America will sustain our effort to forge and secure a lasting peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. I've sent a clear message to the leaders and peoples of Iran that while we have real differences, we also have mutual interests and we seek new engagement based on mutual respect. And it is in that spirit that America and Europe must reach out to the vast majority of Muslims in our nations and in all nations who seek only hope of peace and partnership, and the opportunity of a better life.
We cannot simply solve these conflicts militarily. We have to open our minds and we have to open our hearts to the differences among us and the commonalities between us. With every threat that we face, a new day is possible. We can't get there alone. As it was in the darkest days after World War II when a continent lay in ruins and an atomic cloud have settled over the world, we must make the journey together. We know the transformational change is possible.
We know this because of three reasons. First, because for all our differences, there are certain values that bind us together and reveal our common humanity. The universal longing to live a life free from fear and free from want, a life marked by dignity and respect and simple justice. Our two republics were found in service of these ideals.
In America, it is written into our founding documents as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In France, liberte. Absolutely. Legalite.
(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Our moral authority is derived from the fact that generations of our citizens have fought and bled to uphold these values in our nations and others. And that is why we can never sacrifice them for expedient sake. That's why I've ordered the closing of the detention center in Guantanamo Bay.
That's why I can stand here today and say without equivocation or exception that the United States of America does not and will not torture. The second way that we can turn challenge and opportunity is through our persistence in the face of difficulty. In the age of instant gratification, it's tempting to believe that every problem can and should be solved in a span of a week. When these problems aren't solved, we conclude that our efforts to solve them must have been in vain but that is not how progress is made. Progress is slow. It comes in fits and starts, because we try and we fail and then we try something else.
And when there are setbacks and disappointments, we keep going. We hold firm to our core values and we hold firm to our faith and one another. The third reason we know that we know that we can change this world is because of men and women like the young people who are here today. Each time we find ourselves at a crossroads, paralyzed by worn debates and stale thinking, the old ways of doing things, a new generation rises up and shows the way forward.
As Robert Kennedy once told a crowd of students in South Africa, it is a revolutionary world that we live in and, thus, it is young people who must take the lead. Because young people are unburdened by the biases or prejudices of the past. That is a great privilege of youth, but it's also a tremendous responsibility, because it is you who must ultimately decide what we do with this incredible moment in history.
We've just emerged from an era marked by irresponsibility and it would be easy to choose the path of selfishness or apathy, of blame or division, but that is a danger that we cannot afford. The challenges are too great. It is a revolutionary world that we live in and history shows us that we can do improbable, sometimes impossible things. We stand here in a city that used to stand at the center of European conflict only now it is a center of European union.
We did that together and now we must not give up on one another. We must renew this relationship for a new generation in a new century. We must hold firm to our common values, hold firm to our faith in one another. Together, I am confident that we can achieve the promise of a new day.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. Please, thank you.
Thank you. Thank you.
Please, everybody, have a seat.
So the way this works, do we have microphones in the audience? Yes? So just raise your hands if you want a question and I will call on you.
I think we have some translators. If you want to speak French or German, my French and German are terrible. But we have people who speak very good French and very good German who will translate your question and translate my answer and I will try to get as many questions as I can get in the remaining 20 minutes or so that we have and I will start with this young lady right here.
Yes, you. Right there. Please introduce yourself. Hold on. I can't hear you yet. Can we increase the sound on the mike? Let's try again. There. Now I just want to say I did not call on the American on purpose. So...
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) and I would like to know what you (INAUDIBLE) your administration (INAUDIBLE)?
OBAMA: Well, after only two months, that's kind of a big question. But here is what I would like to see. Look. You aim high, knowing that you'll make mistakes and sometimes you'll fall short. Number one, my first task is to restore the economy of the United States, but in concert with other nations to restore global economic growth. That's my number one task, because we are going through the worst crisis since the 1930s.
That means that not only do we have to fix the banking system, put common sense regulations in place to prevent a crisis like this from ever happening again, making sure that we are keeping trade relationships between countries open. But it also means helping developing countries and poor countries who, through no fault of their own, have been devastated by this crisis, and if we allow them to collapse, will ultimately be a drag on our ability to prosper.
Emerging markets have actually been the drivers of economic growth over the last several years. If we can get millions of Chinese to prosper, that is ultimately good for us. If we can get all of the Indians in poverty to suddenly be able to buy a refrigerator or send their children to college, that will raise everybody's living standards because those will be enormous new markets for all of us. So what I want to be able to do is not only fix the immediate crisis, but working in partnership with other countries, create a path for sustainable, responsible growth and I think we can do that. You know, there are a lot of people who benefit from globalization, but there are also people who have been harmed by globalization.
Globalization, in and of itself, can be good, but it can also be destructive. If we create the right framework so that what happened in the banking system can't happen again, then globalization can be good for everybody and lift everybody's living standards up and, by the way, history has shown us that we are most vulnerable to war and conflict when people are desperate economically. And, you know, nobody knows that history more than Europe.
So that would be number one. Number two is I would like to be able to say that, as a consequence of my work, that we drastically lessen the threat of not only terrorism, but also nuclear terrorism. And we can't reduce the threat of a nuclear weapon going off unless those who possess the most nuclear weapons, the United States and Russia, take serious steps to actually reduce our stockpiles.
So we are going to - so we want to pursue that vigorously in the years ahead. I had an excellent meeting with President Medvedev of Russia to get started that process of reducing our nuclear stockpiles which will then give us later greater moral authority to say to Iran, don't develop a nuclear weapon, to say to North Korea, don't proliferate nuclear weapons.
In my own country, what I think is very important is that we finally get a health care system that is reliable. And cost- effective. That's something that - you know, that's a social safety net that exists in almost all of Europe that doesn't exist in the United States. You have millions of people who work hard every single day, but if they get sick, they could potentially lose everything.
And in a country as wealthy as ours, that is not acceptable to me. So we are going to work hard to make sure we have a health care system that won't be identical to what you have in Europe. Each country has its own traditions and approaches, but that provides people quality, affordable, accessible health care. And then I would like to see us in the United States take the lead on a new approach to energy, because none of the developed countries are going to be able to sustain their growth if we don't start using energy differently and the world cannot survive all countries using energy in the same ways that we use it.
You know, I was meeting with the Indian prime minister yesterday after the summit, a very good and wise man, Prime Minister Singh, and he was talking about how Indian growth rates have gone up nine percent every year. They need to grow at that pace in order to bring hundreds of millions of people in their country out of abject poverty. Desperate poverty, right? They have to grow at a rapid pace.
Now, he actually is committed to working towards dealing with the climate change issue, but he made a very simple point, which is a point that I understood before the meeting and all of us should not forget, and that is that you cannot expect poor countries or relatively poor countries to be partners with us on climate change if we are not taking the lead, given that our carbon footprint is many times more than theirs per capita. I mean, each one of us in the developed world - I don't care how environmentally conscious you are, how green you are. I'm sure there are some green folks here.
Yes! I don't care how green you are. You have a much bigger carbon footprint than the average Indian or the average person from China. And so we in developed countries, then it's critical for us to lead by example by becoming more energy-efficient and we also have to harness technology and share scientific breakthroughs in order to find more sustainable energy patterns.
Now I've got other things that I want to do, but that's a pretty long list. Let me go on to a few more questions.
All right. Now I know there are some other Americans in the crowd but do me a favor Americans, wait until we get back home and I'll do a town hall there. Because I want to hear from my French and German and European friends. All right. Wait, wait. This gentleman right here in the glasses.
QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. My name is Matthis Kuch (ph), I'm a student from Heidelberg, Germany. And my mother tongue is German and my French is not good enough, so I'll ask my question in English.
You mention in your speech that we are lucky generation, we live in peace, we live in democracies and free state and we are very pleased to have the situation in Europe. But this is not the case all over the world, even not in Europe. Look to Belarus, for example, that's an autocratic regime. And so my question concerns the many children all over the world that live in poverty under human rights violations, they have hunger, they have no education, and other problems. So what is your stretch here, Mr. President, to solve this problem?
OBAMA: Well, It's an excellent question. First of all, I think one of the things that we should be very proud of from the G-20 summit yesterday was that we made a significant commitment to additional resources through the IMF. And other mechanisms to provide assistance to emerging markets and poor countries that, as I said, are bearing the burden of a collapse in the financial system that they had nothing to do with. The problem is so many of these countries had export oriented markets and when the economy is contracted in our developing nations, it made them extremely vulnerable.
You know? You have a country like Botswana which is actually a well-managed country that has made enormous progress, but their main revenue generator is diamond sales, and they have literally seen the diamond market collapse, in part, because they couldn't get trade financing, and, in part, because the demand in developed countries has dropped off. So we started to make progress there.
Our most important task right now is helping them get through this crisis. Over the long term, though, we got to have a strategy that recognizes that the interest of the developed world in feeding the hungry, in educating children, that that's not just charity, it's in our interests. There's not a direct correlation between poverty and violence and conflict and terrorism, but I can tell you that if children have no education whatsoever, if young men are standing idle each and every day, and feel completely detached and completely removed from the modern world, they are more likely, they are more susceptible to ideologies that appeal to violence and destruction.
If you have no health facilities whatsoever in countries in Africa, these days, a pandemic can get on a plane and be in Strasbourg or New York City or Chicago overnight. So we better think about making sure that there are basic public health facilities and public health infrastructure in those countries, because we can't shield ourselves from these problems. So that means developed countries have to increase aid, but it also means that the countries who are receiving aid have to use it wisely.
My father was from Kenya and when I travel to Kenya, I just had been elected to the United States senate, everybody was very excited and you know, they greeted me as, you know, as if I was already a head of state and, you know, there were people waving and lining the streets. I went to speak at a university and I had to be honest, which was America has an obligation to provide Kenya help on a whole range of issues, but if Kenya doesn't solve its own corruption problem, then Kenya will never grow. It will never be able to provide for its own.
And so there's nothing wrong with the developed nations insisting that we will increase our commitments, that we will design our aid programs more effectively, that we will open up our markets to trade from poor countries, but that we will also insist that there's good governance and rule of law, and other critical factors in order to make these countries work. We spend so much time talking about democracy.
And, obviously, we should be promoting democracy everywhere we can, but democracy, a well-functioning society that promotes liberty and equality and fraternity. A well-functioning society does not just depend on going to the ballot box. It also means that you're not going to be shaken down by police because the police aren't getting properly paid. It also means that if you want to start a business, you don't have to pay a bribe.
