signs for the camera. their families on the other side of a glass wall for right now, grateful their children are alive, grateful to their rescuers, and waiting for when the doctors say it's okay to hug their boys. gary tuchman, cnn, atlanta. >> and what a moment that will be. the news continues. i want to hand it over to chris for "prime time". chris? >> boy, that will be great. i'm chris cuomo. welcome to "prime time." right now it's 3:00 a.m. in brussels and many of the nato allies are probably tossing in their sleep because president trump treated the first day of the summit like he was talking to frenemies. germany is russia's captive? why is he doing this? senator chris murphy is here. he sits on the foreign relations committee, and he says he has an answer, and we're going to test it. plus, have you seen the ugly episodes that just keep popping up with people of color being hurt with words and worse? are these random exceptions or a

sign of the times? we have a debate and the facts. and will congressman tim ryan gun for nancy pelosi's job again? there's unrest in the democratic party. could the time be right? we're going to ask him. what do you say, everybody? let's get after it. you may know that the motto of the american troops in europe is part of our nato commitment is "stronger together." well, president trump took a hammer to that today. >> germany as far as i'm concerned is captive to russia because it's getting so much of its energy from russia. so we're supposed to protect germany, but they're getting their energy from russia. explain that. it can't be explained. you know that. >> it was the insult heard round the world. and wait until you hear angela merkel's response. so what is trump's plan? what is his purpose, doing this

before the big putin summit? chris murphy is a democrat from connecticut, u.s. senator. he says he knows. senator, good to have you on the show. >> thanks for having me. >> what is your suspicion? why would the president of the united states go to nato and beat it up right before a meeting with a man who needs to respect and fear nato the most, vladimir putin? >> i think this president views our friends as rivals. he thinks that we are stronger if those that are closest to us are weaker. and that is why from the very beginning of this presidency he's been taking it to some of our closest partners like the canadians or the europeans. but i also think he's a deconstructionist. i think he still is listening to steve bannon and his crowd that wants to see the existing world order taken apart and the existing world order and the safety and security that is brought to the globe is due in large part to nato. and to the european union.

two organizations that trump is seemingly trying to destroy. now, there is clearly another theory of the case. the other theory of the case is that donald trump owes something to russia, that the russians have something over donald trump's head which is causing them to do their bidding because clearly the biggest winner out of today is vladimir putin. he wants nothing more than for nato to be weak and for europe to fall apart. we will obviously wait for the mueller report before we weigh in dispositively on the question of whether russia has something over donald trump. but you have to consider that possibility. >> it is a possibility. but there are others. and the administration would point to the fact that you may not like the president's style but it is effective and sometimes it has an impact on the powerful that the rest of us don't understand and they'll say you think he upset germany by what he said but what he said was the truth and they're okay with it and they're pointing to what the german ambassador said to wolf blitzer today. listen to this.

>> i don't think that the chancellor came out of the meeting today with the american president feeling belittled. >> so let me just be precise, madam ambassador. despite these angry words by the president of the united states, the outcome of the meeting with chancellor merkel today was positive? >> they had a very good meeting, and i believe the nato summit was a very good summit. >> change your read? >> no. i mean, listen, the europeans are trying to be the bigger party to this dispute. they are trying to do the right thing and hold together the trans-atlantic alliance. all they're trying to do i think is just survive donald trump so that 2 1/2 years from now maybe nato still exists. so of course they're going to try to say that the alliance is still strong. but the fact of the matter is europe is just making other plans right now. right now the europeans are creating a parallel defense structure inside europe to start making alternate plans because they're not sure they can rely on the united states. it also means they're going to be buying a lost equipment from

european companies rather than american companies. so no, i think the europeans are going to continue to say the alliance is strong, the meetings are not as bad as you think because they're just trying to survive donald trump. >> you did have the head of the eu yesterday, another donald, suggest america be good to its allies because it doesn't have that many, which then again suggested that maybe trump is hurting us abroad. and now we have these reports that in the uk that the u.s. government is telling people through the embassy there that americans should keep a low profile during his visit. i mean, whoever thought that we'd have to deal with that in the united kingdom? but then you do have the idea that trump isn't saying anything new, it's how he's saying it. listen to president obama talking about the issue of paying in to nato, paying for one's own defense. >> the situation in ukraine reminds us that our freedom isn't free. and we've got to be willing to pay for the assets, the

personnel, the training that's required to make sure that we have an incredible nato force and an effective deterrent force. >> he had gone as far as to say the word free riders, you can't be having a free ride in nato. so is it just style that's the way obama said it and the way trump says is you're a bunch of bums and i'm not going to divide anymore if you don't pay up? >> well, trump is identifying a problem that is the relative lack of defense investment in europe compared to the united states that was on its way to being solved. remember, this is the fourth straight year that europe has increased its defense spending. president obama had actually begun to have some success on that. trump also isn't wrong to identify nord stream 2, this pipeline we talked about today, as problematic. this is a pipeline that goes from russia into germany -- >> directly. and the issue as i understand it, senator, correct me because i know you have problems with this pipeline as well and i know

there was a letter signed by some 28 republican senators, 11 democratic ones, asking trump to stop this pipeline because it goes directly from russia to germany and would therefore while benefiting germany, would allow russia to bypass a lot of the former eastern bloc states and that's a concern about inequity. so is the president wrong to say that this is a problem and that germany is captive? >> the president is not wrong that is a problem. he is wrong that germany is captive to the russians. right now without u.s. leadership the germans are really the most substantial pushback on russia that exists in the world. but he's also wrong about how to get this done. listen, i've got a 9-year-old and a 6-year-old and i tell them when they want something from their friend punching them in the face over and over again is probably not the way to get it. and that's what he's been doing to germany. it's not just the way he treated germany today. it's the fact that he sent an ambassador to germany that has basically been mocking angela merkel and her party for most of the time he's been there. he's just not going to get things he wants by treating germany so shabbily.

they have a degree of respect for themselves and they're not going to be forced to do this by mockery, by the president or the people he sends to berlin. >> later in the show we're going to play for people how angela merkel responded, which really made a lot of people's eyebrows pop. and i think it was a pretty good reflection of the current state of the relationship. but what that means we don't know. we also don't understand -- and you sit on the foreign relations committee and that's one of the reasons i was happy to have you on tonight. is he's heading into the meeting with putin. everybody's expecting him to be tough with putin because of crimea, shooting down mh-17, what's happening with syria, the acid attacks, and of course what happened with the u.s. election. and right before he goes into it he beats up the bulwark that putin needs to respect and fear most. how can that be helpful to trump? >> it's not helpful. his leverage was already almost

zero with putin, having invited russia back into the g7 without any preconditions. but he just reduced his leverage even more by telegraphing to putin that nato is just getting weaker moving forward, not getting stronger. the one thing russia really fears is a strong nato. that's why they put so much effort into trying to stop nato from adding members. they tried to stop montenegro recently. they're trying to stop macedonia. russia doesn't want a strong nato and that's what trump is delivering to them, a weaker nato. i guess all of our fear is what happens in that room with putin. >> when they're alone, by the way. >> yeah. and does putin run circles around him? this administration has already signaled that it's willing to let them back into the g7, willing to let them off the hook in ukraine, for a trade. we don't know what that trade is. and i'm very fearful of what it could be if no one's in that room other than donald trump and vladimir putin. >> later in the show we're going to have an expense expert and professor who are going to argue that it's actually putin who has

the most to risk when they go into that room. i'm looking forward to hearing that because it doesn't make sense to me on the outside. senator murphy, thank you very much for your perspective. appreciate it. >> appreciate it. thanks. >> all right. so when "prime time" returns, why do we keep seeing cases of people attacking minorities with words or worse? is someone starting trouble? is the answer to who as obvious as you might think? it is the makings of a great debate with ana navarro and steve cortes. next. ♪ it is such a good time to kiss ♪

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welcome back. no matter your politics, this scene that we're about to show you was embarrassing for us all as americans. this woman is wearing a t-shirt that said "puerto rico." and she starts getting harassed at a park near chicago. take a look at this. >> you're not going to change us. >> i'm not trying to change anyone. i'm trying to come here for a birthday party. >> you're not going to change the united states of america. period. >> okay. okay. >> you should not be wearing that in the united states of america. >> okay. >> are you a citizen? >> yes, i am. >> are you a united states citizen? >> can you please get away from me? >> then you should not be wearing that. >> can you please get away from me? >> you should be wearing -- >> officer, i feel highly uncomfortable. can you please grab him? >> puerto rico is part of the united states, by the way. and look, even giving this guy the benefit of in vino veritas, if he had a few, it's still the

ugliest kind of sense we get better than. and then you get to this other element. there is this young woman with this fool accosting her, and what do the cops do? later on in the video there is a female police officer who starts warning off the man, but there was another male officer who seemingly stood by and did nothing. it was under review, and we're now being told that officer has resigned. now, this is not a one-off. there was another incident that fueled a ton of outrage. the 91-year-old man who had traveled from mexico legally to visit his family in willowbrook, california. he was beaten with a brick by a woman and several men. the woman who according to an eyewitness shouted "go back to your country" has been identified by authorities as 30-year-old laquesha jones. she was arrested late tuesday on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon. why are these happening right now? are they a sign of the times or one-offs? and what do they say about us?

it is worthy of debate. let's bring in ana navarro and steve cortes. ana navarro, what do you think we're seeing in these incidents? >> look, i think, it feels, contribution as if every crazy racist has been let loose on the streets of america. i am very happy to see that racists are being held accountable. there's also the case of the cop in el paso who pulled out a gun on hispanic children. and what's happening with the african-american community is horrible. cops are getting called because somebody's wearing socks at a pool. cops are getting called because somebody is barbecuing. because a little girl is selling lemonade. i think the racists feel legitimized, feel empowered, feel that they can do it. i think there's this environment of us against them. there is rampant division. and we're seeing it worse and worse every day.

i will tell everybody, you know, whites, blacks, hispanics, particularly communities of color, folks, it used to be don't leave home without the american express. don't leave home without a smartphone that can video. it makes all the difference. the images is what's making people accountable. >> all right. so let's flip it to you, steve, with this notion. we all know the billy joel song "we didn't start the fire." it's always burning since the world's been turning. another line in that song is "we didn't light it but we're trying to fight it." and it's that second part that puts scrutiny on your side of the ball here. if you look at this, what, half dozen people that you have running on the republican side who have some degree of cottoning to white supremacy or worse in different races around the country, the rhetoric of the president, the outgrowth of these incidents, do you feel a sense of responsibility? >> okay. chris, when you say cottoning to white supremacists that's patently untrue when it comes to the president. i'm not speaking about --

>> i'm talking about the six people you have running around the country. i'm talking about the guy in jersey, the guy who's trump's choice for senate in virginia -- >> okay. look. here's the thing. violence is never okay. and the thugs who beat up that elderly man are thugs and i hope are held criminally responsible. that idiot in chicago who didn't even know, by the way, that puerto rico's part of america needs a geography lesson first of all, a history lesson. he's reprehensible and totally dismiss him. let's also point this out. in chicago also, my hometown, there was a white teenager, a mentally disabled young man who was incredibly abused by people and who repeatedly shouted "f donald trump" while they broadcast it on facebook live. so there's ugliness all around. there's the violence against steve scalise. i don't ascribe those, by the way, and i don't blame those on hillary clinton or on bernie sanders just because the scalise shooter happened to be a fervent bernie sanders supporter.

and i think it's unfair for you or for ana to try to ascribe or blame donald trump because there may be some reprehensible racists out there doing rude and violent things in our country. that is not trump's fault. just as the scalise shooter is not bernie sanders' fault. >> do you think it's an unfair question, ana? >> i don't. look, this much is true. donald trump did not invent racism. he did not invent bigotry. he did not invent racial violence. but it is also true he has pandered to it. he pandered to it in charlottesville when he equated neo nazis with those protesting against them. he pandered to it when he called black athletes sons of bitches. he panders to it at every rally when he demonizes immigrants and never brings up a positive immigrant story. it's all about the bad things that immigrants do. the other day i was watching tv and i saw this clip of these two little kids in montana going to a trump rally. they must have been 8 years old.

these two little kids talking about not wanting any more mexicans here. look, you're not born a racist. you are taught to hate. and what we are listening over and over again -- and even if you say that trump does not have a responsibility, and i do think he is not solely to blame, but i do think he's legitimized, but even if you want to argue that he doesn't have a responsibility i would say to you that as president of the united states and with the bully pulpit that he has he does have a responsibility to address what we are seeing daily in america, to address this division, and to call for racial unity and to tell people not to attack hispanics, not to detain hispanics for speaking spanish, not to berate hispanics in new york for speaking spanish, not to berate a woman for, you know, displaying a flag of a -- of puerto rico, a u.s. territory. and to the people who feel attacked, the communities who feel under attack right now, the puerto ricans, the hispanics,

the african-americans, everybody, you know what the fightback is? vote in november. vote. and stand with those that stand against that. and punish the ones that don't. >> steve? >> everything you just said about trump supposedly cottoning racists is wrong. it just patently is. when he talked about charlottesville, when he said both sides he meant both sides of the debate over confederate monuments, not both sides of the charlotte protests. when he -- >> where did you get that from? >> protesting a bad -- from watching the -- >> he said there were good people down there who were just wanting to celebrate their monuments and their history. no, there weren't. there weren't both sides. who liked the confederate flag because of its ugliness. you know, that steve. those people don't like you either, by the way. >> chris, there are good people on both sides of the monument debate. not good people in the neo-nazi side. there are no good people there. and regarding the nfl. there were white players who kneeled as well, who knelt as well.

so that was not also a racial issue -- >> come on, steve. please. >> come on. stop playing dumb on national tv. >> it's totally -- no. because it's corrosive to our political discourse in this country that when you disagree with somebody politically your automatic instinct is to call them a racist rather than talk about the policy on which you disagree. >> and you don't believe the president has anything to do with that tone, who when he watches this segment will call it fake news and find five terrible things that my kids should never hear about me and put them out there. and his talk like that you don't think contributes in any way to a tone of cynicism and ugliness. and you don't think he has a responsibility to be better than that? >> quite the opposite, chris. this president, first of all, is not a racist. and there's no -- >> i never said he was. >> there's zero evidence that he is. >> i never said he was. >> secondly, his policies have been the opposite of racist. all he's doing is making life better for my community, for

hispanics, for african-americans -- >> then why are we seeing all these incidents popping up around the country? why is there an increase? >> because unfortunately we live in a fallen world where there's ugliness and some of the ugliness is from people who hate trump. some of the ugliness is from people who love trump. ugliness regardless. that's why. but again -- >> you don't think it's weird that your party -- >> coincidence. just merely coincidence -- >> is it coincidence that your party's got six guys running this year who are all -- who align themselves with this kind of ugliness and one of them the president picks as his choice for senator? >> you'd have to list me these six. i know one of them who's in chicago who by the way ran -- >> the guy in jersey. you've got the senator -- the guy who's running in virginia. i don't like saying their names because frankly i don't want to give them any more attention. >> california. the guy in virginia. >> there are about six guys who are doing it now. >> guy who lost in virginia who talked about the chinese -- >> i have no interest in -- i have no interest in defending these guys.

and i don't know enough about them to even want to defend them. and i don't want to quite frankly. but i will absolutely defend president trump and say -- i know. >> he's blocking one of them for u.s. senate. >> i think it's evidence to americans from the public record -- >> he is backing one of them for u.s. senate. he's backing a guy -- steve, you need to hear this. >> the central park five. housing issues. >> oh, gosh. >> mexicans are rapists. >> we're going to go back to central park five now? >> it's not like it stopped mattering to those -- >> it's not like it was something -- >> you spend 13 years in prison, see if it doesn't matter anymore to you, steve. >> right, nothing matters. >> hold on. >> he called for the death penalty for those guys. >> another thing that you said is that he is disparaging of immigrants. and that's not true. he's disparaging of illegal immigrants. and i am sick and tired of liberals trying to conflate illegal immigration with legal immigration -- >> so when he says they are sending us some real beauties --

>> he's married to an immigrant. >> yeah, he loves immigration, particularly the ones that he wants to work at mar-a-lago. talk about the epitome of hypocrisy. the guy spends his time railing against immigration and yet wants to bring 78 foreigners to work at mar-a-lago here down the road. you think there's not any people here where i live who can do the job? he's a hypocrite and he's a racist. >> i have never heard him say one disparaging thing about legal immigrants to this country. he's the son of an immigrant, as i am. he's married to an immigrant. he loves immigration and what it does for this country. he can't stand illegal immigration, and he couldn't have been more clear about that, by the way, in his race for the presidency -- >> so he doesn't want to reduce -- he doesn't want to reduce legal immigration? he doesn't want to reduce legal immigration? >> let me ask you something. >> hold on a second. we do -- >> hold on. >> he wants to reduce -- let me do it differently. he wants to reduce legal immigration. he does not speak out when these incidents happen that smack of

an ugliness in this country even though theoretically he holds the highest moral position in the country. why? >> look, regarding immigration, i think we do need to do immigration better. and that's not racist to say that we should move to a merit-based system. >> i didn't say better. i said less is what he wants. he wants less people coming in. so don't say he loves it when he's looking to abridge it is what i'm trying to say. but also -- >> hold on. we shouldn't be called racist just because -- >> i'm not calling you a racist. i'm not about the labels. i'm about the reality of it, steve. that's all i'm saying. ana made a point earlier. you never responded to it. maybe he has no responsibility for any of these ugly acts we're seeing. maybe this is just who we are at our worst and this is what he inherited. doesn't he have a responsibility to speak to it and say stop it? and if you think you're doing this because you're aligned with me i hate you for it. and if you think this is us at our best you're the worst. why doesn't he say that?

>> he did just that if you remember during the transition when he was the president-elect. he did just that. when he literally looked in the camera, i believe it was on "60 minutes," and he looked in the camera and he said if you think you're doing this in my name stop it. and that's exactly what he said. and he couldn't have been clearer. >> and he'd been president for 18 months and daily members of our community are getting assaulted and attacked. and he hasn't said one word. he hasn't used that presidential pulpit -- >> that's not true. >> -- once. and if you think those little kids at that trump rally when they say they don't want any mexicans here because they're overpopulating the country, can tell the difference between you or a mexican who crossed the border yesterday, they can't. to them you're all mexicans. we're all mexicans. >> let's end the debate on that. on one expression that came from a much better mind than my own. what you inspire you own, and what you ignore you empower. that's guidance for us. it's guidance for the president as well. steve cortes, thank you for making the case. ana navarro, as always.

>> thank you. >> as a reminder of who we are at our best, because i don't want you to think that i'm just trying to project a reality of america that's always ugly, that's always bad, that is part reality but it's not the entire reality. and here's the proof. you remember the pint-sized african-american entrepreneur reggie fields, reported to the cops by his white neighbors for accidentally mowing part of their lawn? for free, by the way. well, guess what. business is booming for the 12-year-old tycoon. he's hiring so much and so many people with his expansion of his business, president trump may claim him as proof of the new economy and rising fortunes for african-americans. ah, the irony. all right. next topic. this is a hot one also. are democrats looking for a new leader in congress? congressman tim ryan, he tried and fell short in 2016. but is now the time for change? is this the face of the future? we discuss next. ahh... summer is coming.

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new faces like alexandra ocasio-cortez. they're upsetting long-time incumbents, or certainly she did. and there's a growing number of progressives pushing for things like universal health care and the abolishment of i.c.e. now, all of this is creating speculation that there may be a shake-up in the party's leadership. one name being thrown around a lot is ohio democrat tim ryan, who just happens to be with us tonight on "prime time." congressman, thank you. >> thanks, chris. >> so is it time for a change? >> you know, my position hasn't changed since i ran last year. i think we -- the country is calling for change. they want new leadership. and i think the democratic party needs to give it to them. >> nancy pelosi says you, seth moulton, you're nothing, you're the inside of a donut, that you have no support in the caucus. your response. >> i believe the word was inconsequential, chris. >> inside of a donut works better for me. it's a more vivid picture for people and it will rile you up.

what's your response? >> i was very disappointed in that. take a guy like seth moulton who's recruited 20 or 25 different veterans to run. he's served himself. he's one of a few vets that are in our caucus. and i think to call his work inconsequential is not what we want to do. we need to come together as democrats. obviously, we have huge threats with what president trump is doing domestically and abroad. and we need to come together. and i also think that those kind of comments about people in our own caucus and our own democratic caucus is disappointing because what it does is it communicates to all of those veterans that seth moulton is helping that they're inconsequential. you know, blue-collar people in ohio, very inconsequential. and i think that's the exact attitude that got us in the position we're in right now. >> so there are two things to test here. one is what you guys are about and maybe what you guys want to think about whether or not you're about. let's start with the second one first. when you look at ocasio-cortez,

she's an tension of the bernie sanders mentality. and he's a weird fit for you guys because he's an independent but he runs as a democrat, caucuses with you guys. so she wants free everything. and she's part of this new part of your party that wants free everything. free college, free housing, free health care. abolish i.c.e. how do you feel that that will work on a national scale with voters? >> well, i think when we're talking about congressional races we have to leave the issues to the local candidates. this is a diverse country regionally and a variety of other ways. so each candidate's got to determine what's in the best interests of their local community that they're running to represent. and i think as far as what's happening in washington, d.c. she talked a lot about economic issues. i think that's very important to not say whether it's identity politics or economic, we've got to be both and we should be both because all of these issues are important. but she did talk a lot about the economic issues.

here's the main point. to me this is not about going left or going right. to me this is about elevating the conversation in the country. we've got to get away from this pettiness. we've got to get away from the personal attacks, whether it's against -- what donald trump's doing or what some democrats are doing to other democrats. we've got to get beyond this. we have so many challenges. you look what's happening in communities all across the country. look, the unemployment rate is really low and the stock market is really high, and yet people still feel high levels of anxiety. 50% or 60% of people can't withstand a $400 or $500 emergency. people are still struggling with health care, opiates. there's a lot of challenges. so the pettiness has got to go away, and what i want the democratic party to be and to do is to elevate the conversation, move beyond this left-right divide and the & beyond the pettiness and say look, there's a huge mountain we've got to climb and if we don't join hands we're never going to get to the top. >> right. so i get you on tone. everybody would like it to be a little bit sweeter.

in this country, a little bit more common ground, a little bit more constructive. certainly from where i sit. however, the tone is a function of the message. what is the message? because if it's going to be well, you pick what you want to be for your particular district, that works up to a certain point. but at some point if you want to have something like we saw in 1994 or 2010, big midterm swings, both of those were motivated by, yes, negative reaction to a president at the time but harnessed and attached to a greater mandate and agenda. you have to be for something, not just against it. and outlining the problems won't be news to anybody. we know what the problems are in this country. >> we sure do. >> how do you solve them? have the democrats figured out what the reason to believe is for the voters out there? >> we need to be a party, and i think we are a party of creating opportunity. for people who work hard, they play by the rules, there should be opportunity there. and i think whether you're talking about a bernie sanders candidate or another kind of

candidate, everything they're talking about is how do we relieve some of the pressure from the middle class and the poor people in the united states of america. the people who aren't benefiting from the stock market, aren't benefiting from the tax cut, what do we do to help those people? and if that's their mandate then if we get in charge we're going to have a big discussion -- >> a lot of them voted for trump and a lot of the demographics suggest that's not your party anymore, that you're new immigrants, you're young people, and you're white collar now, you're not blue collar. do you agree with that assessment? >> i don't think so. i think people took a flyer on trump. i think a lot of working-class people took a flyer on trump because neither party addressed the main structural economic and cultural issues of our time. globalization, automation. neither party really addressed those issues. so you have communities all across the industrial midwest and the south that have been hollowed out. so the democrats need an agenda

of opportunity but also how we're going to rebuild the country, harness ingenuity. it can't just be government spending. the government has to do some things. it has to stimulate >> trump was pitching a little bit of that also. it hasn't happened yet. that's why you've got to put meat on the bones of how and what will make it different. here's my promise. congressman, you're going to be a player. as this conversation goes forward, i'm going to invite you back regularly as well as people who oppose your ideas so we can have it out here for the american people. >> let's do it. >> all right. let's get after, it as we say, and it will happen soon enough, sir. thank you. >> thanks, chris. >> all right. you've got to talk about what's happening at nato. this summit in brussels is so important. and things got ugly early with the german chancellor angela merkel and the president of the united states. she grew up behind the iron curtain. and today was basically accused

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i'm sure you've been working all day, so let me give you the backstory of what happened in brussels. when president trump brought the diplomatic sledgehammer to the nato meetings there, he went after germany specifically as "captive of russia." but you've got to keep your eye on some of the president's most trusted advisers after he says it. take a look. >> it should have never been allowed to have happened. but germany is totally controlled by russia because they're getting from 60% to 70% of their energy from russia and the new pipeline. and you tell me if that's appropriate because i think it's not. and i think it's a very bad thing for nato. >> did you catch white house chief of staff john kelly right there? let's zoom in just in case you didn't. >> and you tell me if that's appropriate because i think it's not. and i think it's a very bad thing for nato. >> boy, if that doesn't look like open agreement, i don't know what does. it looked a little bit like he felt captive in that room. but sarah sanders, the white house press secretary, says he was just upset over the choice of breakfast.

seriously? anyway. they cannot explain away how the leader of germany, angela merkel, reacted. listen to this. >> [ speaking foreign language ]. >> translator: because of current events i want to add that i myself lived through a part of germany being controlled by the soviet union and i'm very happy that today we are united in freedom as the federal republic of germany. >> now, this might be a familiar story for you because merkel explained it to president obama when he awarded her the medal of freedom in 2011. in fact, she watched the berlin wall being built when she was a child. merkel said of that story, seeing grown-ups, even my parents, so stunned that they broke out in tears, it shook me to the core. so this was obviously very insulting to her. but what are the political ramifications? let's start with the question. if the president is so convinced that merkel and germany are controlled by russia, why did he go to merkel to ask for advice in april on how to deal with vladimir putin? that doesn't make any sense.

and the bigger question is why knock nato right before meeting with the man who needs to respect its resolve the most, vladimir putin? many are arguing trump is just off on his own when it comes to nato. but sometimes a picture tells the story better. specifically this one. today's nato family photo. you see our president in there? he is literally looking away from everyone else in the picture. i'm joined now by professor emeritus of russian studies at both nyu and princeton, steven cohen. professor, pleasure. >> thank you. >> been looking forward to getting your insight for a while. >> thank you. >> let's dive right into what the real considerations are. forget about style, forget about what was said. what it will mean. where do you see us heading with our president, nato, and russia? >> give me one second, though. when trump's going on about the 66% dependency on russia, you know that's about gas. >> 100%. >> it's gas. >> natural gas. >> i mean, the european union

gets close to 38% of its gas from russia. >> yes. >> the first american president to worry about this was reagan. and we've been discussing it ever since, about the pipelines being built. so this is an old story except that trump got his numbers wrong. it's not 66. it's about -- >> but nobody's ever accused him of hugh to the facts. >> but it's an old problem. is it okay for europe to get a third of its gas from russia? >> legitimate issue. and democrats and republicans in this current round of the administration went to trump and said help stop the pipeline that goes directly from russia to germany. so it's clearly a concern. >> but let me ask you. is that driven by a desire for american profit? do these american gas companies want to furnish the energy that russia's furnishing to europe? in other words, is trump flocking for american energy? >> well -- >> i don't know. i'm asking you. >> one of us read about it for four hours today and the other for 35 years. what do you think is motivating it? >> i don't know. he says america first. it's a vast energy market, europe.

we agree on that. the problem is we're digressing from the subject, but it's terribly expensive to send liquid gas, which is what it would have to be from fracking, from the united states to europe. >> that's right. >> which would make it too expensive for europe. so we're not going to wean europe off of russian energy. nor is there any threat -- >> so he can raise a stink about it. maybe it will help him with some kind of leverage. the question is is he doing this the right way and what is your overall concern about what happens with this summit and beyond? >> so i am deeply alarmed. is that okay? i bear bad news. i think our relationship with russia today is worse than it's ever been, more fraught with the possibility of war, even more dangerous than the cuban missile crisis. now, that's my considered opinion. people would say no, cohen's being alarmist. but i consider that. the second thing is i don't know how you are, how old you are, but i remember many summits like trump's going to have with putin. the first one was with franklin

delano roosevelt and stalin during the war. and since then every american president has had a summit meeting with the kremlin leader. so we accept them. and we've come to think of them as a way to avoid nuclear war between the nuclear powers. you agree with that. >> yes. >> but now we come to this moment. i say the situation in our relations with russia is exceedingly dangerous and yet trump departs to meet with putin after nato in a way no other american president has ever departed, under a cloud of suspicion, where people say he's going to give away x, y, and z to putin, he can't be trusted, he's not loyal. i don't believe this russiagate saga. but it doesn't matter what i believe. it's the reality. and we've never been here before, where the job of the american president is to be sure we don't get into a war with russia, and trump is not empowered, at least in the kind of political media establishment. that's new. that's what i

want to say. >> the power is his own. he has been sympathetic to russia and putin. does that mitigate the risk your concerned of? >> depends on better relations is a good idea with russia. he cam paped saying cooperation with russia would be great. i agree. i have he had in mind the same thing i had. it's imperative for my kids, your kids, all of us. the problem is trump, presumably having in mind all the conflicts between the country, ukraine and syria and the cyber war and the rest, is he well prepared to negotiate with putin on these issues? >> what do you think. >> i don't know. i don't know who advises him on russia. >> that's scary when one of the foremost experts in the area doesn't advise him. >> what he did was kind of funny i thought. the core with the europeans is they're not paying their 2%,

only paying 1.5% on average. he says, you have to pay two. they drag their feet. he says, now you have to pay four. the deal is running out. you have seen this with a car deal. he's the only president we've got. we've got to hope he and putin wind down this new cold war somewhat. >> let's do this, professor, now that i have you in the mix. i'm going to helsinki. we will see what happens. when we come back, please come on the show and explain what you think happened and didn't. >> what time is it in helsinki? >> do you know? >> no. not the same time. let's check in with don lemon in a preview just minutes away. >> if you don't want to hear it like it is, don't talk to stephen cohen. >> we want the people that understand what we are living

right now through the prism of history. >> he's always honest in his assessment. he and i have gone back and forth. he'll tell you that. some things we agree on and some we don't. >> if that's not a meeting of the heavyweights. >> he's a good man and i like people who tell it like it is. >> it was exhausting. >> speaking of that, what's exhausting, all these bigots on the ballot for republicans, you touched on it in the debate. we may disagree on this and you don't want to give them publicity. i'm from the south, louisiana, we like to shine light on cockroaches to get them out of the corner and make them scatter. tom foreman has put together a detailed piece and it's not even fringe inform. why are republicans supporting so many bigots. that's what we will talk about.

>> the right thing to do. remember when i had corey stewart on, trump's pick for west virginia, way too close to white supremacy. a great discussion. look forward to watching you have it. coming up, the president's new supreme court nominee has a history of advocating against the indictment of a sitting president on criminal charges. that is very upsetting to a lot of people. i will argue it shouldn't be and tell you what the real questions are and how we know what they are next. it's the ford summer sales event and now is the best time to buy. and check out the all-new ecosport. protect those who matter most, and make the summer go right with ford, america's best-selling brand. now during the ford summer sales event, get 0% financing for 60 months on a huge selection of suv's. and for the first time ever get 0% financing for 60 months plus $1,000 ford bonus cash on the 2018 ecosport.

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come from your business number. them, not so much. we let you keep an eye on your business from anywhere. the others? nope! get internet on our gig-speed network and add voice and tv for $34.90 more per month. call or go on line today. facts first, steve cortez said he didn't have the names of those running. he knows. john fitzgerald, seth grossman, arthur jones and paul neil man. they're all running for the house and why would that party embrace anybody like this.

we will do the whiteboard. a big critic for brett kavanaugh, trump's pick for the supreme court. he may have picked him because he believes the president can't be indicted. it's not as big as you fear, the department of justice guidance from 1973 to 2000 is a sitting president cannot be indicted. you can impeach and then indict. this idea kavanaugh is bringing something new to the mix is not true. he also wrote in a 2009 law review article a president should be, september from any legal action including subpoenas to testify. here's the key point you're not being told. he did not say this

determination should be up to a judge, even one like him on the supreme court. he clearly said congress should make laws to insulate the president in the way he was writing. the point is, right now there are no such laws why we have the mueller probe. and kavanaugh suggest as president is exposed to investigations absent any such law. there are some really important questions to ask the nominee. here's the bigger problem for me. i don't think kavanaugh will answer any of them. why? first, cynicism. this process is a farce. you have never seen one of the nominees since robert bjork, be candid. more directly i know it because kavanaugh wrote that, too. in the same 2009 article after the part about insulating a president, he wrote judges shouldn't have to answer questions about policy views for fear answers would impinge on their ability to make independent decisions on the bench. there's hope. kavanaugh says this is a matter of culture in the senate, okay. what is culture? it's a lot of things. what it isn't is law. what does that mean? if it's not a matter of law,

that means it's up to him. i'm spelling these parts out to you because they really matter. the judge gets to make the determination of what he answers. and here are the two questions. if he just answered these two it could make such a big difference. one, how do you think roe versus wade should have been decided? number one. number two, do you think a president must comply with legal process like a subpoena. if he answers about roe and process, it could change the stakes and so much of the acrimony we're seeing right now. thank you for watching. cnn tonight with don lemon starts right now. >> i have to get a black board, i can see it coming. you have your whiteboard and i have a black board, don't even comment. >> it should never be about the color of the board, don. >> about the information. this is "cnn tonight". i'm don lemon. in a few hours, president trump will start his second day of