THANK YOU, EVERYBODY. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
>>> YOU’RE LOOKING RIGHT NOW AT,
OVERHEAD VIEW OF HELSINKI,
FINLAND WHERE DONALD TRUMP AND
VLADIMIR PUTIN WILL BE MEETING
NOW.
NOW. YOU JUST HAD THE PRESIDENT OF
THE UNITED STATES TALKING IN HIS
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ABOUT
VLADIMIR PUTIN.
VLADIMIR PUTIN. HE SAID THAT THEY ARE GOING TO
BE TALKING ABOUT TRADE,
MISSILES, CHINA AND OUR MUTUAL
FRIEND PRESIDENT XI.
ALSO, DAVID IGNATIUS, THE
PRESIDENT SAID WE HAVE GREAT
OPPORTUNITIES TOGETHER AND THE
PRESIDENT BELIEVED THAT THEY
COULD END UP WITH QUOTE AN
EXTRAORDINARY RELATIONSHIP, NOT
SURPRISING, BUT NOTHING WAS SAID
ABOUT THE U.S. GOVERNMENT
UNCOVERING OF VLADIMIR PUTIN’S
ATTEMPT TO DISRUPT AMERICAN
DEMOCRACY, WHICH WAS LAID OUT
BEFORE THE AMERICAN PUBLIC AND
THE REST OF THE WORLD ON FRIDAY.
WHAT ARE YOUR TAKEAWAYS FROM
THOSE INITIAL TALKS?
>> THE BODY LANGUAGE WAS
ANYTHING BUT CONFRONTATIONAL.
IT WAS CONGENIAL.
IT WAS RELAXED.
TRUMP REPEATED THE STATEMENT HE
OFTEN MAKES, TALKING WITH RUSSIA
IS A GOOD THING, NOT A BAD
THING.
THING. HE CLEARLY BELIEVES THAT.
HE LAID OUT AN AGENDA THAT, AS I
HEARD HIM STRESS MORE THAN I
MIGHT HAVE THOUGHT THE QUESTION
OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS.
HE REFERRED TO IT SEVERAL TIMES.
HE TALKED ABOUT THE TWO GREAT
NUCLEAR POWERS HAVING SUCH
DOMINANCE IN THAT AREA, THAT WAS
A BAD THING NOT A GOOD THING.
THAT MADE ME THINK ONE SUBJECT
THAT MAY BE ON TAP HERE FOR THE
DISCUSSIONS IS ARMS CONTROL.
THAT’S A GOOD THING.
THE SITUATION, STRATEGIC
INSTABILITY BETWEEN RUSSIA AND
THE UNITED STATES OVER THE LAST
COUPLE OF YEARS HAS BEEN A CAUSE
FOR WORRY.
FOR WORRY. BUT WE SAW DONALD TRUMP KIND OF
INVITING A BROAD DISCUSSION,
WELCOMING PRESIDENT PUTIN,
SAYING THAT HE HOPES FOR AN
EXTRAORDINARY RELATIONSHIP WITH
HIM, AND THAT, YOU KNOW, IT WAS
A CONGENIAL MOOD OF HELSINKI.
WE’LL BEGIN TO REFER TO THIS AS.
AS FOR THE FIRST SIGNS THAT’S
THE WAY THE PRESIDENT WANTS TO
GO.
GO. >> AND RICHARD HAAS, DAVID
IGNATIUS BROUGHT UP THE
CONGENIAL BODY LANGUAGE BETWEEN
THESE TWO GENTLEMEN.
THOUGH, I WAS NOT AS SUPPORTIVE
OF BARACK OBAMA AND HAD MANY,
MANY PROBLEMS WITH HIS FOREIGN
POLICY.
POLICY. I REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME BARACK
OBAMA AND VLADIMIR PUTIN MET, I
REMEMBER BEING DEEPLY OFFENDED
AS AN AMERICAN BY HOW, HOW
VLADIMIR PUTIN SLUMPED IN HIS
CHAIR, LOOKED DISINTERESTED, AND
WAS CLEARLY TRYING TO THROW
BARACK OBAMA, THE AMERICAN
PRESIDENT, OFF OF HIS GAME.
CERTAINLY YOU SAW NONE OF THAT
HERE, AND YOU CAN, AGAIN, LOOK
AT THOSE PAST MEETINGS WITH
AMERICAN PRESIDENTS AND VLADIMIR
PUTIN IS A WORLD LEADER WHO
LET’S YOU KNOW HOW HE FEELS WITH
HIS BODY LANGUAGE.
THIS, AGAIN, BASED ON THEIR
OPENING STATEMENTS, THOUGH,
CERTAINLY SEEMS LIKE IT’S GOING
TO BE A FRIENDLY MEETING, OR AS
DONALD TRUMP CALLS IT A FRIENDLY
SUMMIT.
SUMMIT. >> I’M SURE IT WILL BE AND THE
PRESIDENT USED THE PHRASE,
THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH THE
UNITED STATES AND RUSSIA GETTING
ALONG.
ALONG. THAT MISUNDERSTANDS AMERICA’S
FOREIGN POLICY.
FOREIGN POLICY. THE PURPOSE OF FOREIGN POLICY IS
NOT TO GET ALONG WITH OTHER
GOVERNMENTS IT’S TO TRY TO
INFLUENCE THEIR BEHAVIOR IN WAYS
THAT ARE CONSISTENT WITH YOUR
INTERESTS.
INTERESTS. SO WHETHER THERE’S A SPIRIT OF
HELSINKI IS QUITE HONESTLY
IRRELEVANT, WHETHER THESE TWO
GENTLEMEN QUOTE-UNQUOTE GET
ALONG SIR RELEVANT.
THE QUESTION IS DO WE SEE
ANYTHING MORE RESPONSIBLE IN
RUSSIA’S AFTERMATH.
RUSSIA’S AFTERMATH. THERE’S A GOOD CHANCE THAT ARMS
CONTROL WILL BE THE SUBSTANTIVE
CENTERPIECE, THE STRATEGIC
NUCLEAR AGREEMENT EXPIRES IN A
COUPLE OF YEARS.
THE AGREEMENT COVERING SHORTER
RANGE SYSTEMS IS FRAYING.
THIS IS ONE, IMPORTANT, BUT TWO
RUSSIA WOULD LOVE.
THE REASON IS ARMS CONTROL WAS
SOMETHING THAT WAS UNIQUELY IN
THE PROVINCE OF THE UNITED
STATES AND SOVIET UNION.
THAT’S WHAT MADE THEM
SUPERPOWERS.
SUPERPOWERS. SO TO REVIVE THE U.S.-RUSSIA NOW
ARMS CONTROL RELATIONSHIP IS A
WAY OF SAYING THESE TWO
COUNTRIES UNIQUELY MATTER IN
WAYS THAT OTHERS DOESN’T.
IT’S ACTUALLY THE ONE AREA WHERE
RUSSIA CAN BEAT OUT CHINA.
SO I THINK THERE’S A DECENT
CHANCE THAT THIS WILL HAPPEN
BECAUSE RUSSIA WOULD LOVE IT AND
IT IS OBJECTIVELY IMPORTANT.
>> ANDREA, FOLLOWING UP ON THAT,
ONE OF THE THING THAT JUMPED OUT
DURING THAT CONVERSATION THAT
THEY BOTH HAD WITH THE NEWS
MEDIA, IS PRESIDENT TRUMP
DESCRIBING NUCLEAR, OUR NUCLEAR
POWER, BOTH OF OURS, RUSSIA AND
THE UNITED STATES, DESCRIBING IN
DETAIL THAT THE TWO COUNTRIES
CAN HOLD 90% OF THE NUCLEAR
CAPACITY, NUCLEAR MISSILES IN
THE WORLD AND HE REFERRED TO IT
AS A BAD THING.
QUOTE-UNQUOTE, A BAD THING.
WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION TO THAT?
>> Reporter: WELL, I THINK THIS
IS THE WAY THAT THE PRESIDENT IS
SEIZING ON ONE THING THAT COULD
COME OUT OF THAT SUMMIT TODAY,
THAT HE THINKS IS A GOOD THING
FOR HIM, FOR HIS LEGACY, FOR THE
UNITED STATES, TO RESUME OUR
ARMS CONTROL TALKS WITH THE
FORMER SOVIET UNION AND RUSSIA
AND TO REDUCE ARMS DOWN THE ROAD
TO TALK ABOUT LOWERING THE LEVEL
OF ARMS IN AN EXTENSION OF THAT
ARMS CONTROL AGREEMENT THAT’S
GOING TO EXPIRE IN A COUPLE OF
YEARS.
YEARS. AS RICHARD SAID THIS, PUTS HIM
AND YOU PUT ON AN EQUAL LEVEL
AND WE DON’T WANT VLADIMIR PUTIN
TO BE ON AN EQUAL LEVEL WITH THE
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
BECAUSE HE’S SUCH A BAD ACTOR.
BUT IT’S ONE DELIVERABLE OF THIS
VERY UNSCRIPTED SUMMIT THAT HAS
NO AGENDA.
NO AGENDA. WHAT YOU DID NOT SEE IS ANY KIND
OF POSE TOURTURE EITHER IN THE B
LANGUAGE OR VERBAL LANGUAGE THAT
HE’LL TAKE ON VLADIMIR PUTIN IN
ANY WAY.
ANY WAY. HE WAS AS FRIENDLY AND OPENING
SESSION IN THIS ONE-ON-ONE AS
CAN YOU IMAGINE, TALKING ABOUT
OUR RELATIONS HAVE NOT BEEN VERY
GOOD BUT IT WOULD BE A GOOD
THING IF IT WERE IMPROVED, NOT A
BAD THING.
BAD THING. THE KIND OF RHETORIC HE’S USED
IN THE RUN UP TO THIS SUMMIT AND
THE FACT THAET TALKS ABOUT
EVERYTHING BUT CYBER ATTACKS.
HE TALKS ABOUT NUCLEAR MISSILES,
HE TALKS ABOUT TRADE AND ABOUT
CHINA AND THEIR MUTUAL FRIEND
PRESIDENT XI.
PRESIDENT XI. HE IS TALKING ABOUT THE WORLD AT
LARGE BUT NOT TALKING ABOUT
EUROPE, NATO AND THE OTHER
THINGS THAT ARE ESSENTIAL IN
EUROPE AND THE REST OF THE
WORLD.
WORLD. SO, IT’S NOT A VERY AUSPICIOUS
BEGINNING THAT ANYBODY WOULD
HOPE THAT THE PRESIDENT WOULD
ADDRESS THE MUELLER PROBE IN
ANYTHING LIKE AN AGGRESSIVE
POSTURE BASED ON THE EVIDENCE