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Obama hosts Rousseff at White House

Tuesday, June 30, 2015 - 00:27

U.S. President Barack Obama and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff are meeting at the White House during a visit aimed at bolstering economic ties. Rough Cut (no reporter narration)

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ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION) U.S. President Barack Obama and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff are meeting at the White House on Tuesday during a visit aimed at both bolstering economic ties and turning the page on a spying scandal. Rousseff originally had accepted Obama's invitation for a formal state visit in October 2013, but skipped that visit after revelations from Edward Snowden that the United States had spied on Rousseff and other Brazilians. There was no sign of remaining tension when Rousseff arrived in Washington on Monday. Obama greeted her with a hug, then took her into his motorcade for an impromptu visit to a memorial for civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. "This is the stone of hope," Obama told her, and pointed out King's most famous quotes inscribed in the monument's wall. The two leaders then met for a working dinner at the White House. It was another sign the two leaders have put the Snowden affair behind them. "Obviously, we recognize that the U.S.-Brazil relationship went through a turbulent patch after the disclosures that took place related to U.S. intelligence activities a couple of years ago," said Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser. "However, we went through a very thorough review of those activities and we worked hard, together with the Brazilian government, to address a variety of concerns, but importantly, to begin a new chapter in our bilateral relationship," Rhodes told reporters on a conference call ahead of the visit. The visit is particularly important for Brazil, which is in the midst of a sharp economic downturn, a huge political corruption scandal, and a potential governance crisis. Rousseff wants to attract more U.S. investment to Brazil and funding for infrastructure projects. After Washington, she will head to Silicon Valley to meet with executives at Google, Apple and Facebook. In a visit to New York on Monday, Rousseff denied her campaign had received illegal donations in a scandal involving kickbacks allegedly paid by construction companies to politicians and former executives at state-run oil firm Petrobras.