Transcripts For CNNW Inside Politics 20180717

President trump, i just saw your press conference with president putin and it was embarrassing. You stood there like a little wet noodle, like a little fan boy. I mean i was asking myself, when are you going to ask him for an autograph or a selfie or Something Like that. We begin there with the president back here in washington and the mounting negative summit fallout. The president , again, said to be angry, unconvinced of what is plain to most lawmakers on capitol hill, that the commander in chief folded in front of Vladimir Putin and embarrassed himself, his Political Party and the United States on the global stage. This is the republican speaker of the house about 90 minutes ago leading the chorus of republicans saying the president s embrace of putin and the president s assault on the u. S. Intelligence agencies was dead wrong. We just conducted a yearlong investigation into russias interference in our elections. They did interfere in our elections. Its really clear. President trump was wrong yesterday in a major way, and i think it was a very embarrassing press conference. You cannot cut deals with the devil, and you can never trust russia. You can say its embarrassing, but i dont think that it does it sufficient justice. I think it undermines our moral authority. Ive seen the russian intelligence manipulate many people in my career, and i never would have thought the u. S. President would be one of them. How can we ask poland, romania, hungary, to stand up to russia meddling in their own countries if the president of the United States, the leader of the free world, cant do it. The president walked off the stage happy but his mood quickly soured, spoiled as he began to soak in the fierce criticism, including criticism from normally reliable republican allies. Today the republican embracing one of the few gop voices providing him cover. This tweet this morning, thank you, rand paul. Now, the president despite enough evidence to fill a football arena says he sees no reason that russia would have meddled in the 2016 election. Senator paul is more of the who cares view. Any country that can spy does. Any country that can meddle in foreign elections does. All countries are doing this. But we have elevated this to a higher degree and weve made this all about the sour grapes of Hillary Clinton losing the election and its all about partisan politics now. This is truly the trump derangement syndrome that motivates all of this. Cnns Phil Mattingly live for us on capitol hill. Phil, rand paul one voice but he is an outlier. Listening to the speaker this morning, it seemed pretty clear that the Republican Leadership trying not to be personal, trying not to get in the president s face, still wants to say you were wrong. No question about it. The interesting element is twofold. Youve seen the public statements and they range from detailed denunciations naming the president to not naming the president but talking about how they back the Intelligence Community to silence. Thats indicative of the fact most republicans on capitol hill, i can say a large majority of them, are increasingly unsettled by what they saw. What i was struck my more over the course of the last 24 hours was what i heard behind the scenes in talking to lawmakers and senior republican aides and that was a sense of forlorn acceptance. Theres nothing more republicans think they can do. If you look at the last 15 months, 982 they passed an extension ive sanctions regime. They had an increase in defense funding. They are talking about their support for the baltic states. What else is there for them to do is their perspective given this is where the president clearly is and hes, according to one senator who told me, hes just ignoring his Foreign Policy team, who generally is well thought of on capitol hill. Now, the counter to that is you have democrats like Chuck Schumer saying there are things you can do. You can hold immediate hearings with the National Security team that was in helsinki. You can ratchet up that sanctions regime that was enacted last year. You can do a lot around the Mueller Investigation perhaps to try and underscore that congress is serious about protecting that investigation. I think the bottom line here is this will likely go the way of a lot of the controversies weve seen over the last 15 or 16 months. Republicans unnerved. Republicans unhappy. Republicans acknowledging that this diverges strongly ideologically from where they stand on a specific issue. In terms of will there be anything substantive they do on capitol hill, the short answer right now, at least, appears to be no. More talking, no acting. Weve seen that one before. Phil mattingly, appreciate the reporting. With me in studio, iliana johnson, carl holtz and Mary Katherine hamm. Well go inside a bit later but lets stick with the fallout particularly within the president s own party. The president was way outside the republican mainstream, way outside the Ronald Reagan legacy, if you will, of the Republican Party. Will they just complain . Will they just go home and say i disagree, dont blame me for what the president did or is there anything to come of this . I think phil is right, there are things you could do and hearings would be a fairly normal reaction to Something Like this. But youre also a little over three months from a Midterm Election that is going to be very important for the republicans and i think theyre looking at this and they say, well, if we lose the house and maybe even the senate, we are going to be in real trouble. I just think the politics, they need the trump base. Theyre going to stick with him. I do think this has raised the outrage to an entirely new level but i dont see the kind of action that you would normally anticipate with this kind of where the administration is so cleged from what you would normally consider the party position. One of the Big Questions is something all of our mothers taught us i assume is you learn from your mistakes in life. This is from senator john mccain, home in arizona, one of the most disgraceful performances by an american president in memory. The damage inflicted by President Trumps naivete, egotism and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate. Thats john mccain. You might call him an elder statesman in the more hawkish republican Foreign Policy establishment. Heres senator marco rubio, a younger voice, one of the 2016 rivals say what . What the president said today is not accurate. The Intelligence Community has assembled probably an unparalleled amount of evidence in regards to the russian not just efforts to interfere in 2016 but ongoing efforts to interfere in american society. How do the president is the leader of the Republican Party. How do they answer . Do they just walk away . Its an unusually fierce level of criticism. This is Uncharted Waters for republicans. This is not an decadeold tape that was uncovered or a red blue culture clash or a Campaign Promise like tariffs. This is a matter of patriotism. Are you going to side with american intelligence agencies and stand up against a sworn enemy, at least a serious adversary of the United States. Now, there is talk among republicans in the house and the senate according to our reporting of passing a symbolic resolution to support u. S. Intelligence and to rebuke russia. That kind of reflects the tone of party leaders. They want a generalized statements of support for american intelligence and rebuking russia and putin, accepting the fact that they meddled. Beyond that, i agree with carl, i doubt it simply given the fact they need trumps base to show up to hold on to the house and the senate. They dont want a confrontation with the president. And to do more, to call hearings, for example, would then turn the spotlight on the people they actually like and trust, republicans on capitol hill. They like the secretary of state, hes a former house colleague of theirs. Some of them were skeptical of john bolton and might think hes more hawkish, but they respect him and are grateful to have somebody with his experience around the president of the United States. Is that the problem for the rips . If youre trying to hold the president responsible, youre spanking the people you like . I dont think its quite that, i think its this. President trump ran against the Republican Party. He really didnt run to be the leader of the Republican Party as it existed. The trouble for republicans now is, as carl said, three and a half months before an election, the president who ran against the gop needs to be united with that party in advance of the election. I think when you see the criticism of john mccain and marco rubio, i dont think that troubles this president at all. He looks at those guys and says i defeated marco rubio on the campaign trail and john mccain has been a nemesis of mine from the early days of my campaign. Which one of us is president . He does think that, no question about it. But he also hes not just a leader of the Republican Party, hes the president of the United States. I think in the focus, the focus on the election meddling answer has distracted from the bigger question of the president of the United States standing next to the president of russia and just giving him a pass on everything. Not just russia election meddling, on everything. The wall street journal, the trump first doctrine, another conservative publication, a punishable disgrace. Trumps helsinki discord of the one of the reasons theyre upset, you have the president of the United States standing next to the president of russia. There is nobody in the senior levels of the Trump Administration exempt the president who disputes the evidence that russia meddled in the election. The president thinks it delegitimatizes his victory, so he says things like this. I have great confident in my intelligence people, but i will tell you that president putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today. Look, hes my opic, hes wrong, hes self absorbed and completely capable of separating anything having to do with russia from attacks on his victory. But this is a much bigger picture. The problem for republicans and the rebukes i think are good and necessary. The problem for them when it comes to action not words is that in fact the Trump Administrations actions on russia dont line up with the president s words. They have been tough in many cases, giving arms to ukraine, kicking the consulate out of san francisco, various indictments and various sanctions. So making up like adding to that pile is not necessarily it doesnt make up the gap, i guess, is the point. The problem is his rhetoric. Right. This is lindsey graham, another whos friendly with the president of late but one of the hawkish voices. I think it was a bad day for the president. I think he can fix it. I think he needs to fix it. The president thinks, a, hes better than the congress. He doesnt think much of having a congress, to be honest. To some of those voices he ran against or views them as longtime nemesis. So if he wont be suede boy the voices of the speaker of the house or just about every republican, will he be swayed by the voices on his favorite Morning Television program, fox friends. And i will say this to the president , when newt gingrich, when general jack keane, when matt schlapp say the president fell short and made our intelligence apparatus look bad, i think its time to pay attention. Pretty much everybody and their brother, except Vladimir Putin, knows that there was meddling. I dont see a future secretary of state on that set. But the president does tend to listen to them more than he listens to people with dozens of years of experience in, say, the military or Foreign Policy or politics. Will that matter . Trump derangement syndrome has spread very far evidently in this episode. I think that could matter. I think that the president you know, when you starts to hear people like newt gingrich, whos been pretty tough on him, but what theyre saying is you need to fix this. You need to correct it. Sort of like charlottesville in that way. I kind of anticipate at some point in the next few days that there will be a statement from the president. But the moment matters more than the cleanup. The optics after charlottesville when the whole country is watching, standing next to Vladimir Putin when the whole world is watching. Well continue the conversation. Up next, the president s usual defenders, mostly missing in action after the helsinki summit. [music playing] across the country, we walk. Carrying flowers that signify why we want to end alzheimers disease. But what if, one day, there was a white flower for alzheimers first survivor . What if there were millions of them . Join us for the Alzheimers Association walk to end alzheimers. Register today at alz. Org walk. Gimme one minute. 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Allies around the world flabbergasted by what the president said and what he didnt say yesterday in helsinki. But grab the remote, click around, virtual silence. No one in the trump inner circle or Foreign Policy team is out defending the president. Thats because he didnt follow their putin summit plan. The white house script did balance tough talk with a desire to improve u. S. russia relations but the president ignored it and instead went with the indefensible. All i can do is ask the question. My people came to me, dan coats came to me and some others. They said they think its russia. I have president putin, he just said its not russia. I will say this. I dont see any reason why it would be. For a president whose brand with his base is built on strength, accepting the word of a known cheat, thug, liar, criminal, forgive me, sorry, but thats who Vladimir Putin is, over dan coats, former republican senator, your director of National Intelligence. Not an obama holdover. We could go through the other people in the Trump Administration. Not a liberal by any means. By laying it out there like that, well, dan coats said this, but Vladimir Putin said that. Well, i do think that that is a potential problem Going Forward for the president , because his base, hes the strong man. This is the person that they admire, the one whos willing to talk tough. And if theres a sense out there that the president was not tough, which is pretty much the unanimous opinion except for perhaps the president himself, i mean that could actually hurt him. His whole brand is im the guy whos willing to confront someone, but as it turns out, those are more the eu people that hes willing to confront than the russians. And even then usually on twitter, not to their face. Dan coats issued this statement after the president s press conference yesterday. We have been clear in our assessments of russia meddling in the 2016 election and their ongoing pervasive efforts to undermine our democracy, and we will continue to provide unvarnished and objective evidence in support of our National Security. Again, the president s name is not there, but that from the director of National Intelligence and a trump appointee is, boss, youre wrong. And this is how you know its bad. Red state democrat joe donnelly, whos been looking for ways to work with the president came out and rebuked the president on this unusual obviously hes from indiana, dan coats also from indiana, he pointed that out. The method to President Trumps madness, so to speak, in his mind is that he is going to these summits, his rhetoric suggests that he went to nato and is taking credit for these countries raising their defense spending. Hes saying that its because of him. On russia, he said the relationship has been bad, its been fixed now after he met with putin. He did the same thing on north korea. The Nuclear Threat is over after my meeting. The reality is not that simple. But hes trying to paint this narrative and hoping that his allies will can he possibly believe it . We are focused, because the answer on election meddling was so, wow, thats what most of the commentary is about, but he also stood there. Vladimir putin criticized the u. S. Missile defense assets in europe. That was a perfect opportunity for the president to say, well, theyre there because you bully your neighbors and the Nato Alliance is important. The president gave him a pass. Vladimir putin stood there and acted like a voice of compassion on the syrian refugee issue. Where hes assads coconspirator in creating the refugee crisis and the president just stood there. You know, just to play devils advocate, i dont think it was any secret to the trump base or the people who voted for him that he was sympathetic to some autocrats in the world, in particular the turkish president or the russian president. He was clear he would stand up to iran. But i think that the president s base well knew that he would behave like this. I think they like the fact that he bullies the eu and nato. He was clear about those things as well. And i think hes showing a perverse form of strength, which is his absolute intransigence to get off this russia subject. The force of the entire United States Political Community is pushing him to Say Something different and he is completely stubbo stubborn. Some of director coats friends are saying he should resign. Some of the former people who hold those jobs say they should resign. There are newspaper articles that jon huntsman should resign. Secretary of state mike pompeo was in the room with the president yesterday. John bolton was in the room with the president yesterday. Nikki haley was not. Normally that team would be on television this morning promoting the president s success. Or if there was a misstep amid some success, they would be on tv cleaning it up. They are nowhere. Do we read anything in there beyond the fact they cant support it . Any indication any of them will go . They dont want to be in the business of amplifying this and theres not a great way to make an argument for it, so theyre stuck. Then you have the same question that you had earlier about republicans and bringing forth people who you may still want in the administration to guide this process. These are the people you may want there to guide this process. Maybe their line is his rhetoric exists in the weird bubble outside their policy theyre making so perhaps that becomes their line in the future. Even though we see some outrageous stuff, which i do not advocate. Like the president s words have power regardless. But it doesnt actually affect the policy. Its a very strange place theyre in. They dont want to call attention to the fact, hey, mr. President , we have a parallel policy track over here because he would object to it. It may not affect the policy in the sort term. But if you look at the headlines in russia, gloating, celebrating, and the headlines across europe, it does affect trust in the institution of the presidency of the United States. On a big day, god forbid there is a big day, that can matter. Many voters already thought the president was too soft on russ russia. How his helsinki display could exacerbate that. Ive seen lots of homes helping new customers bundle and save big, but now its time to find my dream abode. Right away, i could tell his priorities were a little unorthodox. Keep going. Stop. A little bit down. Stop. Back up again. Is this adequate sunlight for a Komodo Dragon . Yeah. 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One big question now is whether the president s helsinki surrender impacts Public Opinion and the Midterm Election climate. Heading into the summit there were already worries the president was too soft when it comes to Vladimir Putin. Among all registered voters, a little more than half, 53 , said the president is not tough enough when it comes to Vladimir Putin. Republicans tend to give the president a bit more slack. 57 of republicans saying the president is handling the putin relationship just right. Watch that number. Lets see if that changes posthelsinki. Do republicans sour on the president s handling of the relationship with russia. Who would get the better deal from the summit . Remember, this is polling going into the meeting. 24 in this poll, the fox news poll, thought President Trump would come out with the better deal from the summit. 31 thought Vladimir Putin would get the edge in the summit. 26 dont know, 18 . Lets look after the summit. Heres another number thats important to watch as we go forward and as the Mueller Investigation continues. Do you approve of how the Trump Administration is handling the russia meddling investigation . A majority of americans disapprove. 36 approve. Republicans again tend to give the president more slack. Watch these numbers. Do the overall numbers change . Yesterday when given a chance an openended question to criticize president putin, to call him on the carpet for election meddling, the president chose to attack the special counsel. I do feel that we have both made some mistakes. I think that the probe is a disaster for our country. I think its kept us apart. Its kept us separated. The main thing, and we discussed this also, is zero collusion, and it has had a negative impact upon the relationship of the two Largest Nuclear powers in the world. We have 90 of Nuclear Power between the two countries. Its ridiculous. Its ridiculous whats going on with the probe. With us now to crunch the numbers, the host of the pollsters podcast. The both sides answer there had a lot of people drawing a charlottesville reference when the president blamed both sides for what was clearly the fault of one side. Is there any reason to believe Foreign Policy does intend to move Public Opinion as much as domestic events . Is there any reason to believe that the president S Performance and the horrible reviews will actually move the numbers in a Midterm Election year . Well, the president s job approval on Foreign Policy has tended not to be his strong suit, that people tend to give him higher marks for things like the economy. So Foreign Policy was already sort of a weak spot for this president. What i think might be different this time is the level of republicans who have come out to criticize him. You had the hosts of fox friends sort of making the case, mr. President , your critics are actually right this time. Folks like newt gingrich, who have been prominent supporters of the president coming out and saying this was wrong, which in some ways mirrors what happened after charlottesville. You had a lot of higher ranking republicans saying i cant go there with you, mr. President , on this. After charlottesville trumps job approval did take a slight hit, mostly losing ground with republicans, and this stayed in place for a number of months. But as soon as the new year started, tax reform passed, we were on to a new issue, the president s job approval came right back up. Were told the president has a meeting with congressional representatives at the white house at 2 00 about economic issues. But were told he will make a statement at the top of that meeting about the helsinki summit. Youre a democrat. The president knows the reviews have been horrible. What should he say to clean this up . Can he . I dont know how he says something to clean i spoke at length. It was very clear that he was not going to be tough in that conversation. There actually have been times where he has done okay on Foreign Policy. Ive heard it in focus groups, ive seen it in polls where they feel like hes getting tough. Republicans at least feel that the president has been getting tough. Here hes not getting tough. On top of that, one of the other things is he seems reckless and not well guided. Hes going into a meeting alone. Ive heard a lot of folks say in focus groups ive been doing, well maybe he needs better people, he needs more people telling him what to do, he hasnt grown up learning all the things youre supposed to do. He needs to be told how its supposed to go. He went into a meeting with putin without any support whatsoever and came out and clearly not under taking any advisement from anybody. So i think hiS Performance yesterday was obviously a disgrace and got terrible reviews across the board. I dont know what he can say. Its not like a stray comment or a misplaced word. It was a complete, you know, it was a complete misfire in every way. I think on the point that you just made, the weak criticism is a much more potent attack on the president than the reckless criticism. Voters know that the president is reckless and chaotic. That is baked into his numbers. But his supporters have always said, look, he may be a wild card and do things that are unpredictable, but hes tough and fighting for us. Yesterday was not that. It was weak and apologizing for us. And so because that cuts right against one of his core strengths with his supporters, thats why i think theres a potential for him to see some slippage in the polls even among republicans. One other thing too, often people say after one of these big events where the president does something erratic, oh, well, his base loves it. Which is not always true. Sometimes i think we overuse that phrase. This was not something that anybody in the base said, this is what i really want trump to do and trump really showed everybody by agreeing with putin and giving him such a walk. So i feel thats another place where hes really had a disadvantage. I want to ask you quickly before you go, theres a runoff tonight in alabama. The president has endorsed martha roby but the trump base is mad at her because after the access Hollywood Tape she pulled her support for him then. Is there anything to be learned tonight or is this one congressional runoff in alabama . I think this is a perfect example of why so many republicans, even when this private, will tell you they gravely have grave concerns about this president are sometimes reluctant to voice them publicly because they feel like saying something public to criticize the president doesnt change him and his actions but does get you in hot water with the base which jeopardizes your possibility for coming back to washington. The entire republican establishment is on her side. Trump is more of a factor in a republican primary than democratic primaries around the country. The other challenge in this too and its a little different than some of the other races weve seen, you have a republican woman. Republican women have not done as well in primaries facing off against other republican men in those primaries. The primary electorate is more evenly divided between men and women. There are fewer women running. They dont emerge as easily. Theres not as much Institutional Support on the republican side. Its a different dynamic. Keep an eye on that one tonight in alabama. An important reminder, the president at the top of a 2 00 meeting at the white house will dhi deliver a statement. He wants to talk about the helsinki summit at this time of bipartisan criticism. Well follow that for you as soon as we get it at 2 00. A quick break now from inside politics. Well be right back. Ere hung hee to warn of the incoming attack on america. Today we have to acknowledge what our president wont our democracy is under attack again. Donald trump praises Vladimir Putin and meets with him on foreign soil, while rejecting our own Law Enforcement officials who say putin launched a hostile attack on our last election and is planning to do it again this year. Why would an american president want to meet with a dictator whos trying to undermine our democracy . Is trump again getting played by putin, or is he conspiring with a man who helped put him in office . If paul revere and other patriots had waited to act until it was safe or politically correct, we would never have the country we have today. Its time for congress, republicans and democrats, to put their political interests aside and act on behalf of our country. To put their political interests aside almost 800 when we switched our auto and home insurance. 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The Senior Living advisors at a place for mom partner with thousands of families every month, listening and offering local knowledge and advice to help find the best Senior Living communities across the country and it wont cost you a cent. This is a free service. Call today. A place for mom. You know your family. We know Senior Living. Together well make the right choice. This is not a screensaver. Game. This is the destruction of a cancer cell by the bodys own immune system, thanks to medicine that didnt exist until now. And today can save your life. Just into cnn, President Trump, the white house says, will make a statement at 2 00 p. M. On his summit meeting with president putin. Cnn will bring you that as soon as possible. Topping our political radar today, a busy day for the Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh whos back on capitol hill meeting with senators whose votes he needs to win confirmation. Five republicaning on his call list, including senator ted cruz of texas, whos already endorsed him. Jerome powell also up on the hill updating congress on the state of the u. S. Economy. Powell says it remains Strong Enough for the fed to continue making gradual Interest Rate hikes, something its done twice already already this year. Powell was also asked about the likely impact of the president s new tariffs and said heres what history has taught us so far. In general, countries that have remained open to trade that havent erected barriers including tariffs have grown faster, had higher incomes and higher productivity. Countries that have gone in a more protectionist direction have done worse. A Democratic Congressional hopeful pouncing now on a bizarre statement his opponent made while being duped by the comedian sasha baron cohen. Dana rohrbacher said he would support a guns for toddlers program. His democratic opponent calling it radical and deeply disturbing. One republican who danced around cohens trap said this. When the cameras are rolling, they were asking people to read off of a teleprompter and to hold up images of weapons and to say what they wanted them to say. I would like to thank my mother for giving me a very healthy dose of skepticism when people ask you to do strange things. They catch members of congress at the end of the day, a little frustrated, a little tired. I think they got some of my colleagues to say some things they likely regret. For what its worth, a new Monmouth University poll has ruta up out in orange county. Matt gaetz says some strange things when hes on television, but you cannot disagree with that. Mama was write, dont read the words strangers put in front of you. I think he recognized how radical was too radical even in defense of gun rights. Some current and former republican lawmakers did not, including trent lott. The rohrbacher district is one of 23 districts that Hillary Clinton won thats on the front lines of the republicanheld districts democrats are trying to take back. For a long time, dana has been there about 30 years, but as has been for the last few years its moving quickly toward the democrats as particularly women move away from republicans. I think youll see this across the country, the 30year part still sticks. A lot of voters dont like what they got, they want something new, regardless of party. Republicans happen to be at most risk this year. Up next, the Justice Department goes after a 29yearold Russian National. Is she just a grad student as she says, or was she conspiring against the United States . Only tylenol® rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. They release medicine fast, for fast pain relief. Tylenol® [ coughs ] [ screams ] [ laughs ] whoa, whoa, whoa. Your one item would be the name your price tool . It helps people save on Car Insurance. Why wouldnt it save me . Why . What would you bring . A boat. Huh. Can something so easy, and so beautifaffordable. Erings. Also be this much fun . Ohhhhh, yeaaaaah. Get smart shades, by Budget Blinds and lutron. The 1 provider of custom window coverings. And the top name in smart home technology. Call now for your Free Smart Home consultation. Get a free smart lighting control bundle with your smart shade purchase welcome back. Heres a quote to consider. Quote, i am ready for further orders. Thats just one of many messages from a Russian National named maria butina sent in the days after the american president ial election in 2016. Now the Justice Department charging her with being an unregistered Foreign Agent for russia here in the United States. The doj says she and her mentor, alexander torshin, were looking for back channels to the u. S. Government. She made connections with republicans and members of the nra as well as corporate leaders. She even tried to get president Vladimir Putin on the guest list for the National Prayer breakfast here in washington. Her arrest on sunday follows a pack of detailed indictments against 12 Russian Military officers as part of the wider special counsel investigation. An Important Note here, that charges against butina were not filed by the special counsels office but the Justice Departments National Security division. Its an interesting case if you read it. The question there are a couple of questions. Number one is you start to see 2016 references and Political Organization references in some of these charges, both the mueller indictments from right before the putin meeting, this separate indictment right after the putin meeting. So theres the question of is the arc turning back on those investigations toward the campaign. Then theres the second question, this is the trump Justice Department. Publicly announcing charges that relate to russian meddling, russian interference, russian nefarious activity, just before and just after the president s meeting with Vladimir Putin. If youre the president , you have to note that timing. Im sure the president was not pleased with the timing and its noteworthy that the president was briefed before the summit about the indictments that Rod Rosenstein announced friday and he nonetheless went ahead and made the comments he made. Im sure theres some relation. We talked a little bit about his intransigence beforehand but the butina indictment is interesting because it does shed light on the breadth and sophistication of russian influence in the u. S. For people like me who are not experts on this stuff, im learning about it through these indictments. Theyre fascinating. The methods that russians are using to influence u. S. And just as fascinating, thats a great point. You learn a lot from these filings, to read the level of detail about the counterintelligence on the United States part, both in charging the 12 before the summit, and this in indictment. What the fbi and Justice Department know about this activity, which if youre involved in the broader russia meddling investigation and you have something to hide, you got to be a little nervous because these guys are going under every rock. I also wonder what the reasoning would be for these russians to pick this party as their vessel, whether its trying to use the nra or russians trying to help trump. Why the hawkish party . Why the traditionally tough on russia party . Did they think they were easier marks than the democrats . Did they think they were more easily influenced by outside groups like the nra, which they seemingly tried to use as a vessel to get after them . I want to know the motivation as well. Thats a great question. I have to think the relationship between putin and Hillary Clinton played into that in the 2016 election at least. The notoriously and longstanding hostility between those two. Personal animus. And we know the special counsel im sorry, the Justice Department was looking at this is 25 million of nra money that went into the campaign, an amount they had never spent before. When you get these little pieces of these cases, and we know theres more to come, well dont track the dots. Up next, president barack obama back on the world stage today, just a day, of course, after the remarkable trump putin summit. We do whatever it takes to fight cancer. These are the specialists were proud to call our own. Experts from all over the world, working closely together to deliver truly personalized cancer care. Expert medicine works here. Learn more at cancercenter. Com the former president barack obama back on the world stage today. The timing interesting, just a day after that eyepopping summit between President Trump and president Vladimir Putin. President obama at an event in south africa honoring the tradition and legacy of nelson mandela, telling the audience, quote, were living in the most strange and uncertain times. Look around. Strong man politics are here all of the sudden. Some pretense of democracy is maintained, the form of it, but those in power seek to undermine every institution or norm that gives democracy meaning. You could say hes talking about putin. Russia has elections that arent really elections. You could say hes talking about turkey. Erdogan just won an election that wasnt actually an election. And strong man, is he talking about trump . I think so. I think that he is under a lot of pressure from democratic activists to speak out more. This week ive been thinking, remember his comment that was picked up on a mike that he had more flexibility after the election and republicans really went after him for that. Now, you know, he has to be sitting there looking at that press conference from this week and going, talk about flexibility. I would say i think he may be talking about him on the institutions front, once hes been in office, but im not sure about the election part. I think president obama is one of very few dedicated activist democrats who knows well that Hillary Clinton lost that election, and he feels confident he handed it to her in pretty good situation. You are correct on that point. There is no doubt here the former president , president obama, in south africa today talking about he says the free press is under attack. Theres zero doubt. He includes pruesident trump in this. The denial of facts runs counter to democracy. It could be its undoing, which is why we have to zealously protect independent media, and we have to guard against the tendency for social media to become a platform for spectacle and outrage and disinformation. Quite the contrast to the current president , who says that those of us at this table are the enemy of the state. Its true that its a contrast. You know, my beef with the democrats on this front is that the Obama Administration was not friendly to the press. Yet, they seize on these trump things, which he is more hostile in terms of his rhetoric. Its questionable whether his actions are more hostile. I dont think that the democrats in many cases have taken full account to the ways in which they contributed to, you know, some of the disgraces that have taken place in the Trump Administration. One of the president s longstanding laments about the press is that were no longer operating from a common baseline of facts. I think he mentioned there used to be shame and accountability when politicians were caught in a lie. That doesnt happen so much anymore. Thats one of the consequences. There are many positive consequen consequences. Is it true, funny, or both . Let me say, politicians have always lied, but it used to be if you caught them lying, theyd be like, oh, man. Now they just keep on lying. From my experience, theres truth to that. I think that people used to be more chagrinned and you could embarrass them into retracting statements. Now they just double down. Keep on going. Thanks for joining us today on inside politics. Hope to see you back here this time tomorrow. Jim sciutto is in for wolf. He starts right now. Have a great day. Hello. Im jim sciutto in for wolf blitzer. It is 1 00 p. M. Here in washington, 8 00 p. M. In moscow. Wherever youre watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. Up first today, facing the fallout. The white house in Severe Damage control mode as President Trump faces a strong backlash from his summit with Vladimir Putin. The president will make remarks on the putin summit at the top of the next hour. Were going to bring that to you live. The president came under blistering criticism for siding with putin over u. S. Intelligence agencies about russias attack on the 2016 election. Critics called his comments