the president's refusal again today with nbc's hallie jackson to accept the evidence about russia's interference with the u.s. elections. >> will you once and for all, yes or no, definitively say that russia interfered in the 2016 election? >> well, i think it was russia and i think it could have been other people and other countries. could have been a lot of people interfered. nobody really knows. nobody really knows for sure. severe things. how will president trump back up his threats against north korea's missile breakthrough? >> i don't like to talk about what i have planned. but i have some pretty severe things that we're thinking about, that doesn't mean we're going to do them. i don't draw red lines. and world tour, after a rock star reception orchestrated by the government in poland.

>> thank you so much. thank you. >> how will the president now be received by his federal leaders and the crowds in germany? after deep disagreements over climate change, trade, and russia. good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. president trump on the world stage in europe, starting his second foreign trip, earlier today in poland with the right wing government bussed in crowds to ensure a rousing welcome, now comes the hard part, the meeting with angela merkel, his toughest and most powerful critic. after agreements, before arriving in germany, the president held his first news conference on the world stage and made his first comments about north korea's launch this week of a long range missile. >> the president and i call in all nations to confront this global threat and publicly demonstrate to north korea that there are consequences for their

very, very bad behavior. it is a shame that they're behaving this way, but they are behaving in a very, very dangerous manner and something will have to be done about it. >> joining me now is nbc's kelly o'donnell, also in hamburg, covering the summit, keir simmons in hamburg, and talking to people in the crowds, and nbc's kristen welker at the white house. kelly, first to you, the stage is set for this meeting today and the first time in a foreign trip because he didn't have any contact with the media in the last trip. first time he took questions today, and, again, expressed doubt over russia's interference in the elections. >> simply knowing the questions were going to be part of his planned day, you would think that clearly the president would have thought ahead about the likelihood of a question related to russia and thought through how far he was prepared to go in responding. so not catching him off guard.

this is a chance he had multiple times to be more definitive about russia's role and let's point out u.s. officials say vladimir putin specifically directed this action of cyberwarfare and espionage from russia into the 2016 u.s. election. the president is still saying that other actors might have been involved, and clearly we know from other instances there are other nations that have used cyberwarfare, we know north korea has certainly done it. china engages in this. but when we're talking about the election specifically, u.s. officials have made clear that it is their consensus agreement, they testified in front of the congress and therefore the american people, saying it is russia. we now see that the president has arrived for his meeting with the host of this g-20 summit. angela merkel. this is an important meeting. their third time in person. they also had phone calls recently and we know, andrea, you know so well, that angela

merkel has previewed that this is going to be a tough conversation, she has been critical of the leadership of president trump, sort of at a distance, not naming him directly, but talking about there would be tough conversations in hamburg, especially when it comes to matters that were important to her as the host of this summit, climate change, trade, migration, things where she and the president have very different views. and so this will be an important way to see how after we had a chance to capture them on a couple of different locations including that chilly oval office meeting, and then we saw them again at the g-7 in sicily and now on angela merkel's home turf. how will president trump engage with her and will there be any more of the tension that we certainly expect. high stakes for that and the meeting with vladimir putin tomorrow. we're told the president wanted a direct meeting, not a bump into you the hallway kind of diplomacy that he'll have with a number of other leaders that are

part of the g-20, but a real bilateral meeting face to face with putin tomorrow and it will be curious to see how much angela merkel weighs in on that topic, since she knows the sensitivities of many european nations about the aggression of russia, not just in the cyberworld, but in a much more direct threat, especially to the former soviet satellite countries who are concerned. going to poleland first was a way to say that the u.s. is standing strong with an ally like poland in a place where the president was received very warmly, might be a bit chillier in hamburg with this meeting coming up. >> another issue, of course, obviously you crane front and center. the fact that the u.s. senate voted 98-2 to sanction russia, something that the president has not endorsed and there is even some talk of veto. so all of that on the table. keir simmons, the crowds, outside, we're seeing the president coming out, merkel greeting him. this would be the equivalent of

the west wing entrance where she is greeting him as he gets out of the beast, the car that travels on a separate cargo plane, military plane, anyplace the president goes, this is the armored limo. angela merkel not well received as you see them walking in again, not well received in the white house. a lot of tension. rex tillerson, secretary of state, was not in poland, he flew over after many delays because his plane broke down at andrews air force base last night. didn't leave until about 1:00 this morning, got in late in the afternoon in germany time. he issued a statement before leaving about the issue of syria and that that was an important issue front and center for the president to be raising with vladimir putin how russia and the u.s. can work together to try to resolve the long-term political issues in syria as isis begins to be defeated in

raqqah. trying to set the table, put meat on the bones for another issue to try to explain that there is a real reason to be meeting with vladimir putin. and to -- if the president does avoid talking about the u.s. elections, at least that they are accomplishing an important goal there. keir simmons, anytime there is a g-20, there is globalization protesters, not just donald -- any donald trump protesters, but we have seen it over the decades, anytime there is a big global meeting and especially in germany where a lot of the protests are generated. and so today, you're out there, front and center and the crowds were out last night and out tomorrow as well. >> yeah, they really are. they are growing. behind me you can see the sizable police presence that there is now to match, if you like, the crowd that if we just pan the camera over, and contrast with those scenes in poland where the president was

cheered, this picture is of thousands gathering to oppose the g-20 itself. g-20, welcome to hell. they expect around 10,000 people here. and, you know, the difference between what happened there in poland and here, i think, will continue to play out through the day. as you can hear, it is noisy. it is a disparate group of different kinds of protesters, all willing to make their voices heard. i have asked a number of them, what do you think of donald trump? a unified negative response, which is what you would expect from a left wing protest like this. but, andrea, i just moved us over in this direction, so i could stand here and just give you a view of the police gathered here to deal with any disruption that there may be. if we move around this way, you can see that there are police

vehicles dotted around, and other places we have seen water canon, in position. what the protesters here are hoping to do, stated aim is so head along the streets of the city in that direction to get to where the world leaders are meeting and try to disrupt those meetings. and as you can see, let's show you how well equipped before we go, before we throw back to you, the german police are. as you can see, they are determined to ensure that the meeting itself is not disrupted, andrea. >> keir simmons, thank you so much for the walking tour of hamburg. and back here at the white house, north korea, front and center for the foreign policy advisers, the national security team, kristen welker, a lot of tough talk, severe measures, but the specific are really hard to get your arms around. the military options are not really viable. they really do have to deal with pressure, diplomacy, sanctions and the like. that's going to be a big topic of conversation today in germany. >> it is going to be a very big

topic of conversation in germany, andrea. no doubt about that. president trump is going to have dinner with the leaders of south korea and japan. he will undoubtedly press them during that meeting to get tougher on north korea and then when he has a pull aside with the president of china, expected tomorrow, and the ask has really been that china decrease, limit its trade with north korea. i bring you back to the tweet yesterday, when president trump really criticized, sharply criticized the leader of china, saying that trade had increased. and effectively throwing up his hands and saying we tried to work with china, had to try, but it isn't working. so expect a very tense backdrop to that meeting as well, particularly after you have president trump who in his very early days of his presidency reached out to president xi, invited him to mar-a-lago, tried to foster a close relationship with him, for that very purpose of intervening, getting tough with north korea.

you heard nikki haley yesterday at the u.n. security council meeting, that emergency meeting that was called by the united states, effectively saying, look, we are prepared to use military action. but we're calling on all nations to stop trading with north korea, to essentially choke them out, economically, so that they will stop these actions. the options are so limited. we have seen the united states, other countries, issue sanctions, take a tough stance in the past, but north korea just hasn't listened. this is a critical test for president trump, as he tries to now rally his partners in the region to get tough once and for all with north korea, to try to actually have a difference. so far it hasn't worked. >> kristen welker at the white house, thank you. and president trump as we showed you was cheered by a friendly crowd, corralled by poland's conservative government in warsaw.

>> joining me now is ambassador christopher hill, former ambassador to poland and the dean of the joseph korble school of international studies at the university of denver and msnbc diplomacy expert. good to see you. thank you very much. just to touch on poland, a country you know so well, the significance of that event today, that reception, especially compared to what he's now going to get in hamburg. >> obviously he'll get a different reception in hamburg. he may have had a different reception in warsaw, except the ruling party there took time to bus in crowds outside of warsaw to make sure it was a positive greeting. the poles love americans. it is a very positive relationship. and it was quite striking that president trump was not known as being a historian, spent so much time on polish history.

i wish he stressed another narrative, which is the history of a country that has done so much to be part of the west, to make sure it was not left out, to work so hard to be part of the structures, these euro atlantic systems. instead, he painted poland as an outli outlier. what we need from poland is renewed polish leadership and institutions such as nato and even the european union. so i think the president really needs to focus on the fact that europe has developed the systems together, they're working together, they have included countries like poland and what we want to see is countries like poland really step up and be leaders. i think that narrative was somewhat lost in that history lesson we received from him today. >> easier if you will to talk about the history, and the horrors of the nazi occupation. and the polish heroism and trying to repel it. than to talk about the more

recent history and how poland fought so hard to become included in nato and what that meant. i remember all the negotiations so clearly. >> that's right. the whole solidarity era, this was an era certainly of rising up against the soviet union, but solidarity really lit the match, made it possible for all the countries of eastern europe to rise up against the soviet union. the bringing down of the berlin wall, i think, could be traced directly to -- i would give the poles a lot of credit for the new map of europe we have and i wish the president had focused on that. really we do need a europe that is whole, free, and at peace, and a europe that is a good partner and within europe, of course, we need some leaders. i'd like to see poland more of a leader, even though the current government has somewhat doubts about working closely with european structures. >> let's talk about north korea. another country you know so

well. not only as the south -- the ambassador to south korea but negotiate we are the north. what are these options, severe measures that he's now talking about? because i've heard talk of a naval blockade, and talk of tougher sanctions, secondary sanctions against the chinese, as we see pictures now with angela merkel, as they are preparing to sit down for their meeting. this photo opportunity, clearly the two of the most powerful woman in europe, clearly, economic power and a handshake. we didn't get one in the oval office when she was visiting. so he still has a lot of diplomacy to accomplish here, a lot that involves vladimir putin and setting up for the meeting tomorrow. as they walk off, just a word about what he said earlier today about north korea, the severe measures, military options don't seem viable to most experts unless it is an absolute, you

know, clear and present danger to the continental united states. >> well, first of all, there is no question north korea is a proverbial problem from hell, no good solutions to it. but i think the administration is correct to remind the world that this is not just a chinese problem, not just an american problem, this is everybody's problem. this is an assault on the nonproliferation treaty. it is an assault on human dignity the way that country has behaved. i think nikki haley is quite right to bring up the plight of otto warmbier, put into a coma at the hands of the north koreans. so no question this is an issue for the rest of europe. as to you point out, it is hard to find tough options. i think one of the options that needs to be looked at is a further tightening of sanctions by everybody. should not be any so-called

north korean guest workers anyway, anywhere. should not be payments to north korea by anybody. but at the same time, i think we need to really look at more direct measures to deal with nuclear ambitions. we need to be looking at ways, frankly speaking, with the chinese, to sabotage what north korea is doing because the train that moves along with sanctions is in the as fast as the north korean nuclearization. and i think if they get to the point where they actually have a deliverable nuclear weapon as bill perry said, that changes everything. i think we need to pick up the pace. i think we need to address this with people like europeans, not just with the chinese, or the koreans, or the japanese. we need to put this as a top priority, so the president is right about that. what he means by what he's preparing, it is very hard to say, this is a president, where after all, not everything he says you can really take to the bank.

>> that is another problem for the allies as they sit down, they learned that lesson, they're not used to these tweets on the eve of the summit. chris hill, ambassador, thank you very much. thank you for joining us from denver today. coming up, more on the putin primer, where president trump's russia comments today a preview how he'll address the election hacking with the russian president tomorrow. we'll talk to congressman adam schiff, top democrat investigating the russian hacking. and mike mcfall. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. ur moderate te plaque psoriasis. be the you who shows up in that dress. who hugs a friend. who is done with treatments that don't give you clearer skin. be the you who controls your psoriasis with stelara® just 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. some serious infections require hospitalization. before treatment, get tested for tuberculosis. before starting stelara® tell your doctor if you think you have an infection or have symptoms such as:

fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough. always tell your doctor if you have any signs of infection, have had cancer, if you develop any new skin growths or if anyone in your house needs or has recently received a vaccine. alert your doctor of new or worsening problems, including headaches, seizures, confusion and vision problems these may be signs of a rare, potentially fatal brain condition. some serious allergic reactions can occur. do not take stelara® if you are allergic to stelara® or any of its ingredients. most people using stelara® saw 75% clearer skin and the majority were rated as cleared or minimal at 12 weeks. be the you who talks to your dermatologist about stelara®. choicehotels.com. badda book. that's it?. he means book direct at choicehotels.com for the lowest price on our rooms guaranteed. plus earn free nights and instant rewards at check-in. yeah. like i said. book now at choicehotels.com

or a little internet machine? [ phone ringing ] hi mom. it makes you wonder... shouldn't we get our phones and internet from the same company? that's why xfinity mobile comes with your internet. you get up to 5 lines of talk and text at no extra cost. [ laughing ] so all you pay for is data. see how much you can save. choose by the gig or unlimited. call or go to xfinitymobile.com introducing xfinity mobile. a new kind of network designed to save you money.

will you once and for all, yes or no, definitively say that russia interfered in the 2016 election? >> well, i think it was russia and i think it could have been other people, and other countries. could have been a lot of people interfered. i said it very simply, i think it could very well have been russia, but i think it could well have been other countries and i won't be specific, but i

think a lot of people interfere. >> you again say you think it was russia. your intelligence agencies have been far more definitive. they say it was russia. why won't you agree with them and say it was? >> let me just start off by saying, i heard it was 17 agencies. i said, boy, that's a lot. do we even have that many intelligence agencies, right? let's check it. we did some heavy research. it turned out to be three or four. wasn't 17. i agree, i think it was russia, but i think it was probably other people and/or countries. >> well, let's unpack that. that was a key exchange today, our nbc's hallie jackson, president trump, refusing to concede under her questioning that russia was solely responsible for meddling in the 2016 election. a different tone from his earlier prepared remarks which he snaldignaled a tougher line against russia. this was his speech in warsaw.

>> russia, destabilizing activities in ukraine, and elsewhere, and in support for hostile regimes including syria and iran, and to instead join the community of responsible nations in our fight against common enemies and in defense of civilization itself. >> joining me by phone, the top democrat on the house intelligence committee, congressman adam schiff of california, congressman, welcome. you issued a statement after hearing what the president said to hallie about russia. why don't you explain, your agreement or your fact checking of the president in this regard. >> well, distressing to hear the president yet again cast question on who was responsible for hacking our democratic institutions, publishing stolen e-mails. when our intelligence community is quite emphatic and i think with ample evidence that there is no question about this, that

this was not only russia, but russia acting on the orders of vladimir putin, the man the president is about to meet. for the president of the united states to essentially toe the kremlin line this no one knows for sure who is responsible for the hacking, it doesn't put america first at all. and represents a complete capitulation to the kremlin's point of view, and deeply amicable to our national interests. >> here he's questioning whether there were 17 intelligence agencies, there were 16 reporting to the director of national intelligence. the statement that came out wewer were -- is there any doubt among you and your republican colleag colleagues, i haven't heard any dissent from the leaders that this is the case.

>> there is no doubt about this, at all. not a single intelligence agency that disputes that conclusion that director clapper and others reached about the russian involvement. so this isn't based on any evidence,' for him also to go on and disparage the intelligence community because, again, he brought up, well, the intelligence community got iraq's wmd wrong, how can we trust them on the russia hack? this further undermines his credibility, but that of our own intelligence agencies, and in the same breath, he talks about what north korea is doing, based on what our intelligence agencies are telling us. and should there come a day where we need to take action, based on what north korea does or iran, the president is going to have to rely on our intelligence agencies and ask the rest of the world it rely on them and to impeach them in this way makes his own future success that much more in doubt. so deeply destructive on so many

levels. i think the only real common denominator between his speech and his critical comments about russia destabilizing ukraine and elsewhere and the comments he's making that are so pro kremlin is this is all about donald trump and what is in his personal interests, not in the country's interests. and that is not a quality you want to see in a commander in chief. >> and briefly what if in his meeting with vladimir putin he does not mention the russian hacking, doesn't call him out on it, glosses over it, perhaps. >> i think putin will realize that this president lacks the courage to stand up to him. and in that sense, that putin -- the kremlin regime can engage in further election hacks, not only the united states, but in europe, and that this president will not stand up to him. and that would be deeply destructive because, of course, what putin is trying to do is not only take down american

democracy, but the whole idea of liberal democracy. and if the president is not going to be the leader of the free world and champion human rights and democratic governance, who is? there is nothing the kremlin would like to see more than a president who will settle for a grip and a grin, and walk away saying that he had this fabulous meeting with the kremlin autocrat. >> adam schiff, thank you for joining us from california. with me now is ambassador michael mcfall, former u.s. ambassador to russia, joining us from stanford today. ambassador, you wrote a really interesting preview of this putin meeting, you briefed former presidents about how to sit down with the russians. and your preparation, theoretical preparation, if you were preparing this president, what were your dos and don'ts of how to approach vladimir putin

tomorrow? >> well, i used to write those briefers and talking points for president obama when he met with president and prime minister putin and medvedev. i think what is very important for president trump to remember about vladimir putin is that he's coming with an agenda. he's not coming just to chitchat. he has things he wants to accomplish. he believes that pulling putin towards him and towards his point of view about the world with create an alliance between the two of them against their detractors. including fake news in america, alleged fake news, the deep state in america, he's going to talk about those things. and so president trump needs to be prepared to -- how to respond to those kind of accusations. i'm just not sure he's ready yet. >> resist any effort by putin to bring him in, reel him in, if you will, and to establish some kind of alliance. how important is it for him to

mention the election hacks and the distress in america over that? >> had we done this to the kremlin, had we done this during his election, how do you think vladimir putin would respond? it is not totally hypothetical. when secretary clinton in 2011 released a rather, what i thought was a rather innocuous statement about criticizing the free and fair process in a parliamentary election, not a presidential election, vladimir putin told his president, president medvedev to push back. he said very publicly that this was meddling in russia's election, this was a signal to the demonstrators. he pushed back very hard. that's what he expects a strong leader to do. if president trump doesn't do that, it is not in his person interest not to do that, it is not in the american national

interest, but if he does .do it, he looks weak. he looks scared. he looks like he's afraid of the legitimacy of his presidential election. that is not a good signal to send to someone like vladimir putin. >> what should he say about ukraine? >> well, i was, you know, happy to see he said something about ukraine. i would have liked him to use the word annexation and invasion. destabilizing is a soft diplomatic word. on ukraine, you should say bluntly to president putin, i want a deal on crew jaukraine. i want to get back to trade and investment, but in order to do that, you have to get out of ukraine. you have to stop supporting the separatists in eastern ukraine. you have to sign up to the peace agreement. it is that simple. anything shorter than that would

be capitulation, a concession. >> rex tillerson on the eve of the trip last night made a statement saying he this lay out where the u.s. and russia can work together on syria, that the relationship is at an all time low, but they can build a relationship over trying to come to grips with what is going to happen after isis is defeated in raqqah and how to pacify syria. >> yeah, that was encouraging what the secretary said. i think that's right that we have to have a serious conversation about syria. i think the devil is in the details. for one, the way the russians fight terrorists in syria is different than us. we use different methods. we don't carpet bomb cities. number two, the definition of terrorist is different. how they define terrorists, we sometimes define as opposition leaders. i still believe it is important

for us to negotiate on that. and within some limited parameters i do think there is cooperation possible in syria and more generally in the fight against terrorism around the world. > >> and finally, how handcuffed are we by this agreement between russia and china to go up against the united states and say that the u.s. and south korea should not do joint military exercises against the north, even after this north korean long range missile launch? >> puts the president in a bad negotiating position. he's starting with them already in agreement. but this is the moment, this good-20 summit meeting, not only with russia and china and the rest of the international community, this is the moment for president trump to lay out a strategy, not a one sentence tweet or one sentence reaction, but a strategy for how to deal with north korea. i hope he begins to outline

that. coming up, summer break? senators confronted in their home states over the health care bill. that's next. new charmin ultra soft!

it's softer than ever. new charmin ultra soft is softer than ever so it's harder to resist. okay, this is getting a little weird enjoy the go with charmin the opioid my doctor prescribed for my chronic back pain backed me up-big time. before movantik, i tried to treat it myself. spent time, money. no go. but i didn't back down. i talked to my doctor. she said: one, movantik was specifically designed for opioid-induced constipation-oic- and can help you go more often. number two? with my savings card, i can get movantik for about the same price as the other things i tried. don't take movantik if you have a bowel blockage or a history of them.

movantik may cause serious side effects including symptoms of opioid withdrawal, severe stomach pain and/or diarrhea, and tears in the stomach or intestine. tell your doctor about any side effects and about medicines you take. movantik may interact with them causing side effects. don't back down from oic. talk to your doctor about movantik. remember mo-van-tik. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. (vo) living with ammonia odor? not a pretty picture. (vo) luckily, tidy cats lightweight with new ammonia blocker tackles tough odor, even ammonia. so long stankface! (vo) ammonia like that? there's a tidy cats for that. the energy conscious whopeople among usle? say small actions can add up to something... humongous. a little thing here. a little thing there. starts to feel like a badge maybe millions can wear. who are all these caretakers, advocates too?

turns out, it's californians it's me and it's you. don't stop now, it's easy to add to the routine. join energy upgrade california and do your thing. the people can't afford it. let me give you a real world example. sir, i'm happy it to answer your questions, but i'm not going to

engage in a yelling back and forth. if you want an answer to your question, i'll answer it. sir -- sir, i am trying my very best to, but it is not going to work if you're interrupting every sentence. >> republican senator ted cruz on the home front, pressed at a health care town hall in texas. msnbc correspondent garrett haak joins me live in washington. none of the republicans are getting an easy time, not have me of them are going out. >> that's true. very few republicans are holding town halls, taking questions publicly from their constituents on this. part of the reason is they don't really know what they're defending. the republican health care bill will have to be substantially reworked and rescored. so you only see people out there who have specific items that they want, essentially, out on the stump, talkingcassidy, wrot health care plan and would like to see bits and pieces of that includes and ted cruz pushing

for an amendment with mike lee. he's able to say we don't like this plan, but with he think he can with make it better. moran no vote, is holding a town hall as we speak, far out in western kansas, and he's essentially throwing this plan under the bus according to reporters there. it is unhelpful for rural states and like kansas and he wants to see it reworked too. >> garrett haak, keeping track of the health care vote when we come back. i guess next week. a setback for steve scalise. we're tracking this. the washington hospital announced last night that the congressman who was critically injured in that ambush at the congressional baseball practice three weeks ago has now been readmitted to intensive care. his condition has been downgraded from fair to serious. the hospital says because of an infection. we're hoping and pulling for his speedy recovery. we'll be right back.

a trip back to the dthe doctor's office, mean just for a shot. but why go back there, when you can stay home... ...with neulasta onpro? strong chemo can put you at risk of serious infection. neulasta helps reduce infection risk by boosting your white blood cell count, which strengthens your immune system. in a key study, neulasta reduced the risk of infection from 17% to 1%... ...a 94% decrease. applied the day of chemo, neulasta onpro is designed to deliver neulasta the next day. neulasta is for certain cancer patients receiving strong chemotherapy. do not take neulasta if you're allergic to neulasta or neupogen (filgrastim).

ruptured spleen, sometimes fatal as well as serious lung problems, allergic reactions, kidney injuries, and capillary leak syndrome have occurred. report abdominal or shoulder tip pain, trouble breathing or allergic reactions to your doctor right away. in patients with sickle cell disorders, serious, sometimes fatal crises can occur. the most common side effect is bone and muscle ache. so why go back there? if you'd rather be home, ask your doctor about neulasta onpro. ...you realize the smartest investing idea, isn't just what you invest in, but who you invest with. ♪

delicious pasta marinara. but birds eye made it from zucchini. mmm! bird: mashed potatoes and rice. but made from cauliflower. looks like i need a fork! oh, no. (giggling) bird: new birds eye veggie made. so veggie good.

welcome back, a day ahead of the first trump/putin meeting, nbc's richard engel is in hamburg, germany, with a deeper dive into the putin mind set ahead of tomorrow's session. this could not be more important politically and geopolitically. and, richard, what can we expect from all of the people you've been interviewing? >> sort of two ways of looking at it. you have to look at it from trump's perspective, so in a certain sense, very gutsy from president trump to be doing this meeting, he's under so much pressure in the united states, as we report on constantly, all the newspapers seem to be focused on the multiple investigations into his inner circle and the kremlin and here he comes and has a face to face meeting, it is sort of his way of saying i'm doing this by -- i have nothing to hide here as president trump said all along. but we have been speaking for

months now, to activists in russia, to members of the russian opposition, digging into this subject, and a lot of members of the russian opposition say that trump is going to get played. that he's going to be manipulated, that this is all playing right into putin's hands. that putin -- one of the best anecdotes, one of the best descriptions of it came from garry kasparov, i'm sure you interviewed him in the past, one of most famous russian chess masters, considered the greatest chess player in the world, and we were sitting down over a cup of coffee and i asked him about this question about how he sees putin, how he thinks putin and trump will get along. he had no doubt that putin was going to use this meeting, use other meetings in order to pull a fast one to get one over on president trump. and he described it like this, he said that in the u.s., we say that the americans play checkers while putin plays chess.

and kasparov was getting agitated, he said, that's not true. chess is an honest game. you look at the board, all the pieces are out there, you can't -- my capability, your capabilities are completely known, just up to my skill and your skill to compete against each other. putin doesn't play chess. he plays poker. he's a gambler. because in poker, you can bluff, you can lie, you can fix the deck. and that is the way he looked and many other activists that we spoke to describe putin. not the master strategist, not someone who is necessarily looking ten steps ahead, but is someone who is keenly aware of power, keenly aware of how to use it, how to manipulate it and how to play it to his advantage. >> i love the fact you have kasparov, the chess master, the grand master, destroying that metaphor we all use so casually in defending the honesty and integrity of the game. that brings us to you've got the

former kgb guy, vladimir putin, who has a profile of trump, normally when our leaders meet with a foreign leader, even a routine foreign leader, they get a briefing on paper of what is the psychological profile of the person you're about to meet, the background, any dirt on that person, that's what the cia does. given this president's dismissive attitude, i can only imagine the way he's preparing. his own aides say they don't know what to expect. >> they don't know what to expect. and he seems to be very confident that he will go in, that we will use his business savvy, bravado, his ability to project bluster and attract attention and somehow will win over with putin and turn this meeting to his favor. putin has been doing this for a long time. he's the exact opposite personality of president trump. president trump wears his

emotions on his face, on his sleeve, he wears them in his tweets. vladimir putin has the ultimate poker face and other u.s. presidents in the past have thought they had a read on vladimir putin and turned out to be very wrong. you remember that famous quote from president bush, looked him in the eyes and thought he saw into his soul, and i think president bush later lived to regret that comment. >> exactly. well, thank you so much, richard. be sure to watch the first installment, the premiere of richard's special series on assignment with richard eng engel, reporting live from hamburg, germany. coming up, the president's mixed messages on the world stage, on free speech and so-called fake news. the inside scoop. we'll be right back. ♪ [brother] any last words? [boy] karma, danny... ...karma!

[vo] progress is seizing the moment. your summer moment awaits you, now that the summer of audi sales event is here. audi will cover your first month's lease payment on select models during the summer of audi sales event. great-granddaughter of benjamin rush.h he was actually the only medical doctor that signed the declaration of independence. i myself am a nurse, my daughter is going to physician's assistant school. we're passing on family traditions. ♪ that's a good thing, eligible for medicare? but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, they pick up some of what medicare doesn't pay and could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. call today to request a free decision guide

to help you better understand what medicare is all about and which aarp medicare supplement plan works best for you. with these types of plans, you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. plus, there are no networks, and virtually no referrals needed. there's a range of plans to choose from, too, and they all travel with you anywhere in the country. join the millions who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp, an organization serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations... and provided by unitedhealthcare insurance company, which has over 30 years of experience behind it. ♪ call today. remember, medicare supplement insurance helps cover some of what medicare doesn't pay. expenses that could really add up. these kinds of plans could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs.

you'll be able to choose any doctor who accepts medicare patients. and there are virtually no referrals needed. so don't wait. with all the good years ahead, look for the experience and commitment to go the distance with you. call now to request your free decision guide. this easy-to-understand guide will answer some of your questions and help you find the aarp medicare supplement plan that's right for you. atmore than one flavor, oruch texture, or color.ing. a good clean salad is so much more than green. and with panera catering, more for your event. panera. food as it should be.

we reward brilliance. we strive for excellence and cherish inspiring works of art that honor god. we treasure the rule of law and protect the right to free speech and free expression. >> that was refreshing. president trump in warsaw praising free speech in hi speech today. but only a few hours earlier at a joint press conference, his first on the world stage with poe lan's president, mr. trump returned to form slamming the media. >> they have been fake news for a long time. they've been covering me in a

very -- very dishonest way. do you have that also, by the way, mr. president? with cnn and others. i know. nbc is equally as bad despite the fact that i made them a fortune with "the apprentice." >> badge of honor. let's get the inside scoop. jonathan capehart, "washington post" opinion writer and msnbc contributor. here he's standing next to the polish president who is trying to crack down on free press and criticizing the press. >> do you have that problem too? yes, i have that problem. let's all talk about it, the horrors of a free press. there's a big difference between what you read in a speech and it's good to read things in a speech, so it was good that he reaffirmed nato's role in the speech in addition to the free speech of the press, but there's a difference between what you read and what you mean. it's the off the cuff remarks

that tell us what he means. >> jonathan, haven't seen you since the body slam tweet on sunday. this is extraordinary. president of the united states. and this is seen around the world. >> right. you used the right word -- extraordinary. we're seeing things, reading things, hearing things from a president of the united states we never thought we would hear, we probably thought he never should hear from a president of the united states. i have to agree with ruth, it's one thing for the president to say the word of support of freedom of the press, but in that press conference with the polish leader right there, you got the real donald trump, the off the cuff donald trump, and the off the cuff donald trump doesn't like the free press very much. >> especially women in the frees pre.

vladimir putin, he knew that angela merkel had a weakness, which was that she was afraid of dogs, so he brought his labrador to a meeting. i mean, look at that. >> cold-blooded. >> that's a very large labrador by the way. look at merkel's face. putin is kind of eyeing the dog. >> he's an ex-kgb agent. they plan based on your psychological profile, and certainly i don't know if donald trump has an issue with canines, but you can be sure that this is well planned out from his point of view. >> of course vladimir putin was famously the kgb head in east germany. >> yeah. what's interesting about the meeting between the president

and vladimir putin is what's said and what isn't said. the body language. >> and how about russian hacking? >> will the president bring that up? will he be strong about it in the idea that the president of the united states is not at every opportunity hammering away at russia, at putin's role in all this, i think is, to use your word again, extraordinary, but also again something we never thought we would see. when i was growing up, the american president always defended america, particularly a republican american president would always defend the united states against russia, and that's not what's happening now. >> a lot of evidence that russia is interfering in european elections. macron certainly knows they intervened on the side of le pen in his race. and here angela merkel facing elections. >> macron offered a good way of how one can stand up to vladimir putin. by contrast, keeping going with the word extraordinary, it is

amazing to hear president trump being more worked up it seemed about barack obama's failure to adequately confront the russians over something that he wasn't really sure and wasn't really willing to say that will absolutely positively the russians did. but he's more worked up about obama's alleged failures than he seems to be about the russian meddling either in the past or what he's going to do about it, what the europeans will do about it, what he'll do to prevent what the intelligence agencies have described as an attack on america. and that he's still hedging about what the russians did i think is worse than extraordinary. it's troubling. >> and mistating what the intelligence agencies concluded. >> right. and also again misstating it and casting doubt on american intelligence on foreign soil. again, to use your word, an rhea, the word of the day, extraordinary. >> jonathan capehart, and ruth marcus, great to see you guys. thank you. we'll be right back. thanks for the ride around

norfolk! and i just wanted to say, geico is proud to have served the military for over 75 years! roger that. captain's waiting to give you a tour of the wisconsin now. could've parked a little bit closer... it's gonna be dark by the time i get there. geico®. proudly serving the military for over 75 years.

your body was made for better things than rheumatoid arthritis. before you and your rheumatologist move to another treatment, ask if xeljanz is right for you. xeljanz is a small pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. xeljanz can reduce joint pain and swelling in as little as two weeks, and help stop further joint damage. xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections, lymphoma and other cancers have happened. don't start xeljanz if you have an infection.

tears in the stomach or intestines, low blood cell counts and higher liver tests and cholesterol levels have happened. your doctor should perform blood tests before you start and while taking xeljanz, and monitor certain liver tests. tell your doctor if you were in a region where fungal infections are common and if you have had tb, hepatitis b or c, or are prone to infections. xeljanz can reduce the symptoms of ra, even without methotrexate, and is also available in a once-daily pill. ask about xeljanz xr.

thank you for being with us. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." follow us on facebook and twitter. craig melvin is up mex on msnbc. good afternoon. craig melvin. at this hour, all eyes on president trump in hamburg, germany. protesters as you can see have gathered, demonstrating against the president, demonstrating against leaders of the g-20.

you can see them there, signs, flags. it's gotten a bit rowdy from time to time. tens of thousands of police there to control the situation. we'll go there live. president trump, meanwhile, arrived about three hours ago from warsaw, poland, just a short time ago. we can tell you that he met with german chancellor angela merkel. they shook hands in public, none of the obvious awkwardness that we saw the last time. later this hour the president scheduled to meet with the leaders of japan and south korea to talk among other things north korea. then there's tomorrow's headline event. the first face-to-face meeting between president trump and russia's president vladimir putin. we have reports and analysis on all of that, plus what the president said about russia, president obama, and the 2016 elections earlier today. but let's start with those protests. keir simmons on the grown. you can see on the right side of your screen walking with the protesters. we'll go to norah o'donnell in just a moment. keir, what are you