One-on-one: Matt O'Donnell interviews John Kerry

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Wednesday, September 2, 2015
VIDEO: Matt O'Donnell interviews John Kerry
Matt O'Donnell sat down with the Secretary of State on Wednesday.

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Secretary of State John Kerry was in Philadelphia on Monday to deliver a speech at the National Constitution Center touting the Iran nuclear deal.

Before that speech, Kerry visited the 6abc studios for an exclusive one-on-one interview with Action News anchor Matt O'Donnell.

Matt's first question: Why Philadelphia?

"We thought Philadelphia would be a terrific place, right in between Washington and New York, its history with the Constitution and the formation of our government and our country. It's a good place to talk about really serious issues," Kerry said.

Kerry and the Obama administration are well aware that there are nearly a quarter of a million Jewish people living in the Philadelphia region.

Many of whom may be skeptical - and even scared - of the Iran deal.

"It is our belief, deeply, that this will make Israel safer. It already has made Israel safer," he said.

"The amount of time to be able to produce enough fissile material for one bomb was down to two months. We will now stretch that out. We have already stretched it out. We've reduced their stockpile, we have limited their centrifuges," Kerry continued.

But why should the US be dealing with a country at all, if it has leaders who still refer to America as The Great Satan?

"Well, we dealt with the Soviet Union. Ronald Reagan sat down with the Soviet Union... The Evil Empire. And Ronald Reagan negotiated an arms agreement that made America safer. That's exactly what we're doing here," Kerry said.

Political circles in Washington have been talking about a potential Kerry candidacy in 2016. The secretary says people have approached him, but he has no plans to run for the White House.