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Trump Faces Foreign Policy Tests In Overseas Trip; Trump Starts European Visit With Stop In Poland: Merkel Criticizes Trump Trade Policy Ahead of G20 Summit; Trump's Evolving Relationship With Putin; Putin Has Met With Clinton, Bush, Obama; Trump to Meet With Russian President Friday; Will Sen. Booker Make A Presidential Run in 2020? Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired July 05, 2017 - 12:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[12:30:00] NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: -- the police had to turn a water cannon on about a 1,000 of them, they just sort of rained in on them, didn't wash them off the streets. There was -- (INAUDIBLE) just was found beside here a little ago but the essence of the idea here is not forgetting that Angela Merkel is in a reelection campaign this year. The protesters will be able to get close, so that in part, President Trump can hear the voices of dissent here in Germany, here in Europe, and that voice of dissent -- Angela Merkel's voice of dissent with President Trump over their different views on trade, their concerns about protectionism from the United States.

Angela Merkel was quoted in a popular weekly political paper here saying that the United States sees globalization differently to how we do. We see a win-win situation, she said. The United States sees winners and losers with only some profit in globalization. So the stakes have been set pretty high there and the people of Germany and others will be able to voice and vent their frustrations and feelings that perhaps the German chancellor is too polite to say in the terms that they will.

JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: And Nic, American presidents often go to Poland because they're so well received. They get big crowds, they get praise, so the fact that President Trump is stopping in Poland first, not necessarily unique, and yet the message could be a little different this time. Explain to our viewers.

ROBERTSON: Sure. I mean, there are numerous tensions as we were just talking about with the European's climate agreement being one of them, the Paris climate accord. But when he goes to Poland, obviously there'll be a great support for him not just because he's committed troops there that help reinforce some strength of NATO's position at least in boundaries of Europe, but it is a politically right government that has come to power through populist politics. So there is something in common there.

They have frustrations, Poland has frustrations and disputes with Europe at the moment on migration issues and on trade issues. So when President Trump comes to the rest of the European leaders, if you will, the other European leaders, the old Europe if you will, what is the message that he will have given to the eastern Europeans, the new Europeans if you like. So very pro-new European and therefore anti- old European message. That wouldn't sit very well.

So people will be listening between the lines to what he has to say when he's in Warsaw.

KING: Nic Robertson setting the stage for us at the G20 in Cambridge. Nic, thanks very much. Let's come to another room and -- as we say in the United States, it's also true everywhere in the world including in Europe, all politics is local.

You have Angela Merkel in the middle of a reelection campaign, as Nic mentioned in this interview with (INAUDIBLE) magazine, you know, poking Trump again publicly right before the American president gets there. Trade, probably not an issue that's sexy to people maybe watching around the country so much, especially global trade. Maybe you care about in your neighborhood, but it is remarkable that this is his second trip, he lectured the NATO allies publicly, they didn't like that. That Merkel, who's the leader of the European leaders, publicly stepping out repeatedly to make clear, she's at odds with this guy. Why?

JACKIE KUCINICH, THE DAILY BEAST: Well, it's good politics in Germany, she does have an election coming up and that's important to remember. But keep in mind, this isn't someone that Trump really had nice things to say about during the campaign. And was very critical of her position on refugees, which has at times become a political liability for her in Germany, frankly. That said, they didn't really start from a good place and they haven't really gotten much closer despite what President Trump has said since they've met.

KING: And you mentioned the transactional nature of this president earlier in the conversation. He does meet with President Xi, North Korea and trade will be the big issues there. He mets with Prime Minister May, had a good first meeting with her at the White House. And then that relationship too has seemed to fray.

We always look early in a administration, and every president starts with personal bonds with leaders and then they build the business relationship from there. They've added the importance of strategic issues, economic issues and the like. What is the challenge for this president on this trip for him -- does he care?

Does he care that Teresa May, like Angela Merkel pokes him, doesn't like the travel ban, pokes him on the Paris climate change agreement?

JILL COLVIN, ASSOCIATED PRESS: Certainly not. This is also an administration that has spent a lot of time trying to build these personal relationships they hosts, you know, it seems like a global leader a week now at the White House, he's taken them down to Mar-a- Lago to kind of wine and dine them and bring them in, said very kind things about everyone, you know, various press conferences or statements that he give. But the fact is that he fundamentally disagrees on so many issues with these various European leaders. And if you can't just agree on the issues, it doesn't matter what nice things you say about each other.

KING: And the big meeting -- I'm sorry, you wanted to say? [12:35:00] JOHN YANG, PBS NEWSHOUR: I was going to say all politics is local having European leaders criticized was actually a good thing for his base, for the -- sort of nationalist wing of his base.

KING: After the America First, pro-Brexit Trump voter without a doubt.

MATT VISER, THE BOSTON GLOBE: No. I mean, the other thing here is at the G20, you have a different set of leaders than you do for the NATO, you know, his first European trip. I mean, he has a more global aspect to this meeting than in the past. So he may be able turn toward others that he may have more alliances than with the NATO allies. But still, there's not a world leader on the stage that you can really point to as being chummy with President Trump, or somebody who he can --

KING: Prime Minister Abe might be --

VISER: Might be the closest.

KING: He started out with Xi and May but that has deteriorated some what. We'll see what happens on the second time around here. But Prime Minister Abe has said nice things about him but the big meeting of course is going to be because of the stakes.

Will they (INAUDIBLE) about North Korea? What will happen with the Ukraine issue? Will the president raise it? How will he raise it?

There's a sanctions debate in the United States Congress. Not only about Ukraine, but about the election meddling. And the White House won't even say if the president's going to bring that up.

Before we talk about the stakes, I mean, just go back a little bit of time here with President Trump even before he was president talking about Vladimir Putin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I was in Moscow recently, and I spoke indirectly and directly with President Putin, who could not have been nicer.

I never met him, this is not my best friend. If he says great things about me, I'm going to say great things about him.

They say Donald Trump loves Putin. I don't love, I don't hate. We'll see how it works.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Putin is a killer.

TRUMP: We have lot of killers. We got a lot of killers. What, you think your country is so innocent?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: That line with the Bill O'Reilly interview (INAUDIBLE) will drew criticisms for the president where he essentially morally acquainted the United States to Vladimir Putin's Russia which offended people across the spectrum especially Republican hawks. What so we expecting here? I mean, we focus a lot of the questions here, will he address the election meddling.

Will he tell Mr. Putin, don't do it again, stop doing it? What you did was reprehensible, set aside the other things, obstruction, collusion, the things that are under investigation. Nobody seems to dispute any longer that Russia did this but the president doesn't like to talk about it.

VISER: And he's not laid the foundation for that thought. You know, I mean, he's not sort of talked about the idea of Russian meddling so he's not sort of prepared for this meeting in a way that he would confront Vladimir Putin on that. I think it is striking that we know very little about the actual relation between these two leaders, you know, right now.

Another point that President Trump had made during the campaign was talk about 60 MINUTES and how they had both been on 60 MINUTES so they each other well. But they were, you know, Putin was interviewed in Moscow and Trump was interviewed in New York. So there's no personal interaction between them to as a result of that.

So, you know, in terms of, have they interacted, had dinner. You know, we don't know a lot of that aspect.

KING: And yet, it's one of the most consequential one-to-one relationships in the world. It always is. Again, on some issues on which you're going to disagree, Syria, Ukraine. Issues in which you hope to cooperate, Iran nuclear agreement, perhaps North Korea, and yet it's a giant question mark.

KUCINICH: And yet it's one that I feel like the last couple American leaders have gone into full of optimism, or at least projected optimism and have been very disappointed once they actually meet Vladimir Putin and have to work with him. So we'll see if that sort of, you know -- that would mean some kind of rosy relationship but some of the nice talk that President Trump has made about Vladimir Putin.

If that holds after this meeting, because we're also talking about someone that, yes, they're both skilled negotiators in their own rite. But Vladimir Putin has been on this international stage for a very long time compared to President Trump.

KING: And Team Trump has to know this trip will be largely judged success or failure but how this meeting goes, correct?

COLVIN: And also how this meeting looks. We don't even really know whether these two men have met before in the past. Trump has said he hasn't -- Trump also said that he hasn't met with Putin face-to-face. But they've decided to make this a full on bilateral meeting between the two of them, and more formal than kind of run and a pull aside at the G20. And I think there will be a lot of obsession over the power dynamics between them. KUCINICH: The longest hand shake ever. Both of them crushing each other's hands, they're trying to show who's (INAUDIBLE).

YANG: And as far as we know, there's no agenda for this meeting. The White House says that it's up to the president, what he wants to talk about. I think that there -- you ask what to expect -- you ask people at the White House what to expect and they really don't know.

KING: And the Russians saying today in their advance messaging, spinning in front of that, even though it's a full bilateral, not a pull aside, which makes it more extended full teams but they don't think they'll have the time probably to spend much time in Ukraine.

VISER: Shocking.

KING: Shocking, the Russian would say that.

Up next, behind the curtains of this Trump-Putin meetings. Before the leaders met, every last detail is debated and negotiated.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:44:09] KING: Welcome back. President Trump is about to become the fourth U.S. president to do business with Russian President Vladimir Putin. President Clinton's first face-to-face with Putin as Russia's president was right there, June 2000. President George W. Bush's first Putin meeting was in Slovenia, a year later, June 2001. And President Bush delivered an assessment he would come to deeply regret.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I looked the man in the eye, I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy. And we had a very good dialogue.

I was able to get a sense of his soul, he's a man deeply committed to his country and the best interests of his country. And I appreciated so much the frank dialogue. I wouldn't have invited him to my ranch if I didn't trust him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: For President Obama, the first meeting was in 2009 when Putin at that point had switched jobs and was prime minister. Then in 2012, Mr. Putin was again president.

[12:45:04] As President Trump and his team prepares for this week's first Putin bilateral, let's get some behind the curtain insights from CNN Global Affairs Analyst Antony Blinken, who's a former deputy secretary of state and deputy national security adviser.

Tony, appreciate you being here to help us with this. Before we get into some of the substance of how this works, take us behind the curtain. It might seem trivial to people but these meetings, first, it was a pull aside, casual conversation, now it's a bilateral formal meeting. So they negotiate the chairs.

Where are the flags. How many staff members get to be in the room? How many reporters are allowed in the room? Take us behind the curtain of how that's worked out.

TONY BLINKEN, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, John, that's exactly right. Everything usually to the last detail is negotiated in advance. Are they sitting? Are they standing?

How many people on each side? Does the press come in? Is there a statement? Will you take questions? Every little piece of this is discussed in advance, negotiated in advance.

Usually, there's an advance team that will go out and meet with their counterparts from in this case, the Russian side. Sometimes if it's something that happens a little closer to the event itself, you might have it sort of negotiated on the phone between national security advisors or their deputies. But the bottom line is this, usually every little piece of this is choreographed in the advance.

KING: And so when this White House says there's no agenda, no formal agenda, do you buy that?

BLINKEN: It's a -- it would be surprising. Because leaving aside the choreography, the substance is also usually discussed in great detail at events. And often, especially in a meeting that as significant as the one between President Trump and President Putin, there's so much on the agenda, and you need to work through it, both internally in the first (INAUDIBLE) that is that you got to get your ducks in a row, what are you trying to accomplish.

Make sure that you get all the stakeholders then the administration at the same table, going through all the different issues that are at stake. And then you're going to have some kind of discussion or negotiations with the other side in advance of the meeting. And ultimately, hopefully, the president, if you're trying to reach an agreement on something, will be the ones who close it.

KING: Does it matter that Vladimir Putin has so much experience at this? Number one, as Russian president, number two, I remember back covering the Clinton White House when he's in the room when Boris Yeltsin was president. Vladimir Putin was rising up to the ranks of the Russian government. Donald Trump is new to this. He's never done it before.

Does that matter?

BLINKEN: It does. President Putin is a master at running these meetings, at trying to get what he wants out of the person sitting next to him. And given that this is apparently a first meeting, to some extent, I would expect him to try to be a little bit trying defensive. Each is trying to take a measure of the other. They're also trying to build a relationship.

And Putin, presumably will try to be, to the extent that he can be, charming and try to build a relationship. And maybe they won't negotiate anything. Maybe there won't be any real substance, although this would be a missed opportunity given how much is on the plate between our countries. But at least in the first instance, this is mostly about taking the measure of each other.

KING: For all the planning and we assume there's planning on this side, maybe just someone they talked at the White House, there are often surprises. Colin Powell tells this great story when he was national security advisor for Ronald Reagan, of Gorbachev looking across the table saying, I'm going to let Soviet Union dissolve. And Powell (INAUDIBLE) says, he was like, no, no way, not my army training, this is what I prepared for (INAUDIBLE). You can't do this to me.

Take us inside some bilateral surprises.

BLINKEN: Well, you know, the object is actually ideally not to have a surprise. And so, if you go back and look at some of the most important bilateral meetings, for example in the Obama administration, the lead up to the Paris climate agreement, in 2014, the key thing was trying to get the Chinese on board. And this culminated in a meeting between President Obama and President Xi Jinping in November. But before that, there were six months of incredibly intense negotiations between the United States and China. And then the two presidents were able to bring it home and that led to bringing China on board for Paris and into the climate agreement.

But that was an entire process and again it took about six months to get to the point where the presidents could lock in a deal. Similarly, with Chinese a year later. The two presidents brought a deal together on how China was handling it's own cyber relationship with the United States. That is we're very concerned that it was using cyber tools to try and steal trade secrets and get a commercial advantage.

We made it very clear that we're prepared to sanction them. We had very intense negotiations led by our national security advisors on this. And then, finally the presidents met and we got a very significant agreement with China on sort of cyber ethics that made a big difference.

Now, there been some negative surprises too. A lot of the presidents' meetings for example with President Erdogan of Turkey, especially the last couple of years were contemptuous as we had some issues that were really separating us. And there you were trying to just keep things calm and trying to get to the next place and keep the Turks on board, for example.

In their meetings, the Turks are very concerned about the relationships we developed on the ground in Syria with a Kurdish militia that was helping us take the fight to the Islamic state. President Obama had to personally work through those problems in his meetings with President Erdogan.

[12:50:06] KING: It'd be fascinating to see this president sit down with President Putin (INAUDIBLE). On the other side of that meeting, get your perspective on how it went now that you've set the table. Appreciate it very much Tony Blinken.

Up next, the senator's honest answer about 2020, raising some eyebrows.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: All right, here's the question, we report, you decide. Just plain honesty or politically calculated honesty. Here's New Jersey's Senator Cory Booker speaking to David Axelrod for his podcast, the AXE FILES. Giving what some would call a revealing answer about his political ambitions and what others might say as a clever disguise for his 2020 intentions.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

[12:55:01] SEN. CORY BOOKER (D), NEW JERSEY: I don't know what the future is going to bring, I'm not making predictions. But I want to unleash the fullness of who I am right now and I want to call out injustice where I see it. I think that politicians make a terrible mistake if they're thinking about their aspirations for another office because I think it undermines their integrity where they are.

If I start thinking about the future like that or engaging in that stuff, I think it would make me lesser of a senator.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

KUCINICH: I think that's a very good way of saying I'm focus on being the senator from New Jersey right now which we've heard from other people who may or may not (INAUDIBLE) states, who may or may not have launched a presidential bid. I've said this before, no one writes a book for their health who are in a position that Cory Booker is in. So I would go with that b, politically calculated.

KING: B? We have a B here. I hear some disagreements Mr. Yang?

YANG: No, I would go along. I think that anytime a politician says something like that, they don't just talk off at the top of their heads. They've thought this through and I think that this is sort of a calculated statement.

KING: But the flip side is, I love my job as senator from New Jersey but I think everyday in the shower, at breakfast, in traffic, while I'm voting on the Senate floor, about running for president. He can't say that even if it's true.

COLVIN: I'm not allowed and now we'll also go with B here. I think that's what they say when they're running.

KING: Except, he's thinking in traffic (INAUDIBLE).

VISER: It was a longer win -- I mean, we've tried multiple times with Elizabeth Warren with a similar question. And he gave a longer answer than she does. You know, she tends to just ignore it all together and -- KING: And he says in the same interview, I'm a guy who's going to

criticize policies that frankly in a lot of states that are important for presidential elections would find that very much of a threat. So he does acknowledge in the interview with David Axelrod that he's probably left of many of those states out there that has views on issues are, not maybe not going to win you on some of the big presidential battlegrounds. But there's only one way to find out.

VISER: This is also a major question for Democrats right now. You know, I mean, there is a -- there starting to be a realization that Trump is very vulnerable, but there's nobody on that horizon that you look to as the frontrunner.

KING: Senator Warren just spent time with Senator McCaine in Afghanistan (INAUDIBLE). Maybe she got some notes if someone running for president from them. No?

VISER: Well, she got some made for T.V. images from that trip.

KUCINICH: (INAUDIBLE) the local press like Matt Viser.

KING: All politics is local (INAUDIBLE). Thanks for joining us in the INSIDE POLITICS. See you back here tomorrow, same bad time, same bad channel. John Berman in the chair after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone, I'm John Berman in New York, Wolf Blitzer is off today. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thank you so much for joining us.

A North Korean missile launch has raised the stakes for a possible nuclear crisis. In a CNN exclusive, U.S defense officials say that the two-stage missile launch by North Korea is a brand new weapon --