mr. stoltenberg: -- mr. volker: we're going to take a couple. to your left. >> since the end of the cold war, what do you believe has been nato's biggest mistakes have been in its interactions with russia, and also successes? mr. volker: and we will stay in the center aisle now, the blue sweatshirt. >> thank you for coming to speak here. i had a question in regards to how nato is going to respond in syria. >> at first, on internal threats and challenges. remember inant to democracies there are different political parties and views. country, many have been against nato the whole time. when i was young, i was also against nato. [laughter] thatt the reason i say is we should not be afraid of open debate or different opinions. even if they are wrong. [laughter] >> but i think that is all part of it. so yes, political parties, organizations in nato countries which are critical towards nato as an intro to show in is just part of what we do. i am not afraid of that. because i think that nato has itven again and again that is a strength that we have ope

mr. stoltenberg and challenges. mr. stoltenberg: first on whether it is cyber, hybrid, all these new effects, one thing we have to understand is before it was easy to distinguish whether it was peace or war, and nations declared war and were supposed to say now it is war and now it is piece and the war was -- peace and the war was in a well efined geographic area. now it is a more blurred line between peace and war, and it is hard to say exactly when the war against isil did start. of ourse it takes place in syria, but it also takes place in the allied capitals where isil has attacked innocent civilians, and it takes place in cyberspace. it is hard to say other than we do not have an exact date for when it started and when it will end. the new threats are partly why the fact that it is a mixture of civilian and military means of aggression and a much more blurred line between peace and war. nato has adapted to that, too. the forces, more intelligence, more surveillance, more early warning, all that is aimed at being able

mr. stoltenberg: but that is part of living in a democratic society. there are political parties organizations in nato countries that are either critical to nato as an institution or to part of what they do. and to be honest, i am not afraid of that. that nato has proven again and again that it is a having opent we are debate and different views on we are developing our thinking like confronting different views and then improving our understanding of many different and difficult issues and policies. and nato has proven again that the spice differences, despite the fact that we elect some conservatives or some liberals or some social democrats or christian democrats, people coming from many different political -- from different parties with different views, they have always been able to agree on nato's core task him and that is that we are safer together than alone. we prevent conflict. the best way to prevent conflict is to send a very clear message to any potential adversary that we are so strong, so it is no chance if you try to attack one allies wil

mr. stoltenberg there, to honor the commitment of the night it's too nato.resident pointed out that he would like other countries to pay a larger share. he mentioned the 2014 pact in which countries were supposed to aim to spend 2% of their gdp on it. mr. stoltenberg said, since then, natcountries have increased spending by a significant amount. there s a point of his agreement, some contention, but with this cloud of russia hanging over them, that has been a huge area of tension between the united states and russia, that i think has convinced president trump that he needs to be very much in favor and committed to nato. julie: now what? to the to have a longer visit? -- do the two have a longer visit? do they continue talking? to continuelan talking. the president said he will go to brussels regarding the next steps of nato. we know the president and mr. stoltenberg talked about areas membereration between countries to nato as well as iraq and afghanistan. we do not know what the night dates next policy in syria will be. that remains an open question. it dep

at a news conference in washington with the organisation's secretary general, jens stoltenberg, mr trump believed nato was obsolete. we must also work together to resolve the disaster currently taking place in syria. we are grateful for the support of nato members and partners in their condemnation of assad's murderous attack, using the most horrible weapons. the secretary general and i had a productive discussion about what more nato can do in the fight against terrorism. i complained about that a long time ago, and they made a change, and now they do fight terrorism. i said it was obsolete. it's no longer obsolete. police in germany investigating the three explosions that hit the bus carrying the borussia dortmund football team on tuesday have detained a suspected islamist extremist. they are treating it as a terror attack. the match against monaco did go ahead on wednesday night, and there were shows of defiance from both sets of fans. jenny hill reports from dortmund. after an attack on home ground, this is how the world of football responded. dortmund's fans and their monaco rivals

mr. stoltenberg saying, we have to talk about the money might have owed in the past as well. geopolitical events touched on. let's bring in people to help break it down for us. christine is a senior fellow for the center for strategic and international studies. michael allen here from beacon global. he is also a cnbc contributor. welcome, everybody. christine, first you. what is significant to you about this news conference, simply the fact it happened, they appeared to be on relatively friendly terms or was there more? >> well, think there were a couple of things that were significant. certainly i think the tone between the president and the secretary general was pretty positive. i think you heard president trump affirm his support for nato, affirm his support for what nato is trying to do, and those were some positive comments. he said he looked forward to the summit. but i think, you know, it was also interesting to me that, a, he basically signalled that nato is going to play a greater role fighting isis. it sound like maybe helping to train some of the local forces there

and a short time later, i spoke with jens stoltenberg. mr.retary general, welcome to the "newshour". we heard president trump say today that relations between the united states and russia may be at their lowest point since the end of the cold war. would you say the same thing about relations between n.a.t.o. and russia right now? >> at least the relationship is difficult, and that reflects that we see a more assertive russia which has implemented a very significant military buildup over several years and a russia which has used military force against neighbors, especially ukraine. n.a.t.o. is responding to that with the high readiness of forces, with the biggest reinforcements and collect i've defense since the cold war. at the same time, we say we are seeking to avoid the new cold war, avoid the new arms race and, therefore, we continue to work for a more constructive relationship with russia including political russia. >> woodruff: how do you prevent it from becoming a one upmanship? russia has sent more troops to their border, how do you k

mr. trump's recent complaints. "they made a change," the president said. "now they do fight terrorism." well, secretary general jens stoltenberg responded with a history lesson, remind mr. trump of nato's 16 years fighting al qaeda and the taliban in afghanistan at a cost, the secretary general said, of more than 1,000 lives. there's been something of a cold war inside the white house. it appears the president is putting some distance between himself and his most controversial varies, steve bannon. bannon is the former right wing media executive who has been the author of mr. trump's darkest rhetoric. major garrett is at the white house. >> reporter: the president's chief strategist, steve bannon, took a seat in the front row of mr. trump's news conference today but source close to the president say bannon's role in mr. trump's inner circle is in jeopardy. >> there's a new political order that's being formed out of this. >> reporter: clashes with jared kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior adviser have, angered mr. trump, as was evident in an interview yesterday with the "new york post" weapon "teef steve does ray goo

jens stoltenberg: thank you, so much, mr. president. we had an excellent and very productive meeting, and it is really an honor to meet you for the first time in the white house. we agreed that nato is the bedrock of security both for europe and for the united states. warworld wars and a cold have taught us all that peace in europe is not only important for europeans but is also important for the prosperity and security of north america. so a strong nato is good for europe, but a strong nato is also good for the united states. and therefore, i will come the very strong commitment of the united states to the security of europe. we see this commitment not only .n words but also in deeds over the past months, thousands of u.s. troops have been deploying to europe, a clear demonstration that america stands with allies to protect peace and the sense of our freedom. and yesterday, you announced the montenegro's could remember -- membership in nato. we thank you for that. dangerous and more unpredictable world, it is important to have friends

jens stoltenberg: thank you, so much, mr. president. we had an excellent and very productive meeting, and it is really an honor to meet you for the first time in the white house. we agreed that nato is the bedrock of security both for europe and for the united states. two world wars and a cold war have taught us all that peace in europe is not only important for europeans but is also important for the prosperity and security of north america. so a strong nato is good for europe, but a strong nato is also good for the united states. and therefore, i will come the very strong commitment of the united states to the security of europe. we see this commitment not only in words but also in deeds. over the past months, thousands of u.s. troops have been deploying to europe, a clear demonstration that america stands with allies to protect peace and the sense of our freedom. and yesterday, you announced the completion of montenegro's membership in nato. we thank you for that. in a more dangerous and more unpredictable world, it is important to h

mr. trump's recent complaints. they made a change, the president said, now they do fight terrorism. well, secretary-general stoltenberg responded with a history lesson, reminding mr. trump of the 16 years fighting al qaeda and the taliban. in afghanistan, at a cost, the secretary-general said, of more than 1,000 lives. >>> there's been something of a cold war inside the white house. it appears the president is putting some distance between himself and his most controversial adviser, steve bannon. bannon is the former right wing media executive who has been the author of mr. trump's darkest rhetoric. major garrett is at the white house. >> reporter: the president's chief strategist, steve bannon, took a seat in the front row of mr. trump's news conference today. but sources say their bannon's role is in jeopardy. >> there's a new political order being formed out of it. >> reporter: clashes with jared kushner have angered mr. trump, as was evident in an interview yesterday with the new york post. steve is a good guy, but i told them to straighten it out or i will, the president said, after ordering a bannon/kushner truc

about how mrtrump said disaster in syria, also talked about how mr trump said that we should not be trapped by tired thinking and stoltenberg strong may do good europe he talked about a more dangerous and unpredictable world it is interesting that both men emphasised that. donald trump said, "the world isa that. donald trump said, "the world is a mess, right now it is musty and they can't do it right now" it is it —— the world is nasty. it is the view ofjens stoltenberg and an autumn that the world is west now. donald was asked about what has been happening in moscow, the meetings between the us secretary of state and his counterpart in moscow, he said it was a successful meeting which may have raised some eyebrows giving that nothing agreed and eve ryo ne giving that nothing agreed and everyone in moscow agreed the relations are bad. but mr trump said judge the success of my policy on russia in the long time and this may ta ke russia in the long time and this may take a long time. he also said that right now in us russian relations could be at an all—time low. one other thing that has generated a lot of interest online, we

mr. trump. over the course of one day he reversed his stance on several campaign promises, leaving allies guessing. reporter: nato chief jens stoltenberg could have been forgiven for entering the oval office with some trepidation, especially after president donald trump told a german newspaper in january he thought nato was obsolete. yet stoltenberg needn't have worried about what trump was going to say. president trump: i said it was obsolete. it is no longer obsolete. reporter: trump was carried to the presidency on a wave of populism, including a nationalist foreign policy. president trump: from this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. from this day forward, it is going to be only america first. america first. reporter: in other words, every decision would benefit ordinary americans. on twitter, team for his predecessor, barack obama, -- he him for his -- he implored his predecessor barack obama not to intervene in syria. yet on day 77 of the presidency, the u.s. military fired on a syrian air base. a suspected chemical weapons attack had changed everything. suddenly trump wants to act and even remove president bashar al

stoltenberg. thank you for being here. >> thank you for having me. >> just a couple of months ago, mr. trump said nato was obsolete. yesterday said it's no longer obsolete. has nato changed, or has mr. trump? >> first of all, i welcome the very strong support of president trump to the alliance and nato is the most successful alliance in history because we have been able to change when the world is changing. so nato is constantly changing. now we are stepping up our efforts to fight international terrorism, and we are -- so nato is important for europe but also for the united states. >> was nato obsolete before now? >> nato has always been relevant because nato has been extremely important to be able or to preserve the peace and stability in europe. we know that peace and stability in europe is also important for the united states. two world wars and the cold war have told us all that stability in europe is important for the security and prosperity and nato has been a key tool to preserve that. >> so why did president trump change his opinion? >> for me, the important thing is that he has been very consistent when i