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CNN NEWSROOM

Trump Slams May In The Sun Newspaper Interview U.S.-North Korea Talks On Troop Remains Set For Sunday; Republicans Slam FBI Agent Over Anti-Trump Texts; Guiliani Implies FBI Agent Tainted Probe; Croatian Pride Soars Ahead Of World Cup Final; Trump in Britain and to Meet Putin in Finland; Fact-Checking Trump's NATO Claims; Trump Policy will Reject Many Asylum Requests; U.S. Reopens Emmett Till Murder Investigation; Trump and First Lady will have Tea with the Queen; Etiquette Rules when Meeting Queen Elizabeth; The Return of the Stable Genius. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired July 13, 2018 - 01:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:00:00] CYRIL VANIER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Donald Trump criticizes his hosts the British Prime Minister and Mayor of London as he visits the U.K. Today's tea with the Queen could get a little awkward. The North Koreans give an important meeting with American officials of the Demilitarized Zone, what that means for negotiation is going forward? Plus it was a slugfest on Capitol Hill, how lawmakers pounced on an FBI agent's testimony about his role in investigating Donald Trump. Live from the CNN center, I'm Cyril Vanier. It's great to have you with us.

So if Thursday is any indication, Friday could be one for the history books when it comes to President Trump's visit to the U.K., and not just because of the massive protests that are expected, as Mr. Trump was wrapping up a formal black-tie dinner with his host Prime Minister Theresa May on Thursday evening he let loose in an interview he gave to the tabloid The Sun. Mr. Trump trashed London's mayor saying that he was terrible when it comes to terrorism. He praised Boris Johnson who just resigned as Foreign Secretary over Brexit saying that he would make a great prime minister and he slammed current Prime Minister Theresa May on the Brexit negotiations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I would have done it much differently. I actually told Teresa May how to do it but she didn't agree with -- she didn't listen to me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did you say?

TRUMP: She didn't listen. No, I told her how to do it. That will be up to her to say but I told her how to do it. She just said -- she wants to go a different route.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VANIER: Mr. Trump's arrival in London comes after a contentious NATO summit in Brussels. Jeff Zeleny is traveling with the President.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump receiving two decidedly different British welcomes arriving for a formal dinner inside Blenheim Palace the birthplace of Winston Churchill and by screaming protestors outside. Taking a victory lap at the NATO summit earlier in Brussels, the President downplayed his detractors.

TRUMP: I think it's fine. I mean, I think they like me a lot in the U.K.

ZELENY: But that's not the only version of Trump reality being scrutinized tonight. At a hastily arranged news conference, the President taking credit for what she said was a new pledge by fellow NATO members to boost their military spending.

TRUMP: I told people that I'd be very unhappy if they didn't up their commitments very substantially because the United States has been paying a tremendous amount, probably 90 percent of the cost of NATO and now people are going to start and countries are going to start upping their commitments.

ZELENY: Not only is the 90 percent figure inflated, NATO says the U.S. makes up only 67 percent of overall spending. But other leaders quickly debunk Trump's assertion they plan to double their contributions on defense. French President Emmanuel Macron said allies simply agreed to make good on a 2014 pledge to increase military spending to two percent of their GDP by 2024, not the four percent Trump asked for. On CNN, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg paused for a moment and tilted his head when Christiane Amanpour pressed him about the commitment.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Have they agreed to up it from two to four percent?

JENS STOLTENBERG, SECRETARY-GENERAL, NATO: We have agreed to make good on the commitments we have made.

ZELENY: Stoltenberg and other leaders say the pressure from the President has led to increased NATO contributions long a gripe of American presidents. Yet the question is, what's the cost of alienating and agitating allies? A day after suggesting Germany was totally controlled by Russia, the President once again downplayed election meddling engineered by the Kremlin in hopes of sowing discord.

TRUMP: So what I can do is say did you and don't do it again. But he may deny I mean well, you'll be the first to know, OK?

ZELENY: With his Putin summit set for Monday in Helsinki, the President showed little sign of changing his posture.

TRUMP: I'm very consistent. I'm a very stable genius. ZELENY: But before that Helsinki summit, the President has one more

day here in London certainly bracing for protests and then at the end of the day having tea with Queen Elizabeth. The President will be the 11th American President Queen Elizabeth has met since she has been in her rain, everyone except Lyndon Johnson at least since 1952. President Trump going to his Golf Resort in Scotland over the weekend heading to Helsinki on Monday. Jeff Zeleny, CNN London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VANIER: All right let's pursue this with International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson. He's in London. Nic, I want to go back to that interview that the U.S. President gave to the tabloid The Sun. Why is Donald Trump launching an attack against Theresa May his host just before having lunch with her? What's the point?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It does seem awfully unconventional doesn't it? And when you look at some of the photographs that were taken last night at Blenheim Palace which is where President Trump went with a very sumptuous dinner, Theresa May was there with her husband Philip as well and the First Lady there of course and the four of them lining up. Each one of them seemed to have a rather stony look on their faces one can only imagine what it would be like when the President meets later this morning with Theresa May. I mean she must be utterly dismayed that one would imagine that somebody she sought to position herself in position, Britain so closely to. Right after his inauguration back in early 2017, Theresa May was the first international leader to go congratulate him. She wanted to reaffirm and strengthen the special relationship.

[01:05:40] And now all that seems to have been absolutely thrown back in her face because one of the things that Donald Trump has said here is that he thinks Boris Johnson the former foreign minister who quit at the beginning of the week, it's Friday today, quit Monday and would make a good prime minister. We've known that Theresa May and Donald Trump have tensions in their relationship but this takes into an utterly new level and with a smack for many people who support to Theresa May as the U.S. President weighing very happily potentially for Theresa May politically dangerously into British politics. What is he trying to achieve here, I think perhaps he -- it would clearly be the best answer of that but from the outside it certainly appears that is trying to sort of destabilize politically Theresa May and he's trying to it seems angle for politicians in Britain who would go for a much tougher Brexit and by dint of that open up bigger rift within the European Union and throughout Europe.

And remembering Donald Trump has been very clear that he doesn't like the European Union and some of its sort of bigger architects Germany and France. He sides with those countries that are sort of pushing -- you know that are sort of pushing and angling potentially themselves to leave the European Union. So it's a so maybe this is part of the picture but this is -- it is utterly outside of the routine diplomatic playbook if you were to throw this down in this very popular newspaper in Britain hours before going in to meet the Prime Minister and I think unheard of. VANIER: So I wonder, Nic, because part of the point of this trip was

to showcase the ongoing special relationship between the U.S. and the U.K. I mean, as things stand now, do you think there still is a special relationship?

ROBERTSON: Look, the relationship that Winston Churchill has so assiduously sought to build during the Second World War was one that was in the mutual interest of both countries. It was in the interest of Europe as well and those kinds of strategic national interests between the country will likely endure several more leaders at least to come in both countries. But you know, you really have to look at this and see that President Trump if he's looking for a special relationship it doesn't seem to be with Theresa May. If there were -- if Boris Johnson were the Prime Minister he's already said that he's quite -- he quite liked Boris Johnson. The special relationship in terms of sort of political relationships has been more recently for President from with Emmanuel Macron of France although that doesn't seem to have bought Emmanuel Macron much if any political leverage over Donald Trump.

You know the things that we were expecting Theresa May a talk about today and what I've heard from behind the scenes from British officials here as well is that they want to highlight for President Trump the important -- the sort of substantial and factual key points in the relationship what we were expecting Theresa May was to talk about. You know 24,000 people within one particular state of the United States who work for British company a 100,000 in Texas 60,000, in Michigan more than a million people in the United States working for British companies between Maine and Alaska. These were the points that we were expecting her to enunciate to help frame for President Trump why this relationship has been special in the past is still special today. Why Britain's important to the United States. In the face of this, she could still frame that argument but it seems that she would not be important to President Trump so much given everything he said.

VANIER: Yes, and President Trump in that same interview to The Sun saying as things stand now it doesn't look like there's going to be a grand special trade deal between the U.K. in the U.S. as Theresa May would have liked. All right, Nic Robertson, thank you very much. We'll get more from you throughout the day. Thanks. Talks between the U.S. and North Korea are now set for Sunday and that follows a seeming snub by Pyongyang. The two sides were supposed to meet on Thursday at the Demilitarize Zone but the North Koreans just didn't show up. The White House likes to tell progress with the North but this could be the latest sign of the date aren't going downhill. CNN's Andrew Stevens has more from Seoul South Korea.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[01:10:29] ANDREW STEVENS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. delegation turned up at the Demilitarized Zone, the DMZ for talks on returning remains of U.S. servicemen killed during the Korean War with their North Korean counterparts. The only problem was that the North Koreans failed to show up. According to the U.S. at around about noon on Thursday, the North Koreans did get in touch with them to say that they would like to hold the meeting not on July the 12th but on July the 15th on Sunday to which the U.S. has agreed. But it does go to underline just the lack of progress on the negotiations towards denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. Mike Pompeo had what's been largely seen as a very unsuccessful meeting. He didn't push forward on any significant issues involving denuclearization when he met with Kim Yong-chol in North Korea. The only thing he really got was this promise that on July 12th or thereabouts the North Koreans would meet to discuss the repatriation of remains.

Still, Mike Pompeo saying it was a productive meeting and that's been echoed by his boss Donald Trump. Donald Trump saying in a tweet that a great progress was being made by -- in these -- in these talks. And he also tweeted a letter which had been sent to him by Kim Jong-un. The letter was dated on July the 6th. It's a fairly short message, just four paragraphs but it included five references to Mr. Trump calling him His Excellency Mr. President and talking about their personal relationship and the fact that they could move forward in a new era together. But there -- again, there were very few or no specifics at all from the North Koreans on how exactly they are going to move forward together. Even though Donald Trump says great progress is being made on the ground at this stage it looks like a very different story. Andrew Stevens, CNN Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VANIER: After the break, we will head to Capitol Hill for some drama.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER STRZOK, FORMER AGENT, FBI: If you want to represent what you said accurately I'm happy to answer that question but I don't appreciate what was originally said being changed.

REP. TREY GOWDY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I don't give a damn what you appreciate Agent Strzok. I don't appreciate having an FBI Agent with an unprecedented level of animus working on two major investigations during 2016.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VANIER: Just part of the fireworks at the Strzok hearing. An FBI agents text messages lead to accusations of anti-Trump bias at the bureau. Plus from Croatia streets to its halls of power, football fans going wild ahead of the World Cup final. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:15:44] VANIER: When FBI agent Peter Strzok, sent disparaging text messages about Donald Trump in the months before the U.S. election, he says he didn't think that they would become public. But they did, and now President Trump's Republican allies in Congress are holding them up as proof that Strzok and the FBI are biased against the president.

They grilled Strzok on Thursday. Nearly 10 hours of no holds barred of shouting and recriminations, and there could be more where that came from. Here's CNN's Laura Jarrett. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAURA JARRETT, CNN REPORTER: FBI agent Peter Strzok, came out swinging against accusations that his private text messages trashing President Trump, show his bias.

STRZOK: Let me be clear. Unequivocally and under oath, not once in my 26 years of defending our nation did my personal opinions impact any official action I took.

JARRETT: But House Republicans repeatedly confronted Strzok, about dozens of texts he sent while worked on the FBI's Russia investigation and Hillary Clinton e-mail probe. The discovery of which later prompted his removal from special counsel Robert Mueller's team.

STRZOK: Mr. Gowdy, my understanding why I was kicked off was the base on understanding of those texts, and the perception that they might create is something that --

(CROSSTALK)

GOWDY: Well, hang on a second, agent Strzok. Hang on a second. Perception, you're saying it was the perception of the 13 Democrats on the special counsel probe including one who went to what he hoped was a victory party that's a perception. Problem two, they weren't kicked off, you were. Why were you kicked off?

I don't give a damn what you appreciate agent Strzok. I don't appreciate having an FBI agent with an unprecedented level of animus working on two major investigations during 2016.

JARRETT: Republicans have zeroed in on a text exchange Struck had with former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, who wrote in August 2016, "Trump's not ever going to become president, right? Right?" And Strzok replied, "No. No, he's not. We'll stop it."

He told lawmakers it was a reaction to what he called Trump's disgusting attacks on a Gold Star family during the 2016 campaign.

STRZOK: I can assure you, Mr. Chairman, at no time, in any of these texts did those personal beliefs ever enter into the realm of any action I took, that is who we are as the FBI. And the suggestion that I and some dark chamber somewhere in the FBI would somehow cast aside, all of these procedures, all of these safeguards, and somehow be able to do this is astounding to me. It simply couldn't happen.

And the proposition that, that is going on that it might occur anywhere in the FBI, deeply corrodes what the FBI is in American society, the effectiveness of their mission and it is deeply destructive.

JARRETT: It was round two for Strzok, who sat for 11 hours of questioning behind closed doors last month. As President Trump continues to blast out dozens of tweets, claiming Struck tainted the Mueller probe. Top Democrat Jerry Nadler, blasted Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, Thursday, for refusing to release the transcript of Strzok's first interview.

REP. JERROLD NADLER (D-NY), HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: This will show that this is the entire joint investigation is at best a partisan distraction from more important matters. But the -- but the witness before us today Mr. Strzok testified not under confidentiality, but not under confidentiality rules, but in private for 11 hours, selected portions of that transcript have been leaked by members of the majority misleading portions in taken out of context.

JARRETT: Republicans were angry when Strzok refused to answer many questions related to Russia. Saying the FBI asked him not to discuss an ongoing investigation. But he did say, the FBI received information it needed to act on.

STRZOK: The predicating information, the information we had which was alleging a Russian offer of assistance to the member of the Trump's -- Trump campaign was of extraordinary significance. It was credible, it was from extraordinary sensitive and credible source, and as we looked at what that represented, the key time was obviously coming into the election.

But the urgency for us to understand what was going on in advance of the election, and certainly, in advance of any inauguration, I can't overstate the importance of that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[01:19:59] VANIER: All right, let's talk about this with political analyst Peter Mathews. He's in Los Angeles, he teaches political science at Cypress College.

Peter, Donald Trump, and his allies have been saying for months that agents Strzok has poisoned the FBI's entire Russia investigation. Now, we got to watch and listen to the man himself. The infamous agent Struck. The whole country got to watch him. What did you make of him in his testimony?

PETER MATHEWS, PROFESSOR, POLITICAL SCIENCE, CYPRESS COLLEGE: He made a spirited defense of his integrity, but here is the thing. Those text messages were -- you know, they actually revealed that he was a bit biased and politically against President Trump. But on the other hand, they had credible evidence that the Russians were offering help to the Trump campaign and he took the counterintelligence lead on that because that was his expertise.

So, the fact is he was one person. You can't taint the entire investigation as being a witch-hunt or as being biased because of one person who had e-mail or text messages going out. I think it's a diversion to some extent from the president's people and Republicans in Congress to say that this whole investigation of Mr. Mueller is tainted because of that one person.

And if some of those things that was put out publicly today, but it was very interesting to see the spirited offense that he had. He came out swinging, he didn't -- he didn't count hour or become humble about what he did and what he said.

And it was very -- by the way, when that congressman -- you know, went after him for being unfaithful to his wife --

VANIER: Right.

MATHEWS: That was below -- that was subpar and below the belt, it was very bad all around.

VANIER: Yes, and that drool some shouts and some recriminations from the other side of the aisle.

MATHEWS: It did.

VANIER: You say you can't actually paint the whole Mueller investigation with a broad brush, yet, that is exactly what Mr. Trump supporters are doing. Listen to the president's lawyer Rudy Giuliani, reacting to the Strzok hearing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI, ATTORNEY TO PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: To this day, we don't know the taint that he created in that investigation since he started it. That's the investigation we're dealing with right now. With a bunch of people who had the same political views he has.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VANIER: So it is exactly what you were saying. It is this argument that the whole investigation may be biased because of Peter Strzok. There is actually, some evidence, Peter, if you look at poll numbers that this argument is working on the American public.

MATHEWS: Because of the way it's being put out there by the Republican side, and especially, those who want to taint the investigation. And don't forget, Mr. Mueller himself was a lifelong Republican. This wasn't just a Democratic witch-hunt does the president try to put out. I think he's trying to deflect the attention from the real investigation.

Why not let the investigation go forward? And the fact is that Mr. Strzok was actually pursuing the investigation, he was dismissed from it when it was found out that he was Tate was biased in that sense that he expressed it. He shouldn't express that on text message even being an investigator that's not a good thing to do. That was a mistake I think he's admitted.

So, I think that we should let the investigation go forward and find out where the Trump campaign might have been anyway aided by any foreign sources or even colluded in any way. That has to be found out because this goes to the core of our Democracy.

Does the United States get to choose its own elected officials without other sites and interference or not? And this has to be found out. It's being worked on very well with Mr. Mueller and his team right now.

VANIER: Well, look that was going to be a question. Where does this leave us in terms of the wider picture of the Russia investigation?

MATHEWS: Well, I think that's continuing to go on. I mean, you had the investigation headed by Mr. Mueller, still. He's talked to many, many people. Several of the Trump campaign, people were already pleaded guilty to crimes. There's a lot of evidence that this investigation is going deeper and deeper. And I think, it'll won't be too long before Mr. Mueller finds out what actually happened.

And there has to be the truth told because it's goes to the core of our Democracy, and the rule of law principle that the law is to take its course. And that's why I don't like the fact the Trump and his associates keep on interfering with the comments that they're making. Interfering with a legitimate investigation that was carefully put together by the way it was supposed to constitutionally.

VANIER: Yes, and the Mueller camp floated the idea that they may put out a report, and they may do so sometime around September, well, ahead of the November midterm elections.

Peter Mathews, thank you very much for joining us. Thanks.

MATHEWS: Thank you very much, Cyril.

VANIER: In the beginning, there were 32 teams. Now, they are just two. France and Croatia faceoff on Sunday for the World Cup Championship.

Now, France were favored to win but they are determined not to make the same mistakes that cost them the Euro final two years ago when they lost to then, underdogs Portugal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL POGBA, MIDFIELDER, FRANCE NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM (through translator): I know that taste of defeat in a final, and it's really not good. Very bitter, I remember defeat, it's really not good. We will not approach this final like the Euro. We will finish well with smiles to make France explode. We saw the photos, it was extraordinary. We want to see this again with the players jumping, shouting, everywhere with all of France, all of our fans, all of our families, everyone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VANIER: For Croatia, this is all new territory. They've never been in the final before. A Croatian fans including political leaders are loving every second of it. Oren Liebermann, reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[01:25:10] OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's been a successful NATO summit for Croatia, at least, in terms of football. KOLINDA GRABAR-KITAROVIC, PRESIDENT OF CROATIA: And there was a lot of excitement by many countries, everybody congratulated, it was a huge success.

LIEBERMANN: The Croatian president gained some bragging rights in Brussels this week, after her country's exciting win at the World Cup which even earned kudos from the U.S. president, after a press conference question from a Croatian journalist.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) release Croatian daily newspaper. We understand your message.

TRUMP: Congratulations, by the way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. Thank you.

LIEBERMANN: Fans at home, perhaps, not as subdued as in Brussels, celebrating triumphs over England which made Croatia the smallest country to reach the World Cup finals since Uruguay in 1950. National pride is at a fever pitch from the capital streets to the highest levels of government.

Croatian Minister is conducting an official cabinet meeting in the national team's red and white checkered football jerseys.

ANDREJ PLENKOVIC, PRIME MINISTER OF CROATIA: A country of just a little bit over 4 million people is living its dream, we are all proud, and this is a fantastic experience for all of us. You can imagine they're going to the finals has built a sort of delirious atmosphere in Croatia.

ZDRAVKO MARIC, FINANCE MINISTER OF CROATIA (through translator): The whole world is talking about Croatia. The name of our country and all our players, our flag, and jersey checkers, it's indescribable.

LIEBERMANN: Those checkered jersey's a party favor of sorts at the NATO summit where the Croatian president presented custom versions to the U.S. president and the U.K. prime minister, who probably won't be wearing it anytime soon.

No word on whether the French president received the jersey of his own after joining his Croatian counterpart to talked statesmanship for sports in the last nail-biting moments of the game.

KITAROVIC: President Macron and myself watched the last two minutes together. I believe we will meet in Moscow that's what we agreed upon yesterday, and that we will cheer Croatia.

LIEBERMANN: The two leaders posed for a congratulatory photo with NATO's secretary general who posted it on Twitter with the caption, "May the best team win. Time will only tell who is still smiling come Sunday." Oren Liebermann, CNN, Zagreb Croatia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VANIER: President Trump's Europe trip is in full swing. We will preview his visit to Finland, where he says he'll confront the Russian president about U.S. election meddling.

Plus, our fact checkers found some missed statements made by Mr. Trump at the NATO summit. We'll see what they uncovered when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:30:00] CYRIL VANIER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back.

Let's look at your headlines this hour.

U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in Britain Thursday and promptly gave his hosts a hard time. In an interview with the tabloid "The Sun" he slammed Prime Minister Theresa May saying that he told her how to do Brexit but she then ignored him. Trump also said that immigration is causing Europe to lose its culture.

Before leaving Brussels and the NATO summit Mr. Trump said other NATO countries had agreed to increase and speed up their spending on defense. But those other leaders said no, they had not approved any further spending beyond the levels pledged in 2014.

A meeting between U.S. and North Korean officials on returning the remains of U.S. soldiers has been rescheduled for Sunday. It was originally set to take place in the demilitarized zone on Thursday but that never happened. A State Department spokeswoman says the North Koreans made contact around midday to reschedule.

Pomp and circumstance amid protests and controversy -- there are some mixed messages for U.S. President Trump as he visits the U.K. In the coming hours he will meet with Prime Minister Theresa May. We will also, later on Friday have tea with the Queen.

But protesters won't be rolling out the welcome mat for him. They're waving signs and speaking out against him in peaceful protest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN WILLIAMS, TRUMP PROTESTER: He's a wannabe dictator. He's imprisoning children and tearing them away from their families. I mean the list goes on. He's just destroying all of the norms of what used to be a great democracy in America. And so I'm really concerned about my country.

EMILY JONES, TRUMP PROTESTER: The fact that Trump is separating children from moms and dads I think that's what shocked us all deeply. And I think it's a thing I think in my lifetime outraged me the most and saddened me the most. And this morning my kids were asking me what's happening to all the children and my children were asking me (INAUDIBLE) -- will he separate you from me -- Mom?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Following President Trump's controversial visit to the U.K. he heads to Helsinki, Finland to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Mr. Trump says he will raise the issue of Moscow's interference in the 2016 U.S. election. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will, of course, ask your favorite question about meddling. I will be asking that question again. He may deny it. I think it's one of those things. All I can do is say did you and don't do it again, but he may deny it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VANIER: Joining me now Jan Halper-Hayes. She's the former vice president of Republicans Overseas -- that's a political organization for U.S. citizens who live outside the U.S. And she's traveling to Helsinki as part of President Trump's advanced team. Jan -- thanks for coming back on.

JAN HALPER-HAYES, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT, REPUBLICANS OVERSEAS: Pleasure.

VANIER: What would be your advice to the U.S. President going into this summit?

F1: Going into the summit with Putin?

Well, the first thing would be to get it out of the way, you know. When -- when former Ambassador Bolton had gone over to meet with Putin prior to prepping for the summit it was very interesting that Putin responded when asked if they meddled into our election saying the Russian state hadn't done it. And I think that he needs to press it a little further and find out if maybe the Russian state didn't do it but are there other entities that would have had an interest in it.

But I don't think he's going to make that a top priority. There are a couple of very touchy subjects because we have reiterated that we support the Ukraine and are not pleased with what Russia has done. We supply the Ukraine to fight against Russia. There needs to be some arms control.

And it's going to be very interesting because Putin has in recent years gone against NATO because obviously NATO was developed to protect Europe against Russia. But in 2000 Putin actually asked Clinton if he could join NATO.

So I'm wondering if that discussion is going to come up in this overall goal of try to be not exactly friends but -- and not exactly allies but to get along and reduce the threat and to stop making Russia such an enemy in people's minds.

VANIER: It's very interesting your choice of words -- friends, enemies -- how exactly you characterize Russia because that's a question that was puts to Mr. Trump. And I would like to play his answer and then get your comments on the back of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Ultimately he's a competitor. He's representing Russia. I'm representing the United States. So in a sense we're competitors. Not a question of friend or enemy. He's not my enemy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VANIER: OK. Talk to me about that. Talk to me about Mr. Trump owes view of Russia; where it stands on geopolitical field as perceived by Mr. Trump.

[01:35:00] HALPER-HAYES: Ok. I think what we have to do is to look at it from a business mind, that he is taking the approach of these are my interests to build my quote-unquote, "country" as I would build a business or take care of the issues and you are doing it to protect your company.

What are the issues that we're in competition about and how do we found a way to reach some kind of agreement to reduce the competition and work together?

VANIER: Do you think he feels -- you know, I'll get to that in a moment but you said something very interesting. Is there -- could there be any notion of a brand bargain. You're hearing that at the moment in foreign policy circles. Grand bargain between Russia and the U.S.

For instance, Russia would help contain Iran's nefarious activities in the Middle East or at least that's how the U.S. sees it. While the U.S. Would turn a blind eye or take a softer approach to Russia's activities in Ukraine? Is that something that you think is on the cards?

HALPER-HAYES: No. No, I don't, not at all.

VANIER: Why not? Does the U.S. not have any interest? I mean coming from a president who wrote "The Art of the Deal and making a big deal. He says -- the U.S. President said it would be good to have Russia if not as a friend at least as somebody we can deal with.

HALPER-HAYES: That's true.

I think his first priority is Syria. And the reason being that -- one of the reasons that Assad has been treating his people this way is that -- it's viewed by the U.S. military that he is trying to change the course of Europe and drive the migrants to Europe, drive the people out to unsettle Europe.

And Trump does not want our troops in the Middle East. He wants the Middle Eastern countries to step up and take care of things a bit more. And right now with Russia supporting Syria and also dealing with Iran but, look, we need to set Iran aside. It's just not on the table at the moment.

He is looking for a way to make Putin come more to our way of thinking than necessarily continue to support Assad and everything he's doing in Syria.

VANIER: Quick last one. This is what I was going to ask you earlier. Do you think Mr. Trump feels boxed in by the Russia investigation at home? Does he feel that there are things he can't say or can't do when meeting Vladimir Putin on account of that?

HALPER-HAYES: No. Sorry -- I was going to really laugh really hard because the thing is that Trump hold back on saying anything? I mean really -- we have to be realistic about him. He is willing to say what he thinks and what a lot of other people are thinking.

I don't think that this -- it's the stress of the Russia collusion supposedly, but they haven't found anything in how many years now? And -- it's just been a witch-hunt. And until they can find something which I don't think they are going to, he just views it as a thorn in his side.

VANIER: All right. Jan Halper-Hayes, thank you very much. Two and a half days, three days now -- the meeting between Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin. Thanks.

Our fact checkers evaluated President Trump's statements at the NATO summit and they found a few issues with some of the things that he had to say in Brussels.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Hey, everybody. It's Jake Tapper from CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" and factcheck.org. And after the NATO summit the tussles in Brussels, President Trump gave an impromptu news conference. Let's take a look at just some of the comments he made during that conference.

Let's begin with his claim about the U.S. funding of NATO. Take a listen.

TRUMP: I told people that I'd be very unhappy if they didn't up their commitments very substantially because the United States has been paying a tremendous amount, probably 90 percent of the cost of NATO.

TAPPER: That's not true, not 90 percent. According to NATO the U.S. pays about 22 percent of the direct funding that has to do with the shared military system and the organization's operating costs.

The President seems to be confusing or conflating or referring to what NATO calls indirect spending. Now that's how much each member of the alliance -- 29 nations -- willingly spends on its own defense budget.

President Trump is correct when he says that even NATO acknowledges that the U.S. shoulders too large a share of this burden. But even taking all that into account the President's claim of 90 percent -- that's a made-up number and it's way too high.

NATO says that the U.S.'s total defense spending is about 67 percent of the total amount spent by all of the countries in the alliance.

[01:40:01] Now let's talk about President Trump's claim that NATO members are shirking their responsibilities and not meeting their commitments to what they are supposed to spend on defense.

Take a listen. TRUMP: After we're 2 percent, we'll start talking about going higher.

I think 4 percent is the right number.

Now, the United States, depending on the way you calculate it was at 4.2 percent and I said that's unfair. And we have the largest GDP by far especially since we've increased it by so much since the thing called the election.

TAPPER: That's not right, either. The United States does not spend 4.2 percent of its gross domestic product on defense spending. But President Trump is correct that the U.S. has the largest GDP of the NATO nation. But according to new numbers released by NATO this week the U.S. is expected to spend around 3.5 percent of its GDP on defense in 2018.

In fact the United States has not spent 4 percent of its GDP on defense since President Obama was in office. According to NATO, the last time the United States hit that target was 2013.

While these may seem like small differences keep in mind we're talking about billions of dollars here. Also keep in mind President Trump is constantly saying that these other countries have not met their commitment to spend 2 percent of their GDP on defense. Now that commitment was made in 2014, and it was a commitment made for 2024. So technically they are not shirking their commitment yet.

And, of course, as is one of his favorite topics President Trump chose the occasion of the NATO summit to talk about his election victory in November 2016. Take a listen.

TRUMP: In one of the states we won Wisconsin, I didn't even realize this until fairly recently. That was the one state that Ronald Reagan didn't win when he ran the board his second time. He didn't win Wisconsin. And we won Wisconsin.

TAPPER: Yes, that's not true. President Reagan won Wisconsin in 1984. The state that he didn't win in 1984 was the home state of his Democratic opponent Walter Mondale, Minnesota.

President Trump keeps saying this. I don't know why. President Reagan won Wisconsin in 1984.

Those are just a handful of the falsehoods we grabbed from that press conference. A reminder to all the politicians out here -- you're perfectly entitled to your own opinions but not to your own facts.

I'm Jake Tapper for CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" and factcheck.org.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VANIER: Ok. Quick break and then when we come back -- this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: More people are going to be assassinated and more people are going to suffer domestic violence. More people are going to die. That's the reality.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VANIER: The Trump administration says go away to desperate people seeking asylum in the United States.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VANIER: The United States has long been viewed as a safe haven for victims of wars, violence and persecution, but no longer. Now many people seeking asylum in the U.S. will automatically be turned away.

CNN's Ed Lavandera has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The Trump administration's changes making it harder for immigrants, especially Central American immigrants, requesting asylum here in the United States will have far and wide implications especially if you look just across the boarder from where we are just several hundred yards away where there are still a number of people trying to figure out how to get into the United States and to request asylum.

(voice over) The future has become far more uncertain for migrants like Christian Ortiz. We recently met the 26-year-old from Honduras in a migrant shelter in Reynosa, Mexico just across the Texas border. Ortiz showed us the slashing scars left on his back.

(on camera) He's saying these are scars from whips where he was threatened to join a gang in Honduras and if he didn't join the gang he would be -- his family would be killed.

(voice over) Ortiz says the beating drove him north leaving his two sons behind so he could seek asylum in the United States. But now the Trump administration is adopting a policy that will immediately reject asylum requests based on fears of gang and domestic violence likely leaving immigrants like Ortiz with frightening options.

(on camera) So he feels like his only option right now is to enter the country illegally because he's not confident that asking for asylum will work.

CARLOS GARCIA, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY: I don't think it's extreme to call it a death sentence.

LAVANDERA (voice over): McAllen, Texas immigration attorney Carlos Garcia says he's spoken with dozens of undocumented immigrants who had their original asylum request denied. He fears it will prove deadly for thousands of people forced to return home.

GARCIA: More people are going to be assassinated. More people are going to suffer domestic violence. More people are going to die. That's the reality.

LAVANDERA (voice over): Even last month the Trump administration was focused on changing the asylum rules declaring that it wanted to make it even harder for immigrants to win asylum cases.

JEFF SESSIONS, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Asylum was never meant to alleviate all problems, even all serious problems that people face every day all over the world.

LAVANDERA (voice over): The Trump administration still needs to reunite nearly 3,000 children under age 17 who the government separated from their families under the zero tolerance immigration policy. Fifty-seven of the 103 children under five who were separated from their families have been reunited with their parents. The others remain in government custody officials say because their parents had criminal records, had already been deported or other issues.

While most of these younger children were reunited within a day or two of the first deadline critics question whether the Trump administration can be able to reunite the thousands of other separated families by the July 26 deadline.

(on camera) This woman who asked to be identify as Isabella was reunited with her 17-year-old daughter after being split apart for 40 days. Her case highlights the slow pace of being reunited. She arrived at the shelter and waited eight hours for the paperwork to be authorized.

She tells us she felt desperation waiting but that she always trusted God would take her to her daughter.

And there is still a great deal of concern as to how the U.S. government is going to meet that July 26th deadline. Critics and immigrant activists are wondering if the U.S. government wasn't able to fully meet the deadline just this past Tuesday of just over a hundred children and reuniting all of those families.

They are wondering how in the world they're going to be able to do nearly 3,000 more children within the next couple of weeks considering what a long process it takes to reunite these families.

Ed Lavandera, CNN -- Hidalgo, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VANIER: After more than six decades one of the most high-profile murder cases in U.S. history is being reopened. The Justice Department says there's enough new information to investigate the murder of Emmett Till. He was just 14 when he was killed in Mississippi in 1955 and his death became emblematic of racially- motivated killings especially in the U.S. South.

Two white men admitted to the crime a year after being acquitted. Double jeopardy laws at the time prevented a retrial. They beat and shot Till because he allegedly made an advances to one of their wives.

Emmett Till's cousin described his abduction in an interview back in 2009.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SIMEON WRIGHT, EMMETT TILL'S COUSIN: When I woke up I heard the noise first. I woke up, I saw two white men standing at the foot of my bed. One had a gun and a flashlight in his hand. He ordered to lay back down and go back to sleep and they made Emmett get up and put his clothes on.

[01:50:07] They took him and they went about 20 miles north of where we live up to a barn where the brother was the manager of this farm. They took him in there. They beat him. They tortured him. Then they shot him in the head and they threw him in the Tallahatchie River.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VANIER: And the woman who had claimed that Till made advances on her later admitted that none of that was actually true.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VANIER: U.S. President Trump and the first lady join Queen Elizabeth for tea in the coming hours. They will be joining a long list of world leaders who have met with the monarch during her 66-year reign. Royal observers will be closely watching to see if the Trumps follow the many rules of etiquette that the Queen has come to expect during her official encounters.

Max Foster reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYALTY CORRESPONDENT: Meeting the Queen can be intimidating even for the most experienced of world leaders. Do you bow? Do you curtsey? Do you shake a hand? Do you bring a gift?

Well, Buckingham Palace insists there are no obligatory codes of conduct, though some visitors may choose to observe traditional form.

The Queen doesn't expect people to bow to her but many choose to do it anyway. For men, this is a bow from the neck whilst women do a small curtsey. The secret is not to overdo it. Other people prefer simply to shake hands in the usual way or you can choose a combination of the two.

When meeting the Queen it's important to use the right greeting. The correct formal address is "Your Majesty", and subsequently it's "Ma'am" as in ham, not mom. Don't expect to be ever on first-name terms with her majesty.

Tradition dictates that the Queen speaks first and she initiates any body contact which at most extends to a handshake. According to etiquette, hugging is a big no-no. Michelle Obama famously broke this convention as first lady when she put an arm around the Queen in 2009.

Gift-giving is a very important part of any official visit. Conventions of etiquette advise bringing a present that appropriate to the occasion or reflect local culture. Official gifts belong to the crown rather than a specific royal and they automatically become part of the royal collection -- one of the largest private art collections in the world. Previous gifts have included a golden model ship, a throne and even a silver bowl of fruit.

Although royal protocols have relaxed in recent years, tradition does still dictate that guests follow the Queen's lead. So you don't speak to her until she's spoken to you. You don't sit until she sat first. You don't start eating until she started.

If there's one hard and fast rule you probably should follow it's this. If in doubt leave it out. Because if there's one sure fire way of embarrassing yourself in front of the Queen, it's trying to follow the etiquette and getting it wrong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VANIER: Most of us are keenly aware of our plusses and our minuses; our strengths and our shortcomings but it takes a very special person to know he's a genius, especially a stable one.

[01:55:04] Here's our resident genius -- Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The return of the stable genius -- oh, yes he did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you be tweeting differently once you board the Air Force One?

TRUMP: No, that's other people that do that. I don't. I'm very consistent. I'm a very stable genius.

MOOS: Actually this was the first time the President said it. The last time was in a tweet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A stable genius which I guess is Einstein if he owned a comb I think.

MOOS: President Trump certainly is stable when it comes to consistently describing his stability.

TRUMP: I'm a very stable genius.

MOOS: of course it brought back the Mr. Ed jokes about that genius of the stable as well as memes like "My name is Donald J. Trump. The J stands for genius."

In no time the stable genius remark was being repeated by the geniuses in Washington. Democratic Congressman Gregory Meeks couldn't stop saying it at a house hearing.

REP. GREGORY MEEKS (D), NEW YORK: Who's the stable genius? He's a stable genius. Stable genius -- self-proclaimed stable genius.

MOOS: The congressman finally put it in a question to the Treasury Secretary?

MEEKS: Are you a stable genius?

STEVEN MNUCHIN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: I'm stable and I won't refer to myself as a genius one way or another.

MOOS: The last time the President tweeted it, it inspired a Pennsylvania congressman to introduce the Stable Genius Act requiring presidential candidates to be examined for mental and physical fitness.

The Stable Genius Act is stable all right. It's still sitting in committee seven months later while wily President Trump joins the ranks of brainy cartoon characters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a genius, get over it.

Permit me to introduce myself. My name is Coyote, Wile E. Coyote, genius.

MOOS: Genius Moos, CNN --

TRUMP: I'm a very stable genius.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Super genius.

MOOS: -- New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VANIER: And that's it from me. I'm Cyril Vanier.

We've got special coverage starting now of Mr. Trump's visit to London. It's with Becky Anderson in London and George Howell for the Atlanta side of things. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: After scolding his NATO partners in Brussels, U.S. President Donald Trump is once again making headlines.