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Obama Holds News Conference at G7 Summit; Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired June 08, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:02] FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They don't believe that will happen, especially the Russians are saying, they feel very easy about it and certainly the Russian World Cup would also be the one that would be more difficult to take away simply because it's already so close to that World Cup happening in 2018 -- Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Frederik Pleitgen reporting live from London. Thanks so much.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.

And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. We begin this morning in the Bavarian Alps, the site of a G7 summit. Leaders from some of the world's top economies, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States all in attendance at this high profile gathering.

This year Russia was left out of the meeting, though, excluded for its aggressions for Ukraine. Russia's actions just one of the many topics on this year's agenda. And in just a few minutes, President Obama is expected to step before the cameras and speak with reporters before heading back to the United States.

I want to take you to Washington now to Wolf Blitzer who will bring you CNN's special coverage of the president's remarks.

Good morning, Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Carol. Thank you very much. As you mentioned, Russia clearly a key focus for this two-day G7 summit which also addresses issues like climate change, trade, the fight against ISIS. That's a huge issue at this summit.

CNN is covering the global and domestic impact of this meeting from all angles. My colleague, the chief Washington correspondent Jake Tapper is here. He's joining me here in Washington.

Also traveling with the president are senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta, our chief national correspondent Jim Sciutto. He's here in Washington. Our political analyst Josh Rogan is joining us from Germany. And CNN military analyst Col. Rick Francona in Los Angeles. Our political commentator, the former Obama administration official, Van Jones.

Set the scene for us, Jake. What do we expect to hear from the president. He's got Russia -- Russian aggression in Ukraine, he's got ISIS aggression in Iraq and Syria for that matter. He's got a lot of issues on the agenda right now.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Not to mention the deadline approaching for the negotiations with Iran and some of the attendees of the G7 summit are also involved in that negotiation as well.

A lot of thorny issues. President Obama and his team have made it very clear, Wolf, that one of the key items that they are focusing on at this G7 summit exemplified by the fact that this is the second G7 summit and not G8 because they have kicked Russia out is Russia's continuing aggression in Ukraine.

There was an agreement that Russia has not abided by the Minsk agreement in March. The president is clearly trying to get European leaders to continue with sanctions perhaps even extend those sanctions against Russia for its aggression in Ukraine.

BLITZER: He's got the approval of -- he seems to get the approval of Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany, to continue these sanctions.

TAPPER: That's right. And there's also -- he finds himself in a little bit of a vise because there is pressure from some in Ukraine and some domestically here in the United States for him to provide lethal aid to the Ukrainians, weapons and ways to defend themselves from Russian aggression and the aggression of the pro-Russian groups, but Merkel and others do not want to do that. They fear an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine that could affect more largely other parts of Europe.

BLITZER: Let's go to Jim Acosta, our senior White House correspondent traveling with the president right now.

Jim, in addition to Russia, Russian aggression, Ukraine, ISIS clearly much on the agenda and the president has been meeting with the Iraqi prime minister, Haider al-Abadi. There was an awkward moment, though, earlier today.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. And this G7 summit is sort of a summit without any deliverables in search of some deliverables and Haider al-Abadi's visit here to the alps is another example of that. The Iraqi prime minister came here hoping for all sorts of military support coming from the G7 countries and he just sat down with President Obama for a bilateral discussion before the president's news conference.

The president said during his discussion with Haider al-Abadi and this was on camera that, you know, the U.S. will be ramping up assistance in training for the Iraqis and their fight against ISIS, but there were no firm pledges, there was not a laundry list of items that are going to be sent to Iraq to take on ISIS there in those critical battlegrounds like Ramadi. But you're right. Earlier this morning there was one of those awkward moments when the president was talking to some other leaders who are gathered here at the G-7 summit.

He was really focused and fixated on that conversation and sort of unbeknownst to him the Iraqi prime minister sat down sort of hoping to get a few moments of conversation with the president. The president did not even acknowledge his presence, did not even realize he was there, and then Abadi just sort of stood up and walked away.

There were some talk as to whether or not this was a snub. Wolf, I think that might be a little bit of a stretch. Keep in mind earlier this morning, the president shook Haider al-Abadi's hand in a meeting that occurred before that awkward photo-op that you saw there, and he's having a bilateral now or just wrapping one up. So why would the president snub Haider al-Abadi and then hold a bilateral discussion? Doesn't make much sense.

[10:05:005] But one thing I want to mention is that there's also a diplomatic goal for the president in meeting with the Iraqi prime minister. He really needed to smooth over some of the rough edges that were left after Defense Secretary Ash Carter told CNN, our Barbara Starr, that he thought the Iraqis did not have the will to fight. I think the president during his discussions probably added some context to ash carter's remarks -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. The president is about to walk into that room over there. He'll open with a statement then answer reporters' questions.

Jim Sciutto is our chief national security correspondent. Jim, I know that the president is obviously very, very concerned about what's going on in Iraq right now in Iraq right now because ISIS seems to be making some serious headways even though they seem to have had a setback in the oil refinery town earlier in the day.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: They did. And Iraqi forces seeming to take control of Baiji, but listen, that's one of the towns, like Ramadi, that's been on a seesaw back and forth between Iraqi and ISIS forces and those are really towns with the U.S.-led air campaign, those Iraqi forces should have been able to secure. When you look at those two key issues, the coalition fight against ISIS and the efforts to repel Russia from Ukraine, there's really not a lot of success in those policies.

They have hard questions as to whether the current policy is working. And when you look at Ukraine here, a very strong statement reiterating our condemnation of the illegal annexation of the Crimean peninsula, et cetera. But there are concerns about that coalition splintering. Vladimir Putin is going to go to Italy,. Later this -- meet with the Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi. Renzi is the one G7 leader who has not spoken very strongly out against Russia during these G7 talks.

Lots to talk about Putin trying to splinter off. One of those members of the EU and thereby undermine this coalition of sanctions going forward. But even if he doesn't do that, you have to ask the question, is the policy working? It's been in place for a number of months but Russia still holds Crimea. It is not moving back from eastern Ukraine and there's a lot of fighting along that border despite the Minsk agreement.

And when you look to ISIS, the map of control of ISIS in Syria and Iraq besides all these G7 countries as well as many others taking part in this coalition, that map hasn't changed either in a number of months. So as Jim Acosta was saying, it's a summit without deliverables, but it has very deep questions about the effectiveness of two key policies. And the president is going to have to answer for that.

BLITZER: I'm sure he'll be asked questions about it even if he doesn't address it in his opening statement.

We're awaiting the president of the United States. He's going to be opening his remarks presumably on what happened at this G7 summit in Europe and then answering reporters' questions. American reporters are gathered there in that room.

Barbara Starr is our Pentagon correspondent but Barbara, hold on. Here comes the president.

OBAMA: Good afternoon.

Let me begin by once again thanking Chancellor Merkel and the people of Bavaria and Germany for their extraordinary hospitality here at the G-7. My stay here has been extraordinary. I wish I could stay longer. And, you know, one of the pleasures of being president is scouting out places that you want to come back to, where you don't have to spend all your time in a conference room.

The setting is breathtaking. Our German friends have been absolutely wonderful. And the success of this summit is a tribute to their outstanding work.

The G-7 represents some of the largest economies in the world, but in our G-7 partners, the United States also embraces some of our strongest allies and closest friends in the world. So even as we work to promote the growth that creates jobs and opportunity, we're also here to stand up for the fundamental principles that we share as democracies -- for freedom, for peace, for the right of nations and people to decide their own destiny, for universal human rights and the dignity of every human being.

And I'm pleased that here in Krun, we showed that on the most pressing global challenges, America and our allies stand united. We agree that the best way to sustain the global economic recovery is by focusing on jobs and growth. That's what I'm focused on in the United States. On Friday, we learned that our economy created another 280,000 jobs in May, the strongest month of the year so far, and more than 3 million new jobs over the past year -- nearly the fastest pace in over a decade.

We've now seen five straight years of private sector job growth, 12.6 million new jobs created, the longest streak on record. The unemployment rate is near its lowest level in seven years. Wages for American workers continue to rise. And since I took office, the United States has cut our deficit by two-thirds. So in the global economy, America is a major source of strength.

OBAMA: At the same time, we recognize that the global economy, while growing, is still not performing at its full potential and we agreed on a number of necessary steps.

Here in Europe, we support efforts to find a path that enables Greece to carry out key reforms and return to growth within a strong, stable and growing eurozone.

I updated my partners on our effort with Congress to pass trade promotion authority so we can move ahead with TPP in the Asia-Pacific region and TTIP here in New York, agreements with high standards to protect workers, public safety and the environment.

We continue to make progress toward a strong global climate agreement this year in Paris. All the G-7 countries have now put forward our post-2020 targets for reducing carbon emissions, and we'll continue to urge other significant emitters to do so as well. We'll continue to meet our climate finance commitments to help developing countries transition to low-carbon growth.

As we've done in the U.S., the G-7 agreed on the need to integrate climate risks into development assistance and investment programs across the board and to increase access to risk insurance to help developing countries respond to and recover from climate-related disasters, and building on the Power Africa initiative I launched two years ago, the G-7 will work to mobilize more financing for clean- energy projects in Africa.

With respect to security, the G-7 remains strongly united in support for Ukraine. We'll continue to provide economic support and technical assistance that Ukraine needs as it moves ahead on critical reforms to transform its economy and strengthen its democracy.

As we've seen again in recent days, Russian forces continue to operate in eastern Ukraine, violating Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. This is now the second year in a row that the G-7 has met without Russia, another example of Russia's isolation, and every member of the G-7 continues to maintain sanctions on Russia for its aggression against Ukraine.

Now, it's important to recognize the Russian economy has been seriously weakened. The ruble and foreign investment are down. Inflation is up. The Russian Central Bank has lost more than $150 billion in reserves.

Russian banks and firms are virtually locked out of the international markets. Russian energy companies are struggling to import the services and technologies they need for complex energy projects. Russian defense firms have been cut off from key technologies.

Russia is in deep recession. So Russia's actions in Ukraine are hurting Russia and hurting the Russian people.

Here at the G-7, we agree that even as we will continue to seek a diplomatic solution, sanctions against Russia will remain in place so long as Russia continues to violate its obligations under the Minsk agreements.

Our European partners reaffirm that they will maintain sanctions on Russia until the Minsk agreements are fully implemented, which means extending the E.U.'s existing sectoral sanctions beyond July, and the G-7 is making clear that, if necessary, we stand ready to impose additional significant sanctions against Russia.

Beyond Europe, we discussed the negotiations over Iran's nuclear program, and we remain united heading into the final stages of the talks.

Iran has a historic opportunity to resolve the international community's concerns about its nuclear program, and we agree that Iran needs to seize that opportunity.

Our discussions with Prime Minister Abadi of Iraq, President Caid Essebsi of Tunisia and President Buhari of Nigeria were a chance to address the threats of ISIL and Boko Haram. The G-7 countries therefore agreed to work together and with our partners to further coordinate our counterterrorism efforts.

As many of the world's leading partners in global development, joined by leaders of Ethiopia, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal and the African Union, we discussed how to maximize the impact of our development partnerships.

We agreed to continue our landmark initiative to promote food, security and nutrition, part of our effort to lift 500 million people in developing countries out of hunger and malnutrition by 2030.

We'll continue to work with our partners in West Africa to get Ebola cases down to zero, and as part of our global health security agenda, I'm pleased that the G-7 made a major commitment to help 60 countries over the next five years achieve specific targets to better prevent, detect and respond to future outbreaks before they become epidemics.

And finally, I want to commend Chancellor Merkel for ensuring that this summit included a focus on expanding educational and economic opportunities for women and girls. The G-7 committed to expanding career training for women in our own countries and to increase technical and vocational training in developing countries, which will help all of our nations prosper.

OBAMA: So again, I want to thank Angela and the people of Germany for their extra ordinary hospitality. I leave here confident that when it comes to the key challenges of our time, America and our closest allies stand shoulder to shoulder.

So, with that, I will take some questions and I will start off with Jeff Mason (ph) of Reuters.

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President.

After your meetings here, you mentioned Greece in your opening statement. Do you believe the Europeans are being too tough on Greece in these talks? And what else needs to be done on both sides to ensure there's a deal and to ensure that there isn't the undue harm to financial markets that you've warned about? And, on a separate and somewhat related topic, the French told reporters today that you said at the -- to G-7 leaders that you're concerned that the dollar is too strong. What did you say exactly? And are you concerned that the dollar is too strong?

OBAMA: First of all, don't believe unnamed quotes (ph). I did not say that, and I make a practice of not commenting on the daily fluctuations of the dollar or any other currency.

With respect to Greece, I think that not only our G-7 partners but the IMF and other institutions that were represented here feel a sense of urgency in finding a path to resolve the situation there.

And what it's gonna require is Greece being serious about making some important reforms not only to satisfy creditors but, more importantly, to create a platform whereby the Greek economy can start growing again and prosper.

And so, the Greeks are gonna have to follow through and make some tough political choices that will be good for the long term.

I also think it's gonna be important for the international community and the international financial agencies to recognize the extraordinary challenges that Greece faced. And if both sides are showing a sufficient flexibility, then I think we can get this problem resolved, but it will require some tough decisions for all involved and we will continue to consult with all the parties involved to try to encourage that kind of outcome.

QUESTION: (inaudible) that it'll happen before the deadline? OBAMA: I think that everybody wants to make it happen, and they're working hard to get it done.

Nedra?

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President.

How frustrated are you that after you personally raised your concerns about cyber-security with the Chinese president that a massive attack on U.S. personnel files seems to have originated from China? Was the Chinese government involved?

And, separately, as a sports fan, can you give us your reaction to the FIFA bribery scandal?

Thank you.

OBAMA: With respect to FIFA, I cannot comment on a pending case by our attorney general.

I will say that in conversations I've had here in Europe, people think it is very important for FIFA to be able to operate with integrity and transparency and accountability.

And so, as the -- as the investigation and charges proceed, I think we have to keep in mind that, although, you know, football, soccer, depending on which side of the Atlantic you live on, is a game, it's also a massive business. It is a source of incredible national pride. And people want to make sure that it operates with integrity.

The United States, by the way, since we keep on getting better and better at each World Cup, you know, we want to make sure that, you know, a sport that's gaining popularity is conducted in a -- in an upright manner.

OBAMA: I don't want to discuss, because we haven't publicly unveiled who we think may have engaged in these cyber attacks, but I can tell you that we have known for a long time that there are significant vulnerabilities and that these vulnerabilities are gonna accelerate as time goes by, both in systems within government and within the private sector.

This is why it's so important that Congress moves forward on passing cyber legislation -- cybersecurity legislation that we've been pushing for. You know, over the last several years, I've been standing up new mechanisms inside of government for us to investigate what happens and to start finding more effective solutions.

Part of the problem is that we've got very old systems. And, you know, we -- we discovered this new breach in OPM precisely because we've initiated this process of inventorying and upgrading these old systems to address existing vulnerabilities. And what we are doing is going agency by agency and figuring out what can we fix with better practices and better computer hygiene by personnel, and where do we need new systems and new infrastructure in order to protect information not just of government employees or government activities, but also most importantly where there's an interface between government and the American people.

And this is going to be a big project and we're going to have to keep on doing it because both state and non-state actors are sending everything they've got at trying to breach these systems. In some cases, it's non-state actors who are engaging in criminal activity and potential theft. In the case of state actors, they're probing for intelligence or in some cases trying to bring down systems in pursuit of their various foreign policy objectives.

In either case, we're going to have to be much more aggressive, much more attentive than we have been. And this problem is not going to go away. It is going to accelerate. And that means that we have to be as nimble, as aggressive and as well resourced as those who are trying to break into these systems.

Justin Sink (ph)?

QUESTION: Thanks, Mr. President.

I wanted to ask about two things that were on the agenda at the G-7 this weekend. The first was the Islamic state. You said yesterday ahead of your meeting with Prime Minister Cameron that you'd assessed what was working and what wasn't. So I'm wondering, bluntly, what is not working in the fight against the Islamic state? And in today's bilateral with Prime Minister Abadi, you pledged to

step up assistance to Iraq. I'm wondering if that includes additional U.S. military personnel.

Separately on trade, Chancellor Merkel said today that she was pleased you would get fast-track authority. I'm wondering if that means that you gave her or other leaders here assurance that it would go through the House. And if it doesn't, what does it say about your ability to achieve meaningful agreements with Congress for the remainder of your time in office?

OBAMA: Well, on the latter question, I'm not going to hypothesize about not getting it done. I intend to get it done. And hopefully, we're going to get a vote soon because I think it's the right thing to do.

With respect to ISIL, we have made significant progress in pushing back ISIL from areas in which they had occupied or disrupted local populations. But we've also seen areas, like in Ramadi, where they're displaced in one place and then they come back in in another. And they're nimble and they're aggressive and they're opportunistic.

So, one of the areas where we're going to have to improve is the speed at which we're training Iraqi forces. Where we've trained Iraqi forces directly and equipped them, and we have a train-and-assist posture, they operate effectively. Where we haven't, morale, lack of equipment, et cetera, may undermine the effectiveness of Iraqi security forces. So we want to get more Iraqi security forces trained, fresh, well equipped and focused.

And President Abadi wants the same thing. So we're reviewing a range of plans for how we might do that, essentially accelerating the number of Iraqi forces that are properly trained and equipped and have a focused strategy and good leadership. And when a finalized plan is presented to me by the Pentagon, then I will share it with the American people. It's not -- I -- we don't yet have a complete strategy because it requires commitments on the part of the Iraqis as well about how recruitment takes place; how that training takes place. And so the details of that are not yet worked out.

QUESTION: Is it fair to say that additional military personnel -- U.S. military personnel are part of what's under consideration?

OBAMA: I think what is fair to say is that all the countries in the international coalition are prepared to do more to train Iraqi security forces, if they feel like that additional work is being taken advantage of. And one of the things that we're still seeing is, in Iraq, places where we've got more training capacity than we have recruits.

So, part of my discussion with Prime Minister Abadi was how do we make sure that we get more recruits in. A big part of the answer there is our outreach to Sunni tribes. We've seen Sunni tribes who are not only willing and prepared to fight ISIL, but have been successful at rebuffing ISIL. But it has not been happening as fast as it needs to. And so, one of the efforts that I'm hoping to see out of Prime

Minister Abadi and the Iraqi legislature when they're in session is to move forward on a national guard law that would help to devolve some of the security efforts in places like Anbar to local folks and to get those Sunni tribes involved more rapidly.

This is part of what helped defeat AQI, the precursor of ISIL, during the Iraq war in 2006. Without that kind of local participation, even if you have a short-term success, it's very hard to hold those areas.

The other area where we've got to make a lot more progress is on stemming the flow of foreign fighters. Now, you'll recall that I hosted a U.N. General -- a Security Council meeting specifically on this issue. And, we've made some progress, but not enough. We are still seeing thousands of foreign fighters flowing into first Syria and then, oftentimes, ultimately into Iraq.

And, not all of that is preventable, but a lot of it is preventable, if we've got better cooperation, better coordination, better intelligence, if we are monitoring what's happening at the Turkish- Syria border more effectively.

This is an area where we've been seeking deeper cooperation with Turkish authorities, who recognize it's a problem but haven't fully ramped up the capacity they need. And this is something that I think we've got to spend a lot of time on.

If we can cut off some of that foreign fighter flow, then we're able to isolate and wear out ISIL forces that are already there, because we're taking a lot of them off the battlefield. But if they're being replenished, then it doesn't solve the problem over the long term.

The final point that I emphasized to Prime Minister Abadi is the political agenda of inclusion remains as important as the military fight that's out there. If Sunnis, Kurds and Shia all feel as if their concerns are being addressed and that operating within a legitimate political structure can meet their need for security, prosperity, nondiscrimination, the we're gonna have a much easier time.

And, Prime Minister -- the good news is Prime Minister Abadi is very much committed to that principle. But, obviously, he's inheriting a legacy of a lot of mistrust between various groups in Iraq. He's having to take a lot of political risks. In some cases, there are efforts to undermine those efforts by other political factions within Iraq, and so, we've got to continue to monitor and support those who are on the right side of the issue.

Colleen Nelson (ph)?

QUESTION: Hey, Mr. President.

You mentioned that the U.S. and its European allies have reached a consensus on extending the sanctions against Russia. Is there a consensus, though, about what, specifically, the next step should be if Russia continues to violate the Minsk agreement?

And, also, if -- can you deter Russian aggression in other parts of Eastern Europe without a permanent U.S. troop presence?

QUESTION: And, separately, I wanted to ask you about the possibility that the court battle over your actions on immigration could extend late into your term.