[Berman:] When President Trump sits down with Russia's President Vladimir Putin tomorrow at the G20 summit, he won't be dealing with a typical politician. The former KGB officer has a history of intimidation and threats beyond typical political maneuvering. CNN's Randi Kaye has more.
[Randi Kaye, Cnn Correspondent:] When German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Vladimir Putin back in 2007, they were not alone. The Russian president brought along his big black Labrador, even though Merkel was afraid of dogs. She's been attacked by a dog back in 1995. She sat with her hands in her lap clearly uncomfortable while the Russian president seemed to smirk.
[Matthew Rojansky, Russia Expert:] It was absolutely a power play, it was an intimidation tactic. This is a way of showing that the Russian people, hey, I'm a powerful man, I'm a manly man.
[Kaye:] Years later, Putin tried to explain to a German newspaper, "I wanted to do something nice for her. When I found out she doesn't like dogs, of course I apologized."
[Rojansky:] It's well known that Putin is a former KGB officer and in that role he was trained to be a handler of people. What that means in an espionage context is of course exploiting people's vulnerabilities but also their desires, their ambitions, their insecurities to achieve your objectives and that's not always to shame that person. It's not always to have dominance, but it's to advance your interests.
[Kaye:] This wasn't Putin's only apparent ploy involving a dog. Former President George W. Bush shared a story recently, about how Putin, "Dissed his dog, Barney."
[George W. Bush, Former President Of The United States:] Putin says, would you like to meet my dog? Laura and I are with Putin in his dacha outside of Moscow. I said, yeah, I like to meet him. And out comes a giant hound kind of loping across the birch-lined yard, and Putin looks at me and says bigger, stronger, and faster than Barney. And, you know, it speaks volumes when you listen to what somebody says. And so in other words, he's got a chip on his shoulder.
[Rojansky:] Putin, at the end of day, is a human being. He's certainly has his ego, he's got his insecurities.
[Kaye:] Putin is also well known for keeping important people waiting for a long time. In 2014, he left Germany's Angela Merkel waiting more than four hours to see him. He kept the prime ministers of Japan and Ukraine each waiting three hours. He even made the Pope wait almost an hour. The waiting game, it seems, is just part of the power play.
[Rojansky:] It puts them in a position of being appreciative of that time, and automatically taking Putin more seriously, even if they are actually there to chide Putin or to try to pressure him into changing his views.
[Kaye:] In a meeting with Putin back in 2011, then Vice President Joe Biden referenced to conversation he'd had with the Georgian prime minister. Putin's response seemed to hint that Russia had eavesdropped on that conversation. His response to Biden according to the "Washington Post" was, "We know exactly what you're saying." Biden reportedly laughed. Putin did not. And in 2007, Putin may have succeeded at unnerving the president of France. In a documentary that aired on French public broadcasting, a journalist said Putin berated Nicolas Sarkozy in a private meeting, leaving Sarkozy visibly shaken for his press conference that followed.
[Rojansky:] And this is, again, a way of setting a tone in a relationship where, you know, if you have anything resembling empathy for the story that he tells, you kind of feel like you owe them something, what are we going to do to make up for it, how to we apologize, how do we make it right?
[Kaye:] Vladimir Putin's power play, his next target could be President Donald Trump. Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
[Berman:] All right, lots to discuss now with an expert on each president, Ben Judah is author of "Fragile Empire: How Russia Fell In And Out of Love with Vladimir Putin." And Michael D'Antonio is a CNN contributor, author of "The Truth about Trump." And, Ben, I want to start with you here, knowing what you know about Vladimir Putin, which direction do you expect him to go in tomorrow? Are we talking about a power play intimidation here or maybe flattery?
[Ben Judah, Author, "fragile Empire":] I think it's very important to remember that Vladimir Putin is hugely experienced in meeting and dealing with world leaders. Vladimir Putin first started meeting the western ruling class when he was deputy mayor of St. Petersburg in the early '90s and got a chance to meet
[Berman:] So you think perhaps more the charm route tomorrow in this first meeting. Michael, what about you? Obviously, President Trump likes to fashion himself as a big negotiator here, but we see a fighter or a charmer on his side?
[Michael D'antonio, Author, "the Truth About Trump:] Oh, I think he'll try to be charming. That's usually his set point in an encounter with someone he hasn't met before. And despite what President Trump has said over the years he's never actually met Vladimir Putin, never dealt with him face-to-face. But I also think it's important to remember that there are really three presences in this meeting. One is the Russian interest which is represented by Putin. The second is America's interest, which is represented by President Trump, but the third interest is Donald Trump's ego. I think Vladimir Putin will have the ability to set aside his own feelings and he'll have a purpose that is nationalistic and pretty set. I think in Donald Trump, we have a person who's already capitulated in a way by having this meeting in the first place and the second part of this is that he is far more wounded and far more vulnerable than Vladimir Putin is and will have a need to satisfy. He wants to be recognized by Putin far more than Putin needs to be recognized by Trump.
[Berman:] Interesting. And Ben, you know that one of the best analyses of Vladimir Putin might be a KGB assessment of Putin and that's what the U.S. should be looking at right now to get some direction. Explain.
[Judah:] Well, this is one of the more fascinating documents that exist on Vladimir Putin. When Vladimir Putin was sort of training to sort of join the elites of the KGB to participate in Foreign Service, an assessment done on him found that he was not at all vulnerable to flattery or women or drink, but he was very vulnerable to a lowered awareness of danger. And what does that mean? It means rushing into conflicts or situations without having properly mapped out how dangerous these could be for you as an agent or perhaps, indeed, as a world leader.
[Berman:] He doesn't know when he's in trouble, in other words. Michael, just a bit of time left here. You do think that President Trump may draw a line when it comes to Syria?
[D'antonio:] I think he may. And I actually think President Trump may recognize that he has an opportunity here. This is if he has capitulated by having this meeting, he now has an opportunity to show himself to be forceful. Syria is probably one place where he can both be direct but also seeks out accommodation, the shared interests that he talked about during the campaign when he said, wouldn't it be great if we got along? So, let's hope from America's point of view that the president sees an opportunity here, has the presence of mind to put forward our interests and make something happen.
[Berman:] It will be fascinating to watch. Ben Judah, Michael D'Antonio, fascinating perspective. Thanks so much. We'll be right back.