00:00European leaders ahead of a meeting with President Trump and Ukrainian President
00:05Zelensky. Live coverage here on C-SPAN throughout the afternoon of this meeting at the White House
00:12following the meetings that the president had with the Russian President Vladimir Putin
00:17on Friday in Alaska. We're going to get your thoughts on this as well. But before we do that,
00:24Brad Bowman, what is President Putin up to after Friday's meeting? I think that President Putin
00:33probably is very pleased with what he's seen thus far. And why do I say that? Well, if you look at
00:39Russian state media, they're in various degrees of celebratory fervor. They view Alaska as incredibly
00:47positive from a Kremlin perspective. Okay, Brad, I'm going to jump in here because the door is
00:52opening here to the first European leader. Let's just see who it is here.
00:59It's the NATO Secretary General. He's arriving first at the White House.
01:07All right. Brad Bowman, is it important that the NATO Secretary General arrive first? What is his role
01:15here? I think it's incredibly positive that he's the first to arrive for multiple reasons. One,
01:20because of the importance of NATO, as we were just discussing, and because of the Secretary General
01:25personally. He has developed an ability to work with Trump, to interact with Trump in a way that
01:31has been successful. Some have referenced him as like a Trump whisperer. He's learned how to work with
01:38President Trump. And so if he's the one that walks in first and kind of sets the tone, I think that's
01:46incredibly positive and probably deliberate and a smart move. Let's go back to what you were saying
01:51on Putin, Brad Bowman, while we wait for this next European leader to arrive.
01:57Yeah. So, no, I think that, Vlad, you know, if you look at Russian state media, which, you know,
02:02obviously is not known as independent actors. And so they're going to be saying things that they
02:06either are cleared with the Kremlin or they believe would be fine with the Kremlin. And they are,
02:10they're, they have been celebrating, uh, that, uh, that, um, that, uh, they've accomplished the
02:17things I warned about, frankly, on Friday, they being the Russians, that they have delayed consequences
02:23for Russia, that consequences that, uh, President Trump threatened, but, uh, but most of which have
02:27not been implemented, um, that, uh, that they're on the verge of maybe getting, um, acceptance for a
02:35territory that they've stolen from Ukraine and maybe getting more than they've been able to get
02:39on the battlefield via diplomacy, particularly Donetsk, which would be very significant because
02:44the Ukrainians have built up very significant defenses in the parts of Donetsk, the Oblast,
02:50that the Russian forces have not been able to take. They haven't been able to take those and hold
02:54that. Uh, and so if they were able to get at the diplomatic table, that would be perceived,
02:59I think correctly by the Kremlin is a major win. All right. The second door is opening here and we
03:06have the arrival of the European, uh, commission president here, Ursula van der Leyen. And Brad
03:11Bowman, tell us about her role this morning and what has she been saying about the U.S. responsibility
03:17here and, and how far the U.S. should go or be concerned about going with, with, when it comes to
03:24Russia? I think her presence is important because, you know, you don't have every European
03:29country represented here. Of course not. You just have some of the leading countries,
03:34but you know, this is, this is a problem for all of Europe. So when, as she comes with, with, uh,
03:39her title and her role, then into some degree or another, she's, she can speak for all of Europe
03:45and ever member states in some capacity. Now, every nation state has different interests and
03:49different priorities here. You have countries like, uh, Hungary, for example, that have taken a very,
03:54very different approach, uh, than other countries. But I think her presence is really important.
03:58It provides additional diplomatic clout. So you can really think of the NATO secretary general
04:02as, uh, as representing the military power and, uh, and, uh, and you can see her representing really
04:09the political diplomatic power. And I think it's very positive that those two are there. And I think
04:14they arrived in exactly the right order. And they're being greeted by the way, by Monica Crowley,
04:19who's the chief of protocol, uh, for the, the, the, the white house, not being greeted by
04:24president Trump. Uh, Brad Bowman is, is this sort of the normal or the traditional way for any white
04:32house that you have the chief of protocol out there on the carpet to greet these leaders?
04:37You know, normally I would want to see the president greeting, um, both of these individuals get
04:43given their position and their stature, but this is not a normal day at the white house, right? When
04:48you look at, uh, uh, what's at stake here, uh, and you look at the quantity of, of dignitaries,
04:53uh, this is not a normal day. So, you know, if we deviate from the norms here, I'm not going to get
04:58particularly upset or excited about that. Um, there's a lot going on. There's a lot of moving parts.
05:03You, you know, the best laid plans often collide with reality and you just do the best you can.
05:07But, uh, you know, I, I, I think the, uh, the public, uh, uh, meetings, the public statements
05:13are going to be really, really important. And what's happening behind closed door in terms of
05:17who's greeting, who, who's handshaking, I think that's less important. All right. I'm going to
05:20weave in Peter here who's been waiting. He's in North Conway, New Hampshire, an independent caller.
05:25Peter, we're keeping our eyes here on this live shot right outside the White House for more European
05:30leaders to arrive, but go ahead and give us your thoughts here real quickly because I see another car
05:35polling up. Peter? Hi, Glenn. Um, I hope I can do this quickly. I think what's missing in this
05:44conversation is the historical context. And that is that this needed character to acquire
05:52in the next by canceling the great over 207 years ago.
05:56Peter, I, I apologize. I know you hung on the line there for a while, but we cannot hear you.
06:01It's too difficult. This is Keir Starmer, the British prime minister arriving next. Again,
06:07being greeted by the chief of protocol for the White House, Monica Crowley. He will then make
06:12his way into the White House where all the European leaders are expected then to, uh, gather behind
06:19closed doors and wait for the Ukrainian president, Mr. Zelensky, to arrive, which, uh, should be around
06:271 p.m. Eastern time.
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