'Start Here': Trump meets with Vladimir Putin amid election interference, Crimea tensions

The leaders of the US and Russia meet face-to-face in Helinski.

July 16, 2018, 5:42 AM

It's Monday, July 16, 2018. Here are some of the stories we're talking about on ABC News' new daily podcast, "Start Here."

1. Face to face

This morning, President Trump is slated to get down to business with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

This summit comes on the heels of a contentious trip through Europe, in which President Trump bashed NATO member countries, including Germany and British Prime Minister Theresa May.

It also comes as Putin's Russia is being accused, more clearly than ever, of interfering in American political affairs.

ABC News chief foreign correspondent Terry Moran says Trump wants to move the U.S. “farther away from western Europe and closer to Moscow,” while ABC News' Tara Palmeri says Russia's neighbors on the Baltic Sea who rely on the U.S. for protection are keeping a close eye on the meeting.

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2. Mueller's move

While we talk about Russia, it's worth taking a look at what went down Friday when a federal grand jury indicted a dozen Russians as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.

ABC News' Aaron Katersky says the indictment details how the Russians hacked into Democratic National Committee e-mails with the aim of influencing the 2016 presidential election.

PHOTO: U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, center, holds a news conference at the Department of Justice, July 13, 2018, in Washington.
U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, center, holds a news conference at the Department of Justice, July 13, 2018, in Washington.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

3. Violent protests in Chicago

Over the weekend in Chicago, a racially charged incident became violent.

It started with police confronting a suspect and then shooting him. Protests flared up, and now several people are injured.

ABC News' Zachary Kiesch spoke to a local pastor who compared the incident to a "take-home volcano experiment."

PHOTO: Thousands of protesters walk north on the Dan Ryan Expressway in Chicago after blocking the transportation artery in an anti-violence march, July 7, 2018.
Thousands of protesters walk north on the Dan Ryan Expressway in Chicago after blocking the transportation artery in an anti-violence march, July 7, 2018.
Abel Uribe/Chicago Tribune/TNS/Newscom