feminists in some cases, but it is also pushed ahead by the obama investors in. >> watch afterwards sunday night at 9:00 p.m. eastern on brooke tv. president trump is in saudi arabia this weekend with mrs. trump and senior white house officials, among them secretary of state rex tillerson. he held a joint news conference with his saudi carpark to discuss bilateral relations. talked about the recent presidential election in iran. this is 30 minutes. >> good evening, everyone. ready? i would like to welcome everyone to the kingdom

of saudi arabia. honor toeasure and welcome might collect and friend, rex tillerson, on his first trip to saudi arabia. while this may be your first visit as secretary of state, you have been here many times over many years. you know our country and region extremely well and i believe that your country is fortunate to have you as secretary of state during this. period. we feel fortunate to have you at the helm of the state department. today was an historic day and we theeve at the beginning of turning point of the relationship between the united states and the arab and islamic world. president donald strategiced a joint declaration that sets the stage building of a truly

strategic relationship between our two countries. our relationship will default into an even more strategic partnership. it will deal with ways to cooperate in terms of violent extremism, financing of terrorism, terrorism, increasing defense capabilities, working on a defense architecture for the region, initially between our two countries, and then looking at how other countries can join. will also include working on all fields in order to enhance our common interests and deal with the challenges that face both of our countries. this is unprecedented. we haven't had an agreement signed by the king of saudi arabia and the president and what we want to take it moving forward. this was a great accompaniment and mr. secretary, take you for

your efforts in this regard. to the signing of this strategic vision declaration, the two countries signed a series of agreements, both commercial as well as government to government, that involves trade investment, infrastructure, that involves technology, that involves defense sales come a that involves saudi investments in american infrastructure, as well as american investments in the kingdom of saudi arabia, whether in defense many factory capability or other areas. we talk values in those investments in excess of $300 billion. every college have briefed the media about this excessively. we expect these investments will provide hundreds of thousands of jobs in both the united states and saudi arabia. they will lead to a transfer of technology and enhance our

economy, and also enhance our american investments in saudi arabia, already the largest investments of anyone. -- the king and president trump had a conversation, discussing the challenges facing the region. they talk about the bilateral relationship. they discussed that scorch of terrorism, extremism, and how we can work together to eradicate it. they discussed the nefarious activities of iran and the fact that action has to be taken to ensure iran does not continue with its excessive policies in the region. that iran sees its support with terrorism and adheres to the un security council's resolution in

regards to ballistic missiles. and they see their human rights violations. and its interference in the affairs of the country in the region. they discussed the situation and the importance of looking for peace between israelis and palestinians. they express the kingdom's optimism that president trump come with a new approach and determination, can bring a conclusion to this long conflict . he certainly has the vision and we believe he has the strength and decisiveness and the kingdom of the saudi's prepared to stand with the united states to bring about peace between israelis and palestinians. they also discussed the situation of yemen and investment. they had a great lunch conversation, it actually began before the meeting. , as i mentioned, is

truly historic. we are honored that president trump chose to come to the kingdom of saudi arabia on his first visit and we look forward to mark to hosting the gcc summit in saudi arabia and the american summit, which is historic and unprecedented. into a partnership and begins to onege the conversation from of entity to one of partnership. the president is to be commended for his foresight and vision in taking this very bold and very historic step, which has the potential to change our world. if we can change the conversation in the islamic world from entity to partnership in the u.s., and if we can change the conversation in the entity toest from partnership in the islamic world, then we will have truly the world-- drowned

of extremism. i cannot overstate the importance of such a gathering and i believe, after this visit, the president will go to israel and will go to the vatican, where he will essentially address the jewish world and the christian world and try to bring together the three major monotheistic religions in the world. we will move toward a discussion of a partnership of civilization. i want to stop here and thank my friend, rex tillerson, for indulging me for taking up so much time. will come to the kingdom of saudi arabia. think your efforts and congratulations on an extremely productive, historic visit. >> thank you and thank all of you for being here this evening. i want to thank my longtime thend and colleague,

foreign minister. we have known each other for many years, when our facial features were much younger. we remember those days. we have remained friends for all these many years and now colleagues. the foreign minister. we really are proud to be here today with him today to talk about this new strengthening of the u.s.-saudi partnership. as he just described, today truly is a historic moment in u.s.-saudi relations. from the states and the kingdom of saudi arabia are really dedicating themselves to a new strategic partnership for the toy first century. we are charting a new cut for a peaceful middle east for economic develop an trade, diplomacy, hallmarks of the regional mobile engagement, something we will be working closely together on. this growing partnership is really grounded in trust. trust between our two nations that we are pursuing the same objectives .

cooperation and share interest. this declaration that were signed today, the joint strategic vision, there were many elements and there is a lot of work to implement those elements and put them into motion. that is going to require significant ongoing engagement and dialogue between our two nations. i think you will find that we will be meeting with a great deal of regularity in order to review how these things are progressing and that is only going to serve to further strengthen our cooperation. also i think, it sends a strong message to our common enemies. it strengthens the bond between us and charts this new pathway forward and will guide our path forward. at the core of our expanding relationship, really are our shared security interests. america's security at home is strengthened when saudi arabia's strength is strong as well. united states and the kingdom of saudi arabia are embarking on a

number of new initiatives to counter violent extremist messages. as you just heard from describe. pursuingso going to be disruptions to financing terrorism and defense cooperation. today the united states and saudi arabia are conducting new expenses from over seven decades. one of the real hallmarks of today is the economic cooperation. economicve strong engagements between two countries, that's foundational to a strong security relationship as well. as you heard the former -- the foreign minister mentioned, we have let up to $350 billion of historic direct investment. that is in arms sales to bolster the security of

our saudi partners. these are going to result in literally hundreds of thousands of american jobs, created by these direct investments. and purchases of american goods, american equipment, american technology, but also investment into the kingdom of saudi arabia as well. that thistant to note is an indication of the confidence that the kingdom of saudi arabia has in the united states investment climate. as they evaluate the future investment climate in the united states, what they are seeing already is a positive impacts of president trump's actions to improve the business climate in the u.s. and investment in job creation and they intend to be part of that with these investments. similar to this is a great book of confidence in the united states in business environment in the kingdom of saudi arabia as they continue to advance in their own reforms and seek opportunities for their own

people to create jobs as well. strong economic relationships are the strong foundations for security relationships, as well. the intended sales of the defense packages in particular fall into five wrought categories. border security, counterterrorism, maritime and coastal security, air force modernization, air and missile defense, sever security, and communications upgrade. and i think you can surely identify in all of these areas have to national security as well. obviously along with this will go a long -- a lot of training and support. it strengthens our relationship. the package of the fence agreement and services supports the long-term security of saudi arabia and the entire gulf region, in particular in the face of maligned iranian influence and iranian related threats. which exist on saudi arabia's

borders on all sides. additionally, it bolsters the kingdoms ability to provide for its own security and contribute in two counterterrorism operations across the region. an important part of this is this huge arms sales package reduces the burden on theproviding the same agreement to our own notary forces and will strengthen saudi's security forces for the future so saudi arabia is more capable of carrying a greater share of the burden of their own security which, as i indicated, is important to the u.s. national security as well. it lowers the demand on our own military, also lowering the cost on the american people for providing security in this region. extremely important to the future of the relationship, but also to the cost of providing security to american citizens in this region. -- it doesmit demonstrate the commitment our partnership to saudi arabia,

hundreds of thousands of new jobs. the other important announcement, which he just mentioned, which is the new counterterrorism initiative, the new global center for combating extremist ideology, which will be open here. hub forbe a saudi-led defeating extremism in the information space. as you heard us say often, we have to defeat isis on the battlefield, but we really have to defeat isis in the cyberspace. this is their recruiting tool. this is how they message the lone wolf surround the world. we will concentrate heavily on how to enter that space from a standpoint of experts to live in this part of the world and understand how to message to those who might be influenced by radical messaging. gulfartners in the cooperation council, including saudi arabia, will be signing a new agreement tomorrow to close gaps in many of these areas,

including the financial infrastructure, which terrorists can exploit, and we condemned terroristonducting activities in the country. we are asking to crack down on the way we influence terrorist organization. all these new initiatives will bolster our efforts to iran and syria, iran in yemen, and in saudi arabia is borders, as i mentioned. steps forward will serve the national security interests of the american people . we are very proud of this relationship that we are embarking upon with the kingdom and we are appreciative of his inal highness, king solomon, putting together these relationships. thank you. >> we have time for just a few questions.

[inaudible] >> you just said earlier in your briefing that saudi arabia shares some objective. having said that, are there any crucial and solid action that will be announced that will be taken toward iran in expanding in the region? >> mostly quart needing our efforts in how to counter iran's extremism and export extremism in particular. it's support for foreign fighters, its payment for foreign fighters, it's payment for militia. they are operating not just in yemen, but in iraq in syria. we are quart needing carefully around how we view the nuclear

agreement. the jcp oa will be used to contain iran's nuclear aspirations. between ourselves and saudi arabia, but as you are well aware, we have a group of like-minded that is focused on yemen and coalition focused on syria. the leadership really starts here in the kingdom with the strong leadership of his royal highness as well as the crown prince, debbie crown prince, and certainly the foreign minister. they have an wonderful and very strong conveners of others who are like-minded in terms of this fight against the terrorism. but specific the role in supporting extremist organizations. >> mr. secretary, i have a question for you. secretary tillerson, two questions. will you ever pick up the phone and call iran's foreign

minister? had he ruled out diplomacy with iran? secondly on weaponsow will nuclear hastened the end of that war? and to the foreign mr., can i get your reaction to the elections in iran? [inaudible] in terms of whether i would ever pick the phone up, i have never shut up the phone to anyone that wants to talk or have a productive conversation. at this point, i have no plans to call my counterpart in iran, although in all likelihood, we will talk. at the right time. in terms of the situation in yemen, our emphasis is on finding a political solution. we have yet as a tragic situation obviously, millions of

people on the brink of starvation. because of the impact of the fighting. but we also think it's >> millions of people on the brink of starvation because of the impact of the fighting. we also think it is important to put the pressure on parties to come to the table and talk. we have efforts underway on both fronts. yemen, the rebels in those who have taken over the government have to know that they cannot sustain this fight. they have to know that they will never prevail militarily. they are only going to feel that when they feel the resistance militarily. it's important we keep the pressure on them. many will help them be much more precise with many of their

strikes. it's important that pressure became don the rebels in yemen. we are actively engaged with others in the region to see if we can not advance by which we can bring this to a halt politically. work ahead ofof us. >> with regard to the reelection of rouhani, who they choose for their president is their business. we judgeperspective iran by its actions, not by its words. the iranians have said some things and done something else. they want to have better relations with us, then they attack. they planned terror cells in my country, and countries allied to us. they want to destabilize countries like hezbollah and

others in syria. they intervene and middle in the affairs of others. they support terrorism. they created the world's foremost terrorist organization. they provide comfort and support for al qaeda with many of the al qaeda leaders living there for more than 15 years. thathave a relationship destabilizes afghanistan. does all of these things, when they execute ,errorist attacks in my country the iranian military. the heads of the plot have been living in iran ever since. is not the behavior of a country that wants others to keep it with respect.

if iran was to be a normal country and wants others to treat it like a normal country, it has to act in accord with valuestional law and the of the international system that have existed for centuries. we welcome and i ran that lives in peace with its neighbors. we welcome an iran that doesn't interfere with the affairs of other nations. when you come back to your question of what do we think about the election of rouhani, we want to see deeds, not words. we will continue to face our policy based on iran's deeds. the perception is we are , or thatfor a reason

we have no objective goals. the perception was this was an aggressive war. it was not. saudi arabia and the gcc work to come up with the initiative which created the transition. yemen was in a transitional. which includes elements of all walks of life and all regions of yemen. different religious sex. they came up with a blueprint for what it should look like going forward. they were going to codify that in straight constitution. then they staged their coup. they seized the government. isy took total control that important to the security of the region. militiahave a radical

in possession of the listed missiles and an air force that has taken over a friendly government that asked for support. we intervened. there is no military solution. the solution is political. they have to implement the outcomes of the national dialogue in yemen. in a country of 28 million, it is unacceptable that they would be allowed to seize power and get away with it. we have been fighting to restore the legitimate government of yemen which is in control of 80% of the territory. we have made mistakes and acknowledged those. we have been charged with things that we didn't do. we were supposed to have bombed the city which has never taken place.

these charges were leveled at the coalition and they were not correct. that we werevail waging an aggressive war against the country. they started this. it was they who lost 40 ballistic missiles and our countries, towns and cities. it is they who have made 70 agreements, more than 70, and reneged on every single one of them. saudi arabia has been by far the largest provider of systems and yemen. they steal the eight and they sell it to fund their war machine.

they will not allow him in a supplies to get in. that is what people are starving. the starvation is because they sell ships coming in and to fund their warm a sheen. are in the booth the capital. the kingdom that built and has been operating ever since in order to help. this hospital has been operating through the hostilities. we have no entity against any enemy. towill not fall prey hezbollah. we know what that ends up looking like. the position of the trump administration in

terms of providing support for our efforts diplomatically, logistically and so forth. appreciate and we believe that because of this support we will be able to put enough pressure on them to bring to them to the negotiating table and make an agreement based on the gcc initiative. >> what you elaborate more on what was signed today? the vision that was signed today is, we both mentioned it, truly historic. unprecedented. agreement that

outlines a vision for how we want to elevate and already strategic relationship to an even higher level. we want to intensified the cooperation. technology,s in education, trade, investment. we want to keep a mechanism and the president or however they designate that would be a group that would meet periodically to see how we can implement a log of the visions or the strategies that we have. the expectation is the united states is the largest investor in the kingdom of saudi arabia. is the largest single investor in saudi arabia.

they kingdom of saudi arabia has been a good home for american investments in american companies have been good partners have transferred technology to the kingdom who have provided jobs and also helped small and midsize businesses. gained work and technology and jobs. this is very good. the vision and the economic agreements that were signed, they increased tremendously. toy provide more opportunity benefit from those investments including the technology transfer. i have -- this is an historic

market. >> would you be able to say does the white house know who this person of interest is that is being investigated? to answer both of those and turn it to the foreign minister. i do not have information or knowledge regarding the person of inference -- interest that has been referenced. what we hope, what i would hope is that rouhani has a new term, and he uses that term to begin a

process of dismantling iran's network of terrorism. dismantling the logistics and everything that they provide to these destabilizing forces that exist in this region. that it puts an end to the ballistic testing. he puts an end to freedom of organization. i'm not going to comment on my expectation. but we hope if rouhani wanted to those are the things he could do. >> i agree.

>> thank you very thank you for your time. >> a look at president trump's arrival in saudi arabia with the first lady and senior white house officials, and some highlights from the first day. we begin at the saudi royal court. later they honored president trump with the nation's highest civilian honor. [ceremonial trumpets]

conversation]

, for appreciation president donald trump, the president of the united states of america, his efforts to strengthen the relations between two friendly countries in his quest to enhance security, stability in the region and around the world, the custodian onurs in the highest medal president donald trump of the

united states. [applause]

♪ singing] [drums]

[draums] >> president trump is scheduled to give a major speech in which she will call for unity with u.s. allies in the middle east.

the president visits israel and meets with hope francis in vatican city before heading to nato and g-7 meetings. in his weekly address the president gives us a preview of his first overseas trip. david cicilline of rhode island delivers the democratic response and gives his reaction to the special counsel for the russian investigation. he talks about the democratic agenda. >> my fellow americans. i begin my first trip overseas as president. a trip with historic significance for the american people. i will be visiting with leaders in many countries to strengthen old friendships, and unite the civilized world in a fight against terrorism.