Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Biden & Indian PM Hold News Conference; Debris Field Discovered Near Titanic Wreckage. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired June 22, 2023 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, when we're talking to our allies and partners around the world, and including India, we let the idea of my choosing in avoiding saying what I think is the facts with regard to the relationship with India -- with China is just not something I'm going to change very much. I think we -- I believe that -- and I've said this for some time, that the hysteria about the relationship with China's collapsing and moving and etcetera, etcetera. We had an incident that caused some confusion, you might say.

But president -- but Secretary Blinken had a great trip to China. I expect to be meeting with President Xi sometime in the future in the near term. And I don't think it's had any real consequence. And what was your second question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, as you raise these broader issues on -- of human rights and democracy, what is your message to those including some members of your own party who believe that your administration is overlooking the targeting of religious minorities in a crackdown on dissent in India?

BIDEN: Well, look. Prime Minister and I had a good discussion about democratic values. And there's the best nature of our relationship we're straightforward with each other and we respect each other. One of the fundamental reasons that I believe the U.S.-China relationship is not in the space as with the U.S.-Indian relationship, is that there's an overwhelming respect for each other because we're both democracies.

And it's a common Democratic candidate -- character in both our countries that in our people, our diversity, our culture, our open tolerant, robust debate. And I believe that -- we believe in the dignity of every citizen. And it is in America's DNA and I believe in India's DNA, that a whole world -- the whole world has a stake in our success, both of us in maintaining our democracies, makes us appealing partners, and enables us to expand democratic institutions across -- around the world. And I believe this and I still believe this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Prime Minister, India has long prided itself as the world's largest democracy, but there are many human rights groups who say that your government has discriminated against religious minorities and sought to silence its critics. As you stand here in the East Room of the White House where so many world leaders have made commitments to protecting democracy, what steps are you and your government willing to take to improve the rights of Muslims and other minorities in your country and to uphold free speech?

NARENDRA MODI, INDIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I'm actually really surprised that people say so and so. People don't say it. Indeed, India is a democracy.

And as President Biden also mentioned, India and America, both countries, democracy is in our DNA. The -- democracy is our spirit. Democracy runs in our veins. We live democracy. And our ancestors have actually put words to this concept and that is in the form of our Constitution.

Our government has taken the basic principles of democracy. And on that basis, our Constitution is made and the entire country runs on that. Our Constitution and our government, we have always proved that democracy can deliver. And when I say deliver, this is, regardless of caste, creed, religion, or gender, there's absolutely no space for discrimination.

And when you talk of democracy, if there are no human values and there is no humanity, there are no human rights, then it's not a democracy. And that is why when you say democracy and you accept democracy, and when we live in democracy, then there is absolutely no space for discrimination. And that is why India believes in moving ahead with everybody we trust and with everybody's efforts. These are our foundation principles, which are the basis of how we operate, and how we live our lives in India.

[14:05:07]

The benefits that are provided by the government is accessible to all whoever deserves those benefits. It's available to everybody. And that is why in India's democratic values, there is absolutely no discrimination, neither on the basis of caste, creed, or age, or any kind of geographic location.

BIDEN: Kumar.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks a lot, sir. Sir, my question is on the issue of climate change. Both countries have spoken strongly about the need to tackle the climate change. But there is a view both --

BIDEN: (INAUDIBLE) I'm sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Both countries have spoken about the challenge of climate change. But there is a view that ambitious targets are set, but implementation is found often lacking. And there is also a criticism of lack of technological transfer, financial transfer from the developed countries to the developing nations. How do you both leaders see the way ahead on this pressing issue?

BIDEN: So, first of all, I think it is the existential threat to humanity. Climate change. It's the most serious problem we face as human beings. we have to keep it below 1.5 degrees Celsius. We've made enormous progress here in the United States on dealing with this issue by doing three things. Number one, by insisting that we move our -- every one of our industries into a position where they can take advantage of cheaper and more extensive and more available renewable energy. Whether it's solar or wind, or hydrogen -- and green hydrogen, there's a whole range of things we've been working on.

In addition to that, we find ourselves in a position that what we've done is that we have significantly reduced the -- for example, I made a commitment that we were going to make sure that by 2030, 30 percent of all our land and sea and oceans were -- are -- where conservation could not be developed, we're well on our way to doing that. And that's also absorbing carbon from the air as a consequence of that because of their conservation.

We are in a position as well. But we have provided for significant increase in funding for a whole range of issues. But not just for the United States but for the rest of the world.

For example, we're working with the G7 to provide for infrastructure work for commute -- for dealing with global warming in the continent of Africa. In Angola, building the largest solar project, moving ourselves having railway to go all the way across the southern to third -- the -- from the Atlantic Ocean to the -- to the Indian Ocean in Africa to be able to transport and do it cheaper, and do it with less -- how can I say, less carbon emissions.

We're trying to work with other countries to maintain their -- maintain their carbon sinks, so they don't have to develop them like we did and causing pollution. And we're trying to figure out how to work out to pay them not to develop certain areas like Amazon in Brazil.

But there's a lot of technology that's available that we're sharing, and we share with one another. We've learned how to do solar energy, which is considerably cheaper than it is to -- for fuel -- for fossil fuels. The same way dealing with not just solar, but dealing with wind.

And so, there's a lot of technology that we've developed. And we're well on our way I think to meet the commitment we made to how we made in Paris. And then we're prepared to share all of that with India that has a desire to do the same.

MODI (through translator): Excellency, you said very rightly that as far as India is concerned, the environment climate, these are extremely important in our cultural traditions. For us, the environment is an article of faith. This is not just something that we need to do for convenience.

We believe this. We do not believe in the exploitation of nature. In order for all of creation to work, we can make nature -- we cannot have exploitation of nature. And we have always believed this.

[14:10:10] And on the basis of these values, we are not only doing things for ourselves but are taking some global initiatives as well. You perhaps know that the G20 countries, the promises they made in Paris. Of all the G20 countries, India is the only country that has fulfilled all the promises it made at the G20.

Not just that. In the area of solar energy in Glasgow, we had set ourselves a target to achieve 500 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030. We have set ourselves the target to make Indian railways net zero. And you must understand the scale of Indian railways.

When we talk about Indian railways, it means that every day the entire population of Australia travels in our wagons -- in our railway wagons -- on our trains and we have set ourselves a target to achieve net zero for our railways. We have also set ourselves targets for solar energy for ethanol -- a 10 percent mix of ethanol. We have completed this target before the set date.

We are also working in the area of green hydrogen. We want India to be a green hydrogen hub, and we are working towards this. In -- the International Solar Alliance has been launched by India, and many countries have joined it and are working with India. In the island countries, we have helped them in the area of solar energy, so that they have now got a new confidence that we are with them in their efforts to fight climate change.

And we will not only fulfill our responsibilities, but we will also help you in the area of climate change. We have seen that due to natural calamities, people talk about the death of people no doubt when there are natural disasters, but there is a lot of destruction of infrastructure as well. And, therefore, because of climate change the kind of crisis we are feeling, we need to develop infrastructure that is resilient and therefore we have created a global organization called CDRI.

And you perhaps know that in Glasgow, I presented a subject to the world. And recently, it was launched by the UN Secretary-General and myself that is mission life. And when I say life, I mean lifestyle for the environment.

Therefore, every individual must live his life in a pro-environment, pro-development way and we are working towards this. And I am sure that whatever work India has started and all these areas not because India has adversely affected the environment of the world. We are doing this because we have a concern for future generations.

We do not want to give future generations a world that makes life difficult for them. And therefore as a global responsibility, India has not caused any problems to the environment. However, we are playing a leading role in contributing in a positive manner.

As far as prosperous countries are concerned, there's always been talk about technology transfer, and financial support, and there are some countries that need to have technology transfer financial support. And we hope that as soon as we can move forward in this area, we will be able to solve this challenge of climate change. Thank you very much. BIDEN: We have caused damage in the United States the way we developed over the last 300 years. And that's why I was able to convince my colleagues in the Congress to pass legislation, the largest climate fund ever in America in the world history, $369 billion -- $369 billion to deal with the climate crisis. And we're doing it extensively now. And I think you're going to see significant progress. Thank you all very, very much.

[14:15:05]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: You've been listening there to President Biden and the Indian Prime Minister, Nahendra Modri -- Narendra Modri -- Modi at the White House there. Both of them in their opening comments, touting economic ties between the two countries. They signed a deal during this visit to build high-performance military jet engines in India.

President Biden was asked about his comments recently describing the Chinese leader Xi Jinping as a dictator. He did not back away from those comments. President Biden saying it's something that he sees as facts.

Modi pressed on ongoing questions about anti-democratic moves in his own country, discrimination, etcetera. He said that democracy runs in our country's veins. He says there is absolutely no discrimination is his -- in his country.

We're joined now by CNN Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour, also White House National Security Correspondent for The New York Times David Sanger. Christiane, to you first, what is Biden's motivation here in warming up to India at this time? Is that about pulling India closer as the U.S. standoff worsens with Russia, certainly but also China? Is it about making them a friend in all this as best they can?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: I think that's a huge part of it, absolutely. And of course, as you know, India has not joined many of the UN resolutions. It is against Russia. It is still importing Russian oil. That oil that moves by sea from Russia.

And actually, over the environment, it is still very much invested in coal mining. And that is a very degrading aspect of the environment. And it also, as you know, has an alarming crackdown on the Muslim minority there.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

AMANPOUR: The very significant Muslim minority on the press on political opposition. I'm talking to you from Athens because I had an exclusive interview with former President Barack Obama. And I asked him about the complicated visuals of President Biden's pledge to defend democracy as it collides with autocracy and liberal Democrats such as Modi, and obviously authoritarians, like President Xi.

And he said life and the world is complicated. This is about national security in many instances. It's about supply chains, as you heard there. It's also about trying to get the best deal for your own security when you can.

He said, if I was to talk to Modi, which I have done many times, I would explain to him that cracking down for instance, on the minority in India is eventually not going to be good, obviously, for the Muslims, but nor for the Hindu majority, either. Because we've seen how ethnic suppression can cause countries to disintegrate.

He said, you know, he spoke to Xi, obviously, he knew him well, and to Modi to get them involved in and onboard with the Paris Climate Accord. So, there are many reasons to do it. But there are also many questions about the genuine commitment to democracy in Modi's India.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: And, David, to you. Some of the things we didn't hear at this press conference between Modi and Biden, there was no specific mention of Ukraine or Russia. We know that part of the reason that India wants to strike this deal with GE is to be able to make as Modi described it, security startups grow in India so that they have production of military weapons there perhaps so that they can distance themselves from Russia. The U.S. has an interest in that, but we didn't hear them specifically talk about India's support of Russia by buying so much Russian oil and by not voting to condemn them at the UN Security Council.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL & NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, it's not just a little oil, it's a lot of oil.

SANCHEZ: Right.

SANGER: And at this point, I -- we think 45 percent of the oil that Russia is selling by sea, they are selling into the Indian market now. So, that's a big economic support for the war.

Why is the president willing to go -- look, pass this? There is a broader Indo-Pacific strategy in which the president is hoping to line up over time against Russia, and more importantly, against China, Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines. You just saw he was supposed to take continue his trip down to Papua New Guinea and Australia. Didn't make it because of the --

SANCHEZ: The debt ceiling.

SANGER: -- budget issues here, the debt ceiling.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

SANGER: And India is a key part of this as well. And this is where President Biden's democracy versus autocracy meets clean lines all sort of fall apart.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

SANGER: And the other place is Saudi Arabia, right, and the relationship there. I also thought it was really notable that the president double down on his reference to Xi Jinping as a dictator.

SCIUTTO: As a dictator. No question.

SANGER: Nobody is arguing the facts here. I mean, this man is, Jim, as we were saying before, a point -- you know, is basically we applauding for --

SCIUTTO: President for life.

SANGER: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Right.

SANGER: It's supposed to be for a few years, there's no indication it will be anything other than life. But the fact of the matter is that President Biden probably stepped on a good deal of the work that his Secretary of State Antony Blinken did out there this past weekend. The Chinese reaction to this has been fierce.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

[14:20:14]

SCIUTTO: Well, one thing we should note about India as well not only buys a lot of oil from Russia. Buys a lot of arms from Russia.

SANGER: That's right.

SCIUTTO: Primary arm supplier and that's of course, the relationship the U.S. would like -- (INAUDIBLE)

SANGER: They got to be wondering why that -- Jim, how well those work.

SCIUTTO: Cool to some way. Yes.

SANGER: And you know --

SCIUTTO: Well, that's true. And that there's a reason why the U.S. is now going to be making or allowing India to make these high- performance jet engines. So much more discussed. We'll continue to follow, David Sanger. Of course, Christiane, thanks so much as well.

Quick promo -- programming note, be sure to watch Cristiane's full exclusive one-on-one interview with former President Barack Obama. "Obama and Amanpour: Will Democracy Win," airs tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time only here on CNN.

We do of course have the breaking news. We're continuing to follow in the search for the missing tourist submersible. The U.S. Coast Guard says they've discovered a debris field on the seafloor in the search area near where the vessel was originally headed to view the Titanic wreckage site.

This is the remote-operated vessel that found that debris field. We're going to get an update from the U.S. Coast Guard about these findings in less than an hour. We don't yet know if the debris found is indeed from the Titan.

Officials did estimate on Sunday, the crew trapped inside had a total from that point of four days of the oxygen. Today is day five. Officials have sent medical personnel to the site as well as a hyperbaric recompression chamber on the possibility that they would be able to bring folks up alive from the vessel underwater.

CNN's Miguel Marquez has been covering this. Miguel, a little under 40 minutes from now, we're going to get an important update from the U.S. Coast Guard, particularly what this debris field could be. What are you hearing where you are?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. The term debris field shocked through this community and people who know OceanGate who have been on that -- on that sub who have done that trip. It wasn't well-received news. It's very, very concerning the way the Coast Guard put that.

And the other bit is that they wouldn't think that -- the Coast Guard wouldn't put out that information, knowing the effect that it would have on the community. So, I think there was -- there was hope going into today. I think that news sends a bit of a shock through the community here that something much more catastrophic may have happened to the individuals on board that submersible.

But all that said, there is a ton of resources, just several surface ships to 10 surface ships, and airplanes still looking for it. There are ROVs or remote-operated vehicles that can get down to the sea bed now. There's a lot of sonar out there that maps the Titanic, the area around it, and has done for many years now. So, they have a pretty good picture of what's there and what's new.

And that is the concern that people have now that whatever this is, indicates something that is new -- that they hadn't seen before. What is not clear as well is whether they have eyes on it, basically, and do they have that the entirety of the sub. So, they are operating on the assumption, as far as we know that this is still a search and rescue mission.

But there is a possibility that even though they've gone past the 96 hours of air that they were believed to have when they set out on Sunday, that if they conserve their air, if they -- if they slept, if they were very calm, they could -- they could keep as much oxygen and prolong the time they could stay down there. So, there is perhaps the tiniest sliver of hope but everybody's now waiting to see what the U.S. Coast Guard says in about 45 minutes or so --

SCIUTTO: That's right. Listen --

MARQUEZ: -- to see what the latest is with what they found.

SCIUTTO: The fact is we don't know. We don't know. The latest information we have is they found a debris field. We do expect an update on the significance of that when we get that press conference at the top of the hour. Miguel Marquez, in St. John's, Newfoundland, that's a live picture there, in fact, of where we're going to hear from a Coast Guard Rear Admiral, with an important update.

The latest we have is that searchers have found a debris field around the site of where they expected this submersible to be at last contact. We hope to get answers to questions of what that debris field means. At the top of the hour, of course, we will bring you all we know between now and then as well. Please do stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:28:44]

SANCHEZ: Breaking news we're following right now. The U.S. Coast Guard says it's discovered a debris field near the search area for that missing submersible. We've yet to confirm if it is in fact debris from the Titan. The Coast Guard is set to give a news conference just over a half hour from now. We will bring it to you live.

I want to get some insight now from an expert. Joining us is Captain Mark Martin. He's an Offshore Manager and Salvage Master for Britannia's Gold Ltd. Sir, thanks so much for being with us. Just right off the bat, what's your reaction to hearing that a debris field has been discovered on the seafloor not far from the Titanic wreckage?

CAPT. MARK MARTIN, OFFSHORE MANAGER & SALVAGE MASTER, BRITANNIA'S GOLD LTD: Well, obviously, that's a -- you know, a major step forward in being able to find either the intact haul or the pieces of the haul. I have gotten some information from a little bit of inside sources that state that the debris had been identified, but that's unconfirmed at the moment.

SANCHEZ: We want to wait until we hear directly from officials to confirm that. We don't yet know from official sources that are saying publicly that that is the case. But nevertheless, given that there is a large debris field already at that site because of the Titanic.