them from what he's going to do to do tomorrow. what president trump was getting out of it, i don't know. and i'll just note it's very striking to me, we're not at that table. we don't have a representative in sochi today with respect to the transition plan for syria. >> peter baker how does putin hear trump and how do other governments hear trump when he advanced that readout of his conversation about insulting putin over these repeated denials that he meddled in our election? >> well, certainly encourages president putin to continue them. he sees an interlockter, a partner, who's buying his story. therefore he's encouraged to keep it up. it was striking, and ambassador mcfall was getting at this, how much president putin is the driving force in what's going on today in the middle east.