WRITER FOR THE DAILY BANTER AND A FORMER ANCHOR ON RUSSIA TODAY.
ALANA, A BIG WELCOME TO YOU. FIRST UP, HOW IS THE MEETING
PLAYING OUT IN RUSSIA AS PRESIDENT PUTIN HEADS HOME?
>> SOMETHING THAT THE GOVERNMENT WANTS IS TO BE A PLAYER ON THE
WORLD STAGE SO THE FACT THAT A MEETING LIKE THIS EVEN TOOK
PLACE IS ALREADY A POSITIVE SIGN AND RUSSIANS WHO ARE CURRENTLY
FEELING THE EFFECTS OF ECONOMIC SANCTIONS BEING PLACED UPON THEM
VERY MUCH WANT TO HEAR THAT THERE IS GOING TO BE AN
IMPROVEMENT IN RELATIONS BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE UNITED STATES.
THAT'S WHY YOU SAW PEOPLE KIND OF WELCOMING THE ELECTION OF
DONALD TRUMP WITH OPEN ARMS. IT'S NOT SO MUCH THAT PEOPLE
WERE OPPOSED TO HILLARY CLINTON, BUT THAT THEY SAW A CANDIDATE IN
DONALD TRUMP WHO WAS PROMISING THAT HE WANTED TO BETTER
RELATIONS. SO, RIGHT NOW, PEOPLE ARE
LOOKING AT THIS AS A POSITIVE STEP, BUT THERE WERE ALSO
LOWERED EXPECTATIONS GOING INTO IT BECAUSE RUSSIAN SANCTIONS AND
LIFTING THEM, THAT WAS A NONSTANONSTARTER, GIVEN THE CUR
POLITICAL SITUATION HERE IN THE U.S., AND WHAT CONGRESS IS
TRYING TO DO TO TIE THE PRESIDENT'S HANDS, AND SO, YOU
KNOW, YOU SEE THE SAME THING IN THE RUSSIAN PRESS AND IN THE
NEWSPAPERS, READING INTO BODY LANGUAGE AND BODY LANGUAGE
EXPERTS TALKING ABOUT IT. AND MOST OF THAT IS JUST BECAUSE
OPTICS ARE THE MAIN THING WE HAVE TO GO ON.
THERE ARE ONLY A FEW PEOPLE WHO WERE IN THE ROOM AND THEY'RE THE
ONLY ONES WHO KNOW WHAT REALLY HAPPENED.
>> SO IS THAT WHAT PRESIDENT TRUMP GOT FROM THIS MEETING?
HE GOT BETTER RELATIONS OR AT LEAST THE PERCEPTION OF THAT.
YOU MAKE A VERY GOOD POINT, BUT IN ADDITION, LET'S FACE IT, IT
WAS SUPPOSED TO GO FOR 30 MINUTES.
IT WENT FOR OVER TWO HOURS SO IF IT HAD BEEN VERY CONTENTIOUS AND
THEY WERE NOT GETTING ALONG, YOU COULD IMAGINE EITHER OF THEM
SAYING, I'M OUT OF HERE AND MOVING.
THERE'S SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED. DOES THAT SEND A STRONG SIGNAL?
>> I THINK FOR SOMEONE LIKE DONALD TRUMP, HE HAS ALWAYS HAD
WHAT I LIKE TO CALL STRONG MAN ENVY, AND SO I THINK THAT
VLADIMIR PUTIN IS A LEADER WHO HE WISHES HE HAD THE SAME AMOUNT
OF POWER AS, THE WAY THAT PUTIN DOES IN HIS COUNTRY BECAUSE, OF
COURSE, THERE IS A STRONG SYSTEM OF CHECKS AND BALANCES HERE IN
THE UNITED STATES, AND TRUMP IS FACING A LOT OF POLITICAL
OPPOSITION. AND SO, I THINK THAT PROBABLY
DONALD TRUMP WANTED TO BE LIKED BY VLADIMIR PUTIN AND THAT'S WHY
THIS WENT ON FOR AS LONG AS IT DID AND WE SAW THAT THEY MADE
JOKES TOGETHER AT THE EXPENSE OF THE MEDIA, AND YOU KNOW, SO VERY
MUCH, I THINK, THAT THIS WAS DONALD TRUMP TRYING TO BE A DEAL
MAKER AS A BUSINESSMAN, AS HE WAS RATHER THAN NECESSARILY A
SEASONED POLITICIAN, WHICH HE'S NOT.
>> I'M CURIOUS WHAT YOU MIGHT KNOW ABOUT HOW PRESIDENT PUTIN
WOULD HAVE PREPARED FOR A MEETING LIKE THIS.
>> WELL, YOU KNOW, MY KNOWLEDGE ONLY EXTENDS TO THAT OF WHICH
I'VE HEARD FEARD FROM A LOT OF WHO HAVE WORKED WITHIN THE
RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT, PEOPLE IN DIPLOMATIC CIRCLES WHO HAVE HAD
MEETINGS WITH VLADIMIR PUTIN, WITH SERGEY LAVROV, AND WITH
OTHER RUSSIAN OFFICIALS, AND THAT'S THAT HE IS SOMEBODY WHO
PREPARES VERY WELL. AND HE IS A TACTICIAN.
AND HE GOES IN WITH A STRONG AGENDA, AND YOU HAD SOME GUESTS
TALKING EARLIER ABOUT THE FACT THAT THE UNITED STATES DIDN'T
REALLY HAVE ONE IN THIS CASE. AND THAT'S WHY I THINK THAT THIS
IS BEING PERCEIVED SO MUCH AS A WIN FOR RUSSIA IS BECAUSE WE
WEREN'T REALLY SURE WHAT THE UNITED STATES COULD ACTUALLY BE
GETTING OUT OF THIS MEETING. >> IN TERMS OF THE TENNER, JUST
A COUPLE HOURS BEFORE THE MEETING, THE PRESIDENT TWEETED
THIS. EVERYONE HERE IS TALKING ABOUT
WHY JOHN PODESTA REFUSED TO GIVE THE DNC SERVER TO THE FBI AND
CIA. DISGRACEFUL.
OF COURSE THERE WERE SOME ERRORS IN THE TWEET THERE, BUT DO YOU
THINK THIS MIGHT HAVE BEEN A WAY FOR TRUMP TO TRY TO BOND WITH
PUTIN AND HOW MUCH DOES PUTIN RELY ON BONDING OVER HIS COMMON
ENEMIES. >> PUTIN IS NOT KNOWN TO BE A
WARM AND CUDDLY GUY SO I DON'T THINK THAT BONDING IS
NECESSARILY HIS USUAL STATE OF PLAY, BUT HE KNOWS THAT DONALD
TRUMP IS SOMEBODY WHO HAS A BIG EGO, AND HE WANTS TO HAVE HAVE
EGO STROKED AND SO I THINK THAT'S WHAT VLADIMIR PUTIN WOULD
BE GOING INTO THIS MEETING KNOWING ABOUT THE PERSON THAT
HE'S SITTING DOWN WITH IS THE TYPE OF PERSONALITY AND
CHARACTER THAT HE'S DEALING WITH.
AS FOR DONALD TRUMP AND THE ELECTION NEWS, YOU KNOW, I'M
HONESTLY SURPRISED THAT HE EVEN BROUGHT UP THE HACKING ISSUE AT
ALL. BECAUSE I DON'T REALLY SEE A
BENEFIT FOR THE PRESIDENT TO BRINGING IT UP, BECAUSE PEOPLE
AREN'T GOING TO BE SATISFIED UNLESS HE WERE TO COME OUT AND
SAY THAT HE WAS PUTTING IN NEW SANCTIONS IN PLACE, RIGHT,
AGAINST RUSSIA, SO NOTHING WAS GOING TO BE SEEN AS FORCEFUL
ENOUGH. AND SO, PERHAPS HE'S JUST TRYING
TO PLAY TO BOTH SIDES HERE AND THE AMOUNT OF SECRECY THAT WE'VE
SEEN FROM THIS ADMINISTRATION, THE VERY SPECIFIC WAY THAT THIS
MEETING WAS PLANNED SO THAT ONLY A FEW PEOPLE WOULD BE IN THE
ROOM AND NO NOTE TAKERS WOULD BE IN THE ROOM, I THINK ALL LENDS