has been built on russia's borders so for that at least they're going to they want to keep nato. well ahead of the nato summit another crucial meeting may take place and the white house has announced that u.s. national security advisor john bolton will travel to moscow next week to discuss a potential meeting between donald trump and bottom report an artist breaks it down for us. well it was all rumors up to this point but now john bolton has confirmed that he will be coming over to europe first perhaps symbolically to meet with u.s. pm allies nato allies organizing the summit next month but then he'll be traveling to moscow now this is john bolton we're talking about one of the most hawkish and militants of u.s. officials and national security adviser for donald trump he'll be organizing the details of and again this is a potential this isn't set in said in stone yet potential meeting between ladysmith putin and donald trump the leaders of the united states and russia two nuclear superpowers and you know the time when the time is now there's a lot to talk about this terrorism as

is a very dangerous game i think nato will survive on balance because for the united states nato expansion to virtuous arone the russian federation has been very important and the been nato presence has been built up in russia's borders so for that at least they're going to be want to keep nato. just a couple of main stories so online you can get the latest twenty four hours a day will be back without woke up to thirty four minutes this is all to international. join me every thursday on the alec simon show and i'll be speaking to guest of the world of politics sports business i'm showbusiness i'll see if it. exists is harlan kentucky. the all of this group the boy says if you go to st fanny's leave. a co money city with the most snow cone mines left. the jobs are gone all the coal mines a said. that it was a laugh to see these people a survivor disappearing before their eyes. i remember thinking when i was younger that if anything ever happened to the coal mines here that it would become a ghost town but i never thought in a million years i would see that and it's happened it's happened. w

be welcome back this is our team international now the nato secretary general is warning that political disputes and infighting risk tearing the military alliance apart but speaking in london stolzenberg insisted that preserving nato is in the interests of its twenty nine member states. these disagreements are real it is not written in stone that the transatlantic phone will survive for ever but i believe we will serve it those comments and stoltenberg call for unity come ahead of next month's nato summit which will be attended by donald trump he has been a frequent critic of the alliance and it is feared the meetings could inflame tensions between washington and its partners and some of the key points of contention are over trade attitudes towards climate change and the future of the iran nuclear deal the nato chief has also said he believes that within europe that use political orientation and shifting values could have a negative impact on the strength of the alliance and despite of the divisions though political analyst chris bambery told us that he thinks nato is role in containing

it's effectively part of that or an alliance know the presence of nato forces in eastern europe the buildup of nato bases right on the southern as well as the western border of the russian federation this is a very dangerous game i think it's who will survive on the balance because for the united states nato expansion to virtuous arone the russian federation has been very important and the been nato presence has been built up in russia's borders so for that at least they're going to they want to keep nato. ok back to the world cup now and away from the jubilance and festivities there have been a few dark moments and fortunately british police have opened an investigation into a group of england fans who were allegedly seen giving nazi salutes in one of the host cities live to london now our correspondent and associate can is there. what we know at this point. well call and that indeed quite an unfortunate incident seems to have unraveled in one of the host cities of the world cup in volgograd where english fans were captured giving nazi salutes singing hitler songs as well as shouti

it has been his goal is to divide nato. they feel president trump is playing into his hands. >> your source talks about europeans having what the source describes as a special place in, quote, trump hell. what does that mean? >> that's right. this follows comments from -- president trump made to leaders. he said that -- he was saying nato is worse than nafta. you can see that they fear he is conflating his disdain for europe, his concern that america is not getting the same fair treatment on trade deals, and they are being taken advantage of with concern about nato and that it's costing too much money. he sees these alliances in solely economic terms. what this top european official said was that there is this special kind of trump hell in which nato is as bad as nafta and the eu is worse than china. there's a real concern, wolf, that president trump is trying to divide the europeans, not just on nato but the eu. you will remember that he said to president macron when they met that he suggested he should leave the eu and he

reaffirming our commitment to nato, to our nato allies, to our nato treaty obligations, which has been a bedrock of u.s. policy in the post war era. we're looking forward to a successful nato summit, i know the president is. we'll discuss all of these issues openly with our allies and with other eu colleagues. we're very much looking forward to it. >> mr. secretary, as you know there is concern in europe about what they believe to be an assault by the united states or at least from the president's twitter on the international rules based order, you know that term that's been in effect for 70-odd years. should they be concerned? in other words, is the president's strategy to sort of erode this order in place of something else, or is it just rhetoric? >> well, what i'd say christiane, is that the president of the united states is committed to the transatlantic relationship, to the nato alliance, our nato treaty allies and our nato treaty commitment. the issues that you've referring to, trade and economic issues are one part of a much larger relationship between the united states and euro

the buildup of nato b.c.'s right on the southern as well as the western border of the russian federation this is a very dangerous game i think we need to will survive on the balance because for the united states nato expansion to virtuous around the russian federation has been very important and the been nato presence has been built on russia's borders so for that at least they're going to be want to keep nato up and ahead of the nato summit another crucial meeting may take place the white house has announced that u.s. national security advisor john bolton will travel to moscow next week to discuss a potential meeting between donald trump and flatterer putin or at gas death breaks down the story. well it was all rumors up to this point but now john bolton has confirmed that he will be coming over to europe first perhaps symbolically to meet with u.s. pm allies nato allies organizing the summit next month but then he'll be traveling to moscow now this is john bolton we're talking about one of the most hawkish a

just in time for the nato summit in july. i plead with my republican colleagues to join us in making this a bipartisan commitment to the future of nato. this resolution reaffirms what should be obvious, it urges president trump to do the same in committing to this alliance and to stand resolute against russian aggression. we know hostile nations will seek to exploit the strained relationship between natoened a the united states, and we can't allow this to happen. if our president won't d it, congress must. we need to act to reasse that america can still be trusted to stand for the values which inspired the creation of nato and to stand by our allies and friends who share our goal for a peaceful world. thank you, mr. president. mr. cornyn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i want to begin my remarks by commending our colleagues in the house for taking up a bill later today that i introduced with the junior senator from michigan, senator peters, and congresswoman comstock over i

of nato bases right on the southern as well as the western border of the russian federation this is a very dangerous game i think a little will survive on the balance because for the united states nato expansion to virtuous arone the russian federation has been very important and the been nato presence has been built up in russia's borders so for that at least they're going to be want to keep nato up. and their head of the nato summit another crucial meeting may take place the white house has announced that u.s. national security advisor john bolton will travel to moscow next week to discuss a potential meeting between donald trump and florida met putin. based on a story. well it was all rumors up to this point but now john bolton has confirmed that he will be coming over to europe first perhaps symbolically to meet with european allies nato allies organizing the summit next month but then he'll be traveling to moscow now this is john bolton we're talking about one of the most hawkish and militants of u.s. officials and national security adviser for donald trump he'll be organizing

i was telling bill i was at nato in the late 1990's and i remember the question we raised nato,hat is the future of considering that we do not have a common enemy anymore? humans avoid raising difficult questions. there was also the afghan crosses -- crisis in the late 1990's and now there is vladimir putin, and all of these elements have allowed us not to really raise difficult issues. alliance without an enemy? it is a new concept in foreign relationships. , i do not wantn to be too long because it would i a long conversation and would have to bring answers to what i said, but my basic point today, the relationship is fragile. the foundation is not here anymore and we need to define a common agenda. we do not have a common threat anymore to face. russia is a geopolitical problem, but it is not the ussr. why ahave a question, strong transatlantic relationship, to do what? very basic questions and i do not believe we are really able to answer these questions. i am ready to answer all of your questions, please. [applause] thank you very much for a provocative way of opening up the conv

nato was norm's. pact designed to counter russian the soviet union there's no reason why as a collective security organization that russia couldn't join not think about what's the point point about russia joining nato or not joining nato and i think president putin has talked about that. so it's not beyond the realms of possibility well you know i think i think times times are changing you know i mean since the second a war they have british foreign policy has basically been to keep close to the united states as possible on the clear reasons for that britain relied on the united states for med perspective to defend them against the strength of the soviet union that was the first thing and british policy has always been that if we wanted to influence will the phase we needed to stay close to the united states an un trying to influence them through to our advantage but the world has changed i think the the will that existed before where you had one hyper power off of the fall of the berlin wall and brea

those comments on the call for unity come ahead of next month's nato summit which will be attended by donald trump he's been a frequent critic of the alliance and its feared that the meetings could inflame the tensions between washington and its partners some of the key points of contention are over trade attitudes towards climate change and the future of the iran nuclear deal the nato chief has also said he believes that within europe the political orientation and shifting values could have a negative impact on the strength of the alliance despite the divisions though political analyst chris bambery he told us he thinks nato israel in containing russia is enough to ensure it will survive not a defensive alliance of the more is very much an offensive or winds particularly in regards to the russian federation because of that expansion russia's russian federation is borders the possibility of ukraine joining nato is afraid to be part of that one hour winds know the presence of nato forces in eastern europe the buildup of need to be seas right along the southern as well as the west the b

it's effectively part of that so i and our winds know the presence of nato forces in eastern europe the buildup of need to be seas right along the southern as well as the western border of the russian federation this is a very dangerous game i think a little will survive on balance because for the united states the need to expound to virtuous around the russian federation has been very important and the big nato presence has been built up in russia's borders so for that at least they're going to be want to keep nato up. and ahead of the nato summit another crucial meeting may take place the white house has announced that u.s. national security advisor john bolton will travel to moscow next week to discuss a potential meeting between donald trump and flood them it puton what breaks down the story. well it was all rumors up to this point but now john bolton has confirmed that he will be coming over to europe first perhaps symbolically to meet with european allies nato allies organizing the summit next month but then he'll be traveling to moscow now this is john bolton we're talking ab

there are governments in within nato that of course and austria not a nato member but within europe who don't want to see this pointless enmity with russia continue so i don't think mr trump will be coming to meet with mr putin with any kind of unity behind his back so trump will meet with vladimir putin after attending a nato summit is that going to be kind of a difficult balancing act you have in the preterit at best history with russia nato . i think mr trump will want to go to be his own drummer here just as he did not. at the g seven meeting in toronto i don't think he felt he let himself be intimidated by what the other people there as able thought whatever he hears in brussels from the other european leaders he's going to go forward with his own priorities when he goes to talk to mr putin i suspect it's going to be some issue on the american side in terms of the advice he gets from mr bolton mr pompei or other people on his team who don't particularly want to see a warming of relations with russia i think the discussion of ukraine may be very contentious on the one hand we have s

look i think i just did it just going back to the just turn back to the whole nato thing i think if nato was norm's. pact designed to counter russian the soviet union there's no reason why this as a collective security organization that russia couldn't join not think about what's the point point about russia joining nato or not joining nato and i think president putin has has talked about that. so it's not beyond the realms of possibility well you know i think i think times times are changing you know i mean since the second a war they have british foreign policy has basically been to keep close to the united states as possible on the clear reasons for that britain relied on the united states from that perspective to defend them against the strength of the soviet union and that was the first thing and british policy has always been that if we wanted to influence will the phase we needed to stay close to the united states an un trying to influence them through to our advantage but the world has changed i think the the will that existed before where you had one hyper power off of the fall

military alliance apart but at a speech in london and stoltenberg did insist that preserving nato is in the interest of its twenty nine member states these disagreements are real it is not written in stone that the transatlantic bone will survive for ever but i believe we will preserve it for those comments and stoltenberg call for unity come ahead of next month's nato summit which could lay bare the differences between them on a number of issues between member states the nato chief said within europe the e.u. political orientation and shifting values could have an impact on the strength of the alliance and the key points of contention between washington and its partners over trade attitudes towards climate change and the future of the iran nuclear deal so long on their plate let's bring in political analyst chris bambery now again do you agree with stauffenberg that nato can overcome all these differences that it's facing at the moment. and then today i think nato will survive because it's been an important part of united states strategy the expansion of nato in particular to surrou

nato's advantages to bear. russia is not the soviet union any more. russian ground forces about a quarter of the size of where they were at the beginning -- or midway through the decline in 1991. so 350,000 in the ground forces the airborne troops and naval infantry. they also still rely on a lot of 12-month conscripts. so these are draftees brought into the service that get about four months of training, spend eight months in the service, and then they're gone. they have -- since about 2015, 2016, they now have more contract soldiers than conscripts in service, but they're still very reliant on these short-term conscripts. so with that and some of these other challenges facing them, we think that if they were compelled to take action, they would try to benefit from surprise -- they would try to conduct the operation very quickly, and then they would try to terminate the conflict as quickly as possible. in light of that longer-term disadvantage. so there's actually plenty of historical cases where russia has do

he's always had the huge criticisms of the un and nato and quite often his criticisms have some weight he prides himself on being master of the deal. master of the unpredictable! absolutely. a small, related story to this on the front page of the daily telegraph about the first lady and her plans during the first lady and her plans during the uk visit. melania trump will be coming with her husband when he visits the pm and finally makes it to britain for the first time since he became president last year —— first lady. what britain has suggested according to the telegraph is melania trump visits a school, which would be a nice, soft...m sounds quite familiar, doesn't it? it sounds like the michelle obama visit, when she triumphed, she went back to the same schools, east london schools, a girls school, they we re london schools, a girls school, they were all in tears and she was hugging them all. a flippant comment, but after melania trump when she was walking up the steps of the plane with the jacket saying i don't care, you think, she hasn't been brilliant at the photo opportunities r

one relates to nato's nato partners meeting their 2% commitment. the question i had, okay, 2% have a limited number of them actually meeting that. but what does that mean dollar wise. and we did ask the state department and in 2016 that shortfall was about 122 billion worth of defensive spending. now, in 2017 according to testimony, they've increased spending about 14.4 billion. decided to go up another 10 billion in 2018. so now the shortfall is about 98 billion. we're told that over the period from 2019 to 2024, another $35.5 billion shortfall will be filled, leaving $62 billion shortfall eight years after in 2016. so just kind of puts that into perspective in terms of what that actually is. and as i've discussed this with our european allies and friends and partners, i always try to make the point. this isn't just president trump making this point. he's really speaking for the american public. if europe expects america to be steadfast in our relationship, the least europe can do is spend that 2% and contribute their fair share. the other point i

on a parallel track with nato, we have supported the british approaching nato in the lead up to the summit, of lowering some of the conditions with regard to the defense property so that we can have a clearer path and discussion about nato prospects so that we are not exercising in the fact.be too. i would like to get back to the place we were when bhatia herzegovina was the biggest problem -- bosnia-herzegovina was the biggest problem in the balkan peninsula. i think this creates a very attractive opening for the russians to metal. >> there's no doubt about that, not just in bosnia-herzegovina. as you pointed out, in coast of all, serbia and throughout -- kosovo , serbia and throughout the balkans. i now want to turn to turkey. there are a number of issues with turkey that i know the state department is very concerned about. one of those is there continued pursuance of the s 400 air defense system from russia, which obviously would be in violation of law. can you talk about what the administration is doing on that front, and if turkey does accept delivery of that system, when would we inv

it is likely to come out again at the nato summit. there's real concern about that nato summit as there must be deep in the west wing. >> well, we all know that one of putin's longest standing goals has been the weakening of nato. >> yeah. >> and to have the american president, during the campaign, call nato obsolete and since then constantly attacking our nato allies, complaining about how much they pay for defense, that's like a dream come true for vladimir putin. and the fact that you see the president talking down about the germans, the spanish, the french, seeming to always assume that angela merkel or macron have the worst intentions and saying at the same time we need to have good relationships with russia and china and assuming that kim jong-un has the best of intentions going into this putin meeting, his instincts about whose an ally and whose an enemy are reversed from past presidents. >> you've got conventional americans walk ago round knowing this is the post-war alliance. just the story of germany emerging from the ashes

we created nato. we owe a debt of gratitude to nato. 9/11, when this nation was attacked, the canadian ambassador to nato was the one that invoked in the article five treaty powers that brought all the 26 nations at the time to the defense of united states when this city right here out that window was smoldering and burning. we still have our debt in our buildings. -- dead in our buildings. we created this alliance as a body of national security, national and collective defense against adversaries like russia. but we should not do is suddenly, arbitrarily with one man decide the entire history of the united states, from 1939 two today should be eliminated because perhaps he owes a debt to the cardinal of the kremlin. host: are the midterms vulnerable to russia? guest: yes, they are absolutely vulnerable because we have done absolutely nothing since 2016. the russians don't have to hack the results. over 25 states were scanned by russians intelligence, the russian military intelligence. they were looki

nato, the i. nato in line of fire as global trade war escalates.d jones, fears for future of military alliance. i don't want to let the facts get in the way of a good story. at the end of the day, there are three countrieses in nato, who pay the 2% of gdp they are requireded who are in europe. america does far more, but, britain is one of them. now, germany is the most rich country in the whole of europe, european union is made for germany, germany benefits from it more than anybody else. it doesn't pay half of what it should. when people say we don't germany being military, fine, just write the cheque. japan pays its way. what they are saying trump saidi its way. what they are saying trump said i am thinking of pulling out of this and protecting europe. he is the guarantor of europe, if you don't pay your way, because it hurts germany, suddenly it... it is argued they pay for peacekeeping operation, thatis they pay for peacekeeping operation, that is one of the biggest bugbears the germans have. as the canadians have, over trade with their spat wi

yourjob is ambassador to nato, you've got a summit next month, a nato summit next month.tension between... literally, people talking about the breakdown of the west as a concept. with a president who has turned on his allies and linked trade deficits to all sorts of other areas. trade deficits to defence. do you approve of the president linking trade and defence? well, i think we must stay on defence in nato and talk about burden sharing on defence, and i'm very focused on the security umbrella that nato is for our western alliance, for europe, for north america, canada and the united states. and the 2% is obviously europe's embarrassment because it doesn't deliver that, by and large. the 2% target of gdp to spend on defence. but do you agree with the president's framing of the issue, that the united states is in nato as a grand favour to other countries, as opposed to a mutual benefit for all the countries? if you look at it clearly, it is a fa ct if you look at it clearly, it is a fact that it the united states puts in more than any of the allies. so, from a standpoint

he's already talking about breaking up nato or withdrawing from nato.so attacking the unity of the european union with a vengeance. and they basically feel that the united states is no longer a reliable ally. whereas putin is a reliable enemy. >> and christopher, axios is reporting that during president trump's private -- he was privately trashing nato to g7 ally necessary canada. he said nato is as bad as nafta and crimea probably should belong to russia because everyone there speaks russian. are the world leaders expecting a repeat of mr. trump's behavior during and after the summit? >> yeah, i think they probably are expecting something like that. he may actually believe these things. that's really a disturbing notion. he's never understood the question of nato financing. the issue is always how much each country spends on its own defense. and he acts like those are dues being paid at mar-a-lago. it's a completely different kettle of fish. so he doesn't seem to understand what nato is for. he has no historical memory of how peace has been won in euro

he's not going to suddenly like nato.e's not going to wake up and say, you know what, my natural allies are in the eu. this is not going to happen. >> you mentioned nato. that's the next big summit on the agenda next month. he will take this notion of why don't you all pay up, you are due the 2%. that's something that the obama administration posited in the most serious way in 2014. many american presidents have said that. i guess, you know, the question is, what do you think is going to happen at the next gathering of allies? again, in the unprecedented column. no matter what trump thinks, the words and the language he has used to address allies like justin trudeau and others, i mean, i don't want to repeat that language myself, frankly. >> here is something -- you talk about the next nato summit. here is something that will be popular with many americans and not just those who voted for donald trump. unlike barack obama -- you are right, he thought nato should pony up more money, its fair share. he said so in his very p

nato backed by america or mrjuncker?tendency for donald trump to always see enemies in europe rather than friends. the transatlantic alliance they think is under real threat. trump loves europe. he loves the uk, he is half british himself. he loves france, he respects germany very deeply. italy very deeply. what people here don't yet understand but i do because i know the guy and the administration, he respects the nation states of europe. he has not quite so much respect for the artificial structures of the european union. it seems to me in washington that the eu is under so much pressure from within and without, how precarious as the eu itself? what is the sense you are getting from people there? i don't think there's an extensional crisis right now from migration but i think what it is doing is driving these populist forces within europe which are perhaps more of an extensional threat to the eu. from a failure to get hold of migration we have got brexit, a populist government in italy, a hardline in austria and other

and saying that europe isn't spent spending enough on nato the feds call it wants u.s. military bases that in germany now colombia says this is just foreign policy but all these gentlemen we've run out of die many thanks to my guests in moscow and in london this is the end of our broadcast segment stay with us for the expanded version on our you tube channel see you next time and remember cross talk rules. go . four man are sitting in a car when the fifth gets shot in the head. all four different versions of what happened one of them is on the death row there's no way he could have done it there's no possible way because all this did not shoot around a corner. we have the privilege of being the most allied ally of the united states. sent overseas tool and many other alliances promoted by the west and the united states in particular members or we also have the privilege of being the most sanctioned. and that to any group of countries so while it sounds contradictory it is contradictory and pakistan this shows that pakistan will do what is in its national interest it will

and tactic ahead of a nato summit or does he really mean it supports the u.s. president is thinking of pulling out thousands of troops stationed in germany. plus it will be a knockout game joe will tell you how early hoping to make portugal bites the dust at the world cup. because of health minister says two people one of them a thirteen year old boy have been killed by israeli gunfire the boys reportedly shot in the head straight for the protests on the border with israel more than three hundred palestinians were injured they've been weakly processed at the border since march against israeli land confiscation and the ongoing occupation one hundred thirty practice palestinians have been killed by israeli live fire and thousands injured since march that hasn't stopped people from going back out to protest and. i had three operations on my leg and a fourth one yesterday from the hospital to participate with my people in today's protest we want to wake up all the sleeping palestinians from gaza to the west bank despite my injury i came to throw stones and burns ho

he is challenging the core of nato, he is challenging article five.o war over lithuania ? would the uk go to war over poland? well, we did in 1939. but we couldn't even contemplate that now. 2% spent on defence is a derisory amount. we know it. mr putin knows it. but do we care? and he said a resurgent russia was not the only threat. pointing to what he said was the rise of militant islamism. and all this comes back to the tussle. through brexit, we are signalling a strong independent, instinct, where the traditional relationship with united states, membership with nato and our permanent membership of the security council. we just 2% of gdp, we're not putting our money where our mouth is. we're taking an enormous amount of risk and a lack of militant capabilities. a level of risk that history shows will come back sooner rather than later to bite back hard. but they government said nato transformed significantly in recent years and at game. thanks to the investment pledge, to spend 2% of gdp on defence and 20% of that on investment in you capabilities,

nato's and you will military drills along the russian border called saber strike got off to a bit of a bumpy start for armored vehicles crashed into each other a little way and injuring thirteen troops peter oliver now takes a closer look at the blocks a show of force right on russia's doorstep. around eighteen thousand troops from nineteen different countries taking part in nato strike eighteen military maneuvers. those at the very top of the alliance say that despite all those troops and all of the military hardware heading in the general direction of russia this operation is not designed as a provocation to moscow nato has what we call the dual track approach the rest of. which is about that we need stronger turns a strong defense combine that with political dialogue because we're not aiming at isolating russia. russia so a neighbor russia said to stay but that's not the way russia sees it these maneuvers and the announcement by warsaw at the end of last month that poland wants to see a permanent u.s. base on its soil being described by kremlin spokes person as a source of potenti

do you see as a potential future military threat for nato? you know, on the second question to be frank i was a bit, i remember one day i think it was coming from the department of defense. i don't know whether it was under this administration or the previous administration what basically a was description of the situation in terms of threats. i'm very reluctant to enter into this vocabulary. really, it's international relationship is based on competition. every country is defending its interest, and that are some moments with the interests are really bumping into each other. that's a normal. maybe also because of the geography of europe, but i wouldn't qualify certainly china as a threat. like russia, for me, russia, they are really raising a lot of questions, problems. but that's what form follows is for. really every country is defending its interest, and you have to balance, you had to find friends, allies. you have to pass the buck to somebody else if you can. that's the normal game. so obviously china is the new big boy on the block. th

the president, his views on these important issues, reaffirming our commitment to nato, to our nato allies, to our nato treaty obligations which have been a bedrock principle of u.s. foreign policy in the post-war era. we're looking forward to a successful nato summit, i know the president is, and we'll discuss this with our nato allies and other ally kohl leagues, and we're looking forward to it. >> so that should be music to the alliance's ears. but they all know that president trump is very transactional. he's bound to berate them again about the two percentage points of gdp they should be paying toward their nato budget, their military budget. and, you know, they were concerned about the trump-putin meeting. probably better for them that it's happening after the nato summit, because then they can sort of, you know, sort of brief president trump as to what's important to them before he goes to meet with putin, because we know that putin likes to see president trump, you know, sort of roil up the alliance and likes to see the alliance weakened in any form possible, so they're very

supports nato.respondent kevin corke has more on that from the white house. >> germany is paying 1% of a much smaller gdp. we are paying close to 4% of a much larger gdp, so i think we should pay the same as germany. >> to the denizens of the palmetto state it was music to the ears. president trump talking tough about nato, calling out germany for what he says is its lack of financial commitment to the alliance and suggesting now maybe the time for the u.s. to pull the purse strings. >> it's all wonderful and we like to help out, but it helps them. they are in europe. >> the president's critique that members aren't doing enough to fund their own security is not new. he slammed the alliance on twitter, warning that change is coming, a message sharply delivered to nato defense ministers in brussels and received loud and clear of the white house. >> more and more allies are at 2% of gdp for defense. but they also agree that we have to do more. >> nato h 29 member states but only eight countries, includ

nato force. we watched closely our ambassador there and our team on the ground watch closely as the election take place and government formation efforts have begun to achieve a government in iraq was a iraqi national unity government with as little iranian influence as we could possibly achieve. we're doing our best to facilitate that work. it's appropriate. ultimately the iraqi people will decide the formation of their government. i hope it's one where we can reduce the influence of iran. i think most of the iraqi people want that as well. >> speaking of iran, yemen, do you think it's important that iran not be allowed to dominate yemen? >> we do. we can see even as recently today enormous iranian influence how they are reacting. >> do you trust the russians to drive the iranians out of syrian. >> reporter: the answer with respect to the russian capacity to do that is an open ended question and if they could achieve that, if the russians could get the iranians out of there i would applaud it. >>

next month for the nato summit even though that invitation is conditional the on the former yugoslav macedonia ratifying everything in parliament or a referendum and passing constitutional amendments when the time comes for final ratification and full access into nato if every other member of nato has abandoned the greeks on this and has gone ahead and done so without the lesser of this agreement being on in the north then the greeks will be isolated within nato and it'll be politically very expensive for them to hold that position for very long they will effectively be surrounded they will be the ones in the minority within nato not the northern macedonians that is the concern that scenario is the concern of the conservative opposition who said that once you've issued this letter of invitation conditional or not you've effectively allowed them in and this is it going to be extremely difficult should they really need on obligations to dislodge them. nigerian police and the military say six suicide bombers have killed at least twenty people in the northeastern state of born the explos

that is double all other nato countries combined. largest economy in the world with the largest military spending. germany spent 1.2% of gdp on defense. members that fall below 2% are ramping up spending. eu and canada on track to meet that by 2024 because of the c cajoling of the president. >> what brought him back to this? >> it is him on the newspaper and maybe he is tying trade and defense and the u.s. hal authority. >> merkel did put that photo out first. perhaps that was a shot. >>> president trump refusing to retreat from his call to readmit russia into the g7. he is doubling down. >> it would be an asset to have russia back in. i think it would be good for the world. i think it would be good for the united states. of the countries of the current g7. i think the g8 would be better with russia back in. we are looking for peace in the world. not looking to play games. >> is russia looking for peace? russia was killcked out four yes ago for annexing crimea. let's bring in correspondent matthew chance. >> reporter: donald trump is