opening remarks before they went into that one on one meeting in finland the presidential palace in helsinki trump said they discussed the nuclear arms and china putin said he wanted to talk about hotspots but there was no mention of allegations of russian interests here and it's in the twenty sixteen u.s. election that's talked to our diplomatic editor james bays in helsinki i suppose really both men need to measure each other up and tread carefully. well that's certainly it seems how president trump felt about it because certainly president putin laid out things like the war in syria and said that they had had some painful differences the u.s. president much more upbeat and seemed to avoid the areas that are the real sticking points between the u.s. and russia issues like ukraine the anniversary of m.h. seventeen those two hundred ninety eight people who died is four years ago on choose day suggest coming up in a matter of hours avoiding russia's role in syria and avoiding that whole issue election meddling even though there was indictment of twelve russian agents just a few days ago and he's ge

trump the u.s. president arrives in helsinki. and you know when trump is in town he's here to meet vladimir putin russia's president in a high profile and much anticipated summit it's the last stop on trump's european tour and like elsewhere he's been met with protests around two thousand finns turned out in helsinki to oppose the president's views and the protesters are all too happy with putin's track record either what will the leaders discuss well it isn't that clear trump's administration has said they are looking for anything concrete i don't expect anything i frankly don't expect with very low expectations i think they're getting along with the russians a good thing but it's possible. the summit in helsinki is being billed more as an opportunity for the leaders to improve their report then as a chance to hammer out a new relationship but it hasn't all been plain sailing in a television interview the day before he left for helsinki trump once again rattled his european allies. asked who he thought his number one foe was trum

perpetrator of the election interference or you treacherous act he is unable to confront russia after helsinki trump invited putin to d.c. for another summit however another wave of hysteria ensued but just an hour before pompei as scheduled testimony john bolen trumps national security advisor announced that the summit would be postponed john bolen explained the decision citing the current political climate as the main reason saying that the meeting should take place after the quote russia witch hunt is over so this decision appears to be a move to calm down his domestic critics it's clear that the pressure has worked i mean all this these claims about treason and being traitorous worked to pressure him to back off normalizing relations with russia i believe this is being done in the interest of continuing the u.s. on a permanent war footing and wasting trillions of dollars on wars and military equipment that we don't need to and russia is an excuse for that. meanwhile faces a major test of his presidency later this year in the guise of mid-term elections widely seen as being a vote of confidence i

trump is backtracking from remarks he made it a summit with russia's vladimir putin on monday in helsinki trump cast doubt on u.s. intelligence findings that russia made altering the twenty sixteen presidential election with lawmakers back carm accusing him of siding with an adversary on tuesday in washington trumped told reporters he misspoke saying he accepts that russian meddling did take place.

always appreciate charles let me go to you first in london here we had after the afterglow of helsinki trump appeared to have want to have another bite at the apple and then he changed his mind we can talk about why that happened and then putin turns around and invites trump to moscow the same kind of perilous jeopardy or is a different gambit in play go ahead charles in london what i think both presidents have showed what is possible and what is possible what's the. or should we say what trump himself might even call the deep state push to one.

trump and president putin. now they're going to go behind closed doors one on one just translators for the first part of this all day meeting in helsinki, finland. pretty remarkable comments there from president trump starting it out. the two big events, the indictment of 12 russian nationals for interferiing in or election and france winning the world cup. he chose to congratulate him and did not mention russian meddling in our elections. >> reporter: he did not. he promises he will but this is a sign of just how seriously president trump wants to rebuild the relationship with moscow. most u.s. presidents have come to meetings with russian or soviet leaders speaking for the west, speaking for what used to be called the free world with the nations of europe and many other nations at their back having heft in those discussions because it wasn't just the american president. america first sometimes maybe means america alone in that room because president trump spent the last several days pushing back against the european union and other close allies and so here he is clearly bothet on s common terms they can start work on their agenda whi

about that press conference in helsinki, trump next to putin, trump agreeing with putin at times, a vastmajority of, 79% of republicans surveyed say they approved of the way the president handled that news conference. and among republicans 85% of those polled would describe the russia investigation as a distraction more than they would a serious issue. with us tonight to talk about it two of our returning favorites, connie schultz who is now a nationally syndicated columnist. in her spare time she happens to be married to ohio senator brown. jeremy, again we stress those numbers are among republicans. when you hear people casually say we're a 60-40 country, where do you put the party split? so how many people -- what's the percentage of the whole we're talking about there? >> well, that is good question, brian. i think when you see these 90% approval ratings or close to that among republicans for president trump, where you see the close to 80% of people who are republicans who say they approved of this press conference in helsinki, the question is whether or not the republican party is s

let me go to you first in london here we had after the afterglow of helsinki trump appeared that want to have another bite at the apple and then he changed his mind we can talk about why that happened and then potent turns around and invites trump to moscow the same kind of perilous jeopardy or is it a different gambit in play go ahead charles in london what i think for me for both presidents showed what is possible and what is possible once the operators of crecy or shall we say what trump himself might even call the deep state is pushed to one side as we know in the house and it was very much of a one on one conversation apart from the interpreters and we still don't know the full extent of what was discussed and although much in american media and british media even have pointed to that in a very prejudicial way as if we should know everything that is discussed between leaders of course this is completely normal of course when it comes to conferences and meetings between people of course there's an awful lot of chatter that goes on behind the scenes and that's as it has to be as in

helsinki. >> donald trump seems to think that vladimir putin is his friend and russia is our friend when thats simply not the case. >> i think i would have a very good relationship with puts putin. >> he is putin's poodle and will not hold them accountable. >> he goes i love russia. i love the united states. >> the president feels he can give vladimir putin a big hug and everything will be totally fine. >> i've been preparing for this stuff my whole life. >> reporter: the eyes of the world are on this summit. ♪ >>> this is "new day weekend" victor blackwell and christi paul. >>> good morning to you. thank you for spending time bus here. >>> president trump is getting in another round of golf at his resort in scotland before he heads to finland and before his historic meeting with russian president vladimir putin. >> the third stop on his tour the one he is vocal about saying frankly putin might be the easy easiest of them all. >> president trump has been very free with his advice to nato countries in the uk. this morning, british prime minister theresa may told the bbc that president trump to

angela merkel came in for heavy criticism for donald trump before he got to helsinki. the fact there is silence tells you a huge amount about what president trump's nato allies feel. if he cannot trust his intelligence services, how can he trust his allys? >> ni -- allies? >> nic, thank you. >>> and president trump answering a question about whether the ball is now in russia's court on syria by handing president trump a soccer ball. the world cup wrapped up in russia and putin said to trump, the ball is now in your court. the u.s. will host the tournament in 2026. president trump said the ball can go to barron and tossed it to the first lady. graham said i would check the soccer ball for listening devices and never allow it in the white house. probably a joke, but interesting point indeed about lindsey graham. president trump was complime complimentary of the world cup. >> he likes a good show. >>> american politicians and world leaders are not the only ones stunned by the president's comments in helsinki. listen to the late night comments. >> where are the servers? i w

relations committee and he was essentially forced to reveal a secret deal made between trump and putin last week in helsinki but in general pump aoe held his ground occasionally snapping back once or twice assuring everybody that trump did not show any weakness but check out what else happened which has been the same to steadily raise the cost of aggression with aggression until vladimir putin chooses a less confrontational foreign policy otherwise the administration will continue imposing tough actions against russia in response to its malign activities and i personally make clear to the russians that will be severe consequences for interference in our democratic processes in helsinki we sought to explore whether russia was interesting and we're proving our relationship made clear that the ball is in russia's court. pump air also reiterated that trump agrees with the intelligence community's assessment that russia did meddle in the two thousand and sixteen election but last week his sentiments were completely different i have president putin he just said it's not russian i will say this i don't see any rea

trump and first lady melania arriving just moments ago ahead of that long awaited meeting as we await the helsinki arrival of vladimir putin. >> with still no agenda for the meeting it's anyone's guess what each president will walk away with. mr. trump's bashing of the eu, his slamming of the british pm, his repeated attacks on the media and his inability to take action on robert mueller's run of indictments against 12 russian hackers. and the president says this about putin ahead of their one-on-one. >> i think we could probably get along very well. somebody said are you friends or enemies, and i said it's too earlyt for russia and the unite at places to get along with. for russia and china and all these other places that's a good thing. it's not a bad thing. it's a really good thing. >> with the summit about to get under way it's the 2016 election on the president's mind. here's the commander in chief tweeted without ever mentioning putin. president obama thought crooked hillary was going win the election. when i won it, it became a big deal. more on the drama and the expectations taking place a

trump is given them exactly what putin wants. to be treated like a human being which he is not. your thoughts? >> i was at that helsinki summit and in the room when the press conference happened. it wasn't just that president trump is treating president putin as a human being. in that regard he was allowing president putin to be the host almost. it could have been happening in russia because he spoke first, clearly had the body language that he was having a good time and this was about president trump saying i am the rightful president of the united states and i don't owe russia anything for my victory. this has become so personal for him. really, it is about trump being first and all the people that i talk to, today i was talking to sources from the department of homeland security and former senior officials from the department of justice who deal with national security and all of them said the national intelligence community is worried about what president trump said to president putin in the two-hour meeting. worried that he made assurances with president putin and gave away what the u.s. doesn't even know what happ

we begin this morning with news out of helsinki. mr. trump and first lady melania arriving earlier for the breakfast ahead of that highly anticipated meeting as we await the helsinki arrival of president putin. >> and with still no agenda for the meeting it is anyone's guess what each president will walk away with. his repeated attacks on the media and his inability to take in response to robert mueller's latest round of indictments against 12 russian hackers and president trump saying this of putin just ahead of their one-on-one. >> i think we could probably get along very well. somebody said are you friends or enemies. i said well, it's too early to say but right now i'd say we're competitors. but for russia and the united states and frankly the u.k. and other places to get along, with russia and china and all these other places it's a good thing. it's not a bad thing. it's a really good thing. >> the summit just about to get under way. it's the 2016 election that's on the president's mind. here's the commander in chief tweeted moments ago

>>> woel come worldwide exchange a live look at helsinki where president trump is about to have a face-to-face meeting with russian president vladimir putin. we're live on the ground in helsinki with full coverage. worldwide exchange begins right now. >>> good morning welcome to worldwide exchange. i'm contessa brewer. >>> i'm seema mody here's a quick check on markets ahead of the meeting futures right now pointing to a higher open. up by 50 the s&p 500 is up around 4 points >>> our big story this morning president trump is about to kick off the face-to-face meeting with russian president vladimir putin. let's go live to helsinki ahead of that meeting. what's at stake for the united states and what's at stake for russia >> good morning, contessa. enormous stakes for both sides as it meeting is about to begin in a couple of hours' time the events have started here the president this morning meeting with the president of finland for a breakfast session here the president of the united states talking about his meeting with nato calling it a great success last week even the president suggested th

three of the descriptions of what president trump did today in helsinki. first from the fox news deck, asked whether he believes american intelligence or the russian thug standing next to him, president trump declined to stand up for his own people and instead braced vladimir putin. the republican senator john mccain said the president's performance was disgraceful as he spoke from the same script as putin. the summit was a tragic mistake. that mr. trump abased himself before a tire rant. the former cia director john brennan said the summit come mitts amount to high crimes and misdemeanors and the president's words are treasonous. more reaction ahead. federal investigators have charged more than two dozen russian nationals after findings from the united states intelligence community and both republican and democratic lawmakers. rather than defend them, president trump said today that he see notice reason why russia would interfere in the election and attacked hillary clinton and the dnc. an associated press reporter asked the president who do you believe? t

of helsinki trump appeared to have want to have another bite at the apple and then he changed his mind we can talk about why that happened and then potent turns around and invites trump to moscow the same kind of perilous jeopardy or is a different gambit in play go ahead charles in london what i think for me for both presidents showed what is possible and what is possible once the apparatus of crecy or shall we say what trump himself might even call the deep state is pushed to one side as we know in the house think it was very much of a one on one conversation apart from the interpreters and we still don't know the full extent of what was discussed and although much of the american media and british media even have pointed to that in a very prejudicial way as if we should know everything that is discussed between leaders of course this is completely normal of course when it comes to conferences and meetings between people of course there's an awful lot of chatter that goes on behind the scenes and that's as it has to be as in any negotiation and himself would point out few people in t

election in helsinki trump said he saw no reason why it would be russia and now he's saying this. person should go see any reason why anymore due to russia. sort of end up all negative. at the u.-turn comes as trump tries to calm a political storm over his performance in helsinki we'll have analysis for you from washington's five things that bush had to get it also on the program idea after the liberation of mosul from the so-called islamic state we have an exclusive report for you from iraq on efforts to promote reconciliation amid the city's going to follow most of mayor as he pursues it tarski fears will take one hundred communities. and former u.s. president barack obama attracts what he calls the us a loss of shame among political leaders he was speaking at an event in johannesburg marking the one hundredth birthday of south africa's former leader nelson mandela. with. hello and welcome my name is chris. it was spring eight good to have you with us person tunnel trump has made a spectacular u. turn on remarks he made after monday's health summit with his russian counterpart v

after leaving the uk earlier, the us president donald trump, has arrived in helsinki where he's due toold talks with vladimir putin tomorrow. the prime minister has revealed the advice she received from donald trump about brexit, saying the us president advised her to sue the european union. france has won the world cup, beating croatia 4—2 in the final in moscow. it's the second time they've won the tournament. one of france's goals was scored by their 19—year—old forward, kylian mbappe, who became the first teenager to score in a world cup final since pele in 1958. this is the scene live in paris, where huge numbers have been celebrating. our paris correspondent hugh schofield has this update. it's a completely bonkers evening in paris, where there seems to be license to do whatever you want — cars are going by with people leaning out of windows, motorcycles going by, people without any helmets on. everyone is going completely football crazy. it all started an hour or two ago... i'm going to resume simply to say that we're here outside the eiffel tower, but across the land in every v

donald trump invited me putin have set their sights on a second meeting after that summit in helsinki earlier this month on friday the russian leader said the u.s. president has been invited to moscow and the white house responded same trump is open to the idea earlier putin's planned trip to washington was postponed amid intense criticism within the u.s. over trump's handling of the first summit. well national security adviser john bolton went as far as calling it a russia witchhunt and said the while washington meeting will not happen until next year when he was secretary of state might pump a zero was grilled by senators over what exactly trump said to putin in helsinki has the president told you what he and president putin discuss in their two hour closed door meeting in helsinki did you did he tell you did the president at this meeting call upon president putin to withdraw from crimea or in eastern europe where did the president say we're going to change our force structure in syria good what took place you speak to the translator the president discuss relaxed relaxing u.s. sanct

more now on our other main story: the meeting between presidents trump and putin in the finnish capital helsinki one. mr trump has said his expectations for the summit are low. when we have an idea slightly of probably what they are going to be discussing and there are a variety of topics and i think the most important dimension is the fact that they want to know each other better and establish a kind of relationship where they can address each other if there is some kind of strategic emergency or a sense that they might be some kind of confrontation as it happened around syria as a result of the chemical weapons case so these kind of issues is something the russians in particular are very keen on, to establish a hotline they can call each other and address issues of emergency. we also know they are interested in addressing the situation in syria around the iranian presence there and the strong influence that iran has in syria and here is an area where both share to a certain extent similar positions because the united states and trump, they want to make sure the iranian is not too strong, espec

trump initiated this to feel like a summit meeting in a third country like we are doing in helsinki. t, it suggests we are moving on, president trump forgot about the fact putin annexed crimea from ukraine. he propped up a dictator with assad and violated our sovereignty in 2016. i hope president trump comes to helsinki to talk about this, but i fear he is so anxious to get along with him, he is going to forget about the past and talk about how great it is to be in helsinki. >> lavrov confirms trump and putin are meeting one-on-one. listen to him. >> there will be no other aides in the room? you will not be in the room? >> the way things stand, no. that's what the united states proposed and we are polite people, so we agreed. >> why this one-on-one hour aside from interpreters? no cabinet members or advisers. why? >> well, i used to work with foreign minister lavrov and noted it was the american initiative to do that. he is making sure we all understand that. i think it's a mistake. listen, president putin has been in for almost 20 years. he's met with four presidents. me knows it. pr

the perpetrator of the election interference a treacherous act is able to confront russia after helsinki trump invited putin to d.c. for another summit however another wave of hysteria ensued but just an hour before pompei a scheduled testimony john bolton trump's national security adviser announced that the summit would be postponed and this comes after the highly publicized moeller investigation into alleged russian meddling and it's also worth mentioning that it's been postponed until after midterm elections which apparently will definitely be influenced by russia and believe it or not trump joined in i'm very concerned that russia will be fighting very hard to have an impact on the upcoming election based on the fact the new president has been tougher on russia than me they will be pushing very hard for the democrats they definitely don't want trump but is trump being genuine well it looks like he's just trying to calm the domestic storm but we'll just have to see what happens human and labor rights lawyer done a couple of things trying to postpone his second summit with poussin due to pre

helsinki. president trump, by the way, arrived at his hotel here in helsinki just earlier this evening. the president, president putin is still in moscow. he'll be here first thing tomorrow. and though the two men have yet to come face to face, president trump is already setting a low bar for success. >> nothing bad's going to come out of it. and maybe some good will come out. but i go in with low expectations. i'm not going in with high expectations. i don't -- i don't really -- i can't tell you what's going to happen. but i can tell you what i'll be asking for. and we'll see if something comes of it. >> president trump is mum on what exactly he hopes to accomplish. listen. >> what's your goal from the t putin meeting? >> i'll let you know after the meeting. i have absolutely -- it was mutually agreed let's have a meeting. i think it's a good thing to meet. i do believe in meetings. >> let's go live to our chief white house correspondent, jim acosta, also here in helsinki, covering the president for us. is there an agenda, a specific agenda for this meeting? >> there is something of an

welcome back now to the latest fallout from president trump's summit with vladimir putin in helsinki. trump'snd allies worrying about the backlash from the meeting and how it could impact the probe, the mueller investigation. a source telling cnn that trump may have strengthen the special counsel hat a critical time. as the trump white house moves forward with plans for a second summit with putin. potentially this fall in washington. that was announced a couple of days ago bizarre ray sanders. as this swirls around we learned that mike pompeo called certifying aifr lavrov. we haven't gotten a read out from the state department. but moscow says they are discussing a normalization of relation was the situations in syria and north korea. both issues that both countries are intimately involved in. and there is another reason that trump allies might be worried about how his performance alongside putin could impact the mueller investigation. is how former top intelligence officials react the in its wake. listen. >> more and more i come to a conclusion that after the helsinki performance and since t

only 4% say trump makes the world a safer place. today in helsinki, some protesters marched along the cobblestone streets carrying signs and chanting. >> i think they should work for a better world because they are guys who have power to change things, and i wish everybody -- [inaudible] -- but i'm afraid these guys aren't doing it. >> but the protest was relatively small, nothing like the protests in the u.k. and most people who talked with us were not fazed by the meeting at all. >> i don't know what they are talking about. can you tell me what they are talking about? >> why did the president of russia and the president of the united states choose to meet in helsinki, finland? >> we're known for our honesty and our education. >> the simple answer could be logistics. >> we're just a place to hold the meeting. >> president trump already planned to be in europe. president putin wanted to represent russia at the world cup. after all, it took place in his country. and helsinki is an hour and 45 minute flight from moscow. or maybe everyone just likes the

to helsinki live where we're awaiting the arrival of president trump at the present‘s palace in helsinkihe last five minutes or so. and president trump, we're expecting, any moments. the billionaire businessman, who has been president for 18 months, meeting the seasoned former kgb officer who has run russia for 18 yea rs. officer who has run russia for 18 years. both of them have said they're going into these talks with low expectations, but obviously very high interest. from the watching world as these two political heavyweights have their first face—to—face conversation on their own behind closed doors since president trump took office. they had met previously, but it has been on the sidelines of other events. this is their first formal summit and willjust this is their first formal summit and will just be this is their first formal summit and willjust be them plus their interpreters. we're be back in helsinki as soon as there's any movement there. in a moment we'll have all the business news, but first the headlines on bbc news: vladimir putin arrives in finland for talks with preside

media speculation of whether donald trump is actually a russian agent or not the helsinki summit to did in fact see some impressive diplomacy one of the issues with it he does seem to have common ground with syria and russia as defense ministry says it's ready to implement any deals agreed artie's maria for national joined me earlier in the studio with more on this. i'm afraid there is no too much to discuss because there are no details on exactly what has been agreed in health and from what we hear from russia's defense minister right now it's also not clear what steps we may expect from both sides in syria but what is clear is that both russia and us are not interested in making this strategic information public but what is clear that that the dialogue that mr trump and mr putin had in monday in helsinki and these claims by russia's military is definitely a positive sign for syria both sides also stressed that they are interested in. ending the humanitarian crisis in syria and they said that they are going to focus their efforts on helping people in syria is that you but i would i thi

the headlines: damage limitation still in full swing after president trump's bizarre press conference with the russian leader in helsinkie agencies that russia interfered in the 2016 us election, and now says he holds vladimir putin personally responsible. he was speaking to cbs tv news. the group of boys from thailand who spent two weeks trapped in a flooded cave have paid tribute to the team who found them, describing their rescue as a miracle. and they honoured saman kunan, the former thai navy seal who died preparing their escape route. the european commission has fined google a record $5 billion over the use of its android operating system. the commission says the tech giant illegally used the technology to cement its dominant position in searches. google plans to appeal.

president trump called his summit with president putin in helsinki today productive. but afterwards, the u.s. president refused to back the conclusion of american intelligence agencies that russia interfered in the 2016 election. donald trump said vladimir putin gave him a strong and powerful denial. in a statement rushed out dsafterwthe director of national intelligence, dan coats, stood by the assessment of his staff and warned of russia' undermine our democracy. our correspondent christian i fraser is in helsid leads our coverage from there. christian: thank you very much. t 24-hour li the summer, beautiful light in helsinki, well after midnight. air foe one has long departed. maybe it is dawning on donald trump that his performance in helsinki has not gone down to well at home. already there have been three tweets from air force one. what has really upset people, i think, and there have been howls disgust from senior politicians in washington, was the way that he failed to stand up f intelligence agencies while standing next to the russian president. our north amer

this is news live from berlin a closely watched some of between donald trump and sodomy putin is underway in helsinki the u.s. president says i really think the world wants to see us get along good and said it was time to talk about difficult multinational issues trump had earlier tweeted relations with russia have never been worse thanks to years of u.s. foolishness we have complete coverage. also coming up of france rules the football world again blue list of the world cup trophy last night the french defeated the resilient croatian side in the final in moscow setting off wild celebrations back home in paris although police had to get involved when things got out of control. on the pitch look blue crush croatian hopes for the convincing for the way it should never be about that their strong character just wasn't enough on the night. i'm sumi so much going to have you with us us president donald trump has begun his first ever summit with russia's vladimir putin as the meeting kicked off in helsinki trump said he was hopeful of forging better ties with putin several dorney issues have dominated the r

always appreciate charles let me go to you first in london here we had after the afterglow of helsinki trump appeared to have want to have another bite at the apple and then he changed his mind we can talk about why that happened and then potent turns around and invites trump to moscow the same kind of perilous jeopardy or is there a different gambit in play.

helsinki. president trump and vladimir putin are just moments away from meeting one on one amid rising tensions between russia and the u.s. what's at stake in this morning's summit. >>> freedom in sight. when the thai soccer team will finally leave the hospital. plus a new controversy for elon >> the fee for speed. a driver wrecks his $300,000 sports car just one day after driving it off the lot. >>> an end t extinction. how the san diego zoo is breathing new life into endangered species. "early today" starts now. >> good morning, i'm phillip mena. >> i'm frances rivera. we begin with breaking news out of helsinki, finland. vladimir putin just landed minutes ago for his high stakes summit with president donald trump. the world is now anxiously waiting for the highly anticipated meeting expected to happen in just moments, but putin already seems to have the edge, keeping his counterpart waiting. his plane touched down almost an hour late. earlier mr. trump and first lady melania sat down at the finnish president's residence for breakfast ahead of the meeting. >> still no agenda, it's anyone's gu

president trump will have breakfast with the president of finland at the presidential residence here in helsinki. later in the day, mr. trump will meet with putin at the presidential palace. now, before heading here from scotland this weekend, president trump in an interview with cbs news tried to downplay expectations of any breakthroughs with putin. president trump touched down in finland sunday just hours ahead of a high stakes sit-down with russian president vladimir putin. a top adviser tells cbs news the two leaders are expected to spend about 30 minutes alone with just translators before an expanded meeting with staff. mr. trump will be joined by secretary of state mike pompeo, national security adviser john bolton, and chief of staff john kelly. >> good to see you. >> thank you. >> before heading to helsinki, comes to talks with mr. putin, he has low expectations. >> i go into a meeting like that never with high expectations, but maybe some really good stuff can happen. >> not high expectations. you're just -- it's a one-on-one conversation. >> whatever it is, i'm representing our countr