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Pope Francis Addresses U.N. General Assembly; House Speaker John Boehner Resigns. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired September 25, 2015 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:29:52] POPE FRANCIS (through translator): The preamble and the first article of the charter of the United Nations set forth the foundations of the international juridical framework: peace, the specific solution of disputes and the development of friendly relations between nations.

Now, strongly opposed to such statements, and in practice denying them, is the constant tendency to the proliferation of arms, especially weapons of mass destruction, such as nuclear weapons.

An ethics and a law based on the threat of mutual destruction, and possibly the destruction of all mankind, are self-contradictory and represent an affront to the entire framework of the United Nations, which would end up as a nations united by fear and distrust.

(APPLAUSE)

There is urgent need to work for a world free of nuclear weapons, in full application of the Nonproliferation Treaty in letter and spirit towards the goal of a complete prohibition of these weapons.

(APPLAUSE)

The recent agreement reached on the nuclear question in the sensitive region of Asia and the Middle East is proof of the potential of political good will and of law, exercised with sincerity, patience and constancy.

I express my hope that this agreement will be lasting and efficacious, and bring forth the desired fruits with the cooperation of all the parties involved.

(APPLAUSE)

In this sense, hard evidence is not lacking of the negative effects of military and political interventions, which are not coordinated between members of the international community.

For this reason, while regretting to have to do so, I must renew my repeated appeals regarding the painful situation of the entire Middle East, North Africa and other African countries, where Christians, together with other cultural or ethnic groups, and even members of the majority religion who have no desire to be caught up in hatred and folly, have been forced to witness the destruction of their places of worship, their cultural and religious heritage, their houses and property, and have faced the alternative either of fleeing, or of paying for their adhesion to good and to peace by their own lives or by enslavement.

(APPLAUSE)

These realities should serve as a grave summons to an examination of conscience on the part of those charged with the conduct of international affairs. And not only in cases of religious or cultural persecution, but in every situation of conflict, as in Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, Libya, South Sudan and the Great Lakes.

Real human beings take precedence over partisan interests, however legitimate the latter may be. In wars and conflicts, there are individual persons, our brothers and sisters, men and women, young and old, boys and girls who weep, suffer and die.

[10:35:04] Human beings who are easily discarded when our only response is to draw up lists of problems, strategies and disagreements.

As I wrote in my letter to the secretary-general of the United Nations on the 9th of August 2014, the most basic understanding of human dignity compels the international community, particularly through the norms and mechanisms of international law, to do all that it can to stop and to prevent further systematic violence against ethnic and religious minorities and to protect innocent peoples.

(APPLAUSE)

Along the same lines, I would mention another kind of conflict which is not always so open, yet is silently killing millions of people. Another kind of war experienced by many of our societies as a result of the narcotics trade, a war which is taken for granted and poorly fought. Drug trafficking is, by its very nature, accompanied by trafficking in persons, money laundering, the arms trade, child exploitation and other forms of corruption. A corruption which has penetrated to the different levels of social, political, military, artistic and religious life, and in many cases, has given rise to a parallel structure which threatens the credibility of our institutions.

(APPLAUSE)

I began this speech recalling the visits of my predecessors and now I would hope that my words will be taken above all as a continuation of the final words of the address of Pope Paul VI, spoken almost exactly 50 years ago. They remain ever timely and I quote, "The hour has come when a pause, a moment of recollection, reflection, even of prayer, is absolutely needed so that we may think back over our common origin, our history, our common destiny. The appeal to the moral conscience of man has never been as necessary as it is today, for the danger comes neither from progress nor from science. If these are used well, they can help to solve a great number of the serious problems besetting mankind. Among other things, human genius, well applied, will surely help to meet the great challenges of ecological deterioration and exclusion."

And I continue in quoting Pope Paul VI, "The real danger comes from man, who has at his disposal ever more powerful instruments that are as well fitted to bring about ruin as they are to achieve lofty conquests." That is what Pope Paul VI said.

[10:39:50] The common home of all men must continue to rise on the foundations of a right understanding of universal fraternity and respect for the sacredness of every human life, of every man and every woman, the poor, the elderly, children, infirm, the unborn, the unemployed, the abandoned, and those considered disposable because they are only considered as part of one or other statistic.

(APPLAUSE)

This common home of all men and women must also be built on the understanding of a certain sacredness of created nature. Now, such understanding and respect call for a higher degree of wisdom, one which accepts transcendence, and at the same time rejects the creation of an all-powerful elite. And recognizes that the full meaning of individual and collective life is found in the selfless service to others, and in the sage and respectful use of creation for the common good.

To repeat the words of Pope Paul VI, "The edifice of modern civilization has to be built on spiritual principles, for they are the only ones capable, not only of supporting it, but also of shedding light on it."

"El Gaucho Martin Fierro," a classic of literature in my native land, says, "Brothers should stand by each other because this is the first law. Keep a true bond between you always, at every time, because if you fight amongst yourselves, you'll be devoured by those outside."

(APPLAUSE)

The contemporary world, so apparently connected, is experiencing a growing and steady social fragmentation, which place it at risk. The foundations of social life, and consequently, leads to battles between ourselves to defend our conflicting interests. The present time invites us to give priority to actions which generate new processes in society, so as to bear fruit in significant and positive historical events.

We cannot permit ourselves to postpone certain agendas for the future. The future demands of us critical and global decisions in the face of worldwide conflicts, which increase the number of the excluded and those in need.

The praiseworthy international juridical framework of the United Nations organization and of all its activities, like any other human endeavor, can be improved, yet it remains necessary.

At the same time, it can be the pledge of a secure and happy future for future generations. And so it will, if the representatives of the states can set aside partisan and ideological interests, and sincerely strive to serve the common good.

I pray to almighty God that this will be the case. And I assure you of my support and my prayers, and the support and prayers of all the faithful of the Catholic Church, that this institution, all its member states, and each of its officials, will always render an effective service to mankind, a service respectful of diversity, and capable of bringing about, for the sake of our common good, the best in each people and in every individual.

Upon all of you, may God bless you all.

(APPLAUSE)

[10:45:46] WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: A very moving standing ovation for Pope Francis, delivering a very, very strong speech before the United Nations General Assembly.

Christiane Amanpour -- this is a speech that touched the most sensitive issues affecting the Vatican on the international stage right now.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly -- Wolf, absolutely.

He talked about everything from the oppressive current financial and debt structures of the world, the tyranny of economic exclusion. He exalted leaders over and over again to not just put out pronouncements and commitments but to actually muster the political will to use their powerful platform to make a change in life.

And very importantly, as now they say farewell to the Pope there, he ended by saying, in order to secure a happy future for future generations, it will be the representatives of states who set aside partisan and ideological interests and sincerely strive to serve the common good.

He talked about equality of opportunity, obviously he talked about the environment, saying that the environment bore and carried an intrinsic right of its own because we are all part of the environment and, therefore, it is all of our duty to protect the environment.

Exhorted people and leaders to try to stop wars and talked about the ordinary men, women and children who are those who bleed and die and weep in wars. Given that wars are now really assaults against civilians rather than set army and military pieces.

BLITZER: John Allen, so much of this speech was devoted to the environment, climate change. Why is this -- all of a sudden, it seems in recent years become such a powerful issue for the Pope?

JOHN ALLEN, CNN SENIOR VATICAN ANALYST: Well, I think the Pope believes that we are at a pivotal turning point, that things could go either way. And that something fundamental is at stake. One thing we probably have to say is that Francis did something quite unusual by papal standards, in that he specifically pointed to the looming Paris Summit on climate change, which is set for November 30th to December 11th.

He has been talking about that a great deal. He recently had an audience with the environmental ministers from EU governments in which he said, you have to get Paris right. Last January he told us that the reason he wanted his encyclical letter on the environment "Laudato Si" to come out over the summer was to shape the outcome of that summit.

Now listen, politicians always try to stack the deck for these major meetings. Popes rarely do. The last time this happened was in the 1990s when the Vatican mobilized to fight a '94 U.N. Summit in Cairo on population and the '95 U.N. Summit in Beijing on women.

Typically popes don't want to put their credibility on the line by pointing to a particular political outcome because if they lose, then they end up looking bad. But obviously, Francis has decided that something so tremendously important is at stake in that climate change summit that he has, in a sense, put it all on the line.

BLITZER: And Jim Sciutto, he's had a huge impact already on the international stage in terms of U.S. and Cuba, for example, restoring normal diplomatic relations. He was very, very powerfully involved behind the scenes. And he didn't mince any words now in saying this international nuclear deal with Iran is important. It's a step in the right direction.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: A real endorsement of that Iranian nuclear deal. You know, it occurred to me, yesterday he goes to Congress. He warns in one center of dysfunction, arguably, and warns members there to avoid polarization -- all the more relevant with the resignation today of John Boehner.

He comes here to the U.N. another, critics have said, center of dysfunction, and as Christiane mentioned, a call to action to them. He said, "Avoid the bureaucratic exercise of drawing up long lists of proposals." In effect, get off your hands and don't just talk -- act.

But it also struck me. He comes to New York, the center of global finance and wealth, and talks about the irresponsible mismanagement of the global economy guided only by wealth and power. What a platform to do that, here in New York City, as part of his message, that everyone has a responsibility to fight global poverty.

AMANPOUR: And, Jim, he also said, you know, he gave a grave summons to an examination of conscience on the part of those charged with the conduct of international affairs.

[10:50:00] I mean that is a major thing for a world religious leader to say. Examine your conscious, you world leaders and ask yourself -- this is in the paragraph about Syria and Iraq and Libya and South Sudan and all the wars -- Ukraine, et cetera, which this talking shop (ph) had not been able to get to grips with. So, that was very vital. And of course, we've seen the spillover over the last several

months. Not just the 250,000 dead in Syria, but the hundreds of thousands of refugees who are now being forced out and into Europe and into the United States.

BLITZER: He's now walking out of the U.N. General Assembly. There you see Ban Ki-Moon, the U.N. Secretary-General. I see the president of the general assembly. There are some formal activities before he leaves the U.N. and heads downtown to the -- to the 9/11 -- the site of the 9/11 World Trade Center and the disaster. He's got a special prayer, interfaith prayers coming up downtown.

I want to bring in Robert George, the chair of jurisprudence Princeton University, vice chair of the U.S. commission on international religious freedom. He's joining us right now.

Robert, the Pope obviously was also very concerned about the plight of Christians in the Middle East right now. He spoke passionately about religious freedom, human rights around the world.

ROBERT GEORGE, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: Yes, he did. That's right. The Pope has been a great champion of religious freedom. Not only in the Middle East, of course where we see so much suffering now as a result of religious oppression, but also in south Asia, in east Asia, really throughout the world. The Pope has established himself as a great human rights champion, beginning with the right to religious freedom.

BLITZER: Christiane Amanpour has a question as well -- Christiane.

AMANPOUR: Just in the spirit of what's been going on today, and we've seen the resignation of the Speaker of the House, John Boehner, and you knew him very, very well. You know him very well. I believe he appointed you to your current position. Give us your reflections on his announcement of resignation today and also linking it to this amazing event that he choreographed at Congress.

The Pope came. You could see that Speaker Boehner was amazingly moved by that, weeping and, apparently, chose at the very last moment, just overnight, after that day, to announce his resignation.

GEORGE: Yes, it's quite remarkable, Christiane. I have to say, I'm as surprised as anyone else. I was appointed to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom by Speaker Boehner and then I was elected to the chairmanship by my colleagues. We've worked very closely with Speaker Boehner's office. He's been a great champion himself of religious freedom.

So, I'm saddened by the news that he'll be leaving because the important work he has done there. Of course, it's a very difficult orchestra to be the conductor of, of the majority caucus in any house of to legislature. And so I can understand the challenges that the Speaker was up against. But it's really quite a surprising thing.

And you're right, he's a person who was, of course, educated in the Catholic faith, a devout Catholic. He was clearly very moved by the Pope's statements yesterday.

I note that he read the Prayer of St. Francis to those of his colleagues, to whom he announced his resignation. That's a prayer that requests among other things, peace of mind. So I think he was signaling that he's making this decision with peace of mind, having examined his own conscious.

BLITZER: Robert George -- thank you very, very much. This is a huge development.

As we see, the Pope getting ready to leave the United Nations. He's being serenaded once again by one of the choirs that have gathered here at the U.N. following his important speech before the U.N. General Assembly.

A lot of focus on this other major story we're following back in Washington, D.C., the resignation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner.

David Chalian, our political director, is standing by. David, I think all of us were taken by surprise. Clearly as Christiane pointed out, the Speaker was very moved by what the Pope had to say yesterday before his -- before the joint meeting of the U.S. Congress. But where do we go from here?

David Chalian -- are you there?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Hi, Wolf, I can hear you now. What was your question to me?

BLITZER: David, I was going to say, so, what happens next? Now that the Speaker of the House of Representatives has announced -- has told his colleagues he's resigning.

CHALIAN: Well, what happens next is there's going to be a leadership fight among house Republicans. Wolf, as you know, that's no easy feat. Right now a lot of Republican Hill sources are saying that Kevin McCarthy, his number two, house majority leader, is likely to make a play for the speakership and maybe in line.

Remember Kevin McCarthy was the chair of the House Republican campaign committee back in 2010 and the Tea Party wave. A lot of these grass roots conservatives, Tea Party Republicans, that came to the Congress and delivered the majority to the Republicans are loyal to Kevin McCarthy.

[10:55:05] He was there in the trenches with them so that may do him some good. The question now is, is he too tainted because of his attachment to Speaker Boehner and this particular leadership team that allows someone else to come up and make a run for it.

And of course, in the very short term, Wolf, it is still Speaker Boehner's speakership until the end of October. And we've got to get through this deadline of the government funding next week and a possible, though perhaps not likely at this stage, government shutdown. BLITZER: They've got to get some temporary funding because the

government runs out of money at the end of September -- October 1st the new fiscal year begins. They have to get some funding otherwise the government will effectively shut down.

Gloria Borger, I think like all of us, you must have been stunned to get word today, just a little while ago, that the Speaker of the House has decided to resign.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, I was, Wolf. I was stunned on the timing of the decision. But now that we know that he made it yesterday evening, having been so emotional at the appearance of the Pope, we -- it doesn't really surprise me, given his explanation through his staffers.

I mean, Wolf, as you know, he has been a besieged speaker, if ever there was one. You know, this is a speaker who in 2013 only won the speakership by six votes re-election. And in 2015, he had 25 Republicans voting against him, even though his own party had picked up 13 seats in the midterm elections.

He has always had problems with his right flank. And you could sense his frustration growing with it over the years because while he was in charge nominally, he was never really in control of that part of the party. And I think in the end, it grew too frustrating for him, too difficult a job, didn't want to face the challenges he might inevitably face in the future.

And I think yesterday, for him at least as a devout Catholic, may have been a crystallizing moment. His staffers have told Dana Bash and others that he had considered leaving in 2014, but then Eric Cantor, one of his deputies, lost a primary and he decided he could not upset his caucus that way. And I think now he felt was the graceful moment for him to bow out and let somebody else take charge of his own unruly flock, if you will.

AMANPOUR: Gloria, it must have been a huge surprise, though, because this is what his communications director, Kevin Smith, told "Time" magazine just yesterday. "He's not going anywhere. If there's a small crew of members who think that he's just going to pick up and resign in the middle of his term, they're going to be sadly mistaken." So, that is his communications director, Kevin Smith, to "Time" magazine yesterday.

BORGER: Very closely held. I mean everybody knows that Boehner has been thinking about this because he's been so frustrated. You know, I remember back to the days when he and President Obama were trying to enact a grand bargain on the budget. And he was -- could not get that done.

So, I think he's been thinking about it and I would have to say watching him yesterday, that this was a decision he made perhaps sitting behind the Pope up there next to Joe Biden. And you know, as I was watching Boehner get very tearful, I was thinking that Boehner had a really tough road ahead of him, with all of these issues that were coming up, the question of whether to shut down the government, which is something he did not want to go through again.

And there was Joe Biden sitting on the other side and I thought, there he's just lost a son and now he's thinking about whether he should run for the presidency. You know, two men sitting behind the Pope yesterday with lots of important decisions that were clearly going through their minds as they listened to the Pope speak to Congress.

BLITZER: A critically important decision by the Speaker of the House; a critically important speech here at the United Nations by Pope Francis.

Christiane, we're going to hand over our responsibilities right now to Anderson Cooper and Chris Cuomo. It's been a pleasure, Christiane, as usual working with you.

AMANPOUR: It's been an amazing day. We've had history made by the Pope as well as a dramatic pope-related resignation of the top of the pinnacle of power in the United States Congress. It's been a remarkable and dramatic day. And there is only more to come.

[10:59:59] BLITZER: And we'll be back with a lot more. But in the meantime, let's go to Anderson and Chris.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Wolf, Christiane -- thanks very much. We are here at Ground Zero and the Pope is said to be on his way here for what promises to be just an extraordinary --

[10:29:52] POPE FRANCIS (through translator): The preamble and the first article of the charter of the United Nations set forth the foundations of the international juridical framework: peace, the specific solution of disputes and the development of friendly relations between nations.>