WEBVTT 00:00.140 --> 00:04.561 JUDY WOODRUFF: President Biden has arrived in Geneva tonight, making ready for his meeting 00:04.561 --> 00:07.129 with Russia's President Vladimir Putin tomorrow. 00:07.129 --> 00:12.129 But, first, he moved today to end a tariff war with the European Union. 00:12.200 --> 00:15.620 White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor reports. 00:15.620 --> 00:20.620 YAMICHE ALCINDOR: President Biden's final day in Belgium, a diplomatic sprint, photo-ops 00:22.490 --> 00:23.769 at the palace with the Belgian king. 00:23.769 --> 00:27.189 JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: America is back, and which is why we're here 00:27.189 --> 00:28.189 in full force. 00:28.189 --> 00:29.949 YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Then meetings at the European Commission headquarters. 00:29.949 --> 00:32.110 JOE BIDEN: It's overwhelmingly in the interests of the United States of America to have a 00:32.110 --> 00:37.110 great relationship with NATO and with the E.But. 00:38.059 --> 00:43.059 YAMICHE ALCINDOR: One early product of Mr. Biden's E.U. engagement? A major trade resolution. 00:44.360 --> 00:49.120 This morning, the U.S. and E.U. announced they reached an agreement to end a 17-year-long 00:49.120 --> 00:54.120 trade dispute. It involves aircraft subsidies for the American company Boeing and the European 00:54.710 --> 00:57.420 multinational Airbus. 00:57.420 --> 01:02.420 Former President Trump escalated the U.S.-E.U. trade war. He slapped tariffs on European 01:02.839 --> 01:07.839 metals and other goods. Today, U.S. and E.U. officials vowed to end the larger trade dispute. 01:09.520 --> 01:13.910 In Brussels today, U.S. trade Representative Katherine Tai told reporters that the deal 01:13.910 --> 01:18.910 will impact 700,000 jobs in the U.S. It comes as China is on track to become a major rival 01:20.860 --> 01:23.700 in airplane manufacturing. 01:23.700 --> 01:27.490 After his meetings in Brussels, President Biden flew to Geneva, Switzerland. Tomorrow, 01:27.490 --> 01:30.159 he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 01:30.159 --> 01:35.159 JOE BIDEN: He's bright. He's tough. And I have found that he is a -- as they say, when 01:37.610 --> 01:39.689 I used to play ball, a worthy adversary. 01:39.689 --> 01:43.780 YAMICHE ALCINDOR: U.S. officials say the president's meetings with Putin and Russian officials 01:43.780 --> 01:48.780 are expected to start around 1:00 p.m. local time. They could last four to five hours or 01:49.200 --> 01:50.200 even longer. 01:50.200 --> 01:54.450 Following the meetings, Mr. Biden is scheduled to hold a press conference without Putin, 01:54.450 --> 01:59.450 who will speak separately. The two leaders have met before, in 2011, when Mr. Biden was 02:00.229 --> 02:01.649 vice president. 02:01.649 --> 02:06.649 Yesterday, in Brussels, President Biden said he plans to take a tough line with Putin, 02:06.670 --> 02:10.959 but he also will try to sort out any common challenges they can address together. 02:10.959 --> 02:15.260 JOE BIDEN: We should decide where it's in our mutual interests, in the interests of 02:15.260 --> 02:20.260 the world, to cooperate, and see if we can do that, and the areas where we don't agree, 02:23.290 --> 02:25.069 make it clear what the red lines are. 02:25.069 --> 02:29.989 YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Administration officials say Mr. Biden plans to raise a number of issues. 02:29.989 --> 02:34.989 Among them? Ransomware attacks against U.S. infrastructure by criminals in Russia, as 02:35.120 --> 02:39.209 well as Ukraine, human rights, and arms control. 02:39.209 --> 02:43.630 Sources close to Mr. Biden tell the "NewsHour" the main goal of the meeting is for the president 02:43.630 --> 02:48.630 to show U.S. strength and to create a stark contrast to former President Trump. In 2018, 02:49.450 --> 02:54.450 after meeting with Putin in Helsinki, Finland, Trump told reporters that he believed Putin 02:54.940 --> 02:59.940 over U.S. intelligence officials that Russia did not meddle in the 2016 presidential election. 03:00.720 --> 03:05.720 Today, in Geneva, President Biden was questioned whether he was ready to meet Putin. He had 03:06.129 --> 03:08.970 a simple answer -- quote -- "I'm always ready." 03:08.970 --> 03:12.620 JUDY WOODRUFF: And Yamiche joins me now. 03:12.620 --> 03:13.620 Hello, Yamiche. 03:13.620 --> 03:18.620 So, as you reported, President Biden did meet with European Union leaders today. They announced 03:19.110 --> 03:22.819 a trade deal. Tell us about the significance of that. 03:22.819 --> 03:26.909 YAMICHE ALCINDOR: This trade deal between President Biden and the European Union is 03:26.909 --> 03:30.850 seen as a significant step toward calming the train disputes -- the trade disputes that 03:30.850 --> 03:33.900 really go past the Trump era. 03:33.900 --> 03:38.620 President Trump -- former President Trump was really seen as hostile to European leaders 03:38.620 --> 03:42.989 and countries. He upped tariffs. And this is really President Biden wanting to signal 03:42.989 --> 03:47.470 that the United States and our European allies are on the same page. This is a five-year 03:47.470 --> 03:51.849 truce. And it's between Europe's Airbus and the United States' Boeing. 03:51.849 --> 03:54.970 I should also note that White House officials have been underscoring over and over again 03:54.970 --> 03:58.560 that they're looking for foreign policy for the middle class, to benefit the middle class. 03:58.560 --> 04:02.299 So, this gets to that, they say, because this is going to impact about 700,000 jobs. 04:02.299 --> 04:07.299 JUDY WOODRUFF: And, meanwhile, Yamiche, we know the president has flown on to Geneva 04:07.799 --> 04:12.799 a day ahead of his meeting with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. 04:13.280 --> 04:18.280 What do we know about the issues President Biden plans to raise with Mr. Putin? 04:18.850 --> 04:22.200 YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Well, this is now, of course, the high-stakes meeting that we have been 04:22.200 --> 04:25.510 waiting for, for now several weeks. 04:25.510 --> 04:29.140 President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin are going to be meeting at a villa just 04:29.140 --> 04:33.780 behind me. And the stakes and -- are really, really high for. There are all eyes looking 04:33.780 --> 04:37.160 at these two leaders. There's a lot on the agenda, including talking about ransomware 04:37.160 --> 04:41.420 attacks that have reportedly been carried out by criminals living in Russia. 04:41.420 --> 04:46.160 There's also the idea of Russia meddling in elections and disinformation. There's Ukraine 04:46.160 --> 04:50.430 and the annexing of Crimea. And there's really human rights issues. So, President Biden says 04:50.430 --> 04:54.690 he has a long list. He wants to have a firm hand with Russia. And he also wants to make 04:54.690 --> 04:58.320 a stark contrast between his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, who was seen 04:58.320 --> 05:00.160 as cozying up to Russia. 05:00.160 --> 05:05.160 JUDY WOODRUFF: And what is it that -- how is it that this meeting is expected to shape 05:06.700 --> 05:11.470 their relationship going forward? What are American officials telling you they want from 05:11.470 --> 05:12.470 this meeting? 05:12.470 --> 05:17.330 YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Well, that is a key question, Judy. What exactly is President Biden looking 05:17.330 --> 05:21.860 for in this meeting with the Russian president? And how, really, will it benefit the American 05:21.860 --> 05:24.590 people? That's the question that I have been putting to White House sources and aides. 05:24.590 --> 05:28.650 And they say this is really about showing that the U.S. is strong and that the U.S. 05:28.650 --> 05:32.390 can confront Russia head on. There's also this sense that President Biden really wants 05:32.390 --> 05:37.200 to turn the page and not be like his predecessor. There is a feeling here that this meeting 05:37.200 --> 05:40.430 is going to be going on for some four to five hours. So there's going to be a lot to talk 05:40.430 --> 05:41.430 about. 05:41.430 --> 05:45.120 Now, President Biden, though, has called the Russian president a killer. He has said that 05:45.120 --> 05:48.690 he does not trust him. So there really is this feeling that, while President Biden is 05:48.690 --> 05:52.680 here meeting with him, that he really wants to try to find some common ground, but also 05:52.680 --> 05:57.060 wants to make the case that the United States should be talking to, in some ways, our adversaries, 05:57.060 --> 05:59.900 as well as the people that are close with us, our allies. 05:59.900 --> 06:03.190 And President Biden will be holding that solo press conference. And White House officials 06:03.190 --> 06:07.380 tell me it's because he does not want to be seen as competing with the president of Russia. 06:07.380 --> 06:11.220 He doesn't want to be seen as looking at who spoke longest. And he really wants to be making 06:11.220 --> 06:13.890 the case why this is important for the American people. 06:13.890 --> 06:16.290 But there are a lot of questions about, what are the deliverables that are going to come 06:16.290 --> 06:19.330 out of this meeting? And we're going to, of course, be hopefully asking some questions 06:19.330 --> 06:21.480 in that press conference and getting some answers, Judy. 06:21.480 --> 06:25.800 JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, the two men do have a bit of a history together. So, we will be 06:25.800 --> 06:29.460 really interested to see how that meeting goes. 06:29.460 --> 06:33.020 Yamiche Alcindor with President Biden in Geneva, Switzerland. 06:33.020 --> 06:34.020 Thank you, Yamiche. 06:34.020 --> 06:35.310 YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Thanks so much.