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President Obama Speaks to Press at G7 Summit; Oscar Pistorius to be Released?; Jack Warner and the FIFA Scandal; Turkish Election Results Examined. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired June 08, 2015 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:05] LYNDA KINKADE, CNN: Hello, and welcome to the International Desk. I'm Lynda Kinkade. First, let's check out what's happening at the
G7 Summit in Germany. That's where we're waiting right now for US President Barack Obama who is about to speak. Mr. Obama came is to the
summit with two major goals in mind. He met on the summit sideline a short time ago with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi to discuss the fight
against ISIS. Mr. Al-Abadi is at the Summit looking for more military assistance. Mr. Obama wants to ease tensions with Iraq after US Defense
Secretary recently suggested Iraqis lack the will to fight. In the meantime, Mr. Obama is also trying to get hesitant European leaders to
extend sanctions against Russia. Again, the president is set to speak at any moment now. We will bring you those comments live as soon he appears.
Now to South Africa where we've got an update on Oscar Pistorius. The former Olympian sprinter could soon get out of prison. A parole board is
set to recommend the blade runner be released in August. The double- amputee was sentenced to five years in prison last year for culpable homicide or unintentional killing of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
Robyn Curnow is following the developments from Johannesburg and joins us now live. Robyn, this timing is not surprising. It is in line with
correctional service recommendations. What can you tell us?
ROBYN CURNOW, CNN: Yes, so one-sixth of his sentence will be served. If, indeed, this does go ahead, there is still room if some higher-ups within
corrections services of Africa's Department of Correctional Services, which oversees the prisons, steps in; however, that doesn't look to be likely at
this point. We also can tell you that Pistorius will be placed under house arrest once he is released, and if, perhaps, the Supreme Court of Appeals
which is due to begin looking at the case right -- the prosecution has asked that the Supreme Court of Appeals look at his case, and, perhaps, it
might even overturn Judge Masipa's original sentence to, obviously, just five years for a culpable homicide. It could actually go into murder if --
he could be found guilty of murder instead of culpable homicide by then, and if this does happen, then he could be headed back to jail, but this, of
course, is occurring at some point in November.
KINKADE: Has there been any reaction yet from Reeva Steenkamp's family?
ROBYN CURNOW: Yes. According to local news, she -- her family was shocked and very disappointed with this news that he could get out in August. They
also presented a -- quite a heartbreaking letter to the parole board. I'll read a little bit of it, so saying that although they have forgiven Mr.
Pistorius for taking the life of their precious daughter, a person found guilty of a crime must be held accountable for their actions, and they
state, 10 months for taking a life is simply not enough. We fear that this will send out the proper message and serve as the deterrent it should.
KINKADE: Okay. So for now, even if he's out in August, his legal battles won't be over. He's still facing that court case in November. Robyn
Curnow, thank you very much for joining us. We appreciate it. Russia and Qatar say they're moving ahead with plans to host the next two World Cups
despite a warning from FIFA's compliance chief. He says both nations could lose the right to host the tournament if there's evidence bribes helped
them secure winning bids. Meanwhile, the BBC reports that documents implicate former FIFA Vice President, Jack Warner, in a multi-million
dollar bribery scandal. Fred Pleitgen is pulling together all these strands at this time and joins us now from London. Fred, the biggest
development is that comment coming from FIFA threatening to pull those forthcoming World Cups you've covered overseas, the Brazil World Cup and
it's that tournament that is getting -- there's a lot of focus on that tournament right now.
FRED PLEITGEN: There's a lot of focus on that one. There's a lot of focus on the World Cup 2010 as well; especially, if you look at the allegations
against Jack Warner. Also, if you look at some of the things that have been pointed out in the Sunday Times, the English newspaper, over this
weekend. Now, as far as Jack Warner is concerned, the BBC has come out and said that it has seen some parts of an account that was controlled by Jack
Warner that seems to very strongly indicate that $10 million that were wired to that account from FIFA, were, in fact, not used for football
development as they should have been in the Caribbean, but, rather, that they were put to personal use. Now, we have to keep in mind that these $10
million were put on that account controlled by Jack Warner by FIFA at the request of South Africa after it won the bid for the World Cup 2010, so,
certainly, there are some people who believe there might be some irregularities there, and then, of course, then you have the Sunday Times
reporting where it put out videos that had FIFA executives on those videos openly stating that there was bribing going on in the run-up to the World
Cup bidding in 2010 between the -- especially, Morocco and South Africa.
[10:05:10] And there was even one official who said that most of those involved in that vote believed that Morocco actually had the most votes to
host that World Cup; however, that in the end it was awarded to South Africa, so there's a lot of things that came out over the weekend, a lot of
new information that's come out about new allegations that certainly seems to be fueling these flames here as far as this FIFA scandal is concerned,
Lynda.
KINKADE: It's not going to go away any time soon. Fred Pleitgen. We appreciate --
PLEITGEN: Yeah.
KINKADE: -- your time today. Thank you very much. And Trinidad and Tobago's justice minister wants Jack Warner to go to New York to face trial
on corruption charges. Robyn Curnow talked about Warner's legal situation earlier with the country's attorney general, Gavin Nicholas. He says
Warner's status as a politician and former FIFA Vice President, will not impact efforts to bring him to justice.
GAVIN NICHOLAS: If Mr. Warner is found to be guilty of these charges, or that there is sufficient evidence for him to be extradited, he should be
extradited. Trinidad and Tobago's justice system is solid, and we are very well respected in terms of our democracy, in terms of our legal system, in
terms of our financial system in Trinidad and Tobago, and there is absolutely no reason to suggest that anyone is above the law and should
(inaudible) to be. Well, it's a big fish for the Americans, and, as you know, he's not the only fish. There are 13 other fish in the sea, and I
suspect they're going through the same procedure as Mr. Warner will be going through. I think it's very, very important to note that there are,
indeed, others involved in this from other parts of the world including the United States of America, including the United Kingdom, including
Switzerland, and just as they would be subject to their legal proceedings, so, too, will Mr. Jack Warner.
KINKADE: Warner has publicly denied all charges against him, but we want to hear from him personally. Here's what happened when Robyn Curnow tried
to track down the former FIFA Vice President in Trinidad and Tobago.
CURNOW: The list of football officials facing corruption charges is extensive, but for international law enforcement, none would be a greater
get than Jack Warner, former FIFA Vice President and the biggest power in sports throughout the Americas for two decades. As claims against the 72-
year-old mount, we went to find him in his island home flying from Atlanta to Miami and all across the Caribbean to this dot on the map, now,
arguably, the eye of the FIFA storm. A quick drive through.....
KINKADE: We're going to break into this story now. President Obama is speaking at the G7 Summit. Let's listen in.
BARACK OBAMA: You know, one of the pleasures of being president is scouting out places that you want to come back to, where you don't have to
spend all your time in a conference room. The setting is breath-taking. Our German friends have been absolutely wonderful, and the success of this
summit is a tribute their outstanding work. G7 represents some of the largest economies in the world, but in our G7 partners, the United States
also embraces some of our strongest allies and closest friends in the world, so even as we work to promote the growth that creates jobs and
opportunity, we're also here to stand up for the fundamental principles that we share as democracies for freedom, for peace, for the right of
nations and peoples to decide their own destiny, for universal human rights and the dignity of every human being, and I'm pleased that here in Krun, we
showed that on the most pressing global challenges, America and our allies stand united. We agree that the best way to sustain the global economic
recovery is by focusing on jobs and growth. That's what I'm focused on in the United States. On Friday we learned that our economy created another
280,000 jobs in May, the strongest month of the year so far, and more than three million new jobs over the past year, nearly the fastest pace in over
a decade. We've now seen five straight years of private sector job growth, 12.6 million new jobs created, the longest streak on record. The
unemployment is near its lowest level in seven years. Wages for American workers continue to rise, and since I took office, the United States has
cut our deficit by two-thirds, so in the global economy, America is a major source of strength.
[10:10:05] At the same time, we recognize that the global economy, while growing, is still not performing at its full potential, and we agreed on a
number of necessary steps. Here in Europe, we support efforts to find a path that enables Greece to carry out key reforms and return to growth
within a strong, stable, and growing Eurozone. I updated my partners on our effort with Congress to fast trade promotion authority so we can move
ahead with TPP in the Asia Pacific region and TTIP here in Europe. Agreements with high standards to protect workers, public safety and the
environment. We continue to make progress toward a strong global climate agreement this year in Paris.
All the G7 countries have now put forward our post-2020 targets for reducing carbon emissions and will continue to urge other significant
emitters to do so as well. We'll continue to meet our climate finance commitments to help developing countries to transition to low-carbon
growth. As we've done in the US, the G7 agreed on the need to integrate climate risks into development assistance and investment programs across
the board, and to increase access to risk insurance to help developing countries respond to and recover from climate-related disasters, and
building on the Power Africa initiative I launched two years ago, the G7 will work to mobilize more financing for clean energy projects in Africa.
With respect to security, the G7 remains strongly united in support for Ukraine. We'll continue to provide economic support and technical
assistance that Ukraine needs as it moves ahead on critical reforms to transform its economy and strengthen its democracy. As we've seen again in
recent days, Russian forces continue to operate in Eastern Ukraine, violating Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Now, this is
now the second year in a row that the G7 has met without Russia, another example of Russia's isolation, and every member of the G7 continues to
maintain sanctions on Russia for its aggression against Ukraine.
Now, it's important to recognize the Russian economy has been seriously weakened. The Ruble and foreign investment are down. Inflation is up.
The Russian Central Bank has lost more than $150 billion in reserves. Russian banks and firms are virtually locked out of the international
markets. Russian energy companies are struggling to import the services and technologies they need for complex energy projects. Russian defense
firms have been cut off from key technologies. Russia is in deep recession, so Russia's actions in Ukraine are hurting Russia and hurting
the Russian people.
Here at the G7, we agreed that even as we will continue to seek a diplomatic solution, sanctions against Russia will remain in place so long
as Russia continues to violate its obligations under the Minsk Agreements. Our European partners reaffirmed that they will maintain sanctions on
Russia until the Minsk agreements are fully implemented, which means extending the EU's existing sectorial sanctions beyond July, and the G7 is
making it clear that if necessary, we stand ready to impose additional significant sanctions against Russia.
Beyond Europe, we discussed the negotiations over Iran's nuclear program, and we remain united heading into the final stages of the talks. Iran has
a historic opportunity to resolve the international community's concerns about its nuclear program, and we agreed that Iran needs to seize that
opportunity. Our discussions with Prime Minister Al-Abadi of Iraq, President Caid Essebsi of Tunisia and President Buhari of Nigeria, were a
chance to address the threats of ISIL and Boko Haram.
The G7 countries, therefore, agreed to work together and with our partners to further coordinate our counter-terrorism efforts. As many of the
world's leading partners in global development joined by leaders of Ethiopia, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, and the African Union, we discussed
how to maximize the impact of our development partnerships. We agreed to continue our landmark initiative to promote food security and nutrition,
part of our effort to lift 500 million people into developing countries out of hunger and malnutrition by 2030. We'll continue to work with our
partners in West Africa to get ebola cases down to zero, and as part of our global health security agenda, I'm pleased that the G7 made a major
commitment to help 60 countries over the next five years achieve specific targets to better prevent, detect, and respond to future outbreaks before
they become epidemics.
And, finally, I want to commend Chancellor Merkel for ensuring that this summit included a focus on expanding educational and economic opportunities
for women and girls.
[10:15:04] The G7 committed to expanding career training for women in our own countries and to increase technical and vocational training in
developing countries which will help all of our nations prosper. So, again, I want to thank Angela and the People of Germany for their
extraordinary hospitality. I leave here confident that when it comes to the key challenges of our time, America and our closest allies stand
shoulder-to-shoulder, so with that, I will take some questions, and I will start off with Jeff Mason of Reuters.
JEFF MASON: Thank you, Mr. President. After your meetings here, you mentioned Greece in your opening statement.
OBAMA: Uh-huh.
MASON: Do you believe that the Europeans are being too tough on Greece in these talks, and what else needs to be done on both sides to ensure there's
a deal and to ensure that there isn't the undue harm to financial markets that you've warned about?
OBAMA: Uh-huh.
MASON: And on a separate and somewhat related topic, the French told reporters today that you said at the -- to G7 leaders, that you're
concerned that the dollar is too strong. What did you say exactly, and are you concerned that the dollar is too strong?
OBAMA: First of all, don't believe unnamed courts. I did not say that, and I make a practice of not commenting on the daily fluctuations of the
dollar or any other currency. With respect to Greece, I think that, not only our G7 partners, but the IMF and other institutions that were
represented here, feel a sense of urgency in finding a path to resolve the situation there, and what it's going to require is Greece being serious
about making some important reforms, not only to satisfy creditors, but more importantly, to create a platform, whereby; the Greek economy can
start growing again and prosper, and so the Greeks are going to have to follow through and make some tough political choices that will be good for
the long-term. I also think it's going to be important for the international community and the international financial agencies to
recognize the extraordinary challenges that Greeks face, and if both sides are showing a sufficient flexibility, then I think we can get this problem
resolved, but it
will require some tough decisions for all involved, and we will continue to consult with all the parties involved to try to encourage that kind of out
come.
MASON: Hoping it will happen before the deadline?
OBAMA: I think that everybody wants to make it happen, and they're working hard to get it done. Nedra.
NEDRA PICKLER: Thank you, Mr. President. How frustrated are you that after you personally raised your concerned about cyber security with the
Chinese President, that a massive attack on US personnel files seems to have originated from China? Was the Chinese Government involved? And,
separately, as a sports fan, can you give us your reaction to the FIFA bribery scandal? Thank you.
OBAMA: With respect to FIFA, I can not comment on a pending case by our attorney general. I will say that in conversations I've had here in
Europe, people think it is very important for FIFA to be able to operate with integrity and transparency and accountability, and so as the
investigation and charges proceed, I think we have to keep in mind that, although, you know, football, soccer, depending on which side of the
Atlantic you live on, is a game. It's a -- also a massive business. It is a source of incredible national pride, and people want to make sure that it
operates with integrity. The United States, by the way, since we keep on getting better and better at each World Cup, you know, we want to make sure
that, you know, a sport that is gaining popularity is conducted in a upright manner. I don't want to discuss -- because we haven't publicly
unveiled who we think may have engaged in these cyber attacks, but I can tell you that we have known for a long time that there are significant
vulnerabilities, and that these vulnerabilities are going to accelerate as time goes by; both in systems within government and within the private
sector.
[10:20:12] This is why it's so important that Congress moves forward on passing cyber legislation, cyber security legislation that we've before
pushing for. Why, you know, over the last several years, I've been standing up new mechanisms inside of government for us to investigate what
happens and to start finding more effective solutions. Part of the problem is, is that we've got very old systems, and, you know, we discovered this
new breach in OPM precisely because we've initiated this process of inventorying and upgrading these old systems to address existing
vulnerabilities, and what we are doing is going agency by agency and figuring out, what can we fix with better practices and better computer
hygiene by personnel. And where do we need new systems and new infrastructure in order to protect information, not just of government
employees or government activities but also, most importantly, where there's an interface between government and the American people? And this
is going to be a big project, and we're going to have to keep on doing it because both state and non-state actors are sending everything they've got
at trying to breach these systems. In some cases, it's non-state actors who are engaging in criminal activity and potential theft. In the case of
state actors, they're probing for intelligence, or, in some cases, trying to bring down systems in pursuit of their various foreign policy
objectives. In either case, we're going to have to be much more aggressive, much more attentive, than we have been, and this problem is not
going to go away. It's going to accelerate, and that means that we have to be as nimble, as aggressive, and as well-resourced as those who are trying
to break into these systems. Justin Sink.
JUSTIN SINK: Thanks, Mr. President. I wanted to ask about two things that were on the agenda at the G7 this weekend, and the first is the Islamic
State. You said yesterday ahead of your meeting with Prime Minister Cameron that you would assess what was working and what wasn't, so I was
wondering, bluntly, what is not working in the fight against the Islamic State? And in today's bilateral, Prime Minister Al-Abadi requests you step
up assistance to Iraq. I'm wondering if that includes additional US military personnel. Separately, on trade, Chancellor Merkel said today
that she was pleased you would get fast-track authority. I'm wondering if that means that you gave her or other leaders here assurance that it would
go through the house, and if it doesn't, what does it say about your ability to achieve meaningful agreements with Congress for the remainder of
your time in office?
OBAMA: Well, on the latter question, I'm not going to hypothesize about not getting it done. I intend to get it done, and, hopefully, we're going
to get a vote soon because I think it's the right thing to do. With respect to ISIL, we have made significant progress in pushing back ISIL
from areas in which they had occupied or disrupted local populations, but we've also seen there is -- like in Ramadi, where they're displaced in one
place, and then they come back in another, and they're nimble, and they're aggressive and they're opportunistic, so one of the areas where we're going
to have to improve is the speed at which we're training Iraqi forces. Where we've trained Iraqi forces directly and equipped them, and we have a
train-and-assist posture, they operate effectively. Where we haven't, morale, lack of equipment, et cetera, may undermine the effectiveness of
Iraqi security forces, so we want to get more Iraqi security forces trained, fresh, well-equipped and focused, and President Al-Abadi wants the
same thing, so we're reviewing a range of plans for how we might do that, essentially, accelerating the number of Iraqi forces that are properly
trained and equipped and have a focused strategy and good leadership, and when a finalized plan is presented to me by the Pentagon, then I will share
it with the American People. It's not -- I -- we don't yet have a complete strategy because it requires commitments on the part of the Iraqis as well
about how recruitment takes place, how that training takes place, and so the details of that are not yet worked out.
[10:25:08] SINK: Is it fair to say that additional military personnel, US military personnel, are part of what's under consideration?
OBAMA: I think what is fair to say is that all the countries in the international coalition are prepared to do more to train Iraqi security
forces if they feel like that additional work is being taken advantage of, and one of the things that we're still seeing is -- in Iraq, places where
we've got more training capacity than we have recruits, so part of my discussion with Prime Minister Al-Abadi was, how do we make sure that we
get more recruits in? A big part of the answer there is our outreach to Sunni tribes. We've seen Sunni tribes who are not only willing and
prepared to fight ISIL, but have been successful at rebuffing ISIL, but it has not been happening as fast as it needs to, and so one of the efforts
that I'm hoping to see out of Prime Minister Al-Abadi and the Iraqi legislature when they're in session is to move forward on a national guard
law that would help to devolve some of the security efforts in places like Anbar to local folks and to get those Sunni tribes involved more rapidly.
This is part of what helped defeat AQI, the precursor of ISIL, during the Iraq War in 2006. Without that kind of local participation, even if you
have a short-term success, it's very hard to hold those areas. The other area where I -- we've got to make a lot more progress is on stemming the
flow of foreign fighters. Now, you'll recall that I hosted a UN General's Security Council meeting specifically on this issue, and we've made some
progress but not enough. We are still seeing thousands of foreign fighters flowing into first Syria, and then, oftentimes, ultimately, into Iraq, and
not all of that is preventable, but a lot of it is preventable if we've got better cooperation, better coordination, better intelligence, if we are
monitoring what's happening at the Turkish/Syria boarder more effectively. This is an area where we've been seeking deeper cooperation with Turkish
authorities who recognize it's a problem, but haven't fully ramped up the capacity they need, and this is something that I think we got to spend a
lot of time on. If we can cut off some of that foreign fighter flow, then we're able to isolate and wear out ISIL forces that are already there
because we're taking a lot of them off the battlefield, but if they're being replenished, then it doesn't solve the problem over the long term.
The final point that I've emphasized to Prime Minister Al-Abadi is the political agenda of inclusion remains as important as the military fight
that's out there. If Sunnis, Kurds, and Shia all feel as if their concerns are being addressed, and that operating within a legitimate political
structure can meet their need for security, prosperity, non-discrimination, then we're going to have a much easier time, and Prime -- the good news is
Prime Minister Al-Abadi is very much committed to that principle, but, obviously, he's inheriting a legacy of a lot of mistrust between various
groups in Iraq. He's having to take a lot of political risks. In some cases, their efforts to undermine those efforts by other political
factions within Iraq, and so we've got to continue to monitor that and support those who are on the right side of the issue there. Kali (ph)
Nelson.
KALI (ph) NELSON: Thank you, Mr. President. You mentioned that the US and its European allies have reached a consensus on extending the sanctions
against Russia.
OBAMA: Uh-huh.
NELSON: Is there a consensus, though, about what specifically the next step should be if Russia continues to violate the Minsk Agreement, and,
also, if -- can you deter Russian aggression in other parts of Eastern Europe without a permanent US troop presence? And, separately, I wanted to
ask you about the possibility that the court battle over your actions on immigration could extend late into your term. Do you think that there's
anything more that you can do for the people who would have benefitted from that program and now are in limbo?
OBAMA: Uh-huh.
[10:30:06] NELSON: And how do you view the possibility of your term ending without accomplishing your goals on immigration?
OBAMA: On Ukraine and Russia and Minsk, there is strong consensus that we need to keep pushing Russia to abide by the terms of the Minsk Agreement.
We need to continue to support and encourage Ukraine to meet its obligations under Minsk, that until that's completed, sanctions remain in
place. There was discussion about additional steps that we might need to take if Russia, working through separatists, doubled down on aggression
inside of Ukraine. We -- those discussions are taking place at a technical level, not yet at a political because I think the first goal here going
into a European Council meeting that's coming up is just rolling over the existing sanctions, but I think at a technical level, we want to be
prepared. Our hope is, is that we don't have to take additional steps because the Minsk Agreement is met, and I want to give enormous credit to
Chancellor Merkel, along with President Rohl (ph), who have shown extraordinary stick-to-itiveness and patience in trying to get that done.
Ultimately, this is going to be an issue for Mr. Putin. He's got to make a decision; does he continue to wreck his country's economy and continue
Russia's isolation in pursuit of a wrong-headed desire to recreate the glories of the Soviet Empire? Or does he recognize that Russia's greatness
does not depend on violating the territorial integrity and sovereignty of other countries? And, you know, the -- as I mentioned earlier -- the costs
that the Russian People are bearing are severe. That's being felt. It may not always be understood why they're suffering because of state media
inside of Russia and propaganda coming out of, you know, state media in Russia and to Russian speakers, but the truth of the matter is, is that the
Russian People would greatly benefit, and, ironically, one of the rationales that Mr. Putin provided for his incursions into Ukraine was to
protect Russian speakers there.
Well, Russian speakers inside of Ukraine are precisely the ones who are bearing the brunt of the fighting. Their economy has collapsed. Their
lives are disordered. Many of them are displaced. Their homes may have been destroyed. They're suffering. And the best way for them to stop
suffering is if the Minsk Agreement is fully implemented.
Christi Pars -- oh, immigration. With respect to immigration, obviously, I'm frustrated by a district court ruling that now is winding its way
through the appeals process. We are being as aggressive as we can legally to, first and foremost, appeal that ruling, and then to implement those
elements of immigration executive actions that were not challenged in court, but, obviously, the centerpiece, one of the key provisions for me
was being able to get folks who are undocumented to go through a background check, criminal background check, pay back taxes and then have a legal
status, and that requires an entire administrative apparatus, and us getting them to apply and come clean. I made a decision, which I think is
the right one, that we should not accept applications until the legal status of this is clarified. I am absolutely convinced this is well within
my legal authority, the Department of Homeland Security's legal authority.
[10:35:01] If you look at the precedent, if you look at the traditional discretion that the executive branch possesses when it comes to applying
immigration laws, I am convinced that what we're doing is lawful and our lawyers are convinced that what we're doing is lawful, but, you know, the
United States is a government of laws and separations of power, and when a -- even if it's an individual district court judge who's making this
determination, we've got to go through the process to challenge it, and until we get clarity there, I don't want to bring people in, have them
apply, and jump through a lot of hoops only to have it deferred and delayed further. Of course, there's one really great way to solve this problem,
and that would be Congress going ahead and acting, which would obviate the need for executive actions. The majority of the American People, I think,
still want to see that happen. I suspect it will be a major topic the next presidential campaign, and so we will continue to push as hard as we can on
all fronts to fix a broken immigration system administratively. We'll be prepared if and when we get the kind of ruling that I think we should have
gotten in the first place about of our authorities to go ahead and implement, but, ultimately, this has never fully replaced the need for
Congress to act, and my hope is, is that after a number of the other issues that we're working on currently get cleared, that there is some quiet
conversations start up -- back up again, particular, in the Republican party, about the shortsighted approach that they're taking when it comes to
immigration. Okay. Christi Parsons.
CHRISTI PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. President. More than six million Americans may soon lose health insurance if the Supreme Court does not fast
the latest challenge to the Affordable Care Act.
OBAMA: Uh-huh.
PARSONS: A growing number of states are looking for assistance as they face the prospect that their residents may lose federal insurance subsidies
and their insurance markets may collapse. Yet, your administration has given very little to no guidance on how states can prepare. What can you
tell state leaders and advocates who worry that healthcare markets in half the country may be thrown into chaos?
OBAMA: What I can tell state leaders is, is that under well-established precedent, there is no reason why the existing exchanges should be
overturned through a court case. It has been well documented that those who passed this legislation never intended for folks who were going through
the federal exchange not to have their citizens get subsidies. That's not just the opinion of me. That's not just the opinion of Democrats. It's
the opinion of the Republicans who worked on the legislation. The record makes it clear, and under well-established statutory interpretation,
approaches that have been repeatedly employed, not just by liberal democratic judges, but by conservative judges like some on the current
Supreme Court, you interpret a statute based on what the intent and meaning and the overall structure the statute provides for, and so this should be
an easy case. Frankly, it probably shouldn't have even been taken up, and, you know, since we're going to get a ruling pretty quick, I think it's
important for us to go ahead and assume that the Supreme Court is going to do what most legal scholars who have looked at this would expect them to
do, but, look, I've said before, and I will repeat again. If, in fact, you have a contorted reading of the statute that says federal-run exchanges
don't provide subsidies for folks who are participating in those exchanges, then that throws off how that exchange operates. It means that millions of
people who are obtaining insurance currently with subsidies suddenly aren't getting those subsidies, many of them can't afford it.
[10:40:08] They pull out, and the assumptions that the insurance companies made when they priced their insurance suddenly gets thrown out the window,
and it would be disruptive, not just, by the way, for folks in the exchanges, but for those insurance markets in most states generally, so
it's a bad idea. It's not something that should be done based on a twisted interpretation of four words in -- as we were reminded repeatedly -- a
couple-thousand-page piece of legislation. What's more, the thing is working. I mean, what -- part of what's bizarre about this whole thing is,
we haven't had a lot of conversation about the horrors of Obamacare because none of them come [sic] to pass. You got 16 million people who's gotten
health insurance. The overwhelming majority of them are satisfied with the health insurance. It hasn't had an adverse effect on people who already
had their health insurance. The only effect it's had on people who already had health insurance is they now have an assurance that they won't be
prevented from getting health insurance if they've got a pre-existing condition, and they've get additional protections with the health insurance
that they do have. The costs have come in substantially lower than even our estimates about how much it would cost. Healthcare inflation overall,
has continued to be at some of the lowest levels in 50 years. None of the predictions about how this wouldn't work have come to pass, and so, I'm --
A -- I'm optimistic that the Supreme Court will, you know, play it straight when it comes to an
interpretation, and, B, I should mention, that if it didn't, Congress could fix this whole thing with a one-sentence provision, so --
PARSONS: You're --
OBAMA: But I'm not going to go into a long speculation anticipating disaster.
PARSONS: But you're a plan-ahead kind of guy. Why not have a plan B?
OBAMA: Well, you know, I want to just make sure that everybody understands that you have a model that it -- where all the pieces connect, and, I mean,
there are a whole bunch of scenarios not just for the -- in relation to healthcare, but all kinds of stuff that I do where if somebody does
something that doesn't make any sense, then it's hard to fix, and then this would be hard to fix. Fortunately, there's no reason to have to do it. It
doesn't need fixing. All right. Thank you very much. Thank you, to the people of Germany and Bavaria. You guys were wonderful hosts.
WOLF BLITZER: All right. So there he is, the President of the United States wrapping up a news conference with an extensive opening statement,
but answering several questions, several reporters asking two or three questions as part of one question. Most of the questions revolving on Iraq
and ISIS, Russia and Putin, healthcare, as you just heard. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. I want to welcome our viewers in the United States
and around the world. Let's get some analysis on what we just heard, Jake Tapper. You're here with me, Jake. Let's talk about Iraq and ISIS. The
president is saying he's still waiting for a plan from the Pentagon on training and arming the Iraqi military to go ahead and fight ISIS.
JAKE TAPPER: That's right. He said that they don't have a complete strategy as of right now, but they're looking for one from the Pentagon
when it comes to getting the Iraqi forces trained more quickly, equipped. They're waiting for information from the Iraqis. Presumably, that's one of
the things that he and Prime Minister Al-Abadi will discuss, so that was one of the works in progress that he discussed. He also, Wolf, talked
about Ukraine, and he held out the threat of further sanctions. He said very specifically that there was a lot of discussion about making sure that
Russia and Ukraine uphold their commitments made in the Minsk Agreements in March, and then he said there was also discussion about additional steps
should Russia double down on the aggression, not just directly by Russians, but by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine, so those were two things where,
clearly, there's a lot of discussion about trying to get prepared for the future. Where he would not engage about preparing for the future was about
whether or not the Supreme Court decides that the state exchanges are contrary to the Obamacare law.
[10:45:03] He said it was a bad idea, not something that should be done based on a twisted interpretation of four words in a several thousand-page
law, but he would not answer Christi Parsons, the reporter from the Chicago Tribune, her questions about what will be the plan B? What's should the
states, the governors, advocates do if, in fact, millions of individuals who have health insurance through Obamacare on these state exchanges are
suddenly no longer allowed to use state exchanges because the Supreme Court Says they're contrary to the law?
BLITZER: And the Supreme Court makes -- supposed to make a decision between now and the end of this month, so in the coming days, we'll hear
from the Supreme Court. Obviously, a very, very important decision from the US Supreme Court. Jim Acosta is traveling with the president. He's
joining us right now. And, well, actually, we don't have Jim Acosta, Jim Sciutto. We do have Jim Sciutto. Jim, what did you hear from the
president as far as Iraq is concerned? Because we clearly heard him giving at least some indirect lecturing to the prime minister, Haider Al-Abadi,
who was there with him in Germany today, yeah, some indirect lecturing. You've got to get your act together. You've got to work not only with
Iraqi Shia, but also the Sunnis and the Kurds.
JIM SCIUTTO: He does. But at the same time, we also heard some acknowledgments, admissions, from the president on where the current
strategy isn't working. He said that -- about ISIS. If they're displaced in one place, they show up in another place, kind of this whack-a-mole
phenomenon that you've seen where you might have had a victory, for instance, in Tikrit, but then a few weeks later, you have ISIS take over
Ramadi. Baiji has been handed back and forth between Iraqi and ISIS forces, and the president acknowledging that the foreign fighter flow
continuing despite a great effort by a number of nations involved. The president is saying that even though, in his words, we're taking a lot of
them out, they're being replenished, and that doesn't solve the problem in the long-term. Those are two fairly significant admissions there, that
they haven't stopped the foreign fighter flow, so all that body count talk that we had last week really irrelevant because even if you kill 10,000 or
13,000 and they're being replenished, what's the actual effect on the battle field? We haven't seen it.
But also in terms of territory, that if you win somewhere, the coalition, they come back somewhere else, and that's a real problem, and as you and
Jake noted, to say -- the president to say, really, the onerous is on Iraqi forces to fight them on the ground, but the US is still figuring out how
it's going to help those Iraqi forces, and, as you note, Wolf, this old issue that's been there for a long time, that, that government in Baghdad
isn't seen as representing the whole country, particularly, the Sunnis. That's an old problem. That's been around for years. If that hasn't been
addressed, it raises real questions about how quickly you're going to be able to change that dynamic on the battlefield no matter how many more
Iraqi forces you train or how many more weapons, anti-tank weapons, et cetera, that you send them there. It's a real problem. It's a real
question about the effectiveness of the current White House strategy.
BLITZER: And there -- as we said, the president did make it clear. He's waiting for a plan from the Pentagon to continue arming and training these
Iraqi military. He says, once they're armed and trained, they'll -- presumably, they'll do a better job fighting ISIS, so we'll see about that.
Jim Acosta is with us now. He's joining us from the scene. Jim, what's stood out from your mind? You've been covering the president now for a
long time. You're there with him on the ground.
JIM ACOSTA: Well, Wolf, as we were saying earlier, this is a G7 Summit without a lot of substance, and, unfortunately, I think the president added
some substance inadvertently, not only with his awkward photo op earlier in the day, but this awkward phraseology of saying we don't have a complete
strategy for training the Iraqi security forces. Of course, he was talking about in a larger context, this plan that he's hoping to receive from the
Pentagon shortly that will expand that training, expand that arming, so they can take the fight to ISIS, but in this day and age, Wolf, when a
fraction of a statement can be pulled out of context, magnified, and Tweeted, the president is going to have a problem on his hands, and he's
going to have a problem on his hands with what he just said at that news conference with respect to the battle against ISIS. Now, at the same time,
you know, you heard the president say during this news conference, really praising Haider Al-Abadi, saying that he is trying to overcome some of
these problems that he inherited from his predecessor who was not uniting the country, who was really waging sort of a one-religion government in
terms of the Shia Muslims in that country, and so that Haider Al-Abadi is trying to pick up the pieces from that, and the president is trying to give
him some time, but, Wolf, when I talked to senior administration officials inside the white house at just about every level, they say time and again,
this president is not going to go against his original mandate and put US combat troops on the ground, and when it comes to turning around this fight
against ISIS, it appears that there really is no other alternative than to do that. You can wait years and years for the Iraqi security forces to be
able to do this fight, but unless there are US combat troops on the ground in massive numbers, it's really hard to see how ISIS is going to be quickly
defeated, and that is why you hear the president on down preparing -- trying to prepare the American People, though they don't say it publicly
very often, that this fight, this war is going to take a very, very long time, Wolf.
[10:50:08] BLITZER: And I just want to be precise. We have to take a quick break, but what the president did say, he said, when a finalized plan
is presented to me by the Pentagon, then I will share it with the American People. It's not -- we don't yet have a complete strategy because it
requires commitments on the part of the Iraqis, and then he went onto explain. Let's take a quick break. We'll have much more right after this.
ROBYN CURNOW: Well, you've been watching CNN's coverage of President Obama's speech at the G7 Summit. I'm Robyn Curnow. I'm coming to you from
Trinidad and Tobago, the unlikely center of much of the focus of that investigation into corruption in world football and all centered around one
man, Jack Warner. We've been following him and the developments here on the ground, and you'll have more of our reports and updates throughout the
day. In the meantime, though, I want to bring you up-to-date on other news that making headlines here at CNN. I want to take you to Sicily now, where
as many as 1200 rescued migrants have just arrived. A British Navy ship picked them up in the Mediterranean over the weekend. British Red Cross
workers are now attending to them. There (inaudible) maybe 6000 people who became stranded while sailing from North Africa to Europe over the past few
days. Several European Navies helped rescue the others. Many of them, of course, are fleeing conflict, poverty in Africa and the Middle East.
Improved weather and calmer seas are causing a new wave of migrants to attempt that dangerous crossing. Well, let's turn to Iraq now where pro-
government forces are just one step closer to retaking the country's largest oil refinery from ISIS. Military officials are telling CNN ISIS
fighters have been pushed out of the City of Baiji. US-led coalition air strikes helped support that operation. ISIS militants left booby traps, we
understand, in the city before fleeing north to Mosul. They're still in control of the Baiji Refinery, but joint Iraqi forces are better positioned
to surround them. Also an update on the status of Jason Rezaian, that Washington Post journalist. Iran's state news agency says the second
session of the trial against him has now ended. The closed-door proceedings began earlier today. Now, if you remember, Rezaian, has been
in custody in Iran since July. The Iranian/America will have another court session, we understand, but no date has been given. Now, some of the
charges against him include cooperating with hostile governments and propaganda against the regime. The US and the Washington Post and many
journalists around the world have been calling for his release. Let's also now go to Turkey, bring you an update on that landmark parliamentary
election that can be summed up in two words, fear and hope. Fear that president Recep Tayyip Erdogan would try to win sweeping new powers,
appears to be -- motivated many voters to go to the polls, but there's hope, too, that the results would shape, reshape, Turkey's future. Well,
as our Arwa Damon now explains, that's just what happened.
ARWA DAMON: 80-year-old Gula (ph) Doldumager (ph) has voted in every election since she turned 18. In her lifetime, she has seen how
unforgiving political, and by default, economic, instability here can be. Everything has its importance, she says. We've been through some eras.
Every passing day has its significance, and this most certainly among them. Not matter what the outcome of this parliamentary election was going to
significantly shape the country's future, and it has. An end to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's single-party rule, his justice and development
party, the AKP, fell short of the needed 276 seats, and will have to, for the first time since they came to power in 2002, form a coalition, or
according to some analysts, even call for early parliamentary elections. Throughout the voting stations we visited, there was a sense of unease.
In some areas, people easily aggravated as we witnessed here at a poling station in one of Istanbul's conservative neighborhoods, where the AKP
enjoys a solid support base. Despite the fact that regulations clearly state that as media, we are allowed into poling stations as long as we're
not impeding on individuals' ability to vote, we were just asked to leave the premises here.
[10:55:01] A sizable argument ended up breaking out after those local authorities in the building were unclear as to whether or not we should be
allowed to film, illustrating just how tense the situation here potentially is.
Contributing to that was the fate of the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party, the HDP, attempting for the first time to enter parliament as a
party and to achieve that having to cross a 10 percent national threshold.
They succeeded and made history.
These results are the triumph of freedom in the face of oppression, and of peace in the face of war, (inaudible) earned that, HDP parliamentarian
declared.
A key factor that drove up the HDP votes was fear of what the AKP would do if it gained enough seats to unilaterally overhaul the constitution and
implement a presidential system that could potentially see Erdogan in power indefinitely.
And the HDP, a traditionally pro-Kurdish party, has grown into a more inclusive entity. No longer alienating Turkey's traditional secularists.
24-year-old Yamur Yanaz does not have Kurdish roots, nor does she view the HDP as being a uniquely Kurdish party. She believes that the HDP will work
to safeguard human and women's rights.
YAMUR YANAZ, HDP SUPPORTER: There is a change going on and that's really exciting for me, for everyone really.
DAMON: But change here is never easy, and rarely smooth.
Arwa Damon, CNN, Istanbul.
CURNOW: I'm Robin Curnow, and I'm reporting from Trinidad and Tobago, a small island nation that seems to have become the center of that FIFA
storm, the corruption scandal engulfing world football. I'll have much more on that story in an hour's time, some of our reports also, about
finding Jack Warner. You'll have all of that in a new edition of the iDesk in an hour.
In the meantime, I'm going to hand you over to Connect the World.
END
