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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

Obama/Renzi News Conference. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired April 17, 2015 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[12:00:00] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: He will be taking questions on the key issues of the day. Our Wolf Blitzer picks up the coverage right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. Thanks very much for joining us.

Any moment now we're expecting President Obama and the visiting Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi, to address reporters in the East Room of the White House. You're looking at live pictures right now. The two men, they've been meeting this morning. Among the issues reportedly on the table, the serious instability, the crisis in Libya, support for Ukraine and efforts to battle ISIS.

Earlier they met in the Oval Office there. You see some pictures.

Let's go to our Michelle Kosinski, our White House correspondent.

You're there in the East Room, Michele. Set the scene for us.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Wolf.

Right, well, this is ready to go. Secretary of State John Kerry just arrived. National Security Adviser Susan Rice is here. The room is ready. We know that this meeting between Renzi and President Obama lasted roughly an hour. And you mentioned some of those topics. Obviously areas of cooperation between the two countries. What to do about Russia in Ukraine, trade, fighting ISIS.

Now, they're each going to take two questions from both sides, two from the Americans, two from the Italians. I think from the Americans we can rest assured he's going to have to face questions about the Iran nuclear deal, trade promotion authority. That's a big deal to the president. That's something he wants very much. He's actually getting a lot of support from Republicans on that, but a lot of pushback from his own party.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, the program will begin in two minutes. Again, ladies and gentlemen, the program will begin in two minutes.

KOSINSKI: They are ready to go now. We just got the two-minute warning. And I think - I think we can be assured that he's going to face a

question on the now very much delayed confirmation of the new attorney general, Loretta Lynch. The White House was pretty angry with Republicans yesterday, calling this delay of about 161 days now "unconscionable" and described Senator Grassley's comments as "astoundingly duplicitous," Wolf. So I think that's going to be one of the big topics here today.

BLITZER: All right, we'll see what happens. Two questions from American journalists, two questions from Italian journalists. You're there. We'll check back with you, Michelle, right after this news conference. The president, the prime minister, we're told, will open with statements.

Jim Sciutto is with me. Gloria Borger is with me.

Jim Sciutto, one of the highest priorities for the Italians right now, this humanitarian crisis, in Libya.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: No question, it's a spillover from what was a failed campaign, right? U.S. and Italy were, with European partners, they brought down the government of Moammar Gadhafi. The place has fallen apart. It is now home to terrorist groups worse than before. And now you have this outflow of humanitarian crisis, the people flying the country by boat to Italy and Italy at the forefront of that.

BLITZER: And some major humanitarian crisis for the Italians and I'm sure we'll hear the prime minister talk about the literally hundreds if not thousands of refugees fleeing Libya, trying to make their way to Italy.

GLORIA BORGER, CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Trying to make it to his country. Also, he's here to talk about his ambitious economic program, Wolf. And I think in many ways, as a young person, 40 years old, who ran on sort of hope and change and the Obama tradition, it's very important for him to be seen on the stage with the president at this kind of - at this kind of a press briefing.

BLITZER: Yes, he has major initiatives on the economic crisis that's been going on, and nearly very high unemployment, still about 14, 15 percent.

BORGER: Right.

BLITZER: Also, major parliamentary moves that they're trying to undertake right now. I don't know if we'll get into that in this news conference. But those are high priority issues. And certainly the situation in Ukraine is a major issue in Europe right now.

SCIUTTO: And you know who does a lot of business with Russia? Italy does.

BORGER: Italy, yes.

SCIUTTO: And they've been one of the resistors to more severe economic sanctions against Russia, which has been the principle administration response.

BLITZER: I'm sure there will be questions about that, Ukraine and ISIS, which seems to be gaining strength, even in the face of assertions by some, Gloria, that ISIS is losing right now.

BORGER: Right, and -

BLITZER: At least some territory, if not necessarily populated areas.

BORGER: Right. And I think, obviously, the president's going to get some questions on that and Iran sanctions, as Michelle was mentioning, because those are two big political issues right now.

BLITZER: (INAUDIBLE) All right, they have just been welcomed in. There's the prime minister, Matteo Renzi. There's the president of the United States. The president goes first.

[12:04:05] BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Please have a seat.

It is a great pleasure to welcome my partner and friend, Prime Minister Renzi, to the White House.

D'minuto (ph).

I actually should say welcome back. Not many people know this, but Matteo came to the White House several years ago. Back then, he was the young dynamic mayor of Florence. Today's, he's the young dynamic prime minister of Italy. But even then, I think people recognized that he brought an energy and a sense of vision to where he wanted to see his country go. And today is an opportunity for me to return the incredible hospitality that Matteo and the Italian people showed me last year in Rome, one of the great cities of the world.

Italy, of course, is one of our closest and strongest allies. And anytime Italians and Americans get together, it's also a chance to celebrate the deep bonds of history and friendship and family. As I've said before, I'm not lucky enough to have any Italian ancestry that I know of, but -- but I consider myself an honorary Italian because I love all things Italian.

And the United States would not be what we are or who we are without the contributions of generations of Italian Americans.

In Rome last year, Matteo spoke eloquently of his visits to the American military cemetery in Florence. And that's a reminder of how Italians and Americans have made extraordinary sacrifices for the freedom that we cherish.

I'm also grateful for my partnership personally with Prime Minister Renzi. We've worked together on several occasions from Rome to our NATO, G-7 and G-20 summits. I know he is deeply committed to our alliance. Moreover, I have been very impressed with the energy and the vision and the reforms that he is pursuing to unleash the potential of the Italian people and the Italian economy.

His willingness to challenge the status quo and to look to the future has made him a leading voice in Europe. And we're already seeing progress being made with respect to Italy.

So, Matteo, I want to thank you again for the seriousness and sense of purpose that you bring to our work together here today.

This morning we focused on our shared security, starting in Europe. We agreed that the international community needs to continue supporting Ukraine with robust assistance as it pursues economic and political reforms. Along with our international partners, we strongly support the Minsk agreements, and we agree that both Russia and the Ukraine must fulfill all the obligations under these agreements.

I thank the prime minister of Italy's strong support for the international coalition against ISIL. Italy, by the way, is one of the largest contributors of advisers and trainers to help build up Iraqi security forces. And Italy is leading the effort to ensure the areas liberated from ISIL's control are stabilized with an effective civilian police force.

We also spent a considerable amount of time discussing our deep shared concern for the situation in Libya, where we continue to support U.N. efforts to form a unity government.

Given Italy's leadership role across the Mediterranean, the prime minister and I agreed to work together even more intensively to encourage cooperation on threats coming from Libya, including the growing ISIL presence there, as well as additional coordination with other partners in how we can stabilize what has become a very deadly and difficult situation.

More broadly, Italian forces continue to play a vital role from Kosovo to Lebanon to Afghanistan. Coalition forces continue to train and assist Afghan forces, and we want to make sure we transition responsibly as we complete our consolidation by the end of next year.

I updated President -- Prime Minister Renzi on the framework that we reached with Iran, our progress towards a comprehensive deal that prevents Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and we agreed that until any final deal is reached, sanctions on Iran must continue to be fully and strictly enforced.

So that's what we talked about in the morning.

After this press conference, we'll have lunch, and that'll give us a chance to focus on what is clearly the top priority of both of our peoples, and that is creating a strong, inclusive economy that is creating jobs and opportunity on both sides of the Atlantic.

Like me, Prime Minister Renzi is a strong supporter of TTIP, the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, which would boost both jobs and exports in Europe and the United States and would include strong protections for workers and public health and safety and the environment.

Now that Congress is considering important bipartisan legislation for trade promotion authority, TTIP negotiations need to make major progress this year.

I'm looking forward to hearing the prime minister's assessment of the ambitious economic reforms that he's pursuing to make Italy more competitive and to reinvigorate the Italian economy as a source of growth in Europe.

We'll be discussing Europe's effort to find paths that builds on recent reforms to return Greece to growth within the eurozone, and we'll be discussing the importance of all our major economies taking ambition -- ambitious action on climate change.

[12:10:05] During its presence at the E.U., Italy showed real leadership as Europe committed to new targets for reducing emissions. My work with Prime Minister Renzi today is part of our continuing effort to forge a strong climate agreement in Paris this year.

And finally, I want to congratulate Italy and the people of Milan, as they prepare to host the 2015 World Expo. The focus is on food, something that Italy knows something about, along with wine. But the expo and our U.S. -- our U.S. pavilion is focused not only on outstanding cuisine, like Italy's, but also how we feed a growing planet, how we combat hunger and malnutrition, how we put healthy food on our tables. And that's a cause, obviously, that's very close to Michelle's heart.

So we commend Italy's leadership. And I suspect many Americans will be visiting Milan and sampling the food and sampling the wine.

Matteo, grazie (ph) for your leadership in Italy and Europe, for your partnership on many pressing global issues. I assure you that it is a friendship and partnership that all Americans treasure. And we are grateful that we have such strong bonds between our peoples.

Prime Minister?

MATTEO RENZI, ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER: Thank you so much (inaudible) member of the Italian government to be here in the White House, in the heart of freedom around the world.

(THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I will speak in Italian very quickly in order to thank the president of the United States of America for the extraordinary leadership that he has displayed, both in terms of his foreign policy as well as in the economic and development model.

The last time we met was in Brisbane during the G-20. I can only say that as a partner and as an ally, I have to express my appreciation for the work that has been carried out by the United States of America in the very complex Cuba issue. This has been a very complex issue. It's been difficult for the American people, as well as for the Cuban people.

As well, I would like to congratulate the president for the Iranian issues, because at least there is a framework, there's an agreement which we hope will reach a conclusion by June 30th.

I would also like to add that when I came to the White House, I brought on my behalf and all of the Italians these feelings of pride for what the president mentioned earlier, for the role of so many Italians in the history of the United States of America, from Christopher Columbus onward, as well as the appreciation and the gratefulness for the sacrifice of young men and women of the United States whom in these next few days we will remember for having liberated Italy.

We're very, very proud of what our fighters, our partisans, did, because they fought against fascism. They went out of the mountains, out of the Machea (ph). They struggled, they fought. But this would not have been possible without the sacrifice and the commitment of the American Army, young men and women who didn't even know Italy, who died for my grandfather, for my father, for my family and my children.

This is why, during these days of celebration in Italy, I will be sure -- this is the 70th year after the liberation. I will go to a place that I love particularly, which is the American cemetery at San Crisano (ph) in order to honor all of the American people. And I would like to thank you, dear president, on behalf of all Italians.

We spoke quite a bit, and spoke about a number of topics, and I'm quite anxious to talk with President Obama about everything that has to do with the economy. Now, if you look at these last seven years, from 2008 to 2015, the American economy has had a reduction of the unemployed and there has been a growth in the GDP.

The European economy had an increase in its employment -- in unemployed, and its GDP went down. Something just did not work at home. This is why I believe that the experience of the United States government is a model for the European economy, and that we have to be very careful about budgets, about the limitations, about our commitments.

[12:15:16] But at the same time, we have to go through a new season of growth and investments. In 2014, we started with the first provisions. There's still much to be done. The American leadership for me is a point of reference. We also spoke about Libya, as the president said. I just had a meeting. During this meeting, I am convinced that the United States and I -- the president and I are fully on the same page.

In the next few weeks, we will see that we will reach the fruit of all this commitment. Everything that happens in the Mediterranean Sea is not merely something that has to do with security. And of course it is, but at the same time, it has to do with justice and the dignity of mankind. This is why the very authoritative cooperation that the United States can offer is for Italy an extremely important fact.

We also spoke about the Ukraine, and we spoke about Russia, as the president mentioned. We also mentioned all the issues that have to do with Iran and the very complex framework in the Middle East. I believe that it's very important for us to underscore how -- as part of this great alliance, guided by the United States, which is a reference point not just for our choices, but for the ideals, the cultural battle that all of have to fight.

This is why, dear president, dear Barack, I decided to leave Georgetown University. I went to visit Georgetown, and now when I leave the White House, I will go to the National Gallery, because I know that there is an exhibition on the Florentine Italian renaissance. And this, of course, is a clear message that tells us how culture is important for a young boy, a young girl. This is the engine, this is the basis of our civilization and our future.

This is a great occasion, the expo, of course. And I brought a few bottles of wine to Barack because I know that he's a great expert.

I remember an interview with an Italian journalist when he was candidate about Tuscan wine. I remember very well a very important interview about (UNTRANSLATED).

(THROUGH TRANSLATOR): But I also believe that it's very important for us, quite aside from any jokes, we must make sure that the expo becomes a great occasion for the quality of life, the lifestyle. And at the same time, to declare war against poverty. It's just not possible for us to have a world in which one billion people die because they're obese or because they don't have enough to eat.

This is what the expo is going to be, and the presence of the United States will be an element of great importance.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

And if I may finish, I'd like to say that even if it doesn't have anything to do between the relationship between governments, I said to President Obama that I wanted to thank him for his speech at Selma.

This is a personal observation, but it's also a political issue. There are moments in which history can be quite extraordinary, and one of these moments is what this country has lived through over the last 50 years.

I think that for those of us who love politics, that speech was a moment of great inspiration and very strong reflection. For this, thank you kindly, Mr. President, and thank you for your warm welcome to the White House.

OBAMA: Let me just (inaudible) that with respect to the wine...

(LAUGHTER)

... I felt it would be insulting for me not to sample it...

(LAUGHTER)

... and to establish the strong commercial bonds between the United States of America when it comes to Tuscan wine.

So I will give you, Matteo, a report on whether it's up to the quality that we expect.

(LAUGHTER)

With that, let me call on Roberta Rampton of Reuters.

QUESTION: Thanks.

[12:20:00] President Obama, some congressional leaders yesterday came to a deal on fast track for trade. But it's clear that many in your party are opposed, including Senator Schumer.

And are you worried that your support for this is going to divide your party going into 2016? Will it hurt your party's ability to win? Do you need Hillary Clinton's support on this?

And Prime Minister, how confident are you that Greece will reach an agreement with its creditors by the end of this month?

And how concerned are each of you about the effects that this could have on the global economy if a deal is not reached?

OBAMA: On trade, first of all, I want to congratulate Senators Wyden and Hatch for coming up with a bipartisan framework for trade promotion authority.

And without getting into the weeds on it, I think it's important to recognize that the trade promotion authority is not the same as a trade agreement; it just gives us a structure whereby when a trade agreement is presented, it can move forward in a quicker fashion and not get completely bogged down in the usual procedures.

And I would be receiving the same trade promotion authority that every president in the post-war area, with the exception of Richard Nixon, has received. So it's not exceptional in that.

What is exceptional is that in this framework, for the first time, there are requirements for enforceable labor, environmental provisions, there is clear attention to issues like human rights, and in many ways, this is the most far-reaching and progressive trade promotion authority that we've seen going through Congress.

And that's important, because as I've said before, it is entirely understandable that there is some skepticism around trade from working families who live in a town that saw manufacturing collapse and jobs being outsourced.

OBAMA: People recognize that there have been circumstances in the past in which trade may have contributed to aggregate growth of the global economy or even the U.S. economy, but hurt workers. And we've learned lessons from that.

And this trade promotion authority, thanks to the work of Senator Wyden's and Hatch, reflect some of those lessons.

Now, in terms of actually getting a deal done, the first trade agreement that we potentially would present under this trade promotion authority would be the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP.

I've spoken to this before, but I will just repeat that 95 percent of the world's markets are outside our borders. The fastest growing markets, the most populous markets, are going to be in Asia. And if we do not help to shape the rules so that our businesses and our workers can compete in those markets, then China will set up rules that advantage Chinese workers and Chinese businesses.

And that will set the stage over the next 20 or 30 years for us being locked out, us being unable to protect our businesses from discrimination, our agricultural products being excluded from these areas. High tariffs that prevent us from being able to compete fairly.

When it comes to services or it comes to the Internet, for example, our ability to maintain intellectual property protection or freedom in the Internet or other requirements that tilt the playing field against U.S. workers, that's what's gonna happen.

So what we are doing is negotiating the highest level, highest standard trade agreement in our history, with strong enforceable labor provisions, strong enforceable environmental provisions. And I will be able to show when the final agreement is presented, that this is absolutely good for not just American businesses, but for American workers. And it's good for our economy. It's the right thing to do.

Now, last point I'll make on this, the politics around trade has always been tough, particularly in the Democratic Party, because people have memories of outsourcing and job loss.

The point I've made to my labor friends and my progressive friends is that, you know, companies that are looking for just low- cost labor, they've already left. We're already at a disadvantage, right now. And the trade agreement I'm proposing would actually strengthen our ability to force other markets open and strengthen our position compared to where we are right now.

[12:25:21] And being opposed to this new trade agreement is essentially a ratification of the status quo, where a lot of folks are selling here, but we're not selling there.

Japan is one of the -- one of the negotiators in this -- in this deal. Now, the last time I checked, if you drive around Washington, there are a whole bunch of Japanese cars. You go to Tokyo and count how many Chryslers and GM and Ford cars there are.

So the current situation is not working for us. And I don't know why it is that folks would be opposed to us opening up the Japanese market more for U.S. autos or U.S. beef. It doesn't make any sense.

So I'm -- so I'm gonna be able to make a strong case.

OBAMA: But I think it's important, when you talk about dividing the party, look, we got a Korean trade -- free trade agreement passed. We got a Colombian free trade agreement passed and a Panama free trade agreement passed over the last several years, during my presidency.

It didn't divide the Democratic Party. There's going to be a set of Democratic senators and House members who traditionally have just on principle opposed trade because the unions on principle, regardless of what the provisions are, are opposed to trade.

And then there are others who, like me, believe that we cannot stop a -- a global economy at our shores. We've got to be in there and compete. And we've got to make sure we're writing the rules so that we've got a level playing field. Because when we do, products made in America, services provided by American firms are the best in the world.

And I will continue to make that argument. And for those who argue that somehow this is contrary to the interests of working families, what I tell them is my whole presidency has been about helping working families and lifting up wages and giving workers more opportunity. And if I didn't think this deal was doing it, I wouldn't do it.

I didn't get elected because of the sponsorship of the Business Roundtable or the Chamber of Commerce. Those aren't the ones who brung me to the dance. The reason I'm doing it is because I know this is an important thing to do and I also know that it sends a signal throughout Asia that we are out there competing and that we are going to help maintain international rules that are fair for everybody, and not so tilted in favor of one country that it ends up being bad for not only our commercial prospects, but for other countries over the long term.

That was a very long answer, but it's a big question. And I hadn't had a chance to talk about it.

Sorry, Matteo.

RENZI: Very, very briefly, I think (inaudible) time (inaudible) because obviously the situation in Greece is not -- the situation in Europe is not the 2011, is not around the world of 2008. So it's different time. But we must absolutely strongly work to achieve an agreement.

To achieve this agreement, it's important Greece government respect not all the agreements of the past, because in the European Council we accept a very normal principle, if there is a moment of election and there is a new leader is correct to respect the votes of citizens, in this case the vote of citizens in Greece.

But there are a framework of agreement in the European institutions, which are very important (inaudible) Greece (inaudible) Greek government must respect. At the same time, we must for the future write a new page in the European economics. I absolutely confident about it. It finished the time of only austerity in Europe.

[12:29:42] But to achieve this goal, the local government, the national government must do reforms. This is important first of all for Italy. We are absolutely committed to realize the (inaudible) to our citizens, not European institution, to our citizens. And then we can finally open a discussion about the relation between austerity and growth in European economy.