Russia's President Has Defined and Denied Meddling in the U.S. Election.
HARLOW: Vladimir Putin is not on the ballot this election but the Russian president's name has come up over and over and over again, frankly, throughout this race. Let's talk about the implications and put some perspective on it with Garry Kasparov. He is with me. He is the chairman of the Human rights foundation of a Russian pro-democracy leader, also a former world chess champion. He is one of the president Putin's most vocal critics. He is also the author of this book, "winter is coming: why Vladimir Putin and the enemies of the free world must be stopped." The paper back comes out November 8th. Thank you for coming on.</s>GARRY KASPAROV, CHAIRMAN, THE HUMAN RIGHTS FOUNDATION: Thanks for having me on.</s>HARLOW: Do you believe whether the kremlin cares deeply whether it is Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump in the White House? Do you buy the argument from some that Putin wants Trump in the White House?</s>KASPAROV: Absolutely. I can hear the Russian propaganda machine supporting Trump 24/7. He gets more free time on Russian television than the United States. And also, Trump, with all his inconsistency, Trump's typical, you know, flip-flop on every issue, on almost every issue, he is very consistent in praising Putin and supporting Putin's geopolitical agenda, which is to weaken, destroy NATO, and push America away from global stage.</s>HARLOW: So here is the way Donald Trump puts it. And he has said this repeatedly. He has said wouldn't it be a good thing if the United States and Russia got along? Why wouldn't that be good for us? That's how he believes it -- that's how he looks at it right now. That's what he says publicly.</s>KASPAROV: Look, that's what he says publicly. But you know, before America, you know, looks for Russia, China or other non-democratic countries and tried to form relations, which is a good idea, it should start with improving relations with traditional allies. You cannot try to negotiate Putin, you know, some kind of geopolitical bargain at the expense of Europeans or other American traditional allies. And that's what Trump suggests.</s>HARLOW: But you were critical of Hillary Clinton around the time of the Russia reset.</s>KASPAROV: Absolutely. Because they ignore the fact that Putin's agenda was the opposite. But in 2008, it was kind of an open question. So I thought they were wrong. And you know, they were wrong. But today, there are more questions. Putin, you know, annexed the territory of the neighboring country. Look what's happening in Syria and look now what is happening in the Baltics and in Eastern Europe. These people, they have no genetic memory of the Russian occupation. They are really concerned about a new wave of Russian aggression.</s>HARLOW: You have an opinion piece that you wrote this week in the "New York Times." It is in Sunday edition and today's edition of the "New York Times," talking about a rigged election. And let me read part of it. I know a few things about a rigged election. I know what it is like to have the overwhelming power of the state used against me to make a mockery of the democratic process. I know what it means to have my opinion censored while every media outlet is dedicated to vilifying me and my colleagues. I know what happens when a conspiracy of public and private interests forms who intimidate, harass, prosecute or even in order to preserve a monopoly on power. When you hear Donald Trump says the system is rigged here in the United States --</s>KASPAROV: Rigged election means that every</s>HARLOW: I mean, on a personal note, what does it mean, as someone who lived through this?</s>KASPAROV: Yes. Again, Trump says what Putin wants to hear. Because Putin is a dictator. They would like to undermine the U.S. democracy, the way people look at us in the world. They want to demonstrate that elections is rigged. Election is not fair. And American democracy lost its integrity. And Donald Trump plays straight into Putin's hands by saying election is rigged. Because my greatest fear, and I hope everyone has enough manpower and time, to look at the hiking attacks orchestrated by hostile foreign power, which I think can lead to a mess it Election Day. Because just imagine what happens if in battleground states, in Ohio, in Virginia, in Florida. People will not find their names in the voter registration database. And it is quite easy to create this mess for hostile foreign power that has an interest in destroying the integrity of the process.</s>HARLOW: Putin came up repeatedly in the presidential debates. In the primary and also general in the election debates. It even led to this tense exchange between Clinton and Trump. Let's play that.</s>TRUMP: Putin, from everything I see, has no respect for this person.</s>CLINTON: Well, that's because he would rather have a puppet as president.</s>TRUMP: No puppet.</s>CLINTON: It is pretty clear --</s>TRUMP: You are the puppet.</s>CLINTON: It is pretty clear, you won't admit, that the Russians engaged in cyber-attacks against the Unite D States of America, that you encouraged espionage against our people.</s>HARLOW: Do you agree with Clinton? Do you believe that Putin sees Donald Trump has someone he can manipulate and control?</s>KASPAROV: I don't believe for a second they couldn't find anything in Donald Trump if they accessed his emails. I believe they could do. But not a single email was released.</s>HARLOW: Is he someone they could control?</s>KASPAROV: It is not about controlling Trump. Though, of course, I want to see Donald Trump's tax returns because at the time of the bankruptcy he looked for some foreign capital. And we know some of his capital and these was provided by Russians. But Trump is an ideal counterpart because the way Trump thinks, the way Trump speaks and the way, I believe, he will act as president of the United States will be extremely beneficial for Putin.</s>HARLOW: We have to leave it there. I point everyone to your op-ed in the "New York Times" today. Thank you. Nice to have you on the program.</s>KASPAROV: Thank you.</s>HARLOW: Thank you all for joining us. Tonight ahead at 9:00 p.m., a brand-new edition of "</s>ANTHONY BOURDAIN: PARTS UNKNOWN." I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. Thanks for joining us. Have a great week.