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Overnight that grounded flights and triggered delays nationwide. Good morning to our viewers here in the United States and around the world, its tuesday, june 15th. On the eve of this historic summit with Vladimir Putin, President Biden stands on The World Stage this morning with americas closest eu allies. He started out this morning by meeting with the president and Prime Minister of belgium. This gathering with eu nations follows nato talks and for the first time china is a big focus. The 30 nato members singling out beijings rising Military Power as a top challenge. Later today, the president Travels To Geneva for his highly anticipated meeting face to face meeting with Vladimir Putin. President biden said the United States snot looking for a confrontation. Jeff zeleny traveling with the president. Jeff joins us now live from brussels. Another big day before i think the most anticipated moment of this trip, jeff. Reporter good morning, john. President biden is holding that final series of meetings with european leaders here in brussels before he makes his way to geneva, but at every stop along this tour, tomorrows summit with Vladimir Putin loomed large. The president last night pushed back on the criticism that he is elevating Vladimir Putin by having a summit with him. He said every world leader thanked him for holding that high stakes meeting. Hes bright. Hes tough. And i have found that he is, as they say, when you used to play ball, a worthy adversary. Reporter President Biden sizing up Vladimir Putin before their high stakes meeting in switzerland tomorrow. I am going to make clear to President Putin there are areas where we can cooperate if he chooses. And if he chooses not to cooperate and acts in a way that he has in the past relative to Cyber Security and some other activities, then we will respond. Reporter stopping in brussels for a daylong meeting with nato allies where russian aggression was a critical subject of talks. Biden said he does not seek a confrontation with putin when they come face to face in geneva. I shared with our allies what i will convey to President Putin, that im not looking for conflict with russia, but that we will respond if russia continues its harmful activities. Reporter tensions between the two countries are rising and nearing a boiling point. Not seen since the cold war. From a rise in cyberattacks to Election Meddling and more, the possibility of finding any Common Ground is very much an open question. We should decide where its in our mutual interest and in the interest of the world to cooperate. And see if we can do that. And the areas where we dont agree, make it clear what the red lines are. Reporter i asked biden about putin dismissing his reference to the russian leader as a killer. In a weekend interview Vladimir Putin laughed at the suggestion that you had called him a killer. Is that still your belief, sir, that he is a killer . Im laughing, too. But look, when i was asked that question on air, i answered it honestly. But its not much of i dont think it matters a whole lot in terms of this next meeting were about to have. Reporter the president has prepared for weeks in anticipation of wednesdays meeting, practicing to fight some of putins tactics, raising questions about whats happening in the u. S. Rather than talking about russias own bad acts. And biden has asked his nato allies for their input ahead of the meeting. Every world leader here as a member of nato that spoke today and most of them mentioned it, thanked me for meeting with putin now. Reporter despite seeking putins cooperation, biden emphasized its up to the russian leader to decide whether he wants to end his bad practices to rebuild the broken relationship. Do you believe if he does agree to cooperate then what kind of a challenge do you find yourself in . How would you ever trust him . Im hoping that President Putin concludes that there is some interest in terms of his own interest in changing the perception the world has of him in terms of whether or not he will engage in behavior that is more consistent with what is considered to be appropriate behavior for head of state. Reporter now, President Biden is the fifthstraight American President to hold a oneonone meeting with russian president Vladimir Putin. He says that he will be different because of his experience in the Foreign Sector and of course he has met with him before when mr. Biden was vice president. But one thing is clear, i also asked him yesterday how he would ever potentially take his word, and he said he would verify before trust. Of course, a turn on Ronald Reagans old famous phrase, trust but verify. John and brianna . Jeff zeleny, first of all, Terrific Job Yesterday at the news conference. You elicited significant, meaningful interaction with the president there on russia. Im wondering what the vibe is with the traveling white house team, how they feel about heading into this meeting with putin and on the issue of whether there will actually be a joint Press Conference . Is it a solid, definitive, no, no way at this point . Reporter it does seem like its a solid, definitive no there will not be a joint Press Conference and this is why. The image of helsinki, of President Trump and Vladimir Putin on the same stage. Of course, President Biden would act in an entirely different way but they do not want to sort of have that level of equality there with both the leaders speaking at the same time. So every white house official were talking to said theyre absolutely not going to do a joint Press Conference. Something can always change of course during the course of the summit. Theyll meet in a Smaller Group and larger group but, john, the mood here is one of anticipation and preparation. And interestingly, President Biden was the last world leader to leave nato headquarters last evening. The sun had gone down. It was after 10 00 p. M. Local time he had met with virtually every world leader talking about putin. Really picking the brains of other the baltic leaders, german chancellor angela merkel. Hes about as prepared as you can get. We heard the first lady say a few days ago hes overprepared. Of course the stakes are certainly high, but the expectations actually quite low of what tangible effects will come out of this summit. Hell make his way there really surrounded by every top adviser he has, Briefing Books and everything else, but by tonight hell be in geneva and the big meeting tomorrow. John . Jeff zeleny, thank you for your reporting. Terrific work. Joining us now Susan Glasser. Great to see you. Look, you write or have written that when it comes to putin, biden smells a trap. What is that trap and how should he handle it . Well, look, as jeff said, this is his fifthstraight American President , so Vladimir Putin is under no illusions and has a clear sense, i think, of what it takes to pin down americans. Putin is expert, i would say, at this point in showing up american hypocrisy and he tends to meet all criticisms right out of the soviet play book really with criticisms of russia with some sort of False Equivalency when it comes to the United States. So i wouldnt be surprised if you hear reference from putin to january 6th, for example. The Idea Parodying The trump line that these were just innocent protesters expressing their Freedom Of Speech in the United States, for example. So, who knows. But i wouldnt i would definitely expect some kind of disruptive move by putin to unsettle joe biden in their meetings and to put him off his game. I thought it was a really interesting response from biden when jeff zeleny pressed him in that Press Conference. He was talking about putin being bright, tough, a worthy adversary and on the issue of his putin being a killer, mark, he said i dont think it matters a lot in terms of this meeting were about to have. What do you think . You know, i dont think that Vladimir Putin is, you know, going be weeping over insults from the American President. This is sort of theatrical public thing. You know, the russian state tv has said all that and much worse about joe biden and essentially been parodying the notion that hes practically sort of senile, driveling idiot. The insults have flowed both way in advance of this meeting. I dont think either one of them is as sentimental or going to care that much when they sit down in private. And remember, that putin actually has a certain interest in both being seen as a statesman on the international stage, the idea of this meeting obviously is something the russians welcome. Theyve tended for that reason to welcome things like Arms Control Discussion so you might see maybe some renewal of a strategic conversation that comes out of this meeting because its not all just disruption from putin. He also wants to elevate russias position on The World Stage and to distract from his problems at home, which exist even though hes an authoritarian. They have politics too. Being there is in and of itself for Vladimir Putin. Let me quote the famous Susan Glasser on this. Whether or not putin likes being called a killer, you write, he surely likes being ignored even less. Explain that. Well, thats exactly right. You know, again, russias tendency and definitely for the two decades of putins rule, he when it comes to foreign policy, he has seen the elevation on The World Stage russia still values very much being one of the Security Council powers of the united nations. It uses its veto all the time to block american and other western priorities. Putin needs this outward looking focus and he needs an enemy in some ways frankly like joe biden and an adversary in order to magnify his own power and to justify some of the repressions at home. So, you know, ignoring him would in some ways be the biggest insult of all. Zeleny reported in this latest summit, susan, that biden has picked everyones brain that hes talked to all of the World Leaders about putin. What do you think about how he is preparing for this meeting . Yeah. I do think that, you know, hes again in many ways the untrump and this is another example. Remember, trump famously said i dont need to prepare for summits. Ill just show up. I think he said that before his first meeting with kim jongun. Now, as far as putin goes, biden has talked with Those Including Fiona Hill who was in the room the last time an American President met with putin that was in, of course, helsinki in 2018. And, you know, fiona i spoke with her the other day, she said to me, Vladimir Putin and the russians when it comes to summits, theyre like the nasty boys in the school room, they insist on sitting next to the girls and spend the entire time kicking them under the table at the meeting. And i think thats a powerful image. And i wouldnt imagine that joe biden will be fully prepared for some kicking under the table. We will see. Whatever happens i think its going to be very dramatic meeting that we get to see there. Susan, great to see you. Thank you. Thank you. So today the u. S. Could hit the grim milestone of 600,000 coronavirus deaths. Details on a new study highlighting the urgency of getting more people vaccinated. 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Exactly why we need the for the people acth. R. 1. To finally ban dark money. Ensure fair congressional districts. And protect our freedom to vote. Because the real power is you. Im looking forward to talking with you all about what im about to do. And anxious to be here. Very warm welcome. Excited to have you here. What an honor to have you here. So the fact that youre coming so early undermines your personal attachment and we really appreciate that. And the last four years have not been easy. The world has dramatically changed. Europe has changed, but we wanted to reassure you, were friends and allies and very much looking forward to working together. So very warm welcome. Well, we have great opportunities to take advantage. Thank you. Mr. President , did you agree on did you agree on turkish presence in afghanistan after you met with president erdogan. Did you discuss or agree on any turkish presence in afghanistan . We had long discussions and i feel very good about our meeting. Ill let turkey tell you about that. Mr. President , you have an agreement on airbus and boeing . President biden there photo op with the leaders of the European Union. This is sort of step three on his tour through europe prior to meeting with Vladimir Putin. First it was the g7. Then it was nato. Now its the European Union. And brianna, theyre all a little bit different, but its the same basic theme, which is the United States back in the Global Community with a new focus out wards to china and also russia. And right there we saw President Biden trying to once again galvanize with these european leaders and make the point that we are here and we are moving forward. Hes really trying to turn the page or even write a new book from the trump years and how the United States relates to its allies in the region there and also i think the moment were going to see of contrast is actually maybe a moment were not going to see. Were not going to see this Press Conference side by side with Vladimir Putin tomorrow, but he is going to have this meeting and a lot of this has been preparation leading up to that meeting with Vladimir Putin as hes been talking. We heard our jeff zeleny report with so many World Leaders doing his homework as he gets ready to speak with Vladimir Putin ahead here. Well keep our eye on this throughout the mo