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Interview with Former Secretary of State John Kerry (D-MA); Live Coverage of President Trump and Prime Minister Trudeau. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired December 03, 2019 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00] JOHN KERRY, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: -- so we're bringing these people to the table to change the conversation in our own country.

A lot of people in America think, oh, gosh, you know, that's just about the polar bears, it's about the ice, it doesn't affect me. The fact is that --

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

KERRY: -- the health of Americans is affected, the security of Americans is affected, and jobs. There are millions of new jobs to be created if we begin to make these decisions.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

HARLOW: Secretary Kerry, you have made a point of making this bipartisan, making it not political. You have launched this --

KERRY: I tried.

HARLOW: -- with California Republican, former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. You just wrote an op-ed on it, earlier this month, with Republican and former secretary of defense Chuck Hagel. I wonder, outside of the hours of CNN climate change town halls that we hosted, right? With almost all of the 2020 Democratic contenders, do you believe the Democrats -- your party, running for president right now -- are talking about this enough? Because I'm going to go on a limb and say if you were running, this would be your number one issue.

KERRY: Well, I think it's -- first of all, climate change is not isolated to just climate change. Climate change will affect everything that we do in our nation. There are parts of our nation that are currently threatened. Southern Florida, New Orleans, Louisiana, various placed in America are already seeing profound effects.

We spent $265 billions of taxpayer money to clean up after just three storms, two years ago. So we're already seeing major fiscal impact on the taxpayer dollar, we're seeing opportunities lost to take American businesses abroad because America is not leading in this endeavor.

I think that there are very practical discussions about job creation, about children being hospitalized or not depending on what we do about pollution. And climate change is about pollution.

So there's a new language and a new discussion that needs to take place. Everything we do in our country is going to be affected by climate change. People need to respect that and understand it. It is a crisis already today, and leadership is supposed to be stepping up, not denying it.

And you saw, earlier, you know, the differences between President Macron and our --

SCIUTTO: Yes.

KERRY: -- president.

SCIUTTO: Very clear.

KERRY: It's very difficult to lead the world or to be the leader of the free world when you're bashing the organizations that have been set up for some 70 years or more in order to try to build international cooperation and respect.

SCIUTTO: OK.

KERRY: I think that, you know, Americans understand this, and I think this has to be part of the dialogue going through this next election.

SCIUTTO: Let me ask you this. Given how severe the problem is in your view, your commitment to it, I wonder. If you don't see leadership -- certainly you believe from President Trump or from the Democratic candidates -- would you --

KERRY: No, actually (ph), I didn't say anything about -- I didn't say --

SCIUTTO: -- well, no, I'm saying if you do not -- if you do not see this plan that is credible to make this, you know, the priority it needs to be, would you rule out --

KERRY: No.

SCIUTTO: -- jumping into the race as a candidate?

KERRY: Every Democrat -- Jim, every single Democrat has a plan. And every single Democrat has a plan that would be far more effective than what is happening today. There isn't one Democrat who hasn't put forward plans on climate change.

So I'm not -- I didn't say anything about the Democratic candidates. What I was saying was it has to be much more on the minds of all Americans, which is why we have created this entity. World War Zero is going to reach out, have conversations --

SCIUTTO: Yes.

KERRY: -- initially, we believe, with more than 10 million Americans. We're going to organize, we're going to mobilize, we're going to make sure that this is in fact ultimately a voting issue, something that people take to the polls with them. And I believe it can be determinative in this next election if (ph) we all --

SCIUTTO: I'm just asking you simply --

KERRY: -- do our work.

SCIUTTO: -- if you don't see that leadership -- and crucially, if you don't see a Democratic candidate capable --

KERRY: Well, I do see the leadership.

SCIUTTO: OK.

(CROSSTALK)

SCIUTTO: So you're ruling out jumping into the race yourself?

KERRY: That's correct, that is correct.

SCIUTTO: OK.

HARLOW: OK.

KERRY: I mean (ph) --

SCIUTTO: Point made.

KERRY: -- no discussion about it.

HARLOW: Jim always gets to an answer eventually, Secretary. Let me ask you this about those who are running --

KERRY: Well, I think I gave the answer, but that's all right.

HARLOW: There you go.

SCIUTTO: We'll take it.

HARLOW: We'll take it. Let me ask you this. The newest candidate to jump into the 2020 race on the Democratic side is someone who's put a lot of money and a lot of muscle behind fighting climate change, and that is New York -- former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg. Is he a welcome addition to the race, especially given his focus on climate change?

KERRY: Sure. Look, I'm not going to sit here and say to any candidate, you shouldn't be in the race or you know. I think Mike was obviously a very effective mayor, I think his priorities with respect to climate and other things are the right priorities. I think, you know, it's going to be up to the Democratic primary process to determine how and where he fits in that.

But, look, I don't have an argument -- my problem is --

[10:35:02] HARLOW Secretary Kerry --

KERRY: -- with existing governance. No government in the world --

SCIUTTO: Sir (ph), hate to interrupt --

KERRY: -- is getting this done.

HARLOW: Secretary Kerry, we are so sorry.

SCIUTTO: The president's speaking live now with the --

KERRY: That's all (ph), right (ph), I (ph) get (ph) it (ph).

SCIUTTO: -- Canadian prime minister. We appreciate you taking the time. Great to have you on the program.

HARLOW: Very, very much. Thank you, Secretary.

KERRY: Good to be with you. Thank you very much.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: in support of them, so I wanted to -- just in case anybody had any questions. We haven't been asked to support them financially, which I assume that's what the question was, just to make sure everybody understood it.

[10:35:27]

an honor to be with a friend of mine who just had a great election victory.

Congratulations.

TRUDEAU: Thank you, Donald.

TRUMP: And done a very good job.

And we actually have a very good relationship, good relationship in terms of our countries. We're working on the USMCA. We're trying to get Nancy Pelosi to put it up for a vote. You know, if it gets put up for a vote, it passes. But so far she hasn't decided to do that. It's up to her. It's actually a single individual has the -- the speaker of the House, it's that person's decision and she's the speaker of the House.

And it's a great deal for Mexico and for Canada and for the United States. And it's a lot of jobs for everybody. And it replaces a deal that's really a lousy deal, a bad deal for -- I can tell you, (inaudible) but I would say for the United States, that the deal that we have right now is terrible, NAFTA. Terrible. Been a terrible deal for the United States.

So we look forward to being able to vote on -- take the vote on USMCA. It's been there for a long time. And at some point, perhaps, the president of Mexico -- we have a wonderful man there (inaudible) really has. He's been a wonderful man. They'll get tired, and the prime minister will get tired. He'll say, "Look, let's forget this deal."

And I could understand it if you did.

It's been sitting in Congress now for six or seven months, and it's a great deal for everybody. So hopefully they can get it done, and get it done fast.

And it's one of the few transactions I think where all three countries benefit, really, as a unit against the world, if you looked at it. It really is a unit against the world. And that's the way we looked at it right from the beginning, so we hope that's the case.

Again, congratulations.

We're going to be talking about a number of subjects, including additional trade, so (ph) that, and the military and the military presence.

And it's great being at NATO. We had some real success, I think, and some very successful talks having to do with NATO. As you know, a lot of the countries have stepped up and they're putting in at least $130 billion -- probably -- give (ph) you exact numbers, $131 billion more. And that's great. And they have commitments for $400 billion, so it really has become a force.

And as we've discussed in the past, there's going to be great flexibility shown now with NATO. We can go to other parts of the world, not just one focus. It's a lot of focuses. And we need a lot of focuses. We need a lot of focus.

We'll be looking at other forms of terror, we'll be looking at other countries, we'll be looking at countries that are aggressive and not just one particular part of this world.

So I think NATO's become a very big factor over the last two or three years. You've been involved, I've been involved. And a lot of good things have happened and it's great to have you here. Thank you very much.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Congratulations.

TRUDEAU: Thank you.

It's a real pleasure to be sitting down with President Trump. The relationship between Canada and the United States is incredibly strong. I don't think it's ever been stronger.

Our work together on -- on the USMCA, as we move forward towards ratification, has been really tremendous. It's been -- it's been a great process, working with -- with -- between your team and our team. Working with the Mexicans as well. We know that we're here for NATO, 70th anniversary; extremely important. The American strength in ensuring that people are stepping up in terms of their military investment is certainly something we've recognized in Canada. We're increasing our defense investments by 70 percent over these 10 years, because we know that making sure that everyone is there to step up and deliver is really important.

We have an (inaudible) forward battle group in Latvia. We're leading the command mission in Baghdad. Canadians are a strong part of this alliance, and we'll continue to be.

But this is just a great opportunity for me to sit down with the president and talk about the many issues in which we align, we work together.

(UNTRANSLATED)

TRUMP: That sounded very good.

(LAUGHTER)

Any questions?

QUESTION: Mr. President, climate change is a top priority for the prime minister here, as well as for President Macron earlier. We've not heard you talk about it on this trip. It doesn't appear to be on your agenda.

Are you thinking about that issue, and...

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: I think about it all the time, (inaudible). And honestly, climate change is very important to me. And, you know, I've done many environmental impact statements over my life and I believe in -- I believe very strongly in very, very crystal clear, clean water and clean air. That's a big part of climate change.

I also see what's happening with our oceans, where certain countries are dumping unlimited loads of things in it. They float. They tend to float toward the United States. I see that happening, and nobody's ever seen anything like it, and it's gotten worse.

But no, it's very important to me also. But I want clean air and clean water. That would be number one and number two. Very important.

Yes?

QUESTION: Are -- are you concerned about rising sea levels at all, sir?

TRUMP: You know I'm concerned about everything. But I'm also concerned about nuclear proliferation, which I think is a very important topic, and it's a topic that we're going to discuss today. I'm -- you know, the -- the whole situation with nuclear to me is very, very important, as we've been discussing today at the various meetings that we've had. I think that's something that has to be taken care of, and it has to be dealt with very strongly.

OK?

QUESTION: Mr. President, are you happy with Canadian defense spending as it is right now?

TRUMP: Say it?

QUESTION: Are you happy with Canadian defense spending as it is right now?

TRUMP: Well, they're moving up, and they're moving up substantially. And they're starting to do well economically, and that has something to do with it. And yeah, they're getting up to a level that's getting to be very acceptable. They have been under the 2 percent, obviously, but they're moving up. We discuss it.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Go ahead.

QUESTION: (inaudible), Mr. President.

TRUMP: Excuse me?

QUESTION: Do you plan to discuss Huawei?

TRUMP: We'll discuss that, yes. We'll discuss that. We'll be discussing that, yes.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: What's your message to the prime minister about Huawei and using it in the next-generation software networks in Canada?

TRUMP: Well, we find a security problem with it, and -- you know, and Canada is going to make a decision at some point. But we find -- I -- I just speak for the United States, and we have ability to do a lot of things. We've actually advanced very far on 5G; much further than anyone really knows. Agit Pai (ph) has headed it up, and he's very good. And we have a lot of -- a lot of action going on with respect to 5G.

We're not using Huawei, and we're -- we're really -- some of the -- some of our great companies are getting much involved with 5G right now. But no, we find a tremendous security problem with respect to Huawei.

QUESTION: Mr. President, talk on the nuclear issue, that you talked a little earlier about Russia -- the efforts of Russia and China trying to come to (inaudible) on some sort of agreement on nuclear nonproliferation. That -- your description of those -- those conversations that you had with both leaders doesn't really mesh with they -- what they've said publicly. I was hoping you might be able to elaborate. What was the last time (inaudible)?

TRUMP: It's not what they said publicly?

QUESTION: Yeah. It...

TRUMP: Well, look, we've had -- we've had discussions and we've also had communications. And I can tell you on behalf of both, they'd like to see something done with it.

Now, does that mean they'll agree to do some -- I'm the one that terminated the agreement. And I terminated it because they were not living it up -- up to it. And we don't want to be living up to an agreement and they -- they don't, and so it wasn't fair.

But it was also a very obsolete agreement. You know, it covered things that, frankly, didn't matter anymore.

We are looking at doing a new agreement with Russia, and we're looking at doing a new agreement with China, and maybe the three of us will do it together. And they do want to do it.

I can tell you that with China, we were at a trade meeting and the subject -- I broached the subject, and they were very excited about it. No, they'd like to do it.

We may do it with Russia first and then go to China, or we may do it all together, or it may not happen. I mean, to be honest with you, maybe it won't happen.

But we are spending a lot of money on nuclear, and we have new nuclear and we have tremendous renovations of our older capability. And I have to tell you, I see the kind of damage that we're talking about and the kind of power that we have, and it's a very -- it could be a very sad day if we ever had to use it. It's a very good thing if we could do something to stop making that, fixing that. We'll see what happens.

Now, there are other countries, but in terms of the world, we're number one by far, Russia's number two, and China would be number three. China is not -- China will be, you know, pretty even over a period of four or five years.

But it's a tremendous expense for them and for us -- for everybody. The destructive capability is really unacceptable. So we'll see if we can do something. I think Russia and I think China would like to do it very much.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: (inaudible) Europe spending, you called member countries and the allied countries in the past delinquent for not meeting the 2 percent standard. Where would you put Canada in that, as they're non...

TRUMP: Slightly delinquent, I'd say, Canada. But they'll be OK. I have confidence. Just slightly delinquent, but not a major delinquent.

Some are -- some are way below 1 percent, and that's unacceptable. And then if something happens, we're supposed to protect them, and it's not really fair. And it never has been fair.

And they're paying up. We are talking to Germany tomorrow. And they're -- they're starting to come along. They have to. They have to. Otherwise, if they don't want to, I'll have to do something with respect to trade.

QUESTION: So Canada is OK?

TRUMP: And with trade, I have all the cards. We've built a -- we have built something in the last three years that's been incredible. You've seen it. We're up $21 trillion.

And China's down about $32 trillion. And as you know, for years I've been hearing that it was 2019; in 2019 China's going to become the largest economy. Well, that didn't happen. We're much larger than China now because we've gone up and they've gone down. And they've had their worst year in 56 or 57 years now, by far. They've had the worst year that they've had that they know of.

And -- and we don't want that, frankly. But what they were doing was wrong.

QUESTION: Mr. President...

TRUMP: And I think -- I think they're going to stop it. And they want to -- and they want to make a deal very badly.

Yes?

QUESTION: On that -- on that question, would you commit that -- if there's a country that's delinquent, as you put it, in paying for their defense spending, would you commit, as president of the United States, to defend them if they were attacked?

TRUMP: Well, you know, I'm going to be discussing that today. And it's a very interesting question, isn't it?

And, you know, it also depends on what your definition of delinquent is. For instance, if you have a country that's paying only 1 percent -- and you have some that are paying less than 1 percent, and they shouldn't be. You have some that are paying less than 1 percent and they're wealthy countries, on top of everything.

Now we go to a new year and they don't pay, and now we go to yet another year and they don't pay. Well, now, I ask you, do they have to pay for the back years, OK?

Now -- so why is it that they owe us for this year, but every time a new year comes out, they don't have to pay? It's wrong. It's not right.

So, I mean, you have -- I could say that you could go back 25 years. I won't do that with Canada, of course, but...

(CROSSTALK) TRUMP: But no, but you could go back -- you could go back, you know, right from the beginning, where they were short of whatever goal it was at the time. It's 2 percent now.

Two percent is very low. It should be 4 percent. Two percent is very low. But you have some that are well short of that.

But they were short of it last year and the year before and the year before and the year before, right? So they're short all these years. Well, in theory you don't just say, "That's OK, you don't have to ever pay."

I mean, they really owe all that money from the past. That's the way I look at it. If Germany, as an example, is paying 1 percent and they're supposed to be paying 2 percent, you're talking about billions of dollars. Well, that means that last year and the year before and the year before, all of those years they would owe us money.

QUESTION: What...

TRUMP: You're talking about -- really, you're talking about trillions of dollars. Nobody's ever brought that up. They just keep talking about the present. So if they're short one year and then you go into the new year, they never talk about the year that they didn't pay. But they actually, in theory, owe us that money. It's not fair. It's not fair.

QUESTION: Mr. President...

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: ... in regard to China, when you met the prime minister in June, you talked about being -- trying to help with the two prisoners that are Canadians that are in China.

TRUMP: Yeah.

QUESTION: Have you made any...

TRUMP: Well, I have, and I think we've made progress. And I had mentioned that to President Xi, as you know, because it was a big subject at the time. And I...

QUESTION: It still is.

TRUMP: ... I just hope they're being treated well. But I put in a very, very strong word for those two prisoners.

(CROSSTALK)

(UNKNOWN): There's still more to do.

TRUMP: Now, I haven't spoken to him recently, to be honest with you. I don't think he likes me so much anymore, but that's OK.

QUESTION: Mr. President, Canada does not meet the 2 percent standard. Should it have a plan to meet the 2 percent standard?

TRUMP: Well, we'll put them on a payment plan, you know? We'll put Canada on a payment plan, right?

(LAUGHTER)

I'm sure the prime minister would love that.

What are you at? What is your number?

TRUDEAU: The number we talk about is a 70 percent increase over these past years, including -- and for the coming years, including significant investments in our fighter jets, significant investments in our naval fleets. We are increasing significantly our defense spending from previous governments that cut it.

TRUMP: OK. Where are you now, in terms of your number?

TRUDEAU: We're at 1.35 percent?

(UNKNOWN): Yes, we'll be at 1.4 percent (inaudible).

TRUMP: 1.3?

(UNKNOWN): 1.4.

TRUDEAU: 1.4.

QUESTION: And...

TRUMP: They're getting there. They're getting there. They -- they know it's important to do that. And their economy is doing well. They'll get there quickly, I think. Look, it's to their benefit.

TRUDEAU: And the president knows well as well that Canada has been there for every NATO deployment. We have consistently stepped up, sent our troops into harm's way. We're leading in Iraq, we're leading in NATO -- in Latvia. We continue to step up, like -- like most of our allies.

There are some countries that, even though they might reach the 2 percent, don't step up nearly as much. And I think it's important to look at what is actually being done. And the United States and all NATO allies know that Canada is a solid reliable partner. We'll continue to defend NATO and defend our interests.

TRUMP: And we do have tremendous coordination, with radar, with all of the different things that -- you know, technologically, we have tremendous coordination between Canada and the United States, so. That's good.

Yes?

QUESTION: Mr. President, to turn back to impeachment, you met with Clinton adviser Mark Penn last month. What did you learn from that meeting? And what advice are you getting on impeachment? TRUMP: We are winning so big. We had our biggest fund-raising month ever. We've had -- last quarter was unbelievable. I have my best poll numbers that I've ever had.

The impeachment hoax is going nowhere. The Republican Party has never been so unified as it is right now. I have never seen anything like it.

You know, I used to tell you, I said, "The one thing that -- Republicans are better politicians -- they have better policies, but the Democrats do stick together. The Democrats like open borders, they like sanctuary cities, they like a lot of things that are not good, but they do stick together."

Well, the Republican Party, on this whole impeachment hoax, has been like glue. Because they know it's a hoax, it's a way of hurting the Republican Party. Beyond me, it's a way of trying to hurt the Republican Party, and a lot of great people.

And the -- the people aren't standing for it. And a lot of these Democrats went back over the weekend and over the last week and a half -- you know, they talk about how -- how much of an emergency everything is, and then they go away for two weeks. They went back to their districts, and they are getting hammered in their districts.

I mean, I see what's going on, especially the Trump districts, where I won by a lot. I have districts where I won by a lot. You people know it better than anybody.

And we have a lot of great elections recently. We had the two big victories in North Carolina, I told you before. We had -- in Kentucky, we won everything other than the governorship, and the governor I brought up almost 19 points. He won by just -- he lost by just a few votes. And Louisiana was a long shot; it was less than 1 percent. He came up 12 or 14 points, a lot. We've -- and we won everything else. So we won everything else.

And, by the way, in Mississippi, we won the governorship, very close race. It was tied going in, two days before. I went up, we made a speech, we had a rally and he won by a lot. And we have a wonderful governor in Mississippi. And everybody else won. So then the two (ph) races, but they -- both candidates went up a lot.

We have never had the spirit that we've had. I really believe, I think I can honestly say, I don't think we've ever had the spirit that we have right now in the Republican Party. And the impeachment hoax is what's done it. So that's the way it is...

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: You know what, honestly, I think you people know that better than I do. Please.

QUESTION: Mr. President, the Dow is down more than 400 points right now, in part of -- comments you made earlier in this room about the China trade deal, it's getting past (ph)... (CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: That's OK. Well (ph), it's up -- let me tell you, we took it up, it was about at 16,000 or 15,000, and now it's almost at 30,000. It's going to be at 30,000.

No, I have to tell you, if it's not going to be a good deal, I'm not signing a deal. It's peanuts compared to what -- we have picked up record numbers in our stock markets, so that's OK. I mean, that's the way I feel. I have to make the right deal. I'm not going to make a deal that's not going to be great for our country.

And it can't be an even deal. If it's an even deal, it's no good. Because China -- other presidents and leaders of our country have really let us down because they let China get away with -- get away with something that should have never been allowed to happen. Billions and billions of dollars a year were lost in dealing with China by -- by foolish people or by people that didn't care or by people that didn't know how.

We rebuilt China. And I give China great credit, and I don't even blame China. Because our people should have done what they did. But what they've done is, we've lost $150 billion, then $200 billion, then $400 billion to China. They rebuilt China with the money that they took out of the United States. And that's where they were, and that's where it is.

TRUMP: And now, we're taking in billions of dollars in tariffs. And by the way, they're eating it, you know? Remember, you used to tell me how it'll cost us -- they're eating that money because they don't want to lose their supply chains.

But if it happens, it happens. And that's where it is. They want to make a deal, but I like the deal that we have, and the deal that we have could get even better and I could do it all by myself.

So we'll see what happens. We're at a critical stage. They've called us today, and they've called us yesterday. We're having ongoing discussions, and we'll see what happens.

But if the stock market goes up again -- I don't watch the stock market; I watch jobs. Jobs are what I watch. I watch making the proper deal.

We've been taken advantage of, the United States, by China for so many years at numbers that if you were doing this, you wouldn't have believed it. I came in. I looked at numbers for -- I mean, ever since the founding or the -- China's entrance into the World Trade Organization, the WTO --

(AUDIO GAP)

[10:56:12]

SCIUTTO: We lost audio there from the president --

HARLOW: Yes.

SCIUTTO: -- still speaking, live at the NATO summit. Moment we have it back, we will bring you his audio.

Just some headlines there, I mean, a lot of talk from the president, not very much talk from the Canadian prime minister. The president there, just then, saying that he does not watch the stock market as it -- of course, we've seen him watch the stock market very closely. It's down more than 400 points.

Point being, him saying that he might delay -- well, he's back on audio.

[10:56:40]

TRUMP: -- and then something happens. Now, usually, we look at it as a group. And I think I have to look at it as a group, Phil (ph). So I would look at it as a group, but I think it's very unfair when a country doesn't pay. So most likely, I'd do something with respect to trade. But that's one of the things we'll be discussing today.

I have to look at it as a group. You can't say, "Well, gee, this country sitting right in the middle is delinquent. They're not paid," and something happens to that country. I think it's an unlikely circumstance, but I would do something having to do with trade much more so than what you're suggesting.

QUESTION: Back to impeachment -- back to impeachment (inaudible) is it your belief now that there will be a Senate trial, sir?

TRUMP: I have no idea. I think they're making a mistake if they do that, but that's OK. If they do it, they do it. I think it's a disgrace.

I think the Democrats should be ashamed of themselves. If you look at impeachment, at the word impeachment, here there was nothing wrong, nothing done wrong. It was a perfect conversation with a very nice gentleman, the president of Ukraine. The conversation was perfect. It was two conversations. They were both perfect. They were transcribed. They were both perfect, and this is what you're going to impeach the president of the United States on?

The Republicans have never been stronger, never been more unified. The Democrats have done crazy.

And you know what? They have to be careful, because when the shoe is on the other foot, and someday, hopefully in a very long, distant future, you'll have a Democrat president, you'll have a Republican House, and they'll do the same thing, because somebody picked an orange out of a refrigerator and you don't like it, so let's go and impeach him.

It's no good. That's not the way our country's supposed to be run.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: Mr. President, have you selected a new site for the G-7 summit next year?

TRUMP: We really have, and I think it's been more or less announced. We're going to do it at Camp David, and we'll be doing some very special things at Camp David. It's nearby. It's close. We're going to give very good access to the press. You'll have great access. And we'll have a little bit of a Washington, I think, deliverance. We're going to have -- but it will be at Camp David, which is the place that people like.

QUESTION: Mr. President, do you think, sir, that your decision to leave Syria and leave the Kurds will affect NATO (inaudible)?

TRUMP: No. Not only have we not left the Kurds; we're working with the Kurds. We have a good relationship with the Kurds.

And we've taken the oil. I've taken the oil. You (ph) should have done it in other locations, frankly, where we were. I could name four of them right now. But we've taken the oil, and that oil is what -- what they lived off of, and that was going to be taken away from them. But now our great soldiers are right around the oil, where we've got the oil. But if we didn't have it, they wouldn't be able to survive. The Kurds wouldn't be able to survive.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: Any (inaudible) you've -- you've maintained in -- in a number of these sessions today that you've done nothing wrong in your conduct with Ukraine. Why won't you permit the secretary of state or the acting White House chief of staff to testify (inaudible)?

TRUMP: Well, I would. I'd like them to testify. But these are very unfair hearings, and this gives these unfair witch hunt hearings -- as an example, I just heard today, they get three constitutional lawyers -- it's all nonsense; they're just wasting their time -- and we get one. OK. Now, nobody has to know anything about constitutional law, but they get three and we get one.

[11:00:00]