♪♪ >>> THEY THINK IT'S RUSSIA. I HAVE PRESIDENT PUTIN, HE JUST SAID IT'S NOT RUSSIA. I WILL SAY THIS. I DON'T SEE ANY REASON WHY IT WOULD BE. I HAVE GREAT CONFIDENCE IN MY INTELLIGENCE PEOPLE, BUT I WILL TELL YOU THAT PRESIDENT PUTIN WAS EXTREMELY STRONG AND POWERFUL IN HIS DENIAL TODAY. >> HI AGAIN, EVERYONE. IT'S 5:00 IN THE EAST. THE MIC DROP MOMENT FOR THE WRONG REASONS. THE STATEMENT HEARD AROUND THE WORLD. THE THEN-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA SIDING WITH THE MURDEROUS DICTATOR OVER HIS OWN INTELLIGENCE OFFICIALS ON THE QUESTION OF ELECTION INTERFERENCE. WE ENTERED A NEW ERA OF AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY DURING THAT HOUR ON THAT DAY. WE ARE HAVING A LEADER WHO WOULD ALWAYS CHOOSE AND SIDE WITH DEMOCRACY NO LONGER FOR US. PRESIDENT BIDEN HAS WORKED TIRELESSLY TO REASSURE WORLD LEADERS WE ARE THE AMERICA THEY KNOW AND TRUST. EVER PRESENT IS THE LOOMING CONCERN THAT IF TRUMP RETURNS TO OFFICE, HE WILL ALIGN AMERICA WITH THE DIG ATERS AND AUTOCRATS HE SO FREQUENTLY PUBLICLY ADMIRES MUCH MORE THAN ANY OF OUR OWN ALLIES. THAT FEAR WAS FURTHERED BY WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY. FOLLOWING THE NATO THAT PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN HAS BEEN LEADING, HUNGARY'S PRIME MINISTER VIKTOR ORBAN IS SET TO MEET WITH THE DISGRACED EX-PRESIDENT IN MAR-A-LAGO. ORBAN, WHO ENDORSED TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT, RESHAPED HUNGARY TO KEEP IN POWER. SOUNDS EERILY SIMILAR TO THE OBJECTIVES LAID OUT IN BLACK AND WHITE BY CONSERVATIVES HERE IN AMERICA AND THEIR PROJECT 2025 MANIFESTO. ORBAN'S MEETING TODAY WITH TRUMP FOLLOWS A BUSY CALENDAR OF MEETING WITH OTHER AUTOCRATS. ON MONDAY ORBAN MET WITH CHINA'S XI JINPING AND LAST WEEK WITH RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN, PUTTING THIS MEETING WITH TRUMP IN STARKER RELIEF. THIS IS TRUMP PUTTING IT OUT THERE AGAIN IN BOLD FACE AND RED LETTERS IN CASE YOU MISSED IT THE LAST SEVERAL HUNDRED TIMES HE DID IT, HE IS NOT ONLY PUTIN'S POODLE, HE LEADS A POLITICAL PARTY THAT IS PRO-PUTIN, PRO-RUSSIAN, PRO-AGGRESSION, PRO-WAR CRIMES, PRO-AUTHORITARIANISM, ANTI-NATO, ANTI-UKRAINE AND ANTI-AMERICAN INTERESTS. WE HEARD THAT FROM TRUMP AT HIS RALLY THIS WEEK. >> I SAID YOU HAVE TO PAY YOUR BILLS. THEY SAY, SIR, MAY I ASK YOU A QUESTION. IF WE DON'T PAY OUR BILLS, WILL YOU PROTECT US FROM RUSSIA? YOU ARE DELINQUENT? >> YES, WILL YOU PROTECT US. >> NO, I WILL NOT PROTECT YOU FROM RUSSIA. >> THAT'S WHERE WE START. FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR RUSSIA MICHAEL McFAUL, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECTOR OF DEFENSE FOR RUSSIA, UKRAINE AND EURASIA AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE McCAIN INSTITUTE AND FORMER OFFICIAL DURING THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION RICK IS HERE WITH US. YOU CAN'T KEEP THEM APART, EVELYN. TRUMP AND ORBAN, ORBAN AND TRUMP. THIS IS EXTRAORDINARY EVEN FOR TRUMP THAT HE IS MEETING WITH HIM AGAIN. >> YEAH, I MEAN, NICOLLE, IT'S HORRIBLE. FRANKLY, VIKTOR ORBAN, YOU KNOW, WE SHOULD FIND A WAY TO DISCIPLINE HUNGARY WITHIN THE NATO CONTEXT FOR THE ACTIONS GIVING VLADIMIR PUTIN A PASS, NOT HELPING UKRAINE WITH MILITARY ASSISTANCE. HE JUST CAME FROM VISITING MOSCOW, VISITING BEIJING. YOU KNOW, VISITING OUR ADVERSARIES. NOW HE IS GOING TO GO SEE DONALD TRUMP ON HEELS OF THE NATO SUMMIT WHERE HE WAS RELATIVELY QUIET, BUT ONE WONDERS IF IS HE BRINGING MESSAGES FROM XI AND PUTIN TO TRUMP? BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, AS YOU KNOW, YOU SHOWED THE PICTURE FROM THE HELSINKI SUMMIT, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT PRESIDENT TRUMP AND VLADIMIR PUTIN TALKED ABOUT FOR OVER AN HOUR AT THE HELSINKI SUMMIT THOSE MANY YEARS AGO. SO ORBAN IS A PROBLEM BECAUSE HE HAS A RECIPE, HE SAID, FOR HOW TO TAKE DOWN A DEMOCRACY. ANOTHER WAY OF SAYING NOT A DEMOCRACY. >> LET ME SHOW YOU TRUMP IN HIS OWN WORDS ON ORBAN AND OTHER AUTOCRATS. >> THERE IS NOBODY THAT'S BETTER, SMARTER, OR A BETTER LEADER THAN VICTOR ORBAN, WHO IS FANTASTIC. THE PRIME MINISTER OF HUNGARY. DOES A GREAT JOB. A NON-CONTROVERSIAL FIGURE. HE SAID THIS IS THE WAY IT'S GOING TO BE AND THAT'S THE END OF IT, RIGHT? HE IS THE BOSS. GREAT LEADER. FANTASTIC LEADER OF EUROPE AND ALL OVER THE WORLD THEY ELEMENT HIM. THINK OF PRESIDENT XI, BRILLIANT GUY:YOU SAY HE IS BRILLIANT, EVERYONE, OH, THAT'S TERRIBLE. HE RUNS 1.4 BILL PEOPLE WITH AN IRON FIST. SMART, BRILLIANT, PERFECT. I WAS BEING TOUGH. SO WAS HE. WE GO BACK AND FORTH. AND THEN WE FELL IN LOVE, OKAY? NO, REALLY. HE WROTE ME BEAUTIFUL LETTERS. AND THEY ARE GREAT LETTERS. WE FELL IN LOVE. >> THE LAST ONE HE WAS TALKING ABOUT, KIM JONG-UN, MURDEROUS LEADER OF NORTH KOREA, HONORED WITH A VISIT. IT SEEMS -- AND I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS POSSIBLE BECAUSE I AM ALWAYS WORRIED ABOUT RELATIVITY. BUT IT SEEMS THAT TRUMP HAS BECOME MORE COMFORTABLE BEING MORE BRAZENLY ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT THE WORLD'S MOST BRUTAL AUTOCRATS AND DICTATORS. >> TRAGICALLY, I THINK YOU'RE RIGHT. HE HAS HAD MANY OPPORTUNITIES. IF HE WANTED TO DISTANCE HIMSELF FROM THOSE HORRIFIC COMMENTS YOU JUST REPLAYED FROM 2018, RIGHT? IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SO EASY FOR HIM. IT WOULD BE POLITICALLY EASY FOR HIM TO DO. AND INSTEAD, HE JUST KEEPS DOUBLING DOWN. HE JUST DID IT AT THE RALLY. HE INVITED VIKTOR ORBAN TO COME SEE HIM. HE DIDN'T INVITE PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY. AND, THEREFORE, I THINK IT'S REALLY JUST A VERY STARK CHOICE THAT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE HAVE. DO THEY WANT TO ELECT TO BE THE LEADER OF THE UNITED STATES SOMEBODY WHO EMBRACES DICTATORS, OR DO THEY WANT TO ELECT A PRESIDENT WHO EMBRACES AND SUPPORTS DEMOCRATS? IT'S JUST CRYSTAL CLEAR. BEFORE -- REMEMBER, THEY TRIED TO FAKE IT. THEY WOULD SAY THAT'S NOT WHAT HE MEANT, WHEN I WOULD TALK TO WHITE HOUSE OFFICIALS AND HE STANDS UP FOR DEMOCRACY. NOW IT'S JUST BLACK AND WHITE, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE HAVE A CHOICE. SUPPORT DEMOCRATS OR SUPPORT AUTOCRATS. >> LET ME SHOW YOU WHAT TO ME IS ALMOST A FETISHIZING OF VLADIMIR PUTIN. >> SO YOU KNOW VLADIMIR PUTIN, YOU THINK HE IS A KILLER? >> MM-HMM. I DO. >> PUTIN'S A KILLER. >> A LOT OF KILLERS, WHAT YOU THINK OUR COUNTRY IS SO INNOCENT? >> IT WAS WHEN PRESIDENT BUSH SAID, I LOOKED IN HIS EYES AND SAW A SOUL. I SAID, LOOKED IN THEIR EYES? I DON'T THINK YOU HAVE A SOUL. WE UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER. >> HE IS RUNNING THIS COUNTRY AND AT LEAST HE IS A LEADER, UNLIKE WHAT WE HAVE IN THIS COUNTRY. >> BUT AGAIN, HE KILLS JOURNALISTS THAT DON'T AGREE WITH HIM. >> WELL, I THINK OUR COUNTRY DOES PLENTY OF KILLING ALSO, JOE. >> YOU KNOW, WE ARE LASER FOCUS ON THE STAKE OF NOVEMBER'S ELECTION, RIGHT? AND WE SPENT THE BETTER PART OF EIGHT YEARS WARNING ABOUT THE DANGERS OF DONALD TRUMP. AS A COUNTRY SORT OF KRAR REIGNING INTO NOVEMBER, WE HAVE GOT THE GUY THAT HAS NICER THINGS TO SAY ABOUT PUTIN THAN ABOUT ANY OF OUR DEMOCRATIC ALLIES OUT IN THE LEAD. WHAT EXPLAINS THAT IN YOUR VIEW, RICK? >> YOU KNOW, SOME DAY THE TRUE STORY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRUMP AND PUTIN AND TRUMP AND RUSSIA WILL BE WRITTEN. WE DON'T KNOW IT NOW COMPLETELY. I MEAN, YOU KNOW, FROM THE TIME HE HAS BEEN TRYING TO HAVE A HOTEL IN MOSCOW TO VARIOUS OTHER THINGS. BUT I THINK THE THING THAT EXPLAINS IT, I AM SAD TO SAY, IS THAT HE HAS SORT OF A CHILD'S VIEW OF WHAT STRENGTH IS. EVER SINCE ROY TOLD HIM THAT HE HAD TO BE STRONG AND ALWAYS APPEAR STRONG, HE RESPECTS PEOPLE THAT APPEAR STRONG. AND IN THE PREVIOUS CLIP, XI JINPING APPEARS STRONG. ORBAN APPEARS STRONG. PUTIN APPEARS STRONG. IT'S THIS JUVENILE, CHILDISH PLAYGROUND SENSE OF STRENGTH. UNFORTUNATELY, I THINK A LOT OF VOTERS BUY INTO THAT AS WELL. THEY THINK THAT IS A SIGN OF STRENGTH. IT'S A SIGN OF WEAKNESS. HE IS AN HISTORICALLY WEAK CANDIDATE AND PEOPLE SHOULD REALIZE THAT. >> EVELYN, WHAT IS THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW? THERE IS ALWAYS BEEN LESS AFFECTION BUT AN ENTHUSIASM FOR PLAYING TRUMP, NOT AS SLOBBERY AS TRUMP IS TO PUTIN, BUT PUTIN SEEMS TO ALWAYS BE ON THE RIGHT MESSAGE AS TRUMP AND TUCKER CARLSON AND THAT ECHO CHAMBER. WHAT IS THE CURRENT VIEW ABOUT WHAT'S AT STAKE FOR RUSSIA IN NOVEMBER? >> YEAH, CLEARLY, NICOLLE, THE RUSSIANS ON THE UKRAINIAN BATTLEFIELD AND WORLD STAGE, THEY ARE NOT WINNING. THEY ARE RESORTING TO CRAZY TACTICS. YOU TALKED ABOUT KILLING IN THE CLIPS. WE YOU CAN TALKED ABOUT KILLING, THE PRESIDENT TALKED ABOUT KILLING. THE RUSSIANS, YOU KNOW, THERE IS NEW REPORTING THAT THEY TRIED TO ASSASSINATE THE HEAD OF THE MAJOR GERMAN ARMS MANUFACTURER, WHICH MAKES ALL THE AMMUNITION THAT THEY ARE -- WE ARE PROVIDING TO UKRAINE. SO VLADIMIR PUTIN IS GETTING INCREASINGLY NERVOUS ABOUT HIS SITUATION IN UKRAINE, SO HE IS LASHING OUT. HE IS REALLY UPPING THE ANTE, NOW TARGETING WESTERN, YOU KNOW, BUSINESSMEN, AND ALSO CONDUCTING SABOTAGE OPERATIONS IN THE WEST. BUT HE IS IN A STALEMATE ON THE GROUND. SO HE WOULD LIKE TRUMP TO COME INTO OFFICE SO THAT HE CAN MAKE A DEAL AND, A DEAL THAT WOULD BE FAVORABLE TO RUSSIA AND, OBVIOUSLY, UNFAVORABLE TO UKRAINE. SO I SEE PUTIN AS SOMEONE HO IS WEAK NOW, CONTRARY TO THE WAY PRESIDENT TRUMP SEES HIM. BUT HE IS HANGING IN THERE BECAUSE HE IS HOPING THAT DONALD TRUMP WILL WIN. AND DONALD TRUMP IS USEFUL TO HIM. I DON'T KNOW -- I DON'T BELIEVE THAT HE RESPECTS HIM TREMENDOUSLY. WE SAW THAT WHEN TUCKER CARLSON DID THE INTERVIEW WITH PUTIN, PUTIN WAS DISMISSIVE AND DISRESPECTFUL TO HIM, IF YOU PAID ATTENTION. SO HE REGARDS, I THINK, ALL OF THESE AMERICANS WHO ARE FRIENDLY TOWARDS H