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McCain Warns Against "Spurious Nationalism"; Trump Does Conservative Radio After CNN Highlights Absence; Awaiting Trump News Conference; Trump News Conference with Greek Prime Minister. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired October 17, 2017 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[13:30:00] SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R), ARIZONA: The sphere of the world we've organized and led for three-quarters of a century, to abandon the ideals we have advanced around the globe, to refuse the obligations of international leadership and our duty to remain the last, best hope of earth, for the sake of some half-baked spurious nationalism cooked up by people who would rather find scapegoats than solve problems."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Do you agree with him?
SEN. MAZIE HIRONO, (D), HAWAII: Yes, I do. Because the president is great at calling everyone who doesn't agree with his world view or perspective names. That's what he loves to do. Meanwhile, the real world with the real problems continues. I have very little hope this president, who has no moral core as far as we can tell, to engage in a battle with Senator McCain. The fact of the matter is that when I talk with world leaders, we are losing our position, our leadership role in the world because of the kinds of actions and statements that the president makes. Things such as the rhetoric relating to North Korea and pulling out of the Paris Climate Accord and saber rattling and all of that that he engages in. I think his inability to focus on things does not help our standing in the world at a time when I think people still hope for the U.S. to provide leadership in the world.
BLITZER: During that news conference yesterday -- we are standing by for another one momentarily -- President Trump said that President Obama and other U.S. presidents did not call the families of fallen soldiers. Aside from that being a false statement, what kind of message does this send?
HIRONO: It really illustrates President Trump's inability to truly appreciate the sacrifices made by our men and women in our armed services and truly his inability to empathize. And to take this moment of tragedy for these families to turn it all, once again, on himself and how hard it is for him and all of that, it is just not the kind of leadership that we want and expect from the president. With this president, it is par for the course, sadly.
BLITZER: Senator Mazie Hirono, from Hawaii, thank you for joining us. HIRONO: Thank you. Aloha.
BLITZER: What will the president say next? His news conference coming up. Looking at live pictures coming in from the Rose Garden. He is having a joint news conference with the world leader who once called him "evil." We will have live coverage. That's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:36:40] BLITZER: President Trump making headlines even before his news conference with the Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras. We are standing by for that news conference, expected to begin any moment. Looking at some members of the delegation arriving in the Rose Garden.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, the Greek prime minister expressed disbelief that Donald Trump could become the Republican's choice for president of the United States. Let me quote from what he said at the time: "What this nomination marks, the ideas it represents, the appeal it reaches and the threat to become even president, I hope we will not face this evil." That's what he said then. Closed quote.
Since the election, he said he got to know President Trump better, and now said this, quote, "I got to know his aggressive manner and the manner in which he defended some unconventional points of view in the election period. We are proceeding on the basis of common values."
Let's bring in the panel to discuss.
It's a little awkward when the visiting prime minister during the campaign says he represents evil, and now he has get to go into the Oval Office to have a meeting and talk about all sorts of stuff.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Never mind.
(CROSSTALK)
BORGER: That was then. The president had foreign leader who come in and said bad things about him during the campaign. You've had Justin Trudeau. You have the Mexican president. I think this is just one in a series. And with Donald Trump -- and I don't know if you all agree -- it seem to me, if you tell him you like him now, that's OK, then he will forget what you said about him in the past. He wants you to like him. Now they have shared values, they have things they have to discuss. I think that that's how they have to proceed. It's not the first time Trump has been through this.
BLITZER: I wonder how they will deal with this. I assume one of the questions -- there will be two questions from American reporters and two from Greek reporters. I wonder if anyone will bring up the awkward moment.
DAVID GREGORY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: They might. But the campaign is over, the rough and tumble of the campaign, but now we have this great working relationship. To me, the biggest issue that hangs over this, especially whether it's climate change, more recently the Iran deal, is still the role that a President Trump wants America to play in the rest of the world. That's the critical question about American power at a time of a tense standoff with North Korea. That's what so many Europeans and world leaders are looking for when they see these meetings.
BLITZER: He's been doing today, Julie, a series of interviews with conservative radio talk show hosts. It follows an article that was published on CNNpolitics.com. We will show you the headline, "President Trump's mysterious absence from conservative radio," among other things. The article said, "If there were a medium built for Trump, besides Twitter, talk radio would be it. But in his first eight months as president, Trump did not do a single interview on talk radio."
He has done a bunch of them today, I think --
Yes.
BLITZER: -- in part, because of this piece, CNN politics.com.
It is a good forum to go on these conservative talk radio shows.
[13:39:57] JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It's a standard thing for a president to do when he is trying to drive a part of his agenda. George W. Bush did this all the time. He would do a round-robin of either TV or radio interviews with friendly interviewers to get the message out. This White House has not done that. He didn't do it on health care. I think he is trying on tax reform because they understand if they don't get public support for this and don't get a consensus in Congress to get it passed before the end of the year, they will be in a world of hurt. That's the point. But because of some of the things he said in his news conference yesterday, much of the back and forth in these interviews was about his own comments about President Obama and John McCain, et cetera. He is not getting the reception I think they were hoping for, but it's a venue for him that he could use to more effect.
BLITZER: I assume we're going to -- he will be doing a lot more of that conservative talk show interviews across the country.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It looks like it. And again, he has to do it because what he has tried so far has not worked with major planks of his agenda.
I would, on the point of all is forgotten, push back ever so slightly, because there loads of folk on that Never-Trumper list who will never see the inside of the White House or a major agency building because they were publicly against the president. In that sense, the memories are long in this White House.
GREGORY: With world leaders, I think it's a little different.
BORGER: Absolutely.
GREGORY: You have to do business with them. As Gloria says, he is so easily charmed if you are complimentary of him and his leadership. (CROSSTALK)
SCIUTTO: The issue is, when you look at the Greek prime minister's comments there during the election, it sounds similar to the argument that Senator John McCain made last night, talking about populism and kind of appeals, temptations to your worst impulses, et cetera. So that's the kind of criticism that the president is hearing from inside his own country. With John McCain, he is promising that --
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: He did say, in a radio interviews today, Gloria, he warned Senator McCain, he said, quote, "Be careful because, at some point, I fight back."
BORGER: I'm sure John McCain --
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: That's what he said to Senator McCain. He said that.
BORGER: So ridiculous.
(CROSSTALK)
BORGER: And you are not going to bully John McCain. At this point, John McCain could care less. I think he is going to say what he wants to say, as we heard last night. I'm sure McCain would say bring it on, whatever have got, it's fine with me.
GREGORY: I wonder if a guy like McConnell, Senator McConnell is probably encouraging him to work the base a little bit on tax reform, pressure members and all of that. That's good typical strategy when you are the president. This president not only loves Twitter, if we noticed, we might be on him about how he deals with the press corps. He takes a lot of questions, whether it's press conferences, whether it's walking to the helicopter. We all should be happy about that. But he is always one insult or one controversy away from doing something that completely blows away what he is trying to accomplish. Whether he lies or whether he takes someone on, like John McCain, it always seems to get in the way of what he is trying to push. At some point, I think that has got to hurt him, or at least prevent him from getting something big done.
SCIUTTO: We are somewhat numb to this because he fires those kinds of shots all the time. Let's remember, he is threatening to get back at Senator John McCain, a Republican Senator, a veteran, a five-year POW, who is suffering terminal brain cancer.
GREGORY: Yes.
SCIUTTO: Now --
(CROSSTALK)
GREGORY: But don't kneel, because that would disrespect the military. BORGER: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
HIRSCHFELD DAVIS: It's the vote he needs the key issues coming up. He did vote against -- he cast a decisive vote again health care, and that's in the past, but he is going to need John McCain if there is ever --
(CROSSTALK)
HIRSHFELD DAVIS: -- on health care, tax reform and all of these issues. It's unclear how poking him repeatedly is going to help.
BORGER: But John McCain was asked that question today, will this hurt you in terms of support for the president, and he said, absolutely not, I represent the people of Arizona. Just like Senator Corker said the same thing, I represent my state, and my relationship with the president is not going to get in the way of how I vote.
[13:44:02] BLITZER: Let's not forget, during the campaign, h told an interviewer, at one sensitive moment, John McCain was really not a hero because he was a POW, and POWs, prisoners, are not necessarily heroes. He survived that, and became the Republican nominee, and is now the president of the United States.
Everybody, stand by.
We are waiting for the president and the visiting Greek prime minister to walk out. They'll both be making statements and then answering reporters' questions. Our live coverage continues right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: The president and the Greek prime minister walking out from the - into the Rose Garden from the Oval Office. The president will speak first, followed by the prime minister. Then they'll open it up to questions.
[13:46:24]
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you very much.
I just want to make an initial comment that the stock market just hit an all-time record high. It broke, for the first time ever, 23,000. So we're very happy about that.
I hope that Greece is going to be doing the same thing very soon. I think they will.
But I'm honored to welcome Prime Minister Tsipras to -- from -- of Greece. And he -- he's a special man who's done a very special job. We're grateful to the prime minister, and to his entire delegation, for visiting us today at the White House. Greece is a cradle of Western civilization -- so true -- of democracy, literature, philosophy, science and so much else. America looks on that glorious heritage with wonder and with awe.
You do, indeed, have a tremendous heritage, Mr. Prime Minister.
Perhaps for this reason, America's friendship with the Greek people has been long and enduring.
Thomas Jefferson wrote at the dawn of the modern Greek state that "No people sympathize more with Greek patriots and none offer more sincere and ardent prayers to Heaven for their success than the American people."
Jefferson's words are true to this day. Mr. Prime Minister, I'm proud to report that this past March we celebrated Greek Independence Day right here at the White House. And that was great.
America and Greece draw on this common history and heritage and on our people's abiding commitment to freedom and sovereignty in working together on great challenges and opportunities now before us. There are tremendous opportunities before us in so many different ways.
The prime minister and I have just concluded a very productive discussion on the cooperation between our two countries, including on matters of defense, energy, commerce and trade.
I want to thank the prime minister and the Greek people for serving as gracious hosts to our U.S. naval forces at Souda Bay. I also commend Greece for being one of the few NATO countries currently spending at least 2 percent of GDP on defense.
My administration has also informed Congress of a potential sale to Greece to upgrade its F-16 aircraft. This agreement to strengthen the Hellenic Air Force is worth up to $2.4 billion and would generate thousands of American jobs.
We also are making great strides in our economic cooperation. The American people stand with the Greek people as they recover from the economic crisis that recently afflicted their nation.
I've encouraged the prime minister in his continued implementation of reform and reform programs, and I have totally reaffirmed our support for a responsible debt relief plan. A strong and flourishing Greece provides immense opportunity for America trade, investment and job creation.
I thank the prime minister, his predecessors and the Greek people for their efforts to return stability and prosperity to Greece.
On energy, we appreciate Greek contributions to European energy security through its support of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, the Greece-Bulgaria Interconnector, and liquefied natural gas facilities that are capable of transporting diverse sources of energy to Europe, including potential liquefied natural gas exports from the United States, of which that particular route and business is getting bigger and bigger and bigger, as you know.
These initiatives make both our people safer and create good jobs for our hardworking citizens.
Finally, I'm also very proud that the United States will be the honored country at next year's international fair in Greece. This historic business and trade exhibition will showcase American technology, enterprise and innovation on the world stage. We look very much forward to sending a high-level delegation to attend this wonderful event.
Mr. Prime Minister, thank you again for being here today and for your partnership in addressing critical issues facing our countries.
I look forward to having many productive discussions with you and to having a very close and warm cooperation on a wide range of shared objectives. We will build upon our foundation of shared history and shared values to pursue a future of security, prosperity and peace for both your nation and ours.
Mr. Prime Minister, thank you very much.
TSIPRAS: Thank you.
(THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I would like to warmly thank the president of the United States for his hospitality and for his very productive discussions we had today.
The friendship between our two countries is very strong and it's based on our common democratic principles, on the values that we jointly share as peoples.
It is correct that the founders of the United States were inspired by ancient Greece. And the Greek revolution was inspired by the American Revolution for independence.
At the same time, our relationship is also based on a very dynamic diaspora of Greek people here in the U.S., which has many to offer for both countries.
As we underlined earlier, the Greek/U.S. relationships may be at their best compared to the past, since the Second World War when our peoples worked together and fought together shoulder to shoulder against fascism. And I do believe that there are many reasons for this.
Today our strategy is based on mutual respect, and it is fed by the significant support provided by the U.S. to Greece and to the Greek people during the hard times of the economic crisis; support for the exit of Greece from the crisis.
And at this point, I would like to just focus a bit (ph).
Greece today fulfills three basic objectives, which do not only relate to Greece, but I would say that are of special significance at an international level. First, it is dynamically (ph) coming out of a crisis, noting wonderful growth rates, and it's beginning to attract investments and increase its exports, as we see as well from the Greek/U.S. balance of trade. Leaving behind not only a crisis, but it's leaving behind the economic model that led to the crisis.
Second, Greece today is the most significant pillar of secured in cooperation in one of the most important, but at the same time unstable, sensitive, areas of the planet; a country with a dynamic multidimensional foreign policy; a country which is a reliable partner and ally of the United States, which fulfills its NATO obligations; and it is in close cooperation in the defense sector with the United States.
It's a country which maintains the dialogue with Turkey despite the difficulties that we face and the challenges, but knowing the very important European course of Turkey.
It's a country also that promotes cooperation in the Middle East and in the Balkans, which contributes to the security and the growth of the area.
And third, Greece, being already pretty strong in maritime and tourism, is gradually becoming a significant crossroads for transportation and energy.
TSIPRAS (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I would like to mention the completion of the TAP pipeline and the East-Med Pipeline, the agreement for an LNG station in Alexandroupolis, which is in northeast Greece, and the prospect that Alexandroupolis will be an area where we can receive imports from the United States of fracking. And I would like to mention our ports from Athens to Thessaloniki and the promotion of strong and fast rail connections with the rest of the Balkans.
And in this context, it's very clear that our strategic cooperation with the United States is becoming more important than ever. First of all, because we look forward -- and this is a significant message of my visit here and my meeting with economic representatives -- we look forward to attracting U.S. investments and the more substantial support of the U.S. in our effort to exit this horrible crisis.
The fact that the United States will be the honored country in 2018 in the International Fair of Thessaloniki will play a significant role in this effort.
Second, because Greece can dynamically develop (ph) in creating a pillar of stability and security only if it is free from the fundamental national concerns in the areas of security and defense. The United States has a significant role to play in this matter, not only in the diplomatic but also in the defense sector.
And we look forward in this context to a fair and a viable solution in the Cyprus issue, based on the decisions of the U.N. Security Council, a solution for the benefit of all Cypriots without guarantors or occupying military forces that will give a new perspective to the area. But at the same time, we are underlining that the dangerous intervention type presence of Turkey in the Aegean must end. It undermines on a daily basis the relationship between two NATO allies in a broader unstable and sensitive area.
Greece is a country that's always open to dialogue, but I want to be very clear, it will always protect decisively its sovereignty rights against illicit claims and disputes.
And with these thoughts, I would like to warmly thank President Trump for the wonderful discussions we held, which I believe will give a very substantial push to the existing dynamic cooperation. And I believe -- and I said that we created a work group between the ministers of economy -- the secretaries of the economy, so we can monitor the ability to have a substantial cooperation in investment, in economy, and in all sectors.
Thank you very much, sir.
TRUMP: Take a few questions. John (ph), go ahead, please.
QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. Good to see you out in the Rose Garden again.
TRUMP: Thank you. Nice place.
QUESTION: We seem to do this on occasion.
TRUMP: It's a nice place.
QUESTION: I have a question for the prime minister in a moment, if I could.
But first, sir, you said just a short time ago that "Obamacare is virtually dead." Your plan for Graham-Cassidy have not been able to get off the ground in the Senate. There's no idea whether or not it will in early 2018.
QUESTION: You've been picking around the edges to some degree with the executive orders, some of which critics say are helping to destroy Obamacare.
So I'm wondering, at this point, what is your health care plan, sir?
TRUMP: Well, if you look at insurance companies and you take a good strong look at the numbers, you'll see, since the formation of Obamacare, they're up 400 percent, 450 percent, 250 percent, 300 percent. They've made a fortune, the insurance companies.
[13:54:41] So when I knocked out the -- the hundreds of millions of dollars a month being paid back to the insurance companies by politicians, I must tell you, that wanted me to continue to pay this, I said I'm not going to do it. This is money that goes to the insurance companies to line their pockets, to raise up their stock prices. And they have had a record run, they've had an incredible run, and it is not appropriate. Obamacare is a disaster. It's virtually dead. As far as I'm concerned it really is dead. And I predicted that a long time ago.
