for joining us for 360. stick around. the following ace cnnis a cnn'sl report. >> winston churchill, famously in russia. it is a mystery. prime minister churchill meets vladimir putin. >> he's very much of a leader. he's been a leader far more than our president has been a leader. >> he does not have a soul. >> vladimir putin is a thug and a murder and a killer. >> he's the richest man in the world. hundreds of millions of dollars corrupted. >> what does he want from donald trump? >> putin is going to eat him like a sandwich.

>> he rather has a puppet as a president. >> how powerful is he? >> putin has an trample authority. so powerful he rigged the america's election? he didispice hillary clinton. america asks, what does he want? is he really the most powerful man in the world? december 5th, 1989, it was a cold night in dresden, east

germany. it would change the course of vladimir putin's life. the berlin wall had just formed. all over east germany, angry crowds roamed the streets and lashing out symbols of communist rules. that night in dresden, they found a target. the local kgb headquarters. a mob surrounded the building. as the hour grew later, the crowd grew larger. inside peering through the curtains was a young kgb lieutenant colonel named vladimir putin. he was terrified. putin was a junior officer, but

the boss was away, he was in charge. >> police wanted to help. he called for instructions. >> desperate for help, putin dialled kgb headquarters in moscow over and over again. >> finally, one official told him simply, moscow is silent. >> vladimir putin was on his own. he went down into the building and fired up the furnace. >> he finds himself in a basement at a furnace shoveling documents as he hears demonstrations out on the streets. they're unbelling the secrets. putin tore pages of kgb

documents in secrets. as the crowds closed in, with the fire still raging, putin went downside and faced the mob by himself. there are armed guards inside, he told them. they will shoot you. he's able to bluff his way out of this and tell the crowd, don't try it here, you are going to get hurt. putin's threat worked, the mob dispersed. this is the drama that stays with putin all the time. the fear. vladimir putin quells that fear with absolute control. this is what control looks like.

in one of the world's busiest cities. the streets are empty for vladimir putin's motorcade. 12 million people simply disappeared on putin's inauguration day. [ speaking in foreign language ] >> the event was perfectly produced for russian television. every detail flaw lessly planned. >> almost every detail. >> a few russians did not follow the script. >> literally a block away from his inauguration was a cafe

where the opposition were together and drinking wine and coffee. and the riot descendent on the cafe and start arresting people sitting at the tables outside and turning the tables and breaking cups and plates. >> no, no. >> the crack down was not shown on russia's television. >> for 94% of russians, their main source of news is television. if it did not happen on television, it did not happen.

>> putin controls television. it was absolutely no critical words about vladimir putin on the russia era. not one word. putin controls everything in russia. >> putin has the authority. i don't see any checks on his power. >> he's able to make singular, rapid decisions, the absolutism there is unlike anything i have seen in russia. >> all that power over 80% and that's according to american pollsters. >> donald trump wins the presidency. when the united states elected a new president.

it looked like russia had fallen for a new leader. >> there were toasts all over moscow and the parliament. on talk shows and at bars. >> we are the champions of the world. [ laughter ] >> but, one man seemed utterly unsurprised by trump's victory. >> that means he won the u.s. election. the man who's simultaneously the president of russia and the president of the united states. >> mr. putin -- >> trump's impersonators are everywhere in russia.

>> but, it could be an american tv program that best describes the putin/trump's relationship. >> trump was "the apprentice." at the heart of all this are some deadly questions. does vladimir putin have some kind of hold over donald trump. did he tamper with the american elections? >> i tried to ask him, mr. putin did not agree to answer my questions but his closest day, demetri demetri demetrius peskov did. >> america in each country, the country of the most powerful

country in the world, this is simply impossible. we'll get the truth of all of this. to do that, we need to go back to the final days of the country of vladimir putin loves. >> i think down deep in putin, there is this sense of extraordinary humiliation over the collapse of the soviet union. it was the russian i am pyempirt was not just the soviet union. >> putin returned to a country he did not recognize. the ussr had been transformed. a lot of things happened very

quickly. >> freedom came fast and it exposed the rock of the heart of the soviet union. across the soviet union, hundreds of thousands of people demanded democracy and national independence. it was once again what putin feared most. the people rising up. full-ti finally, the people won. today in moscow, the credkremli the soviet union -- 300 years of history erased.

so the institutions like the kgb simply seized to exist. vladimir putin views the break up of the soviet union as he said himself to be the greatest go political tragedy of the 20th century. it was a traumatic time and it sparked a profound change of vladimir putin. he became a politician, deputy mayor in his hometown of st. petersburg. it was not a big job but putin clearly had big dreams. he commissioned this rarely seen documentary about himself, presenting vladimir putin, the credit reads "in power."

the ambitious putin may have been looking through moscow because russian people were desperate for strong leadership. under the president, the new democracy was a mess. >> the entire soviet system, it just collapsed. the men who profited on the spoils of communism, they became fantastically rich. >> but ordinary russians was sinking into desperate poverty. there were dire food shortages and starvations. >> i don't know how to feed my kids without milk. i just don't know what we are going to do.

he seems increasingly in stable. he's drinking and he's barely being propped up. russians began calling for a new leader. they're tired of the embarrassment of him. >> waiting in the wing was vladimir putin. he had taken a job in moscow in the kremlin hierarchy and he had risen through the ranks of lightning speed. >> the kremlin's super star. he had just becoming acting prime minister when it became blendingly clear that the country needed a new president. so the old president was ready to topple all over.

they knew that he could be retired and not put in jail. >> kremlin power broker wanted to protect him. the deal was made, the deal was made. december 31st, 1999. >> the surprise announcement from boris yelson that he's retiring and turning his power over to vladimir putin. >> the first moment of 21st century, vladimir putin became president of russia. his first words -- >> we live in a competitive world and we are not among its leaders. right away, putin began to change his country. he joins soldiers on the front line of the war in czech.

he reassured russians that better times were ahead. >> i think we'll get paid and we'll have work. the country quickly fell in love with vladimir putin. the number one song in russia was called "a man like putin." >> he's just very -- he's a beautiful man, you see? >> but, the biggest surprise, america also loved vladimir putin. preside george w. bush thought he found a kindred spirit. >> i was able to get a sense of

his soul. >> everyone hollywood fell for the new russian president. >> he bonded with stars at a charity dinner. but the honeymoon would soon come to a crashing halt. he was a kgb agent, by definition, he does not have a soul. >> next, when vladimir putin met hillary. >> it is important to remember how much he despice hillary

clinton.

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desp . how many ways will she light up the world? this is the woman. [ applause ] the scandal that rocked the 2016 presidential election was an old grudge. >> ladies and gentlemen, my mother, my hero and our next president. [ applause ] >> hillary clinton. >> it went beyond. it was personal. vladimir putin was not a fan of hillary clinton.

of course, vladimir putin wanted hillary clinton to lose. he hat hillary clinton. >> the tensions between leaders had been brewing for years. in 2001, another american leader george w. bush vouched to putin. i was able to get a sense of his soul. >> thank you, thank you. >> on the campaign trail in 2008, hillary clinton had a different take. >> i could have told him he's a kgb agent, by definition, he did not have a soul. this is a waste of time. >> originally mrs. clinton said you do not have any soul. >> putin's reply. statements should not be guided by their hearts, they should use their heads. put clinton had a lot of tough words for putin over the years.

>> we have to stand up to his bullying. he's somebody who'll take as much as he possibly can. but, it was what happened in 2011 that marked a point of no return. it began with the arabs spring protest early this year. the kind of popular up rise that putin dreaded. he begins to see himself through the eyes of closing the mark. >> the mark of egypt was facing prosecution. >> syria's bashar al-assad was on the ropes. peculiari putin may have feared the same bloody fate for himself. just a few weeks later,

rebellion arrived in russia. tens of thousands rallies in the streets of mouscow. the biggest protests there since the fall of the union. >> people were in the streets. it is a really shocking -- >> pin was now living the same nightmare he endured as a kgb officer in east germany from 1989. >> this time, it is in his own backyard. >> he was not even president at the time. he was prime minister. having handed the presidency over to his associate. >> as the winter went longer and longer and colder, the protests got bigger and bigger. >> as vladimir putin saw people

turning against him, hillary clinton weighed in. the russia people like people everywhere deserved the right to have their voices heard and their votes counted. when putin hears something like that, i imagine he hears bush talking about sudan hassan. they're trying to gut me from my power. what the heck of my people and whether they should have their voices heard. i will tell you whether if they should have their voices heard. >> russians had a lot of reasons to be angry. >> that fall it was announced that putin will run for president again for a third time. at meant that he can rule russia until 2024. >> some people say oh my god, i

am going to die with this guy in power. >> a few months later, putin, the election for russia parliament were farced. >> we do have serious concerns of the conduct of the elections. >> hillary clinton called out the election's reading. >> with his back against the wall -- putin turned the table. he blamed the protests on hillary clinton, blaming she was the one that incited them with their complaints of the election. >> there are growing restrictions on the exercise of fundamental rights. >> quote on quote, "she sent a signal," that was his words.

>> putin's strategy propelled him to victory. march 2012, he won the election handedly. fighting back tiers after a tense fight to maintain his power. he may have won the day but vladimir putin never forgot about the woman who kicked him when he was down. >> i think that's the line of thinking that led him to the intervention. i am totally convinced that

russians were meddling in our elections. >> u.s. intelligence concluded, that putin ordered the campaign to influence the american election, in part because he held a grudge of hillary clinton. >> i don't know anything about it. you know how many hackers there are today. it is an extremely difficult thing to check. the russians focused their attack on a weak target. the democratic national committee. >> you could have broken in the dnc with a can opener. >> more than 1900 e-mails released. in the middle of the tight race

from battling e-mails mysteriously leaked from the clinton campaign were all over the news. >> wikileaks released a new batch of e-mails and another round of stolen e-mails. for trump it is a dream come true. donald trump was delighted by clinton's misfortune. >> russia, if you are listening, i hope you are able to find the 30,000 e-mails that are missing. >> donald j. trump will become the 45th president of united states. in the end, america's election went putin's way. >> i just received a call from secretary clinton. >> it would not be bad to get along with her, right? to the contrary the other candidate donald trump was saying that we'll have to find some understanding. when people like me, i will like

them, even putin. >> who do you like better? >> this is not the outcome we wanted. clinton suffered one of the most shocking defeats in america's history. >> i know how disappointed you feel because i feel it, too. >> in part, some observers say because of the alleged -- >> this is painful and it will be for a long time. >> putin had apparently avenged his old grudge. >> help me god, congratulations mr. president. >> yeah! >> he may have achieved even more. >> the 45th president of the united states if donald trump in some way is a compromise of the russian government had something that it has on him in terms of leverage, that's very serious. i don't suggest for a second that i have the answer to this

question. we cannot let this matter dropped. up next, a russian opposition figure had been shot and killed. >> four shots, hit him in the back. just blocks from the kremlin. destroyed vladimir putin, might want the world to forget. introducing the new sleep number 360™ smart bed. the only bed smart enough to change sleep as we know it. it senses your every move and automatically adjusts on both sides to keep you comfortable. and snoring.... does your bed do that? right now save on sleep number 360™ smart beds. plus, it's the lowest prices of the season with savings of $500 on our most popular p5 bed. ends sunday. what's going on? oh hey! ♪ that's it? yeah. ♪ everybody two seconds! ♪

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february 27, 2015, nearly mid night. a man and woman walked across the bridge, right next to the

clinton's. a highly area lit with surveillance cameras. all those cameras but amazingly, this grainy, far away video is the only footage that exists of a critical moment of recent russian history. inside the circle of what a moscow tv station reports to be the well known russian opposition leader who led the protests in 2011. he was killed and shot four times in the back. >> a russian opposition had been shot and been killed. >> four of the shots hit him right in the back. who murdered him? >> vladimir putin condemned the

killing calling it shameful. five czechens were found guilty of the murder but many doubts remained. >> only one group could be that professional. youssof girlfriend did not realize that he had been shot. it was quick a train full. senator shawn mccain takes it one step further, vladimir putin is a thug and a muddrder and a b agent. >> this is personal insulinsult. >> that's putin's top aid spokesperson. it is nonsense. there is nothing to command on.

over the course of putin's time an power, his regimed has been accused of involvement of the deaths of many critics including the journalists and the former kgb agent. t steven cohen response. they take on a fedotenolklore allegations. >> he was tooabout to reveal information that would prove russia's involvement in the conflicts of ukraine. >> that ukraine report was released a few months after his murder. there was only in his report published in 2012 that also was

embarrassing for putin. it claims the president had 43 planes, 15 helicopters at his disposal and including one super yacht. there were 20 presidential palaces available to putin at any time. one of the palaces known to the press was putin's palace was set to be worth $1 billion. >> this is not true. this is of commander of reality. >> putin's spokesperson says every world leader and a leader of a nuclear power like russia or the united states has access to state owned homes and planes and helicopters that are safe and have secured communications. >> of course, he uses this displaying and residences but it is not his property.

the rumors about his wealth and the palaces had nothing to do with reality. it is just lies. >> the rumors of putin's wealth have staggering. >> some people including myself believe that he's one of the richest man in the world. >> bill ryder was one the largest investors and now he's one of vladimir's toughest critic. >> you think he's the richest man in the world? >> i really think that. >> estimate his net worth? >> $200 billion. >> that makes him 2.5 wealthier than the man who ford says is the world's wealthiest, bill gates. >> all these rumors of billions and billions of dollars of his

fortune, it is not true. don't believe. >> he's got nothing and he's got what he writes in his personal financial declaration every year. putin's financial declaration says he owned half than an acre and 200 square foot garage, into that maybe he puts vehicles listed in those documents, a sedan and a russian four by four and a trailer like this one. the document does not say how much putin has in the bank or investments. top u.s. treasur official adam zu szubin. >> he's not a statement of a man's wealth. >> if putin was getting rich, he

was surely not the only one in russia. >> take this statistic. in 1996 when putin just moved to moscow and begun his plans at the top, there were no billionaires in all of russia. >> by 2014, russia had 111 billionaires according to reports. the average wage in russia was less than $450 a month. that's the lowest wage in china. but despite all the allegations, despite all the accusations, the fact remains that vladimir putin is remarkably popular in russia. why? we'll tell you when we come back. to its roots.

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the most powerful man in the world is also the most popular. vladimir putin's approval rate as sorared as 86% considering america's president are happy when they break the 50% mark. >> how has he done it? partly it is the colt of putin. >> he has mastered the art of the manly photo opt. he finds ancient treasures under water and rides to the submarines on the bottom of the black seas and flies planes.

>> it is ridiculous of ahm midd age world leaders riding around shirt less in a horse after a dozen donuts. who thinks this looks good? everything we find is ridiculous about vladimir putin is very appeal ng appealing in a media universe. >> the foundation of the putin's is everywhere you live. >> putin stepped in and stabilized the country and he rhode the wave and translating into rising wages and storing stocks. late 2014, the party stopped. oil prices slumped and soon after came western economic sanctions, vladimir putin

navigated hard times well. he slashed social spending, implement implemented austerity program. putin is a fiscal conservative. looks closer to dubai man moscow. >> putin's secret sauce, nationalism. and it surged in 2014 after an invasion that shocked the world. >> bigger nations must not be allowed to bully the small. >> vladimir putin gathered a piece of ukrain for russia. >> we thought those days were gone. >> but it all looked very different through russian eyes. >> i have never met a russian

who accepted the notion of ukrain as a totally separate state. >> of course many ukrainians deeply resented the invasion, but not russians. they see it as the revival of a deep sense of power and national destiny. >> putin has given them their pride back. russia is once again a great power. >> putinism is an ideology of social conservatism, but above all of national power. putin might say he has made russia great again. sound familiar? >> we will make america great again. like putin, trump has used

nationalism to boost his support. but many believe donald trump is no vladimir putin. >> putin is a much more practiced, subtle, coning player. he's playing in poker terms a couple of deuces at the highest level. he has reasserted from a position of relative weakness like nobody i can think of. that's an amazing feet of geo politics. reathing and snorting) no, no. the running of the bulldogs? surprising. what's not surprising? how much money aleia saved by switching to geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more.

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finally here are my thoughts on he whom we have called the most powerful man in the world. first let me explain the title. the united states and china for that matter are more powerful countries than russia of course but the it power of a head of state is determined both by the country's strength and the capacity he or she has to exercise that power unilaterally, unconstrained by other institutions, parties or political forces. and combining those two metrics, it's easy to see why vladimir putin rises to the top. he has created what he calls a vertical of power unlike any we have seen in any great nations. as the russian chess grand master has noted, himself a harsh critic . when the czar died, afterall,

you knew the process by which his successor, his son, would be elevated. when the soviet secretary of the communist party died, would elect his success. but if putin dies, if, what would happen? to understand putin, you have to understand russia. the last hundred years have seen the fall of the czar, the collapse of democracy, the great depression, world wari with its 10s of million of russians dead. stalin stalin's, boris yeltsin's years of chaos and corruption. and then comes vladimir putin with increasing prominence and respect in the world.

respect is important. russians have immense national pride. russia is afterall the largest country on the planet. 48 times larger than germany. it encompasses 11 time zones and straddles europe, asia and the middle east. it is also a rich country containing some of the largest deposits of raw materials from oil to natural gas. culturally it has thought of itself as the third rome, even as rome fell to the barbarians. putin understands russia. but he also understands the world. he's not foolish enough to make a frontal assault. he know s how to use power asymmetricically. he understands the internal divisions and discord and the gaping openness. he understands the fridgility of

instugzs like and nato diversity. in other words, vladimir putin understands us very well. the question is do we, does donald trump really understand him? the following is a cnn special report. >> the nation's bitter adversary, dangerous and deceptive. >> he meant to say it was illegitimate. the rest is history. >> their weapons insidious and unsuspected. threatening american votes and striking at the heart of democracy. >> do you think they see their interference in this election as a success? >> i do. >> a spy story in cyber space.

>>