00:00President Putin, it's very nice to see you and I appreciate all of the hospitality that has been afforded me
00:07on my return to St. Petersburg. I love the city and I think you're aware of that. And I've been
00:18coming here for 30 years.
00:22Hooray, I also love St. Petersburg.
00:29Hometown and so do I. And I've said to a number of audiences since I've been here, there is a
00:38great kinship between Atlanta and St. Petersburg.
00:41I have come from a city that sadly was destroyed in war, burned to the ground.
00:51And St. Petersburg had resolve and fight to prevail over the furor coming through the Admiralty Arch and proclaiming to
01:05the city that he had conquered her and then reduce it to rubble the next day.
01:11St. Petersburg fought that off. And yesterday I was privileged to have an orchestra play for us at my request,
01:21Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7.
01:25Not only did you fight it off with resolve and grit, but you also did it with culture and music.
01:35And if only Atlanta had had Shostakovich, maybe quite possibly my beautiful city would still be as intact as this
01:45beautiful place is.
01:56I do give a good hello from your friend, President Trump, and I am encouraged by everything that has happened
02:08since I've been here, Mr. President.
02:10And I appreciate the offer to speak. And we have a lot of ideas to talk about between our two
02:18capital cities in the next week.
02:22Can I ask you a question, Rodney?
02:24You may ask it, but I'm not sure I'll answer it.
02:27That's all right. Are you taking anything back to D.C. when you planned the ballroom?
02:38Explain your question a little bit better. Have I learned more from St. Petersburg architecture about the ballroom?
02:44No. Will you be inspired while creating the ballroom in Washington, D.C. at the White House?
02:52I have already been inspired by St. Petersburg ballrooms in my lifetime and have done a lot of work in
03:00your cathedrals and your palaces.
03:02So the answer is yes.
03:13Thank you. Thank you very much for conveying greetings from Washington, D.C.
03:19And please convey my most welcoming remarks and the goal I scored back to him in a very friendly way,
03:26back to President Trump.
03:30And thank you very much indeed for your kind words.
03:35They indeed are very well taken.
03:38Thank you for your kind words from the bottom of your heart that you expressed about St. Petersburg.
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