russia's military escalates tensions further with military exercises dangerously close to ukraine. the old kgb boss of putin joins us next. the fbi accused of forcing muslims to spy on their communities using the no fly list. the fda clamps down on e-cigarettes. an nfl cheerleader is switching sides in a legal fight. welcome to "consider this." here's more on what's ahead.

president putin and russia face a choice. the window to change course is closing. >> we need to find willingness for finding a solution. >> the fda and moving to crack down on the electronic cigarettes. >> it's like the wild, wild west. >> in the wild west you have danger things hatching. five former buffalo bills cheerleaders are suing the football team. they say they were forced to work hundreds of hours without pay. >> having us do a jiggle test to see what parts of the body were jiggling. >> there were 41 women on the list on the year. >> we'd love people to argue about the list. >> the list is not only about good people. it's also people whose influence is very negative. we begin it tensions between russia and ukraine escalating to a dangerous new level. thousands of russian troops launched exercises just miles from the ukrainian border

thursday after ukrainian troops reportedly killed several pro-russian separatists in the rebel-held town. putin called kiev's deployment of military forces a crime against its own people. >> translator: that is simply a punitive measure that will without question have consequences for the people making these decisions, including our intergovernmental relations. >> putin did not say what the consequences would be, but rt, a russian state-funded television statement tweeted an ominous statement, ukraine, r.i.p. meanwhile the kiev government gave moscow 48 hours to explain the drills. speaking in tokyo president obama said the u.s. was on the verge of slapping more sanctions on russia. putin said it's hurtful to the economy but not critical adding they reflect badly on those who

impose them. we're joined by a former kbg general. he's also the author of "spy master: my 32 years in intelligence and espionage against the west." fears are highing in ukraine that russian troops will move in and lavrov said if russian interests are attacked in ukraine, russia will respond in full accordance with international law. following the deaths of these pro-russian forces in ukraine, what do you expect vladimir putin to do? >> thank you for the invitation. i should -- i would take putin's statements quite seriously. he's a tough guy. when it comes to ukraine, which has always been viewed as part of the great russian, you know, spa

space, the presence of anti-russian elements and all that happened over the past several months actually makes russia a far more dangerous ally, if i may use the word today, because it will take care of what's been happening and may intervene into ukraine more vigorously including armed forces. >> in fact, foreign minister lavrov mentioned it in the comments he made, and that's a region of georgia that the russians invaded in 2008. >> that's correct. the georgian example is what russia can do. don't forget, and this is very important, while ukraine has always been viewed as part of the great russia, the fact that it has

become sort of separated and has taken a position, which is not entirely friendly towards russia, makes the russians angry and unhappy, and they naturally support all the resistance forces, pro-russian ukrai ukraine, and they may take some other measures to just unseat the current regime and make russia again the ruler of the ukraine. >> in fact, you've talked about how the fsv, the successor to the kgb, is active in all of the former soviet republics. do you have any doubt that the fsv and other russian forces have been involved in eastern ukraine? putin has admitted they were involved in crimea. >> absolutely. this is the force that was in the initial stage, in the beginning of any crisis when the security and intelligence operations are very important.

since putin has been a former kgb officer himself, he knows better than others how to handle matters and how to just try to change the situation in favor of russian national -- so-called national interests. >> you do have a unique perspective on this, because you worked in the kgb, and as i said earlier, you didn't really know him terribly well because he was way below you. putin was a product of the kgb. how is that influencing his leadership and how he looks at what he thinks are threats? >> well, it's true at some point when i was the number two man in leningrad's st. petersburg office, putin was one of the officers i supervised. i barely remember him, but he would pop up on later on when he

just came back from east germany. he had no real job, and he was picked up by the former mayor of st. petersburg. a russian reform guy and reform-minded, and it was who i knew pretty well approached me and asked me if i could name someone for the kgb to use as a contact man with the kgb office. i mentioned a couple, and he said no, no, they are too highly placed. i need someone lower ranking, and then he picked up himself the guy who was one of his students at the law school of the leningrad university, and that was putin. ever since putin proved to be a very efficient guy. he was actually helpful in resolving some of the economic issues on the leningrad regional level, and he was just noticed by the kremlin business administration.

it was president yeltsin who said why do they have less problems with food and supplies in st. petersburg, unlike moscow? so i had a good guy, an assistant who knows how to handle things. that's when our putin was invited to the kremlin business administration. he was put in charge -- as number two man in charge of russian property abroad, and that began his new career. he was really actively involved in many things, which made him sort of in the end, well, the leader of -- he eventually became the leader of russia. though it's in the public domain, president putin, when he was -- i mean, president yeltsin, when he retired, he was interviewed a few years later after his retirement. he was asked a question, and

it's in public domain but not widely known. mr. president, yeltsin was asked, as you look back at your career, what major errors of judgment did you make? i had so many. could you mention a couple? he said, okay, the war in chech ya and my predecessor, those are yeltsin's words. >> certainly big consequences from that decision by boris yeltsin. thank you very much. >> thank you. is the fbi using the no fly list to coerce muslims into spying on communities? that's what four muslims, all legal residents of the u.s., are alleging in a federal lawsuit on tuesday. they claim after finding themselves on the no fly list, fbi agents offered to take them off that list but only if they were willing to become informants within their communities or to pose extremists online.

joining us via skype from wes haven connecticut is one of the four plaintiffs in the lawsuit. he's been separated from his family for 27 months. joins us in new york is a staff attorney with the clear project creating law enforcement accountability and responsibility. she is representing the plaintiffs in their lawsuit against the fbi. it is good of both of you to join us. you last saw your family in afghanistan, including you're then newly wed wife, over two years ago. you were detained and questioned by the fbi multiple times during your return trip. what did the fbi agents ask you at that point as you were coming back to the u.s.? >> they asked me -- i was interrogated for four hours in a dubai consulate. they asked me what training -- if i have -- if i have been

trained in training camps. have i visited any neighboring countries. have i -- do i know people that are a danger to the u.s. they took all my documentation and they made copies of it. it was -- it was four hours, and then -- i mean, that was some of the questions that they asked me. >> you got back to the u.s., and at one point you tried to board a domestic flight to find yourself on the no fly list, and shortly after that you met again with fbi agents when they offered to make a deal. what did they tell you? what did they offer? >> they said that you don't have a job, and we'll pay you money. you help us, we help you. that's the quote they used. >> go ahead. >> the conclusion that, of

course, i came up to was that i will take you off the no-fly list if you become an informant for us. >> all the plaintiffs in this case feel that they received that same quid pro quo from the fbi? >> exactly. mohammed and the plaintiffs all had very similar expenrience. they were kept on the no-fly list or put on it in retaliation to not work for the fbi. >> we had a former united states marine and muslim on the show, he said he was put on the no-fly list and pressured to become an informant. let's listen to that. >> we can get you off of this no-fly list. he said you need to do something for us. what? we want you to go undercover as an informant and tell us about various mosques in the area and tell us about certain people. this will be a paid position. you don't have to claim it on your taxes, under the table money. >> he's part of another lawsuit

against the government about these no-fly lists. has there been any progress? >> unfortunately, the no-fly list has been litigated for many, many years. many lawsuits challenge this fundamental flaw with it, which is the fact there's no adequate process, no notice before you're placed on the list and no meaningful way to challenge it. >> there's only one really successful lawsuit against it. >> define "success" right? a woman who was a malaysian ph.d. student was placed on the no-fly list. she had to litigate for eight years, and only for a court to tell her whether or not she was on the no-fly list. >> she was removed but only because it was a mistake at that point? >> it was a mistake. her placement was a mistake, and that goes to the heart of the problem here, which is an fbi agent can mistakenly or vindictively place you on the list, and there's no system of checks and balances. >> there are more than a million

people on a terrorist watch list. the numbers are somewhere in the 20,000-plus about the no fly liss. you're talking about so many different names and confusion involved. you were never told why you were put on the no fly list? >> no i was not given any reason reason. >> is that the same with your clients? >> it was told to them they could get off the no-fly list if informants. >> how concerned are you this is a practical going on in other ways? we know about the new york police department unit that was spying on muslim communities and that unit has been recently disbanded. again, you know, some people will say, well, they're trying to protect the united states from terrorist attacks. >> well, thank you for bringing that up, because i think it points out that the no-fly list

and its abuse in this way is part of a broad er practice. post-9/11 policies and practices has a lack of transparency. that's what you see with the no-fly list and surveillance policies. we talk about the american muslim community to be the primary targets of the programs, but what's important is to remind everybody of is it starts with one community, but if we don't constantly check the powers they will be expanded and it's difficult to rein in and will affect everybody. >> what do you hope will happen? >> well, i hope, first of all my name will be cleared so i can see my family. i wanted to remind everyone that recently my grandpa just passed away and one of the my

uncle's wives lost their soul. i couldn't see them because it's been 26 months. it's been very hard for us. so, first of all, i hope my name will be cleared, and it would be some sort of changes to be made into this program and some openness hopefully that thousands of people that are affected by it will be hopefully, you know, released. >> thank you both for joining us. i hope you can reunite soon with your family. thank you. coming up, the fda steps up restrictions on e-cigarettes. nfl cheerleaders step off the sidelines and into court against their old teams, and our social media producer is tracking the top stories on the web. what's trending? >> nevada rancher cliven bundy is back in the news. he attempted to defend his recent comments about african-americans, but it didn't

keep him from losing supporters. while you're watching, let us know what you think. join the conversation on twitter and on our facebook and google

sales of electronic cigarettes last year soared in the u.s. to become a $3 billion

industry. many smokers have welcomed them as a less dangerous options, and some have used e-cigarettes as a way to quit smoking altogether. others fear e-cigarettes and the nicotine they deliver are addictive and they can serve as a gateway to smoking regular cigarettes. on thursday the fda released long-awaited proposed regulations for the controversial devices. the rules ban sales to minors and force makers of e-cigarettes to register with the fda and provide the agency with detailed information about what's in their products. meanwhile, there has yet to be a definitive verdict on what health risks e-cigarettes pose. joining us from los angeles is crystal difficulworth. from watertown, massachusetts, john quelch, a professor of health policy and management at the harvard school of public health.

he's the co-author of the case study on e cigaretteses. crystal, i'll start with you. they propose to ban sales to minors and free samples and to not allow vending machine sales in venues open to minors, and they also have, of course, that mandated ingredient disclosure. but they can advertise and add flavors that are appeals to kids. do you think these regulations are going far enough? >> i think it's a good start. i think that the fda is really uncharacteristically kind of going very carefully here. obviously, we don't want to be distributing our marketing drugs that affect the brain to adolescents whose brains are still developing, so i think banning sales to those under the age of 18 is a really good start. you can look at some of the marketing and advertising practices as a second step, but good. >> john, what took so long? these devices do deliver

nicotine, as crystal said, and it's addictive? >> well, as crystal pointed out, there are still uncertainties regarding the impact of nicotine and nicotine addiction. i think most people think it's a bad idea, but the tradeoff that the fda has had to make is along these lines. on the one hand it wants to encourage the consumption of any product that migrates someone away from tobacco smoking towards something less harmful. on the other hand, as you said in your introduction, there is the conflicting problem of potentially drawing a new market of younger consumers into e-cigarette consumption, and that then being a gateway to tobacco consumption thereafter. >> did you a study that looked at existing data that says

e-cigarettes have led to a net decrease in smoking. the number are 3.5 million of 43 '8 million smokers in the u.s. have converted to e sdprets, but on the other hand 1.3 million e-cigarette smokers went to tobacco. that does show a net decrease of 2.2 million, so do you think that they can be useful as a quitting device? >> the marketers of e-cigarettes sensibly positioned them from the outset from being a vehicle to enable people to quit regular tobacco smoking. that gave them a certain degree of legitimacy and air cover. however, there is such a high degree of competition now in this marketplace with about 200 companies competing that many are now, of course, being tempted into addressing an

entire new market of individual who are not currently smoking but can be attracted to the entertainment and pleasure allegedly associated with vaping nicotine. >> in that vein crystal the numbers show 2.8 million nonsmokers started to use these electronic smokes and almost 10% of high school students have tried them. so those numbers have to concern you. >> i mean, let's face it, this is a nicotine delivery device. whether you use it for smoking cessation purposes or using it because you like the taste of vapor better than the combustion of tobacco, you're still taking in nicotine. it concerns me the number of high school and middle school students that are experiencing tobacco or nicotine for the first time through electronic cigarettes. as you said, these juices, the

flavors, the colors make them a lot more attractive to younger consumers, and you know, big tobacco or the other producers of these devices will probably find themselves with consumers for life. >> in your reports you found there is enough evidence that e-cigarettes do cause harm and not just to users but even those who might be inhaling the vapors? >> yeah. there's exciting, new results out that show that the e-cigarette vapor is not just water vapor and it contains compounds we should be concerned about, formaldehyde and a few tobacco ingredients that cause cancer and some particulate of heavy metals, which was interesting to me and concerning because you really don't want to take those particles into your lungs. >> and john, as you said, there's so many producers of this. until now they haven't been regulated. so hopefully that will happen and they'll be able to look at ingredients and make sure what's in there.

what do you think? do you think they are harmful? >> i'm not a scientist, so i'm not as well-placed as crystal is to judge that point. i would add to your numerical analysis a couple of other insights. one is that there is probably a significant number of people who might -- who when they migrate from regular tobacco cigarettes to e-cigarettes linger longer with e-cigarettes rather than quitting cold turkey as they might do if they use a nicotine patch or gum as way of migrating away from regular tobacco. the other key point to bear in mind is that as these regulations become more and more severe, what one would typically expect to find is that the big tobacco companies, which have already been acquiring some of the leading e-cigarette brands, that they become in control of

the portfolio of both tobacco cigarettes and e-cigarettes and can, therefore, manage the market. >> crystal, very quick final question. advertising has to be a concern, too, because they are doing a lot of advertising. it's similar to the old days of cigarettes. very glamorous advertising. >> yeah, and i think we will see the fda start to regulate that. people just -- there will be a social pushback if we started to advertise alcohol to high school students and middle school students. so i think that -- i think that the advertisers' time will come. >> all right, really appreciate you joining us tonight. thank you. >> thank you. nfl cheerleaders are trading in pompoms for roles as plaintiffs. a group of former buffalo bills cheerleaders are suing the old nfl team. they claim they were required to perform unpaid work including humiliating activities from sitting on men's laps at golf tournaments to back flips for tips and jiggle tests where their weight was scrutinized as

they performed jumping jacks. their lawsuit joins similar recent lawsuits from other former cheerleaders and opens up a number of interesting legal questions. just before we hit air, the management of the current buffalo bills cheerleaders squad announced they were suspending the operation of the team's work through the end of the bills' season. earlier i spoke with two participants in the current lawsuits. we are withholding their last names out of respect for their privacy. i asked them about what they claim are salaries that are far below new york state's minimum wage. the pay is about $13 a game on the low end, which doesn't include pay for practices or pretty much anything else. >> well, we believe that these girls, for all the time and dedication that they put in, they definitely deserve to be compensated for their time. more importantly, we definitely want fair treatment within the

organization and for these girls to be treated with respect. >> that starts with the pay. maria, how do they get away without even paying minimum wage? >> i'm not sure honestly. when we signed that contract, we assumed we were cheering -- we were going to cheer for the nfl. so we had no idea that this contract was illegal. >> alyssa, there are really shocking allegations in the lawsuit saying you've had to endure all sorts of humiliation. what did that entail? >> everything from our annual golf tournament that we had to attend where, you know, the girls were put into very awkward situations. you know, being auctioned off, you know, and having to go into the dunk tank in their bikinis and everything else. like attending men's shows and walking around in their bikinis. just very uncomfortable,

unnecessary situations to put these girls in. >> with no security on top of that, too. >> even sitting on guys' laps? >> yeah. i mean, when these girls were auctioned off, they were -- these men were able to bid on them to have them, you know, come and be with them during the golf tournament. you know, most of the teams were, you know, four men, and there were four seats in the golf cart. and, you know, there was really no place for these women to sit but on these men's laps. >> maria, there's crazy rules they subjected you to? >> yes. there's a whole slew of rules, and you can actually read the details within the complaint. we have a couple. >> how much bread to eat at a formal dinner. how to properly eat soup. this is one that i will give you an example of.

it says, soupspoon. dip the spoon into the soup moving it away from the body until it's about two thirds full. then sip the liquid without slurping from the side of the spoon without inserting the whole spoon into the mouth. this prevents soup from being spilled into your clothes. >> that just sounds ridiculous. >> exactly. >> there was some feminine hygiene rules, too? >> definitely. >> there were. >> when we have something right here from our glamour requirements, one being, wash your feet daily. this will help control foot odor and keep fungus from developing in the tone toenails. cotton socks help with odor. nylons create sweaty feet, which creates odor. >> you know, i know you've had some complaints about, you know, the -- having you in bikinis and all these different circumstances.

some would argue and not to be a devil's advocate but it's all about the attractiveness of the cheerleaders. did you expect that some of this would come with the territory? >> of course. it was definitely expected, and we know that we are set to a particular standard as nfl cheerleaders and that, you know, our physique should be a certain way. we completely understand that, but it was, you know, the fact of, you know, having us attest to this jiggle test and, you know, take part in that. just put us in really embarrassing situations in front of our peers. >> the jiggle test to see if you had gained any weight. there are some cheerleaders who oppose your lawsuit because they're concerned that somehow teams will say, hey, we don't want it. this is too much of a problem, and they're going to disband cheerleadering squads. are you concerned that could happen? >> no. i mean, we definitely don't want that to happen.

we want the jills to strive and thrive and be successful, but just under proper management. >> how about the volunteer question? there are a lot of people that work as volunteers. it's a professional sport event. there are volunteer marching bands in the nfl including the marching ravens in baltimore. are you worried about that that they might say cheerleaders are volunteers because so many people want this job because they believe that it could be a career booster? are you concerned that that might come up? >> well, if i could bring up something that has come up in the media, and that is, you know, the fact of, you know, us attending charity reeevents. we love to do that and be out in the community. o be a part of the charity events. we know and don't expect any payment, but when jills management is profiting off of us being present at these events, i mean, that is just -- that's just wrong.

>> yeah, because it's not just charitable events, you go to paid events and get no money for those appearances. >> the jills organization also has sponsors throughout the season, so during our 2012-2013 season there was around 11 sponsors. a minimum sponsorship is $10,000, so she received -- the jills organization received a substantial amount of money. so we have the question, where did this money go? what was this money used for? >> we're responsible for, you know, paying for everything. i mean, including our $650 uniform. >> so it's not just the money. the buffalo bills are makes but the buffalo jills had their own stream of income. alyssa and maria, thanks very much. >> thank you. >> thank you for having us. time to see what's trending on the web. let's check back in. >> antonio, we have an update on nevada rancher cliven bundy. he joined us on "consider this" last week after a battle with

the bureau of land management over they $1.2 million in grazing fees that bundy owes. since then he's making headlines for racially inflammatory remarks. on wednesday "the new york times" quoted bundy saying this about african-americans which he referred to as the negro. they abort their young children and put their young men in jail because they never learned how to pick cotton, and i often wonder are they berth off as slaves picking cotton and having a family life and doing things, or are they better off under government subsidy? in an attempt to defend the remarks, he held a press conference on thursday? >> were they happier in the south in their homes with their chickens and gardens and children around them and men having something to do? i'm not saying they should be slaves. i didn't say they were better off. i was wondering if they were better off. >> bundy has lost support over

these comments. republican politicians who nichely backed him have begun to distance them. congressman dean heller of nevada, texas attorney general abbott and senator rand paul are among them. paul tweeted thursday cliven bundy's remarks on racism are offensively and i wholeheartedly disagree with him. tweet us @ajconsiderthis. is twitter's impact online overrated? who are the most influential people in the world in this year?

as the fight for equal pay for women continues, a new book asks if a lack of confidence is holding women back. research shows women are less willing to take risks, consistently underestimate

abilities and don't consider themselves as qualified for promotions as the male counterparts. why are women less confident and what can be done to bridge that gap? claire shipman joins us. she's the co-author of a new book, "the confidence code." the atlantic magazine may issue features an excerpt from that book. great to see you, and congratulations on the book. women today are earning more college and graduate degrees than men. 23 of the fortune 500 companies have female ceos, and "time" magazine just released their list of the 100 most influential people. 41 are women. shouldn't women be more confident today than ever? >> antonio, great to see you again. yes, this struck me and my co-author katty kay as a dark

spot we couldn't identify when we were writing our last book about really the successes of we can in the workplace. we were just struck because so many incredibly successful women would talk to you about the fact they didn't feel they skefshed the promotion they had just gotten. one engineer told us i don't know if i should go for that next job. we thought, all right, is this just all of us? is this just anecdotal or is there data there? you talked about some of it. it's striking to think that this study that hewlett-packard did that's replicated a number of times since that women on average apply for promotions when they think they have 100% of the job qualifications. men put their hands up at 60%. you can imagine what that means over the course of a career. >> i have to say, when i first heard about the book my first reaction is what you referred to. is this just anecdotal? how do they prove there's a

confidence gap? you found studies finding that men initiate salary negotiations four times as often as women, and when women negotiate they ask for 30% less pay than men do. when college students were asked what they expected to make men estimated 25% more than women. >> i know. it's striking. you know what? our favorite study, if we can call it a favorite study, but we thought it was just really seminal, is a researcher named zach estes that works in italy was studying testing the difference between men and women in spatial ability. this is where they thought men had an edge, but he studied confidence. did the test, and sure enough, women didn't do as well. he looked at the answers. women were skipping a lot of the questions. when he told everybody to answer all of the questions, the scores were almost identical, and then when he told everybody to rate

how confident they were after each answer, another group of people, women's scores plummeted. a, we skip the questions we think we won't get right, but if we answer the question we get it right. when we're asked how confidence are you about what you have just done, suddenly that makes us so nervous we're performing worse. >> the data you really put out there is fascinating, and one of the points you make, which i thought was interesting, is talent is not just about confidence. in effect confidence is a really important part of it. so is that one of the reasons that you think women are struggling in ways they shouldn't be? >> look, i think there are a host of -- we've ignited something of a firestorm in various places on social media because some people say, wait, what about the playing field is not level? are you blaming women? all women need to do is get more confident? why do you want women to be overconfident jerks like men? what are you talking about?

some of all of it, i guess. look, we think this is one piece of this. of course the playing field is not level. women play by rules that we didn't make, so to some extent, maybe this is behavior that is unnatural to us. it's very clear to us that from studies that have been done, especially one from a professor at berkeley looking at this that confidence is critical to success and often as critical as competence, and i think women have to recognize that for success, but the other reason we should recognize it is why shouldn't we evaluate ourselves in a more positive fashion, if that's the reality? it's not a fun way to live to just be constantly judging ourselves in harsh terms we shouldn't be using. >> you refer to unnatural. you found there are different reasons, both nature and nurture, that lead to this? >> this was another

controversial part of the book. look where confidence comes from and dig in. what is this stuff anyway? we got a great definition that we went with which is confidence is the stuff that turns thoughts into action. we started to dig at it. where do we get it? part of it is genetic, as it turns out. we never thought we would find that. that's not as much gender-driven as kind of luck of the draw, maybe up to 25% genetic. we also found that in terms of biology and just brain structure and the way men and women use their brains, there's a lot there can be -- that can affect confidence. testosterone encouraging risk taking. men have ten times more te testosterone pumps through their systems. it's feeling you can risk and fail and move on. that's essential for confidence. there's some behavior that may be not totally natural to women.

>> you quote stanford psychology professor carol dweck that if it was one long grade school, women would be the undisputed rulers of the world because women do well in grade school, and a whole bunch of things conspire against them. >> that's the dilemma for us, thinking it's another college graduation moment. so many girls are excelling in school and college and graduate school and outpacing men. what happens is the rules they've been taught all through their academic careers aren't the rules that work in the real world. hey, you got to turn things in when they're not perfect. guess what? sometimes you fail. take some risks. we're raising our girls a couple psychologists have told us we didn't think about this to focus so much on perfection, not intentionally, but it's just a message they take in because they can. then that becomes what they feel they're valuable for. >> i know you write that you

can't fake confidence. that it's something that's easily identifiable if you're faking it, and there's a lot of good advice in the atlantic article and in the book. i think it's a good read worth looking at. the confidence code is available for perform in bookstores and online now. claire shipman, great to see you. thank you for being on the show. >> thanks. appreciate it. coming up, from a book on women to a list that's full of impactful females, the "time" 100. we hear from one of the people that put together the list of this year's most influential people. first, twitter exploded in recent years, but its reach may be a lot more limited than you think. our data dive is next. >> these protestors have decided that today they will be arrested >> these people have chased a president from power, they've torn down a state... >> what's clear is that people

don't just need protection, they need assistance.

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take a new look at news. "time's" lift of the 100 most influential people comes out friday. it includes the best-known and most powerful figures along with a whole bunch of people most americans have never heard of. they most definitely do know the performer entrepreneur who graces the cover, beyonce, who talked to "time" about what being on the list means to her. >> it's something important for me as an artist, because it's not about fashion or beauty or music. it's about the influence i've had on culture, and to be on the it with the other influential people is an honor for me. >> i'm

joined by the international editor, bobby gosh. how does "time" decide kwho they were and who is the winner? >> it's chosen by committee, a committee of hopefully smart and insightful people. they're writers and editors of "time" magazine but people who have been on our list before. we've done this ten years. this is our 11th, so we collect suggestions from this group of -- this group of the box. there's a lot of overlap, of course, and then the editors go through sort of discussions, people argue for and against different candidates. then we also have an online poll, which also helps clarify some of the thinking. one of the decision-making is the managing editor. >> what is the total number that you call these names from? >> i can't remember how many we started with, i suspect in the

region of 500 or possibly more. >> has anybody ever asked not to be on your list? >> not to my knowledge. we don't necessarily require their permission, although we tell them when they're selected that they are on the list. >> this year's list includes 41 women. that's a record for the 100 most influential. the only people on the list three times are all political leaders except for the president of am sglan and president obama had a ninth appearance. it seems like he has two years left in office, so i'm sure he's get to 11 without question. among the women, though, there are a lot of entertainer eers from beyonce and carrie underwood. there's a chinese actress nowed chen. >> she's the most influential figure in chinese culture. she has millions following her on twitter. she's not simply a movie actress but become an activist, a voice

that is sort of speaking on behalf of chinese who are suffering from government neglect, particularly in the area of environmental protection. she talks quite candidly in waying that many chinese and prominent people don't about pollution, about the air pollution, water pollution, quality of food in the country. that is -- that has as much to do with her appeal to her fans as her performances in movies. if you tonight mind my saying, we also have very, very powerful women outside of the field of culture. janet yellen, possibly the most powerful women not just of the day but in any lifetime as the chairman of the fed is on the list along with beyonce. >> you have a real variety of women on the list. you know, other people, americans may not know include you're you're guy's president who is referred to as the poor

est president in the world. this activist has quite a bit of influence. >> let me help you with that. her name -- his nameis -- his great claim of fame. his claim to fame is he's a humble man from a tiny village or town in southern india, and he's created a way of making sanitary pads out of love and sympathy for his wife because sanitary pads are expensive. he found a way to make them cheaply and by doing so, he has potentially the influence to improve the lives and health of millions of women in poor countries around the world. >> you have some controversial choices. you've got kim jung un

of north korea and egypt's general and edward snowden. how do you end up deciding on some of these guys who are not all that popular, at least in the united states? >> not all influences for the good. we have to recognize the fact that there are people -- we live in a time when people have great influence over the world. he's possibly the most dangerous man in the world today. his franchise of al qaeda killed more people and claimed more territory even that osama bin laden did. that makes his influence over the lives of people in iraq and syria and in the wider middle east quite substantial. so we did have to take note of people like him as well as we have always done. >> this year's list seems like a bit of a clinton fest and you have chelsea clinton writing about jason collins, the first nba player that came out as gay. hillary clinton both wrote in praise of john kerry her

successor, but she was on the list praised by pakistani education activist ma la la. have they ordered extra copies even if bill didn't make the list? >> i should hope so. the clintons are having a great year even by their standards. yeah, i think it is quite remarkable the influence they have had mother and daughter both. >> why seth meyers and not jimmy fall loan? >> seth meyers is a new kind of late night host. this is not -- jimmy fallon was my favorite, but he brings a more cerebral approach to late night comedy. we had to take note of that. >> the biggest sports stars on the list are renaldo a big soccer star and serena williams from tennis. the others are obscure, and certainly none of the big american sports stars, the

lebron jameses and peyton mannings and tom bradies didn't make the list. why? >> lebron james had a good year as did both the manning brothers. it was an international list, 45 of the 100 come from outside the united states. we did have to take note of kristian rinaldo. that was a little difficult. i'm a barcelona fan and it's not easy. i had to recommend christian rinaldo because journalistically it's hard to argue he didn't have a great year. >> do you root against him? >> every chance i get. >> it's great to have you with us. thanks very much. >> anytime. the show may be over but the conversation continues on our website aljazeera.com/considerthis. you can find us on twitter. see you next time.

>> welcome to aljazeera america, i'm del walters, and these are the stories we're falling for you. smoke raises over a ukrainian air base and in seoul, the president says that he stands shoulder to shoulder with south korea. and the nation's largest gun lobby opens it's national convention in indiana. we examine their growing influence.