meet vladimir putin.s there he's been a leader far more than our president has been a leader. >> he was a kgb agent. >> he's a thug, and a murderer and a killer. >> he's the richest man in the world. hundreds of billions of dollars. >> what does he want from donald trump? >> putin is going to eat him like a sandwich. >> he'd rather have a puppet as president. >> just how powerful is he? >> putin has an untrammeled authority. i don't see checks on his power. >> so powerful he rigged the american election? >> of course he wanted hillary clinton to lose. he despies hillary clinton. >> who would you like better? >> of the world. >> while russia celebrates. americans ask what does he want? and is he really the most powerful man in the world? >> december fifth, 1989, it was a cold night in drezden, east germany and it would change the course of vladimir putin's life. the berlin wall had just fallen. all over east germany angry crowds roamed the streets, lashing out at symbols of communist rule. that night in dr

putin controls everything in russia. >> putin has the authority. i don't see any checks on his power. >> he's able to make singular, rapid decisions, the absolutism there is unlike anything i have seen in russia. >> all that power over 80% and that's according to american pollsters. >> donald trump wins the presidency. when the united states elected a new president. it looked like russia had fallen for a new leader. >> there were toasts all over moscow and the parliament. on talk shows and at bars. >> we are the champions of the world. [ laughter ] >> but, one man seemed utterly unsurprised by trump's victory. >> that means he won the u.s. election. the man who's simultaneously the president of russia and the president of the united states. >> mr. putin -- >> trump's impersonators are everywhere in russia. >> but, it could be an american tv program that best describes the putin/trump's relationship. >> trump was "the apprentice." at the heart of all this are some deadly questions. does vladimir putin have some kind of hold over donald trump. did he

that's why putin loves making enemies. >> putin cannot afford peace.k as the only atmosphere where he can survive. >> it's the neverending conflict with the whole world that gives putin cover for a never ending crackdown on anyone who speaks out against him. and no one speaks out as loudly as this group. this stunt made these young profane women in ski masks world famous and landed two of them in prison. >> this man says that you can't criticize your government. >> they're out now and whatever lesson the system was trying to teach them, they didn't learn it. we asked one member, who everyone calls masha, about the group's provocative name. >> it's just funny. >> so it's a joke on politicians that every time they talk about you they have to say pussy riot. >> yeah. >> you're getting a little dig at them? >> kind of. but now i think we have enough politicians who are okay with pronounces pussy. >> she's talking of course about president trump. it was their kind of protest, but she thinks it should go further. >> very simple. i think riot and do not be af

for putin.utin believes handshake can be a way to fool. trump is an ideal counter part. >> do you think putin tried to get trump elected? >> absolutely. we have evidence he wanted trump to win. >> why would he want trump to win? >> , many reasons thmpt simple one is that trump psychology with his massive ego and rejection of the rules. putin believes he is calling the shots. and we know from history that power is corrupt. >> he is absolutely corrupt. greatest danger faced by the free world because the man has intentions. listen what -- >> the greatest danger that the free world -- you don't think that is exaggeration? >> any other threat that the free world is facing like isis or terror groups it's incompatible to what putin can do. >> do you think there is a threat to the united states? >> his hand is weak. putin has a lot of money. he knows that playing this game by undermining the institution, by creating chaos. putin seems to have a unique skill when it comes to creating chaos all over the w

putin said no, assad must stay. putin won this battle.e can stop counting many reasons why it's happened. but psychological putin has an advantage. americans wanted the guy out. he's a bad guy. who cares. at the end of the day he works for me. as long as you're with me, you will protect me. >> so the more he can show he's playing in other people's back yards and getting away with it, people say -- >> it's the -- >> -- we're back. >> the first oh, how dare you to accuse me, i'm a man of peace. no russian troops in crimea. then a few months later, the brave people who fought. >> look how clever we were, we got away with it. >> one year later, full recognition, bragging about it and pinning medal to russian troops part of the evasion. and we're like, so what. >> there's ample evidence that russia tried to interfere in the u.s. election process. how would that help him stay in power. >> challenging the coldworld, t united states. he can go to syria, kick americans from here to there. he can challenge europe. he violates all of the rules and h

putin was overseeing it. whatever there was, putin knows about it. >>> up next, president trump showcases his distinct brand of diplomacy in meeting with the mexican president today. we weigh in on that meeting as well as the meeting with vlad. >>> welcome back to "hardball." president trump had an opportunity to show case his diplomatic skills in meetings with a variety of world leaders all of the eyes were on his first face to face with putin. according to secretary of state rex tillerson, trump pressed him on the interseerns in the 2016 election. an allegation putin denied. >> the president opened the meeting with president putin by raising the concerns of the american people regarding russian interference in the 2016 election. they had a very robust and lengthy exchange on the subject. the president pressed president putin on more than one occasion regardsing russian involvement. president putin denied such involvement as he has in the past. the two leaders agreed this is a substantial hindrance in the ab

i've never met putin. i have nothing to do with putin. i've never spoken to him. i have no relationship with putin. >> then why did you say in 2013, i do have a relationship. in 2014 -- >> because he has said nice things about me over the years. >> reporter: and there will be other encounters to watch here at the g20, any interaction between the president and president xi. asked whether he's giving up on that relationship the president said, quote, never give up. as for the president's meeting with vladimir putin, officials say it will be a small crowd in the room, secretary of state rex tillerson and sergey lavrov. john? >> jim acosta in hamburg, germany, thank you. >>> congressman jim hines, a democrat, member of the house intelligence committee, thank you for being with us. the breaking news from cnn tonight, russian spies have increased their efforts to gather intelligence in the u.s. they feel emboldened to do so, we are told, because of the lack of the interference from both the trump and obama administrations. have you seen evidence of this? >> well, very h

played by putin? >> he is playing into putin's hands. all are being played into putin's hands. >> widely believed to be the greatest chess player who ever lived. he is also a vocal critic of putin's regime after years of protests, a failed run for president and multiple threats on his life he left russia and went into exile. we met him in paris where he told us that any meeting between presidents trump and putin is a victory for putin. >> if trump believes in handshake putin believes handshake can be a way to fool his counter part and trump is an ideal counter part. >> do you think putin tried to get trump elected? >> we have evidence he wanted trump to win. >> why would he want trump to win? >> many, many, many reasons. the simple one is that trump psych logically with his massive ego and rejection of the rules. putin believes he is calling the shots all over the place. >> you think he is absolutely corrupted? >> it's a danger that is being faced by the free world. the man has intentions. >> any othe

vladimir putin. he knows everything. vladimir putin knows what the russians did. he knows what role he had in approving it and watching over and it operating it and he knows what role the americans played in it, if there was any collusion. he knows it all the. for the president of the united states to say my people back home are concerned about this. what can you tell us? it seems so idiotic. wait a minute. you know all about it, brother. you were helping me. >> both parties got what they wanted. trump got elected and putin help him. the outcome on this, they want to move past this so quickly to what they have is a shared agenda. what i find strange for me today, when i listen to tillerson's explanation of what happened in the meeting and lavrov's, i'm more likely to believe lavrov's version of the the vaenls. he said the american people are concerned about you meddling in the election. wasn't that he was concerned. also, lavrov said that some people are exaggerating in the u.s. that's what he quoted trump as saying. they said the same thing. what is most concerni

he sits down next to putin. they're yucking it up. >> off the record, without a national security aide or u.s. interpreter, the president on his own relying on putin's translator. and no record of what was said. >> we should all be very worried that the president engaged in deep one on one talks with vladimir putin without any professional staff around. >> quite frankly president trump doesn't really know what went on in that meeting because whatever he said got translated by that translator and that translator's life in some ways is on the line. >> table for 52, the president setting the menu for his lunch with republican senators at this hour after the chief executive makes it clear the buck does not stop with him for the failure of the republican health care plan. >> i think we're probably in that position where we'll let obamacare fail, we're not going to own it, i'm not going to own it. the republicans are not going to own it. >> and good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in colorado for the aspen security

putin denied cyber meddling in the campaign and mr. trump accepted putin's word.are there two very different versions of the same conversation? >>> and syria agreement, presidents trump and putin managed to reach common ground on the war in syria. striking an important agreement on cease fire that could take an effect within days. can it stand beyond relenting blood shed in syria's brutal civil war? >>> we want to welcome our viewers here in the u.s. and around the world. wolf blitzer is off today. i'm jim sciutto and you're in "the situation room." >> translator: this is cnn breaking news. >> we are following breaking news at the g20 summit in germany tonight including new violent protests with clashes between demonstrators and police. fires are burning in the streets of hamburg and officials are reporting almost

putin, then it's a signal to mr. putin that he could do this again without any repercussion.ant the president to do is not only to raise this issue, make it clear to russia, that we will not tolerate that type of interference in our democratic system, but make it clear that there are going to be tougher sanctions against russia unless they changed their behavior against the united states. >> could there be any strategy, though, that could explain why he wouldn't pin the election hacking on russia the day before? if he did it sitting across from vladimir putin today, do you think there would actually be tangible results, it would be a positive for the united states? >> well, mr. putin knows exactly what russia did. president trump knows what russia did. so it's clear that raying doubt the way the president did yesterday gives him a weaker hand with mr. putin rather than a stronger hand. it makes no sense at all. >> is there an argument at all to be made that a new approach is needed, the so-called russia reset under obama and hillary clinton, it didn't reset in the way many pe

side by tillerson, on the russian side by putin. >> putin said that he brought it up. >> no. those words are made up. there's no confirmation that there was a confrontation of any sort. >> well, he addressed it. >> and by the way, a committee on cyber security, not on cyber crimes, so we need to be very accurate. >> it's a word play. it's a word play. >> our viewers need to know the facts. >> well, look -- >> not made up -- >> it's a word play. it's not made up. >> i want to have someone else weigh in here, that being california congressman eric swalwell, who last night, and he sits on one of the committees investigating russia's interference, he offered his thoughts. >> what are we getting as a country out of this relationship or this meeting with russia? they attacked our democracy. they made a mess of our country over the past six months. they have been given secrets in the oval office. they haven't changed their behavior in syria or in ukraine. so what is the united states getting? right now it looks like this was just another win for vladimir putin. >> i would like for b

by the way, putin would respect him. several meetings with putin. he respects strength. so far it's not clear to me that president trump is going to push back on him. >> so, again, take us inside that room. what is he like in there? did you have a sense that he was reading everybody in realtime? what was your sense of who he was and how he was operating? you know how when people say you can see the wheels turping. somehow i get just from hearing from people that is the way he operates. he's constantly reassessing. >> first of all, remember, he has been at this for 17 years. right? not six months. he knowalis all the issues. you want to talk about syria and north korea and iran. he knows the issue is cold. number two, he comes prepared. he comes with an agenda. maybe president trump doesn't want an agenda. i think that agenda in this meeting is, one, to establish some repore with trump against common enemies. by the way, like fake news and the deep state, those are things i've heard president putin talk about many years before. i can see him trying to do that to bond us.

what about vladimir putin's side? i was struck that he almost tried to diminish the significance of the meetings saying one conversation is never enough. >> reporter: you know, the kremlin sort of really, that would be coming. there wouldn't be enough time to get into a full discussion about ukraine but for president trump to understand what it is russia believes is the real situation in ukraine and the real necessity of their involvement there. so, you know, that was framed fwi kremlin. i think there was a line there from president trump that would be valued by the kremlin when he said it's an honor to be there to meet president putin. this is what president putin wants. he does want to be valued on the international stage by someone who in global affairs plays a significant role. one of the things that they are expected to discuss is syria. russia has been making overtures toward the united states to work together to counterterrorism inside syria. this is a narrative, of course, that is important to president trump.

i've never met putin. i don't know who putin is. i have nothing to do with putin. i've never spoken to him. i have no relationship with putin. >> but if you had v no relationship with putin, why did you say in 2013 i do have a relationship? in 2014 -- >> because he has said nice things about me over the years. >> reporter: and there will be other encounters to watch here at the g20, any interaction between the president and president xi. the president has complained that xi has not done enough to rein in north korea. but asked whether he is giving up on that relationship, the president said, quote, never give up. as for the president's meeting with vladimir putin, officials say it will be a small crowd in the room, just the two leaders as well as secretary of state rex tillerson and his russian counterpart sergei lavrov. john? >> jim acosta in hamburg, germany, thank you. >>> congressman jim himes, a democrat, member of the house intelligence committee from connecticut. he joins us now. congressman, thank you so much for being with us. the breaking news from cnn to

putin is seeking obviously now to avoid that. >> all right. ambassador, thank you very much for joining us. >>> coming up, vladimir putin says he thinks president trump agrees that russia didn't medal in the u.s. election. top white house advisers are not disputing putin's account. so what is going on here? we get reaction from republican congressman francis rooney next. when you have something you love, you want to protect it. at legalzoom, our network of attorneys can help you every step of the way. with an estate plan including wills or a living trust that grows along with you and your family. legalzoom. legal help is here. >>> the white house is refusing to deny vladimir putin's claim that president trump appeared to accept his word that russia did not medal in last year's election. putin made the claim earlier today while talking to the press. later on air force one, white house officials were asked three separate times about putin's remarks. each time they declined to answer. joining me to discuss, republican congressman francis rooney o

with putin.nk i've ever met him. i never met him. i don't think i -- >> you would know it if you did, wouldn't you? >> yeah, i think so. so i don't think i've ever met him. >> reporter: but he's also told a very different story. not once -- >> vladimir putin have you ever met the guy? >> i met him once. >> reporter: not twice. >> putin even sent me a present. beautiful present. >> reporter: at least three different times. >> i was in moscow recently and i spoke indirectly and directly with president putin. >> reporter: today both men made clear that handshake was a monumental step and both signaled there could be many more to come. the president hasn't been bashful about his interest in working with russia. >> i like that putin called me brilliant. >> they said you should disavow what putin of russia said. i said i'm not disavowing that he called me a genius. are you crazy? >> wouldn't it be nice if we could actually get along with russia? >> putin has been preparing for this meeting his whole li

putin's positioning himself against protectionism. on climate change, he's positioning himself again with the majority here. he says all the g20 some come together to fight terrorism. well, they might find some resonance on that. on all those other issues it sounds like the kremlin is trying to put a very, very positive spin on president putin going into this meeting because on the issues of ukraine, syria, iran, for example, north korea, there's clearly not going to be a meeting of the minds and perhaps for putin at least, he's an outlier on those issues to the rest of the g20. they're trying to make him look like a more central player before he goes into this meeting with president trump. >> there are protests at just about every international gathering like this. these turn violent. what is the latest there? >> the very latest we have from the hamburg police is that they've put out a call to other police units across germany for reinforcements. they're trying to get more police to come in and support the effort here. there are a lo

he confronted president putin.e first thing they talked about and we have to see where it goes from here. >> so then she said everyone knows russia meddled. but president trump said quote, nobody really knows for sure who meddled. so is it enough just to bring up election meddling with russia if you're not going to do anything about it? and publically you're going to be out there saying you don't know for sure who is responsible? >> first you have to put the whole context of the quote you just mentioned. you mentioned the second part of it. the first part he said russia was involved and possibly other countries. he mentioned russia by name. and then he went on to say there are other countries. we also know there have been multiple hacking incidents in this country and attacks on our national security interests from other countries. so he deliberately said clearly first russia, yes, and other countries. so we have to make sure that we don't act like he's refusing to say that russia was involved. it was also the firs

putin understands that. think he would not understand, or maybe he'd understand all too well, a weaker approach he might think he could take advantage of donald trump. so i hope that's the kind of meeting they have. and it's good that they might have talked about syria, that was one reason for the length of this. we've got to be careful there, too. we don't want to be aligned with russia, iran, and hezbollah in a power play in syria if we can help to end the war and help refugees. that's good. but we shouldn't be supporting russia and iranian interests to gain control of major parts of syria. >> and, in fact, jeremy, one of the points that general clapper was saying is that the people signing the cease fire, if that's what they're about to announce, they are not the combatants, not all the combatants, factions neither russia or the u.s. controls. >> our primary objective in isis -- syria is to take on isis. we've trained and equipped on the ground to take on raqqah and take out isis' command and control. we'

especially when putin backs assad. elies athe issue of this -- eliza, the issue of this trump/putin meeting because there weren't more credible people attending the bilateral meeting of putin and trump, there have so many unanswered questions about what happened behind closed doors for 2.5, 2 hours, 20 minutes. we're getting different versions of what was and wasn't said. where does this go from here with tillerson saying it was discussed, russia pushing back saying, no, this wasn't discussed. and trump accepted putin's explanation of not being involved? >> well, i think this is kind of a continuation of what we've had before. we had the russians saying we did not meddle. this is fake news. this is made up. and then trump kind of saying they didn't, maybe they did. it was obama's fault, all sorts of different things. it's just a continuation of this mixed messaging. i think that this is hard and looks -- a tough spot for the white house to be in to have the russians going around and saying, no, he accepted it, it the w

donald trump never met putin before. putin told us that. donald trump thinks in the terms of brands like himself. the whole world, the meeting vladimir putin is a big deal for trump. but, i think what's going to happen out of this is going to be a continuation of meetings. they are going to touch on syria, north korea, you know, defeating global terrorism. the ukraine, perhaps. what's going to come out of it is an invite to mar-a-lago or washington d.c. this will be an ongoing dialogue between the two world leaders. i think the urgency at the moment of north korea means trump has got to talk about that. i see it as much more friendly. i think we are treating it as if it's a summit meeting when it's just a quick hello and got the phone call, now we can look at each other eyeball to eyeball. >> about that. the fact they have at least three phone calls before this meeting, they have talked about how good it is to meet in person. does that personal contact make much of a difference, doug? >> i think it does. i remember when ronald reagan was me

putin knows what he did. putin expected trump to say something about it, and it appears, judging by the readout from secretary tillerson, that in fact he didn't push back very hard. note that tillerson said earlier in his remarks, he said the people of america are concerned when he read it out. he didn't say president trump said he was concerned. >> are we over-reading that? i've seen that observation because it's noticeable, but is it a problem? >> you know, i worked at the white house for three years. i was in these meetings with both prime minister putin at the time and president medvedev. i never remember a kind of construction like that. i never remember a construction where it said it was noted, right, past tense. it was noted that the senate was concerned about this. why isn't president trump concerned about this? >> right. >> i just think by answering it that way, this idea that we're just going to move along after our sovereignty has been violated, that's not in the american interest. that is a weak

putin. two days ago in warsaw, he gave mr. putin the opportunity to point to the failures of u.s. intelligence. to me i think he seeded that ground. and also right before he met with mr. putin and talked with him at some length, which i'm glad he did, he said it's an honor to meet president putin. an honor to meet the individual who carried out the assault against our election? to me it was a dishonorable thing to say. >> let me unpack something else he said in here, too. he said questions mp askabout w cia had to ask new questions. that's new about the cia. >> it's new to me, too. we have no domestic intelligence authorities. that's what the fbi does. mr. trump has pointed to the cia asking the dnc and mr. podesta. that is absolutely wrong. >> one of the things you said in your hearing, and i want to go into this, is you made a comment about treason. let me play it here and get you explain it further on the other side. >> frequently individuals who go along that treasonous path do not even

now, when putin, putin's regime and putin's cronies try to organize big rally ares like supporting the annexation of crimea, they bring people from the state. very often, you know, they give money, and it's many times recorded because they couldn't have enough enthusiasm, real enthusiasm. so they had to pay for that. so it tells you that even if 80, 90% of people are not willing to take action, the actual level of support for putin, enthusiastic support, it's quite thin. >> so what led you, though, to your decision to leave the countriesome what were the factors that -- country? what were the factors that led up to that? >> i got an invitation to the visit the russian fbi -- >> invitation? [laughter] >> it was invitation to be, it's like be a weakness on one of the many cases that they started at the time -- a witness. in 2011, 2012. there was a crackdown, and many of my colleagues, they were already arrested or being investigated. and when i received it, actually, i was traveling abroad. my mother received it. and i called boris nemsov, my friend and colleague and ally and asked his o

putin. we should end this discussion of isis with you. progress is being made in the battle against isis but even if we just win there. do they scatter to europe and the united states and commit acts of terror there? >> they are going to be around for a long while. they'll squirt out from raqa and mosul and what i saw in syria last week was a campaign that is surprisingly successful, according to u.s. officials who have been running it it. more successful than they thought it was going to be. isis this terrible threat three years ago is being crushed in city after city and i saw as i toured some of these cities people as if they were coming out of a cave and coming out of a nightmare walking into a different world. a world that has a lot of different problems. that is one that is going better now. >> amidst all of this that we have been talking about. let's get to the meeting. president donald trump and vladimir putin will meet on the sidelines of the g-20 today just before 10:00 a.m. easter

election which vladimir putin denies.ussian officials claim the president accepted the denial and u.s. officials said otherwise. they tackle a host of other matters from russian actions in ukraine to north korea's missile testing, to syria, including news of a newly negotiated cease-fire and the southwest region of that country. we asked you are about your thoughts on the first ever meeting between president trump and vladimir putin. democrats call 202-748-8000. republicans, 202-748-8001. independents call 202-748-8002. regis on social media. on twitter @cspanwj. videoyour thoughts or a of a minute or less and reach us on facebook at facebook.com/c-span. let's look at what president trump said before the much-anticipated meeting with president clinton. .- president putin >> we have had very good talks and we will have a talk now and that will continue. we look forward to a lot of great positive things happening for russia and for the united states and for everybody. it is an honor to be with you. times has itsyork report

trump got elected and putin got trump. know what, coming out of that meeting, that is very much the way it looked. it's certainly the way the russian public took it as we reported out of moscow. they basically said these are two alpha males and one of them went belly up and flopped on his back. that was president trump. look at the situation here. you have two of the most experienced leaders or statesmen, if you will, in the world, vladimir putin and sergey lavrov on one side. and then amateur president and amateur foreign secretary or secretary of state on the other side, rex tillerson. who do we think got the best of that discussion? why did it go on for two hours and twenty minutes. was that, in fact, because of translators or was it, in fact, because -- i don't know this but one can expect that putin decided he needed to explain a few things to president trump, who clearly doesn't understand a lot about the way the world works. so putin can tell him, this is the question with cyber war, cyber security. it's a big probl

putin touched proudly about russia. to do that for my country, but there's a line when you look at russian behavior. those keeping score at home. the meeting ran 2 hours 16 minutes. could be amended after the fact. we'll find out. 2 hours 16 minutes. waiting for a readout on the substance. again, one of the reason this is fascinating, just yesterday the president said i think it was russia and i think it could have been other people and other countries. when his own intelligence communities, remember, his director of national intelligence, dan coats, his cia director mike pompeo, they had no doubt. trump appointees, said they had no doubt it was russia. the president said, i this russia, could be other countries. listen to james clapper, former director of national intelligence, rote the report, assessment, that russia meddled and their intent, hurt hillary clinton and help donald trump. was it other countries? >> essentially no doubt about it. high confidence levels, the multiple sources of information we had and its h

putin. >>> the stakes were just raised on the eve of this meeting, routers reporting they are objecting to a u.n. security council of the launch. >>> also on the world stage the president down playing russia's role in the election hacking. >> will you once and for all, yes or no, defentively say that russia interfered in the 2016 election. >> i think it was russia and i think it could have been a lot of people interfered. i said it very simply. i think it could have been russia but it could have been other countries. i won't be specific. i think a lot of people interfere. i think it's been happening for a long time. i think it was russia, but i think it was probably other people and or countries and i see thnothing wrong with that state. nobody really knows. nobody really knows for sure. >> u.s. intelligence officials say we do know. more on that coming up. it's good to see you. i thought all this might quiet down once the sun went down but still a lot of activity. describe the scene and wha

putin describes himself as a people person. that has a different connotation in kgb speak than it does in the western imagination. that means putin is ademocrat at getting a read of hi interlocutor, in this case a man who is frightfully sensitive and narcissistic and i would hazard to say megalomaniacal and desperate for approval and flattery and pew tip is adept at breaking them down psychologically and building them back up again in his image. >> very flattering word. >> very flattering. you couldn't put a better kind of instance of trolling by the russian president across. and he also said i don't know how this will sound, but donald trump answers questions adequately in person as oppose odd the way he is on tv. this is the russian president eating the american president's lunch for him. again, keep in mind, donald trump ran -- some of the criticisms trump leveled against barack obama i felt were quite well-founded -- ran a campaign saying the former administration, the obama white house, was completely hopeless when it came

putin has said. president trump said that in the u.s., there are still some circles who are talking about the russian alleged intrusion and russian alleged attempt to influence the u.s. elections. so president trump and president putin has discussed these issues and all these issues will become matters for our cooperation and the special electoral group that were created towards that. the fourth thing is that we have agreed to expedite the procedure to -- for near -- to the u.s. >> this is the scene right now in hamburg. protests so large that first lady melania trump had to cancel an appearance this morning. we'll be keeping an eye on that. let's get to our team of reporters. nbc's peter alexander is in hamburg. also joining us, "new york times" white house correspondent peter baker and international affair columnist susan glasser and hans nichols at the pentagon. peter alexander, already i don't know if they're different versions but certainly different nuances on the question of meddling. it sound

he didn't crumple in front of putin. and putin didn't bully him into a corner.e no apparent shouts or anything like that. i think we should be, you know, when the president gets something -- does something better than expected, we should say so. but i do think what has been -- all of our focus on putin, one thing that's being overshadowed is this is the first time i've seen a president coming to a g20 meeting no longer regarded as the world leader and europe is going its own separate way. japan just signed a big trade agreement with europe. that is troubling. >> steve hall, we are going to talk much more about a global implication of everything going on at the g20 in a little bit, but what do you think president putin learned about president trump today? >> well, i think putin and russia, they're just enjoying this and living large in this. the reason is because one of their primary geopolitical goals is to be relative, to be a great power and return to super power status. that's why they're in syria and why they have these meet wgs the president of the united s

putin or trump. i think the answer is putin. >> anybody think the putin did not get the better end of this deal? >> putin goes in the meeting with a clear sense of what to get and he gets it. >> that's the conclusion for a lot of people. we'll take a pause here. when we come back, i am joined by the democrat and republican leaders. i am going to ask what happens if you throw a political party and nobody shows? ...and his pants ignited into flames, causing him to stop, drop and roll. luckily jack recently had geico help him with renters insurance. because all his belongings went up in flames. jack got full replacement and now has new pants he ordered from banana republic. visit geico.com and see how affordable renters insurance can be. there's nothing more than my vacation.me so when i need to book a hotel room, i want someone that makes it easy to find what i want. booking.com gets it. and with their price match, i know i'm getting the best price every time. now i can start relaxing even before the v

putin, president putin? it's been noted that the senate is going to put sanctions on you, not me, that is a position of weakness. and that suggests to vladimir putin that he can gain and obtain concessions from president trump moving forward. he wanted a good meeting. putin wanted a good meeting. they got the good meeting. but moving forward we have to focus on what is in america's best interest, not just what makes for a good meeting. >> we should mention, by the way, peter has a new book out. it's called "obama, the call of history." the ambassador is sticking with me because we're taking a closer look at vladimir putin when we come back. what it was like inside that room with the russian leader. "the 11th hour" is back after this. mom, i have to tell you something. dad, one second i was driving and then the next... they just didn't stop and then... i'm really sorry. i wrecked the subaru. i wrecked it. you're ok. that's all that matters. (vo) a lifetime commitment to getting them home safely. love. it's wh

so putin does this. he is really good at getting american presidents, at least initially, to like him and to see a future in the relationship. then, you know, maybe it won't go as well as hoped in the years ahead. >> with what happens after that has been the problem. matthew chance for us in moscow, thank you so much. >>> perfective from a panel of two diplomatic and national security heavyweights. former ambassador to russia thomas bickering and nicholas burns and david senger, cnn and political national security analyst. you have met president putin. you know the stakes involved with this meeting. does it sound to you like president trump effectively delivered the message on russian election meddling? >> from what sergey lavrov had to say afterward, probably no. the idea that somehow either what he said or what he implied or his body language was twisted to be a kind of that's okay, guys, we need to put the past behind us, let's move on to the future, certainly is good news in moscow but really quite b

it's not only putin, it's not just about putin, it's about the system. but when putin's regime recognizes kleptocracy and it's not only about foreign policy, certain part about os foreign policy. and the sec thing was, it was already mentioned, we are dealing with not a normal state or even not a normal authoritarian state. something ing with different. they are projecting all kinds of influence which is not usual to normal state influence. and kleptocracy is one of them. so talking about our experience, ilya said that he started to be interested in the topic of kleptocracy in 2013. i should say i started to be interested and work on this in 2003. and it was because -- i don't know how many of you know but we are here, the first impeached president in europe in the history of europe. it was 2003 when the scandal our president -- ties of our russian president to business and even criminals. that was a real eye opening for me, myself. i have been working on russia since 1991, so it's already 26 years. it was really eye opening because we found that the nfl

altogether with putin. i would argue -- i mean, recently i highly recommend the study that just came at london's rusi. and it raises this question that the russian cooperating is one of the most widespread operations -- especially big businesses in russia. starting from the case of corporate trading this became a common future and the kremlin doesn't want to implement any measures to protect the businesses. previously last year in the report for free russia foundation in brussels called design, i also argue that the term oligarch is no longer meaningful really. in fact, it is commonly widespread but a huge and dangerous mistake to understand that some private businessman and market economy exists in russia but they don't. and security services and business in russia really means state favors, tax breaks, contracts from kremlin and these oligarchs are now cash handlers of cash flow allowed by putin. also kremlin has special compromising material or other leverage over the lives. even if the previously consid

against vladimir putin. would you regard that as a problem7m against vladimir putin.out of the room. because they do have expertise. they will have neuronss to follow up. having a two person meeting probably lead to a much more frank discussion that we wouldn't have had otherwise. itjust depends on how it went. so, we will see. that bothers me less than the president's constant undermining of american values in public diplomacy, infailure to american values in public diplomacy, in failure to stand up to russian meddling in our elections, and i hope this meeting was a pivot to some of those tougher stanzas, and if that was the purpose of having the smaller meeting, that is absolutely fine —— tougher stances. we'll have to see how it went. this president needs to stand up to vladimir putin, and we will find out very shortly were they did. —— whether he did. thank you very much, nancy soderberg in florida, who was

president putin denied such involvement, as i think he has in the past. >> reporter: while putin denied involvement, tillerson said the two leaders agreed to work together to avoid future cyberattacks and not let the russian influence dominate their relationship. >> the two leaders agreed, though, that this is a substantial hindrance. and the ability of us to move the u.s.-russian relationship forward. >> reporter: tonight, one question above all remains unanswered, whether agreeing to move on diminishes the seriousness of russia's role. >> senator putin and i have been discussing various things, and i think it's been going very well. we've had some very good talks. we're going to have a taublk no and obviously that's going to continue. >> reporter: the russian talk was different. lavrov said the president had heard comments from russian authorities denying involvement. putin said he demanded evidence of russian involvement. president trump offered no proof and they moved on. they talked about syria, forging a cease fire agreement in the southwestern part of that war-torn country. for p

trump pressed putin on election meddling, which putin, of course, denied.oth sides spoke about the meeting with conflicting versions of what was said in regards to russian interfeernts in the u.s. election. back home, health care is taking center stage once again, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell has some surprising words about what it may take for health care reform and potentially having to work with democrats. more on that story ahead. >>> we begin here in hamburg. president trump hemmed a series of bilateral meheld a series of with world leaders. president putin saying president trump agrees with his hacking denial on friday, something white house officials vehemently denied. i pressed putin for more details. we went around asking questions in english. my colleague, put our questions to him in russian. here's the translated exchange. >> we wanted to ask you a question about your meeting with president trump that a colleague of mine has already asked a similar one and you said that we need to ask president trump what has happened in your meeting. >

this helps trump and helps putin. trump said all along, we can get so much out of having a relationship with russia. four major areas, a deliverable. maybe a cease-fire, erin mentioned. for putin, russia, central player. big, most important countries at the g-20, russia and the u.s. you know, when actually russia is a very small trading partner for the u.s. many more powerful countries economically, but putin is at the center of the action, and for trump, he says, look american voters, having better relations with russia is worth it. >> and people won't say russia is about the size of new jersey. it's a small -- at least by global standards. david drucker, putin -- trump, rather, would not be the first american president at the beginning of his term has high hopes rejiggering, resetting, if i could resurrect that word again, the relationship with russia. bush tried it. obama tried it, and both of them had no success whatsoever. >> and i think the question going into this meeting and after is whether or not the preside

putin. again, two days before in warsaw, he gives mr. putin the opportunity to point to the failures of u.s. intelligence. to me i think he ceded that ground. also right before he met with mr. putin and talked with him at some length -- which i'm glad he did -- he said it's an honor to meet mr. putin. an honor to meet the individual who carried out the assault against our election? to me, it was a dishandle thing -- dishonorable thing to say. >> for more, cnn white house correspondent athena jones. >> reporter: good morning, christine and dave. after two days of confusion over the contradictory readouts provided by the us and russians, after that lengthy sit down between president trump and russian president vladimir putin, the white house is finally setting is the record straight. chief of staff reince priebus refuting the russians' claims that president trump took president putin at his word when putin denied russian meddling in last year's election. take a listen to what reince priebus said on "fox news sunday." >> the president absol