Much of the world. One thing has worried me over these months, these he two super power egos would get into a test of whose is big we are the world itself is the stakes. None of that today. None of it, lets pray, ever. Thats hardball. All in with chris hayes starts right now. Tonight on all in President Putin and i have been discussing thank you, thank you. Russia says the american president he accepted a full denial of Election Interference. Both sides have agreed to put it behind them. There was not a lot of relitigating of the past. What we know about everything that happened. Vladimir putin met the donald trump Behind Closed Doors. It is a forgery. The trump russia
for russia, the United States. It is an honor to be with you. The two leaders appeared chummy throughout the day. President trump even sharing a laugh with putin who has been accused of having journalists killed about, the american reporters covering their meeting. Thank you. The two met Behind Closed Doors for more than two hours. Afterward, the only other american, Secretary Of State tillerson, claimed putin was pressed. The president opened the meeting with President Putin by Raising Concerns of the American People regarding russian interference in the 2016 election. They had a very robust and lengthy exchange on the subject. The president pressed President Putin on more than one occasion involving russian involvement. President putin denied such involvement as i think he has in the past. But tillersons counter part emerged from the meeting with a very different story. Translator President Trump has said that he has heard clear declarations from mr. Trump that russian involvement has not interfered in the elections and he accepts the things that mr. Putin has said. He semis this. They said lavrovs comments were not accurate. An unnamed official. While we have no way of saying what was said in private, we can he what President Trump said in public. I think it was russia but i think it was probably other people and or countries, and i see nothing wrong with that statement. Nobody really knows. Nobody really knows for sure. That was yesterday. This is giving the russian award. I think what the two president s i think rightly focused on is how do we move forward . How do we move forward from here sf its not clear to me that we will ever come to some agreedupon resolution of that question between the two nations. Many accounts indicate that Russian Election interference hasnt stopped here or abroad and it doesnt appear to be just elections. We learned yesterday, for example, that russians are suspected of hacking the Nuclear Sites in the u. S. A top pick did not even come up. Joining me now from iraq, christopher hill. Your reaction to the news that came out of todays meeting. Well, first of all, i think it was a pretty successful meeting by all accounts. I was not very astonished that President Trump talked about the
hacking and putin denied and it President Trump said okay, lets move ahead. What i thought was interesting, it appears that Rex Tillerson had a good day. He showed that he was able to put his imprint on some of the work theyre doing. Especially that deal and how it works out in syria. The big takeaway, they are announcing the cease fire had southwest syria, if ill not mistaken. In some ways, that has been a big thing trump has signaled for a long time. Working with isis and fundamentally being fine with assad staying. I think ultimately, that is the idea. The problem is the Trump Administration hasnt told us, what is the goal in syria . They dont seem to indicate, what do we want . Do we want a unity state . Do we want a Parliament System . When they can define that, and maybe harmonize that with other players, including russia, then we have a chance of making the cease fire hold. I think it was small step in a small area in Southwestern Syria and i think theyre trying to see if they can start process there. It was a fairly deafening silence on the issue of north korea. I dont think russia gave us anything at all. If someone pointed a Nuclear Missile at them, they would know what to do about it. Ill a little disappointed at how that conversation is turning out. The other issue i have, and i would be curious to your response. It seems theres not a particularly reliable narrator for what happened in that room. We have contrasting versions of what happened. The and there is a sort of grain of salt that it appears you have to take all accounts with. Youve got it. And it is not unusual to get two different readings of a meeting, lavrov and his customary charlieing way, that was quite at odds with what Secretary Of State tillerson said. Thats why there are note takers. They sit on the side of the room and they take notes. Apparently President Trump didnt want anyone else in the room. I guess he looks at every note taker and thinks of that person as being a leaker. But there are reasons you have note takers. There was a moment i want to play jumped out at me. Take a listen. Thank you. Thats Putin Leaning Over and saying to President Trump, these are the ones that insulted you. Pointing to the press core. Given that numerous journal the
i haves in russia have been murdered in cold blood, and often thought to be partly at the hands of putin or his surrogates, what did you make of that moment . To be frank, these two leaders have raised tastelessness to an art form. It is kinds of appalling that putin would do that. I think our president needs to be reminded now and again that there is a little dignity of this business and hed better lay off the press. It doesnt play well overseas or this country either. In this country, it is a mosh pit on everything. Overseas, i dont think he should be playing game. The posture from tillerson and the president , and it seems to be what the russians want as well. Lets just cabin that whole unpleasantness around the election. Who is to say what really happened. And Work Together on mutual areas of shared interest. Again, fine for the latter part. You do wonder what that means for what other future operations the russians may undertake. Well, fair enough. Theres an old adage that lawyers look backwards and diplomats look forward. And i think tillerson is trying to figure out what can be done as he looks forward. It is pretty appalling issue. Where if it is true, if foreign minister lavrovs comment that President Trump semied putins explanation, then you kind of wonder, is he putting more faith in the kgb than the cia . There are big problems here. And i dont think we can let this go. Now, tillerson was suggesting we come up with something and i think he was hinting at the fact were all a little concerned about what would happen in the 2018th elections, if the russians were just warming up in
2016. I think this is quite an assault on russias part on our process. And i think we have to be not only extremely vigilant but really, really pushing back the russians. And president obama did that with a few sanctions at the he believed there. Frankly, this is a lot more serious than whether or not they get to use a Weekend House if new york. Ambassador christopher hill, thank you for being with me tonight. Thank you. Joining me now, moscow journalist, and the former cbs moscow correspondent, jonathan sanders. Ill start with you as someone who covered russian politics and putin specifically. What do you think he was looking for out of this meeting . He got everything he was looking for. First of all, the sentence, the two president s. So he looked president ial. He was on the national, International Stage as an equal to the most powerful man in the
world. His probe to do something in syria has turned out to be quite been official for him. When they sent the russian earl into syria, president obama said it will be a quagmire. That quagmire is leading to a deescalation and a peace process, and the very steps being taken have three routes. One is a city in kazakhstan where they started negotiating deconflictization. Two is what john kerry was doing in the last days of the obama administration. And three is the dialogue after the shootdown of the syrian plane that went on between the American Military and the russian military. Thats leading to the beginning of the end of the war in spoir has gone on for seven years exclaimed 400,000 lives. Thats a significant step forward. Putin didnt get everything he wanted. We didnt hear putin saying
anything to mr. Trump about american exercises, Military Exercises in the baltic states. Something that has ignored a lot of russians. So wasnt a perfect day for both sides bust it was a big plus for mr. Trump, mr. Putin, mr. Tillerson, and always for sergei lavrov. And this does sflog fierce cold war atmosphere that has been whipping around us for so long. Especially whipping around us on cable news programs. The idea of meddling, which is this word that keeps coming up. There is an interesting statement that tillerson said, we sort of agreed not to meddle in each others internal affairs. And this has been something both the chinese and the russians have been laser focused on. The u. S. Should keep its mouth shut about anything happening internalfully russia. And that seemed to me like a takeaway for putin. Something that he has long sought. I feel like that is a pretty
standard response when it comes to russian politics. They like to point to what the United States has done. Whether it be meddling and other countries. Electoral processes, regime change, things like that. So this was an opportunity for russia to say the same thing. Im surprised that trump brought up the Election Tracking Issue on. One hand, you have to realize that no matter what he would have done, people here are going to be skeptical of him because there have been so many questions around this administration. So what would have been enough to bring it up in a more forceful manner rather than just saying, okay, we discussed it. My other question, other point that i want to make, we need to come up with a way of being tough on that issue. Sanctions just dont work. And jonathan, you would know this. You spent a lot of time in moscow. The way the russians respond to pressure or childing from the international community, to keep
doing it. To turn inward. That may be true with public perception. But the sanctions, after crimea have created significant hardship and upper rungs. It has been clear the russian state wants them lifted. And chris, theyre on their way to being lifted. If the very smart way we Saw Tillerson trot out just before the meeting, that theyve appointed a special representative to deal with ukraine on the eastern regions, to begin to negotiate that and the man is supposed to be in moscow coming up, thats a very cher way to push this forward. I dont see how i dont 19 interrupt you. I dont see how thats possible given the political dynamics
that President Trump is dealing with at homes. Russians went in going that was a nonstarter. Not today, not tomorrow. But in six months, perhaps. Thats the question, right . Theyre sort of concrete things the administration can do that putin would like to see they will do. Give back as a starting point, the two compounds were seized as kind of retribution for the election activities. And then eventually lifting sanctions. Theres tremendous pressure. At the corner of all this is this very big unresolved issue. That there was a sustained and sophisticated effort to criminally sabotage a campaign in the u. S. And one that has not been resolved or foresworn in any way. It seems hard to move on to other issues to a degree it is left hanging out there. Chris, when the hearings began, Senator Warner said, oh, my. This is like propaganda on steroids. Whats the surprise . Propaganda . Or steroids . The russians have been interested in doing things in american elections since 1920. It was ham handed before. Now Digital Technology has changed things. We have to ask the basic question underlying this. Why are they so good at hacking . Why are they so good at Cyber Warfare . And why are we not particularly up to snuff and up to speed . The scary answer may be, their math Education System far superior to ours. I think you have a good point in terms of Human Resources and people who are skilled at this. Russia is very rich that way. True. That sounds uncomfortably close to blaming the bank for being ronald. We know that these things can happen. You can penetrate all sorts of
inboxes and people get good at this. But theres a violation here that remains massively unresolved. And back to your point, from the context of any political situation that will move forward in this relationship, it cant just hang around as an unresolved thing and expect the politics to change. Thank you both for your time tonight. Thank you. Ahead, can President Trump agree to disagree . The conflicting reports and the reaction from capitol hill. Ount. Because each day she chooses to take the stairs. At work, at home. Even on the escalator. That can be hard on her lower body, so now she does it with dr. Scholls orthotics clinically proven to relieve and prevent foot, knee or lower back pain, by reducing the shock and stress that travel up her body with every step she takes. So keep on climbing, sarah. Youre killing it. Dr. Scholls. Born to move. Yeah, and i can watch thee bgame with directv now. . Oh, sorry, most broadcast and sports channels arent included. And you can only stream on two devices at once. This is fun, were having fun. Yeah, we are. No, youre not jimmy. Dont let directv now limit your entertainment. Xfinity gives you more to stream to more screens. Meddling in another election process, we know about russia is trying to meddle with democracies. Even House Speaker paul ryan can admit that what has been so hard, that russia interfered in
the 2016 election, according to the russian version he with what happened today, the president accepted putins denial of any involvement in the election. Giving equal credence to the u. S. Intel xhublts findings is a grave dereliction. The two countri first your response to this idea of a Working Group between the United States and russia to explore Election Interference or cyber security. Well, you know, i hope that the American People wont fall for that kind of putting together of some kind of commission to deal with hacking and thats what theyre describing. As a matter of fact, i think americans should be very, very
concerned that this president sat down with putin who we know hacked into our Election System to the dnc, and to many of the states that are now coming forward with this information. And to sit down with him and not have a real discussion. To delve into real concerns about whats happening and get a commitment from putin that they would never do it again americans want to hear that conversation. Obviously, this president brought it into the room. There was. So pressure, from the media and everybody else, he could not afford to go into that room and not pretend he was dealing with the issue. He didnt deal with it. He took it up first. It was dismissed. It was intractable. Now lets move on. And this thing about a commission and also, what
theyre going to do with syria and having some kind of cessation of the war there. I dont know if putin was in a position to negotiate and make all the differences for syria. Not that i care about assad. But i would assume that he would have something to say about it. I think were getting played by our president and certainly by putin. I dont like the idea that our president , again, would go into a room without any note takers, without any staff, without others who should be in the room who really understand Foreign Policy and who really understand putin, and come out of it saying how honored he is to meet with him and how in fact theyre going to start meeting together. This is ball sanctions. Of course, tillerson was in the room because thats at the top
of his agenda. To lift the sanctions so they can drill into the arctic. You have trump who is agreeing to lift the sanctions and aboutt
the dnc did. But them they fully cooperated with the requests that the filibuster made. So this guy is unhinged. And i think he is under so much pressure from this russian are investigation that when he is in the corner, all he does is he strikes back and he doesnt care about whether anything is true or not true. What did you make of that statement from the president . Well, he doesnt know the difference between what podes podestas role was with the dnc and clinton. What he thought he was setting up was this proof that we have no proof. Thats what putin has said. Thats what he continues to say. It is almost in your face, you can say what you want but you dont have any proof. I think this president , trump was playing into that and trying to say, well, you know, they have proof if they wanted to share it but they wouldnt let
us see it so they must not have any proof. He thought when he did that, that he was nailing podesta. Because he had control of the dnc and the server so we can dismiss that as another trump not knowing what