country who we know has meddled in our election process. just a quick note and we're pressed for time, but he said with regard to who do you trust, the u.s. intelligence community or putin, i don't see why they would do it. i have confidence in both parties. with regard to whether or not russia has meddled and whether russia has compromising information, what did we hear putin say? i didn't know trump was in town. that's not an answer. that tells me that standard status quo happened and that the ritz-carlton moscow they have him. we didn't hear what we needed to hear today. we heard the worst that we could possibly hear from a u.s. president while standing alongside vladimir putin. >> how could he possibly say i don't know why they would do it? there's a myriad of reasons. a, their economy. i said it before. they've been in a recession since 2014. one of the main reasons is sanctions we imposed on them. there are many reasons why they

would do it. vladimir putin's economy is -- his country is not on the rise. they are suffering. but he was able to use these tactics to go after the united states and you read john brennan's tweet. i want to read a tweet from brit hume of fox news who wrote, because trump is unable to see past his own insecurity, he sees russia meddling investigation as only about him and collusion claim which he calls a witch hunt but the investigations are much more about what russia did as the house and senate have long established. president trump could take a position and say this bad thing happened. there was a cyberattack that took place, which our intelligence community supported, and i won the election. now let's do something about it. and whether it's because he's thin-skinned or something worse behind it, what a poor showing on behalf of the president. and if fox news is saying it, oh, boy. >> people tuning in late could be forgiven for thinking hillary clinton might have been elected president as she was mentioned

there along with her e-mails and servers. also the parts of the election were relitigated, including but not limited to the president's victory in the electoral college and the exact score. let's bring in a former ambassador to russia. thomas pickering, ambassador, what do you make of what you just heard from the american president on foreign soil standing next to the leader of russia? >> i think it was breathtakingly obvious that each side was clearly going to use this press conference in one way or another to spin it up so that, in fact, the really difficult questions were shoved aside by ablake answers and each one attempted to pump up the notion that this was somehow a resounding success

without enough detail for us to have a real sense that one way or another, this made any difference in the u.s./russia relationship. everything was left to be basically dealt with by the national security council on the one hand or in the kind of crazy details that in one way or another we'll have to examine over a period of time. it was a little bit of the relationship here of what actually happened with kim jong-un, where the president, in fact, spun up a report that was vag vague, not specific, generally upbeat but without much content. >> ambassador, you hold the highest title of distinction in the foreign service, and that is career ambassador. after your four decades as a diplomat, when you hear the american president say i don't see any reason why it would be

russia interfering in our election, running so counter to the standing, findings and advice of our intelligence community, what does that say to you? >> it says to me that it's a breathtaking denial of something that is clearly so obviously true that it represents the epitome of president trump's effort, self-promotion over the notion of defending the national interest of the united states. something that i've been saying for some time. >> ambassador, thank you very much. terrific to have your viewpoint coming right out of this. kelly o'donnell is, as we mentioned, in the sixth row of that gathering. kelly, was it as striking to you there given all the translation back and forth in the moment as our mutual friend jonathan lemire stood and delivered his

questions? >> you're reading my mind, brian, because it was almost visceral in this room as the translation came through. on a couple of these issues, including our colleagues jeff mason and jonathan lemire who asked pointed, difficult questions that many journalists have wanted to have answered and so credit to them. when we heard vladimir putin actually retroactively endorse president trump for the office he now holds, that was a striking moment. it was also striking how the president of the russian federation sort of smiled and reacted as the translation went through to him about the dossier question or having any compromising information about the president or his family. there are questions that seemed in many ways easy to answer and president trump didn't take that moment. we've seen other presidents who have been with adversaries who could declare publicly, do not encroach on the united states,

and to be able to say that in the face of the denial of his counterpart and he's trying to project they have economic and security issues where they're trying to work together. i thought master spycraft that when the questioning got hot, the soccer ball came out, presenting that to president trump who then extended it to the first lady, their son barron, is an avid soccer fan. it was surreal in so many ways. we all knew the kinds of questions american journalists wanted to have answered. we anticipated some of the answers, but the president had an opportunity here to make clear that not simply looking backward but looking to the election that's coming up in a few months, the election coming up in 2020, to send a very clear signal that any kind of interference is unacceptable. also the notion that vladimir putin knows everything about what his operatives are doing. and even if he was not personally involved in the

detail, although the intelligence says otherwise, he's ultimately responsible as the president. and president trump simply did not take those opportunities to send a strong message suggesting the jury is still out, which is not the evidence of u.s. intelligence and law enforcement communities. and to opine that there was not a motivation for russia to do so is striking. i'm not sure i've heard him say that. there are other topics they can talk about things they're trying to make progress. until these issues are resolved in a way, no one expects that vladimir putin will acknowledge russia's responsibility, but people do expect that the president of the united states, this one or any other, would be reminded of his own oath to protect the united states against any adversaries foreign or domestic. and if there is a question of intrusion on the election, attack on the democracy, whether his counterpart acknowledges or not, the president could have made a forceful argument about the u.s. will not tolerate such

intrusion, behavior, etviate. everyone knows both countries engage in intelligence. everyone knows these are rival nations. but this has risen to a level that's dominated our politics for a few years. apart from anything that directly involves the trump campaign, the kind of intrusion the evidence suggests exists is something that's a current problem and we don't have any sense from the president that he's going to take severe action to prevent further intrusion or to send a signal. today was a missed opportunity for the president. questions that certainly were predictable and for vladimir putin, the surprise of the day. he wanted trump to win. >> kelly o'donnell in the room where it happened. thank you. we have on the phone former cia director john brennan. i'm looking at these two quoi . quotes. all i can do is ask the question. i don't see any reason why it would be russia said trump about election interference.

we just read what you said on twitter. your reaction to what you've just seen. >> well, brian, i thought that there was nothing donald trump could say that would shock me, but i was wrong. i was just totally shocked at the performance of donald trump in helsinki at a press conference with vladimir putin. i just found that it was outrageous. and even when the press, and thank goodness the press asked the right questions. even when the press gave him an opportunity to hold russia accountable for anything, he chose to talk about hillary clinton, about his election, about servers. he criticized american citizens, secretary clinton, and others as opposed to really taking advantage of a world stage with all the world's eyes upon them to point out how unacceptable russia's behavior and interference in our election and the elections of other

democratic countries around the globe is. but he just shirked those responsibilities. i cannot understand how the national security team can continue to abide by this and how pompeo and bolton and kelly can continue in their jobs. this, i think, rises to the point of good american patriots resigning in objection to that performance by donald trump. i'm at a loss of words to describe just how outrageous his words, his statements, his behavior has been. and one can only conclude that he fears vladimir putin and that one on one discussion, who knows what was discussed there. and how mr. putin now is the master puppeteer of donald trump, the person who is in our oval office. outrageous. >> i just saw a picture of huntsman and pompeo while the

president was speaking looking a bit stricken. but to your point about patriots, to your point about resignations, what do you think the practical impact, just say by the end of business today, tomorrow, will be? >> i don't know. that's why i said republican patriots all over the country, including in the congress, where are you? when are you going to speak out and roundly condemn what donald trump is doing? and all of those good americans who voted for mr. trump believing that he was going to protect this country, i think you have now his demonstrated unwillingness, maybe inability, to protect this country's interests. i think this is a time for all americans to rally and to say, mr. trump, you are not doing what is necessary in order to keep this country strong and safe. and mr. putin must be now with his team just rejoicing in what has happened in helsinki. >> director brennan, thank you

for joining us by telephone. john brennan, former cia director coming out of these startling comments by the president today. let's go back to frank figlouzi at the fbi. frank, i know you're in agreement with the director. >> yeah, to follow on to what john brennan has said, what we saw the president do today was refuse to defend and stand with a u.s. federal indictment of 12 foreign intelligence officers who tried to undermine our election system. in refusing to do that,ly chose to stand with russia and walk away from our rule of law and system of justice. americans need to understand that, of all stripes. and those on the hill who refuse to do something about it, to speak out against it, are essentially making that similar choice today. you either choose to stand with team america or you are choosing to stand with russia. and that's what we watched happen today.

i could not have imagined a worse commentary today by the president of the united states. >> frank figliuzzi, thank you. hallie jackson was in the room as well. seated not far from our friend jonathan lemire. hallie, what was the reaction like when you were getting these answers in realtime? all i can do is ask the russians. i don't see any reason why it would have been the russians. >> right. why it would be. frantic typing and note taking, as you might imagine as every reporter was sort of furiously reporting and immediately analyzing what president trump had said. kudos to jonathan lemire for asking sharp and pointed questions today of vladimir putin. the follow-up questions didn't necessarily sit very well, but the russian media handlers here. he says now the russians get a third question because of the follow-up questions from the

u.s. press, brian, but the reaction in the room, you know, i've covered this president when he was a candidate and since the moment he was sworn in. i report is sehaven't seen a pr conference like this one. president trump, the president, seeming to engage in very clearly as you talked about in that quote just there, both sides-ism in a way saying my director of national intelligence tells me one and vladimir putin tells me another. to paraphrase or -- throwing up his hands. the question now is, as we move ahead, how does this sit with, for example, lawmakers on capitol hill who some of them have been reluctant to come out and speak out against this president. some of them believe that the president is a political ally and want him on their side. that's one of the angles we're watching. we'll also watch how this verbal grenade of a press conference lands in europe with allies internationally, not just, for example, in the eu but others, including canada, mexico,

elsewhere. and particularly those allies who are under the threat of russian aggression at this point. you heard the two addressed crimea. that was a point of distinction. the president, according to vladimir putin did think it continued to be illegal. russia's annexation. president putin thinks it is not. so moving forward, this is one of those press conferences where you'll be playing those sound bites over and over and over again because it is very significant. the president again refusing to publicly condemn standing side by side with president putin, russia's election interference and calling to an end to an investigation that is investigating that interference. so, again, remarkable day here in finland. these two leaders talking for some two hours. one on one, solo. the president, thought it was interesting, said vladimir putin forcefully and strongly denied the russian election interference. he would be unlikely to do

anything nels else in the room with donald trump. we're reporting out now, working on reporting some of the reaction from inside the administration, outside the administration and elsewhere because that's where the story is going at this point. in the room, empty now, totally packed. i would say not an empty seat. but there was an empty seat. the journalist forceibly removed just prior to the start of the u.s. delegation walking in. there's a balcony above where we are packed with members of white house staff and journalists as well. intense worldwide interest in what these two leaders had to say. no surprise there, brian. >> hallie jackson, thank you. richard engel standing by in moscow. richa richard? >> i don't think they could have asked for anything more here. not only did they get the summit in which just after these indictments have been laid out. then they got the two leaders dismissing them. agreeing that they were a hindrance, something that was getting in the way of their relationship.

you had president trump talking about how he commiserated with vladimir putin saying that this was all an attempt by the democratic party to undermine his election. and then you had this false offer from the russian presidency in which russia offered to help out with the mueller investigation if the united states would allow russian investigators to go and look into the magnitsky act which is the reason that u.s.-imposed sanctions -- the u.s. imposed sanctions on russia and other units in which the intelligence agencies have been interfering in russian politics. so this is, by the way, after vladimir putin has said that there's no truth to these allegations. so then he says, yes, we'll cooperate if you give us access to the cia and give us access to the case that is imposing sanctions on russia. >> richard engel in moscow,

thank you. a couple details from people who were watching. senator lindsey graham in a tweet that starts out as a potential nominee for the understatement hall of fame, missed opportunity by president trump to hold russia firmly hold russia accountable for 2016 meddling and deliver a strong warning regarding future elections. graham continues, this answer by president trump will be seen by russia as a sign of weakness and create far more problems than it solves. senator jeff flake, i never thought i'd see the day when our american president would stand on the stage with the russian president and place blame on the united states for russian aggression. this is shameful. on the phone with us, jonathan lemire, the associated press, someone who often comes on our broadcast and other broadcasts on this network. jonathan, a lot of credit, obviously, for your persistence

and your focused questions. were you surprised at the president's reaction to your one question, all i can do is ask the questions. i don't see any reason why it would be russia. >> hey, brian. quite a day in helsinki. this is a moment where the president had a chance to say to the world, who did he believe? the united states intelligence agencies who have all concluded that russia interfered in the 2016 election in order to help him win, or vladimir putin, who he had said forcefully denied it? we heard denied here on this podium in the hall. he chose not to answer it. he chose not to say that he believed the u.s. intelligence agencies and instead talked about we've heard him say time and again on the campaign trail about hillary clinton's e-mails, the democratic national committee's server. he missed an opportunity to stand up for the u.s. intelligence agencies.

but he missed an opportunity to tell vladimir putin and russia to never do this again. he chose not to. he did not stand up to do that. >> also i note he noted the incredible offer that putin made to help investigate these intelligence professionals in the indictment. >> he did, yes. that was something that was obviously discussed today. they had a lengthy, more than two-hour solo meeting and again another one a little later, a little long eer -- sorry, a lite shorter. this was an effort by vladimir putin to seize control of the narrative of this investigation. saw this, of course, on friday, a dozen russian military intelligence agencies were indicted by the u.s. justice department and putin, of course, did not suggest that he would necessarily extradite them but it came with a catch. he suggested that he would want the same in return and have russian law enforcement be able

to interview americans who he say have committed various crimes here on russia's soil. and the president trump, though not fully official lly commit t that plan, he certainly seemed intrigued by it and he seemed to grab it as almost a way to, you know, another effort to, if this is going to happen, then perhaps there's less the need for the special counsel's ongoing investigation. >> all the while the president relitigated the election. talked about hillary clinton's e-mail servers. the 30,000 e-mails which were last mentioned in the public discourse last friday when we learned that the russian effort to get those e-mails started the day the president said it on camera in terms of the question from katy tur. the democratic national committee, his electoral college

victory, this all came up again, jonathan. >> it almost felt like a campaign rally there for a minute. you're right. this is not president trump thinking about the future of the nation necessarily or safeguarding it from future attacks, from russian hackers, for any other down the road election interference. this was him talking about him as he so often does. does not necessarily look at the national gains but the personal view. and he was very on the defensive with our questioning. and made it very clear that as we have seen time and time again from the president and his allies. whenever there's a breakthrough in the special council probe in the russia probe, the graphic, whether it's uranium one or hillary's e-mails, by the week it seems they grab on to some other part of this probe, t

tangental at best and try to distract. of course, that much more striking to do it today on foreign soil standing alongside the man the u.s. intelligence agencies believe directed the election meddling. >> it was your questioning today that have led to one of those clips that we will be seeing forever and ever that will help to tell the story whenever it ends, however it ends. jonathan lemire of the associated press, one of our frequent contributors whose pointed questioning today brought out some of the enduring quotes from this event in helsinki, finland. jonath jonathan, thank you. and bill kristol stands by for us. weekly standard editor at large. bill, take it away. what do you make of what you just witnessed? >> i share the alarm of some of the other former government officials you've had on. i feel like today turned what's been an ongoing problem of

donald trump as president in terms of his attitude towards and behavior towards russia and president putin has turned a problem into a crisis. i really don't know where we go from here. people can say, republicans in congress, speak up more. i've said it. people suggest people resign from the administration. we have a president who is now, we are really in unchartered waters. going forward, i really don't know what to do -- what to say people should do. and i worry. i worry about the country now. >> well, bill, more than that, there's better than even odds that republicans in the house are still this week going to try to plow ahead and impeach rod rosenstein or at least try to gin up enough votes to get interest in it. >> yeah, i think that will just be -- i hope that will just be a small minority. republicans in congress could do a lot. i suspect some people in the administration, i wouldn't be surprised to see some resignations from the second and third tier officials who have tried to do their best to push

back against trump's predilections against russia. i do feel personally this has been an ongoing problem. trump has been a problem as i say and now i feel it's a crisis of real urgency. and i'm not sure what we can do expect try to contain him in various ways. people in the administration will try to do their best and congress and elsewhere. we've never had a situation -- we've had presidents who pursued foolish things but we've never had a president who -- have we ever had a president who stood next to a dictator who has attacked our country in all kinds of ways, say nothing of everything else he's done around the world and basically refused to take sides with the u.s. government against him, if anything, has bent over backwards to be friendlier to vladimir putin than to the u.s. intelligence community, prior american administrations. it's really extraordinary. >> brian, the president also

said we've never had such a bad relationship with russia, but in the last four hours it changed. last i checked, president trump has been in office for over a year. he met with putin more than once last year and spoke on the phone. so what happened those other times that made it worse and suddenly now four hours of magic. baloney. >> to bill kristol and others, this is normally andrea mitchell's noon eastern time slot. she'll take the reins in a moment. let's name names. think of ambassador huntsman who now has to go back to moscow and kind of protect and preserve the status quo. think of bolton, think of pompeo, think of kelly. kelly is old enough to have been a cold war hero in the u.s. military. pompeo first of his class at west point. what are these individuals going to do, and how long a plane ride home is this going to be? >> i really don't know what they're going to do.

we might see some resignations soon. some immediately like fiona hill, the associate director for russia on the national security council. can't possibly be comfortable or even -- not comfortable is an understatement. with what the president said and did. stephanie's point is key. the fact the president believes everything has changed in the last four hours, i.e., believes everything has changed since he personally met with putin is in a way the most dangerous thing of all. he -- it he feels emboldened in some sense now to pursue policies that, before he was pursuing perhaps with some caution. he's doubled down on taking this country in a direction that's friendlier to putin. taking his presidency in a direction that's friendlier to vladimir putin than to the u.s. government. >> there's going to be more in the form of very comfortable interview the president was planning on doing prior to leaving helsinki with a joint interview with tucker carlson and sean hannity of fox news.

he is likely to get even more comfortable and double down on some of these points. time will tell. also here in the studio with us, rick stengel and public affairs under president obama. also former managing editor at "time" magazine. an msnbc analyst. your take on what we just witnessed? >> the constitution says that the president must take care that the laws be faithfully executed. that's his main job. we saw the chief law enforcement officer of the united states, the president of the united states, stand up next to a russian dictator and take his side against the law enforcement agencies of the united states. that's a stunning development. if you saw that in a movie, you would question it and say it was absurd. so it's a very dangerous state of affairs there. trump's mastery of what -- when asked about the intelligence officers that committed a crime against our republic starts talking about hillary clinton's

e-mails. there's absolutely no symmetry between that at all. he's trying to deflect that. one of the things i think that's been a problem and i don't know how to address it. i'm sort of with bill, gobsmaged and flummoxed at the same time. we are under attack from russia. if there were physical missiles, americans would be in the streets and protesting and asking for the president to protect us. these are invisible missiles. these are digital missiles going into our system. we can't see them. we have a hard time explaining them. dni coats said the red light was blinking like just before 9/11. we're in a very difficult situation and i think there has to be a better way to explain this to the american people and make the american people alarmed by what is happening to us. >> who do we see about this? you know what i mean? we have the president flying back on air force one to the united states from that appearance. we have people with highfaluting titles in the house and senate

and washington and the cabinet, presumably their job would be to protect the american people against this. >> are you asking for the phone number for customer service? >> i don't know. >> i do think -- we keep hoping and praying there will be republicans from the other side that peel off and say as an american, as a patriotic american i have to stand up and say this. i hope that will happen. i think the press has a very important role to play. i believe we are really under the spotlight with that phrase that jump used, enemy of the press which is from stalin. we have to continue doing our job and hope that people continue to speak out. and i do think that the -- we lived through a period where there were people protesting in the streets every day in the '70s. why is that not happening now? why aren't people saying we're under attack. we're protesting against a president who is not taking care that the laws be faithfully executed. >> senate intelligence chair richard burr, a republican, in may of 2018 said there is no doubt that russia undertook an

unpressented effort to interfere with our 2016 election. we just saw president trump when asked basically side with russia. the definition of patriot and that's what republicans like to say they are. a patriot is someone who defends the honor of their country. we just saw the president of the united states do the exact opposite. so the question is, where do patriots stand on this? >> andrea mitchell standing by in helsinki where she, too, has witnessed all of this. is ready to take this the rest of the distance. andrea? >> well, thanks to brian and stephanie and rick stengel and all of you. here in helsinki, we've all been talking about that extraordinary performan performance. remarkable news conference. presidents donald trump and vladimir putin, a former kgb officer, president trump calling the russia probe ridiculous. calling it a disaster for our country. refusing to say standing next to

vladimir putin whether he believes the u.s. intelligence community, his own appointees and their predecessors or vladimir putin. and this only days after 12 russian intelligence officials from their military intelligence were indicted by the u.s. justice department by the deputy attorney general announcing it also a trump appointee. here's a little bit of how that went. >> i think that the united states has been foolish. i think we've all been foolish. we should have had this dialogue a long time ago. i think that the probe is a disaster for our country. i think it's kept us apart. it's kept us separated. there was no collusion at all. everybody knows it. zero collusion. and it has had a negative impact upon the relationship of the two largest nuclear powers in the world. >> translator: we should be

guided by facts. can you name a single fact that would definitively prove the collusion? this is nonsense. just like the president recently mentioned. >> do you, does the russian government have any compromising material on president trump or his family? >> and vladimir putin went on to say that he did not even know donald trump. there were 500 business executives in moscow back then and he did not even know him so denying at least that -- or not denying, but brushing off questions about whether there was any compromising information or dossier, not addressing whether there was any compromising financial entanglements between the trump family, the trump organization and moscow. kelly o'donnell was in the room. kristen welker is also here standing by. kelly, first to you.

the shock of seeing the american president standing next to vladimir putin and essentially taking his side against american intelligence was stunning. >> it really was. and i've been in putin's presence before with previous presidents and the feeling was different. this was a high stakes moment. trying to create a better pond with all the issues they talked about. everyone knew these pressing questioned would be raised and would they address them? shocking to say the least that president trump denigrated the work of the intelligence communities and law enforcement. certainly posed doubts about it. raised other conspiracy issues and things of that nature. and was so willing to accept the word of the russian president. no one here, no journalist, no one watching expected vladimir putin to stand up and say, yes, we did it. no one expected that. but the president certainly

should have been briefed and prepared to address that issue, that even in the face of denials from putin that there is a great deal of evidence been gathered by u.s. intelligence and law enforcement professionals. and it's not just about 2016. it's about the elections that are coming up in a matter of months and in the years to come. it was stunning. now while there's been a lot of discussion in the russia investigation about a preference from russia to donald trump during the election to hear vladimir putin actually say that, yes, he did favor trump and he did so because trump was talking as a candidate about a better relationship with russia. that was a startling moment. statesmen typically don't take sides, especially given the sort of kryptonite that represents in this discussion. so for president trump, outside the country, with an adversary, so much he could have said and did not say and we'll be talking about this for years to come.

certainly this is one of the news conferences that stands out as filled with surprises, filled with moments where we expected something to happen, and it went in a different direction and something i think the president will continue to be questioned about when we have opportunities to interact with him down the line. andrea? >> thank you, kelly. having gone through that, kristen welker is with us as we well. the president of the united states two years after that election cannot give up, cannot let go of the -- his feeling that someone is challenging his legitimacy. still talking about hillary clinton. talking about her server. citing conspiracy theorys. and that is getting in the way of any rational conversation with him apparently by his advisers about the dynamic here with the soviet successor vladimir putin. >> it was remarkable, andrea. and you're right.

president trump cannot delinq these two issues. his electoral victory with the investigation into russia's meddling in the u.s. investigation. it was stunning to hear the president essentially refuse the chance to say on the world stage, yes, we believe russia did this, and we are not going to tolerate it. we're not going to tolerate it moving forward and we're going to put the proper protocols in place to make sure it doesn't happen again. there's already been sharp reaction from capitol hill. you have lindsey graham coming out and calling this a missed opportunity. jeff flake even stronger in his words saying this is shameful. those are, of course, two republican lawmakers. we'll continue to get strong reaction throughout the day. a couple other headlines. you heard president putin essentially float the idea of some type of joint investigation allowing bob mueller's team to come to russia to talk to the 12

russian individuals indicted on friday. that was striking. will that ever happen? likely if you talk to foreign policy analysts. that is going to be pretty unlikely. we'll have to track that closely. but then also president trump say, look, there's blame on all sides. essentially going back to his talking points that americans bear responsibility as well. and then really wanting to make the case that the russia probe is over. that mueller finished his investigation saying this had nothing to do with anyone from my campaign when the reality is, as you and i know all too well, a number of his former campaign officials have either been indicted or pleaded guilty as a part of the russia probe. his former campaign chair paul manafort, rick gates, george papadopoulos just to name a few. his national security adviser michael flynn who lied about having contacts with russian officials during the transition. so for the president to say this had nothing to do with my campaign, everyone knows there's no collusion, he said just moments ago. this is an investigation that is

ongoing. the president continues to want to say it's finished but that's just not the case, andrea. >> and the former u.s. ambassador joins us as well. nick, one thing that occurs is donald trump believes that he's got the politics on his side, that he has so sullied the mueller probe with his repeated claims it's a witch hunt that we can gaerkts way with this politically at home especially with republican control of congress. on the world stage, is this less of an issue, what many would say disgraceful performance with vladimir putin. is this less important than reasserting that putin should not have annexed crimea? i'm -- where do you see the foreign impact or fallout from this? >> i think the enduring image from this press conference will be the weakness of donald trump. that's how the rest of the world is going to see it.

the weakness of donald trump alongside vladimir putin. not a word of criticism on russia's annexation of crimea. trump didn't even mention the nerve agent attack by the russian government against the united kingdom. he had multiple opportunities to criticize the russians for the cyberattack on our election, and then the cowardly response by president trump when he did not even defend his own intelligence community and the fbi against the word of a dishonest russian dictator. i was trying to search in my mind in modern presidential history going back 100 years, there's nothing comparable where the american president effectively concedes point after point to a dictator. the most dangerous adversary of the united states. and i just imagine how it feels to be a career foreign service officer at the state department or someone at the cia or justice department or the fbi right now

when your president has just sided with a dictator over all the work they've done. it's shocking. it's going to hurt us around the world. it will look like after that terrible trip at nato and prime minister may and chancellor merkel. the denunciation of nato. calling the eu a foe of the united states. this has been a disastrous trip by the president in terms of american power and how other countries view us. >> nick burns, and we want to play again that moment with the soccer ball just when things were getting particularly tense. vladimir putin pulls out a soccer ball. of course, a high on the victory of moscow hosting the world cup and the congratulations from president trump that opened both his bilateral meeting and the conference for how successful that was for russia on the world stage and putin then presents a soccer ball. well, right now lindsey graham has tweeted, finally, if it were

for me, i'd check the soccer ball for listening devices and never allow it into the white house. >> joining me now is chris dickey, veteran journalist for the daily beast here with me in helsinki. chris, your response? >> well, i think in front of the whole world right now, we witnessed the collusion of donald trump and vladimir putin. that's really what we were looking at. however you want to interpret it. was trump taking direction from putin? absolutely. had he met for two hours and ten minutes with putin and is there evidence he didn't really understand what was being discussed, that he department really have any background on the issues being talked about? absolutely. you can -- when putin came out, he articulated one after another point after point and anybody who knows the history and environment for the various issues, whether syria, ukraine,

investigations of past murders by putin's secret services, knows what crap that was. but donald trump does not. and for 2 1/2 hours he listened to that and came out and talked about his own election and hillary clinton. and defended vladimir putin against the intelligence services of the united states of america. if that's not collusion and also stupidity, it's, i don't know how to describe it. >> chris dickey, for katy tur, this must have been a bad recurring dream to hear the rallying lines repeated on the world stage about hillary clinton and her servers against all of the evidence that was arrayed and declassified by u.s. intelligence and presented by rod rosenstein on friday and to see the president of the united states disavowing his intelligence agencies.

>> it's one thing to hear it in grand rapids, muichigan and a whole other thing to hear it in helsinki next to vladimir putin. and his own colleagues and republican colleagues in congress had said meddled in our election. attacked our election. he did it again today. so certain ly striking. some might call it appalling. there are some questions most important now. and the first question is, what will republicans do? not what will they say or tweet. what will they do about this. we already have a bit of hints as to how they're going to react to this president. that's the way they've been react chicago ing which is to g peter strzok. the representative from pennsylvania was on yesterday, outgoing, saying that that was a show by the republicans for the president going after the man to

try and paint this whole investigation as a witch hunt. also rumblings about impeaching rod rosenstein. does that continue? the other big question is what is robert mueller thinking? wood and we also have a hint about that. july 27th was a date that stood out. that was -- july 27th, 2016, the day in the middle of the democratic convention when he called for russia to find hillary clinton's missing e-mails. he brought those e-mails up again today. we also know that robert mueller is asking pointed and direct questions of witnesses about what donald trump may have known about the hacking on that date before that date and was there a back channel for him to know about the release of those e-mails? it is striking to watch the president stand on the world stage next to the man who attacked our elections according

to our intelligence committee and say that he doesn't believe he had anything to do with it. and to diminish it and to instead blame our fbi, blame our intelligence services. it raises the question again, probably most loudly today, more loudly than any other day in this administration, or even during the campaign, why is donald trump doing this? is it all about a hurt ego, or was there something else going on? no doubt robert mueller will be getting to the bottom of that. >> katy tur who followed donald trump all the way and we can see that he has not yet given up on his animus and resentment over the election, even though he's the president of the united states. clearly the victor, still relitigating that. joining me, ambassador wendy sherman, the former under secretary of state for political affairs and msnbc global affairs contributor. and here with me in helsinki, mike mcfall, the former

ambassador to moscow. let me ask you first about the fact that the president keeps blaming the obama administration for the bad relationship with putin. you were part of that strategy. >> yes. >> and it was perhaps because you challenged putin and you paid a price for it. >> well, a, we challenged putin, but, b, putin did a lot of bad things when we were in the government. he annexed territory in ukraine. started uprising in eastern ukraine that's now led to 10,000 people being killed. he supported a brutal dictator, mr. assad in syria, and violated our sovereignty with those military intelligence officers. so that's why we have a bad relationship. and what was so extraordinary and shocking for me today watching this press conference here from helsinki was that on none of that president trump didn't push back. it was just like, okay, bygones. i just want to have a good relationship. and he said it, not me.

in four hours, i've reversed all of this. well, that was music to putin's ears. >> wendy sherman, you were involved in negotiations with vladimir putin as well. you know the u.s./russia relationship. how important it is is not just because of europe but because of russia's influence on north korea, around the world, iran, syria. nothing else really matters coming out of this meeting now that the president has conceded american intelligence to vladimir putin. >> it's really extraordinary, andrea. i asked early this morning on "morning joe" which team would donald trump be on, and it's now clear. he's either on his own team or on vladimir putin's team. but this is an america first policy. this is a donald trump first policy. and it's actually quite a devastating interview. i want to go to something, though, that katy tur just spoke to you about.

i helped get the first $2.5 billion in appropriations for the newly independent states when the soviet union broke up. and i remember mitch mcconnell, then a senator, was a fierce supporter of ukraine and really insisted, i think the amount was $300 million, which doesn't sound a lot now but was quite a bit then go to ukraine. so i want to know today, will witch mcconnell stand up not only for ukraine. will he stand up for america, for us and will he call this for what it is, a return back to the future in many ways and really taking us down a path that is very, very dangerous for the security of our country? >> ambassadors, if you'll both stand by, i want to bring in democratic senator ben carden, a member of the foreign relations committee. your reaction to what you saw today on this stage in helsinki? >> andrea, i thought mr. putin did exactly what we thought he

could do. we're shocked with our president. we've known for a long time that mr. putin directed the attack against our country. we now have indicted individuals from russia that were involved in it. we have the report from the senate foreign relations it and committee documented this and the intelligence committee report. everyone knows that russia was behind that. mr. putin was behind it and the president of the united states standing right next to mr. putin agrees with mr. putin. it is absolutely shocking. we really do have to recognize how detrimental this entire trip has been to our national security, questioning their leaders and embracing a dictator like mr. putin, it raises serious questions of the national security of america. >> phil rucker, i want to ask him about the dynamic in the room when jonathan lemir and

jeff mason challenged president trump and president putin. phil? >> i asked a colleague of there, they were direct of straightforward questions. i don't know if putin was expecting that. it was not what he's used to back in moscow. i have to tell you off to the side sitting next to sarah sanders was putin's spokesperson. he was chuckling at times and glee-full. i don't know what to make of it. that was a weird response that he had. repo repor reporters were all waiting for what jonathan lemir would do. do you believe what vladimir putin just told you and as we saw that the president declined to do so. >> when yyou know him very well.

clearly they were coming out of that news conference. >> they could not ask for a better new outcome. it was shocking. the bar was so low for president trump. the expectations was so low. all he had to do is push back on what i thought were obvious questions that you knew were coming. he chose not to do that. he made a conscious decision deciding on putin against his own government. his own director of intelligence mr. coates, i wonder what mr. putin would think, what would you think in front of that? i thought it was a disappointing performance by our president. >> how do cabinet members and john kelly, how did the others confirm head of the cia, gina

haskell, how do any of these officials do their job and work with the fbi and interact with rosenstein when you have the president of the united states calling the investigation a disaster on the world stage. >> i hope they'll do some soul searching today and decide what they're doing here and what they're drying to do. we come out of today much more concerned of the 2018 election because putin was basically given a go ahead signal to do what he has done in the 2016 election. so unless john kelly and haskell and everyone else says that we need to name someone in the white house with a lot of money behind that person to ensure that all of our electorals system are safe then i am very concern of what will happen in 2018 and who'll be held responsible for failure and at the bottom of all of this is

really so in distrust of american's institutions and democracy and i agree with an earlier speaker, it is time for americans to be out on the streets and speak up about the democracy that we hold dear and the values that we hold dear and what we expect of the president of the united states, he represents us and not himself. wendy, we understand the president has left the palace, we understand next he'll be departing helsinki once he motorcade to the airport. he does have some interviews, it will be interesting to see what kind of questions he got following those conferences. bill, our correspondent is also in the room. you have been spending so much time in moscow, they have to be gleeful of the way vladimir putin handled our president.

>> reporter: i think they will, the two leaders stood next to each other, they stood up for each other. i spent a long time watching as much as listening to president trump. he spent a lot of time looking directly at vladimir putin on many, many occasions he was nodding at him particularly when president putin was explaining how he could help interrogate the 12 intelligence officers named in the fbi report. donald trump seems to like that idea and i think what was stunning to me was how many times he equated america and the u.s. -- when asked directly who do you believe and he said i have confidence in vladimir putin as well as the american intelligence committee. he also said earlier on both countries have been foolished and both made some mistakes. well, the invasion of ukraine

was not as mistake. the annexation of crimea was not a mistake. he hardly -- i don't believe he mentioned crimea or mh-17, the fourth anniversary which is tomorrow. some of those omissions are stunning. a new story is often as much and what is not said as what is said and that was the case today. thanks to bill neely and robert costa, our friend from "the washington post." not only the pbs news hour but washington weekend review on pbs. robert, your reaction to this extraordinary news conference between donald trump and vladimir putin. >> andrea, we are looking at a major moment for figures inside this administration such as ambassador huntsman in moscow and john bolton and as well as

the continued discussions that you have been having with republicans. the president outlined a warm and embrace of russia -- now you continue in this administration, you are in essence of supporting this position. it will be interesting to see who stays and who quivels. >> you are talking about fiona hill, she's a member of the national security counsel, a career person. interesting she was brought because she was not expected to be at this summit. how must someone with all of her experience with moscow be looking at this kind of dynamic. >> i can't imagine she's pleased. that's the job i had in the white house at the first year of obama administration, it was good that she's finally there. you are sitting in the room with

a potted plant, you are not interacting or negotiating. whatever the prebrief they had with president trump before the press conference, that's how it works. you sit around your adviser and you say here is the question that we think you are going to get. whatever push back advise they were giving him which i expect she's doing but he was not listening to her. >> you can see her sitting between secretary pompeo and john kelly there. she's the only woman on the table other than the translator. kristen welker, your thoughts as we wrap up coverage for today as you go into reporting on president trump going forward. now he could have dissipated some what of what investigation and he made it so much worse. >> he has. i go back to a point that bob costa was making which will

there be top officials who decide to leave his administration and then to broaden that out. are we starting the see andrea really a reordering of alliances. as you have been reporting on throughout the hour, president trump is coming off the hills of that nato summit and which he clashed with allies who went to the u.k. and he criticized tr theresa may on her own soil and he came to helsinki with hand in hand with vladimir putin and believing him over his own intelligence agency. allies are watching this with a fair amount of concerns that these alliances are in jeopardy right now andrea. >> indeed they are. it has been a remarkable day. i want to thank all of our mini guests for their expertise. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports."

stay with us on msnbc and remain on msnbc for complete coverage of putin and trump's summit here on helsinki, stephanie will be taking over for us. >> good afternoon, i am stephanie rulhe, we got big coverage. president trump and putin taking questions from reporters. vladimir putin flat out denying in meddling into our 2016 election. >> shameful and bizarre and flat out wrong. that's the response rolling in from some republicans to what we just withined from our president. the same time under muller's microscope, the who men at