An excerpt:
The worst line in the Stephanopoulos interview isn’t the bit about Putin going into Russia. It’s the part where he echoes Russian propaganda about Crimea, saying that the Crimeans really wanted to be part of Russia and not Ukraine.
"The people of Crimea, from what I've heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were," Trump said.
This is whitewashing of a blatantly illegal territory grab by Putin, one that almost no countries on Earth recognize. Indeed, it’s clear from the interview that Trump’s Russia policy is to replace Obama’s alleged "weakness" with a policy of cozying up to the Kremlin.
This ends our live blogging for August 2. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage.