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President Obama Holds Press Conference with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta; Donald Trump Bars "Des Moines Register" From Covering Political Rally. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired July 25, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:00] BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In part because of the actions we have taken not just with Kenya but with Africa and the efforts collectively of countries to work together -- Uganda, Ethiopia, others -- we have systematically reduced the territory that Al-Shabaab controls. We have been able to decrease their effective control within Somalia and have weakened those networks operating here in east Africa.

That doesn't mean the problem is solved. As is true around the world, what we find is that we can degrade significantly the capacity of the terrorist organizations, but they can still do damage. The number of individuals involved in Garissa or Westgate Mall were not large. But when they are willing to target soft targets and civilians and are prepared to die, they can do a lot of damage.

So what we discussed was the importance of, number one, continuing the effort to root out Al-Shabaab's capacity inside of Somalia, working jointly. And as we speak, Kenya is working with Ethiopia and the United States and others to further degrade Al-Shabaab's space of operations inside Somalia. So we have to keep that pressure going even as we are strengthening the Somalian government, because part of the reason Al-Shabaab was able to emerge as a significant threat in the region was a nonfunctioning government, this practically failed state in Somalia for so long.

This is now a government and a cabinet that is credible, is working with the international community in Mogadishu. And even as we put military pressure on Al-Shabaab we also have to make sure that we are standing up an effective governance structure inside Somalia. We've made progress there.

In addition we have to continue to make progress in intelligence- sharing and being able to identify and prevent threats before they occur here in Kenya and elsewhere in the region. And part of our announcement today involves additional funding, additional assistance that we're providing to Kenya's security forces to deal with these very specific counterterrorism threats as well as additional training and assistance to make sure that the approach that's taken in rooting out potential terrorist threats don't create more problems than they are solving.

And this goes to the other element of the question that you asked. What we have found sometimes through hard experience -- and I shared this with President Kenyatta -- if that you paint any particular community with too broad a brush, if in reaction to terrorism you are restricting legitimate organizations, reducing the scope of peaceful organization, then that can have the inadvertent effect of actually increasing the pool of recruits for terrorism and resentment in communities that feel marginalized.

And I shared with him that one of the strengths in the United States, part of the reason why, although we are seeing potential lone Wolf attacks inside the United States that we have not seen this sort of systematic networks and cells developing in many of our Muslim communities or immigrant communities inside the United States, is that we have been very conscious to make sure law enforcement is reaching out and cooperating and working with them because they are partners in this process.

And the only way we are going to fight the poison that's being fed to them -- to their young people through social media is to make sure that they are our eyes and ears, and they are counseling us on how we can more effectively build trust and increase cooperation. That's proven successful. The same will be true in Kenya.

[10:05:00] I was very clear to President Kenyatta ultimately the Kenyan government is accountable to the Kenyan people. And it will find its way through this process in cooperation with us. But our experience and best practices tell us that rule of law, respecting civil society. In fact, embracing civil society particularly in the communities that may be targeted for recruitment by organizations like Al-Shabaab, that becomes more important, the more significant the threat is. And not only is that practical advice, but it's the right thing to do. And it's consistent with the Kenyan constitution and with the values that you heard President Kenyatta espouse.

Similarly, with respect to the rights of gays and lesbians, I have been consistent all across Africa on this. I believe in the principle of treating people equally under the law and that they are deserving of equal protection under the law, and that the state should not discriminate against people based on their sexual orientation.

And I say that recognizing that there may be people who have different religious or cultural beliefs. But the issue is, how does the state operate relative to people? If you look at the history of countries around the world, when you start treating people differently, not because of any harm they are doing anybody but because they are different, that's the path whereby freedoms begin to erode and bad things happen.

And when a government gets in the habit of treating people differently, those habits can spread. And as an African-American in the United States I am painfully aware of the history of what happens when people are treated differently under the law. And there were all sorts of rationalizations that were provided by the power structure for decades in the United States for segregation and Jim Crow and slavery. And they were wrong.

So I'm unequivocal on this. If somebody is a law abiding citizen who is going about their business and working in a job and obeying the traffic signs and doing all of the other things good citizens are supposed to do, and not harming anybody, the idea that they are going to be treated differently or abused because of who they love is wrong, full stop. The state does not need to weigh in on religious doctrine. The state just has to say we are going to treat everybody equally under the law. And then everybody else can have their own opinions, all right?

QUESTION: President Kenyatta, could you address the questions as well, please?

UHURU KENYATTA, KENYAN PRESIDENT: Yes. We'll address them.

First and foremost, I couldn't agree more than what President Obama has just said, especially with regard to the issue of the fight against terrorism. The support and partnership that we have with the United States from an intelligence point of view, from a counterterrorism point of view, but more importantly, as he's also just mentioned, working with societies and how to prevent especially extremists from finding a better fodder for them to be able to grow and nurture the terrorists of tomorrow.

[10:10:15] You also heard him say and indeed we are truly grateful, his expansion under the agreements that we have signed of the cooperation and assistance that we are getting from the United States.

So as a country, as a government, we are satisfied with what we are doing. We need to expand that more, because the battle that we are fighting is not a Kenyan war. Kenya just happens to be at the frontier of it, being a neighbor to a country that for a long time has not had any kind of formal government.

We need to work much closer together to see how we can stabilize Somalia. We need to work much closer together to see how we can help the Somali government which is in place, work together with its regional governments in order to continuously decrease the area and the space that Al-Shabaab and the like have to operate and to train and to export terror not just to Kenya but also to other parts of the world.

So I'm looking forward to deepening the partnership we have. But we are satisfied with the cooperation that we've had and the close working relationship between our various institutions.

You raise the issue of human rights. I mentioned earlier that the kind of fight we are having now, this is an existential fight for us. This is something we have not been familiar with. Kenya has always been a country that has respected different religions. This issue of terrorism is new to us. And as it is new, we learn with each and every step. We are improving our capacities and our methods of dealing with terrorism. We, as a country, are willing to learn. We have undertaken fundamental reforms in our police services to help us to deal with this particular problem. We are continuing to partner with friends like the United States who are giving us their own experiences as to how they have handled this particular problem, and we are keen to learn and participate.

And I am certain that as we move forward, as we get better, as we learn from others, we will be able to handle this situation in a manner that does not, as President Obama said, encourage this kind of activity going forward on the basis of either marginalization or people feeling that particular communities are being targeted. As a country we have done a lot especially under the new constitution, our new system of government, and aimed at preventing and ensuring equity and development across the country. We have put a lot of resources into some of the previously neglected areas. In fact, today, as we sit, a huge portion, approximately 40 percent, of our national budget is being invested in those areas in an attempt to ensure that all communities in our country feel that the government is for them all and they are part and parcel of the social economic development of our country.

So we will continue to improve. We will continue to learn. We will continue to participate with all communities, with civil society, to strengthen our partnership in order to ultimately be able to defeat this enemy.

With regard to the second question, just like President Obama, I think we also need to be able to speak frankly about some of these things. And the fact of the matter is that Kenya and the United States, we share so many values -- our common love for democracy, entrepreneurship, value for families. These are things that we share.

But there are some things that we must admit we don't share, our culture, our societies don't accept. It's very difficult for us to impose on people that which they themselves do not accept. This is why I repeatedly say for that Kenyans today the issue of gay rights is really a nonissue. We want to focus on other areas that are day to day living for our people.

[10:15:00] The health issues we have discussed with President Obama, these are critical. Issues of ensuring inclusivity of women, a huge section of society normally left out of the mainstream of economic development. What we can do in terms of infrastructure. What we can do in terms of education, in terms of our roads, in terms of giving our people power, encouraging entrepreneurship. These are key focuses. Maybe once, like you have, overcome some of these challenges we can begin to look at new ones. But as of now the fact remains that this issue is not really an issue that is on the foremost mind of Kenyans, and that is a fact.

QUESTION: Thank you very much. I have two questions for President Obama and a question for President Uhuru Kenyatta. My first question to President Obama is there has been a perception that Kenya and the U.S. had a strained relationship right from the time that we had a new government. And, in fact, we had several western countries saying that these had consequences. Is your coming to Kenya sort of pressing a reset button to tell us that, indeed, you are ready to renew your relationship with the country you have had a long-running relationship with for quite some years?

And my second question is about funding. Indeed you have told us about several agreements that have been signed. Does it concern your government that indeed there is corruption that is a word taken head on by our very president and, in fact, some of these cabinet secretaries and top government officials are currently in court because of that. Does it concern your government that indeed you are spending money in a country where the president himself is concerned about the level of corruption?

And to President Uhuru Kenyatta, there has also been a perception about Kenya looking increasingly east, especially after the general election of 2013 and things that were said. So is this also an announcement that, indeed, our traditional partners in the U.S., we are firmly committed to renewing our agreements that we had in place and we are going forward and working together? Thank you.

OBAMA: Well, first of all, we tonight need a reset because the U.S.- Kenya relationship and cooperation continued robustly throughout my presidency. The fact that I didn't get here may have gotten people riled up. But, frankly, given my familiarity and knowledge with Kenya, the fact that there were many countries across this vast continent that I had never visited, it was always my intention to get to Kenya. But I wanted to make sure people didn't think I was playing favorites so quick immediately after I was elected.

No, to be honest -- and I think President Kenyatta would acknowledge this as well -- there were deep concerns and tensions arising out of the violence that took place in an earlier election. We haven't made any secret about that. Accounting is being done of what happened there. And we continue to believe that norms have to be observed and all countries, big and small -- not just African countries but all countries -- should be held to high standards in terms of making sure that elections, democratic processes, don't lead to violence.

The subsequent election that showed growth in the election process, the new constitution that reflects one of the most progressive articulations of the principles of freedom and human dignity on the continent, that signals, I think, a very positive direction in where Kenya is moving.

President Kenyatta during our meeting acknowledged that there is still more work to be done.

[10:20:00] And, you know, our goal in dealing with all our partners is to be respectful, to recognize that ultimately sovereign countries have to make their own determinations about their destiny, but to be very clear about the values we care about. And we can engage and cooperate and work together and occasionally disagree. That's not a rupture to the relationship. That's just the nature of friends. There are going to be times where we have disagreements. You just heard one before this. And that is just part of the dialogue and the process that takes place between friends.

With respect to corruption, I think it is absolutely the right thing to do for President Kenyatta to emphasize this. And as I stated to him during our meeting, this may be the biggest impediment to Kenya growing even faster and more people having more opportunity. The fact that doing business and ordinary people just moving along in their lives here is constantly sacked by corruption at a high level and at a low level. International businesses are concerned if the price of investing in

Kenya is five percent or 10 percent going to some place that doesn't have to do with the project. It's just a math issue. If they have got a plan for a business, it's got a certain profit. And if suddenly some of that's taken off the top due to corruption that makes that investment less attractive. And that's the judgments that they make.

And then at a more grassroots level, if you've got some small business person trying to open up a store and they find they have to pay bribes here, there, everywhere just to get a business started, that's inhibiting the kind of entrepreneurship we highlighted this morning.

And I think President Kenyatta is serious about going after this. As I indicated to him, if you look at the history of this, because the United States had in the past all kinds of corruption dating back to the founding of the country. My hometown of Chicago was famous for Al Capone and bootleggers and bribery and police on the take. But what we were able to show is over time when people of integrity at the highest levels say this is a priority, we're going to stop this, and are willing to hold people at the highest levels accountable and not just the small time corruption, that begins to change the culture.

And it is important, I think, for the people of Kenya to say this is not the normal way of doing business and to say no to it at every level. And that will require some change in habits. I mentioned, you know, sometimes civil servants, they don't feel their salaries are high enough. They think it's just a way of doing business. I supplement my salary by imposing my own personal little tax to boost my salary. And that suddenly becomes commonplace in a department or bureaucracy. And you have to reverse it. And that may mean making sure that police officers or civil servants are paid properly and that they have sufficient benefits that they don't feel obliged to do that.

But some of it is also just breaking these habits and saying no. That comes from the top. So I very much applaud President Kenyatta for initiating this campaign. It's going to require the support of the Kenyan people. And it's going to require some visible prosecutions, because I mentioned to him, people aren't stupid. If they see an elected official and they know the salary is there and suddenly they are driving through town in a very big car and they see their cousin driving through town in a very big car, and they are suddenly building a new house, and all that doesn't seem to match up with the salary, they don't have to be a forensic accountant to know what's going on.

[10:20:22] And so when that happens, people have to be held to account. And the ideal that the president is putting forward is the right one. And now it's up to execution. And that won't be just the president's job alone. It will be the job of leadership both locally as well as nationally.

KENYATTA: I think mine was with regard to looking east. And the first thing I want to say is that I couldn't agree more. We are not talking about a renewal. We are talking about a deepening. The United States from the time of our independence has been a strong partner and ally. Kenya has benefitted, we have benefitted in our health sector, in education all these years. And that has never stopped. It's been continuous and ongoing.

But the key point is what I said when we were opening the summit this morning. And the fact is Kenya as a country is not looking east or west. What we are looking to do is make progress, is to develop our country, is to bring prosperity, is to build infrastructure. And we are looking to partner with our friends, old and new, to help us achieve the Kenyan dream, to help us achieve our socioeconomic agenda. And the U.S. happens to be a strong partner of Kenya in that objective as are many other countries in the world.

So I see no conflict, no contradiction. Actually I just see deepening of partnerships that already existed, all with the objective of improving business for Kenyans, for the U.S., improving the social life of Kenyans, and deepening our people to people relationship as well through trade and investment. So there is no contradiction whatsoever. We are just strengthening already good relations that exist between our two countries.

QUESTION: President Obama, while you have launched multiple policy initiatives in Africa it is unclear if any will outlast your presidency. What do you think needs to happen to ensure you have an Africa policy legacy as enduring as those of presidents Bush and Clinton?

And to what extent do you think you have met the expectations people here had of you as a son of Africa? And speaking of your African roots, what did you talk about at dinner last night with roughly three dozen of your relatives, and had you met all of them before?

And then I have a question for President Kenyatta as well. President Kenyatta, could you spell out in concrete terms what is different in Kenya today because of President Obama's election, how his connection to Kenya shaped your discussions today, and what aspects of his Africa policy do you think will endure after he's left office? Thank you.

OBAMA: Let me, first of all, underscore that I am really proud of the work that previous administrations did here in Africa. And I have done everything I could to build on those successes. It isn't a beauty contest between presidents. This is the U.S. government and what are the policies that need to be put in place in order to help our partner countries.

I have said before and I will repeat, I think President George W. Bush's PEPFAR initiative was as significant an achievement internationally as anything that we have done over the last several decades. It saved millions of lives, which is why I have increased funding substantially for PEPFAR during the course of my presidency and continue to build on what was initially a matter of just getting antivirals and treatment for HIV and are now building greater capacity within those countries that have received PEPFAR funding so that they can do even more themselves in terms of the health care infrastructure.

[10:30:00] So the bottom line is I want to build on what's already been tone, and then we want to fill gaps that need to be filled. Along those lines, if you looked at our Feed the Future program, for example, we've got millions of farmers across this continent who as we speak have benefitted from increased yields, increased incomes, greater access to small loans that are making them more productive, greater access to market, linking up with technology in ways that assure they get a fair price, all of which since Africa is still disproportionately rural, is increasing incomes, spurring growth, and building a middle class in the entire continent.

And we can document the extraordinary progress that's been made there, and it is a model that's working. And it has been supplemented with private sector investment that is further advancing the development of a more productive agricultural sector across the African continent.

With respect to Power Africa, which was just launched a couple of years ago, we set initially a goal of 10,000 megawatts of electricity being generated in Sub-Saharan Africa. We were sufficiently successful in lining up interest and investments that we have now tripled that and set a goal of 30,000. And we are on our way to achieving that goal. We are well on track.

I noted that there was an article in a U.S. publication suggesting, well, there is no electricity being generated from this yet. The next time somebody is interested in how electricity is generated, go home and find out how long it takes to build a power plant. Sometimes these are long-term projects. But we have billions of dollars of transactions already locked in and billions more in the pipeline. And that is just on the traditional power grid side. It doesn't include the innovative off grid electrical -- or power generation we have witnessed just in the booths we were passing at the entrepreneurial summit using solar and other biotech and other innovative ways to generate power in rural communities that are not going to be connected to the grid any time soon.

So that's just two examples of initiatives that I'm confident will have a lasting effect not because they were initiated by me but because they fill an extraordinary need. If we can get Sub-Saharan Africa to be electrified at the same levels as Asia is, that alone is going to drive economic growth exponentially.

The productivity that is delivered is a consequence of just access to power, kids suddenly being able to read and do their homework at night, women relieved of some of the burdens of collecting firewood and, you know, how they are able to use basic appliances that we take for granted, farmers being able to improve their yields. It's a game changer.

But we are not going to know exactly what that looks like 10 years from now. I suspect that the next president building off of what we have already set up will learn what's working really well, what's not working so well, and make some tweaks. And I don't have pride of authorship. I hope they figure out even better ways for us to continue the things that we started just as we, I think, have refined and improved the excellent work that was done by President Clinton and President Bush.

In terms of what I was talking about with my family, mostly we were just catching up. [10:35:06] There is more immediate family that I have known well from

previous visits. There was some more extended family that I had not met before. My sister Auma who I'm very close to and stay in close contact with, I think, helped to make sure everybody was represented. I think the people of Kenya will be familiar with the need to manage family politics sometimes. In these extended families, there are cousins, uncles, and aunties that show up that you didn't know existed, but you are always happy to meet. And there were lengthy explanations in some cases of the connection.

But it was a wonderful time. And, you know, part of the challenge I have had during the course of my presidency is that, given the demands of the job and the bubble, I can't come here and just go up country and visit for a week and meet everybody, and that's partly actually what I had to explain was begging forgiveness that once I'm a private citizen I will have more freedom to reconnect and to be involved and engaged in some of the work that needs to be done because some of the communities are very poor.

I'm more restricted, ironically, as president of the United States than I am -- than I will be as a private citizen in terms of the direct help I would like to give, partly because of schedule, but also partly because of making sure that in my relationship to Kenya I'm understood to be operating as the president of the United States and that my interaction is with the government and the non-for-profits and the organizations that represent all the people of any particular country.

KENYATTA: This is one area and it's not specifically African, because all the initiatives he's mentioned we are all happy and proud of. But the one initiative I would want to focus on is the fact that I think President Obama will strongly be remembered in Africa for his focus on the youth of this continent, focus on the young people of this continent, to be able to extract their talents, their abilities. And he's been very focused on this with the young leaders initiative, with the GES that we have just been attending, really helping us un unblock the full potential of Africa's youth and young men and women. So this, I think, will be the key legacy that President Obama will be remembered for on this continent for a long time to come. That's it. Judy? Jackie, rather.

QUESTION: President Obama and President Kenyatta, you spoke about direct flights, you are working on it to launch them as soon as possible. How soon, can we know that? And President Obama, the U.S. has been issuing travel advisories against Kenya. This has had a devastating effect on tourism. Is the U.S. planning to take it easy on that? And finally, what are your personal plans for Kenya after your presidency? Thank you.

OBAMA: With respect to direct flights, there are very specific protocols and security issues that have to be worked through and sorted out. We sent representatives of the homeland security to work with Kenyan officials. I think progress has been made. I don't have a date certain in front of me, and I wouldn't want to make a guess and then if we're late, you will call me and say you lied. [10:40:05] But I think that I anticipate that if we can get all the

issues squared away that this is something that has great potential and obviously would have a beneficial impact on U.S. travel to Kenya, both for business and for tourism.

With respect to the travel advisories, this is not something that I meddle with. This is something our State Department and our intelligence communities make assessments on. They are provided in part for our embassy staff and personnel so they can be mindful of circumstances. But we are bound to provide the general public the same information that we provide our teams on the ground for understandable reasons. I think the general public would be disturbed if we were saying one thing for folks working and another thing to an ordinary tourist who was traveling.

I recognize the concerns. And I do think that despite the seriousness of the terrorist threat posed by Al-Shabaab that, in part because of media attention, probably even more than travel advisories, that threat can oftentimes be exaggerated. And that's unfortunate.

And part of my answer, I guess, to that problem is to come here and visit and to show this extraordinary country and the extraordinary progress that's been made. But the specifics around travel advisories, those are a judgment call that are made by our experts. It's not something that I weigh in on. It's not something that's subject to political decision-making.

And my solemn goal is to make sure we are working urgently with President Kenyatta and the administration so that there is no need for the advisory because we'll have greatly reduced these threats. And there may be ways in which we can refine them so that, for example, traveling to game parks may be different than being in other circumstances. And that's something we can always discuss and explore at a staff level.

Was there a third question? What are my plans? You know, here's what I can guarantee. I'll be back. The next time I'm back I may not be wearing a suit. The first time I came, I was in jeans and a backpack. One of the challenges of traveling and visiting Kenya is that I'm much more constrained now than I will be.

I think that you can anticipate not only me being back but more important for everybody, Michelle being back, and Malia and Sasha coming back, because they have a great love for this country and its people and its beauty. And obviously I have family connections, and my hope is some of the work I do after the presidency is over builds on some of the things that we have been doing now. I'm not going to stop being interested in the young people of Kenya and the young people of Africa and developing the talent and the leaders and entrepreneurs that are going to help make this country and the world prosper. So you can anticipate that I will continue to make those contributions where I can. All right, thank you very much, everybody.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: All right, well, good morning to you. I'm Christi Paul. VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to have you

with us. You have been watching the news conference there from Nairobi, the president's residence there. President Obama obviously with the president of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, speaking about the agreements they have made and about some really interesting topics.

[10:45:04] We're going to start to talk more this morning about the president's visit to Kenya just minutes ago -- seconds ago. They wrapped up that about hour-long news conference. Let's go to Michelle Kosinski. She is traveling with the president in Nairobi. And what stood out to you? You have been following the president's agenda, both personal and official. What stood out?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Victor. They really covered a lot of bases, even though I would say the most important topics affecting the relationship between Kenya and the United States would fall under trade, economic cooperation. They mentioned progress in trying to establish direct flights between the U.S. and Africa, which has been hugely important to business people on both continents.

Also, visas being extended to students and businesspeople to five years in both directions. And counterterrorism is the other really important topic, talking about trying to deepen that relationship, the need to improve intelligence-sharing and training. Kenya talking about this being an existential threat, the kind of threat they haven't seen before, not knowing at first how to deal with it, but trying to improve step by step to face the threat. We know about these attacks that happened recently that captured the attention of the world.

But of course what tends to get the most attention are the controversial topics. In this case it was gay rights because of some comments that were made by some high level members of the Kenyan government in the past couple of days.

And the president of Kenya reiterated some of those statement, saying that gay rights is a nonissue here, something he didn't want to impose on people's consciousness, that they are focused on other areas. He also said that's an issue these two countries do not share, that there are certain things in society and culture in Kenya that are not acceptable. And he made it clear that gay rights was one of those areas.

In response President Obama said that there are going to be areas where two friends and allies disagree. And that's clearly one of them. But that's not going to harm the relationship and they are going to work on things moving forward.

The president of the United States, President Obama, for his part, made a very strong statement on the importance that all people be treated equally under law, and when a state doesn't do that, that's the path to bad things happening. And that kind of habit of treating certain groups differently is a habit that can spread. So two really strong opinions on either side, but clearly they don't want that to get in the way of cooperation in other areas, Victor. BLACKWELL: All right, Michelle Kosinski traveling with the president

in Nairobi, Michelle, thank you.

PAUL: I want to bring in Jason Johnson, professor of political science at Hiram College, as well as Ron Brownstein, CNN senior political analyst. Both of you, thank you so much for getting with us. Jason, I want to ask you first, what stood out to you? And when she was talking about the president and the gay rights question, it was interesting because he did say that when you treat people differently your path to freedom starts to erode. How do you assess how both of those presidents handled coming at it from very different angles?

JASON JOHNSON, PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, HIRAM COLLEGE: They spoke to their constituencies. President Kenyatta was basically saying I'm not going to let President Obama dictate how we behave here culturally. And President Obama was staying consistent with his message. I'm not just going to talk about gay rights and LGBT rights in the United States. I will talk about it in Kenya. I'm going to talk about it in China. I'm going to talk about it in Russia. So I think they both pretty much stayed in their lane. I don't think either person changed the other's mind, and neither person really gave up any ground.

BLACKWELL: Yes. And Ron, we have a bit of this response the president offered in which he compared the struggle for rights for gays and lesbians to those of African-Americans in the U.S. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: When you start treating people differently, not because of any harm they are doing anybody, but because they are different, that's the path whereby freedoms begin to erode. And bad things happen. And when a government gets in the habit of treating people differently, those habits can spread.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And what I was looking for is the president when he said, "As an African-American in the United States I am painfully aware of the history of what happens when people are treated differently under the law." Your reaction to that?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Look, I thought that was a very compelling part of this unusually engaging press conference, mixing the personal and political. It was compelling really in two respects. One because it was I think the most resonant argument he could have made in an African context for his underlying case that a government and a country is better off if it treats all people equally, equating it to the U.S. struggle for equal rights across racial lines.

[10:50:11] But I thought it was also interesting, and he did the same thing on corruption, because he made the case for changing the way Kenya treats its gay residents, not out of a case of U.S. success but really U.S. failure. He talked about how we were imperfect and how it took us a while to get to a better place. He did the same thing on corruption where he talked about the example in Chicago of his hometown going back to the 1920s and 1930s. So it was less a kind of lecturing from the mountaintop and more saying we are on a common journey, an argument I thought that would be more palatable in countries around the world.

BLACKWELL: All right, Ron Brownstein, Jason Johnson, thank you very much. We hoped for a longer conversation, but the presidents went pretty long. Thanks for staying with us. Quick break and we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Here is a question some people are asking. Did Texas Senator Ted Cruz violate chamber rules on decorum when he tore into his own party's majority leader Mitch McConnell? Rare display here, the 2016 presidential candidate repeatedly accused his fellow Republican of lying. The floor tirade was triggered when Cruz believed McConnell had blocked several amendments Cruz and other Republicans offered to a funding bill. Here is some of that speech.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ, (R) TEXAS: I cannot believe he would tell a flat out lie. And I voted base on those assurances that he made to each and every one of us. What we just saw today was an absolute demonstration that not only what he told every Republican senator but what he told the press over and over and over again was a simple lie.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:55:15] PAUL: Now when asked for a response to those comments by Senator Cruz, McConnell's office, by the way, declined to comment.

BLACKWELL: All right, let's turn to another GOP presidential candidate, Donald Trump. He's expected to attend an event in Iowa in about two hours. This comes after he barred Iowa's largest newspaper from attending his campaign event today. Trump was upset that the paper's editorial board called on him to drop out of the race. We are talking about "The Des Moines Register." Joining us is CNN's M. J. Lee who is in Iowa. So what has been the response there in Iowa to this decision?

M. J. LEE, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Victor. That's right. "The Des Moines Register" said yesterday that its journalists will not be allowed to get credentials to attend this rally in Iowa today. This comes after, as you mentioned, an editorial that was very critical of Donald Trump. The editorial basically called on the candidate to drop out of the race, called him a feckless blowhard.

So the Trump campaign was clearly not happy about this, and they are responding by denying journalists at "The Des Moines Register" credentials to come to this event. Every event that I have been to with Donald Trump there is a media check-in process. So I don't know, even if they tried to come if they would be able to get in. We know that the paper has asked the Trump campaign to reconsider their decision. But it sounds like that probably is not going to happen.

Donald Trump actually tweeted about this. I will read that aloud to you. "The ultraliberal and seriously failing "Des Moines Register" is begging my team for press credentials to my event in Iowa today, but they lie." So this is typical Donald Trump doubling down, probably will not be change his decision to not allow these reporters to come into the event today.

BLACKWELL: M. J., I want to bring in the full screen graphic I just saw of what was written by the editorial board. Let's put this up so people understand what he is responding to. "The Des Moines Register" wrote "He has become a distraction with traction, a feckless blowhard who can generate headlines, name recognition, and polling numbers not by provoking thought but by provoking outrage." So that's what Donald Trump is responding to here.

But M. J., two things. By boosting or kicking this reporter out, I mean, essentially he's reinforcing his brand. This isn't hurting him at all. And second, what are we expecting to happen today?

LEE: I think you're right. He is reinforcing the idea and this brand that he created for himself, which simply is that he is not the typical candidate. Typically presidential candidates don't do this to reporters. Reporters write critical things about candidates all the time, but they don't get locked out of media availability. And so this is an unusual thing for them to do.

Look, I have been here since early this morning. And there were people ling up starting at 6:00 in the morning. And I asked them why is it that you are here so early? What is it that are you so excited to see Donald Trump? And they said it's because he's not a typical politician. They love the fact that he says whatever is on his mind. They love the fact that he doesn't sound like Jeb Bush or a Marco Rubio. And I think there is an appeal there that is really strong and has clearly helped him in the polls as we have seen over the past couple of weeks.

BLACKWELL: All right, M. J. Lee in Iowa for us ahead of this Trump event. M. J., thanks.

PAUL: I want to thank you so much for taking some time to spend with us this morning. We hope you make good memories today.

BLACKWELL: Always a pleasure to be with you. Much more ahead in the next hour of CNN Newsroom, and we turn it over to Fredricka Whitfield.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: You have had a crazy busy morning, and we're going to keep the momentum going. How about that?

BLACKWELL: Sounds good to me.

WHITFIELD: You all have a great one. Thanks so much.

PAUL: You, too.