would sit down with vladimir putin. why would this attributed to hostilities between russia and ukraine, that's the white house's answer to that, but, of course, a lot of people are skeptical about the timing. >> that's a good point. chris cillizza, do you think the president was wary of the optics of sitting down with putin so soon after this bombshell? >> yes, and i think context matters. let's remember back in helsinki, donald trump and vladimir putin side by side. donald trump says, well, you know, i know our intelligence community says it was russia that interfered in the election and helped me and hurt hillary clinton but vladimir putin said it wasn't. we are both to blame. there was a huge uproar stateside. if he's not in a great place mentally dealing with cohen and what looks like bob mueller's investigation picking up momentum and the vice tightening, it might not be the