Kerry: ‘Most People Have Serious Questions’ About What Putin Has on Trump

RUSH EXCERPT:

ZAKARIA: "What is the danger of Donald Trump talking to Vladimir Putin without any aides for two hours one-on-one? He would say that’s how you establish a personal rapport and solve problems and get things done."
KERRY: "Look, I am in favor of diplomacy that involves personal engagement where you talk to a leader and move to a stronger engagement. But evidently there was no shared sense of strategy in what that conversation would be."
ZAKARIA: "With aides?"
KERRY: "Even with his own people. And people of what we know about this president and his style and his approach and those kinds of meetings, and I think you saw it evidenced in the press conference that took place afterwards, the president came up, came out publicly, and praised president Putin’s notion that an American ambassador ought to be subjected to interrogation by the Russians in exchange for a visit. This is a remarkable moment for the United States in that the president did not defend the United States against the hacking that he literally accepted president Putin’s denials and he praised the strength with which president Putin had denied it. I think the danger of any solo conversation is that it simply augments that kind of kowtowing and I think most people have serious questions about what it is that Russia has in terms of information about Donald Trump that might force him not to be able to be forceful with president Putin."
ZAKARIA: "Do you think that Putin has something on Donald Trump?"
KERRY: "I don’t know the answer to that, but I will tell you this, when we went to Moscow, we were advised by everyone not to engage in any kind of conversation in a hotel and to be aware that we were willing listened to wherever we were. And if Donald Trump went there at any point in time, they knew exactly what he was doing."