British P.M. Theresa May Meets with Hollande, Merkel on Brexit
SESAY: British Prime Minister Theresa May is meeting with French President Francois Hollande on Thursday in Paris. They're expected to talk about terrorism and the U.K.'s departure from the European Union. On Wednesday, Mrs. May met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The two leaders want their countries to remain close even after the Brexit.</s>THERESA MAY, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Obviously, this is the first visit to Germany of a British prime minister since the British people took the decision to leave the European Union. I've been clear that Brexit means Brexit. But I want to be clear here today and across Europe in the weeks ahead that we are not walking away from our European friends.</s>ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translation): Our bilateral relationships, trade, et cetera, will be continued because this is our common interest. Great Britain and Germany have always worked together well within the European Union and I want this to be the same spirit in the coming years.</s>SESAY: CNN political contributor, Robin Oakley. joins us now from London. Robin, good to have you with us. And the public statements made by Theresa May and Angela Merkel, they seem very much on the same page. But those private talks, what's your sense of the tone of those talks behind closed doors?</s>ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, it has to be said that British officials are very pleased with the outcome of the meeting. They say that communication channels have now been opened, and that's what the meeting was really all about. They weren't going to get down to any detailed discussion of Brexit at this stage. It was a matter of forging a working relationship and that seems to have been done. Angela Merkel very much doesn't want the European boat rocks. And she was prepared to give Theresa May time to prepare Britain's case, she said. A rather more understanding attitude than there's been from other leaders across the E.U. And of course, Theresa May was very much stressing this message that although Britain is going to detach from the institutions of the European Union, it's not going to be detaching from Europe, and still cooperating on defense, on terrorism, on a whole range of bilateral issues. So it's been a successful meeting. But, really, Angela Merkel was saying, OK, what we need is a carefully defined British position. What she was really saying was, for god's sake, tell us what exactly it is you want and then we'll see if there's any chance of meeting you -- Isha?</s>SESAY: Yeah, indeed. And should we take it to be that because they seem publicly on the same page when it comes to those negotiations when they get down to them, that Germany will take a softer position than we previously anticipated or is Germany's position unchanged when it comes to actual negotiating?</s>OAKLEY: Angela Merkel has said all along there's going to be no cherry picking. But you have to set against that the fact that Germany sells 62 billion pounds worth more goods to Britain than Britain sells to Germany. 800,000 German cars come to Britain every year. So Germany has an interest in maintaining trade links with Britain and not having tariff wars and things like that. So there's some compulsion on Angela Merkel to be cooperative. It's a question, really, of how much she can take along other European leaders who want to see Britain punished for leaving the E.U. because they want it as a warning to other countries who might be thinking about exiting if they've got particular pressure groups in their countries -- Isha?</s>SESAY: Let's look ahead to the meeting with French President Francois Hollande. What are the expectations for that meeting given France's response to Brexit to date?</s>OAKLEY: That's not going be quite so comfortable at all. And Francois Hollande and his ministers have been making every effort to start detaching businesses from the city of London, banks and others, and say they'll be welcome in France and, look, you can count on doing business in France. And he is very much one of those leaders who want to see Britain punished for the Brexit because he's got Marine Le Pen, head of the Front National, the right wing group in France, who are pressing for Frexit, as it were. And he doesn't want any encouragement. He doesn't want Britain to get anything out of exiting Europe. He wants to show the French people that coming out of Europe is a really bad idea. So he's going to be less cooperative altogether when he meets Theresa May. On the other hand, Britain and France have strong cooperation on defense, and with the current wave of terrorism and so on, they have much in common on that issue, too -- Isha?</s>SESAY: We'll be watching it closely. Robin Oakley, there in London for us, much appreciated. Thank you. Later this hour, on NEWSROOM L.A., this actress says hate drove her off Twitter. Find out who is being blamed and how Twitter is handling the issue.