{"id":2489,"date":"2018-07-15T11:54:48","date_gmt":"2018-07-15T15:54:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/press.nbcnews.com\/?p=2489"},"modified":"2018-07-15T11:54:48","modified_gmt":"2018-07-15T15:54:48","slug":"mtp-us-amb-to-russia-huntsman-tomorrow-isnt-a-summit-between-pres-trump-and-russian-pres-putin-the-agenda-is-the-presidents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com\/nbcnews\/2018\/07\/15\/mtp-us-amb-to-russia-huntsman-tomorrow-isnt-a-summit-between-pres-trump-and-russian-pres-putin-the-agenda-is-the-presidents\/","title":{"rendered":"MTP: US AMB. TO RUSSIA HUNTSMAN: TOMORROW \u2018ISN\u2019T A SUMMIT\u2019 BETWEEN PRES. TRUMP AND RUSSIAN PRES. PUTIN, \u2018THE AGENDA IS THE PRESIDENT\u2019S\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

PLUS: \u201cI Don\u2019t Know If He\u2019ll Make the Ask\u201d Says Huntsman of Trump Asking Putin to Extradite the 12 Russian Intel Officers Charged by Mueller on Friday<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

ALSO: Sen. Warner (D-Va.) \u201cWould Feel Much Better if There Were Other Americans in the Room\u201d with Trump and Putin, Since Trump \u201cKind of Goes in and Wings It\u201d <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

TONIGHT & TOMORROW: Lester Holt Anchors \u201cNBC Nightly News\u201d Live from Helsinki\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

JULY 15, 2018 \u2013 \u201cIt isn\u2019t a summit… This is a meeting,\u201d says U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman <\/strong>on \u201cMeet the Press\u201d of President Trump\u2019s meeting tomorrow with Russian President Putin in Helsinki. \u201cNo state dinner, no joint statement, no deliverables that are going to be pre-packaged. You don’t know what’s going to come out of this meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked if Trump will ask Putin to extradite the 12 Russian intel officers charged by Special Counsel Mueller on Friday and if the paperwork has begun, Huntsman tells moderator Chuck Todd: \u201cI don’t know if he’ll make the ask, but it may be part of the agenda. It may be part of their bilateral meeting together. We’ll have to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe agenda is the president’s. Everything will be his call, but I think it’s highly unlikely that you’ll see any change in Crimea,\u201d shares Huntsman regarding NATO\u2019s position that Crimea belongs to Ukraine and not Russia. Watch the full interview.<\/a><\/p>\n

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.)<\/strong>, vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, also joined the broadcast, telling Todd: \u201cI really would feel much better if there were other Americans in the room making sure that we make the point that the first and top point of this agenda should be no further Russian interference in our elections,\u201d after noting Trump \u201cdoesn’t do a lot of prep work for these meetings. He kind of goes in and wings it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reacting to the indictments by Mueller on Friday, Warner notes, \u201cIt appears a rather strange coincidence that the very day that Mr. Trump calls on the Russians to hack into Clinton emails, well, the Russian spies actually try to take that action.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s abysmal that this administration has not made 2018 election security a higher priority,\u201d says Warner. \u201cI would feel a lot better if there was a concerted, whole-of-government effort to make sure not only at the state and local registrar level, but on the companies that manipulate and own the voter files and maintain the voter files behind the scenes. I think we need to really step up our game.\u201d Watch the full interview.<\/a><\/p>\n

In an exclusive interview, Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska)<\/strong> tells Todd: \u201cIf the president is giving in on lifting sanctions without Putin taking action, I think that would be a mistake.\u201d The Alaska senator says that if Putin \u201cwants a better relationship\u2026 he\u2019s got to take actions to make that happen.\u201d Watch the full interview.<\/a><\/p>\n

Tune in tonight as \u201cNBC Nightly News\u201d anchor Lester Holt broadcasts live from Helsinki ahead of the president\u2019s meeting tomorrow with Putin.<\/strong> Read more about NBC News\u2019 in-depth coverage.<\/a><\/p>\n

Radio host Hugh Hewitt<\/strong>, NPR\u2019s Joshua Johnson<\/strong>, TIME\u2019s Elise Jordan <\/strong>and The Cook Political Report\u2019s Amy Walter<\/strong> preview tomorrow\u2019s meeting on the show\u2019s roundtable, with Johnson pointing out that<\/a>, with Bitcoin, the Russians \u201cliterally minted money to hack our election system. Now, the president saying, “Well, I don’t know if I’m going to ask for extradition\u201d is stunning. If someone broke into the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and stole American dollars to commit a crime against the United States, it would be an immediate call for extradition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read the full transcript<\/a> of \u201cMeet the Press\u201d this morning, and follow the show on Twitter<\/a> and on Facebook<\/a> for the latest.<\/p>\n

PLEASE CREDIT: NBC NEWS\u2019 \u201cMEET THE PRESS WITH CHUCK TODD\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n