Formidable adversary. President bidens hope is to open the lines of communication with russia. He wants to stop any further deterioration in the relationship which he admits has reached a new low point. Theres a lot on the agenda from nuclear arms and Climate Change to recent Cyber Attacks and a potential Prisoner Swap for americans detained in russia. There will be no, repeat, no typical joint News Conference afterward. Instead each lead letter hold his own press briefing. The white house is determined to avoid the kind of embarrassing spectacle we witnessed back in 2018 in helsinki when then President Trump took the stage with putin and said he believed the russian leader over his own, his own u. S. Intelligence agencies. The long awaited biden putin summit takes place next hour at the historic villa la grange. Our team is here covering every monumental level and the stakes are enormous. Lets begin with natasha. Who will be there . How will it be structured . Yeah, wolf. So the format of this meeting is not going to look or feel anything like helsinki in 2018. The russian president is expected to arrive at this lakeside villa around 1 00 p. M. Local time or 7 00 a. M. Eastern time. A group of officials have already arrived at that is up mitt location. President biden is expected to arrive shortly thereafter President Putin and there will be a brief meeting with the swiss government. After that they will go into their first meeting accompanied by two of their most senior aides. On the u. S. Side it will be the Secretary Of State anthony blink condition, on the other side sergey lavrov. After that there will be an expanded meeting with five members on each side. There will be a group with biden, a group of state Department Officials, his National Security advise eric the u. S. Ambassador to russia, and on the russian side there will be a group of top aides to president Vladimir Putin in an expanded meeting there. Important to note, there will be no joint conference after the meetings. Thats to primarily avoid the spectacle we saw with President Donald Trump and President Putin in helsinki in 2018. The white house does not want to put the president and the russian president on kind of the same level and have this devolve into a tit for tat with the russian president trying to undercut the u. S. President and undermining any good conversations or progress they would have made throughout the day. This is going to be very different from what we saw in 2018, wolf. Whether or not there will be deliverables coming out of this, of course, is an entirely different question. Yeah. I was in helsinki for that joint News Conference. Clearly putin would have loved to have a joint News Conference, not so much the president of the United States. Thats why there wont be a joint News Conference. Natasha, thank you very much. Whats on the line . There are multiple issues President Biden and putin will discuss. Joining us to discuss that is kylie atwood. Kylie, Set The Seencene for us that. Theres a lot on the table, wolf. First of all i want to talk about cyber hacking. This could be the most challenging but most critical issue that is on the table today. Thats because we have seen these recent Cyber Attacks carried out against u. S. Companies, agencies in recent months. This is really high stakes for the u. S. Will President Biden lay down any red lines to say to President Putin, stay away from Critical Infrastructure in the u. S. And power plants. This is an area to keep an eye on. Challenging because putin denies any involvement in the recent Cyber Attacks. Another is Election Attacks. This has been critical in the last recent years. Russia interfered in the u. S. Election in 2016, a and in 2020. They deny involvement. This is expected to be another issue thats on the table today. Another thing we do expect to come up, ukraine. In recent months, we have seen this Russian Military buildup along the ukrainian border. The u. S. Has been very clear in that theyre supportive of ukrainian sovereignty, and this is an area where President Putin has said, listen, this is our area of the world, stay away. So this is another challenging topic. Now, navalny, he is the russian opposition leader. Hes jailed in russia right now. Yesterday President Biden said his death would be a tragedy if he died. It would affect negatively russias relations with the world and the United States. Russia does not want to address this topic. Navalny is someone putin sees as a threat and as an internal matter. He doesnt want to discuss it. The white house says this will come up. This, of course, brings us to human rights generally speaking. Theres been a crackdown on Opposition Voices in russia. This is something the white house has also said will come up today. Theres a long list, wolf. Then we have americans who are detained in russia. Two of those folks, paul whelan and trevor reed. I can tell you that their families are watching this summit extremely closely. Theyre two former u. S. Marines. Could there be a Prisoner Swap . Could the president s lay down some conversations for the future to release these two americans detained in russia . And then the expulsion of diplomats. This is one topic that both countries do want to discuss. It has been a dramatic downturn in diplomats, Russian Diplomats in the u. S. , u. S. Diplomats in russia in recent years, and that has negatively impacted diplomacy between the two countries. Know both of the ambassadors, the ambassador here in washington was called to moscow months ago. The u. S. Ambassador came back To Washington as well. And so this is an area where we could potentially see some forward movement. Will the ambassadors go back to those countries and begin some normal workinglevel diplomacy . The last area i want to discuss with you is Nuclear Stability and arms control. This is an area where actually both of the sides have said they want to discuss this. This is an area where they could potentially build upon Nuclear Arms Agreements between the two countries, and its an area where essentially if both of the president s give the green light, their working teams could work on this in the future, and so this is one area where were going to be watching to see if theres any progress out of this hourlong meeting between these two president s. Wolf . Excellent wrapup of the issues on the agenda, kylie. Thank you very much. The white house says President Biden plans to press putin on key areas of concern for u. S. National security, and they say this summit will be nothing, repeat, nothing like the 2018 spectacle when putin met then President Trump in helsinki. Lots get more from cnns jeff zeleny. Jeff, youve been working your sources. What have you been hearing . Wolf, as we know, President Biden has been traveling to geneva. Hes described Vladimir Putin as an adversary. Can they establish a more productive stable relationship with Vladimir Putin . Thats what theyre looking to determine. We do know Cyber Attacks will be a central theme of this conversation. President biden will press the russian president on the attacks on the critical nations infrastructure back in the u. S. But, wolf, we heard President Biden describe Vladimir Putin as a worthy adversary. When you step back and look at the history of all of this, President Biden has spent his lifes work in the Foreign Policy sector. He has met with Vladimir Putin before as Vice President and hes spoken with him twice on the telephone since taking office, once in january, once in april. But this facetoface meeting t white house believes President Biden was behind this. He said he wanted to have a facetoface conversation to see if he could have a productive relationship with Vladimir Putin. That is very much an open president. But as the president traveled here to geneva, we asked him at the nato headquarters on monday how he could ever determine if he could trust Vladimir Putin. Reagan said trust but verify. What you do say about Vladimir Putin . I would verify first and then trust. Everything would have to be shown as occurring. Its not about trusting. Its about agreeing. So this is one thing that, of course, President Biden has in his mind, the history framing this entire summit. Of course, geneva was the site of a 1985 discussion between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev that ultimately led to the end of the cold war. President biden was already on the scene in the senate. He comes to this meeting with decades of experience. The question is will that matter at all . The white house is going into this meeting with a sense of allowing it to play out and talks. This is essentially going to play out as an act in two parts. The first, the meeting between President Biden and Vladimir Putin and their top diplomats and later a meeting with advisers. Were told this meeting could breathe. It could last longer than five hours. As you know from being in helsinki with President Putin and President Biden, well watch the timing. Will he make him wait for the meeting as putin did with President Trump. For all the preparations that have gone into this moment, theres also an air of unpredictability and what both of them want to get out of today, wolf. What kind of mind games potentially they want to play with each other. Thank you very much, jeff zeleny reporting. Russia stateowned media has reported putin has left socci, is en route to his meeting with President Biden in geneva. What are we hearing from the russian side about todays meeting . Cnns moscow correspondent, matthew chance, hes in geneva as well. What are you hearing, matthew . Reporter weve just been in contact with Vladimir Putins Press Secretary. There was some speculation that the plane from socci carrying President Putin has landed. It hasnt landed yet. Hell make his way in the next hour to the villa la greigange lake geneva. The meet willing take place very, very shortly indeed. In terms of what the russian expectations are, they are very low. The words are the framing the white house has been using as well. The fact that the meeting is be taking place at all is an achievement. There are areas of Common Ground, Climate Change, arms redu reduction. There could be joint statements signed on some of those issues. But the substantial core disagreements in this very fraught relationship between the United States and russia, i dont think anyone is seriously expecting any solid progress during this one summit here in geneva when it comes to Cyber Attacks against the United States, many of them emanating from russia. Dont expect any progress there. The Military Threat russia continues to pose to its neighbors, particularly ukraine. I doubt very much whether the kremlin is going to be giving any ground on that. When it comes to the election of navalny and the Opposition Activists who have been targeted and the groups who have been outlawed and cracked down on inside russia, according to the kremlin when i last spoke to them, they say theyre ready to inform President Biden about that, but theyre not going to discuss it. Its not a matter of negotiation as far as the kremlin are concerned. Yes, there are some areas of potential compromise. We heard our previous reporters talking about the possible exchange or return of ambassadors to each others countries, things like that. But, again, on those substantial disag disagreements, i think putin is going to be taking a very tough line. I suspect he will. I walked over yesterday to the villa la grange where you are. Theres Security Fencing and barbed wire all around, which, of course, is totally understandable. Matthew, well get back to you. Thank you very much. President putin will arrive first at the summit at the villa la grange followed by President Biden. Our live coverage from geneva will continue here. Were following all of this. The meeting at the villa la grange wont be President Bidens first facetoface meeting with putin nor the first time meeting with russia. How his past experience will play into todays meeting. And breaking overnight, air strikes overnight less than a month after the ceasefire. Its, oh, so quiet shhhh shhhh its, oh, so still shhhh shhhh and so peaceful until. You blow a Fuse Zing Boom the devil cuts loose. Zing boom so whats the use. Wow bam of falling in love . vo i am living with cll and i am living longer. Thanks to imbruvica. Imbruvica is a Prescription Medicine for adults with cll or chronic lymphocytic leukemia. It will not work for everyone. Imbruvica is the 1 prescribed oral therapy for cll, and its proven to help people live longer. Imbruvica is not chemotherapy. 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And many of us realize a fundamental human need to connect with other likeminded people. Welcome back to the world. Viking. Exploring the world in comfort. Once again. Welcome back to cnns special live coverage of this historic summit in geneva. President biden putting things to a test with Vladimir Putin. Its not at the first time the two leaders will be facetoface. A decade ago it was vice President Biden meeting Vladimir Putin with biden telling putin basically he had no soul. Reporter over four decades in politics, joe biden has plenty of experience in Foreign Policy. He has met with at least two russian president s and three soviet leaders, and today he will sit down again with Vladimir Putin. I have met with him. Hes bright. Hes tough. And i have found that he is as they say when i used to play ball, a worthy adversary. Reporter at the then meeting he told the russian leader, i dont think you have a soul. Biden who called putin a kgb thug took it one step further earlier this year. You know Vladimir Putin. Do you think hes a killer . Mmhmm. I do. Reporter this after he had his first phone call with President Putin. It made it clear to Vladimir Putin different from my predecessor that the day of the United States rolling over in todays acts by russia are over. Reporter by april the president ordered sanction on russia in response to Cyber Attacks and Election Attacks with an additional warning. Its in the interest of the United States to work with russia. We should and we will. Where russia seeks to violate the interests of the United States, we will respond. Reporter a move bind promised while running for office last year. Putin knows exactly who i am and i know exactly who he is, and i let him nono more. If he interferes in this election, there are going to be consequences. There are going to be consequences. Reporter as Vice President he noticed a change in russias relations with nato allies. The last few years have seen a dangerous drift in relations between russia and the members of our alliance. Its time, to paraphrase president obama, its time to press the reset button where we can. Reporter this time around a reset will be difficult, but bind said he is hopeful to find some Common Ground with putin. I shared with our allies what ill convey to President Putin, that im not looking for conflict with russia, but that we will respond if russia continues its harmful activities. Just some context into bidens talk about Vladimir Putins soul, biden was responding to comments that george w. Bush famously made when meeting with putin in 2001. Bush said he looked into putins eyes and saw his soul, and, wolf, you remember when john mccain looked into putins eyes, what he saw was kgb. I remember that well. Excellent analysis. Thank you very much. President biden is expected to confront the russian president over russias aggressive conduct and to make it clear what the red lines are, but some say that gives putin a certain advantage because setting red lines with an unpredictable leader like putin, thats a rather risky move. Jim sciutto and Clarissa Ward are here with me right now. Jim and clarissa, when we say the stakes are enormous here today, i think thats a fair analysis. Its a fair analysis. I would say the stakes are higher for biden than putin. Already just appearing on the world stage, standing next to the president of the United States speaks volumes about russias role in the world, importance, so hell be seeking to transform that into some sort of a Public Relations coup. Both countries are going to be clear about what the red lines are and theyll try hard to find some small areas of mutual cooperation to prevent the relationship from degrading further, but President Putin has been very clear. Expectations are very low today. They certainly are. What do you think . Listen. The status quo suits russia, russia being able to carry out Cyber Attacks that damage and impact the u. S. , that suits his interest. To continue to occupy ukraine, that suits his interest, if there is no progress today, putin is fine with that. As clarissa said, he got his moment on the stage on equal footing with President Trump. Biden is the one who wants to come home with something here. That said, the simple contrast between geneva and helsinki will be something of an accomplishment for this new president because helsinki, where trump chose putins word over that of the u. S. Intelligence agencies, was a deeply damaging moment for the u. S. , acknowledged publicly at the time. So bard we heard from fiona hill, trumps advise eadviser, wanted to interrupt with an emergency. Thats how bad it was. For biden to stand here and say, we will not stand for navalnys poisoning and i dont trust you, thats a step forward. On the thornier issues, it will be harder. Im sure theres a russian shift as far as biden is concerned. They were ridiculing him as old and weak and not very effective, but now theyre suggesting maybe he is more respect. I think theres a grudging respect for biden behind the scenes. He has decades of the experience both politically and diplomatically. Putin has met with him. They know theyre dealing with a very different commodity than President Trump. They know hes much more predictable, less impulsive. Think they also understand there are potentially areas where deals could be made. That said, there are also reservations. While President Trump may have come and gone, its been exposed the u. S. Political system is very capricious and can change very quickly. So President Trump will want to know, what does it mean to strike a deal with you . How long can that last . Can america stay the course for longer than four years. It looks like President Trumps plane is about to land here in geneva. Were watching closely. He flew in from socci, hell spend the day and go back to russia afterward. Thats right. Over my shoulders, it seems hes approached. They cleared the airspace. Listen, you know, again, to clarissas point here, when you looked a biden in this moment, he has enormous experience. And another difference in this summit is that it is less a gut affair, right . Trump in the summits with kim was confident that just the personality and the moment together with the foreign leader could move the relationship. Same with his relations with putin. The trouble is that didnt move those relations fundamentally. Biden has a more traditional setup. Hell have this oneonone. Hell have these other breakout meetings with his counterparts, blinken, et cetera. It also allows them to discuss in a substantive form some of these areas where there are potential agreements, perhaps a Prisoner Swap. By the way, the iran nuclear deal, that is a major agreement between the two sides. They negotiated it a few years ago. The u. S. Pulled out under trump. Biden would like pack in. Russia would like them back in. To clarissas point, what happens in 2024 . Can i trust what you sign here is going to last beyond the next election . Thats on the minds of all americans. Is that true, clarissa . There will be separate News Conferences afterward, not joint . Its to avoid the humiliation of helsinki. But even going further than that, thputin had a conversatio with bush. It was deeply embarrassing for the american president. Nobody wants to see that happen again. I also think theres a sense with this summit that its closer or more akin to the kind of meetings we saw during the cold war where theyre choosing very small, very specific baby steps almost if you will as areas of potential growth, not to fundamentally reset the relationship. Thiss not happening. By the way, president Vladimir Putin has no interest in being frens with the west. He likes it the way it is. But trying to find ways or guard rays to prevent that relationship from degrading to a worse point. Keep in mind, wolf, in september, russia has elections, parliamentary elections. With another round of sanctions, that could be devastating for Vladimir Putin. He doesnt want to see it happen particularly with respect to sovereign debt. Theres a sense both sides want to steer the course. Kaitlan collins is in geneva. Kaitlan, set the scene. What are you hearing . Reporter here we are just a few feet away from where theyre actually going to come facetoface in just a matter of under an hour, if either is late to showing up to this. We know the russian leader is often notoriously late in meetings with u. S. President s. But weve seen the Russian Foreign minister arrive a few minutes ago, the Swizz Playing Host to the summit t first facetoface between President Biden and putin since biden took office. I think what were going to be watching for at the beginning is a lot of body language, what it looks like when theyre walking on this Red Carpet Outside Villa la grange. Yes, a red carpet has been rolled out for both leaders. The question is do they shake hands in what will be a tight and tense historic meeting. Its just as important to the russians as the white house. A few feet away, this is where President Bidens Press Conference is going to be, and over there president Vladimir Putins Press Conference. A lot depends on what actually happens when theyre inside the room together. And to give your viewers a little bit information about what the format of this is going to look like. We know at the beginning it will be President Biden and President Putin and one staffer each in the room while theyre meeting. Later on, that ill open it up. There will be bagger delegation. The white house says no meals are expected during the summit even though its expected to go on for four or five hours. I think what that says and underlines, this is all formality, all business, no chumminess or lightheartedness that you saw with the last summit between President Trump and President Putin that you saw in helsinki in 2018. Were told the Press Secretary for russia has arrived. History about to unfold. John . Thank you so much, wolf. Im joined here by max boot, senior fellow and columnist of the Washington Post and bianna golodryga, senior Global Analyst as we watch putin arrive pretty much on time in geneva, bianna, and not for nothing. Putin has shown up very late before, so this might be a signal hes not messing around, hes going by the book. He appeared. Who knows how long hell be on the plane before he leaves, but historically there have been times where he has notoriously been late, and that has been seen as a message sent to president obama in particular, the start of their rather gloomy relationship. So hes on time. I wouldnt read too much into this. But i think he knows this is as much a p. R. On the global stage as it is with anything thats going to be discussed between he and President Biden. Off to a good start. So far. Feeiona had said she wanted to fake a medical emergency with trump it was so bad. Thats one bar. Is it the only bar for success . What are you looking for . Youll definitely avoid the kowtowing you saw with putin under trump. Thats a win right there. But clearly biden will go in there and he will draw some red lines with putin. He will lay down the law to putin in a way that trump certainly never did, and i think especially on issues of human rights, talking about the need to free Alexei Navalny, those are issues that have gone off the table. I think theyll be back on the table with this biden putin summit. But, you know, i think theres not going to be a lot of takeaways. I think there will be a frank excuse of use as diplomats like to say. I will say, john, just watching this spectacle and hooha. In a way its not the way putin won with trump, but were all treating this like its Reagan Gorbachev 85, when, in fact, he lead as country that has a smaller gdp than canada. I think, you know, bidens key task will be to ensure he doesnt win any more victories out of this summit. Thats the risk that President Biden takes with asking for this meeting at all, that what Vladimir Putin most wants in the world is respect, and what youre looking at right here is a type of respect. Its the embodiment of respect and the legitimacy hes the leader of russia. You have Alecy Navalny whos been in prison since january, his wife posting a photo of her and her family visiting him in prison. Clearly this is a sign where russia has clamped down over the past few months, especially since navalnys return on any sort of dissonance, any sort of opponents. And as clarissa has said, there are parliamentary elections coming up in september. There are times i have to say the russian views of america have actually gone down over the past few years as well. So i dont think putin wants to come out of this meeting looking as if he gave anything significantly up. We have the benefit of having someone who can translate. What does it say on the plane . It says russia. Im here with kylie atwood and john harwood. As were watching this, as my colleague john berman said, theyre on time. Im wondering, john. Its been some time since weve seen a meeting between two leaders that is getting as much attention as this one. Kylie was saying in the break when trump met with the north Korean Leader a few years ago, that was something that had a comparable buildup to this. But i think joe biden comes with the wind at his back. Hes had a successful meeting with his allies, establishing a tone that this is a multilateral alliance, hes standing with the free world. He follows a president who was openly aligned with Vladimir Putin. Putin helped him get elected. Trump advanced things, he questioned article 5. So in some ways its easy for joe biden to come back and say i e doing what normal american president s do. Im standing up for the United States. Now, theres a challenge because there are limits to how the United States will use its power to check war. We dont want to go to war with russia. He has Line Activities he wants to stop like the cyber warfare thats been conducted from russia, and theres questions how much he can get putin to take control of that situation. But nevertheless hes got a favorable backdrop to begin this meeting. Its interesting that Vladimir Putin as we heard earlier in the rinne runup this morning may not be playing the same game hes played in the past. He arrived on time. Theyre establishing a tone of respect which is what you do when you realize youre going to be facetoface with somebody who may be, in fact, somewhat formidable. Thats an important fact. Under President Trump, america was getting rolled by russia when you saw these events. That is not going to be the case today. The question is, you know, what does joe biden walk away from this with . Yeah, thats right, and i do think theres something to be said for the fact that President Biden in his first phone call with President Putin brought up things that President Trump never wanted to broach with putin, right . And weve also seen that he comes off of a president who there were concerns about certain things he was doing with russia, the motivations for those things, and that was then, you know, really made clear when there were issues about transparency. And so as we were discussing, at one point President Trump took the notes of an interpreter after he met with President Putin and told the interpreter not to discuss the meeting. And, of course, in helsinki, he had a twohourlong meeting with President Putin and there was no one else in the meeting except for the interpreters. This format weve seen today totally different. Then hes joined by a number of respected u. S. Diplomats who know russia well. I think one of the folks notable in that room is torey newland. She has spent an immense amount of time in u. S. Relations. Shes known by the russians as a russian hawk. Theyre going to see that. Of course, what can they get out of the meeting, thats the big question here, but the folks at the table are sending a message to those russians. Brianna, fiona hill, the National Security russian expert showed don lemon how low the bar is set for joe biden. She talked about the humiliating performance trump gave, humiliating in the United States for helsinki. And he said, i believe him over my intelligence agency. She said it was so bad she thought about screaming and faking a medical emergency to bring the Press Conference to a close. That tells you something that someone who is she is not a liberal democrat. She would consider going that far. Embarrassing herself in a way to spare the United States from the embarrassment President Trump was visiting on the United States. Exactly. Lets go back to geneva. Its worth pointing out joe biden has a lot of support from american allies. As hes going into this meeting, they want him meeting with Vladimir Putin. We also spoke with the Chief Of Staff for Alexei Navalny in the last few days. He also says its best that biden is speaking with putin rather than not speaking with him. Biden does have a considerable amount of backing from many people, many countries around the United States. He certainly does, and he comes here with the backing of not ohm the nato allies but geneva allies as well. Were told, jim sciutto, that the Foreign MinisterSurvey Lavrov has arrived. Youre getting information. The choreography is remarkable. Its not by accident. The scheduling, who arrives first, who arrives second. I find it notable putin will arrive at villa la grange before President Biden. He has a way of making his way clearly not accidental, a one upman ship. There we see the russian president walking down those stairs. Hell get into that limo and head over to the villa la g grange. It will be an important moment. Whatever they do will be translated. Some significant, some not significant. I suspect there could be some agreements that could emerge from this, relatively easy agreements. Theyre not that easy. Prisoner exchange, for example, returning an ambassador To Washington, u. S. Ambassador to moscow. Those are the things that could unfold. I would say the most likely of all of those is the returning of ambassadors. I think you could see the beginning of a dialogue about a prisoner exchange. You could begin to see discussion about Climate Change, afghanistan, iran potentially. Theres the potential for a move on syria because russia has threatened to completely close them off. There are certain areas where there is the potential for some kind of announcement. However, when you look at the broader scheme of things, the things the u. S. Cares about, whether its Cyber Attacks, whether its Alexei Navalny, the support for Alexander Lukashenko in belarus, i would say be incredibly measured in your expectations because President Putin doesnt have any vested interest in giving an inch on any of these topics. Hes quite happy top continue in his role as an adversary to the west. It was put best this way. The best you can hope for is a relationship thats hostile but respectful. So clearly the bar is pretty low here. And, you know, its interesting. Matthew chance is on the scene over there. Hes been speaking to russian officials. Ive seen your quote, matthew, the russian spokesman saying we have a big backlog of issues to address, so president arrivings in a constructive spirit of openness to raise questions and to try to find solutions, which is relatively an upbeat assessment. Reporter yeah, it is, given the mountain thats got to be climbed if theres to be a coalition between these two countries. Look, theres an acknowledgement and understanding of the kremlin. Its going to be a tough meeting. Its a list as long as your two arms. Whether its the Military Threat or whether its the crackdown on dissonance and opposition officials, all of these issues Vladimir Putin knows are going to be raised by his counter part, jchblt but i dont know if youll see any ground given on the issues, but theyre trying to look at the areas of concern, Climate Change, the arms control discussions they want to have, regional conflicts like syria and libya and things like that. The hope is from the kremlin point of view, that they can walk out of this with some kind of agreement to have further talks on whether there is Common Ground. Theres the reality, and spokespersons have said this. Its going to be tough. Theres not much they agree on at this point, wolf. We will see very soon. This summit is about to begin here in geneva. Our special live coverage will continue right after a very quick break. 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The military said the strike were ordered in response to incendiary balloons launched from gaza that launched multiple fires in israel. Hadas gold is live. Is it a concern that certainly the question as we look to what happened a month ago . Well, it just goes to show you how tense the situation is and how quickly it can escalate into something mean serious, israeli officials saying these incendiary blooms sent from gaza into israel. They look harmless, but they started at least 20 fires in southern israel. Militants say theyd launched the balloons in protest to a controversial jewish Israeli Flag March that took place in jerusalem yesterday, participants passing along the gate. I was there yesterday. We were hearing chants from these participants like jerusalem is ours, jerusalem is our own, and even chants, death to arabs. They struck military complexes and meeting places. According to palestinian media, the strikes caused material damages but no casualties. Incendiary balloons being sent from gaza into israel, thats not something new, but israel launching air strikes, that is new. They want the equation to change. They want hamas to understand these balloons will be met with some sort of force. They no longer want some sort of visa re spoens. They will be met with air strikes in response. Brianna, yesterday the march and actions from the hamas militants were seen as a serious new test for this brandnew parliament with Naftali Bennet being sworn in on sunday. What if anything is changing with netanyahu out. John . President putin has a history of making a scene. Will he keep people waiting . And well talk about the mortifying experience at the last summit, the one where donald trump was there. Uno, dos, tres, cuatro [sfx] typing [music starts] [sfx] baby crying [sfx] foot strikes ball [teacher, in asl] two whales swimming together. [sfx] whale sounds [sfx] woman shrieking with joy. [sfx] lock click [sfx] happy screaming [music ends] live here on cnn touched down in geneva just a little while ago. Hes expected to arrive at the iconic villa la grange very, very soon. President biden arrived in geneva last night. Todays summit is expected to last, we are told, four to five hours, the two sides covering a range of topics with relations between the two global powers, badly frayed right now. We have every angle covered with reaction from the white house, from the kremlin and beyond. Lets start our coverage this hour with cnns jeff zeleny. Jeff, set the scene for us because the two leaders are about to arrive. Theyll be greeted by the president of switzerland, and then their meetings will begin. Reporter wolf, they will. Anticipation is certainly high in geneva. President putin arrived a short time ago. Hell be coming down the road behind me. This road is named after president Woodrow Wilson to his le contributions to the league of nations. We do know the summit will be an act in two parts if you will. Theyll meet with them thamt could go much longer. Of course, they could go shorter. A lot of tea leaves will be read by how long and how well these meetings will go. But, wolf, the expectations for this summit certainly have been building as President Biden has been traveling. Hes been talking with World Leaders to get them to buy into the idea that hes having this summit at all. He faced some criticism back home from democrats and republicans alike for why hes essentially elevating Vladimir Putin. He said as he talks to World Leaders, they all but thanks him for holding this summit with putin. Theyre opening negotiations to see in the white houses view if he can have a stable dialogue with russia. Thats uncertain. On the agenda, Cyber Attacks, human rights, and so much more. Wolf, for President Biden, this is something he essentially ran on. This is what he was elected to do, restore the Transatlantic Alliance and try to confront autocracies like russia. This meeting with biden is the c capstone of his lifes work. The question is what will it produce. Thats unknown. It will certainly set the relationship he will have for the rest of his term with President Putin. Hes the Fifth American president to meet with Vladimir Putin. Certainly hes coming into this meeting with a different set of expectations, certainly a different moment on the world stage. Russia is no longer the superpow their it was, but in the area of cyber, they have shown within the last few weeks how difficult of an issue this is. Wolf, this is going to be scheduled to be under way here in the next few minutes or so. Well see the motorcades pass in front of us to see how its going inside. Wolf . Yeah, we certainly will. Were told President Putin will arrive at villa la grange first and then President Biden. There will be a Photo Opportunity with the Swiss President and then their first round of meetings will begin. Lets go over to natasha bertrand. Shes getting firsthand information. What do we know about this first round, how its being structured, natasha . Reporter yeah, wolf. President biden and President Putin will be meeting with their top aides, President Biden with Antony Blinken and President Putin with sergey lavrov. That will be the first meeting they have after they arrive here at the summit site. The next round will be expanded. There will be five members on each side. The president will be accompanied by blinken, the National Security adviser jake sullivan, u. S. Ambassador to russia, john sullivan, state Department OfficialVictoria Nuland and the senior director for russia on the National Security council eric green. Were told these meetings are expected to take four to five hours, and theres not going to be any breaking of bread. Its going to be a very tightly choreographed summit. But were told it could go well beyond the allotted time depending on the progress the officials make on certain subjects, however, there will not be a joint Press Conference afterward. Thats, of course, to avoid the kind of spectacle that arose in 2018 between President Trump and President Putin in helsinki. They do not want the president to be on the same level there as the russian president with the opportunity for the president to draw any moral equivalencies or try to undercut President Biden in any way. Its going to be a very long day. Theyre going to start out meeting one on one with their top National Security advisers and it will expand and youll see the joint Press Conferences later on. Too bad no breaking of bread. Ive been here for a few days now, the bread, the croissants, ive certainly enjoyed that. If they break bread, well inform you. Just ahead, what is the kremlin saying of this highstakes summit . Jeff zeleny is joining us. Hes god more. Are you getting more information . Reporter we are, indeed, wolf. Can see the motorcade for Vladimir Putin is just beginning to roll by here on k. Wilson. Its the avenue right next to lake geneva here. You can see all of the cars going by here. Specifically President Putin is in that car with his flag on the front. Theyll be making their way around lake geneva to villa la grange on the other side of our position. President biden will be making same route, indeed the same route of history. Theyll be going over a bridge that has american flags and russian flags. They are flapping in the breeze on a very warm day in geneva. President putin f he would arrive on time and keep President Biden waiting, for now it appears he will not. Hes arrived at the summit site first. And thats something the white house insisted on, hi arriving first and not leave President Biden waiting. In a few short moments we expect President Biden to make his way. The Swiss President will be sharing a few remarks, welcoming both leaders here. This is neutral soil in every re s