jeff mason, thank you, good to have you. >> my pleasure. >>> a russian woman's arrest potentially shed not guilty light on russia's efforts to undermine america's democracy and interfere in the election. coming up, the powerful u.s. groups the russian national is accused of courting. >>> and we are moments away from the opening bell on wall street. the dow set for slightly oeer open. tech stocks like netflix dragging investors down. let's begin. yes or no? do you want the same tools and seamless experience across web and tablet? do you want $4.95 commissions for stocks, $0.50 options contracts? $1.50 futures contracts? what about a dedicated service team of trading specialists? did you say yes? good, then it's time for power e*trade. the platform, price and service that gives you the edge you need. looks like we have a couple seconds left. let's do some card twirling twirling cards e*trade. the original place to invest online. you might or joints.hing for your heart... but do you take something for your brain. with an ingredient originally discovered in jellyfish, prevagen has been sho

the white house transcript has no reference tons jeff mason from reuters asking president putin, did you want president trump to win the election. that's not in the white house transcript. now, yuri free mann was first to report on this anomaly right after it happened. the sometimes transcripts are wrong, very rarely on such a high profile simple thing. that moment probably got more immediate attention than anything else that happened in that remarkable q & a with reporters. it's not unheard of for a white house transcript to be inaccurate. when that happens, there's sort of an informal process where reporters point out something that's wrong or something that's missing or mischaracterized in the transcript and the white house later makes a fix to the official transcript. it happens not all the time but it happens fairly frequently. it's not that big a deal. after this incorrect transcript came out, from the trump and putin summit with the question did you want president trump to win the election, with that gone from the transcript, the atlantic published this criticism noting that t

for more on all of this, let's bring in jeff mason, white house correspondent for reuters. jeff, you've heard the calls from some democrats, gillibrand senator from new york among them to get rid of i.c.e., is that actually going to become a democratic plank? >> well, i think it's hard to say that -- or hard to imagine that that will become a democrat plank although the fact somebody like senator gillibrand is talking about means that it is a way for them to express their dissatisfaction with what i.c.e. is doing via -- by implementing the president's immigration policy. as the president has also said, it gives sort of an easy way for him to illustrate -- or to suggest that democrats are against enforcement when they criticize i.c.e. directly like that. it is likely i think just to continue to be sort of an example of the divide between the two parties on this very sensitive issue. >> couple of decades ago, it was the ins, immigration and naturalization service. now it is i.c.e., immigration and customs enforcement. are they looking for a name change? or are they looking for

. >> i want to bring in jeff mason a white house correspondent. he stepped up and asked president trump what may have been the toughest question of the day. thanks for joining us. > my pleasure. >> stunning day in u.s. history. you were there. i want to play some of the exchange with the president. watch this. >> do you hold russia accountable for anything in particular? if so what would you consider them they are responsible for. >> i do. i bhoeltd countries responsible. i think that the united states has been foolish. we have been all been foolish. we should have had this dialogue a long time ago. long time before i got to office. and i think we're all to blame. i feel that we have both made some mistakes. i think that the probe is a disaster for the country. it's kept us apart. it's kept us separated. >> so that moment shocked everybody around the world. what do you think when you heard the president blame both countries? >> it was shocking. it came after the beginning of the day in helsinki. was started with this tweet. he used foolishness and

jeff mason asked about it and vladimir putin made an offer that only someone named trump could thinkd deal. >> we can meet you halfway. we can make another step. we can actually permit representatives of the united states, including the members of this very commission headed by mr. mueller, we can let them into the country and they will be present for this questioning. but in this case there is another condition. this kind of effort should be a mutual one. then we would expect that the americans would reciprocate and they would question officials, including the officers of law enforcement and intelligence services of the united states whom we believe are -- who have something to do with illegal actions on the territory of russia, and we have to request the presence of our law enforcement. >> here is donald trump's reaction to that offer, a reaction that john brennan found, as i said, near treasonous. >> he offered to have the people working on the case come and work with their investigators with respect to the 12 people. i think that's an incredible offer. okay? >> david corn. also j

malcolm nance and glenn kirschner and jeff mason, white house correspondent for reuters. jeff, you heard geoff's reporting and do you have any read out from the statements made by rudy giuliani and the potential shift and approach to this very case. >> i don't have another read out but i would pick up where geoff left off and highlight something important and this goes to show it is the outside counsel for president trump and president trump himself have worked very strategically for months to discredit robert mueller's investigation. and by sending out this new parameter, it is a continuation of that p.r. campaign, a continuation of that strategy. and it throws -- it is also sort of an attempt to get information out of mueller about what exactly he and his team may have. >> malcolm, what do you make of this reporting? >> well, i think this is very strategic on giuliani's part. i think that they are playing a clock that is in the head of his team. we have about four and a half months leading up to this election. and if he creates a subpoena battle just before this election

, and so basically if you look at the line from putin to jeff mason it was almost a direct line from putin to jeff and the associated press report i was just two rows behind them and you could tell putin look at them, you know, lean forward and look at them and him sort of give him a stare and take it head-on. now whether you believe putin at all which most people do not believe a thing putin has to say about russian meddling is another thing but just to see his reaction and the way that he reacted to it is something i certainly would never forget. i can't imagine what it was like to be jeff and the other reporter but good on them for askings questions because those were the exact questions that needed to be asked. they made the headlines and now it's a lot of people questioning president trump today on exactly how he answered it. liz: well thank goodness for the free press that we have. you didn't see the russian reporters asking any tough questions there. our thanks to blake burman and by the way back to bill browder. this herma tank capital hedge fund manager who in the 90s went i

kimberly and jeff mason, safe travels.esting time at both nato and then in london, especially given what's happening right now with the british government. >> with brexit. yes, it's going to be a big story. >> i'll be seeing you in helsinki a week from today. >> look forward to it. >>> coming up, fractured families. why is the trump administration fighting tomorrow's court order, a federal order to reunite the youngest migrant children with their parents. that's right ahead on "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. atme, ask if xeljanz xr is right for you. xeljanz xr is a once-daily pill for psoriatic arthritis. taken with methotrexate or similar medicines, it can reduce joint pain, swelling, and significantly improve physical function. xeljanz xr can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections, lymphoma, and other cancers have happened. don't start xeljanz xr if you have an infection. tears in the stomach or intestines, low blood cell counts, and higher liver tests and

that in his answers meddling may have happened even though my election was, in fact, legit. >> jeff masonks so much for being with us this morning. thank you for what you did in that room yesterday. you and jonathan reminding us the simplest, clearest question can make history. joe, one minor note. the president again, in his remarks that the electoral college spread wrong again. >> once again, at least he didn't bring up wisconsin for the 14th time. i do want to bring up, again, a lot of people say the president won't criticize vladimir putin because it undermines his election. again, just reminding people that were not with us at the top of the show, we had donald trump here in december of 2015, three months before the first republican primary, and he was still defending vladimir putin as a strong leader and justifying him murdering, assassinating journalists and assassinating political opponents saying well at least he gets things done. david ignatius, i wanted to -- so after watching the press conference yesterday, i did what i rarely do, i picked up the phone and i started calling fr

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 e

jeff mason with reuters, the associated press reporter, they asked the questions of vladimir putin that had president of the united states failed to do. and that is something. it is really something. if there is an upside of having this summit aside from the basic idea of having diplomatic relations, it is the fact that they had this press conference and vladimir putin had to face real reporters. and the one thing i also want to say is this is acocording to th transcript and we have to go back and listen to the translation. jeff mason followed up about whether or not vladimir putin directed his officials to help sway the election. putin responded yes, i did. yes, i did because he, the president, talked about bringing the u.s./russia relationship back to normal. if this is accurate and if the translation is accurate and he understood the question accurately, he just stood there next to the president and admitted what we all know. admitted that the u.s. intelligence agencies, which unanimously say this is what happened, are right. >> gloria borger, dana makes such an important point, that

jeff mason reuters. thank you mr president you tweeted this morning that it us foolishness stupidity and the moeller probe that is responsible for the decline in u.s. relations with russia. do you hold russia at all accountable for anything in particular and if so what would you what would you consider them that they are responsible for yes i do i hold both countries responsible 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 not a long time frankly before i got to office and i think we're all to blame i think that the united states now is step forward along with russia and we're getting together and we have a chance to do some great things whether it's nuclear proliferation in terms of stopping have to do it ultimately that's probably the most important thing that we can be working on but i do feel that we have both made some mistakes i think that the the probe is a disaster for our country i think it's kept us apart it's k

reporter: jeff mason from reuters. president trump: i know, jeff. reporter: will you be raising arms control issues? president trump: yes. reporter: would you like to extend new start and would you raise violations of the i.n.f. treaty? president trump: yes. reporter: as follow-up to the nato meeting, would you suggest to him or consider stopping military exercises in the baltic states if that's something he requests? president trump: well, perhaps we'll talk about that but i will say we will be talking about those three issues and many more. we'll be talking about that, jeff. ok. go ahead. go ahead. reporter: we are in the -- i would like to know if you're planning to guarantee the taxpayers that the new money that's flowing into nato will be spent in the best possible way, specially the money coming from countries with several problems with public finances? president trump: well, the money will be spent properly. one of the things we have, we have many wealthy countries with us today but we have some that aren't so wealthy and they did ask me if t

joining me now, jeff mason from reuters and josh borrow for business insider. gentlemen, with a good morning to you both. josh, you first here. what do you make of this latest declaration, what kind of a signal does it give you, is there is a shift in strategy? >> i think it is best to understand the statements about under what conditions the president would submit to an r interview as political and pr actions rather than legal. the supreme court precedence are clear that presidents can be obligated to testify under certain circumstances which it seems to me that mueller would be likely to be able to meet here. that said, putting the president through the process of being subpoenaed for an interview would be extremely time consuming and perhaps also politically costly to mueller as it would for yourself him in it would force him into a court battle before any question of any wrongdoing by the president. so i think this is basically an effort -- and giuliani says this openly in the interview to continue to call into he question the legitimacy of the mueller inve

jeff mason from reuters mr president regarding your summit with president putin will you be raising arms control issues which you like which you like to extend new starts and when you raise concerns about violations of the i.n.f. treaty yes and as a spa the up to the nato meeting today would you suggest to him or would you consider stopping military exercises in the baltic states if that's something that you request for a perhaps we'll talk about that but i will say that we are going to be talking about those three your shoes and many more we'll be talking about it jeff. evil katie couric we are in the nets the costa del bosque the double splay and before i knew i had to know if you are planning to guarantee the taxpayer . the new money that is flowing into now thought will be spent in the best possible way especially the money coming from country that have several. public finances where the money will be spent properly and one of the things that we have we have many wealthy countries with us today but we have some that aren't so wealthy and they did ask me if they could buy the military

. >> jeff mason from reuters. >> i know, jeff. >> and regarding your summit with president putin, will you bring up arms control and raise concerns about violation of the inf treaty? >> yes. >> and the follow-up to nato meeting today, will you suggest to him or would you consider stopping military exercises in the baltic states if that's something that he requests? >> perhaps we'll talk about that, but i would say we are going to be talking about those three issues and many more. we will be talking about it, jeff. go ahead. go ahead. >> we are in the -- as planned before, i would like to know if you are planning to guarantee the taxpayers, the new money that is flowing into nato will be spent in the best possible way, especially the money coming from countries that have several problem with the public finances? >> well, the money will be spent properly and one of the things that we have, we have many wealthy countries with us today, but we have some that aren't so wealthy and they did ask me if they could buy the military equipment and could i help them out and we will help them out a

. >> jeff mason from reuters. >> thank you. mr. president, you tweeted this morning that it is u.s. foolishness, stupidity, and the molar probe that is responsible with the decline with u.s. relations with russia. do you hold russia accountable at all for anything in particular, and if so, what would you consider that they are responsible for? president trump: yes, i do. i hold both countries are fungible. i think the united it's has been fully. i think we have -- foolish. we should have had this dialogue a long time ago, for i got office. and i think we are all to blame. i think united's dates no -- the united they now with russia has stepped forward and we have a chance to do some great things, whether it is nuclear proliferation. ultimately, that is the most important thing we can be working on. but i feel that we have both made some mistakes. i think the probe is a disaster for our country. it has kept us apart, it has kept the separated. there was no collusion at all. everybody knows it. people are being brought out to the fore. so far that i know, none of it relates the campai

jeff mason from reuters mr president regarding your summit with president putin will you be raising arms control issues which you like which you like to extend new starts and when you raise concerns about violations of the i.n.f. treaty. and as a spa go up to the nato meeting today where you suggest to him or would you consider stopping military exercises in the baltic states if that's something that he requests flow perhaps we'll talk about that but i will say that we are going to be talking about those three your shoes and many more we'll be talking about it jeff. we added in the next quarter of course that i'll boss the double us plane before i would like to know if you are planning to get on t. the taxpayer that the new money that is flowing into nat'l will be spent in the best possible way yes specially the money coming from country that have a seven hour. public finances where the money will be spent properly and one of the things that we have we have many wealthy countries with us today but we have some that aren't so wealthy and they did ask where they could buy the military equi

jeff mason from reuters thank you sir. mr president as it without it having a good solid i don't have a good solid hair but i think you said it would have. to go playing into the you're meeting. i think your. voice like ok. you're better without that there we go. going into your meeting with president putin on monday sir you mentioned both denuclearization and you mentioned syria can you say exactly what your message will be to him on syria what would you like him to say especially given assad's gains in the country recently and also and anon denuclearization can you spell out a little bit how you expect that to happen in terms of treaties and in terms of the talks will be a slow process don't forget we're not the only ones that have nukes and it would be a slow process but for the world it would be us and it would be others would have to come along simultaneously obviously but i think that when i. when the meeting was arranged we both wanted the meeting when the meeting was arranged it was from my standpoint i don't i did

jeff mason from reuters mr president regarding your summit with president putin will you be raising arms control issues which you like which you like to extend new starts and when you raise concerns about violations of the i.n.f. treaty yes and as a spa go up to the nato meeting today were you suggest to him or would you consider stopping military exercises in the baltic states if that's something that he requests slow perhaps we'll talk about that but i will say that we are going to be talking about those three are issues and many more will be talking about it jeff. evil katie cordy hated us and we are in the quarter of the cross that i'll boss the double us plane and before i knew i had to know if you are planning to guarantee the taxpayer death or the new money that is flowing into now thought will be spent in the best possible way especially the money coming from country that have a seven hour. public finances where the money will be spent properly and one of the things that we have we have many wealthy countries with us today but we have some that aren't so wealthy and they did ask

specifically, reporter jeff mason of reuters asked president putin, did you want president trump to win the election and did you have any -- did you direct your officials to help him do that and putin said, at that press conference, yes, i did. yes, i did. because he talked about bringing the u.s. relationship back to normal. we don't think putin admitted to interfering there, not intentionally but answering the back half of the question. did you want trump to win? we're just getting word that president trump will ask congress to spend $12 million to help american farmers hurt by the reaction the u.s. trade tariffs. sean spicer's book comes out today, as well. "the washington post" review said not a tell-all but a none and "the wall street journal" said there's a number of errors in the book. spicer's book blames the trump dossier on michael steele who is the former head of the republican party. we assume he meant christopher steele, the former british -- >> wouldn't the editors have gone over there? >> you would have thought. apparently more than once in the book. >> fact checking, too

. >> jeff mason from reuters. reporter: thank you. mr. president, you tweeted this morning that it's u.s. foolishness, stupidity and the mueller probe that is responsible for the decline in u.s. relations with russia. do you hold russia at all accountable for anything in particular? and if so, what would you -- what would you consider them -- that they are responsible for? president trump: yes i do. i hold both countries responsible. i think that the united states has been foolish. i think we've all been foolish. we should've had this dialogue a long time ago. a long time, frankly, before i got to office. and i think we're all to blame. i think that the united states now has stepped forward along with russia, and we're getting together and we have a chance to do some great things, whether it's nuclear proliferation in terms of stopping -- you have to do it, ultimately that's probably the most important thing that we could be working on. but i do feel that we have both made some mistakes. i think that the -- the probe is a disaster for our

. >> jeff mason from reuters. >> thank you, mr. president you stupidity and the mother probe is responsible for the decline in u.s. relations with russia do you hold russia at all accountable for anything in particular? what would you consider them that they are responsible for? >> i hold both countries responsible. i think the united states has been foolish. we should have had this dialogue long time ago. frankly before i got office. i think we are all to blame. i think the united states has stepped forward along with russia and we are getting together and have a chance to do some great things whether it is nuclear proliferation in terms of stopping, ultimately that is the most important thing we can be working on. i do feel -- i do feel we have both made some mistakes. disasterhe probe is a for our country. it has kept us apart. campus separated. there was no collusion at all. everybody knows it. people are being brought out to the four so far that i know virtually none of it related to the campaign and they're going to have to t

we have jeff mason, white house correspondent for reuters. cnn global affairs analyst kimber kimberly dosher, nia malika henderson, and gloria borger. gloria, we've sat together countless times after shocking moments. i think it's fair to say this moment was different in that the president has taken shots at a whole host of american institutions before, but to stand next to the man who orchestrated this attack on the election and say the same thing, that is substantively different. the question is will the reaction be different? >> well, it remains to be seen. we've heard the words. we've heard the democrats call for stronger sanctions, for testimony from the national security officials. i think they want some kind of transcripts or notes from the translator. they would like to see what was there. you have marco rubio and dick durbin calling for more sanctions, democrats saying we've got to protect mueller, we've got to do that, figure out ways to do that. but the democrats are ham strung. they don't control the congress. republican leader mi

take a listen to what putin said to jeff mason of reuters when asked about trust. >> why should americans and why should president trump believe their statement that russia did not intervene in the 2016 election given the united states that u.s. intelligence agencies have provided? >> you trust no one. where did you get this idea that president trump trusts me or i trust him? he defends the interests of the united states of america. and i do defend the interests of the russian federation. we do have interests that are common. we're looking for points of contact. >> isn't this part of the russian m.o., to say that facts don't matter at all? there's no such thing as truth? >> i have no idea where trump must trust russia? he said as much in that press conference. we have to believe not your own ears and your own eyes. could i say, by the way, that the nation of donald trump, the president said the humanitarian conditions on the ground would be looked after by russia is crazy. russia has facilitated starvation campaigns in some cities. they're implicated in the attacks on hospitals and matern

. >> one of the other thing that was surprising is when i think it was reuter's reporter jeff mason. the american reporters, john la meyer from ap and jason from reuter's did a great job and demonstrate why tough questions of president trump are necessary and the weak subjects we often see are a disservice to the united states. one of the things that jason said, phil, was you put out that tweet saying the made to is responsible for the bad state of relations. is there nothing you would hold russia accountable for? and president trump didn't list anything. he didn't list one thing, not ukraine, not crimea, not the poisoning in the uk. not the election interference. >> he is violating a basic rule. let's make sure we are clear on what we are talking about here. when he goes into north korea after five hours of meeting and comes out and says i think we are safe, people are scratching their head saying can you show me. that's a question about his judgment. this time he is going overseas and there is a fundamental difference on questioning his judgment in north korea and questioning his j

. >> jeff mason from reuters. >> i like your hat. >> thank you. pres. trump: take it off. come on, take it off. >> oh boy. going into your meeting, you mentioned the denuclearization and syria. and you tell us exactly what your message will be on syria. on denuclearization, can you spell out a little bit how you expect that to happen in terms of treaties and talks? pres. trump: it will be a slow process. we are not the only ones that have nuclear weapons. it would be us and a few others to come along simultaneously. but i think that when the meeting was arranged, we both wanted the meeting. when the meeting was arranged, it was from my standpoint. i did not go in with high expectations, but you may at come out with something very exceptional. but the proliferative station was tremendous. to me, it is the biggest problem the world. nuclear weapons. biggest problem in the world. look up dr. john trumpet. my uncle, a professor. i used to talk nuclear with him many years ago. it is the biggest problem in my opinion, this world has. if we can do something to substantially reduc

the transcript was edited to remove part of reuters' reporter jeff mason's question about whether putin wanted trump to win the u.s. election. this is a clip of the original, and then edited videos, broadcast on the rachel maddow show. they all can be found -- >> did you want president trump to win the election and did you direct any of your officials to help them do that? >> yes, i did. yes, i did. >> that is the real one. watch with the white house has posted. >> options abound. in anl can be found -- appropriate legal framework. >> a and did you direct any of your offfficials to help thehemo that? >> yes, i did. yes, i did. amy: russia's english language transcript omits the reuters reporter's question entirely. president trump has announced up to $12 billion in emergency relief for farmers whose sales have been hurt by the trump administration's escalating trade war. the agriculture department said it will use an existing program to provide billions of dollars in direct payments to farmers and ranchers as a "short-term solution." president trump's daughter and senior white house adv

reporter: jeff mason from reuters. president trump: i like your hat. reporter: thank you, sir. i don't have a solid head of hair. but thank you sir. president trump: take it off. reporter: oh, boy. ok. president trump: i like you better without that. go ahead. reporter: go ahead. -- here we go. going into your meeting with president putin, you mentioned the denuclearization and blow syria. can you tell us exactly what your message will be especially given assad's regime in the country recently? can a spell out a little bit how you expect that to happen in terms of treaties and talks? president trump: we are not the only ones that have nuclear weapons. for us, it would be us and others would have to come along simultaneously. but i think that when the meeting was arranged, we both wanted the meeting. when the meeting was arranged, it was from my standpoint, i did not go in with high expectations but you may come out with something very exceptional. but the proliferation is a tremendous, to me, it's the biggest problem in the world. nuclear weapons. biggest problem in the world.

it only has the second part of jeff mason's question. is this whitewashing what happened or is this an honest mistake? what do you think? >> apparently the white house doesn't remember we have that thing called the internet and television. the context of yesterday was that donald trump went for his quarterly employment review with vladimir putin and was doing everything he could to kiss up to it boss. and no matter what the white house does, no matter what gymnastics they try to pull off about this post-hawk revision of his would or wouldn't, it doesn't wash. even his most passionate supporters have to go, that one wasn't as convincing, don. and the fact of the matter is they're looking for excuses for him instead of reasons for him right now because this is catastrophe to his administration. he read that thing about supporting the intelligence community like it was a hostage video. >> yeah, and you have to read you support your intelligence community, which is what's fascinating to me. >>> when we come back why russia may be getting rea

. >> jeff mason from reuters. >> i like your hat. >> thank you, sir. mr. president, going into your meeting -- >> come on, take it off. >> oh, boy. okay. >> i like you better without the hat. go ahead. >> you recoup your going into your meeting with president putin on monday, you mention both denuclearization and syria. can you say exactly what your message will be to them on syria? what would you like say especially given assad's gains in the country recently? and also on the neutralization can you spell out a little bit how you expect that to happen in terms of treaties and defense talks? >> it will be a slow process. don't forget we're not the only ones that have nukes and it will be a slow process, for the world would be as and others would have to come along simultaneously obviously. but i think that when the meeting was arranged and when we both wanted to meeting, when the meeting was arranged, it was, from my standpoint, i didn't go in with high expectations but you may come out with something for exceptional, but the proliferation is a tremendous,

reporter: jeff mason from reuters. president trump: i like the hat.sir.ter: thank you, i don't have a solid head of hair. [laughter] oh boy. ok. president trump: i like you better without the hat. reporter: you mentioned the denuclearization and syria. can you say your message to him on syria? what would you like him to say ad'scially given uas gains recently? president trump: we are not the only ones that have nukes and it will be a slow process but for the world it would be us and others that would have to come along simultaneously. -- when the meeting was arranged, we both wanted the meeting. when it was arranged, it was from my standpoint -- i did not go in with high expectations but you may come out with something exceptional. the proliferation is a tremendous -- to me, it is the biggest problem in the world. nuclear weapons. world. problem in the look up dr. john trump. uncle.y i used to talk nuclear with him many years ago. it is the biggest part -- it is the biggest problem in by opinion that the world has. ideally too anything get rid of them

. >> jeff mason from reuters. >> mr. president you tweeted this morning that it's u.s. foolishness, stupidity, and the mueller probe that is responsible for the decline in u.s. relations with russia. do you hold russia at all accountable for anything in particular, and if so, what would you consider them, that they are responsible for? >> yes, i do. i hold both countries responsible. 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. a long time, frankly, before i got to office. and i think we're all to blame. i think that the united states now has stepped forward along with russia, and we're getting together, and we have a chance to do some great things whether it's nuclear proliferation in terms of stopping because we have to do it ultimately. that's probably the most important thing we can be working on. but i do feel that we have both made some mistakes. 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

we have in the words of the russian president asked specifically by jeff mason of reuters, did you want presidnt trump to win? he said, yes, i did, wolf. those are the words, of course, of vladimir putin. >> yeah, he was very, very blunt in saying that the russians did want donald trump to beat hillary clinton in that election. let's get reaction from the russian side. matthew, what are you hearing? the president's truly stunning, extraordinary comments. the russians must be high-fiving each other. >> high-fiving, cracking open bottles of champagne, toasting president trump, i imagine on the way back to moscow, which they'll be embarking on that journey shortly. a statement has come from the russian foreign minister sergey lavrov, who's normally very restrained in his praise. he called the talks magnificent, better than super, is the phrase he used. that gives you an indication of just how happy i think the kremlin is and the russians are at how this all went. they always expected this was going to be a win. of course, the fact it was staged at all was a political victory. they've faced

and answer period where the two presidents were asked questions by reporters and a reporter named jeff mason stood up and asked a very direct and a very important question to vladimir putin. you probably remember this moment. if you watched the summit that day or if you watched any of the news coverage there after. just for the record, this is actually what happened in that moment. >> did you direct any of your officials to help him do that? >> translator: yes, i did. because he talk about bringing the u.s./russia relationship back to normal. >> so that happened in real life in front of a room full of people and it was covered live around the world. while this was happening, i had a flight i was supposed to catch that morning. i missed my flight and i ended up unexpectedly driving a really long way during the whole press conference. i listened to it live. it was only a week ago. this really happened. i heard it in my car. you saw it if you watched either the news coverage there after or watched it live. and there were reporters in the room who witnessed it. let's do it one more time. except

to my question and my colleague jeff mason and reuters asking questions of both presidents today. president trump did not do that. he instead, as you have seen him time and time again of the russia investigation heating up, just last week of 12 indictments of the russian military intelligence -- and candidate trump. he seems to grasp for others. he tried to discredited the attack and the probe. we heard that today with a discussion of hillary clinton's e-mails and the dnc server and so on. he used the global stage to talk about that rather than denounce russia's effort. >> he did bring back the trump's rally greatest hit. i want to bring in our msnbc political analyst, and peter also served for "the washington post" and assistant secretary defense for russia and our national security analyst and our national security analyst, ned price. peter, i have to go to you first. what can you make of the statements of these two leaders and what do republicans do on the hills of this? >> yeah, it is hard. we have been characterizing this press conference as extraordinary or remarkable. we so

reporter: jeff mason from reuters. president trump: i like the hat. reporter: thank you. president trump: and even without it a good, solid head of hair. reporter: i don't have a good, solid head of hair. president trump: take it off, really. i like you better without the hat. reporter: going into your meeting with president putin on monday, you mentioned denuclearization and syria. can you say what your message will be to him on syria? what would you like him to say especially given assad's gains in the country recently. and on nondenure nuclearization -- and on denuclearization, can you explain how that will happen? president trump: it would be a slow process. it would be us and others would have to come along simultaneously, obviously. but i think that when i -- when the meeting was arranged, we both wanned the meeting, when the meeting was arranged, it was from my standpoint, i didn't go in with high expectations but you may come out with something very exceptional. but the proliferation is a tremendous -- i mean, to me, it's the biggest problem in the world. nuclear

host: jeff mason, reuters white house correspondent.ndpreciate your time appreciate you joining us from on the ground in helsinki, finland. that is a live shot of the presidential palace for the first formal summit between president trump and president putin is underway. we are getting your calls and talking about it throughout the washington journal. democrats (202) 748-8000. republicans (202) 748-8001. independents (202) 748-8002. and a special line for those outside of the u.s., please give us a call and your thoughts and perspectives from outside the u.s.. (202) 748-8003. sarah is waiting in new hampshire. the line for independents. good morning and thank you. i believe the primary was corrupted by the dnc. the general election was compromised by russia. we have a compromised president who is a security threat and he and i think putin has dirt on them. that is why we see our president kowtowing to this menace to the planet. democracy when you have the dnc interfering in the primary and a not secure electoral system. then we have all

. >> jeff mason from reuters. >> i like your hat. >> thank you. >> and without it, good solid head of hair. >> i don't have a good solid head of hair-- going into your meeting. >> come on, take it off. >> oh. >> please. >> i like you better without the hat. >> there we go. >> and going into the meeting with president putin, can you tell what the message is with syria, especially given assad's gains in the country recently and on denuclearization, can you spell out a little bit how you expect that to happen in terms of treaties and talks? >> that will be a slow process. don't forget we're not the only ones that have nukes and it would be a slow process, but for the world it would be us and it would be others would have to come along simultaneously, obviously. but i think that when i -- when the meeting was arranged and we both wanted the meeting, when the meeting was arranged, it was, from my standpoint, i don't-- i didn't go in with high expectations, but you may come out with something very exceptional, but the proliferation is a tremendous-- i mean, to me, it's the biggest problem i

. >> jeff mason from right reuters. >> i like your hat. >> thank you. >> look good without it, good solid head of hair. >> thank you, sir. ha ha! >> take it off. >> oh, boy. okay. i like you better without the hat. go ahead. >> here we go. going into your meeting with president to continue on monday, sir, you mentioned both denuclearization and syria. can you say what your message will be to him on syria? what would you like him to say especially given assad's gains in the country recently? and also, on denuclearization, can you spell out a little bit how you expect that to happen in terms of treaties and in terms of talks? >> well, it will be a slow process. don't forget, we're the not only ones that have nukes and it would be a slow process. but for the world it would be us and others would have to come along simultaneously obviously. but i think that when i -- when the meeting was arranged and we both wanted the meeting, when the meeting was arranged, it was from my standpoint, i don't -- i didn't go in with high expectations. but you may come out with something very exceptional. but t

. >> the first question from the united states goes to jeff mason from reuters. >> thank you. mr. president, you tweeted this morning that it's u.s. foolishness, stupidity and t eller probe that is responsible for the decline in u.s. relations in russia. do you hold russia at all accountable for anything in particular, and if so what would you consider them that they are responsible for you? >> yes, i do. i hold both countries responsible. i think that the united states has been foolish i think we've all been foolish. we should have had thise dialo a long time ago, a long time frankly before i got to office, and i think we're all to blame. i think that the united states now has stepped forward along with russia and we're getting together and we have a chance to do some great things whether it's nuclear proliferation in terms of stopping, have to do it. ultimately that's probably the most important thing that we can be working on, but i do feel that weave both made some mistakes. i think that the -- the probe is a disaster for our country. i think it's kept us apart. ated.kept us s

. >> jeff mason, you said something interesting a minute ago, that there was a little foreshadowing when you look at the president's tweets heading into the summit yesterday, in terms of the posture he was going to take. were you getting any indication from the white house? were reporters getting any indication of what tone he was going to strike? >> well, yes and no. yes, in that we had a briefing with jon huntsman, the ambassador to russia, and kate bailey hutchinson, the ambassador to nato, a week before the trip, in which both of them used the words "malign activity" used by russia. they were setting up the trip and setting up president trump's visit with president putin, as well as with the nato allies, to talk about -- to talk about russia and the things that it had done that they considered malign. including election meddling, activities in ukraine, the annexation of crimea. they set it up as something that the president was going to address, he was going to take a harsh tone. meetings leading up to this have been tough, and it is not what he did. at least it is certainly not how