I know him relatively well. And the conversation started off, I said, I know you and you know me.

If I establish this occurred, then be prepared. You said, you know he doesn't have a soul.

I did say that to him, yes. And to end, his response was, we understand one another. I wouldn't

mean a wise guy. I was alone with him in his office. That's how it came

about. It was when President Bush had said, I've looked in his eyes and saw a soul. I said,

looked in your eyes and I don't think you have a soul and look back and we said, we understand

each other. Look, most important thing dealing with foreign leaders in my experience, and I've

dealt with an awful lot of them

over my career, is just know the other guy. So you know Vladimir Putin? You think he's a killer?

Mm-hmm. I do. That's President Biden, March of last year, calling Vladimir Putin a killer.

As Putin now prepares for war with Ukraine this morning, a possible new chance for diplomacy.

We underline possible. Good morning. Welcome to morning, Joe. It is Monday, February 22nd, President's Day.

I'm Willie Geist. Joe and Mika have the morning off with us. MSNBC contributors, Mike Barnacle,

and Caddy Kay on a busy President's Day Monday morning. Let's dive right in.

In a last ditch effort toward diplomacy, President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin

have agreed in principle to a summit to discuss the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.

The announcement was made late last night by the Office of French President, Emmanuel Macron,

after he spoke with both Biden and Putin separately. According to Macron's office, the two leaders have accepted the

meeting and it would take place only, only if an attack on Ukraine does not take place. But White

House officials say a final decision on such a summit would be made only after further talks

between Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, who are scheduled to meet on Thursday.

In a statement, White House Press Secretary Jen Saki writes this, quote, we are committed to pursuing diplomacy until the moment an invasion begins.

...