From the New York Times, I'm Rachel Abrams, and this is The Daily.

Today, President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are meeting on U.S. soil for the first time in Anchorage, Alaska.

They'll be discussing an end to the war in Ukraine, and I spoke to my colleague David Sanger

about the wide range of possible outcomes, and why, no matter what happens, the meeting is a win

for Putin.

Thank you. meeting is a win for Putin. It's Friday, August 15th.

David, thank you for joining us from Alaska.

Are you going to get any fishing done while you're there?

Oh, I'd love to, Rachel, but I have to confess that at breakfast this morning at our hotel here,

I was sitting next to this guy who, you know, looked like Mr. Alaska, and he had all his gear.

And we were talking about the returning salmon that are moving up the rivers. And at the end of it,

he said, so where are you fishing the next few days? And I had to admit I was here to cover the Trump-Puton

summit meeting. And he looked at me like I was the world's greatest loser. So basically what

you're saying is no fishing while you're in Alaska.

No fishing, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Besides being filled with bearded fishermen, what is the atmosphere like right now in Alaska ahead of this meeting?

Anchorage in August is always jammed, right?

No hotels in the best of times. And in the midst of this, they drop

the first summit in four years between a president of the United States and the president of Russia.

And they couldn't even find a resort to hold it at. So it's going to be held at the Elmendorf Air Base, which is where

Air Force One and other government planes all get refueled on their way to and from Asia.

What exactly is on the table here? What are the stakes of this meeting?

...