And we’re live! This hour we’re examining the Kremlin and its growing influence at home and abroad. In March, Putin — already the longest-serving Russian leader since Stalin — won the presidential election in a landslide and secured his hold on power until 2024. #OnAssignment
We’re airing this episode from Tallinn, the capital of #Estonia — a tiny Baltic country that has had a fraught relationship with its neighbor #Russia. 11 yrs ago today, Russian hackers disabled most of Estonia’s digital infrastructure in a crippling cyber attack.
Estonia bolstered its cyber defenses after the attack. NATO recently ran the world’s largest cyber defense exercise here — practice for any future attacks by Russia. @ccdcoe
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#NATO Sec Gen @jensstoltenberg said the talks between @realDonaldTrump and other leaders had “made NATO stronger.” But some are still fearful about the President’s gravitation towards Putin’s #Russia.
Neil Hobday says @realDonaldTrump paid all of the expenses for the Aberdeen course in cash and that even Trump associates found that “very unusual.”
.@AlanShipnuck says that one of the biggest questions in the golf and political world is “where did the money come from” for the Trump Scottish and Irish courses #OnAssignment
Another golf writer, @jdodsonauthor, said that @EricTrump told him in 2013 “We have all the funding we need out of Russia.” Eric Trump denies saying that and calls Dodson’s report “fake news”.
Tonight @realDonaldTrump is sleeping at #TrumpTurnberry. We’ve been investigating the finances of his golf courses in Scotland and Ireland. They were purchased - and renovated at a cost of tens of millions of dollars– all in cash. #OnAssignment
.@Rob_Weissman, president of @PublicCitizen, a watchdog group which has often criticized the president, says “it’s reasonable to say President Trump is getting a publicity value 100 times over what the cost of him visiting is.”
Weissman and his team at @PublicCitizen crunched the numbers and estimate that @realDonaldTrump’s golf weekend in Scotland is going to cost the US taxpayer around $1.9 mil. #TrumpUKVisit
Now we’ve got a report about the big #TrumpProtest today in London to mark the #TrumpUKvisit. @realDonaldTrump stayed away, complaining the British public had made him feel “unwelcome.”
At their joint press conference, 40 miles from London, @realDonaldTrump said he’d apologized to the PM – but also said that the recording of the interview would prove it was all #fakenews.
.@metpoliceuk tells @NBCNews: Officers from the counter terrorism network are working jointly with colleagues from Wiltshire Police regarding the incident in Amesbury. As Wiltshire Police have stated, they are keeping an open mind as to the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Amesbury is about 10 miles from Salisbury, where former Russian spy Sergei #Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok in March.
“Thank you,” say the missing Thai boys as British divers finally find them inside the cave after 9 days. But it may still be months before rescuers can get them out. #ThaiCaveRescue nbcnews.com/nightly-news/v…
The boys were found about 2.5 miles from the mouth of the cave on a rock shelf. It took expert divers several hours to get to the group through narrow, twisting passages. Bringing them out will not be easy #ThaiCaveRescue
The Thai Army says the boys will need to learn to dive or wait up to 4 months for flooding to recede before they can get out. Food supplies are being sent in and authorities are trying to get power & phone lines into the cave so the boys can speak with their parents #ThaiCave