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Trump Will Hold News Conference With British Prime Minister; Trump And Mexican President Speak By Phone; Trump and May Press Conference. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired January 27, 2017 - 13:00   ET

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


GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: -- opened the door for torture, potentially, again, to be used. I know it has to go to Congress, et cetera, but there is a big thing that the -- that folks over there would say which is we will not share intelligence with you if the intelligence is gathered through the use of torture because that is against our law.

And, you know, British intelligence has been very important to us over the years.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And, Nick, you just came to Washington from London. Both of these leaders, they have a strong interest in putting forward a very positive, friendly relationship.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Absolutely, they do. There's one thing here that we haven't talked about in the relationship so far, the sort of secret weapon, if you will, that Theresa May has.

Let's not forget, President Trump's mother was British. She came from Scotland.

BORGER: Scotland.

ROBERTSON: There's that really strong connection there. And we can certainly expect Theresa May to sort of play up his natural warmth, if you will, to Britain there. He talked about his mother loving the queen, the pomp and circumstance.

You know, I think that sort of -- that tone may be in the conversation as well. This is a tough one for her. It's a difficult line to walk.

I mean, she wants to do improved trade relations with the United States but in which areas? Agriculture is one -- is potentially one of those areas.

But that alone for her could be contentious. Do British farmers really want to import beef that's treated with hormones, G.M. crops? These sorts of things?

And it's those technical details or technical specifications in trade deals that are hard to work out. She won't get into those details, but she will try to use any commonality she can. We heard her lay out her -- Britain's vision on parallel on track with the United States yesterday. She will be trying to use that and anything, that commonality, that common heritage, to persuade him of her -- of her views.

BLITZER: We're going to be hearing a lot more, obviously, over the next hour or so, on the U.S.-U.K. relationship.

But, John, let's get to the U.S.-Mexico relationship. That's in trouble right now.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's very much in trouble. And the issue is -- and we need to find out more about today's news, this call. An hour-long conversation between President Enrique Pena Nieto and President Donald Trump, the day after a big diplomatic dust-up. So, your instincts are that meant -- means both leaders are trying to dial it back.

So, will we get a new meeting scheduled? Will -- has President Trump agreed? The Mexican president says, look, I can't meet with you. I can't do business with you, if you're, publicly, berating my country and saying, publicly, that you will do something that I have said I cannot do, pay for the wall.

So, is there an agreement to dial back the language and have a meeting? That doesn't mean you erase the difficulties.

But this is, again, to the point, whether it's Prime Minister May, whether it's President Pena Nieto, Donald Trump does not speak the language of diplomacy. He doesn't speak nuance. It's not the way he acts.

And so, A, he has some things to learn about how to operate in this space. But, B, we, and the other leaders, have a lot of things to learn about him, as they develop these relationships.

So, it will be fascinating to hear. The call lasted an hour. So, clearly, they were doing some business.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: That's a long call, would you not say?

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Let me just say, it's probably not as long as it sounds because there's -- it's through a translator. And so, they have to wait for the translators to translate between Spanish and English.

BORGER: Except for the word wall, which I think --

KING: The question really is, do they come out of this saying we have agreed to meet on day X or we have agreed to meet in the near future. If they can say that, well, then they had a blow-up. And, like in many relationships, you have a fight and then you try to make peace or at least make detante and we'll see how it goes forward. DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: But it's interesting. The fact that the principles are talking, you would generally assume that's a good thing because you wouldn't put the presidents on the phone, if they weren't working something out.

KING: Right.

GREGORY: But those are just conventional rules. We don't really know.

BORGER: Yes.

GREGORY: I mean, this is Donald Trump, after all.

And the thing that's striking to me about the relationship with Prime Minister May, you know, we've covered the White House. We look for the body language and all of the choreography of a day like today.

But, you know, the European order has been disrupted. As you know, first hand.

CHALIAN: (INAUDIBLE) today.

GREGORY: And geopolitically, economically, all of that has been thrown up in the air. And Donald Trump represents a kind of economic nationalism that has both disrupted Europe and has disrupted the United States.

It's going to be interesting to see where they can come together on the prospect of a trade deal, how willing he is to listen to a more establishment European leader, a British leader saying, hey, Mr. President, you know, put the brakes on this close relationship with Vladimir Putin and dial back the issue of torture.

And let's not forget, again, and, (INAUDIBLE), you know better. I mean, the Brits are still going through the searing experience of Iraq. And it is deeply embedded in their national -- in their political psyche, and it played out this summer. I was there visiting when that report came out about the intelligence.

So, that's still very much a debate that they're having.

BLITZER: And the other problem, David, that the president has right now is making sure his Republican supporters, in the House and the Senate, are with him because many of them are feeling a bit uncomfortable on some of these issues.

CHALIAN: Right. I mean, we followed throughout the campaign the divergence between Trump and the Republican Party and where they came together, and I think we're going to continue to see that play out. Ideologically in some places, perhaps on issues like trade we're going to see it diverge.

[13:05:12] But also institutionally, as he goes through all these executive actions and puts more and more power into the executive. Is there going to be a concern, institutionally, from some legislators? But I want to pick up on what John said. When John said he doesn't speak the language of nuance and he doesn't do diplo-speak. Absolutely, he does speak the language of negotiation, though. That is -- that is the language he speaks and that he grew up in.

And so, I do think that we are seeing with his kind of relationship with Theresa May or a deal getting done, we're seeing now a president who relishes deal making and has opened the door to these bilateral agreements, instead of multi-lateral agreements. That may be for Theresa May.

BLITZER: Jeff Zeleny, our Senior White House Correspondent, is at the White House on the north lawn. Jeff, are we getting any more word on this phone conversation between the American president and the Mexican president?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We don't have any specific details about if any action was discussed or if any specific meeting is coming out of that, Wolf. We are told that we will get more details shortly, perhaps even in this news conference here which is coming up.

But just the fact of the phone calls you all have been talking about. Interestingly, it came after a tweet that the president sent out this morning and then they had that telephone call.

I am told that it was an impromptu call. That it was not planned on the schedule from the very beginning of the day. So, it's clear that, at least on this side and probably in Mexico as well, that they wanted to ease what really had been becoming an escalating stand-off here. They wanted to, you know, sort of get in front of that.

But I am told, we will find out more details if there is a rescheduled meeting or if they come to some terms of agreement here, at least on the broader outlines of things.

But we know where both sides stand here, Wolf. So, there's not a ton of room there in the middle for this because, as we've heard, the Mexican President Pena Nieto say they're not going to pay for the wall here.

So, at this point, a lot of the conversation must happen inside the Republican Party, how that wall will be paid for up front -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Jeff Zeleny, stand by. Jeff's on the north lawn of the White House.

Our Senior White House Correspondent Jim Acosta is inside the east room of the White House, where President Trump and the British prime minister, Theresa May, will be holding their joint news conference momentarily.

Earlier, we showed some video of their meeting in the Oval Office. A little photo op that occurred there.

But set us -- set the scene for us right now. They'll be -- I assume they'll be making, Jim, opening statements and then answering reporters' questions.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. And some of the atmospheres here I think are worth pointing out. This east room in the White House is just packed, as you might expect, for a first joint news conference for President Trump.

And as you have been talking about throughout the morning, this president made a point of welcoming British Prime Minister Theresa May in ways that you don't normally see presidents welcome foreign leaders at the White House. It does happen on occasion but it is rare to have the president of the United States welcome a foreign leader at the portico entrance of the west wing. He did that earlier this morning.

And then, they went right into the Oval Office and showed off the bust of Winston Churchill. So, President Trump, in this first visit with a foreign -- major foreign leader, is trying to really roll out the red carpet here.

And, Wolf, this east room is just absolutely packed. It took a lot longer than we're normally used to taking, in terms of getting in here and getting in our places. But there are lots of questions to be asked here.

And I say that because typically in these formats, Wolf, there are two questions asked of the president, two questions asked of the other foreign leader for these joint news conferences. But as you know with Donald Trump, normalities go out the window.

And so, the question is if he's finished with the two plus two here, as we call it, and other questions are asked, does he indulge himself and indulge us and take more questions? And there are lots of questions, of course, to be asked about.

You mentioned that call with Jeff Zeleny about the phone conversation between Enrique Pena Nieto, the Mexican President, and President Trump that happened earlier this morning. What did they talk about?

What, of course, is the fall-out from yesterday's proposal that was trotted out and then walked back that there would be some sort of 20 percent import tax on Mexican goods to help pay for the wall on the border.

The White House, later on in the afternoon yesterday, Wolf, as you know, talked that down and, basically, said it's just one of a menu of options in the words of Reince Priebus, the White House Chief of Staff.

But there's also this phone conversation that we're expecting tomorrow between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. And there are already expectations that perhaps President Trump is in the mood to lift sanctions on Russia, that came about as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Crimea.

John McCain, the Senator from Arizona, earlier this morning, put out a statement saying that that is not acceptable. And that he'll will be introducing legislation to block that from occurring or putting those sanctions back on in place by virtue of law, if the president goes down that road.

[13:10:13] So, lots of questions to be asked. Also, the questions about these allegations of the voter fraud that the president has been making that are unsubstantiated.

Earlier this morning, Wolf, he tweeted out that he wants to get results of an investigation. But he cited as a source somebody who is quite questionable, when it comes to this issue of voter fraud.

So, lots of questions to be asked. We'll see how many he takes -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And while you were speaking, we saw several of the president's top aides walk right behind you. I assume they're all sitting down right now. They're waiting for the president and prime minister to walk in.

We saw Jennifer Kushner. We saw Steven Miller. We saw Steven Bannon. We saw Kellyanne Conway. All walk right behind you. They are inside the east room. I want to just bring John King in for a moment. John, we covered the White House. We were in the east room for a lot of these kinds of news conferences. It'll be interesting to see how this new American president handles a formal news conference like this.

Normally, the -- President Obama, for example, there were two American reporters allowed to ask questions. They could be multi-part -- actually, they're coming up right now -- and two British questioners as well. Here they are.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (live): Thank you very much. I am honored to have Prime Minister Theresa May here for our first official visit from a foreign leader. This is our first visit. So, a great honor.

The special relationship between our two countries has been one of the great forces in history for justice and for peace. And, by the way, my mother was born in Scotland, Stornoway which is serious Scotland.

Today, the United States renews our deep bond with Britain, military, financial, cultural and political. We have one of the great bonds. We pledge our lasting support to this most special relationship.

Together, America and the United Kingdom with a beacon for prosperity and the rule of law. That is why the United States respects the sovereignty of the British people and their right of self- determination. A free and independent Britain is a blessing to the world.

And our relationship has never been stronger. Both America and Britain understand that governments must be responsive to everyday working people, that governments must represent their own citizens.

Madam prime minister, we look forward to working closely with you, as we strengthen our mutual ties in commerce, business and foreign affairs. Great days lie ahead for our two peoples and our two countries. On behalf of our nation, I thank you for joining us here today. It's a really great honor. Thank you very much.

THERESA MAY, PRIME MINISTER, BRITAIN: Well, thank you very much, Mr. President. And can I start by saying that I'm so pleased that I've been able to be here today, and thank you for inviting me so soon after your inauguration.

And I'm delighted to be able to congratulate you on what was a stunning election victory. And as you say, the invitation is an indication of the strength and importance of the special relationship that exists between our two countries. A relationship based on the bonds of history, of family, kinship and common interests.

And in a further sign of the importance of that relationship, I have today been able to convey her majesty, the queen's hope that President Trump and the first lady would pay a state visit to the United Kingdom later this year. And I'm delighted that the president has accepted that invitation.

Now, today, we're discussing a number of topics and there's much on which we agree. The president has mentioned foreign policy. We are discussing how we can work even more closely together, in order to take on and defeat Diash and the ideology of Islamist extremism wherever it's found.

Our two nations already leading efforts to face up to this challenge. And we're making progress with Diash losing territory and fighters. But we need to redouble our efforts.

And, today, we're discussing how we can do this by deepening intelligence and security cooperation and critically by stepping up our efforts to counter them in cyberspace. Because we know we will not eradicate this threat until we defeat the idea -- the ideology that lies behind it.

[13:15:00] Our talks will be continuing later. I'm sure we'll discuss other topics, Syria and Russia.

On defense and security cooperation, we are united in our recognition of NATO as the bulwark of our collective defense, and today we've reaffirmed our unshakable commitment to this alliance.

Mr. President, I think you said, you confirmed that you're 100 percent behind NATO. But we're also discussing the importance of NATO continuing to ensure it is as equipped to fight terrorism and cyber warfare as it is to fight more conventional forms of war.

And I've agreed to continue my efforts to encourage my fellow European leaders to deliver on their commitments to spend two percent of their GDP on defense so that the burden is more fairly shared. It's only by investing properly in our defense that we can ensure we're properly equipped to face our shared challenges together.

And finally, the president and I have mentioned future economic cooperation and trade. Trade between our two countries is already worth over 150 billion pounds a year. The U.S. is the single biggest source of inward investment to the U.K., and together, we have around one trillion dollars invested in each other's economies.

And the U.K.-U.S. defense relationship is the broadest, deepest and most advanced of any two countries, sharing military hardware and expertise. And I think the president and I are ambitious to build on this relationship in order to grow our respective economies, provide the high skilled, high paid jobs of the future for working people across America and across the U.K.

And so, we are discussing how we can establish a trade negotiation agreement, take forward immediate high-level talks, lay the groundwork for U.K.-U.S. trade agreement and identify the practical steps we can take now in order to enable companies in both countries to trade and do business with one another more easily.

And I'm convinced that a trade deal between the U.S. and the U.K. is in the national interest of both countries and will cement the crucial relationship that exists between us, particularly as the U.K. leaves the European Union and reaches out to the world.

Today's talks I think are a significant moment for President Trump and I to build our relationship and I look forward to continuing to work with you as we delivery on the promises of freedom and prosperity for all the people of our respective countries.

Thank you.

TRUMP: Thank you very much. That's very nicely stated.

Steve Holland (ph). Where's Steve? Steve -- yes.

QUESTION: Thank you. You're going to be speaking tomorrow with the Russian president. What message would you like to convey to him? How close are you to lifting some of the sanctions imposed on Russia over its Ukraine incursion? What would you expect in return?

And Prime Minister May, do you foresee any changes in British attitudes towards sanctions on Russia?

TRUMP: Well, I hear a call was set up, Steve, and we'll see what happens. As far as the sanctions, very early to be talking about that. But we look to have a great relationship with all countries, ideally. That won't necessarily happen, unfortunately probably won't happen with many countries.

But if we can have, as we do with Prime Minister May and the relationship that we've all developed and even in the short relationship that we just developed just by being with each other and have lunch and -- we've really had some very interesting talks and very productive talks. But if we can have a great relationship with Russia and with China and with all countries, I'm all for that. That would be a tremendous asset.

No guarantees, but if we can, that would be a positive, not a negative. OK? MAY: We have, as far as the U.K. is concerned on sanctions for Russia in relation to their activities in the Ukraine, we have been very clear that we want to see the Minsk Agreement fully implemented. We believe the sanctions should continue until we see that Minsk Agreement fully implemented and we've been continuing to argue that inside the European Union.

Laura?

QUESTION: Thank you very much, Prime Minister. Laura Kuenssberg BBC News.

Prime Minister, you've talked about where you agree, but you have also said you would be frank where you disagreed with the president. Can you tell us where in our talks you did disagree? And do you think that the president listened to what you had to say?

And Mr. President, you...

TRUMP: (OFF-MIKE)

(LAUGHTER)

QUESTION: We'll see what she says.

(LAUGHTER) Mr. President, you've said before that torture works. You've praised Russia. You've said you want to ban some Muslims for -- from coming to America. You've suggested there should be punishment for abortion. For many people in Britain, those sound like alarming beliefs. What do you say to our viewers at home who are worried about some of your views and worried about you becoming the leader of the free world?

TRUMP: This was your choice of a question?

(LAUGHTER)

There goes that relationship.

MAY: On the issue that you raised with me, Laura, can I confirm that the president -- I've been listening to the president and the president has been listening to me. That's the point of having a conversation and a dialogue. And we have been discussing a number of topics. We'll carry on after this press conference meeting and discussing a number of other topics.

And there will be times when we disagree and issues on which we disagree. The point of the special relationship is that we are able to have that open and frank discussion, so that we are able to -- to make that clear when it happens.

But I'm clear also that there are many issues on which the United Kingdom and the United States stand alongside one another, many issues on which we agree.

And I think, as I said yesterday in my speech, that we are at a moment now when we can build an even stronger special relationship, which will be in the interest not just of the U.K. and the United States, but actually in the interest of the wider world as well.

TRUMP: We have a great general who has just been appointed secretary of defense, General James Mattis. And he has stated publicly that he does not necessarily believe in torture or waterboarding or however you want to define it -- enhanced interrogation I guess would be a word that a lot of -- words that a lot of people would like to use. I don't necessarily agree, but I would tell you that he will override because I'm giving him that power.

He's an expert. He's highly respected. He's the general's general. Got through the Senate very, very quickly, which in this country is not easy, I will tell you. And so I'm going to rely on him.

I happen to feel that it does work. I've been open about that for a long period of time. But I am going with our leaders. And we're going to -- we're going to win with or without, but I do disagree.

As far as, again, Putin and Russia, I don't say good, bad or indifferent. I don't know the gentleman. I hope we have a fantastic relationship. That's possible and it's also possible that we won't. We will see what happens.

I will be representing the American people very, very strongly, very forcefully. And if we have a great relationship with Russia and other countries, and if we go after ISIS together, which has to be stopped -- that's an evil that has to be stopped -- I will consider that a good thing, not a bad thing.

How the relationship works out, I won't be able to tell you that later (sic). I've had many times where I thought I'd get along with people and I don't like them at all.

(LAUGHTER)

And I've had some where I didn't think I was going to have much of a relationship and it turned out to be a great relationship.

So, Theresa, we never know about those things, do we? But I will tell you one thing: I'll be representing the American people very strongly. Thank you.

How about John Roberts, Fox?

QUESTION: Mr. President, thank you so much.

Madam Prime Minister.

It's my understanding, Mr. President, that you had an hour-long phone call this morning with President Enrique Pena Nieto of Mexico. Could we get an update on where the relationship is? Further to that, what do you say to your critics who claim that you have already soured a relationship with a very important U.S. ally?

And, Madam Prime Minister, if I may ask you as well, are you concerned about the state of relations between the United States and Mexico?

TRUMP: Well, I think the prime minister, first of all, has other things that she's much more worried about than Mexico and the United States relationship.

But I will say that we had a very good call. I have been very strong on Mexico. I have great respect for Mexico. I love the Mexican people. I work with the Mexican people all the time. Great relationships.

But, as you know, Mexico with the United States has outnegotiated us and beat us to a pulp through our past leaders. They've made us look foolish. We have a trade deficit of $60 billion with Mexico. On top of that, the border is soft and weak, drugs are pouring in, and I'm not going to let that happen.

And General Kelly is going to do a fantastic job at Homeland Security. As you know, we swore him in yesterday.

We have a really -- I think a very good relationship, the president and I. And we had a talk that lasted for about an hour this morning. And we are going to be working on a fair relationship and a new relationship. But the United States cannot continue to lose vast amounts of business, vast amounts of companies, and millions and millions of people losing their jobs.

That won't happen with me. We're no longer going to be the country that doesn't know what it's doing.

TRUMP: And so, we are going to renegotiate our trade deals and we are going to renegotiate other aspects of our relationship with Mexico, and in the end, I think it'll be good for both countries.

But it was a very, very friendly call. I think you'll hear that from the president and I think you'll hear that from the people of Mexico that really represent him and represent him very well. And I look forward to -- over the coming months, we'll be negotiating and we'll see what happens.

But I'm representing the people of the United States and I'm going to represent them as somebody should represent them, not how they've been represented in the past where we lose to every single country.

MAY: As the President himself has said, the relationship of the United States with Mexico is a matter for the United States and Mexico.

Tom (ph)?

QUESTION: Mr. President, you said you'd help us with a Brexit trade deal. You've said -- you said you'd help us with Brexit trade deal, you said you'd stand by us with NATO, but how can the British prime minister believe you? Because you have been known in the past to change your position on things.

And also (inaudible) it's a question to both of you. People are fascinated to know how you're going to get along with each other, you're so different; the hard-working daughter (inaudible), the brash TV extrovert. Have you found anything in common personally yet?

TRUMP: Actually I'm not as brash as you might think.

(LAUGHTER)

And I can tell you that I think we're going to get along very well. You know, it's interesting because I am a people person. I think you are also, Theresa. And I can often tell how I get along with somebody very early, and I believe we're going to have a fantastic relationship.

Brexit -- and I really don't change my position very much. If you go back and you look, my position on trade has been solid for many, many years, since I was a very young person talking about how we were getting ripped off by the rest of the world. Now I never knew I'd be in the position where we can actually do something about it.

But we will be talking to your folks about Brexit. Brexit was an example of what was to come. And I happened to be in Scotland at Turnberry cutting a ribbon when Brexit happened and we had a vast amount of press there. And I said Brexit -- this was the day before, you probably remember, I said Brexit is going to happen and I was scorned in the press for making that prediction. I was scorned.

And I said I believe it's going to happen because people want to know who is coming into their country and they want to control their own trade and various other things, and low and behold, the following day it happened and the odds weren't looking good for me when I made that statement because, as you know, everybody thought it was not going to happen.

I think Brexit's going to be a wonderful thing for your country. I think when it irons out, you're gonna have your own identity and you're going to have the people that you want in your country and you're going to be able to make free trade deals without having somebody watching you and what you're doing.

And I had a very bad experience, I have -- I had something when I was in my other world, I have something in another country and getting the approvals from Europe was very, very tough. Getting the approvals from the country was fast, easy and efficient. Getting the approvals from the group -- I call them the consortium -- was very, very tough.

But I thought Brexit -- I think -- and I think it will go down that it will end up being a fantastic thing for the United Kingdom. I think in the end, it will be a tremendous asset, not a tremendous liability. OK?

MAY: And just on the question you asked me here, Tom (ph). I mean, I think as -- as the president himself has said, I think we have already struck up a good -- good relationship.

But you asked what we had in common. I think if you look at the approach that we're both taking, I mean, one of the things that we have in common is that we want to put the interests of ordinary working people right up there, center stage. Those people who -- you know, they're working all the hours. They're doing their best for their families and sometimes they just feel the odds are stacked against them.

And it's that interest in ensuring that what we do -- that the economies -- our economies and our governments actually work for ordinary working people, work for everyone in our countries. I think we both share that.

TRUMP: Thank you very much.

MAY: Thank you.

TRUMP: Thank you very much, everybody.

[13:29:44] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, so there they are. There they are. The president of the United States, the prime minister of the United Kingdom, having, what, about a 20 minute news conference. Lots of news unfolding during the course of these 20 minutes on Mexico. The president releasing details of his nearly one hour phone conversation with the president of Mexico, Pena Nieto. We'll get into that in a moment.

[13:30:07] We also heard the president insisting he wants to have what he called a fantastic relationship with Russia. He's going to have a phone conversation with --