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Trump and May Press Conference; Trump Denies Criticism; Trump on Immigration; Trump Will Talk about Meddling; Aired 9:30-10:00a

Aired July 13, 2018 - 09:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[09:30:00] THERESA MAY, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Think it's very simple. We've been talking about this, in fact, today, which is what is important in meeting with President Putin. And I've welcomed the meeting with President Putin. But what is important is that the president goes into this, as he is doing, from a position of strength and also from a position of unity in NATO. I think that is very important. Obviously, we've discussed the activity of Russia in many different ways, including that use of a nerve agent here on the streets of the United Kingdom and the impact that that has had. I welcomed, as I said earlier, the very strong response the United States gave to that. We had response from around the world. But I think the important thing is, and particularly following the NATO summit, the president is going into this meeting with President Putin from that position of strength and a position of unity around that NATO table.

Jason.

QUESTION: Thank you.

Jason Groves (ph) from "The Daily Mail."

Prime minister, in the comments yesterday, your own MPs sort of sided with Donald Trump really and said this deal that you signed here at Chequers is going to be bad for trade. Why can't you convince your own MPs it's a good idea?

And, Mr. President, can I ask you, you've said Brexit's a tough situation. What would you do now? Would you -- would you be at the point where you would walk away from the talks to show them that you mean business?

MAY: Well, first of all, on the -- on the issue of trade deals, as I've said earlier, what we're -- we're negotiating and when we come out of the negotiations, I want to see, and we will have, our ability to have inspect trade policy, to set our own tariffs, to be that independent member of the WTO, to be able to negotiate trade deals around the world, as we will be doing. And we're looking, obviously, at the United States. We're looking at other areas as well. As we've said, we're looking at issues like the possibility of some trade deals around the Pacific -- the Pacific area, too. We will negotiate those trade deals.

But I also want to have a good trade relationship with the European Union. This isn't an either or. We don't just replace one with the other. Actually, the United Kingdom is looking for and can negotiate a situation where we can have a good trade relationship with the European Union, a great trade relationship, a good trade relationship with the United States and around the rest of the world as well. And that is what will be good for jobs, good for people's livelihoods, good for prosperity here in the U.K.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, if you remember, I was opening Turnbury the day before Brexit and we had an unbelievably large number of reporters there because everybody was there I guess because of Brexit and they all showed up on the ninth hole overlooking the ocean and I said, what's going on? And they -- all they wanted to talk about was Brexit. And they asked for my opinion. And I think you will agree that I said I think Brexit will happen. And it did happen. And then we cut the ribbon.

And the reason I felt it was going to happen was because of immigration, because I know -- I think one of the reasons I got elected was because of immigration. And I felt that Brexit had the upper hand. And most people didn't agree with me. If you remember, Barack Obama said, well, your country will have to get on the back of the line if that happened, which I thought was a terrible thing to say, frankly. But I said I thought it was going to happen. And I did happen.

And I also think that as far as negotiating the deal, I probably would have done what my suggestion was to the prime minister. But my -- but she can always do that. She can do that. At some point, she can do what I suggested to her.

No, well, you can't walk away, because if she walks away, that means she's stuck. Can't walk away. But you can do other things. But I -- and she can do what my suggestion was. And my -- my suggestion was, you know, respectfully submitted. She will -- she will do very well. I think she's a very tough negotiator. I've been watching her over the last couple of days. She's a tough negotiator. She's a very, very smart and determined person.

I can tell you, there are a lot of people that are looking up now saying, gee wiz, you know, she left a lot of people in her wake. She's a very smart, very tough, very capable person. And I would much rather have her as my friend than my enemy, that I can tell you.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: Jeff Mason (ph) from "Reuters."

TRUMP: I like your hat.

QUESTION: Thank you, sir.

Mr. President --

TRUMP: You look good without it, too. A good head of hair. A good, solid, head of hair.

QUESTION: I don't have a good, solid head of hair, but, thank you, sir.

TRUMP: I know. I know. I know exactly what you have, Jeff.

QUESTION: Going into your meeting --

TRUMP: Come on, Jeff, take it off, so we can show, please.

QUESTION: Oh, boy, OK.

TRUMP: Look. I like you better without the hat. Go ahead.

QUESTION: Here we go.

Going into your meeting with President Putin on Monday, sir, you mentioned both denuclearization and you mentioned Syria. Can you say exactly what your message will be to him on Syria. What would you like him to say, especially given Assad's gains in the country recently? And also, and on denuclearization, can you spell out a little bit how you expect that to happen in terms of treaties and in terms of talks?

[09:35:05] TRUMP: Well, it will be a slow process. Don't forget, we're not the only ones that have nukes. And it would be a slow process.

But for the world, it would be us and it would be others that would have to come along simultaneously, obviously. But I think that when I -- when the meeting was arranged and -- we both wanted the meeting. When the meeting was arranged, it was, from my standpoint, I don't -- I didn't go in with high expectations, but you may come out with something very exceptional. But the proliferation is a tremendous -- I mean to me it's the biggest problem in the world, nuclear weapons. Biggest problem in the world. I understand nuclear.

Look up Dr. John Trump at MIT. He was my uncle, many, many years a professor. I used to talk nuclear with him and this is many years ago. It's the -- it's the biggest problem in my opinion this world has, nuclear weapons. So if we could do something to substantially reduce them, I mean, ideally get rid of them, maybe that's a dream, but certainly it's a subject that I'll be bringing up with him. And it's also a very expensive thing. But that's the least important. So if we can -- if we can do something.

But I didn't go in -- and I was telling the prime minister before, I didn't go in with high expectations. And we have -- we do have a political problem where, you know, in the United States we have this stupidity going on, pure stupidity, but it makes it very hard to do something with Russia. Anything you do it's always going to be, oh, Russia, he loves Russia. I love the United States. But I love getting along with Russia and China and other countries.

And it will certainly be, Jeff, something that we bring up and talk about. I think, to me, it's such a big problem.

Syria, of course, I'm going to bring that up and I'm going to bring up Ukraine. And then I'm going to bring up other subjects also.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) in terms of Syria what exactly you would like to hear from him and what you would like Russia to?

TRUMP: We're just going to talk about -- yes, well, that was another one. I mean the red line in the sand was a problem for us. I mean I think you might be in a different --

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) Obama, like President Putin did do now under your watch, sir?

TRUMP: Well, I'll tell you what I'm going do. I'm going to talk to him about that before I talk to you. And if something happens, that will be great. And if it doesn't happen.

I'm not going in with high expectations, but we may come out with some very surprising things. But relationship is very important and having relationship with Russia and other countries, as I said a number of times is -- and I've been saying actually for years, and I've been certainly saying it during my campaign, having relationships with other countries is really a good thing.

I think that -- I can't really overestimate how big the meeting was yesterday with NATO. We went from something that really was an unfair situation to something that's unified. I mean they had spirit. Those people were getting up and in the end -- well, we are committing and we're -- you know, they can't -- they can't go -- you know it's not like they can go immediately back. They have to go through their parliaments and their congresses and their representatives and whoever, whatever form they have. But they have to go through an approval process. But I'll tell you what, every single person in that room was gung-ho to get it done, get the money in.

And even before that, as you know, $34 billion -- and I think that the secretary general, Stoltenberg, who's doing a terrific job, by the way, he said yesterday that because of President Trump we've taken in $34 billion more for NATO. And I think the number is actually much higher than that, but $34 billion more, at least. And, again, that's nothing that my opponent would have done. My opponent would have -- it would have just kept going down. You know, it was going down. You see what was happening over the years. The numbers were going down. Now the number is way up and now it's going way up higher. And that was, and he will tell you that, that was because of me.

QUESTION: Prime Minister May, the president, during his time in Brussels expressed concern about a pipeline between Russia and Germany. Do you share those concerns? And to follow-up on some of the questioning from my colleagues in the British press and on the American side, did you feel undermined by President Trump's comments in "The Sun" about your Brexit plan and about Boris Johnson?

MAY: No, look, I'm very clear that our Brexit plan will deliver on what the British people voted for and we've had an excellent discussion here, as I said, about, and as President Trump has said, about the possibility of and intent we both have to have an ambitious trade deal going forward. And I think that's -- that's exactly where we'll be going. And that's very important for both -- for both of our countries, actually. We stand -- we have stood shoulder to shoulder with the United States in so many different way over the years as a result of our special relationship. And we will show that even future through the trade arrangements that we will put in place in the -- in the future.

[09:40:07] TRUMP: And I have -- just to finish off -- Jeff, just to finish off, I have to say, I said to the paper, "The Sun," and they seemed like two very nice people, but I said that Theresa May is a -- one of them's nice? But I said -- she said --

MAY: One of them's sitting here.

TRUMP: Oh, good, where is that person? Where? Did I say nice things about Theresa May, please? Oh, good. OK. If you reported them, that's good. OK. Where? On the Internet? I said very good things. I thank -- thank you very much for saying that.

No, I said very good things about her. I didn't think they'd put it in, but that's all right. They didn't put it in the headline. I wish they'd put that in the headline. That's one of those things.

And she's a total professional because when I saw her this morning, I said, I want to apologize because I said such good things about you. She said, don't worry, it's only the press. I thought that was very -- I thought that was very professional.

I might add, Jeff, I might add, well that's such --

MAY: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: That's called being -- don't worry, I've been -- they've been doing it to me and I do it to them. I do say though the pipeline, you asked about the pipeline, to me it is a tragedy. I think it's a horrific thing that's being done where you're feeding billions and billions of dollars from Germany primarily, and other countries, but primarily from Germany, into the coffers of Russia when we're trying to do something so that we have peace in the world.

I think it's a horrible thing that Germany's doing. I think it's a horrible mistake. And as much as I like Angela, I was very open in saying it. I think it's a horrible thing that you have a pipeline coming from Russia. And I believe that Germany's going to be getting 50, 60 or even I've heard numbers of 70 percent of their energy coming in from Russia. And how can you be working for peace and working from strength when somebody has that kind of power over your country. I don't think it's good. You're not working from strength. You've given up all of your strength. I think it's very bad for Germany, very bad for the German people and I don't think it's very good for NATO, if you want to know the truth. So, OK.

MAY: We've -- just -- just -- we said we would take four questions each and we've taken four questions each.

Just on the pipeline issue, on the Nord Stream. We've been talking to the Germans about this. We've been talking to other countries within the European Union about this. And while we continue to sit around the E.U. table, this will be something that will be discussed and the European Union table. And, obviously, we'll make our views known there.

Mr. President, thank you.

QUESTION: Can you share your views on that though? Can you share your views with us, your position on (INAUDIBLE)?

MAY: Look, the -- the -- we have been discussing this with Germany. The president has made clear his concerns about what is happening. Angela Merkel made her position clear.

Within the Europe Union, there were discussions to be held on this issue of Nord Stream 2. And we're talking to other countries within the European Union. And I think the president said earlier in response to a question about a future meetings he was going to have that he'd tell you what was happening after that meeting. And we -- you will see what comes out from the European Union. And while we're a member of the E.U. -- because we still are until the 29th of March 2019, and then we're leaving.

TRUMP: Thank you very much. Thank you.

MAY: Thank you.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: A remarkable morning.

You have just been listening to a join press conference between President Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May. It is at her country home of Chequers.

This news conference sounded, to be clear, nothing like the president's comments to the British tabloid "The Sun," where he accused May of bludgeoning Brexit and dooming prospects of a trade deal with the U.S. and when he touted the man that wants her job. In a complete reversal this morning, the president says that Theresa May is doing a, quote, terrific job, calls her smart and determined. He also says, on Brexit, do whatever you want. It's fine with us. And asked how he ranked the relationship between our two nations, he said, quote, I give our relations the highest level of special.

And regardless of what was said this morning, May is now truly dealing with the fallout of what the reporter who conducted that stunning "Sun" interview with the president called a wrapped hand grenade in the form of those scathing comments on the eve of this.

This morning, it was also clear that President Trump and Prime Minister May completely disagree on immigration. The president once again this morning called immigration to Europe very bad for the continent and said it is changing Europe's culture. May shot back, discussing the U.K.'s proud history of immigration.

Let's began with our panel. My colleagues are here, John Berman, Christiane Amanpour, Jeff Zeleny. Also with us, CNN global affairs analyst Susan Glasser, and our political commentator, former Republican Congressman Charlie Dent.

Christiane, let me begin with you. Did the president just blink and Theresa May win?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: You know, you could put it that way if you want to say the president said something that was published in "The Sun" overnight and then said something completely different in the press conference today.

[09:45:01] Look, it is very Trumpian. He has been known to do that in the past. He wasn't going to stand next to Theresa May and utter the things that he did when she was not in the room to a third party.

I think that you can see that President Trump has sort of fungible views on some of these big issues, whether it's NATO, which today he fully, absolutely, 100 percent, with no chink of light, defended and kept saying we are strong, we're unified, I go to Vladimir Putin with that message.

I think the only thing that he really, really kept to his core belief was on immigration.

HARLOW: Right.

AMANPOUR: He cannot get over the idea of immigration and this constant refrain that that is changing the -- the nature and the shape of culture here. And that's his true belief. And he did say he believes he was the beneficiary in his election because of immigration and he said that that was the same of Brexit. And I think that is true. Brexit, anti-immigrant feelings is what turned it over the top for sure.

HARLOW: John Berman, two things that struck me on Brexit. He did say, do whatever you want on Brexit, but then he said, well, maybe if it doesn't work out, Theresa May will actually take my advice and do it my way. And he did -- he did, once again, praise the man, her nemesis if you will, the man who wants her job, Boris Johnson. Again he said this morning he'd be a good prime minister.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": Yes, on the Johnson thing specifically, he flat out said in this news conference, yes, they asked me the question whether Boris Johnson, who just left Theresa May's cabinet and who is her primary political rival, he said once again standing right next to her, yes, I think he would make a great prime minister. But then he claimed bizarrely that somehow "The Sun," the British tabloid, owned by Rupert Murdoch, didn't publish all the nice things he said about Theresa May. "The Sun" published the audio of much of the interview --

HARLOW: Yes.

BERMAN: And they absolutely did say that President Trump said he liked Theresa May. But when he claimed "The Sun" was somehow fake news when they said he criticized Theresa May, he was lying. I mean the president flat out did criticize her Brexit policy. Let me just read you. "I would have done it much differently. I actually told Theresa May how to do it, but she didn't agree. She didn't listen to me. I think the deal she is striking is not what the people voted on. That's criticism.

HARLOW: Right.

BERMAN: He criticized her to the British press. They told me they thought it was a hand-wrapped hand grenade. And then, just now, standing behind the microphone, he claimed it wasn't criticism, it was fake news.

HARLOW: Indeed.

And you heard our Jim Acosta try again and again and again to ask him a question and he wouldn't even take a question from him.

Jeff Zeleny, to you. The one place where the president did not blink, as Christiane pointed out, at all was on immigration. And I think it was striking to hear the president's response to that question, you know, why do you think immigration is bad for the culture of Europe and changing Europe. And then to hear Theresa May say the exact opposite things and talk about a proud history of immigration.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No question. I mean this has been something of an anthem of Donald Trump's bid for the presidency and indeed his first year and a half in office. So nothing that he said there on immigration was surprising at all. He -- you know, it's one of the reasons that, you know, we have seen protesters out here on the streets of London. The special relationship stops at the immigration policy.

But President Trump, make no mistake about it, was talking to his audience back home in the U.S. as well. They have made the calculation, the president leading this charge, driving this strategy that immigration is going to be a midterm election campaign issue to fire up Republicans, to fire up his conservative base, who may otherwise be uncertain of how some things are going. But immigration front and center in that, no question about it.

I think the president, though, he struggles to give any specifics about -- you know, and also misreads history in saying that this is the first time in, you know, 15 years or so, you know, that places aren't looking the same. I mean he's missing the entire, you know, span of decades of history and misreading that.

But I think clearly, Poppy, one thing I'm struck by, as I cover him day in and day out --

HARLOW: Yes.

ZELENY: You never heard the "a" word from him, and that's apologize.

HARLOW: Right.

ZELENY: He said near the very end of that, he said, you know, when I saw the prime minister this morning I looked at her and I said, oh, I apologize -- or I want to apologize. I said nice things about you.

HARLOW: Yes. ZELENY: Who knows if he actually said that to her or not. But, again, as John was saying, he may have said nice things about her, as he did about the queen, but he also said very harsh things about her policy.

HARLOW: Right.

ZELENY: And she wanted him to come here and, you know, essentially support her Brexit policy, to help her out. He did not do that.

HARLOW: Right.

ZELENY: He cleaned it up a little bit today. But Steve Bannon's voice was in the president's voice today at the press conference, but particularly in that interview in "The Sun."

Poppy.

HARLOW: And, by the way, Jeff Zeleny, it was not an apology to her for anything he said, it was sort of apologizing, saying, look, "The Sun" didn't public everything.

ZELENY: Right, for how the story was written.

HARLOW: Right.

ZELENY: Right.

HARLOW: And then the reporter chimed in there and said, no, no, no, Mr. President, we did put, you know, all of that nice stuff in the article and the president said, well, it's not in the headline. So it was apparent he hadn't even read the full article.

[09:50:09] You're looking at live pictures from Parliament Square, where many, many people have gathered. We'll try to get a zoomed out shot so you can get a sense of how big this is. These are people protesting the president's visit to the U.K. Of course that now famous blimp flying above parliament that was -- that was signed off on by the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, who is a big critic of the president. We're watching that as well.

Susan Glasser, let me get your take on what the president said on Russia. He was asked multiple times about this meeting with President Putin in Helsinki on Monday. And his line over and over again was, no one has been harder on Russia than my administration. And also when he answered, tried to answer questions on Crimea, he said, I've been handed a bad hand.

Hold that thought. Let me get to our Jim Acosta, who joins us now from Chequers.

Jim Acosta, are you with me?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Sure.

HARLOW: So, Jim, you tried.

ACOSTA: I have you -- yes.

HARLOW: You tried valiantly to get a question in. The president said, and I quote, I don't take questions from CNN.

ACOSTA: Yes.

HARLOW: What were you trying to ask him?

ACOSTA: Yes. Well, he does take questions from CNN. He took a question from me in Singapore at the conclusion of his summit with Kim Jung-un.

But putting that aside, perhaps his own version of fake news there in saying that. I did try to ask a question at the very end of that press conference. I'm not sure if you heard it because the president and the prime minister were leaving the scene here. I asked, Mr. President, will you tell Putin to stay out of U.S. elections. And he did turn and say, yes.

So, you know, the question that has been phrased to him in recent weeks has been, will you raise the issue of meddling with Vladimir Putin. That seems to get to the issue of whether or not they meddled in the 2016 election. What you hear a lot of people raising the question of on up on Capitol Hill and around Washington is whether or not Vladimir Putin will meddle in the midterm elections, meddle in the 2020 elections. That, obviously, has people very, very worried. It would be, obviously, another direct attack on our democracy. And so I thought I'd better ask him the question, will you tell Vladimir Putin to stay out, to butt out of U.S. elections. And he did turn, after he went after us during that press conference, he did turn as he was leaving with the prime minister and said, yes. So we do expect the president now -- he told us that -- unless that was his version of fake news. We do expect the president to now raise that with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, when they meet in Helsinki.

But, obviously, during that press conference, and I think you guys were touching on this, perhaps the most striking thing during that news conference is this issue of immigration and the president saying very candidly that he feels that the immigration issue is a powerful tool for him and he plans on keeping -- you know, using it right into the midterm elections.

HARLOW: Right.

ACOSTA: And essentially he was admitting that it isn't very politically correct what he has to say, but he feels it's effective.

HARLOW: He said it's not politically correct, but I'll say it and I'll say it loud.

Jim Acosta, to you I'll ask the same question that I asked Christiane right out of this presser.

It seems to me certainly like on almost all fronts, except for immigration, the president blinked and Theresa May won in a sense.

ACOSTA: That's right. I mean and we saw this in Germany, he criticized Angela Merkel behind the scenes and actually in front of the cameras with Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO secretary-general, saying that they're a captive of Russia. But when he had the opportunity sitting next to Angela Merkel in front of the cameras, he did not repeat that criticism. And he sort of had the same opportunity here. At the very start of this news conference, he said, well, you know, "The Sun" tabloid didn't report all of the things that I said and essentially bashed the press, bashed that tabloid as being fake news. Well, of course, they're his words. He said these things. And he sort of bent over backwards and was very effusive in praising the prime minister when he was standing next to her.

So this is a pattern that we do see from the president where he goes after his opponents. He'll go after them at a rally. He'll go after them when he's not right next to them. But he doesn't very often go to them --

HARLOW: Yes.

ACOSTA: Go after them to their face, except, I suppose, when it's us in the press, then he doesn't --

HARLOW: Right. Right.

ACOSTA: Doesn't mind too much coming after us --

HARLOW: So --

ACOSTA: To our faces.

But he did -- he did not -- he declined that opportunity with Theresa May. That's right.

HARLOW: Jim Acosta, thank you for being there and trying, the dogged reporter you are, to get that question in. We appreciate it.

You're looking at live pictures with the president walking with his chief of staff John Kelly. Also Press Secretary Sarah Sanders approaching Marine One there to leave Chequers.

Let me get back to the panel.

Susan Glasser, to you. Your take on the points the president tried to push on Russia.

SUSAN GLASSER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, you know, it remains quite a mystery, doesn't it, what exactly is on the agenda when Vladimir Putin meets with President Trump on Monday in Helsinki. And, you know, it's interesting this question, are you going to raise Russian meddling in the 2016 election? We're still looking backwards.

Remember, President Obama, actually in his very last meeting with Vladimir Putin, in September of 2016, he pulled him aside and he said, we know you're meddling in the elections and you better knock it off. That wasn't successful. And I don't know whether President Trump raising that issue in Helsinki and saying, hey, Vladimir, could you please not medal in our 2018 elections is going to be any more successful.

[09:55:10] But, more seriously, you listen to him being asked over and over again in this press conference why are you having this meeting with President Putin, what do you hope to accomplish, what's on the agenda, he really couldn't and the question, it struck me --

HARLOW: Well, he talked about Syria.

GLASSER: He rambled on about nuclear weapons and how that was something that he cared a lot about because he used to talk to his uncle, who was an MIT professor. He didn't say what was on the agenda when it came to nuclear non-proliferation. He mentioned Syria. But, again, only to criticize the Obama policy without suggesting what his policy actually is, at this point a year and a half in.

Same thing on Crimea. He blamed, in fact, the Russian takeover of Crimea. The first such annexation -- illegal annexation of territory since World War II. He blamed that on Barack Obama --

HARLOW: Right.

GLASSER: But he didn't say whether he would keep the sanctions on Crimea or whether he -- on Russia as a result of that or whether he was open to making a deal as he suggested in the past.

HARLOW: Well, he -- he actually, as you -- as you note, said about Crimea, I was handed a bad hand. And he said, nothing much I have to say about it. So it makes you wonder, well, then what will he say about it to Vladimir Putin.

Congressman Dent, thank you for waiting here and waiting patiently as we get through all of this breaking news.

As a Republican, who weeks ago served in Congress under -- you know, with President Trump, what's your take on immigration? Clearly he's talking to his base there. This is the only thing where he kept the same message in "The Sun" interview as he did this morning in the press conference, saying it's been damaging for Europe and they better watch themselves. Smart play for his party?

CHARLIE DENT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I'll tell you what, that -- those comments were extraordinarily unhelpful.

One thing Donald Trump and I have in common is, my mother's ancestors and his father's ancestors came from the same part of Germany and they came for the same reasons, in all likelihood, for better opportunity. What he is doing to trans-Atlantic relations is simply atrocious. This trans-Atlantic relationship is not only the foundation of American national security policy, it is the crown jewel of American diplomacy over these last 70 years. To think that -- what we have done in Europe, what we've accomplished together with our European partners is simply remarkable. And for the president of the United States, you know, to basically criticize Angela Merkel three times, almost as many times as he criticized CNN, I mean to go after the U.K. the way he did just in the last day, criticizing her Brexit plans, saying there will be no U.S./U.K. trade agreement, and then turning around today and saying, whatever you do is OK with us? I mean this is horrible. He is -- the president of the United States is achieving Vladimir Putin's foreign policy goals. Unraveling, disturbing NATO and the European Union. I mean the European Union is a 70 year peace project. And for the president to, you know, speak about it in these terms, I think is terrible. Simply -- I was one of the leaders on trans-Atlantic relations in Congress. I mean it's -- you know, words matter. His words are having terrible impacts on our friends and allies. This -- he has to cease and desist from this institutional destruction. It's hurting America, America's interests, and helping Russia.

HARLOW: Congressman Dent, thank you for that. Again, this is the last meeting that he'll have with a foreign leader before this weekend and the next one will be in Helsinki on Monday with Vladimir Putin. Thank you all very, very much. Christiane, John, Jeff, Susan, congressman, appreciate it. Jim Acosta as well.

A quick break. We're back with more, next.

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