Welcome to the lead, im jake tapper, were going to begin with breaking news in the politics lead as President Trump today soaked up all the pageantry of his visit with the french president in paris. There were major happenings here at home concerning the investigation into his campaign and russia. And on the issue that could make or break his domestic agenda, health care reform. The updated version of the updated bill that could not get enough votes in the senate last time is now out. Well have much more on that coming up on the show. Meanwhile, the president s son now has the attention of the United States senate. The Republican Senate judiciary chairman Chuck Grassley of iowa now says he wants donald trump jr. To testify. Cnn senior White House Correspondent jeff zelny is traveling with President Trump in paris. Today the president again defending his meeting with that lawyer who has been linked to the kremlin. Reporter jake, he did indeed. Mounted a fatherly defense of his son saying hes a good man, but a legal defense, it was not. He did say that zero happened in that meeting. It was Standard Practice and procedure. But the reality is, jake, it is not standard, thats one of the reasons that senator Chuck Grassley as you said, a republican, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee wants to talk to the president s son next week. Now all of this happened as the president defended it, he didnt call it fake news, or a hoax. A change of scenery for President Trump. On a whirlwind trip to paris. Yet no escape from the russia cloud hanging over the white house. At a press Conference Today alongside french president emanuel macron. A defense of his older son. Son a great young man, hes a fine person, took a meeting with a lawyer from russia. It lasted for a very short period. And nothing came of the meeting. Reporter that meeting between donald trump jr. And russian lawyer natalia who was described in an email to trumps eldest son as a russian government lawyer is now part of the investigation into whether the Trump Campaign colluded with the kremlin to interfere in the 2016 election. I think its a meeting that most people in politics probably would have taken. Reporter but many disagree. Republicans, democrats, and mr. Trumps own nominee to lead the fbi says the russian offered to take down Hillary Clinton and in the Trump Campaign should have raised red flags. Zero happened for the meeting. And honestly i think the press made a very big deal over something that really a lot of people would do. Reporter never mind the press, its congress and the jus disdepartment now trying to learn more. Attended not only by the president s son, but his soninlaw Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort. Republicans are calling on donald trump jr. And manafort to testify next week on capitol hill. Deepening russia investigation comes as the president visits europe for the second time in less than a week. This time invited by president macron to celebrate bastille day and the entry to world war i. Its a necessity to work together. Reporter they pledged cooperation in todays fight against terrorism. We also renew our resolve to stand united against these enemies of humanity. Reporter mr. Trump received a stately welcome with one hug and pat on the back after another. Its the fourth time the two men have met. A relationship that began with this tense handshake in brussels in may. A striking tap of two new president s who have swept on the worlds stage in different ways. Trump, 71, and macron, 39, separated by a generation and much, much more. President trumps decision to withdraw from the global paris climate agreement hung over the meeting, but macron still pressed him on the issue in their closed door meeting at the palace. Our occasional disagreements are nothing compared to the immortal bonds of culture, destiny, and liberty that unite us. Reporter the pageantry was striking considering how often mr. Trump used the city of light as a punch line. I have friends that used to go to paris. They say no, paris isnt paris. Reporter and since taking office. I was elected to represent the cities of pittsburgh, not paris. Reporter yet he sung a far different tune today. Flattering paris and the new french president whom he once rooted against. I really have a feeling that youre going have a very, very peaceful and beautiful paris. And im coming back. You better do a good job, please. Otherwise youre going to make me look very bad. Reporter now jake, the president has said he will be flexible on Foreign Policy and other matters, perhaps this is one of the latest examples of that. He is soaking up the limelight here in paris, the city he railed against so often. Now, of course, its beneficial for him as well as the new french president as we speak, jake, they are having dinner together in the eiffel tower. Jake. Jeff zelny in paris. For more on the role of the u. S. On the world stage, lets bring in sbrast chan gorka, hes a Deputy Assistant to the president. Thanks for joining us. Id like to start with issues relating to russia. By a vote of 982, the u. S. Senate passed a bill that would impose new sanctions on russia. Now the house is talking about making a few technical fixes having to do with licensing, but the Trump Administrations made it clear that you have broader concerns about the legislation. If the house passes the bill and keeps in the part that basically lays out congressional review over the president before he can lift any sanctions on russia, will President Trump veto it . Ill leave the president to make that decision. The fact is, weve seen some positive movement with regards to the relationship between our two nations. The fact that we have a ceasefire now that has been effective for more than five days, the president Just Announced in paris the extension into another region for a new possible ceasefire. These are all very positive signs. So, lets not prejudge, lets not steal anybodys thunder. These are the two most powerful Nuclear Nations in the world as Rex Tillerson said just last week, we should have better relations, lets see if its possible and not prejudged. Well get to the ceasefire in a second. I do want to ask you last year the Barack Obama Administration received compound in maryland and new york of the russians because in the view of the National Security apparatus, they were being used for intelligencerelated purposes that might have plausibly connected to the interference campaign by the russian government. The Trump Administration is considering returning those compounds to russia. Why . Well, look, because we, we want to give collaboration, cooperation, a chance. The fact is we may not share the same philosophy, we may not share the same type of statesman view of the world, but the fact is there are some issues of common concern. And if we see good faith, remember, more than 400,000 people have been killed in syria. That is horrific. If we can see acts of good faith come out of the kremlin with regards to things such as a ceasefire, then perhaps there is a chance for what Rex Tillerson wants to see happen which is an improvement in relations between our two capitals. I guess one of the issues that a lot of people on capitol hill were republicans as well as democrats are wondering about is why the possibility of a reward when there is still this issue, this cloud of russias election interference hanging over the relationship, as you know, leading Trump Administration intelligence officials were recently asked before the Senate Intelligence committee if russia interfered in the u. S. Election. They were asked as a basic yes or no question, heres their response. I do, yes, sir. Yes, senator. Yes, i do. Yes, i do. Yes. Yes. Those arent obama holdovers, thats President Trumps intelligence officials, yet President Trump a few days ago said nobody really knows for sure who interfered in the election. Why does President Trump continue to second guess the assertions being made by his own intelligence chiefs . Jake, id ask you the question, do you wish us to have bad or deteriorating relations with the Nuclear Power that is the Russian Federation . In whos interest is that . Well, its not really up to me, but i guess im curious, im curious. One of the points is well, we dont dole out rewards, the United States doesnt dole out rewards to countries because they possess a nuclear weapon. Were not doing thats not what i said. Were not going to reward china or pakistan thats not what i said. Lets go back to the president. To the president. As he was actually leaving the press conference, a reporter shouted out, what about the kremlin . What about relations with russia . And the president gave a very, very important answer that really has shaped the prague in atism of this administration. Remember, were not looking to create new enemies. Thats a very dangerous way to look at the world. And the president said, in theory, i would like to have better relations with russia, its is a geopolitical nation. But he went on to say, right now, back then, it doesnt look very likely. And if thats the case, so be it. So hes a prague in atist, hes the most successful real estate magnet in new york. He looks at the world as it is. That was the last eight years of disastrous id logicallytinged lack of statesmanship out of the white house. We look at russia as a country we dont have perfect relations with, we dont even have better relations with than other nations, but perhaps they could improve. Do we wish to escalate matters with russia . I dont think thats a good idea, jake. You dont think its weak at all to let russia go after having interfered in the 2016 election with no punishment at all . The last thing you could say about donald j. Trump after the last 35 weeks is that hes weak. Look at what weve done in afghanistan so whats the punishment . Look at the 59 so whats the punishment for russia . Look at what we did at g20. Lets. Reporter im asking about russia. I will. Look at g20. We sat down, the president had a two hour and 15 minutes discussion with Vladimir Putin. He pressed Vladimir Putin on multiple occasions with regards to the question of election tampering. The president was not in a court of law. He pressed, he pressed, the president of the Russian Federation denied, and at that point, you have to move on because why . People are dieing in syria. Thats why, jake. Do you not care about the devastation of course, i do. Well, weve got life and death russia is killing some of those people. And weve got life and death issues, and if we can create a ceasefire, which we did, with rally, with jordan involved, thats what we have to do. We have to move on. We have to move on in the interest of u. S. National security and saving innocent lives. Well, i want to move on to the ceasefire, but i will say, just because you say you have to move on and not punish russia doesnt mean that you actually have to do it. I know you want to talk about the ceasefire. Lets talk about the ceasefire. President trump today mentioned the ceasefire in one region of syria. He said he was working on another ceasefire in a different region. Were not again, we have to be careful. Its only the fifth day. Were going to go into a region that is still violent, still problematic, but we are buoyed by the last five days of the successful ceasefire. Were not going to go into details. Its fresh, very fresh. We have to consult with all of those involved, but at the end of the day, were talking about a ceasefire that has to gradually increase the territory of the peace has to increase until at the end of the day, its not just about saving lives, its about some kind of political resolution. So again, this is not the obama white house, we dont give our game play away, but we are interested in expanding the zones of ceasefire safety. Coalition military officials have made it clear that theyre not going to have any role in monitoring the first ceasefire that you mentioned. So, without then monitoring it, how do you guarantee that Bashar Al Assad wont violate the ceasefire. I think we guarantee it by continuing to do the very powerful things that weve done already. Remember, this is an administration that in just 24 weeks has managed to support the iraqi liberation of mosul. Thats determination. Weve used Cruise Missiles against assad. We sent a clear message, the Vice President , the day after the Cruise Missile strike asked me personally, do you think the world got the message that we sent to syria . And i said to the Vice President , yes, mr. Vice president , the whole world got it. Assad knows that determination of president donald j. Trump and he knows this is not a man to test. But theres no way to monitor it is what youre saying. Were not here to solve everybodys problems in the front line, the president said but you have a ceasefire, you have to monitor a ceasefire. Doesnt have to be us. It can be other actors. Lets move on to the fight against isis. Defeated in mosul, major accomplishment for the iraqi and coalition forces, we need to consolidate the gains, ensure the victory stays a victory. What specifically is the plan to stabilize mobile . Is the u. S. Planning a longterm stay behind force there . The president was clear all through the campaign. And hes reinforced this after january 20th, that we are not here this is not the Bush Administration and this isnt the Obama Administration that cut and run. We are not here to fight other peoples wars for themselves. He thinks its fundamentally unamerican to invade other peoples countries and occupy them. What were interested in and thats why riyadh was the pivotal moment, he went into the land and he said to the raid, more than 50 arab muslim leaders, you have to sort your situation out. You have to drive the extremists and the terrorists from your places of worship, from your communities, we are here to help. We will stand right, whos going to maintain the peace though obviously . Local, local actors. Who specifically. Right now, these are the details that were working out, the nsc with our colleagues, with our bilats, liaison services, it is a matter of process that we are dealing with, as we speak right now, jake. Winning the peace is almost as important as winning the war. Absolutely. One last question, the New York Times is reporting that white house strategist steve bannon has asked forces behind two giant defense contracting firms, specifically eric prince and Steven Fineberg to pitch a plan to increasingly privatize the u. S. Waging war in conflict in afghanistan, how is that not a conflict of interest . To have people who could stand to make billions of dollars on privatizing a war, pitch it, to general mattis or others . Well look, im not going to confirm any details of meetings that are taking in confidence, but if you look at eric princes track record, its not about bilking the government, its about the opposite, its about saving the u. S. Tax payer money. Its about creating indigenous capacity. This is a former operator, this is a man who hires former operators, first tier, special operations forces, retired individuals, not to go and fight there, instead of somebody else. But to help the afghans, to help local indigenous forces protect their own territory. So this is a costcutting venture. We open the door here at the white house, the outside ideas, why . Because the last eight years, in fact the last 16 years, jake, to be honest, disastrous. The policies that were born in beltway by people whove never worn a uniform, people in the white house like ben rhodes, they helped create the fire storm that is middle east and isis today. We are open to new ideas because the last 16 years have failed National Interests and the american tax payer. There were plenty of people who wore a uniform who advised president obama and president bush. Not people as influential as ben rhodes who had a masters degree in fictional writing. Retired. That is disastrous. Im sure hed put his graduate degree against yours any week. Any time, glad to debate him on your show. Top democrat on the house Intelligence Committee adam schiff will join us to respond. 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