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Don Lemon Tonight

FBI Agent Who Sent Anti-Trump Texts Fights GOP Claims Of Bias During Fiery Capitol Hill Hearing; President Trump Predicts Loose Meeting With Putin; NATO Summit; Trump Criticizes Prime Minister Theresa May; Trump In England; Living While Black. Aired 11-12a ET

Aired July 12, 2018 - 23:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[23:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: This is CNN TONIGHT. I'm Don Lemon. It is 11:00 p.m. here on the East Coast. Live with all the new developments tonight.

The FBI agent attacked by many Republicans as personification of an agency, they falsely claimed as being undermining the Trump administration finally got a chance to speak publicly today. Peter Strzok, sat through a day of personal attack and political jacking was devolved into a display of partisan gridlock. He answered questions about anti-Trump text that he wrote to his onetime co-worker with whom he was having an affair.

Questions about his political views and the views of his fellow agents, even remarks about his marriage. But many Republicans posing the question sounded a lot like President Trump's Twitter feed, portraying the Department of Justice as marginalized and untrustworthy. But let us remember, the DOJ and FBI are headed up by people President Trump appointed and confirmed by a Republican majority congress. And I want to be clear, what Peter Strzok did was wrong.

But if Republicans believe that people's personal political views render them incapable of doing their jobs, how then can they effectively do their jobs? I want to bring in now CNN Crime and Justice Reporter, Shimon Prokupecz, CNN National Security Analyst, Juliette Kayyem and Republican Strategist, Rick Wilson.

So, thank you all for joining us. I think that is a very good question, if you say, people can't do their jobs, because they have political beliefs, hello, what about you guys. So, Peter Strzok spent hours and hours being grilled by Republicans. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is so frustrating, answer the question. If you'll allow him to I'm sure he will.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has never answered the question.

REP. TREY GOWDY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Starting with the political death penalty and impeachment is not the logical way a neutral dispatch --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're demanding equal time.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not testifying.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you believe in any way that your personal text that were done on federal property have in any way tarnished the reputation of the FBI?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you said you never crossed that bright and viable line, what you meant to say was, except for 50,000 times. Except for hundreds of times of day where I went back and forth expressing my personal opinion about f-ing Trump, and stopping Trump and impeaching Trump on official FBI phones on official FBI time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I see you looking there with a smirk, how many times did you look so innocent into your wife's eye and lie to her about --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Chairman, that is outrageous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Wow. Nonstop attacks well into the night. But the thing is Strzok, he already testified before this committee behind closed doors, Shimon. So, all these fireworks, were that is just for show?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Absolutely, Don. When you look at the way the Republicans sort of handled this, how they continuously attacked him. Trying to pick out whether or not he was biased, and so therefore against the President, somehow they swayed how he handled this investigation. When you think about who Peter Strzok is, what he has meant to the FBI for so many years, and he was a leading counter intelligence investigator, the guy who was tracking the spies in the U.S., whether they were Russian spy, whether they were Chinese spies, Iranian spies, this guy has spends his life doing this.

When you think opinion how they went after him, how they assaulted him, the character assassination here of a man who have spent all this time investigating spies, and certainly the Russians. In the eyes of the Russians they have spent their life trying to fine dirt on FBI agents, trying to find dirt on politicians in this country.

And then you have members of Congress who put this guy before the public for ten hours and continuously attacked him. It truly is, Don. I think you said this earlier tonight that this was a really big win for the Russians, because here you have them taking the man who has been investigating them for so many years, before the public being attacked, his wife mentioned. All these things just continued on and on all day.

But you know, when you talk to people who know Peter Strzok and certainly some folks in the FBI that I spoke to today, I think Peter Strzok wanted this moment, he wanted to explain himself as by as he could, although he was cut off obviously many times. He did see this as an opportunity to finally give his say, to say as much as he can. And I suspect this is not the last time that we will hear from Peter Strzok.

LEMON: Well, in the beginning. Because that -- when he started I don't think they liked it, so they stopped him from real responding. And I'm looking down -- because I am looking at these piece that you have Rick Wilson. It is called Republican sought Peter Strzok would be punching bag, he just knocked them out and here's what you write, you write in part, you said Strzok was supposed to be a key in the imaginary conspiracy that Trump's congressional lackeys and media fans who are desperately tried to write as history.

[23:05:12] The idea that his text messages poisoned the entire Mueller investigation was a pillar of their defense of the president. This morning they were going for a quick kill. They needed Strzok to fail and wilt. Trey Gowdy, Goodlatte and gets -- and gets types needed their grand standings, mock outrage to leave Strzok shaking and begging for mercy. Strzok had none of it. So, you say that this badly backfired on the Republicans. Why did you do you say that?

RICK WILSON, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Look, they looked like they were ranting, they looked like they were flailing. And Peter Strzok answered their questions. And in fact, he got himself, what I call the McCarthy moment. Where you know at long luster, have you no decency left and he got that moment a couple of times today. One in terms of weighing defense of himself and the FBI and the safe guards inside the FBI.

And the second moment where he basically called this out and talked about the bigger picture here, which was the person who loves this is Vladimir Putin. The engineer of all this chaos is Vladimir Putin. And where's he is connected to? Was he connected to Hillary Clinton's campaign, no? He was connected to Donald Trump's campaign. The investigation of Trump's campaign was because credible and serious intelligence sources were telling them that Donald Trump's people were as deep with the Russians.

So, this was a moment he had today where they really expected him to break. And this afternoon they brought all -- they threw everything else at him. And Gohmert's moment in the sun this afternoon was a last-ditch effort for them to make him lose his composure and have an emotional moment where he basically yelled, screw you, at the panel. And he didn't take the bait. So, I think today's performance by the members and with the Democrats --

LEMON: How'd you feel about your Party today? How do you feel about your party, the way they acted today?

WILSON: Well, it was a shameless, you know, clown show. And it diminished all of them. They need to also -- few of those members need to be cautious about how they want to get him to talk about infidelity.

LEMON: Very good point. I'm sure a lot of people thought about that today considering. So, and we don't need to say anymore. Juliette, Strzok (inaudible) that card against the GOP attacks and this is how he defended himself for sending anti-Trump text messages. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER STRZOK, FBI AGENT: Sir, I think he is important when you look at those texts that you understand the context in which they were made and the things that were going on across America. In terms of the text that we will stop it, you need to understand that that was written late at night off the cuff and it was response to a series of events that included then candidate Trump insulting the immigrant family of a fallen war hero.

In my presumption, based on that horrible disgusting behavior, that the American population would not elect somebody demonstrating that behavior to be President of the United States. It was in no way unequivocally any suggestion that me, the FBI would take any action whatsoever to improperly impact the electoral process for any candidate. So, I take great offense and I take great disagreement to your assertion of what that was or wasn't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: He fully admits that he is not a fan of Donald Trump. And by the assessment of what he said, a lot of people were outraged by the moment he was talking about. The incident that he is talking about. But there's no evidence that those feelings impacted his work. Do the optics still matter here?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I think he -- I thought this was such an amazing moment, because he also wrapped himself in the process with how the FBI actually works. The idea that Peter Strzok is sitting alone in a room trying to you know, sort of frame Donald Trump is such an insult to the FBI. And he sort of threw it back at Congress. I just have to remind everyone, Peter Strzok is an FBI agent right now, right?

And so, what we have to remember is that the FBI allowed one of its agents to perform as he did today, to almost get a contempt citing at the beginning, they were threatening that, to protect -- in order to protect an ongoing investigation into the President of the United States. That is Hardball. And in the end it was a bad day for Trump. Because whatever we say about Peter Strzok in the e-mails, in the texts, if fair, who cares?

You know, the Russian still meddled in the election, there is investigation about Donald Trump and his campaign's contacts with the Russian. At least five of Donald Trump's campaign members have pled guilty and Manafort on the same day, is, you know showing up on a, you know, in a picture, you know, because he is in jail right now. So, I mean, I think you have to remember, in the end the story didn't change and that is bad for Trump.

[23:10:07] LEMON: Yes. Considering what he said before, because Shimon, we've established that he has spoken to these folks before behind closed doors. Is that the consistent of context of those texts, consistent with what he has said about him in the past?

PROKUPECZ: Yes, I mean, certainly his testimony appears to be consistent. He was prepared, Don, you could see that today. And in fact that he was ready to fight back. And opportunities when he could fight back he would fight back. I don't think he was holding back here today. It is truly, you could see that he was frustrated at times, Peter Strzok because he couldn't say more.

There was a lot of discussion at the FBI today. You could see there in the hearing about whether he can answer certain questions and in one point he couldn't then he could, but throughout all this, and from everything we know, his testimony behind closed doors and what he said today have been fairly consistent, certainly about the text messages, he is owned up to it.

Remember he was also interviewed by the inspector general who found there was no bias. Certainly a lot of issues and really a black eye for FBI here. Chris Wray, the FBI Director has this -- this has been extremely embarrassing for the agency to have had this happened. But, you know, they want to move past this. Peter Strzok wants to move past this. But there's still some holds that need to be answered the questions that need to be answered going forward. So, I think that that is going to continue on and these investigations are going to continue. We are going to see more public testimony, perhaps from Lisa Page soon, here also.

LEMON: Interesting. We will be watching and we will cover it. Thank you very much.

When we come back the fiery hearing on Capitol Hill coming just days before President Trump's face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin, but does all of this chaos pointing into Putin's hands.

[23:15:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The President downplaying his upcoming summit with Vladimir Putin saying it will be a loose meeting. But even top Republican are worried that he might be too friendly with the Russian president.

Let's discuss, CNN Global Affairs Analyst, Susan Glasser is here. She is a staff writer at "The New Yorker," and CNN National Security Analyst, Steve Hall. He is a retired chief of CIA Russian operations.

Good evening. Susan, here is the President, what do you have to say about his upcoming meeting with Vladimir Putin, watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am meeting with President Putin on Monday. And I think we go into that meeting not looking for so much. We want to find out about Syria, we will of course ask the favorite question about meddling. I will be asking that question again. He may deny it. I mean it is one of those things. All I can do is say, did you, and don't do it again.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: Of course the big question is, why is President Trump so

aggressive with so many people, even our allies, why is he so passive when it comes to Putin?

SUSAN GLASSER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: You know, we're not going to answer that tonight, but it is the right question to be asking. I think, you're so right to spotlight this loose meeting statement that President Trum9p made today. It is extraordinary. He spend the last several months pursuing a meeting with Vladimir Putin, even against the advice and caution of his aids. Never mind the insane political optics meeting with Putin at a time when there remained this shadow cast over his election as a result of the ongoing Mueller investigation.

So President Trump has pursued this summit meeting. My question is, why? What is it they're going to discuss? There's no formal agenda for this meeting. According to my reporting. There's no substantive proposals on the table on either side. The President has just basically confirmed it in that press conference. There's a lot they could be discussing from arm's control, to Russian incursion in Ukraine.

LEMON: How with are we going to know, there's no one there?

GLASSER: Well, that is right. It is going to be one on one meeting and then what I'm told this is going to happen if there is going to be a slightly expanded meeting while President Trump will be join by three of his top adviser, Pompeo, Bolton, and the ambassador of Moscow, John Huntsman. But, again, you know, there's very little sense that we will ever really know what goes on directly between Putin and Trump or even why either one of them wanted to have a summit. Once again, Trump said today, well, this might be the easiest meeting of all.

LEMON: Yes, well, he has said that before. It's interesting, if he is going to have that expanded meeting like you said, why the need for the meeting with just them. Steve, I think that is a real good question.

STEVE HALL, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: You know, Don, first of all I've got to echo everything that Susan said. This whole idea about meeting individually with Vladimir Putin, not a good idea, just common sense. I don't think it advise you or anybody to sit down personally and privately with Vladimir Putin, you know, it doesn't end well. It's sort of like sitting down with Tony Soprano and hoping for the best, it is just not a good idea.

But the bigger political question is, you know, why hasn't somebody told Trump, look if you meet with him alone it's only going to exacerbate the problem that you are having with your political adversaries not just the United States, but everywhere. Because it leads the impression, that there's some sort of secret agenda. And of course, everybody on the right is going to say, well we know what that secret agenda is. It is all about, you know, why are we going to move forward after you help me win the election or you know, in any number of other nefarious things that can be discuss. So, why would you do that to yourself? It is a real self-inflicted wound and I don't understand why it would happen.

LEMON: You don't think people have already told him that? I mean, --

HALL: I think they probably --

LEMON: He just wants to --

HALL: My guess they probably have. Yes, and I also think, they probably told him that you know, meeting with Putin right now is probably not a good idea, because, again, as soon as it allude to, what does the United States get out of it? What do we get out of it? What are our interests here? But I think, he is the kind of guy -- and we al all met these people who say, you really should not to that, it is not a good idea, and he kind of says, you know, damn the torpedoes, I am Donald J, Trump, I am the president of the United States and I do these things.

[23:20:00] You know, a lot of bravado and of course Trump, I mean, if Putin sees that coming and he will take you to the bank.

LEMON: So, let's move on and talk about what happened on Capitol Hill today. Because, as we have been roaring nonstop attacks against the embattle FBI agent Peter Strzok. And he talked about how the Russian leader might be viewing all of this. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STRZOK: Honest truth is that Russian interference in our elections has constitutes a grave attack on our democracy. Most disturbingly it had been wildly successful. So in discord on our nation and shaking faith in our institutions. I have the utmost respect for Congress's oversight role, but I strongly believe today's hearing is just another victory notch on Putin's belt and another milestone in our enemy's campaign to tear America apart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: String words and another victory notch in Putin's bell, part of our enemy campaign to tear America apart. Is he right Susan?

GLASSER: You know, I have to tell you, Don, this is a powerful statement today. And hearing it is just in many ways it is embarrassing spectacle. But also, I was thinking about how it was taking place on the exact same day that the President of the United States is in Brussels, at NATO, at the alliance that the United States founded seven decades ago. That has been by all our accounts wildly successful partnerships, bringing peace to, you know a war-torn continent.

And you know, here's the President of the United States basically, doing Donald Trump's, I mean doing Vladimir Putin's bidding at NATO headquarters all day long. Taunting our allies, calling them into emergency sessions, heckling them, hounding them. And then saying, oh actually, now I've fixed everything. And to me, this was two sides of the same coin, right. You have here inside the United States, basically a campaign, and a politic of division and you know, almost scorched earth. And you now have that in Europe as well. And both of those thing absolutely are something that Vladimir Putin would look upon and say that helps me.

LEMON: Yes. Hey, Steve listen we heard a lot of people say that Trump is advancing Putin's agenda. But, I want you to take a look at -- this is what a reporter said on Russian State T.V. yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (TRANSLATOR): I've been researching transatlantic relations all my life, but I never thought I'd witness a period in history where it's not USSR or Russia that is driving a wedge between trans-Atlantic allies. And the USSR tried to do that many times. But their chief, Washington and the President of the U.S. where doing everything to break the foundation of the trans-Atlantic alliance and union.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: That is as astounding? You know, what is your reaction hearing that on Russian State TV?

HALL: You know, normally, my position, Don, on Russian State TV is Russia propaganda. That is still my position, but you know, I never really thought I'd find myself being arguably in agreement with what they say. You know, you have to remember that it is Vladimir Putin's intention to try to divide the west, to divide the United States. And I think today's a good day for him in that regard. He has a couple of really good months in that regard.

So, but for that sort of thing to be bracingly put on Russian TV just shows how fearless Putin is and how much he is filling his oaths given what is going on with this President and in this country and with NATO right now.

So, I would think that if Donald Trump is going into a meeting saying he is fine, it's fine, this is going to be my easiest meeting, you know, he really needs to think twice about that, because if that is how he is going in, just like when you go into a meeting with the mafia, thinking -- you know, it's worth talking to him, why not. It's just not going to end well.

LEMON: They sounded like they can hardly believe their lucks. Thank you both. I appreciate that.

When we come back, the President traveling from summit to summit meeting with world leaders and making deals. Though he claims success, what is actually getting out of these deals? What are we getting out of this deals?

[23:25:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Tonight, NATO diplomats telling CNN that two Donald Trumps attended the summit. One Trump smiled in public, the other smiled in private. So I want to bring in now CNN Contributor, Michael D' Antonio. He is the author of "The Truth About Trump" and CNN Political Commentator, Scott Jennings. Good evening.

So, Michael, you've known then, Donald Trump, now President, for a long time. So let's -- I'm going to bring you in first. A source tell CNN, that President Trump's attack on NATO, really a big show, that Trump wanted to do right away when the cameras were on, he want to, you know smile and sort of bolster for the cameras. When you look at this actions in the last few weeks from the G7 summit -- from the G& and to the Singapore summit and now NATO. Is it all part his deal making play book? Did he achieve anything?

MICHAEL D'ANTONIO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, before he was President Trump, Donald Trump was a businessman Trump, back then he used to define success in kind of a rolling way. So, in one moment he would propose 20,000 housing units for the west side of Manhattan, and then a week later it was 15,000, then it was 10. And they could wound up with 12, then it was a victory. So his method is to set the conditions first and keep changing them that is part of his game. And then declare victory no matter what happens. So in Singapore we can see that he gave up the American war games and gave Mr. Kim all that he wanted in terms of equal status on the world's stage. And what has America received in return? Nothing yet. So this is all subject to definition, redefinition by the President.

LEMON: Yes. And many of the things he said today, this morning when he gave the press briefing were inaccurate. There were deals and timelines that had already been made and need a lot of fact check. Here's what Max Boot is writing in "The Washington Post". He said, President Trump likes his North Korea template so much that he is applying it to NATO. Here is how it works. Ramp up the alarming rhetoric, escalate the crisis, then hold a meeting, act buddy-buddy, claim that the problem is fixed because you're a master deal-maker even though nothing has actually changed.

That's the reason I brought that up, Scott, is because I'm just wondering because there are people there when are refuting when he said all NATO is going -- you know, the members are going to start paying more, you know, in the timeline that I put in place and faster and they're saying that's not true. So, is this what it all boils down to, bluster and?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think that sometimes President Trump is his own one-man good cop, bad cop routine. I think we have seen that time and again. But I don't want to take anonymous sources' words for it. I don't want to take Max Boot's words for it because he hates the president.

I'll take the president of France's words for it reported in "The New York Times" tonight. We are all leaving this summit stronger because the president of the United States reaffirmed his commitment and desire for a strong NATO. So, I see a world leader, the head of France saying, we are in better shape than we were when we started.

And that tells that for whatever bluster happened in public and whatever discussions happened in private, we are coming out of the NATO summit and at least it's (ph) good, and according to the president of France, better shape than we were. I'll take his word over some anonymous diplomatic source.

LEMON: So it doesn't bother you that he gives the wrong information and people have to again refute it? I mean, listen, I think that the president of France is very diplomatic and is not going to do what our president does and try to cut people off at the knee. I think it was a very diplomatic statement on his behalf.

I'm not sure if that is exactly how he feels totally in private, considering what he said what Donald Trump said today about, you know, many nations ramping up what they're going to pay and more than the two percent in the timeline that is shorter than the one that has already been decided, it's simply not true.

JENNINGS: Yeah, I think the president is playing hardball with these guys because for presidents dating back to Ronald Reagan, they have all raised this issue of you need to pay more, you need to participate more. Presidents for many years now have raised the issue of German pipeline, getting gas and oil from Russia. That's always been raised but no one has ever been willing to do anything about it. No one has ever ratcheted it up to the point that Trump has and --

LEMON: Scott, with all due respect, that's simply just not true. Under the Obama administration, what you're saying is simply not true. The member nations have agreed to a timeline and that timeline, it was agreed, they were all complying with it, whether it was fast enough or what. But the deadline is not here yet.

So, what this president is saying is completely false. That was not his deadline. That's what the president and those who are in power before this administration, that's what they have decided on. To say that other presidents didn't bring it up, that's simply not true.

JENNINGS: No, I didn't say they didn't, I said they had brought it up but they haven't ratcheted it up like Trump has.

LEMON: So Donald pressed NATO for more.

JENNINGS: But, look, I'm just -- I'm sort of just quoting the secretary general of NATO, who publicly thanked Donald Trump for bringing this issue up and pressing it even further, and so --

LEMON: Again, a diplomat.

JENNINGS: -- there are public statements. There are public statements from these people who run big countries and run NATO, saying, hey, Donald Trump raised some good points and we're glad he did.

So, look, yeah, you asked a question earlier and your question, do I like it that he messes up some of the numbers? No, I don't like it. I wish he would get the numbers right every time, but that doesn't invalidate all the larger points that he raised.

LEMON: But what his larger -- his point is, it is not true what he is saying. And the people, if you read behind the lines and you read their full statements, they're being diplomats, they're being diplomatic. They're not going to say Donald Trump is, you know, lies through his teeth or is saying something that's completely false in so many words.

Of course they're going to compliment him. They are diplomats. But I got to go. I'm out of time. I'm sorry. Sorry, Max. We'll get you on more next time. We'll be right back. Thank you. We'll be right back.

[23:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: President Trump in a bombshell interview tonight with a British newspaper criticizing Prime Minister Theresa May's handling of Brexit, the U.K.'s withdrawal from the European Union. His comments were released shortly after May hosted the president and first lady for dinner. Tomorrow, the two leaders will meet for working lunch before Trump heads to Windsor Castle for a tea with Queen Elizabeth.

Let's bring in now CNN Business Correspondent, Mr. Richard Quest, the host of "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS," and CNN Royal Commentator, Victoria Arbiter.

Thank you both for joining us. Lots to discuss here. What a trip. You're astonished, Richard. Good evening and thank you both for joining us. You're astonished by this, especially considering the timing of it, right after this dinner and --

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: This has broken every diplomatic norm, criticizing fellow world leaders. He has basically said to Theresa May, I gave her advice, she ignored it and went in opposite direction. The deal that she has agreed is a bad deal and is not Brexit. And the worst of all, if she goes ahead with this deal, there will be no U.S.-U.K. trade deal possible.

And that's the one thang that Theresa May is holding out. She's going around saying, we are going to leave so we can have deals with countries like the United States. He has not only pulled the rug out from under her, he has chopped her off at the legs, hits her over the head, and literally created a massive, massive political problem.

LEMON: Before we continue, I want to talk about how she might respond, where -- what does this do for the relationship? I just want to play the president speaking about Theresa May and then we'll discuss.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (voice over): I would have done it much differently. I actually told Theresa May how to do it, but she didn't agree, she didn't listen to me.

[23:40:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): What did you say?

TRUMP: She didn't listen. No, I told her how to do it. That will be up to her to say. But I told her how to do it. She wanted to go a different route.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So Theresa May is supposed to listen to him? Is he the prime minister? I mean, what does this do for their relationship?

QUEST: I have no idea, frankly. I have no idea how she sits opposite him tomorrow for that meeting and say, all right, Donald, you just knifed me in the back, you stabbed me in the chest, you blow my head off and you probably damaged my political career beyond repair.

Your position here is going to take this threat of no U.S.-U.K. trade deal and they are going to run with it. This is the biggest issue she faces. Put it another way. Today, her party produced a 104-page document on their Brexit plan. Donald trump, tonight, did that to it.

LEMON: Didn't he criticize? He said someone would have been a better prime minister.

QUEST: He said Boris Johnson which of course is the foreign secretary who resigned. That's the equivalent of Theresa May coming out and saying, you know I think Mitt Romney --

LEMON: Or Ted Cruz maybe.

QUEST: Ted Cruz. Ted should have been the president.

LEMON: Right.

QUEST: Would make a marvelous president.

LEMON: Right, yeah. It's very interesting. Also, the interview with president, he talked about the pride in taking his wife, Melania, to meet the queen at tea in Windsor, OK? What can we expect in this meeting? What is the protocol? Because he says, I don't know how they're going to all sit there, you know, he's talking about Theresa May. But how, he and the queen, what's going to happen?

VICTORIA ARBITER, CNN ROYAL COMMENTATOR: The queen's got her work cut out for her but she's a master in the art of self display. She's been in the job for over 66 years. Really, she is the -- the best part really of this whole trip. When he arrives at Windsor Castle tomorrow, he'll be greeted by the queen.

They've only got about 40 minutes together. It's going to be 40 minutes. It's going to be enough time for the queen to charm Donald Trump. Whether he charms her, of course remains to be seen. Everybody is worried about all the faux pas that may come along.

LEMON: That was my question.

ARBITER: Exactly. In 1992, former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating put his arm around the queen and was subsequently labeled the "Lizard of Oz" by the British tabloid. So, really Donald Trump needs to remember, don't hug the queen, don't ask the queen for a selfie, don't ask her political views, which of course in light of this, I'm sure she's got strong political views.

As a neutral head of state, she's not allowed to share those views. And of course, really with Donald Trump, the number one rule is going to be don't tweet any of the details afterwards. Any conversations with members of royal families required to remain private. So let's hope he keeps it private.

LEMON: Do you think he's going to play by those rules?

ARBITER: No, absolutely not.

(LAUGHTER)

ARBITER: I think he will be tweeting the minute he is not even out the gate of Windsor Castle. He will be tweeting.

LEMON: So if he doesn't play by the rules, does she have to play by the rules? As you said, she doesn't really -- we don't really know what her political leanings are, right? So how will we know how she feels about Donald Trump, will we?

ARBITER: We won't. We won't know. I mean, at the request of the British government, the queen has had to interview or entertain numerous controversial figures, Putin, Assad, Mugabe, Lukashenko (ph). Donald Trump is going to be another member of that long list of controversial figures.

The queen takes it all in her stride. She will show him the hospitality that is required to show him. He will get a little taste of the (INAUDIBLE) for which the U.K. is so famous. Of course, his visit was downgraded from a state visit to a working visit due to protests last summit.

So, she will turn on the charm, royal hospitality, it's a well-oiled machine. She'll do what she needs to do and then they will usher him out the door.

LEMON: You're leading right into all of my questions. I wanted to ask you about when she talked about protests. Remember how Barack Obama was greeted in Britain and how he was greeted in Germany. I mean, there were crowds, even before he was president. How -- considering the balloon -- have you seen -- I don't know if we have video of this balloon, you know, the Trump balloon.

QUEST: Yeah.

LEMON: And the protests. How do the people of Britain feel about President Trump?

QUEST: It's always Beijing, just to make a mass generalization. But I think one can say with a certain degree of safety that the protest will be large, the opposition is great, and fundamentally people cannot -- the rest of the world -- this is uncomfortable for me to say and it may be hard for some people to hear -- the rest of the world in so many cases still cannot understand how he got elected.

We can debate the rights and wrongs of it. But that's the reality. They're going to look at this. So there will be protests on the streets of London. He will go to Scotland where he's not the most popular for people because of the way he has run his golf clubs (ph). So, extremely controversial. All these other issues that have bubbled up. So, he knows all this. He doesn't care. He knows all these issues. But the way they've managed this trip, get him out of London, get him to Blenheim, get him to Chequers, get him to Windsor. For goodness' sake, don't drive him through the streets of London where we might have a massive protest and then get him up to Scotland.

LEMON: It's not just the rest of the world. I think the majority of folks in this country, especially considering the popular vote.

[23:45:01] We may have to explain to our folks overseas about the electoral college but I understand the sentiment of what you said. I appreciate it. We'll be watching.

ARBITER: Thank you.

LEMON: Thank you, Richard. Thank you, Victoria. When we come back, an African-American mother wants to teach her 11-year-old son a healthy work ethic. So, she helps him land a job delivering newspaper. On his first day, someone calls a police on him. We're going to speak to that remarkable young man and his mother. That's next.

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LEMON: Police are being called on black people for a lot of absurd reasons these days. Swimming while black, barbecuing while black, napping while black, renting an Airbnb while black, the list goes on and on. And now it's delivering a newspaper while black.

[23:50:00] This time it is an 11-year-old. His name is Uriah Sharp. Police called on him on the first day of his newspaper route in Ohio. The very first day. His mother got him the part-time job so he could learn the importance of hard work.

So Uriah went out on his route, but there was a mix-up about which houses should be receiving a paper. He went back to fix his mistake and then the police showed up. An officer told Uriah and his mom that a woman in the park who is across the street called them because she saw Uriah walking to house empty handed and then walking away with something in his hands. Uriah and his mother are both here now. Brandie is her name. And they join us. Thank you so much. Good evening.

BRANDIE SHARP, MOTHER OF 11-YEAR-OLD BOY STOPPED BY POLICE: Thank you. Thank you for having us.

LEMON: So, Brandie, you first. You posted on Facebook that the paper route was about teaching your son the importance of hard work, about earning money, and that's why you were out there giving him things to do.

SHARP: Exactly.

LEMON: Everything that happened, what was the lesson that you ended up learning?

SHARP: The lessons I ended up learning is not to jump to conclusions, you know. It's just give everybody a fair chance. We weren't doing anything wrong. We were just trying to do a job and have fun while we're doing it, so, yeah.

LEMON: So, Uriah, you now, are you doing OK?

URIAH SHARP, BOY STOPPE BY POLICE WHILE DELIVERING NEWSPAPERS: Yeah.

LEMON: I'm glad you're here. You can deliver papers in my neighborhood anytime. I'll even help you. What were you thinking when you were approached by the police officers while you were delivering the papers? Did you have any idea why?

U.SHARP: No, I was confused.

LEMON: How so? Talk to me more about that.

U. SHARP: I was confused because I don't know if that's normal for them, but in our neighborhood, it's not normal for police to just roam around like that.

LEMON: Yeah. And so they came up to you and -- so what happened? There is discrepancy that I understand about who exactly should be getting papers or not or information. So you went back to correct it. I understand you were taking the things that you already delivered in the places that weren't supposed to be delivered, and you were trying to fix your mistake, right?

U. SHARP: Yes.

LEMON: Yeah. And then did you explain that to them? What happened?

U. SHARP: I didn't get a chance to talk with the cop.

LEMON: Mom, tell me about that.

B. SHARP: So we actually didn't understand that someone had called until we got home and saw the actual police report. We had -- my boss had explained to us when they got the paper route that they have an ordinance that you actually have to deliver the paper on the porch. So that's what we were doing.

And because it was our first time, we realized that we delivered to the wrong street, which was an honest mistake. I was watching everything that he was doing. I reversed. He was picking up the paper up the porch. It was only a few houses that we had until we realized that it was the wrong houses. So, yeah, that was pretty much the mistake that happened.

LEMON: What did you say, Uriah?

U. SHARP: It was only two houses.

B. SHARP: Two, yeah.

LEMON: Only two houses. Listen, this is terrible, Uriah. It never should have happened in the first place. But there are so many people out here who are very proud of you, who are rooting for you to succeed. What do you want to do with your life? You're only 11 years old but I'm sure you have big hopes and dreams. I know you just wanted some wrestling figures, but what do you want to do with your life?

U. SHARP: It's either wrestling or football, maybe basketball, maybe lacrosse as well. I don't know about any other sports.

LEMON: Yeah. The woman, Brandie, who called the police, she wasn't identified but if she is watching right now, do you have a message for her or for people like her who may be tempted to call police for someone doing something innocent like delivering newspapers?

B. SHARP: Absolutely. I think that -- I'm not mad at her. I just think that it could have been handled differently. That's his first experience of having a job and his first experience was the cops called on him. That is something he is going to live with for the rest of his life.

And I think it could have been handled way differently, maybe thought through a little bit, you know, before we actually responded, not be too impulsive. Maybe look out the window or door and ask is there something you're looking for. I mean, to me, it's my own opinion, not because he's my own soon. He doesn't look threatening to me. So, what was it you felt so threatened by?

Clearly, she made it seemed like there was suspicious activity or she was upset that he was in her lawn or her driveway. So if you were offended or upset that we came to your driveway, that's what they ask for as far as delivering the newspapers. We meant no harm by that. I did not appreciate, you know, the police being called on my 11-year- old African-American son.

[23:55:04] LEMON: And she hasn't reached out to you, no one has reached out to you since then, right?

B. SHARP: No, they haven't.

LEMON: Uriah, I'm going to give you the last word. What's next for you? What grade are you? What are you doing?

U. SHARP: I'm going to sixth grade.

LEMON: You're going to what grade?

U. SHARP: Sixth.

LEMON: Sixth grade. What are you doing this summer?

U. SHARP: Swimming, spending time with my little sister, playing my game, playing with my wrestlers.

LEMON: And being an 11-year-old. And let's hope -- listen, I would hope that this doesn't stop you from delivering papers. That's your mom's decision. But I would say don't let it stop you. And I have feeling you may get some wrestling figures from some folks that you --

U. SHARP: I'll do it but not in that neighborhood.

LEMON: Good for you. I'm going to need your address, ma'am, because I was talking about me. Thank you, both.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: I appreciate it. Good luck to you guys. Have a great summer. And you, again, don't let it stop you. You're a great young man. Thanks, mom.

B. SHARP: I appreciate that. Thank you so much for having us.

LEMON: Absolutely. Thanks for watching. Our coverage continues.

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