tony blinken, the stakes. we know we've had the first handshake. we're getting in there today. there's a lot of muscling up in advance of this. is that the right posture for the american president in this meeting? does he want to go in there to call out vladimir putin? to flex, as he has suggested he would in the past? >> chris, i don't think he has any choice but to call him out, particularly on the election meddling. >> in a first meeting? >> in a first meeting. because this is the elephant in the room. if he doesn't do it, he's emboldening the russias to continue doing what they've already done. >> but if he calls it out, hasn't he already set himself up for failure on that. if he comes along and strong, i know what you did, i don't like that you kid it, i'm not obama, you try that again, you're going to have trouble, hasn't he set himself up for putin to say, what did i do? i didn't do anything. you have admitted yourself, mr. president, that this intel is shaky at best. >> the president has painted himself into a corner by casting doubt on our own intelligence services whi

tony blinken/ former deputy national security adviser"it would have been good to see a united internationalommunity, taking a strong stand against what north korea is doing in perfecting its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. and we didn't really hear that. and that sends a message perhaps to north korea, that the international community is not as united as it should be in dealing with this problem."at the summit, president trump thanked chinese president xi jinping for working with him - to address north korea.but analysts say, to expect china to really pressure kim to dial back his missiles -- is a pipe dream.harry kazianis/ center for the national interest "there is no way on god's green earth the chinese were going to do anything on north korea at the g20. and the reasons were very clear. the chinese are basically scared of the north koreans. if that country were ever to collapse, if they were ever to push too hard, the chinese would be the ones who would be left holding the bag. they'd have millions of refugees streaming across their border."and america's last line of defense - ma

. >> tony blinken, great to have you here with us. >> thank you. >>> donald trump jr. says he took a meeting with a russian lawyer because he was told she had information helpful to the trump campaign. "the new york times" says it was information promised damaging to hillary clinton. so, what does this mean for the investigation into alleged collusion between the trump campaign and the russians? we'll speak with a republican representative, next. listen up, heart disease.) you too, unnecessary er visits. and hey, unmanaged depression, don't get too comfortable. we're talking to you, cost inefficiencies and data without insights. and fragmented care- stop getting in the way of patient recovery and pay attention. every single one of you is on our list. for those who won't rest until the world is healthier, neither will we. optum. how well gets done. ♪sweet, sweet st. thomas nice. ♪ so nice, so nice. ♪st. croix full of pure vibes. ♪ so nice, so nice. ♪ st. john a real paradise. ♪ so nice, so nice. book three nights and receive $300 in spending credits. only at visitusvi.c

tony blinken/ former deputy national security adviser"it would have been good to see a united internationalnity, taking a strong stand against what north korea is doing in perfecting its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. and we didn't really hear that. and that sends a message perhaps to north korea, that the international community is not as united as it should be in dealing with this problem."at the summit, president trump thanked chinese president xi jinping for working with him - to address north korea.but analysts say, to expect china to really pressure kim to dial back his missiles -- is a pipe dream.harry kazianis/ center for the national interest "there is no way on god's green earth the chinese were going to do anything on north korea at the g20. and the reasons were very clear. the chinese are basically scared of the north koreans. if that country were ever to collapse, if they were ever to push too hard, the chinese would be the ones who would be left holding the bag. they'd have millions of refugees streaming across their border."and america's last line of defense - may no

. >> reporter: former deputy secretary of state tony blinken now a cnn global affairs analyst, says thesult is a weakened state department unable to shape and execute foreign policy. >> if you look at two things, one, the budget, and show me the money and i'll tell you what your priorities are. clearly state department is not their priority. and second, on personnel, you have to have people to run the place. in the absence of both the state department plays a diminished role. >> elise labott joins us now from washington. elise, thank you so much for taking time with us. it seems like rex tillerson is in a bind here. is this degree of tension normal between the white house and the state department? >> look, i think there's always tension, boris, natural tension between cabinet secretaries who want more autonomy over their picks and the white house who, you know, had a lot of people from the campaign and donors that they want to put in these political positions. i think for secretary tillerson it's a little bit of a culture shock. if you see that graphic over there, this guy has been in c