BROMANCE:

In an appearance on MSNBC's Morning Joe, host Mika Brezinski asked Trump about comments Putin had made about him the day before.

"[Trump] is a very flamboyant man, very talented, no doubt about that," Putin said near the end of his annual marathon press conference with regional media outlets in Moscow. "He is an absolute leader of the presidential race, as we see it today. He says that he wants to move to another level of relations, to a deeper level of relations with Russia. How can we not welcome that? Of course we welcome it."

Trump responded, "When people call you 'brilliant' it's always good, especially when the person heads up Russia." (Some media outlets translated Putin's first adjective describing Trump as "brilliant.")

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Taken slightly aback, host Joe Scarborough said, "Well, I mean, also is a person who kills journalists, political opponents and ... invades countries, obviously that would be a concern, would it not?"

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