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American Morning
Obama Wraps Up G-8 Summit; GM Emerges From Bankruptcy; Allegations of Racism at PA Swim Club; Obama Outlines Achievements From G-8
Aired July 10, 2009 - 07:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And right now, we're coming up on a minute before the top of the hour this morning. Again, it is Friday, it's July 10th. I'm Kiran Chetry here along with Joe Johns, in for John Roberts. Great to have you with us this morning.
JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR: Absolutely, and having a fine time as well.
CHETRY: And we're going to be hearing live from the president in just a few minutes. He's actually wrapping up a big meeting with the world leaders in the G-8 summit in Italy. And so we're going to be talking about that because he's going to be holding a news conference shortly, and we'll bring it to you live here. By the way, on the agenda for the past three days, they've been talking about global warming as well as world hunger and the economy. And again, the president is scheduled to hold a news conference just in the next few minutes, and we'll bring it to you live.
JOHNS: Breaking news this morning. CNN confirming General Motors has officially emerged from bankruptcy. The new, scaled-down GM will be owned mostly by the government and offer fewer brands and dealerships.
And a day of fun goes horribly wrong in Philadelphia. A swim club is accused of racism against kids. Young campers say they overheard things like, "Why are all of these black kids here?". But the club says it's a big misunderstanding. The two sides of the story straight ahead.
CHETRY: And again, as we said, we are waiting right now for the start of a live news conference from the president of the United States. A live look now at the podium. This is in L'Aquila, Italy. The president just wrapped up his meeting with world leaders at the G- 8 summit.
And earlier today, African leaders joined him in the discussions. The G-8 agreeing to launch a $15 billion world hunger program. Later, the president will head to the Vatican with the family, and then he's heading for Africa as well as going to be visiting Ghana.
Well, our senior White House correspondent Ed Henry has been traveling with President Obama. He joins us live from Rome. Give us a little bit of a preview. When are you guys expected to hear from the president, and what do you expect to hear? HENRY: Well, good morning, Kiran. Clearly in the next few moments we're expecting to hear, according to White House aides, the president's assessment of how he feels he did at his first G-8, how he was working with his colleagues.
And here's the big theme we're hearing from senior aides, is that he wants to talk about how he believes the U.S. is leading around the world again. Obviously, this administration believes that the Bush administration drop the ball in terms of mending fences, building relationships around the world, in large part because of the war in Iraq.
And you're going to see the president try to stress how he believes he's turning the page. How did he do specifically on some of these policy areas? It's a mixed bag. We talked about global warming earlier. The president clearly did not get all he wanted there. Also on Iran, he was pushing some of the other G-8 leaders to potentially support new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. Instead, these leaders just put out a statement deploring the violence after the recently disputed election, but clearly stopped short of sanctions.
This was a reminder for the president there are limits to these international institutions. A lot of times, these summits end up being a lot of talk, not necessarily a lot of action.
And, finally, I think we should also think about the domestic front, as well. Even while the president's been here overseas, it's very likely that members of the White House Press Corps will be asking some questions about the economy, which is obviously pretty sour still back home. A lot of talk now not just among Republicans, but some Democrats about how the stimulus package has not worked quickly enough. And maybe there needs to be a second one. He could get asked about that. Or health care, as well.
Let's face it, the president's efforts to get health care reform right now -- in some trouble right now. Again, it's not just Republicans with opposition, there are some conservative Democrats now raising concerns about the cost of all of this, but also some of the specifics in terms of a government-run plan within this whole reform. So, we're expected that we could get some on foreign policy, but also I think keep an eye on some of the domestic agenda, as well. White House aides have been, throughout this trip, obviously, overseas, following what's going on back home on the economy, health care, all of those issues, as well, Kiran.
JOHNS: Now the president's next stop is Rome, Ed, and he's going to meet with the pope.
Can you give some sense of what they're going to talk about?
HENRY: Yes. What's interesting is that there may be a new element to these discussions. Clearly social issues like abortion are likely to come up. That's typical when the pope meets with a U.S. president. But there's a new subject, which is in the last few days, the pope put out a statement about how he thinks the U.S. should be leading along with some of these other major powers for more regulation of the markets.
That this financial crisis has hurt so many people around the world that the U.S. has to take a big leadership role. Something, clearly, the president is familiar with. He has been talking about that, as well, at the G-8, but it's a little odd, a little different perhaps to hear the pontiff talking about an economic financial issue like that.
But just in the last few days, Pope Benedict put out a statement about that. And so we're expecting that they will talk about that, as well. So, you know, the financial crisis may be added to the agenda that typically focuses on issues like abortion -- on that delicate subject, we're told by top White House aides.
What the president wants to talk to the pontiff about is sort of what he did a couple of months ago at that commencement address at the University of Notre Dame, and try to convince people now, not just in the United States, but around the world that he does not have a radical agenda on abortion. That he wants to try to bring people together so there are as few abortions as possible. Though, obviously, he still supports a woman's right to choose to have an abortion.
So, that is obviously a subject that's likely to come up with the pope, as well, and we're going to see the president in private try to stress how he believes he's trying to bring people together instead of dividing people on this very sensitive subject, Joe.
JOHNS: Thanks so much, Ed Henry. And we'll be looking forward to your reports.
CHETRY: Yes. And we're going to be joined live again as the president continues his trip. CNN is with him on every step. Ed Henry again in L'Aquila, Italy.
On Monday during President Obama's trip to Africa, our Anderson Cooper will also be there. He's going to be sitting down with him one-on-one. You can see that interview Monday night, 10:00 p.m. Eastern on "AC 360." And, again, coming up in just about five minutes, we expect that live news conference from Italy with President, and we'll bring it to you live.
JOHNS: Breaking news this morning as the debut of the new GM. CNN confirming General Motors has officially emerged from bankruptcy. The announcement coming just 40 days after the troubled automaker filed for Chapter 11. The government now owns nearly 61 percent of the stock in the new scaled down GM. The new company will offer fewer brands and about 1,900 fewer dealerships.
Christine Romans is here "Minding Your Business."
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And about 20,000 fewer workers. So there are some people who will watch this news at the new GM, and they will know that they will only be part of the old GM. Some 19 plants being closed down.
Good morning, everyone.
New GM -- the new GM born this morning. The official announcement coming in about 55 minutes. The company's employees will be told first, and then Fritz Henderson, the company's CEO, will have a press conference at 9:00 Eastern Time to detail what this new company is going to look like. A leaner, meaner, maybe greener General Motor to try to compete in a market that they have lost market share consistently in for some time now.
We told you about some of the pain for the workers in the plants, some 16 plants rather that will employ. Some 20,000 people will not be part of the new GM. Some of those will be winding down over the next year or year two. But many employees will start to see that they will lose their jobs over the next few months and this new company has been born.
The old part of the company is a lot of debt and some brands, and divisions that will be either sold or dismantled or liquidated. What remains are the brand Chevy Cadillac, Buick and GMC. This will be the four benchmark brands for this company as it goes forward here. So a process that is really victory many say for the Obama administration because this went quite quickly as they promised. Very quickly through the bankruptcy process, and we'll hear more in about 54 minutes now from the CEO of this company about what it means for workers and car dealers, car owners across this country.
But it's interesting that Ford did not have to take government loans. Ford is nipping on the heels of GM in terms of market share in this country right now. So we'll be watching it. We'll be a dog fight among the automakers for this new American consumer that might not be buying as many cars as they used to.
JOHNS: And Ford is probably pretty happy they didn't take that money.
ROMANS: Ford, you know -- Ford, Chrysler and GM all have very different positions, but Ford managed to stay out of the government loan business. You know a lot of people called GM, the new GM "Government Motors," because you and I, all of us own 61 percent of this new company. But Ford did not have to go down that road.
CHETRY: All right. Christine Romans for us this morning. Thanks so much.
It's also time to check now on some stories new this morning. And one of them that we're going to be bringing you is the tragedy that happened at the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. For the first time since 1995, someone died. The man was gored to death this morning. Nine other people injured. The festival's Web site says one bull got away from the herd and that's when that deadly goring took place.
More bad PR for the Washington Metro system. New video surfacing on YouTube and in Washington area news reports, and no one on a subway train ever wants to see this. The video appears to show a metro driver asleep at the controls of a moving train. There you see it.
Also, you may remember just last month, the city has its deadliest Metro crash ever. Nine people were killed there.
Senator John Ensign's fling with a former staffer turned out to be expensive for his parents. Ensign's attorney says the senator's parents gave the woman's family a, quote, "gift" of close to $100,000. The statement says the lawmaker's parents found out about the affair from their son and decided to give the gift, quote, "out of concern for the well-being of longtime family friend during a difficult time."
JOHNS: And one of our own got a chance to sit down last night with Conan O'Brien. Larry King, the first member of CNN to appear on the "Tonight Show" since Conan took over, and Larry, actually had the last laugh.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN": We did a thing on "The Transformers," where I said that Larry King -- I didn't know this -- but he was cast as one of the Transformers, and we showed it on the show. People really like this. Let's take a quick look.
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Let's watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sacramento, California, hello.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: I got a tip from an unknown source that you were going to do that to me.
O'BRIEN: Really?
KING: So I, through my vast staff at CNN, have prepared a Transformer for you.
O'BRIEN: Me? A Transformer?
KING: Can I signal them?
O'BRIEN: Yes, yes, go ahead.
KING: OK, roll it.
O'BRIEN: Nicely done.
KING: Nicely done.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: When did they got that that tricycle? JOHNS: That's hilarious. You know, my son just the other day asked me if I'd ever seen a for-real Transformer.
CHETRY: And what did you say?
JOHNS: No, not yet. Maybe this will be -- that's what we need to do, do it on video.
CHETRY: Exactly. What would you transform into? I've seen you on that Harley.
JOHNS: A superhero.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: (INAUDIBLE) tricycle, you'd be a Harley.
JOHNS: Yes, yes, yes, Harley. No, a big truck, monster truck?
CHETRY: You'd be a monster truck, and I'd be the minivan.
All right. Well, it's ten minutes past the hour.
Way to go, Larry.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. There are some disturbing allegations of racism this morning coming out of a private swim club. This is in suburban Philadelphia. And they are accused of kicking out a group of minority day campers.
Now the club is denying it was any racial discrimination. They say they simply didn't realize that they were going to be that cramped if they let in a whole group of kids. Well, it's located in Huntington Valley, Pennsylvania, just outside of Philadelphia. And Susan Candiotti is there right now with more on both sides.
And it's heart breaking to hear from the little kids that they don't know, you know, they don't know what to believe. All they know is that they were made to feel terrible and told they had to get out.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And, Kiran, especially heart breaking when you see them cry. We have something new to report to you. We could tell you that the swim club now appears to be open. The gate has reopened one day after closing over this controversy, and the Pennsylvania Human Rights Commission is now involved, it's begun an investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Swimming once a week at the spacious Huntington Valley Club in Philadelphia. It sounded ideal for 65 kids described as black and Hispanic at Creative Steps Daycare Summer Camp. ALTHEA WRIGHT, DAY CARE DIRECTOR: I was excited. The parents and children were excited.
CANDIOTTI: When the youngsters showed up at the pool June 29 after the day camp signed and paid a $1,900 contract, this happened.
WRIGHT: The children came running down the hill saying, "Miss Wright, Miss Wright, those people are saying, 'What are those black kids doing in the pool?'".
CANDIOTTI: Twelve-year-old Marcus Allen is her son says he was sitting outside the pool and heard white adults say this.
MARCUS ALLEN, VISITOR: He was like, "Why are these black kids here?" He did even say, "Oh, I'm afraid they might do something to my children. I don't know if they might try to steal my stuff or try to, like, harm my children." And I'm like -- I was like amazed that they were saying something like this because we're just like you. We're just like your kids.
CANDIOTTI: Mrs. Wright says the swim club's director told her he was embarrassed, held an emergency board meeting and called the next day to say they could not come back.
WRIGHT: And he said, the membership said, let the chips fall where they may.
CANDIOTTI (on camera): You know, Marcus, I see tears coming down your face. Why does this make you cry?
ALLEN: Because it is kind of like sad that people are still thinking like this. I felt like these days was over.
WRIGHT: This is 2009. Children should not be subjected to that.
CANDIOTTI: The swim club's director is quoted by local media as saying the day camp kids change the, quote, "atmosphere and complexion of the club."
A club member reacted.
JIM FLYNN, CLUB MEMBER: I will be asking for the president of the club's resignation today, because I think the comment that he made, although taken out of context, was probably one of the stupidest comments I ever heard.
CANDIOTTI: He claims the club was simply overcrowded, not racist. He said two other unidentified day camps, both nonminority, also got the boot.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: The Valley Club has now issued a written statement saying, quote, "We underestimated the capacity of our facilities. Our Valley Club deplores discrimination in any way." But now that a state agency is investigating, the controversy may not end any time soon. Kiran?
CHETRY: All right. Susan Candiotti, thanks so much. It's 15 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: All right. There's a live look right now at the president of the United States' motorcade pulling up there. This is going to be a news conference he is holding any minute now from L'Aquila, Italy. And there he is heading up to the podium right now to speak at the press conference.
Let's listen in and then we'll have some analysis afterward.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I apologize for being a little bit late. Good afternoon.
We have just concluded the final session of what has been a highly productive summit here in L'Aquila. And before I discuss what we've achieved these past three days, I would like to take a moment to express my thanks to Prime Minister Berlusconi, his staff, the people of Italy for their extraordinary hospitality and hard work in setting up this summit.
And, particularly, I want to thank the people of L'Aquila for welcoming us to your home at this difficult time. We've seen how you've come together in taking care of each other. And we've been moved by your courage, and your resilience, and your kindness. I'm confident that L'Aquila will be rebuilt. Its splendour will be stored and its people will serve as an example for all of us in how people can rise up from tragedy and begin anew. And we will keep this place and its people in our prayers and our thoughts in the months and years ahead.
We've come to L'Aquila for a very simple reason, because the challenges of our time threaten the peace and prosperity of every single nation. And no one nation can meet these challenges alone.
The threat of climate change can't be contained by borders on a map, and the theft of loose nuclear materials could lead to the extermination of any city on earth.
Reckless actions by a few have fueled a recession that expands the globe. And rising food prices means that 100 million of our fellow citizens are expected to fall into desperate poverty. So right now at this defining moment, we face a choice. We can either shape our future or let events shape it for us. We can let the stale debates and old disagreements of the past divide us or we can recognize our shared interests and shared aspirations and work together to create a safer and cleaner and more prosperous world for future generations.
I believe it's clear from our progress these past few days of the path that we must choose. This gathering has included not just leaders of the G-8, but leaders for more than 25 nations as well as representatives from major international organizations such as the U.N., IMF, WTO and others.
And after weeks of preparation and three days of candid and spirited discussions, we've agreed to take significant measures to address some of the most pressing threats facing our environment, our global economy and our international security.
Let me outline what I believe had been most significant items that emerged from L'Aquila.
First, there was widespread consensus that we must all continue our work to restore economic growth and reform our national and international financial regulatory systems.
I'm pleased that the United States has taken the lead on this reform at home with a sweeping overhaul of our regulatory system, a transformation on a scale that we have not seen since the aftermath of the Great Depression.
But while our markets are improving, and we appear to have averted global collapse, we know that too many people are still struggling. So we agreed that full recovery is still a ways off. That it would be premature to begin winding down our stimulus plans, and that we must sustain our support for those plans to lay the foundation for a strong and lasting recovery.
We also agreed that it's equally important that we return to fiscal sustainability in the midterm after the recovery is completed.
Second, we agreed to historic measures that will help stop the spread of nuclear weapons and move us closer to the long-term goal of a world without nuclear weapons.
In Prague, I laid out a comprehensive strategy to advance global security by pursuing that goal.
In Moscow, President Medvedev and I agreed to substantially reduce our warheads and delivery systems in a treaty that will be completed later this year.
And this week, the leaders of the G-8 nations embraced the strategy I outlined in Prague, which includes measures to strengthen the Non-Proliferation Treaty, to encourage nations to meet their arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation commitments, and to secure nuclear weapons and vulnerable nuclear materials so they don't fall into the hands of terrorists.
I also invited leaders from the broader group of nations here to attend a global nuclear summit that I will host in Washington in March of next year, where we will discuss steps we can take to secure loose nuclear materials, combat smuggling, and deter, detect and disrupt attempts at nuclear terrorism.
Now, we face a real-time challenge on nuclear proliferation in Iran, and at this summit, the G8 nations came together to issue a strong statement calling on Iran to fulfill its responsibilities to the international community without further delay. We remain seriously concerned about the appalling events surrounding the presidential election, and we're deeply troubled by the proliferation risks Iran's nuclear program poses to the world.
We've offered Iran a path towards assuming its rightful place in the world. But with that right comes responsibilities, and we hope Iran will make the choice to fulfill them and we will take stock of Iran's promise when we see each other this September at the G20 meeting.
Third, we took ground breaking steps forward to address the threat of climate change in our time. The G-8 nations agreed that by 2050, we'll reduce our emissions by 80 percent and that we'll work with all nations to cut global emissions in half.
In 17 of the world's leading economies, both developed and developing nations alike, made unprecedented commitments to reduce their emissions and made significant progress on finance, adaptation and technology issues.
In the United States, we've already passed legislation in the House of Representatives that puts us on track to meeting this 80 percent goal. And we made historic clean energy investments in our stimulus, as well as setting aside -- setting new fuel efficiency standards to increase mileage and decrease pollution, because we believe the nation that can build a 21st century clean energy economy is the nation that will lead the 21st century global economy.
We did not reach agreement on every issue, and we still have much work ahead on climate change. But these achievements are highly meaningful and they'll generate significant momentum as we head into the talks at Copenhagen and beyond.
Finally, we have committed to investing $20 billion in food security, agricultural development programs to help fight world hunger. This is in addition to the emergency humanitarian aid that we provide. And I should just note that going into the meeting, we had agreed to $15 billion. We exceeded that mark and obtained an additional $5 billion of hard commitments.
We do not view this assistance as an end in itself. We believe that the purpose of aid must be to create the conditions where it's no longer needed, to help people become self-sufficient, provide for their families, and lift their standards of living.
And that's why I proposed a new approach to this issue, one endorsed by all the leaders here, a coordinated effort to support comprehensive plans created by the countries themselves, with help from multilateral institutions like the World Bank, when appropriate, along with significant and sustained financial commitments from our nations.
I also want to speak briefly about additional one-on-one meetings I had with leaders here outside of the G-8 context. These meetings were tremendously valuable and productive. We spoke about how we can forge a strong, coordinated and effective response to nuclear proliferation threats from Iran and North Korea.
We also discussed challenges we faced in managing our economies, steps we can take together in combating climate change and other important matters. And I believe we laid a solid foundation on these issues.
Ultimately, this summit and the work we've done here reflect a recognition that the defining problems of our time will not be solved without collective action. No one corner of the globe can wall itself off from the challenges of the 21st century or the needs and aspirations of fellow nations.
The only way forward is through shared and persistent effort to combat threats to our peace, our prosperity and our common humanity wherever they may exist. None of this will be easy, as we worked this week to find common ground. We have not solved all of our problems and we've not agreed on every point.
But we've shown that it is possible to move forward and make real and unprecedented progress together. And I'm confident we'll continue to do so in the months and years ahead.
So with that, let me take a few questions. I've got a list that I'm working off of, and I'm going to start with Peter Baker.
Peter?
I'm sorry, your mike is not working.
PETER BAKER, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Hello?
OBAMA: Yes.
BAKER: Thank you, sir.
Mr. President, we're told that you made your appeal for the food security money during the meetings personal by citing your family experience in Kenya, your cousin and so forth. I wonder if you could relate to us a little bit of what you said then and talk about what your family experience -- how that influences your policies and approach.
OBAMA: Well, what you heard is true. And I started with this fairly telling point that when my father traveled to the United States from Kenya to study. At that time, the per capita income and gross domestic product of Kenya was higher than South Korea's. Today, obviously, South Korea is a highly developed and relatively wealthy country, and Kenya's still struggling with deep poverty in much of the country.
And the question I asked in the meeting was, why is that? There had been some talk about the legacies of colonialism and other policies by wealthier nations. And without in any way diminishing that history, the point I've made was that the South Korean government, working with the private sector and civil society, was able to create a set of institutions that provided transparency and accountability and efficiency that allowed for extraordinary economic progress, and that there was no reason why African countries could not do the same.
And yet, in many African countries, if you want to start a business or get a job, you still have to pay a bribe. That there remains too much -- there remains a lack of transparency. And the point that I was trying to underscore is that as we think about this issue of food security, which is of tremendous importance, I mean, we've got 100 million people who dropped into further dire poverty as a consequence of this recession.
We estimate that 1 billion people are hungry around the globe. And so wealthier nations have a moral obligation as well as a national security interest in providing assistance. And we've got to meet those responsibilities.
The flip side is that countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere in the world that are suffering from extreme poverty have an obligation to use the assistance that's available in a way that is transparent, accountable and that builds on rule of law and other institutional reforms that will allow long-term improvement.
There is no reason why Africa cannot be self-sufficient when it comes to food. It has sufficient arable land. What's lacking is the right seeds, the right irrigation, but also the kinds of institutional mechanisms that ensure that a farmer is going to be able to grow crops, get them to market, get a fair price. And so all these things have to be part of a comprehensive plan, and that's what I was trying to underscore during the meeting today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And your own family, sir?
OBAMA: What's that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your own family?
OBAMA: Well, the point I was making is -- my father traveled to the United States a mere 50 years ago, and yet now I have family members who live in villages -- they themselves are not going hungry, but live in villages where hunger is real. And so this is something that I understand in very personal terms, and if you talk to people on the ground in Africa, certainly in Kenya, they will say that part of the issue here is the institutions aren't working for ordinary people. And so governance is a vital concern that has to be addressed.
Now keep in mind - I want to be very careful - Africa is a continent, not a country, and so you can't extrapolate from the experience of one country. And there are a lot of good things happening. Part of the reason that we're traveling to Ghana is because you've got there a functioning democracy, a president who's serious about reducing corruption, and you've seen significant economic growth. So, I don't want to overly generalize it, but I do want to make the broader point that a government that is stable, that is not engaging in tribal conflicts, that can give people confidence and security that their work will be rewarded, that is investing in its people and their skills and talents, those countries can succeed, regardless of their history.
All right, Michael Fletcher, "The Washington Post."
MICHAEL FLETCHER, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Thank you, Mr. President. As you've pushed for an agreement to reduce nuclear stockpiles between Russia and the U.S., part of your rationale has been that you want to have the moral authority to then turn to North Korea and Iran to get them to suspend their programs. Why will they listen to what the U.S. and Russia have to say? What would it matter to them what we do?
OBAMA: Well, I don't think it matters so much necessarily that they will listen to the United States or Russia individually. But it gives us the capacity, as the two nuclear superpowers, to make appeals to the broader world community in a consistent way about the dangers of nuclear proliferation and the need to reduce that danger and hopefully at some point in time eliminate it.
So there are countries that have decided not to pursue nuclear weapons. Brazil, South Africa, Libya have all made a decision not to pursue nuclear weapons. Now, part of the concept behind the Non- Proliferation Treaty was countries could develop peaceful nuclear energy, they would not pursue nuclear weapons if they were signatories to the treaty, and in turn the United States and Russia would also significantly reduce their nuclear stockpiles.
And so part of the goal here is to show that the U.S. and Russia are going to be fulfilling their commitments so that other countries feel that this is an international effort and it's not something simply being imposed by the United States or Russia or members of the nuclear club. And I am confident that we can rebuild a nonproliferation framework that works for all countries.
And I think it's important for us to establish a set of international norms that can be verified, that can be enforced. And when we are speaking to Iran or North Korea it's not a matter of singling them out, but rather it's a set of international norms of behavior that we're expecting everybody to abide by.
Paolo Valentino.
PAOLO VALENTINO: President, it seems that yesterday morning you had a very spirited and lively discussion within - with the G-8-plus- five-plus-one, ignited by President Lula objection to the format, to the adequacy of the G-8 as a forum.
And, well, I would like - what was your argument in this discussion and whether or not you have the feeling that the days of the G-8 are over? And a very - a second question, but very light, after six months wheeling and dealing with these international forums - G20, NATO, and G8 - do you find it more complicated or less complicated to deal with that than with the American Congress?
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: Well, the -- on the second question, it's not even close. I mean, Congress is always tougher. But in terms of the issue of the G's and what's the appropriate international structure and framework, I have to tell you in the discussions I listened more than I spoke. Although what I said privately was the same thing that I've said publicly, which is that there is no doubt that we have to update and refresh and renew the international institutions that were set up in a different time and place. Some -- the United Nations -- date back to post-World War II. Others, like the G-8, are 30 years old.
And so there's no sense that those institutions can adequately capture the enormous changes that have taken place during those intervening decades. What, exactly, is the right format is a question that I think will be debated.
One point I did make in the meeting is that what I've noticed is everybody wants the smallest possible group, smallest possible organization, that includes them. So if they're the 21st-largest nation in the world, then they want the G-21 and think it's highly unfair if they've been cut out.
What's also true is that part of the challenge here is revitalizing the United Nations, because a lot of energy is going into these various summits and these organizations in part because there's a sense that when it comes to big, tough problems, the U.N. General Assembly is not always working as effectively and rapidly as it needs to. So I'm a strong supporter of the U.N. -- and I said so in this meeting - but it has to be reformed and revitalized, and this is something that I've said to the Secretary General.
One thing I think is absolutely true is, is that for us to think we can somehow deal with some of these global challenges in the absence of major powers - like China, India, and Brazil - seems to me wrongheaded. So they are going to have to be included in these conversations. To have entire continents like Africa or Latin America not adequately represented in these major international forums and decision-making bodies is not going to work.
So I think we're in a transition period. We're trying to find the right shape that combines the efficiency and capacity for action with inclusiveness. And my expectation is, is that over the next several years you'll see an evolution and we'll be able to find the right combination.
The one thing I will be looking forward to is fewer summit meetings, because, as you said, I've only been in office six months now and there have been a lot of these. And I think that there's a possibility of streamlining them and making them more effective. The United States obviously is an absolutely committed partner to concerted international action, but we need to I think make sure that they're as productive as possible.
Hans Nichols. ROGER RUNNINGEN: Hans, had other obligations, sir.
OBAMA: Yes, I notice you're not Hans.
(LAUGHTER)
RUNNINGEN: Right. Roger Runningen -- we swapped. Anyway, thank you very much for the question. I'd like to return to domestic issues, Mr. President -- health care. The momentum seems to have slowed a bit.
The Senate Finance Committee is still wrestling with the cost issue. The Blue Dog Democrats, members of your own party, yesterday said they had strong reservations about what's developing so far. I was just wondering, when are you going to be jumping in really full force with this? Do you have any sweeteners planned? What is your push before the August recess?
OBAMA: Well, we jumped in with both feet. Our team is working with members of Congress every day on this issue, and it is my highest legislative priority over the next month.
So I think it's important just to recognize we are closer to achieving serious health care reform that cuts costs, provides coverage to American families, allows them to keep their doctors and plans that are working for them.
We're closer to that significant reform than at any time in recent history. That doesn't make it easy. It's hard. And we are having a whole series of constant negotiations. This is not simply a Democratic versus Republican issue. This is a House versus Senate issue; this is different committees that have different priorities.
My job is to make sure that I've set some clear parameters in terms of what I want to achieve. We have to bend the cost curve on health care, and there are some very specific ways of doing that -- game changers that incentivize quality as opposed to quantity, that emphasize prevention.
There are a whole host of things that I've put on the table that I want to see included. I've said that it's got to be budget neutral, it's got to be deficit neutral, and so whatever bill is produced has to be paid for, and that creates some difficulties because people would like to get the good stuff without paying for it.
And so there are going to be some tough negotiations in the days and weeks to come, but I'm confident that we're going to get it done. And I think that, you know, appropriately, all of you as reporters are reporting on the game. What I'm trying to keep focused on are the people out in states all across the country that are getting hammered by rising premiums. They're losing their jobs and suddenly losing their health care. They are going into debt. Some are going into bankruptcy -- small businesses and large businesses that are feeling enormous pressure. And I'm also looking at the federal budget.
You know, there's been a lot of talk about the deficit and the debt and, from my Republican colleagues, you know, why isn't Obama doing something about this, ignoring the fact that we got into the worst recession since the Great Depression with a $1.3 billion deficit. Fair enough. This is occurring on my watch.
What cannot be denied is that the only way to get a handle on our medium- and long-term budget deficits is if we corral and contain health care costs. Nobody denies this. And so my hope is, is that everybody who is talking about deficit reduction gets serious about reducing the cost of health care and puts some serious proposals on the table. And I think it's going to get done.
It is going to be hard, though, because as I said, I think in one of the town hall meetings that I had, as dissatisfied as Americans may be with the health care system, as concerned as they are about the prospects that they may lose their job or their premiums may keep on rising, they're also afraid of the unknown.
And we have a long history in America of scaring people that they're going to lose their doctor, they're going to lose their health care plans, they're going to be stuck with some bureaucratic government system that's not responsive to their needs. And overcoming that fear -- fear that is often actively promoted by special interests who profit from the existing system -- is a challenge.
And so my biggest job, even as my staff is working on the day-to- day negotiations with the House and Senate staffs, my biggest job is to explain to the American people why this is so important and give them confidence that we can do better than we're doing right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it pretty much a do-or-die by the August recess?
OBAMA: I never believe anything is do-or-die. But I really want to get it done by the August recess. Christi Parsons -- hometown girl. Is Christi around? Christi is not here? I'm disappointed. You know, do we have any members of the foreign press here? Yes, I'll use Christi's spot for -- just so that you guys have a chance to ask a question.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you very much...
OBAMA: I'm sorry, I can't hear you -- can somebody make sure the mic is working?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's on. On this trip, you have been talking about state sovereignty as a cornerstone of international order. How do you reconcile that with the concept of responsibility to protect, which used to be the cornerstone for lots of victims?
OBAMA: I'm sorry, how do I reconcile that with responsibility to protect, which used to be what?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The cornerstone of hope for lots of people in post-war conflict. OBAMA: Well, if I understand your question correctly, on the one hand we think that respecting the sovereignties of nation states is important. We don't want stronger nations bullying weaker nations. On the other hand, where you have nations that are oppressing their people, isn't there an international responsibility to intervene?
It is one of the most difficult questions in international affairs. And I don't think that there is a clean formula. What I would say is, is that in general it's important for the sovereignty of nations to be respected and to resolve conflicts between nations through diplomacy and through international organizations in trying to set up international norms that countries want to meet.
There are going to be exceptional circumstances in which I think the need for international intervention becomes a moral imperative. The most obvious example being in a situation like Rwanda where genocide has occurred.
Gordon Brown during the last session told an incredibly powerful story, and I may not be getting all the details perfectly right, but he said he had gone to Rwanda, went to some sort of museum or exhibition that commemorated the - or marked the tragedy in Rwanda, and there was a photograph of a 12-year-old boy, and it gave his name, and that he loved soccer and he wanted to be a doctor and provided his biography.
And the last line on this exhibit said that right before he and his mother was killed, he turned to his mother and he said, "Don't worry, the United Nations is going to come save us."
And that voice has to be heard in international relations. The threshold at which international intervention is appropriate I think has to be very high. There has to be a strong international outrage at what's taking place.
It's not always going to be a neat decision, and there are going to be objections to just about any decision, because there are some in the international community who believe that state sovereignty is sacrosanct and you never intervene under any circumstances in somebody's internal affairs.
You know, I think rather than focus on hypotheticals, what my administration wants to do is to build up international norms, put pressure - economic, diplomatic, et cetera -- on nations that are not acting in accordance with universal values towards their citizens, but not hypothesize on particular circumstances, take each case as it comes.
Richard Wolf.
RICHARD WOLF: I guess I have to follow on that, Mr. President. Is Iran in that category? And are you disappointed that while you came up with a statement of condemnation from the G-8, you did not come up with any kind of extra sanctions having to do with their crackdown on protestors? OBAMA: Yes, I have to say, I read, Peter, your article and maybe some others. This notion that we were trying to get sanctions or that this was a forum in which we could get sanctions is not accurate.
What we wanted was exactly what we got, which is a statement of unity and strong condemnation about the appalling treatment of peaceful protestors post-election in Iran, as well as some behavior that just violates basic international norms: storming of embassies, arresting embassy personnel, restrictions on journalists. And so I think that the real story here was consensus in that statement, including Russia, which doesn't make statements like that lightly.
Now, there is -- the other story there was the agreement that we will reevaluate Iran's posture towards negotiating the cessation of a nuclear weapons policy. We'll evaluate that at the G-20 meeting in September. And I think what that does is it provides a time frame. The international community has said, here's a door you can walk through that allows you to lessen tensions and more fully join the international community.
If Iran chooses not to walk through that door, then you have on record the G-8, to begin with, but I think potentially a lot of other countries that are going to say we need to take further steps. And that's been always our premise, is that we provide that door, but we also say we're not going to just wait indefinitely and allow for the development of a nuclear weapon, the breach of international treaties, and wake up one day and find ourselves in a much worse situation and unable to act.
So my hope is, is that the Iranian leadership will look at the statement coming out of the G8 and recognize that world opinion is clear.
All right, thank you very much, everybody. Arrivederci.
JOHNS: All right. That was president Obama speaking in L'Aquila, Italy. Joining us now with some analysis, John Avlon, a columnist for TheDailyBeast.com and author of "Independent Nations." So some very broad strokes there, he touched on the economy. He touched on, you know, world hunger. He also touched on global warming, which necessarily wasn't so much of a success for him. What do you think the president gets out of this trip?
JOHN AVLON, THEDAILYBEAST.COM: I think he's establishing himself as really the leader of the free world again. He's confronting a world of problems. I thought the defining quote was -- he said the defining problems of our time cannot be solved without collective action. It is very much a presidency that is embracing globalization, that realizes that unilateral action can't solve problems alone. And that is very much a break with the past.
But you're right, he covered a wide array of areas. Global warming, combating hunger, the global economic crisis, Iran, the nuclear proliferation, all of which he's saying that countries can lead. But at the end of the day, it needs to be a collective approach to solve the underlying problem. CHETRY: It was also interesting that he said that strong nations can't bully weak nations. What do you think he was referring to specifically when he made sure to make that point?
AVLON: Well, I think there are a number of different countries that could fall into that. Given his recent trip to Russia, it's possible that was a reference there. But you're seeing a brave new world. I mean, countries are developing. A lot of these powers are developing ways to bully smaller countries through non-traditional means like cyber attacks, something we've seen in the last several days.
CHETRY: Right.
AVLON: Something that Russia's used against countries in its sphere. So I think in these and so many other ways, President Obama's trying to create a broader international coalition to combat emerging problems for an age of globalization.
JOHNS: On the domestic side, a bit of talk there on the issue of the president's health care plan trying to push through the Congress. He's certainly gotten just a bit of turbulence now. And when he comes back to the United States, he says his priority over the next month is to get this through. In fact, he'd like to see it done by the August recess. Do you think that's realistic?
AVLON: It was always an ambitious target. And just recently you've seen the blue dog democrats, the centrists democrats pulling away and saying, look, we need more fiscally responsible provisions than this.
CHETRY: We're seeing him live, by the way, as he's walking away waving and he, of course, as we know is heading to Rome next. Go ahead.
AVLON: That's exactly right. You know, I think the president has civil war within the democratic party on this issue. He realizes that independents in particular are starting to question the massive spending coming out of this democratic Congress. And I think it poses a political problem. If you listen to the way that he framed the health care problem. He kept bringing it back to individuals who are paying more out of pocket but saying that we need to solve the long-term budget deficit. We need to get health care costs in check. This is a message aimed right at the center of the American electorate, not at the interesting (inaudible) of Washington.
CHETRY: And what do we -- because the independents, of course, a key to President Obama's victory...
AVLON: Sure.
CHETRY: ... in November. And we've talked with you a lot about the impact and how important those independents are. We have a Gallup poll, along with some of our polling as well but specifically looking at independents showing that there seems to be a bit of a shift and that perhaps, these are people who voted for more effectively as they call it operational democrats because they voted in 2006 and 2008 that are now seeming to be up for grabs and they're questioning whether it has to do with the faltering economy or some of these ambitious economic proposals.
AVLON: And it does in my belief. Independents are not only the largest and fastest growing segment of the electorate. They tend to be fiscally conservative but socially progressive with a libertarian streak. What does that mean. It means that this excessive spending. There is a bailout backlash going on in America right now. There is skepticism about the impact and the unrestraint spending they're seeing out of this democratic Congress. This should be a wake-up call to democrats and that's what it accounts for the gap between President Obama's broad popularity and the much lower popularity of the democratic Congress.
JOHNS: Once you lose them, though, how hard is it to get the critical voting block back? Is it tough?
AVLON: It is tough, because independents traditionally like checks and balances, and that's one thing that unified control does not afford. And the one thing that's consistent among independents from the Ross Perot era to today. They tend to be deficit hawks. They want to see balanced budgets. They were willing to put up with government action and economic crisis, but now they want to see a return back to balanced budgets, and that's contrary to a lot of interests on the Democratic side of Capitol Hill.
CHETRY: And the interesting thing is he said, I want to see this done by August. One of the things, of course, politics for members of Congress plays in. They're running from re-election almost constantly. So what happens if as the last time we saw double digit unemployment we saw the sitting party, which was the GOP under Reagan lose 26 seats.
AVLON: That's right. It's never a good thing for high unemployment for the incumbent party. And you're going to see with independents who will ultimately decide to (INAUDIBLE) an election wanting to bring back checks and balances. Those are two powerful kind of prevailing trends. The one catch is, the Republicans have not done themselves any favors of building their brand and making it more attractive to voters in the center. That's the fighting chance that President Obama and the democrats have got.
JOHNS: All right. Thanks so much, John.
CHETRY: Thanks for sticking around with us this morning.
JOHNS: Absolutely.
As you heard the president on to Rome and then to Africa. CNN's Anderson Cooper will be traveling with President Obama while he's in Africa. You can see Anderson's exclusive interview Monday night at 10:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
CHETRY: All right. And we want to say thanks to Joe Johns for being with us at the end of the week. It was great having you with us.
JOHNS: It was my pleasure.
CHETRY: And of course, join us again next week. Thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. Right now here's CNN NEWSROOM with Heidi Collins.
