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President Obama Addresses Britain's Parliament

Aired May 25, 2011 - 11:22   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: We've been listening to President Obama there in Westminster Hall.

I'm Suzanne Malveaux in Atlanta.

Welcome back to our special coverage of President Obama's big address to Britain's Parliament.

Here to help sum up the speech, we have a full team. Our Wolf Blitzer and Candy Crowley, in Washington. Richard Quest, at 10 Downing street, London. And Zain Verjee at our London bureau.

I want to start off, first, with your impressions, Wolf. I know that this was a speech, an historic speech. One of the things that stood out for me was that he really did reset.

He talked about a new world order, that you had China, Brazil, India, these kinds of powers that have that emerged. But it wasn't a zero- sum game, that he did not mean the United States and United Kingdom were diminished in any way, but had a new responsibility to the world to bring forth democracy, to make sure that economies were stable.

What struck you?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: You know, a lot of the special relationship we've been talking about between the U.S. and U.K., to be sure. But I was struck on the words he said on Afghanistan.

Specifically, when he spoke about this being a moment where the U.S. and its NATO allies in Afghanistan are preparing to turn a corner. And the U.S., obviously, is getting ready to begin some as a result of withdrawal from Afghanistan.

But as you know, Suzanne, and a lot of our viewers know as well, the United States would like to accelerate. The Obama administration would like to get out of Afghanistan, especially now that bin Laden has been killed and removed. So there's no doubt that there may be an opportunity for the U.S. to do in Afghanistan what it's doing in Iraq right now -- declare victory, basically, and come home.

I wonder if Candy Crowley, who is here with us, if she agrees.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, I do. I mean, I think there's a couple of things that really struck me. And the first one is that, with a good editor and some slicing and dicing, this is the Obama campaign for reelection, because it touches on the optimism -- hey, we've turned a corner.

Let's remember, the first trip he took to Europe, the economy was a mess. People were really worried about it. And what did we hear? And this is the second thing that really occurred to me about why he gave this speech, and that is that "we are still relevant" speech, because the last time -- or the first time he was in Europe, it was all about, well, maybe democracy and capitalism doesn't work that well.

Look at the U.S. economy. It's terrible. The U.S. is in a mess in Afghanistan. And he's making the argument that the U.S. -- that, you know, this transatlantic alliance between the U.S. and Britain, and Europe, for that matter, remains kind of a cornerstone of both the engine of the economy, globally, as well as security.

And that's what -- it just seemed to me a "we are relevant" speech based on what he sees as an optimistic view of what's going, including getting out of Afghanistan, Iraq, et cetera.

BLITZER: And Richard Quest, in London, what did you think?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: This was a speech about leadership. It was an important address in which he reaffirmed that no matter whether there is a shift of economic power taking place from West to East, the relevance of the transatlantic alliance, in the president's words, is indispensable.

He said the decline of influence and those who said it was taking place was wrong, the leadership has not passed. He talked about the struggle, that they can and must continue to support those who struggle.

So what I take from this is being the president setting up very firmly, Wolf, that anybody who says the old guard is dead and buried, and that all hailed in new emerging markets needs to think again.

MALVEAUX: I want to bring in our Zain Verjee as well.

Because, Zain, one of the things that I heard that was striking was that you always heard criticism of President Bush moving forward in Iraq and imposing -- this idea of imposing a U.S. will on the rest of the world. And we heard President Obama say, "We will proceed with humility and the knowledge that we cannot dictate outcomes abroad. Ultimately, freedom must be won by the people themselves, not imposed from without."

Did that ring true? Did that seem to have a real impact from where you sit?

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes, absolutely, it does, because many of the Bush years, people here saw as characterized as arrogance. And this is a different tone characterized and articulated with a little more humility here.

I thought that the British, they love a good speech. And this was it. It was ornate, it was rhetorical, it was eloquent, and it was filled with the kind of dazzle that people have come to expect from President Barack Obama. I have three observations.

The first point was on the Middle East. He talked about how the U.S. and the U.K. were united in support for a secure Israel and Palestine. That was it, just one line.

Overall, yes, that's the goal. But the reality is that there is daylight on that topic.

The Palestinians want to go to the U.N. They want to declare a state independently in September.

Britain's likely to support a move like that. The U.S., no way.

Also, Britain is more willing to talk to Hamas or even think about including them. For the U.S., that's a nonstarter.

On the Arab Spring, I thought that was important, because he talked about that with great enthusiasm for support for it, saying, "We're going to stand up for democratic movements and self-determination," acknowledging that difficult days are on the way.

That's the value part of all of this. That's the universal human rights that he's talking about. But there's also a reality here.

What about allies like Saudi Arabia, who are watching this, too? Is the U.S. and the U.K. immediately going to jump in there at the very first sign of a democratic change and a democratic movement? They've got to balance the reality and the idealism that we've seen in this speech.

And finally, on the emerging markets, they both have been nurturing Brazil, India and China for economic opportunities. The U.K. has taken a different view.

The U.K. sees it more as an economic opportunity. The U.S. has approached the emerging countries more as a geopolitical issue, more as a threat. For example, with China, many seeing it as a military and a strategic threat. To some observations, behind those words of great unity and idealism there is a reality check for many, and also divisiveness.

We're going to take a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: At the time when threats and challenges require nations to work in concert with one another, we remain the greatest catalysts for global action. In an era defined by the rapid flow of commerce and information, it is our free market tradition, our openness, fortified by our commitment to basic security for our citizens that offers the best chance of prosperity that is both strong and shared. As millions are still denied their basic human rights because of who they are or what they believe or the kind of government that they live under, we are the nation's most willing to stand up for the values of tolerance and self-determination that lead to peace and dignity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: I'm Suzanne Malveaux in Atlanta. Welcome back to our special coverage of President Obama's address to the British parliament and his continuing European trip.

Also with me, Wolf Blitzer and Candy Crowley in Washington. Richard Quest at 10 Downing Street, London. Our own Zain Verjee at the London bureau.

I want to talk about, first of all, the president's European itinerary. He's got four nations in six days. He's already about halfway through. Air Force One leaves London. That's going to happen tomorrow morning for a quick flight across the channel, that's to Deauville, France, and the president is going to have talks with his G-8 leaders.

After a half day session on Friday, he's going to take off for Warsaw, Poland, to meet up with a big group of central European leaders. He's got some separate sit-downs with the Polish president, as well as the prime minister. And then Saturday afternoon he is heading home.

First of all, just kind of buttoning up the president's speech to Parliament, I want to circle back with this whole notion of the United States and the UK relationship here, whether or not it really is as important as the two leaders make it out to be.

One of the things that we've seen the president before he goes before the G-8 before other leaders, is they usually come with their hands stretched out. They want resources, whether it's Iraq, it's Afghanistan. Now, we expect that the president will also be looking for help with Tunisia, with Egypt, financial and economic help.

Wolf, what do we make of what he needs to accomplish at that G-8 summit?

BLITZER: Well, the economic issues are first and foremost the most important issues at any G-8 summit. I've covered a lot of them over the years and right now the European economy not very good. We've seen near economic collapses, not only in Greece, but in several other countries, Portugal and Spain.

And there's no doubt the economic spillover from that on the United States and the U.S. economy could be dramatic. So they've got to come up with some common strategies. The world's most powerful economic industrialized nations in dealing with those issues. And that's presumably what we'll see.

Gloria Borger is here with us.

Gloria, as we get ready for this G-8 summit in France, the president, you know, so much -- many jobs, still almost nine percent unemployment here in the United States.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Nine percent.

BLITZER: Here in the United States, so many jobs are dependent on exports to these countries. But their economy is not very good, they're not going to be importing much stuff from the United States.

BORGER: And, you know, the president, obviously, did not talk about that in the speech today. This is the speech about the alliance between the United Kingdom and America and how it will endure and how it will continue to shape what goes on in the rest of the world.

But there is an underlying tension here, Wolf, which is the fact that European countries really believe they have done an awful lot of belt- tightening that has not gone on in the United States. And they believe, therefore, that the United States needs to start getting its own economic house in order. And they also believe that the United States is not contributing enough in NATO activity in Libya.

And so, I think, Wolf, that these are going to be issues that are going to continue to be discussed which, of course, the president did not touch on today. This speech was about leadership and our role and the United Kingdom's role in leading the world.

BLITZER: yes, I want Zain and Richard Quest to just quickly explain to me this fact and I'll start with Zain.

Zain, the only time in this 45-minute address that the president of the United States was interrupted with applause -- not laughter, he told a few jokes, he got some laughter. But the only time he was interrupted with applause, not when he spoke about the death bin Laden, not when he spoke of the U.S./U.K. relationship, but when he mentioned he's the grandson of a Kenyan who served as a cook in the British army, and that's when this group applauded.

Explain. Is it a cultural thing going on over there? What is this all about?

VERJEE: It's a cultural thing, but it's also something that he has seen as a real source of pride. His father came from western Kenya, from a small village called Kogelo, which is near the main town of Kisumu in western Kenya. Kenya used to be a British colony. And all it more, it underscores the significance of his being here in this particular place and in this particular moment.

Looking ahead, though, Wolf, you know, I think that the president is going to be looking at where the opportunity is here, how to capitalize on the Arab spring and the killing of bin Laden and make sure that the U.S. is on the same page as the rest of the Europeans.

Also militarily, the U.S. is stretched. President is going into going into an election year, and the U.S. may want to rely a little more heavily on the UK, as well as France, like we're seeing in Libya, to kind of take a front line seat on security measures.

Take a look at these live pictures, though. We want to show you. He's really working the room here. He's so popular, not just with the people of this country, but also with the politicians here, the members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords all wanting to have their moment with President Obama.

He'll be heading also -- one of the countries will be Poland and hope he can make it there because of the ash cloud heading that way the last time I checked.

Richard Quest, what were your thoughts?

QUEST: On -- you're being way too polite, Zain. The fact of the matter is he got one round of applause because of the stiff upper lip. It was the opposite of Netanyahu before the joint session of Congress where there was nothing but 26 outbreaks of applause. They don't do that sort of thing when you address the joint session of houses of parliament. In fact, I was even surprise head even got that round of applause.

This is tonight's evening newspaper in London, "United we Stand" is the evening's standard. That's President Obama at today's cabinet with the prime minister and that is the message both men will be very pleased to get out. Because the core quote, Wolf, I come back to it again and again, guys. The core quote they said, "From the beaches of Normandy to the Balkans to Benghazi, someone has to lead, who will take our place?"

That, as they go to the G-8 is what this is really all about. Whether it's the leadership of the IMF, whether Afghanistan or Libya, they are saying clearly that this transatlantic alliance still has life in it to lead the others.

MALVEAUX: Candy, I want to bring in Candy Crowley very quickly here.

Candy, what do you make of that? Richard Quest saying the stiff upper lip, if you will, from the Brits, (INAUDIBLE) needs to schmooze or win over perhaps?

CANDY CROWLEY; He's far more qualified than I am to talk about the Brits and their stuff upper lip. But, let me say, let me just bounce off of that and just say, yes, it's true that the message today was we're still a superpower. This alliance still leads the world. We are still relevant.

What's interesting is, now he goes to France with the G-8, where he has to say, OK, we're going to need some help here stabilizing these, what we hope will be democracies in Egypt and Tunisia. The president in his speech that he gave at the State Department said we need to give money and he announced $1 billion, I think, for Egypt. Well, Egypt was $30 billion in debt, and that's even before you begin to kind of put together institutions.

So, while saying we're still relevant, we lead the world, he's got to go and ask these countries at the G-8, you guys have to step up to the plate here economically and help stabilize these economies because they can disappear as quickly as they appeared. MALVEAUX: I think, too, Candy, one of the other points is obviously the president after his European trip, he's going to have to really try to bring comfort to people here who have been suffering from the tornados, but also try to convince them that the money's worth it here. You're talking about lots of money going to Tunisia and Egypt that he says is important to keep stability in the region. But there are a lot of folks here who are suffering, looking for jobs and wondering what are we getting out of this?

CROWLEY: Well, sure. And that's why you're going to see the president emphasize, as Gloria and Wolf were talking about, the jobs and the need for the U.S. to sell its products overseas.

So it's always a delicate balance when a president goes overseas, particularly when a country is hurting. And then you go to a background like Joplin, Missouri, that has had these horrific tornadoes and he's going to go there Sunday just off this trip. And they need, obviously, a lot of help to rebuild, too. And what the president has to say is, we have to do both, how this is a global economy, we can't ignore the world but we need to take care of our own needs. So he's going to balance those out.

BLITZER: I guess I just want to make one point, Gloria. I suspect you'll agree. We did see, if you contracted -- Richard Quest made a good point -- the Netanyahu speech before a joint meeting of the U.S. House and Senate yesterday, interrupted almost 30 times, not only with applause but standing ovations and wild outbursts of enthusiasm. Then -- that was yesterday. And then the president of the United States addressing a joint session of House of Lords and House of Commons in London.

BORGER: And we're used to such raucous sessions in the House of Commons that I kind of assumed that they would greet the president that way and laugh a little more or applaud a little more. But I think there's a certain amount of decorum in this setting that had people sitting on their hands a bit.

Also, I think, since the president was quite honestly talking about this relationship and how this relationship leads the world, maybe there was a sense that they would have been applauding themselves and that that that might not really be an appropriate thing to do.

MALVEAUX: All right. Well, we are looking at live pictures. President Obama waving as he exits from the Westminster Hall, having addressed the British parliament. I'd like to thank you for joining us, this special coverage, as well as our colleagues, of course, Wolf Blitzer, Candy Crowley, Richard Quest, Zain Verjee, as well as Gloria Borger.

CNN NEWSROOM is continuing after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Live from Studio 7, I'm Suzanne Malveaux. I want to get you up to speed. Once again, Americans are counting the dead and sizing up the damage from a tornado outbreak.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An extremely large tornado here by Canton, Oklahoma. Very large.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Tornadoes rip across Oklahoma, Kansas and Arkansas, killing at least 15 people. Ten of the deaths and the worst of the destruction happened in the Oklahoma City suburbs.

Oklahoma City affiliate KFOR caught a tornado snapping utility poles. Just watch and listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- out of there and safe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The motion is tremendous. David Payne, are you still with us?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. It's another killer tornado. It might have moved across Highway 81 is where it intensified. And it almost got us. It intensified right on top of us. It's amazing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And watch a tornado smash a big rig into thousands of little pieces.

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MALVEAUX: Unbelievable. These pictures captured along Interstate 40 near Oklahoma City. Remarkably, that truck driver survived.

A large tornado has killed three people in Arkansas, and that number likely to rise today. The storm leveled the town of Denning.

Early this morning, and a statement from the National Weather Service read, "Denning has been destroyed." These pictures bear that out to the Ozark Mountain community, home to around 300 people.

The National Weather now says the tornado that just hit Joplin, Missouri, was an F-5. That is the largest on the tornado scale, of winds of up to 200 miles an hour. Our CNN's Anderson Cooper, he was live from Joplin last night when the tornado sirens sounded again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "A.C. 360": The sirens actually are going off again here today. There's been concern all day about approaching storms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: The sirens sent shell-shocked Joplin residents running to community shelters. The prospect of new tornadoes brought fear to their faces, as you can see. I mean, it's just unbelievable. No tornado ever touched down in Joplin last night, but clearly, a lot of concern. The death toll in Joplin rose to 125 this morning. And 1,500 people have not even been found or located.

Rescuers are going back over chunks of debris for a second or even a third time today, hoping to find somebody alive. So far, fewer than two dozen survives have been found.

Elizabeth Smart plans to speak in court today when a Utah judge sentences the man who kidnapped and raped her in 2002. Prosecutors want Brian David Mitchell to go to prison for the rest of his life. The defense will argue he should be confined to a mental facility.

Bombshells dropped during opening statements at the Casey Anthony murder trial in Orlando. Her defense attorney says that Anthony's 2- year-old daughter Caylee drown in a backyard pool. And Casey Anthony's father covered up the incident. The attorney also claims that Casey Anthony was sexually abused by her father and brother.

Well, the criminal investigation into former presidential candidate John Edwards may be about to come to a head, rather. A source with knowledge of the case tells CNN that prosecutors are moving ahead to indict Edwards if he doesn't take a plea deal, rather. A grand jury has been looking at whether Edwards used campaign money to cover up an extramarital affair.

After 25 years of counsel to a generation of viewers, Oprah Winfrey, she's now saying good-bye. Fans crowded outside Harpo Studios in Chicago Tuesday for a final taping. The show aired for the last time in Chicago this morning and can be seen across stations across the country later today.

But we're not going to spoil you because Oprah says leaving the show isn't bittersweet. It's all sweet. No bitter.

Well, it was just another Sunday as people came in to get a frozen yogurt at the new shop in town.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No one took it seriously. We didn't think it was a natural tornado. We just thought heavy winds.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: That all changed. What happened after they all ran for their lives.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Out of the tornado destruction in Joplin, Missouri, we have been hearing incredible stories of survival. Jeanne Meserve tells us about employees and customers in a yogurt shop who saved themselves at the very last moment and it was caught on video.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just nine days after opening, Joplin's new Cherry Berry yogurt shop was r reduced to this. Surveillance tape shows a normal Sunday. When sirens went off, they were ignored.

JOLYNN DOTSON, OWNER, CHERRY BERRY: No one really took it seriously. We didn't think it was natural tornado. We just thought heavy winds.

MESERVE: But when employees and customers looked outside and saw the tornado bearing down, they were hustled to the back of the store.

DOTSON: That's when it was like you in the office, you in the bathroom.

MESERVE: The surveillance tape shows the windows shattering, the furniture flying, then camera after camera goes black.

When the group emerged after the tornado, they found the store and city all around it chewed up and spit out. They were all safe, they thought. But when the owner's viewed the surveillance tape for the first time Monday, they saw a hand reaching to pull a table into place, and realized a family tried to protect itself in the shop.

The police were called to do a second search of the rubble. They found nothing.

Eyewitnesses then recalled they had seen the family after the tornado, safe.

DOTSON: I don't know who they are. I would love to hug their necks and just praise God that they made it, too.

MESERVE: Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Joplin, Missouri.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: The tornado danger is not over.

Our own Bonnie Schneider is tracking the threat of more severe weather that is happening today.

Bonnie, what can you tell us?

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, Suzanne, it's going to be another volatile day across the country. We have three tornado watch boxes in place right now. I'll show you where they are. And one of them just recently issued and it does include parts of western Missouri. Now, Joplin's not in this, but parts of Springfield and certainly areas further to the east as well. You could see St. Louis getting some strong storms. But other watch boxes are in place, not including Chicago, although Chicago is getting some stormy weather. Some heavy downpours rolled through the city earlier. But notice Fort Wayne just getting pounding with severe thunderstorms. There is a severe thunderstorm warning in place right now.

Most of these advisories will go until 6:00 tonight local time, with the exception of the one right in the center over parts of Illinois. That one will expire around 1:00 local time, but don't be surprised if it expands because what we are looking at are a series of thunderstorms kind of rolling through the region and some of the most intense ones just came through the city of Chicago.

In fact, I want to show you that we're looking at some very wet roads across Michigan Avenue. You can see the roads are a little wet out there. We've had some very lengthy airport delays up to two hours or more in the Chicagoland area.

Now, all this is part of an area that we're watching for severe weather throughout the day, with the most intense highest risk for tornados and strong winds right here -- through parts of southwest Missouri, southern Illinois, western Kentucky and west Tennessee. So, Memphis is in that area for high risk today. And high risk means that we could see the likelihood of tornados, strong winds and very damaging hail break out right in this region.

Here is this stubborn area of low pressure that's slowly working its way to the Northeast. Because it's slowly going to be sitting there for today, we will see a series of areas of low pressure kind of rotating about, bringing about some strong winds and damaging storms as we go out for the day today.

Now, just to show you where the storms are at this time, you can see that not only are they affecting Chicago, certainly into Michigan and Indiana, but as we open up the picture wide, you can actually see the rotation as some heavy downpours will work their way across parts of Nebraska, on into Kansas. And notice the cells right here just to the north of Wichita. We're also seeing areas further off towards Michigan, as I mentioned.

So, this is impacting a lot of travel for today. It's going to be a problem. You can see the delays now, two hours and 40 minutes at Chicago's O'Hare Airport. So, this is some lengthy delays even though the storms have subsided. The clouds are still lingering and we're going to have poor visibility throughout the day there. Also, some delays in Midway and in San Francisco.

So, Suzanne, it's a volatile day, and with this area of high risk in place right here, and moderate risk all around it, it's going to be a volatile one in terms of the threat for more large tornados later on.

And one thing to note is that later this hour, we're going to get an update from the Storm Prediction Center. They're likely to expand this area of high risk and Chad Myers will be up in the next hour to tell you about that.

MALVEAUX: OK. Thank you, Bonnie.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

MALVEAUX: It's hard to believe but tornado warnings at some point were banned in the United States. Our Carl Azuz has the details of that story, ahead.

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