yamiche: i think president trump is absolutely driving everything. the fact that he spent two hours with preside putin alone in a room with only translators, he didn't takeike pompeo or john bolton, he didn't take any topde -- he said, i'm going at this alone. and the fact that the d.n.i., dan coates, is saying, we'll figure out what was said at some point. atnt some p things will leak out to us -- it's almost like they're waiting for journalists like us and others to tell them what happened. i think as much as we as reporters think we're wonderio how d we get at the information, the people in the west wing, as well as the people working for the president, are themselves kind of searching for information and i think president trump likes this. there's an idea that he fee as though he knows what's best for his administration. i think at the veryng begin there was some idea that he was young -- not young, but not someone w was very experienced at being president or in politics so he needed to haved people aroim to usher him and guide him and now he's y

yamiche: i spoke to former u.s. representative to nato and he, shortly after the helsinki summit, told me two things. the first thing was that he expects nato allies to start crafting work-around of the united states because he thinks nato allies will stop trusting president trump. we saw ther of germany come out and say i don't know if we can trust the u.s. with trump the helm but also said things could be a lot worse. he didn't cnge the.s.' relationship with nato, didn't pull out troops, didn't change military exercises. there was all this idea coming into the nato summit that peoplr were worried he would do that in his meeting with putin and none of that happened so douglas lute was saying, things haven't changed but it looks crazy. robert: not only in the administration but on capitol- hill was at the capitol this week and you see alarm amongca some repub senators, like jeff flake of arizona. then you talk to others like senator rand paul and they take a different view about the president's actions. let's hear w

at least let me start with you, yamiche. >> what does the president want from this conversation with vladimir putin? >> the president really hasn't given that much detail about what he wants from vladimir putin, what he said is that he wants to have this meeting, he likes having meetings, he wants toee around strong laders, he thinks it is important to have that communicating be good and uour relationship with thted states should be strong with russia. sources inside the white house te me theylso are waiting to hear what the president is going to do. s there are a lot of issey could talk about, among them are the situation in syria, theta mi situation. there is reporting that the u.s. has been offered the to possibly pull out troops if they can get a deal with russia to deal with other things. there is this idea the adaptation of crimea could be a topic that the president could possibly recognize crimea as part of russia, that would be a big deal, but everyone says so far that the president de't have, doesn't want to do that. the other thing that president said he is going to talk ab

ryan, yamiche, thank you both. yamiche, i'm going to start with you. the president threw some verbal grenades today, first at the entire n.a.t.o. alliance, then he singled outgermany, then he seemed to cool down. what are we wnessing? >> president trump's rhetoric really set the tone here at n.a.t.o. it made member countries really nerves about the president's commitment to n.a.t.o. and, really, the u.s.'s commitment the n.a.t.o. lieuten nt jrn behodges, who used to be the exphanding general of the u.s. army in europe, said president trump's words were like a wrecking ball to n.a.t.o. he said, really, the people here were worried and concerned about his comments. he was at a gathering called n.a.t.o. engages which isra se but related to n.a.t.o., he said officials there are aetare rired think tak officials and others who used to serve in the government and were talking about president trump really set the mood and worried people. a state deparent official told me, though, that president trump's rhetoric is not having an impact on the day-to-day operati

yamiche alcindor reports on mr.trump's efforts to reassure american farmers, amid rising concerns of the economic fallout of his ongoing trade war with china. >> china's doing a little number. they want to attack the farm vlt because they know those-- the farmers love moted for me. we won every one of the states. >> alcindor: in iowa and illinois today, mr. trump touted his support for american farmern a $12 billion farm aid package he announced yesterday. it's to offset tariffs he's put on chinada and mexico, three of the u.s. agriculture industry's largest trading dpartners. inuque, iowa, mr. trump brushed off critics of his trade and told farmers to be patient. they interview him on television. they see i know it will be tough for a while, but he's doing the right thing. >> our people feed the world.nt they don't wa bailouts, they want for trade. >> but the president's a >>lcindor: but the president's trade policy has come under fierceriticism by free-trade supporters in his own party. even missouri senator roy b

yamiche, you were in the room during this news conference. do you understand what it was that led the presi to say he could not be sure of what his own intelligence communy has found about the 2016 election? >> well, president trump equated u.s. intelligence communitiesha wh said over and over again that rust meddled in u.s. elections with the denial of president putin who says russia thad nothing to do withs. this is a stunning moment because president trump was putting on equal playing fields russia saying they did not do anything and u.s. intelligence agencies, the f.b.i., c.i.a., n.s.a. all saying russia had something to do with russia meddling in ou elections. after the press conference, president trump toldws cbs e does not think russia meddled in our elections, he disagrees that russia couldeddle in future elections. dan coates came out with ema stt after the press conference saying he believes russia meddled in the elect.io cnn said that statement was not clear are the white house so you have some backnd forth with the u.s. administra

white house correspondent yamiche alcindor begins our covera. >> alcindor:or president vladimir putin, a warm reception from russian lawmakers today, as he celebrated the helsinki suit results. >> ( translated ):inally, the full formal meeting happened which allowed me to talk it was successful generally, led to useful arrangements. >> alcindor: there's been no dformal announcement of als the leaders may have made. putin said they worked out a range of agreements involving international security. but the u.s. director of national intelligence, dan ats, said today at an aspen institute forum, he's not sure iat was agreed to. >> well you're rigon't know what happened in that meeting. but that is the president's prerogative. if he had asked he how that ought to be conducted, i would've suggested a different way but that's not my role, s what not my job, so it it i >> alcindor: this morning, president trump tweeted saying: "the summit with russia was a e great succesept with the real enemy of the people, the ke news media." went on to say he looks forward to a second meeting with putin, "

yamiche alcindor iin brussels, and begins our coverage >> i believe in nato. >> alcindor: the president capped a tumultuous two-day summit with that pledge, after at a surprise news conferee, he claimed victory in his campaign to make nato allies spend more on dense. w ld not say directly if he had threatened to abandon the alliance. did you ever at any point say that the u.s. though might stop engaging with nato? and do you think that your rhetoric helps nato cohesion or are you worried that people might think that the u.s. is going to not be as cmitted to nato? >> well, they were probably worried, because the uniteds tates was not being treated fairly, but now we are because the commitment has beechupped so but i can you tell you that nato now is a really a fine-tuned machine. people are paying money that they never paid before. a>> alcindor: mr. trump wo asked about whether he even could withdraw from nato, without congressional approval. >> i think i probably can. but that's unnecessary and the people have steppeheup today likeve never stepped up before. >> alcindor: but other leade

. >> woodruff: we willn to yamiche shortly, but first, fallout from the president's press conference came swiftly today, as washinon reacted to the historic meeting. before the press conference with the russian presidt in finland had even ended, politicians in both parties were condemning president trump's words. some were predictably hae h, like senatnority leader chuck schumer. >> what the president did is side with our nuer one enemy who is attacking the u.s. daily and kneecapping our allies and is just appalling and demands an explanation. >> woodruff: the former c.i.a. director under president obama, john brennan, tweeted the president's remarks were "nothing short of treasonous." but there were unusually strong owords from president truwn party, too. tennessee senator bob corker: co i just felt like the president'ents made us look as a nation more like a pushover. and i was disappointed in that. >> woodruff: in a statent, senate armed services chair john mccain called it disgraceful: "no prior president has ever abased himself mor aabjectly befoyrant." house speaker paulyan was

yamiche alcindor has been looking into this, and joins me now. so, yamiche, what did facebook say they did today? >> well, fake pages are leading tod real-action. that's why facebook took this really remarkable step to takes. down these pa they took down 32 fake accounts on both facebook d instagram. they also say that more than 290,0 accounts are being followed by at least one of those pages. they say 150 e ads wnnected to those fake accounts. it cost about $11,000 on facebook. so even though these 32 accounts might small like -- sound like small number, this is a big step. >> yang: what do we know about who is behind these fake accounts. led as you said, thi real actions. what real actions might have come? >> essentially this is about pushing on america on its weaknesses. it's all the things we art.gue ab many of these accounts were about race, about abolishing ice, immigration and customs enforcement. these are things that real-world democrats are pushing for. in this case there are sortme imt things i want to note. the first one is that their

y so, yamiche, u've just been reporting, we've seen over the last few days a number ofts statemhe white house has made about the russian threat, about what the russians did in 2016, andhey've turned and and made a clarifying statement or reversed themselves. how does the way the white house is handling this, because you have been looking into it, compare with the way the rest oi the stration has been looking at all this? >> well, president trump's inability to definitively say vladimir putin ordered russian nationals to interfere in th 2016 election has put him a odds often with the intelligence community. dacoats today looked visibly surprised when nbc's andrea mitchell told him about putin's upcoming visit. >> the white house announced on twitter thatladimir putin is coming to the white house in the fall. >> sayhat again? (laughter) >> vladimir putin coming to -- yeah, i hear you. yeah. okay. yeah. >>(laughter) hat's gonna be special. (lufghter) >> woo wow. i mean, that really sums up where the national int director and the president stand right now. he was completely surprised, and h

so, yamiche, we learnebolate thursday a decision by the u.s. military to discharge some of their recruits.at tell us about well, what we know is that the united states army has been secret by discharging or quietly discharging a number of immigrant recruits according tor recent r by the associated press in our own "newshour". the associated press isth reportine are immigrants who joined the army reserves or army and told they could have a path to citizenship if theliy ed. they tid that, now they are being told they have to go. out 40 people are impacted by this. an immigration attorney we talked to at "newshour" said she heard from dozens people who are impacted by this. these immigrants are being told either nothing about why this ip ing or they're being told they are security risks because they have family abroad or because th the department of defense could notmplete their background check. we talked to a dtepartm of defense person who said the government wants to fast track these people and wants to take a quick pathers and if given enough

. >> woodruff: and newshour white use correspondent yamich alcindor joins me now. yamiche, you've gone from thng president san helsinki that he was inclined to believe vladimir putin to thesaying he misspoke and then the back and forth today and now this comment that he holds vladimir putin personally responsible. atat do we understand at this point about wh the president believes? >> well, based on his conversation with cbs news, he's saying that he does hold president putin personally responsible for election interference but, at the same time, is contradicting the intelligence community who has said over and over again that russia meddled many if election and putin ordered it personally. he's saying i'm a bit reonsible for things tha happen in general in the united states much as putin is responsible in general for things that happen at russia. i would assume a lot of people woulsay he's not being as forthright at he should be. the president did not walk backe other thingsaid in the press conference. it's not just the would and hwouldn't, it's the factt he said

yamiche alcindor joins me.he, the whole speech was surprising, although it is vintage donald trump when he's in a friendly crowd. but for a guy who has been subject to allegations which he he nie denies, by the way, of sexual harassment, i thought that was an unusual choice. >> i think that last night was really president trump on display, his brashness on display in a way that's really remarkable and shows that he can say things that obviously would sink other politicians. the fact that he talked about the me too movement as if it was a push for political correctness, as if throwing a dna kit, you had to be really gentle and the fact that he was mocking that movement on the same day that he hired bill shine stood out to me very quickly because yesterday was a big day. it was a big day because he was putting out there that he was going to hire another fox news personality and that this person specifically was someone is allegedly -- allegedly helped cover up sexual harassment claims at fox news. so it shows tha

. >> is he doing this, yamiche, for political consumes back home? show how tough he is before he goes to the uk where he's expected to face protesters? he may not see them. but to be isolated on his visit because of the protesters in london where he's very unpopular? >> reporter: president trump blasted his way into nato, using the words that germ many is controlled by russia. people saying he, himself being controlled by russia. there's the mueller investigation looking into whether or not his company was controlled by russia, there's an idea he was using those words and projecting the issues he has with himself back at angela merkel. i think what's important here is a lot of the sources i talked to including german sources were surprise bid the ferociousness of the attack. they understood president trump would come out strong, talk about defense spending. to then go after germany and say specifically you are being held captive by russia is really something that is really startling. nato engages, which is a conference happening outside of nato but

for e pbs newshour, i'm yamiche alcindor. the reporter who we heard just ask the president if he betrayed him was barred from the white house from attending an open press event in the rose garden. kaitlyn colin was told by the chief of staff and the secretary that her questions were "inappropriate." we take a closer look now at what we know about he president's former weather and his legal troubles with attorne. renato mario he's a former federal prosecutor. he currently works in private practice in chicago. renato mariotti, thank you forg join. what do you hear in that recording that's significant? >> well, one thing thy hear, judy, is asc dsion that makes it clear that the president is familiar wh this transaction, that heenes the circumstances of it. he does not seem surprised by the subject at all.ou that make it very difficult for the president or his legal team to say lat that e president had no knowledge of this matter. also, you know, the fact that he talks in the plural suggests that this isn't the first time that he

. >> yamiche is shaking her head. >> my report is that the president is fuming about this.thought cohen would be loyal to him. he values loyalty almost above everything else. he want cohen to stick with him. the other thing i'm hearing, cohen feels very hurt by the way the president was speaking to him and abandoned and telling people around him that he really feels like he's isolated. as a result, he's kind of taking the steps he needs to take to try to ensure he can get the best outcome for his legal issues. >> the dilemma here is what trump -- the problem trump has is obstruction. because if he now pardons cohen, everybody knows 100 tapes out there and know about the tape initially with the payment to mcdougal. >> is that putting the cart ahead of the horse or whatever the phrase is? lanny davis says they are not looking for a pardon. >> that's what they are saying but it looks like cohen -- >> yeah, i think you're trying to jump in there. you write in cohen's gravest hour, trump was leaving him out in the wilderness, which is a glimpse into the mind set of where michael

for the pbs newsho yamiche alcindor. >> woodruff: pakistan has officially elected a new primemi ster. de country's election commissilared populist imran khan the winner, after two days of ballot counting andf allegationote rigging. khan's party must now seek partners in order to form a governing coalition. a european monitoring team deemed the elections credible, but said the campaign was riddled with intimidation. althe u.s. state departmen cited "flaws" in the process. on wall street today, markets were down after more signs of trouble at tech companies like twitter and intel overadowed riomising economic growth. the dow jones indu average lost 75 points to close at 2551. the nasdaq fell 114 points, and the s&p 500 dropped 18. still to come on the newshour: the strong u.s. economic growth over the past three months. we break down these latest numbers. what president trump says he knew about his son's meeting pwih west. and, much more. >> woodruff: today, the commerce department released its latest snapshot of the american economy. as amna nawaz explains, the report showed that the u

attention as routine events can turn into confrontations among citizens and sometimes with the police.ci yamiche or explores this issue further in this racett s report. >> alcindor: several of the latest confrontations have involved white citizens calling police on african-americans engaged in typical, everyday activities. ndcluding a 12 year-old mowing lawns near clevela, ohio, two men barbecuing at a public park in oakland, california, or this eight-year-old girl selling anttled water without a permit, outside the san cisco giants' ballpark. the woman who called polure here being ed on cell phone video posted by the girl's mother. >> you can hide all you want, the whole world gonna see you, boo. >> yeah, illegally selling water without a permit.rt >> on my pro >> it's not your property. >> aindor: the woman who mad the call later apologized, and denied that her actions were racially motivated. most of these incidents took place outside and in public and were caught on video that often went viral. while none of those incidents resulted in arrests rges being filed, they followed other high profi

ru giuliani, on of the president's personal aorneys, told our colleague yamiche alcindor he thought it would be hardeman bid quickly he didn't know for sure. we will know the presionnt's choice and then it will be up to the senate to advice and consent. >> woodruff: lisa, that brings it to you, codong to senate confirmation. what are you hearing from senate republicans? >> for senate republicans, this is actually a joyous day, its as if they just have to figure out which of the players from their team gets promoted to the n.f.l. they all have their favorite choices but from this viewpoihe inenate, they believe the easiest choices to go through here would be judges hardeman and kethledge. judge ka v.r. anaugh has a long record that there's cocern there may bish shoes that would cause problems especially in a senate very gnar lowe roy divide butorenccain is still battling cancer in arizona so still 50 republicans to 49 democrats. can't lose angle member. >> woodruff: so a close vote, clearly democrats havtoe somethg ay, what are they saying now? >> well, for drnlings they're placing for