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Connect the World
President Obama Gets Last Vote Needed To Block Rejections of Iran Deal; U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry Speaks About the Iran Nuclear Deal. Aired 11:00a-12:00P ET
Aired September 02, 2015 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:25] LYNDA KINKDADE, HOST: At Europe's door, thousands are seeking refuge, but facing serious roadblocks along the way. We'll have
reports from Hungary where anger and frustration are building among migrants, and Germany where many hope to start over.
Also ahead, a major victory for U.S. President Barack Obama. Minutes ago, he got the senate support needed to keep congress from stopping the
Iran nuclear deal.
Still, the president's top diplomat is about to make one more pitch to win over skeptics both at home and abroad. We'll hear what Secretary of
State John Kerry has to say.
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is Connect the World.
KINKADE: Hello, and welcome to a special edition of Connect the World. I'm Lynda Kinkade at the CNN Center live in Atlanta.
This hour, we are expecting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to speak about the world power's nuclear agreement with Iran. These are live
pictures from the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia where Kerry will make those remarks. We'll bring that to you live when it happens.
And as we mentioned, that speech follows a huge victory for U.S. President Barack Obama. Democratic Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland
says she will support the Iran deal. Here's why that matters, the majorities of both the Republican controlled House and Senate are expected
to vote against the agreement, setting up President Obama to veto that move.
With Mikulski's support, the White House has at least 34 Senators on its side, the number required by the constitution to sustain the
president's veto.
Now, Secretary of State John Kerry is about to give that speech on the deal in Philadelphia right now. Let's listen in.
(JOHN KERRY IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL PRESS CONFERENCE)
KINKADE: You were just listening to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry there. The speech billed as a major policy speech on the Iran
nuclear deal. He set out what he called the myths -- to dispel what he called the myths about this bill. He said without this agreement, Iran
will have several pathways to a bomb, but he said with this agreement they will have none.
He added that key elements of this agreement will not last 10 to 15 years or even 25 years, but the lifetime of Iran's program.
To the critics, he said Nobel winning scientists had congratulated President Obama on a scientifically sound agreement. Secretary Kerry went
on to say that sanctions alone were not getting the job done, not even close.
Now in regards to Iran's hardliners, he said those who want the deal to fall apart are the most hard-line extremists in Iran, and their
opposition should tell you all you need to know.
He again reiterated that this deal is not based on trust, saying critics tell you can't trust Iran. Well, guess what, there's not one
single word, one single sentence, one single paragraph about trust.
Now, for more on this, we're going to bring in emerging markets editor John Defterios to talk through all of this. Now John, in terms of lifting
sanctions, John Kerry also addressed that. Now a lot of analysts have said that when sanctions are lifted, Iran stands somewhere in the realm of $100
billion to $150 billion. Secretary Kerry said it's closer to $50 billion in six to 12 months after the sanctions start to be lifted.
What do you make of that? What's your assessment?
[11:55:37] JOHN DEFTERIOS, EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Well, there's two different categories here is what we're talking about Lynda. The $100
billion to $150 billion would be foreign direct investment to be coming in to the country. What Secretary Kerry was talking about are the frozen
assets that are tied up in banks overseas because of the sanctions regime that was introduced in 2008 and even tightened all the way until 2014.
Let's remember that the noose tightened particularly in 2011 to restrict banking regulations and the opportunity for Iran to trade within the global
Swift system. So there is no ability to trade in dollars officially for the Iranian economy.
And, in fact, Secretary Kerry made it very clear there is a tradeoff here to sign on to this 159 page document and to avoid any sort of
violation from Iran, they'd have to have some easing of the sanctions here, that's what the expectation is, in fact, here on the ground in Tehran.
People were looking very carefully at the words of Secretary Kerry this evening here in Iran and trying to push the ball into the goal and having
that final vote from Barbara Mikulski, the Democrat from Maryland, to make President Obama have a veto proof vote within the senate and to push this
thing through.
So, there is a tradeoff here. Their assets were tied up because of the sanctions. And Secretary Kerry, it did acknowledge that there will be
easing of those restrictions to release those funds. $50 billion to $55 billion, but with guarantees they don't go outside of Iran to fuel some of
the concerns that allies in the region, particularly Israel and those in the Gulf states have.
KINKADE: OK. John Defterios, emerging markets editor, thank you very much for your analysis. And as we mentioned, Secretary John Kerry there
trying to push and sell this deal, this Iran nuclear deal to the American people.
Now, the American lawmakers here are expected to vote on that deal in the coming weeks. And the president now has all senators needed, 34
senators needed to get his veto through on that.
I'm Lynda Kinkade, that was Connect the World. Thanks for watching.
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