vladimir putin. >> putin is much more practice and subtle and cunning aplayer.ms at a couple of deuces at the highest level. he reasserted russia from a world stage of relative weakness like nobody i can think of. that's an amazing feet of geo politics. stadium pa : all military members stand and be recognized. sometimes fans cheer for those who wear a different uniform. no matter where or when you served, t-mobile stands ready to serve you. that's why we're providing half off family lines to all military. know what? no, what? i just switched to geico... ...and got more. more? got a company i can trust. that's a heck of a lot more. over 75 years of great savings and service. you can't argue with more. why would ya? geico expect great savings and a whole lot more. i'm a small business, but i have... big dreams... and big plans. so how do i make the efforts of 8 employees... feel like 50? how can i share new plans virtually? how can i download an e-file? virtual tours? zip-file? really big files? in seconds, not minutes... just like that. like everything... the an

people simply disappear on putin's inauguration day. ♪ >> vladimir putin!in may, with his usual grandiosity, putin assumed the presidency of russia for the fourth time. he won the way he always does, overwhelmingly. putin's chief opponent was otherwise occupied. opposition leader alexei navali was arrested while leading protests against the russian president. much of this was not seen on russian television. ♪ >> for 94% of russia, their main source of news is television. if it didn't happen on television, it didn't happen. >> putin controls television. >> there's absolutely no critical words about vladimir putin on the russian airwaves -- none, not one word. >> putin controls everything in russia. >> putin has an untrammeled authority. >> i don't see any checks on his power. >> he is able to make singular, rapid decisions. the absolutism there is unlike anything i've ever seen in russia. >> all that power is propped up by an astonishing approval rating, over 80%. and that's according to american pollsters. >> donald trump wins the presidency. >> but when th

this ought to worrier putin. this is a surreptitious across putin's bow. we know what's going on within the russian intelligence community. this gives credibility to what trump could say but he's not going to say but he could say you know, we know a lot more than we're letting on, including he could threaten to reveal information about vladimir putin's own ill gotten assets quildly believed to be stashed in the west. he could threaten to impose greater financial sanctions especially on putin and the oligarchs who have all this property in places like london and new york and bank accounts in switzerland and malta and elsewhere. these are all ways could you really hurt putin where he lives and make it clear this is what's going to happen if he continues monkeying around in our elections. of course, we all have pretty much zero confidence trump is actually going to do that, right. >> max and steve, thank you so much. syria, ukraine, sanctions all of which could be on the table at the summit. analysis of what have vladimir putin hopes to gain from his one-on-o

are asking, what did putin get? what more does he want? and is he really the most powerful man in the world? december 5th, 1989. it was a cold night in dresden, east germany. and it would change the course of vladimir putin's life. the berlin wall had just fallen. all over east germany angry crowds roamed the streets, lashing out at symbols of communist rule. that night in dresden they found a target. the local kgb headquarters. a mob surrounded the building. as the hour grew later, the crowd grew larger. inside peering through the curtains was a young kgb lieutenant colonel named vladimir putin. >> he was terrified that they were going to storm the building. >> putin was a junior officer, but the boss was away. he was in charge. >> the berlin wall had come down. police weren't going to help and he called for instructions. >> desperate for help putin dialed kgb headquarters in moscow over and over again. >> finally one official told him simply moscow is silent. >> and i think it felt like a deep betrayal to him. >>

putin say no.e never said no, we do not have any compromising material on president trump or his family. instead, vladimir putin told a lie, that he did not know who donald trump was when donald trump visited moscow with his beauty pageant. and president trump desperately wanted the last word on this. >> well, please, just disregard those issues and don't think about it. >> i have to say, if they had it, it would have been out long ago. >> as you will hear later in this program, intelligence officials disagree with that. if vladimir putin had compromising information on donald trump or his family of course he would keep it as his little secret with donald trump so that he could control donald trump, especially in one-on-one meetings with donald trump. and then president trump threw in a last line today to end the press conference with a trumpian dash of incoherence. >> and if anybody watched peter strzok testify over the last couple of days -- and i was in brussels watching it -- it was a disgrace

against what putin is doing. tois the president's job articulate basic truths. and while we are being clearer about what vladimir putin is hu. we believe that this isn't just true of 320 million americans. it's true of 7.5 billion people across this globe. we believe in free speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, the right of protest not because government gifts us those rights but god created us with dignity. governments are just tools to secure the rights that people have by virtue of having been created with dignity. in other words, we believe the very stuff that terrifies vladimir putin. vladimir putin believes only that might makes right. americans don't believe that. we never have and may we never devolve to believing only that. we're dedicated to the thesis that the dignity of every person is worth protecting. it is not the job of the united states government to be the policeman of every nation on earth, but it is most clearly part of the united states' job to articulate on

and vladimir putin shows up late in typical putin style. putin sitting there, slumped down in the chair sort of in classic putin style. it occurs to several people putin has already won, just by virtue of the fact we have this picture of the two together. is that an accurate assessment? >> absolutely. that's actually how moscow sees it. people who are in official positions in moscow have not exactly been hiding it. they've been crowing all over social media all morning. the main russian state television, the main newscast last night was saying this is already a victory for vladimir putin. donald trump is coming in there after a crazy visit through brussels and london, and it was all kind of a pit stop on the way to helsinki which is the most important stop, and trump is going in from a position of weakness. these are all official russian news outlets or kremlin officials saying this publicly. they're not hiding anymore who they see the power dynamic. they're not pretending it is a meeting of equals. >> i would make one short comment and i w

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 n

is no vladimir putin. >> putin is a much more practiced, subtle, cunning player.a couple of deuces at the highest level. he has reasserted russia on the world stage from a position of relatively weakness like nobody i can think of. that is an amazing feat of geopolitics. . id you have in mind? i don't know. $4.95 per trade? uhhh and i was wondering if your brokerage offers some sort of guarantee? guarantee? where we can get our fees and commissions back if we're not happy. so can you offer me what schwab is offering? what's with all the questions? ask your broker if they're offering $4.95 online equity trades and a satisfaction guarantee. if you don't like their answer, ask again at schwab. the smoother the skin, the more comfortable you are in it. and now there's a new way to smooth. introducing new venus platinum. a premium metal handle boosts control... to reveal up to 100% smooth skin. venus ayep, and my teeth are yellow.? time for whitestrips. crest glamorous white whitestrips are the only ada-accepted whitening strips proven to be safe and effective. and the

named today was vladimir putin. instead our president decided to advance a fake moral equivalency that plays right into the hands of vladimir putin's bloody hands. everyone in this body should be disgusted by what happened in helsinki today. helsinki today. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> the only thing that cuts through his information of value.

meets with vladimir putin. before telling you what we can expect on the schedule today the president had an opportunity to meet with finland's president and talk about the relationship we have with their country and the last opportunity for the two leaders to meet over the nato summit. listen to what the president said not long ago. >> highly respect your country and our personal relationship is very good and i enjoyed being with you a couple days ago. nato has never been stronger and clearly was a little bit tough in the beginning and turned out to be love. really was great and everybody together and very worthwhile but appreciate your support and help and you treated us beautifully, thank you very much. >> the president pleased with the way he feels this country has been treated and earlier this morning we saw the pres. and first lady meeting their finish counterparts at the residence, a chance to soak it all up, an opportunity not just for the president to meet with b meant to solidify our relationship with

he can actually confront vladimir putin. he can stand up to vladimir putin. he has no problem standing up to angela merkel. he has no problem standing up to theresa may, not face to face of course but in the pages of the tabloid "sun," a rupert murdoch publication. when he's face to face with people, he does have seem to have a problem to stand up to somebody, particularly to vladimir putin. but he doesn't even stand up to vladimir putin when he's giving interviews or behind putin's back as he does with most world leaders. john, i'm wondering what you thought of this press conference. >> i'm shaking my head like everyone else you've spoken to in the last 30 minutes or so. i've been here for 30 years. i came to washington in the final months of the reagan administration and i have never seen an american president simply surrender to the leader of russia. you should call this the surrender summit. to that point he could have said we're not going to resolve what happened in 2016. president putin says he didn't do it. but i'm here to say if this happens on my wat

or not he believes putin. it was interesting what putin said we had common entrance, better to focus on those points of convergence rather than divergence so that they could work together on some of the issues. we did not get very far on crimea and whether or not the president asked vladimir putin or told him to get out of crime crimea, putin seems to believe the invasion was perfectly legal. he said they held a referendum on it. he knows president trump's position on it. nuclear weapons is another big issue. no particular movement on that front other than for further dialogue. critics will look at this and say, nothing came of this except that the president looked like he was cozying up to vladimir putin supporters of the president say it was probably a good thing when you consider how bad an adversarial relationship between the united states and russia could be. you do open lines of communication, you do open lines of dialogue, you do reduce the tension in the relationship. i think we are at the very beginni

putin. i've asked, i won't bring you in on this, i've been asking, but we all know that vladimir putin is holding something over donald trump. we do not know what it is. but we know it must be something extraordinary, because no rational politician, no rational president would act this way if he weren't being blackmailed on some level. >> well that may be true, and we have to entertain that possibility now. the other part of it is what jon alluded to, the vanity question, which is that any implication or suggestion or evidence that shows that president trump's election in 2016 was anything other than legitimate is a blow to the president's ego and he can't stand that and is willing to stand next to the president of russia and say i take your word over that of my intel community so it doesn't undermine my election. >> right, willie, but here's the thing. it wasn't just about the 2016 election. we first here on "morning joe," in the december -- in december of 2015, a year before the results of

>> no, we don't but in vladmir putin's russia, vladmir putin can do whatever he wants.sman gowdy is 100% right here. this needs to be top of mind for president trump going into the meeting this morning. election meddling is not a matter of domestic politics. it is a matter of national security and if the united states doesn't take a hard-line on this, and isn't cans tent, not just going to hurt us here in the upcoming elections, including president trump's re-election campaign in 2020, it will have broad implications for our allies in western and central europe who have been subjected to this kind of meddling for better part of a. gerri: go to michael. i want to talk about this idea what is going on in syria. seems the administration, trump in particular wants help from russia in syria getting iran out. is that possible? what kind of role could russia play and what's realistic here? >> well that is actually realistic. the russians do seem to be helping limiting the role in iran. iran and russia are allies of convenience. the reason we have to be very, very careful i thi

and accept putin's routine denials.rican diplomacy and in this mueller investigation, joe as you're pointing out, mike mcfaul. there's no way that american intelligence -- >> would have declassified all this stuff. >> and declassified all this in such detail if they did not believe it was important to say so on the world stage and to tell the russians we know what you did. vladimir putin, we know that you were in charge. and we know how you did it and we're on to your game. >> no, i agree. joe, what you said about vladimir putin. let's call it like it is. he is a liar about this. he's lied many times. what they put out on friday. remember, i worked in the government for five years at the national security council in moscow, this level of detail is really hard to get declassified. we used to have these arguments all the time for declassifying things for national intelligence community. this suggests it's serious and they wanted to send a message. b, let's applaud our intelligence community. think about the level of detai

putin. good morning. welcome to "early start." i'm christine romans. >> i'm dave briggs. tuesday, july 17th. we start with the president back in washington this morning after a summit with russian president vladimir putin. and it capped the overseas trip which could go down as one of the most damaging in u.s. history. he sold out the america with this answer. >> just now, president putin denied with the election interference in 2016. every agency concluded that russia today. my first question for you, sir, who do you believe? >> let me say that we have two thoughts. you have groups that are wondering why the fbi never took the server. why haven't they taken the server? why was the fbi told to leave the office of the democratic national committee? with that being said, all i can do is ask the question. my people came to me. dan coats came to me and others said they think it's russia. i have president putin and he just said it's not russia. i will say this. i don't see any reason why it would

actually what putin said about obama. i know obama is very honest actually what putin said about obama. i think obama is that honest man an honest man who really wants to change much for the better that's what putin said about obama. well i mean i think anything's said about obama it's not going to be. you know caught in the media you know trump's way more talk about trump it's way more sexy in you know intriguing to the general public so i think that's probably why you know the media doesn't make it big a deal about that i found the media has gotten much more fractured and much more opinionated over my lifetime it's much more of a of a left and right kind of. mouthpiece that it used to be i think so what you might say back in two thousand and twelve russia wasn't the boogie man there was no alleged tagging no reported meddling no conspiracies yeah there was it was just a trained person to bomb a determined to ingratiate himself with the kremlin this unfortunately seems to be the real meaning of his reset policy outstandi

for something maybe that putin wants. would you advise the president to do that? >> well, first of all, what the indictment doesn't have is any link to the trump campaign. >> but let's put that to the side. i'm talking about russian interference because it matters because the president always says, roger, it didn't happen. >> no. well, let's not put it to the side. let's address it, and then i'll answer your question. there's nothing in this indictment that shows collusion or coordination or conspiracy with donald trump or the trump campaign. >> right, but it's not the point of the indictment. it doesn't say anything about me either. that's equally immaterial. >> the president made it clear earlier in the week that he intended to bring up the question of hacking with putin. i think he intends to do so. he should certainly do so. >> should he ask for the extradition of the 12 people named? >> i would not be opposed to that because i would like these charges to be either proven or disproven. >> do you think he will? >> i'm

"by president putin. hopefully president putin will have the 12 identified are russians come to the a united states to prove their innocence or guilt." you spoke to mike mcfaul today. what did he say? >> well, you know, i should say first of all that i've known mike mcfaul since -- for nearly two decades since the very beginning when the "washington post" decided to send me and my husband, peter baker, to moscow, and it was mike mcfaul, a stanford professor at the time, who was a very generous tutor in all things russia and has continued to be someone i've talked with and learned from even during his sort of unlikely tour as a high-level political adviser to barack obama on russia. so i happened to reach mike by telephone minutes after that statement was released by the white house. he hadn't heard it yet so i read it out loud to him. he was driving in the car to the airport. i said, well, you know, what do you think about this? and, you know, he was sort of silent for a second. he said, that's not really

kevin: it was classic vladimir putin. during the answer, president trump tried to get the answer of president bruton with the throw away -- the answer of president putin with a throwaway line involving the world cup. president clinton -- president putin offering a delayed response back. the laughter was muffled. it was not a thing that dominated the room. there was a key moment in which the reporter asked president he wanted candidate donald trump to win the election and putin saying directly, yes i did and then changing to another question. vladimirof policy, putin saying president trump reiterated the u.s. position that the u.s. does not recognize the annexation of crimea to russia. beyond that, in terms of cybersecurity, president bruton suggestingt putin they would be open to an international framework between the united states and russia. the fallout here will be dominated by president trump's comments regarding his previous democratic challenger hillary clinton regarding the intelligence community. and donaldutin, t

in fact, he has said he's going to ask putin. we don't need to ask putin whether he did it.t he did it and merely by phrasing it as a question, i think betrays the confidence the president of the united states ought to have in his own intelligence agencies. >> but congressman, let me ask you, putin has met with three very different presidents in the past. look where that has gotten the world. we've seen russia meddle in the united states election, annex crimea during the obama years and use military force in syria during the obama years. an exparts of georgia during the bush years. who to say the trump style won't work? to play devil's advocate, why not take a different approach? >> certainly the other approaches have been unsuccessful but there's no reason to suspect this won't be frankly a disastrous approach. he's sitting down with a man who just ordered intervention in our own election and rewarding him for doing so. there's no way that brings about a successful result and you can certainly say these other approaches failed so maybe we just ought to go to putin hat in ha

tom donilon has met with putin before.t stake, and the former national security adviser will pass along his wisdom to you tonight. so you know who was stunned by the news of the invite? the head of u.s. intelligence, dan coats.

confront putin. >> i suppose.that's not what the president said. the president thought it was to make a better relationship with him. >> i don't think the policy was to confront him, certainly not in the president's mind. >> evidently not. evidently not. >> i also think the fundamental question that comes out of this where i'm in total agreement, why does the president do this? getting to the bottom of why is what we cannot lose sight of. >> hold all of those thoughts because we also need to talk about what the effect is on the international stage. >> i have a tweet from a leader from a different country who calls this utterly hideous. germany says it now will reorient its policy because it can no longer assume the united states is a friend. we'll talk much more about this going forward. ♪ . ♪ if you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, little things can be a big deal. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin

i also want to congratulate russia and preez putin for having -- and president putin for having done such an excel gent job for hosting the world cup. >> translator: speaking of the football, actually. mr. president, i'll give this ball to you. and now the ball is in your court. >> joining me now is jeff zeleny, cnn senior white house correspondent. he joins me here in helsinki. again, you and i talked about this already. really disgaysful performance by this president on the world stage. given the chance by reporters who were tough in their questioning, two american reporters, tough in their questioning to the president, asking him if there was anything he had to say to putt putin face to face about his meddling in the election. the president blinked and scurried away essentially. talk us through what we just witnessed and what you are hearing about the fallout around the world. >> anderson it was extraordinary. mainly because of the setting in which this meeting happened. we heard president trump repeatedly give denials of russian interference this the election he said it certainly

>> i know putin. and we get along with putin. putin has no respect for president obama.blem. big problem. i think that we would get along with a lot of countries thoo we don't get along with today and we'll be a lot richer for it. >> so if you needed anymore reason to not believe as people attempt a cleanup, that was the president answering a question from the russian spy indicted today and charged with being a foreign agent, who i don't know if he coincidentally called on her. but the idea that donald trump had anything other than putin's world view or putin's explanation for what happened during the election in mind is ridiculous. >> up until that statement today, he had been ideologically consistent on this issue of how you views putin and russia. and it flies in the face of reality. we have seen it time and time again. and i tried to prompt him to say once and for all. because every time he talks about collusion and election interference, he always hedges his bets. and this is a moment where he could have said he did it. or at least chosen to say don't do it again. l

make no mistake, putin has a reason. the reason is clear to all those who have been watching growing russian authoraranism in recent years. putin wants to weaken the u.s. government. putin wants to destroy nato which isn't just an alliance. it's arguably the most important military alliance in two millenia. undermine confidence in self-government not only in this country but around the world. that's why putin, a soviet-styled dictator who thinks more about american elections than his sham elections attacked us in 2016. it's why he's planning to attack america this fall in 2018. it's why there are ongoing information operations against the u.s. and against our public at present as everyone who goes into the skiff and reads their intelligence briefing knows. it's why putin is planning to attack the u.s. 2020 election already. and that's why the men and women of the u.s. intelligence community unanimously and without any regard to party understand that putin waged an information operation against the united states in 2016.

putin reportedly wants him dead.ay by name in his press conference with the president. let's go "outfront." >>> and good evening to all. i'm erin

putin. good morning, everybody on this special edition of "america's newsroom." i'm bill hemmer live from helsinki, finland. sandra, good morning. what a day we have ahead of us. >> sandra: a big three hours ahead. good morning, bill. i'm sandra smith in new york city. the two leaders are meeting alone. going on for about 90 minutes. i understand it's all hands on deck with security in the area, of course. >> it is. we're located on the port on the southern edge of the city. you see the ferris wheel and lights. you come to the swimming pool area that's closed down and sweep around to the presidential palace, the building in yellow painted behind us. vladimir putin arrived first, president trump arrived about 10, 12 minutes after that. they were expected to begin at an earlier time today. that was delayed about 50 minutes or an hour, sandra. we believe the two of them are still meeting at the moment. they had blocked that on the schedule a period of 90 minutes. they've gone over that period a

president putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today. >> president putin, did you want president trump to win the election? >> there was no collusion. i didn't know the president. there was nobody to collude with. it's ridiculous what's going on with the probe. i think that the united states has been -- >> i was in intelligence myself and i do know how -- >> does the russian government have any compromising material on president trump or his family? >> translator: i did have -- we allegedly collected material in moscow. when president trump was in moscow back then i didn't even know he was in moscow. >> i would have to say if they had it it would have been out long ago. >> condemnation pouring in from experts alike. we have been hearing from democrats and republicans and intelligence experts and, of course, from journalists. >> he took the word of the kgb over the men and women of the cia. >> outrageous, something that is a disgrace and all americans should be ashamed of that performance. >> today turned what's been an ongoing problem of donald trump as president, in te

there's millions of americans who increasingly according to recent polls don't think putin or putin'sa are real threat to the united states and tend to be trump supporters and there's an all time high number of democrats who seem to think putin and putin's russia are a great threat to the united states. i'm here at the historic institution in upstate new york to deliver a speech on exactly that topic today. given how how unprecedented this is and the rule of law presented by the closed door meeting between trump and put pen, how do we move forward in a way that's clear eyed and hopefully some day effective. >> senator, what is the end game here do you think? beyond being pals with putin and president trump has talked a lot about wanting a personal relationship, warm relationship with him, what is the president's end game here? >> well, we don't yet know, and to be hopeful, if you look at his whiplash performances at the g-7 and nato summit, one of the challenges with our president is that he tends to come in to big meetings full of bluster and approach that is in one direction and wit

for something maybe that putin wants. would you advise the president to do that? >> well, first of all, what the indictment doesn't have is any link to the trump campaign. >> but let's put that to the side. i'm talking about russian interference because it matters because the president always says, roger, it didn't happen. >> no. well, let's not put it to the side. let's address it, and then i'll answer your question. there's nothing in this indictment that shows collusion or coordination or conspiracy with donald trump or the trump campaign. >> right, but it's not the point of the indictment. it doesn't say anything about me either. that's equally immaterial. >> the president made it clear earlier in the week that he intended to bring up the question of hacking with putin. i think he intends to do so. he should certainly do so. >> should he ask for the extradition of the 12 people named? >> i would not be opposed to that because i would like these charges to be either proven or disproven. >> do you think he will? >> i'm

putin will sit down. a quick look at the schedule for people watching at home. 5:40, we expect the president and first lady to depart for the finnish palace. you will see people go in and out of the tent. poost is suppos-- putin is supp come first. then trumps. a book signing is at 6:20. that is when we look for remarks and the meeting. let's set the stage. this is a very august place. history has happened here. are we in the right place? is this a big event or is it something smaller the way the white house is advising snus? >> it is small, but it is big. it is not really history because many presidents have met their soviet counterparts here. it is an important meeting. helsinki has occupied a really important place in traditional cold war tensions between the two sides. subsequently after the fall of the soviet union, this is the place. this is when the western alliance are at serious odds over fundamentals of international policy and international rules of the road. not just in the systems and elsewhe

amy: the trump-putin summit. first, the 90 minute one-on-one meeting trouble hold with russian president vladimir putin in helsinki were only their translators will attend the meeting. he faces pressure to confront putin over kremlin meddling in among otherction, issues. we will host a debate on u.s.-russia relations with pulitzer prize-winning journalist glenn greenwald, just back from russia visiting edward snowden, and joe cirincione, president of the plowshares fund. at first, we look at protests that greeted both trump and putin in finland. world leaders are not really paying attention to our real global challenges such as climate change, p poverty, degradation on the environment. amongssage will be, others, that this is not only about geopolitics, this is really about global challenges. amy: we will speak with finnish mp heidi hautala of the european parliament from finland and a member of the green league come a part of the european green party. all of that in more, coming up. welcome to demococracy now!,

siding with putin. president trump comes out of his meeting with the russian president and rebukes u.s. intelligence agencies citing putin's strong and powerful denial of interference in the 2016 presidential election. >>> yes, i did. putin confirms the intelligence community's conclusion that he wanted president trump to beat hillary clinton because he says mr. trump wanted to bring u.s. relations with russia back to normal. >>> disgraceful performance. republicans react to the president's remarks with everything from shock to horror to disgust. including mr. trump's own director of national intelligence and the daughter of his ambassador to russia. >>> and russian agent caught? a russian gun rights activist with links to the national rifle association is charged with being a spy for moscow and infiltrating groups with influence on american politics. i'm wolf blitzer in helsinki. you're in "the situation room." >>> we're following breaking news. truly astounding remarks by president trump following his

president putin would be coming here to see an assemble of u.s. military power and parade and our service members when he is actually actively attacking us as we speak in the run up to the 2018 election. i am here at the security forum, we heard yesterday from a senior executive from microsoft that microsoft has specific data on hacks related to the 2018 election. it wasn't really surprising admission, but it was i think the first specific evidence that we've seen come out publicly. so president putin could be sitting next to president trump watching the military parade while russia is literally attacking us in real time. it is a disconcerting thought. shawn and i worked together at the white house, it is an enormous strain on the intelligence community whenever any foreign leader comes. in this case we would be literally letting the person attacking us come onto the home land, and we have to devote incredible intelligence assets to support that visit and try to mitigate any counter intelligence attack that would happen during that time as well. >

maybe it wasn't putin.o fundamentally concerning -- >> neil: i don't know what he said privately. it's a he said he said thing and putin is telling he had nothing to do with it, blah, blah, blah. i'll give the benefit of the doubt there. what i am worried about is, if he continues with follow up talks and dealing with vladimir putin at a time that he's had harsh things to say about the european union and whether that is our enemy, whether the canadians are really friends, it -- i don't think it looks good. that's just me. >> no, i agree when given the opportunity, you should have sided with the intelligence community over what vladimir putin said. i think that his response was sloppy. he bungled it up. in a way to redeem himself -- his voters voted for him because he said he would not bungle relations with north korea. he wouldn't bungle relations with russia the way -- >> neil: but aren't a lot of his core supporters, and he has many, but aren't they also suspicious of vladimir putin? say what you will --

siding with putin.ump comes out of his meeting with the russian president and rebukes u.s. intelligence agencies citing putin's strong and powerful denial of interference in the 2016 presidential election. >>> yes, i did. putin confirms the intelligence community's conclusion that he wanted president trump to beat hillary clinton because he says mr. trump wanted to bring u.s. relations with russia back to normal. >>> disgraceful performance. republicans react to the president's remarks with everything from shock to horror

putin is lying through his teeth. again, this is completely inexplicable. of course putin is lying.g to confess to meddling in our elections. the president doesn't need to ask vladimir putin if he meddled. the president needs to tell him that he meddled and we're going to respond to it. and then see how vladimir putin responds. you can't assume that that man is going to be telling you the truth, it's just absurd. >> the fbi director christopher wray was asked tonight if he has ever threatened to resign. watch this. >> there have been stories that you've threatened to resign. have you ever hit a point on that issue of sources or methods or anything else where you said, this is a line? >> as i said, i'm a low key, understated guy. but that should not be mistaken for what my spine is made out of. >> so you have -- >> i'll just leave it at that. >> max, if the answer was no, why not just say it? >> well, he was suggesting that he has had to resist trump's attempts to politicize the law enforcement and intelligence community. and that's hardly surprising, because there's a longtime patte

defers to vladimir putin. it simply makes no sense. >> he is, stephanie, out ahead by lengths, of the people on his team, some of whom you know. people who have the traditional view of russia. this president is his own operator. >> it simply makes no sense, especially when you pile on the russian meddling. you know, it is nonsense when the president says, put it on obama. that's when he was in office. >> right. >> you heard from dan coats several days ago, that the risks we are facing right now, with continued russian meddling, they're the same flashing lights we saw in terms of not a cyberattack but a real attack, a physical attack, before 9/11. yet, the president continues to say, yes, the press is interested in answering that. imagine. imagine if he doubled down and shut up and said, bring me the 25 russians who we indicted. >> imagine if he brought them, jeremy, as you and i said on the broadcast friday night, imagine if the president came to the lectern with both documents from the mueller investigation,

i don't know if it's sincere or putin's part.think that the united states would actually take him up on that offer. it's one he put forth as his information campaign really. >> shepard: michael gordon, the national security correspondent for the wall stre"wall street ." thanks. >> thank you. >> shepard: a reminder, chris wallace's sit down interview airs at 6:00 eastern time, 5:00 central. two hours from now on "special report" with bret baier. we help you're with brett and chris tonight. should news break out, we'll break in. breaking news changes everything on fox news channel. it's "your world" after this update and then i'll be on facebook at the top of the hour. baby boomers, here's something you should know. there's a serious virus out there that 1 in 30 boomers has, yet most don't even know it. a virus that's been almost forgotten. it's hepatitis c. hep c can hide in the body for years without symptoms. left untreated it can lead to liver damage, even liver cancer. the only way to know if you have hep c is to ask your heal

actually, putin wants her. putin today came out and said not true.anted -- i wanted donald trump to win. the second thing i heard was n my experience in 35 years of doing this, foreign policy stops at the oceans, the atlantic and the pacific. what the president has said in the last couple of days is it's actual three democrats' fault in a their servers were so vulnerable that they could be exploited and it is the fault of the department of justice, the fbi, the director of national intelligence, the cia, the nsa to be telling me that the russians are interfering. i believe the rm forekgb agent. i don't remember seeing anything like this. >> i haven't seen anything like this either. jim sciutto, what is the reaction from your sources in washington? >> shocked. i have been speaking to those closest to the russia investigation. these are their neighbors. one said like so many people around the world who hold america dear i am exploding now being thrown under the bus as russia perpetrates war in ukraine. i have heard from former ukrainians who describe t

the summit gives putin an early victory on that front. since the days of strolling in moscow with bill clinton, meeting president bush in the oval office, and later on the bush family compound -- >> first i'd like to congratulate president putin for being the only person that caught a fish today. >> reporter: the russian president has become isolated, punished by much of the world for the invasion of crimea, the downing of a polish plane, the deadly nerve attack in the united kingdom, and more atrocities. after a reset with president obama, trump has repeatedly diminished any dark motives by putin, who's even become a central theme at his campaign rallies. >> they're going, president trump, be prepared, president putin is kgb and this and that. you know what, putin's fine. he's fine. we're all fine. we're people. will i be prepared? totally prepared. i've been prepared for this stuff my whole life. >> reporter: the helsinki meeting is trump's first solo summit with putin after an initial introduction last summer at the g20 summit in germa

if the president refused to say it standing next to vladimir putin, he said he believed vladimir putin, why would russia have anything to do with this? jeffrey, what's your take? having listened to the director of the national intelligence say just that last week. >> i think it's pretty shocking. what really troubles me is that president trump consistently reduces the entirety of u.s. national security interests down to his own personal issues. i am not sure he is reading his briefings. it's clear why the russians did this. they always believed we med eld in their elections. you can't let that drive a pragmatic and serious security concerns. >> he brought up hillary clinton today. he talked about the emails again. 30,000 emails. said thing he said on july 27th. we know that intelligence officials, their ears perked certainly from that indictment. we also know that the mueller indictment, that is the day that russian intelligence officers start the looking into hillary clinton's personal server and emails for the very first time. >> yeah. i mean, he is like some sort of cave man that is

diplomat to putin. it seems absurd as his own state department said and completely outrage. >> it is that. i could not get over -- i'm still trying to get my head around what i witnessed in helsinki. and now to hear this, that he would even consider it, and that sarah sanders didn't reject it out of hand, is crazy. i've never heard of such a thing. to turn over any u.s. citizen, particularly a former ambassador, for the russians to interrogate him, you've got to be kidding. >> so i mentioned that the state department said that it was, you know, absolutely absurd. that's a quote from them. but i want to read to you from the former ambassador mcfaul, "i hope the white house corrects the record and denounces in categorical terms this request from putin. not doing so creates moral equivalency between a legitimate indictment of russian intelligence officers and a crazy, completely fabricated story invented by putin." what's your reaction, director? >> i completely agree with ambassador mcfaul. you know, it j

i submit that being friends with putin and having a relationship with putin where you can think of thehone and talk is valuable to the united states. i further submit that mueller should take putin up on this deal. he should send his agents to moscow. when they question those dirty dozen, let them -- what are we afraid of? that mueller's guys are going to blurt out some state secret that some spook in the corners going to write down? it's ridiculous. it's a good idea. let them talk to these guys. let our prosecutors watch the russia prosecutors and ask these dudes questions. >> dana: and exchange commode pollutants have in the press conference, is he wanted to be able to question bill browder, an american citizen and lawyer who was defending the magnitsky act. that's one reason i can see why not to do it. >> jesse: here's what i would've said about the presidents. i would've said russia muddled and i trust our agencies assessment of eight. this happened under obama. i confronted vladimir putin about this. he denied it. it is what it is. we are trying to move past it. we have put it beh

one of those ways that putin pushes -- >> dana: reminds me of when putin told george w. bush that his dog was bigger, faster and stronger than barney, which gave us a collective eye roll. anton, thank you. >> thank you. >> dana: after the indictment of 12 russian intelligence officers, vladimir putin says russia and the u.s. should work together on cyber security. you think that is a good idea? we'll talk to a former cia station chief about that very thing next. since my stroke, he hasn't left my side. with the right steps, 80% of recurrent ischemic strokes could be prevented. a bayer aspirin regimen is one step to help prevent another stroke. so, i'm doing all i can to stay in his life. be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. from this day forward, 'til death do us part. selectquote can help you keep your promise. with life insurance starting under $1 a day. but you promised dad. come on. selectquote helped jim, 41, keep his promise by finding him a $500,000 policy for under $26 per month. and found kathy, 37, a $750,000 policy for just $22 p

i know putin, and i'll tell you what, we get along with putin. believe i would get along very nicely with putin, okay? >> of course technically when he says i know putin that's before he ever met putin, right? except for the green room thing where they were on the same "60 minutes" episode -- >> i think he meant to say, erin -- erin, i think he meant to say, putin knows me. >> that's the question to you, how troubling is this? by the way, she interacted with trump and his family in some way four times. >> yeah, well, you know, i have a feeling, erin, that bob mueller has a giant white board up in his office and it's got all kinds of lines connecting all kinds of people and all kinds of money and all kinds of russian actors. some we've heard about already. many we probably haven't heard of. one day he's going to take that white board down and he's going to show it to the american people. i hope he does it before the midterm because we can survive two years of trump. we may -- our institutions may hold for four. we cannot survive eight years of thi