partners will also help with that including financial and administrative and professional assistance so they have such a control system as well. we don't have any imports coming that would be hazardous or dangerous in any way to our people, and there are ways to do that and this can be taken care of quite quickly. >> russia today >> thank you, good afternoon mr. vladimir putin, putin, i would like to talk about democracy on the whole in the context of the presidential

election in the u.s. american politicians love to talk about politics. that's what makes the u.s. exceptional. sometimes they say that other countries are not democratic enough so they share and spread their democracy. these very same people who are so proud of american democracy, common american people started saying that they were betrayed in the aftermath of the presidential election so what's wrong with democracy. is democracy a good thing, and another question that i'm concerned about personally, recently they were convicted for high treason so do you think

this is adequate punishment for the text she sent >> as far as this court decision is concerned, our courts are independent in russia just like any other country, but i do believe that this verdict was quite tough. i am not sure of the details, was it just a text she sent? she wrote what she saw and everybody saw that so this means that was not that big of a secret. i'm not quite sure. i do not know all of the details. i will look into this matter and the accusation brought against her in court. that's number one.

number two, your question about democracy. yes, there is an issue and we have been talking about this for quite a long time and u.s. partners have been ignoring this matter. first of all the problem is that the electoral system in the u.s. is archaic. they don't have direct elections. they have two steps. first they have their electoral college and then they elect their president. in certain states they even have preferences. it's not clear why they have that. it's up to u.s. lawmakers to say why they have this. i don't know, maybe because they provided this preference to certain states, but it's up to american people to sort this out. it's not up to us. the ruling party called the democratic party, they clearly

forgot, have forgotten the essence of this name ,-comma what this means to be democratic and they have been using administrative clout without shame and encouraging people to disobey voter decisions, but like i said earlier, i believe it's a great country and they will make necessary decisions, learn their lessons and the next electoral cycle will be better. let's go over there now >> for example there is a question about chess. let's talk about chest. i think we need to change the subject. let's talk about just now

>> thank you for the chance to ask a question. is all of russia was queuing for him when he was going through the matches with the current world champion so this support was promised not only during the big international events but even at the regional level so there should be a tournament established, and in my native region we don't see any support for chess. we have a very good chess player , but when he suggests that we should have a chess club

he gets the reply that there are some other priorities like drying or whatever. the question is, how will be developed develop chess in our country in the near future and to willie, may be have support for chess clubs and such >> first and foremost, i don't think i should interfere with decisions made by local authorities like the school curriculum, things they should do, things that they should add. it's a sensitive issue whether they really need chess as part of the mandatory curriculum or even as part of an addition. it is up to local authorities or maybe even specific schools to decide that, but we certainly should be proud of our history in chest. we know that we have had people,

top chess players and the players we have today we are proud of our chess players and you know we have this talented kids school in we have a chess section there. that's not enough. we need to develop chess throughout russia and i expect in your region, i really hope that people will pay attention to chess and support the chess player you just mentioned and everybody who loves chess. he really played well, but carlson is the top player of our time. our chess player was good as well.

he performed very well, he is a real fighter and i really believe that he will win sooner or later >> what is your question >> first row, please. one of my colleagues here asked about this bridge and called it, but there is no official name. some people call it the crimean bridge, the courage bridge, the russian bridge so the question

is, which which do you prefer? which would you suggest, so the bridge is going to be completed very soon. what is the next big project here? >> as for the name, it's up to the people. perhaps you could do it in the form of an opinion poll or referendum, the most important thing is to build it. naming it is a secondary nature. if you call it the catch bridge, okay, let it be. they have their own issues that need to be solved and it has to be self-sufficient in terms of energy supply. that is very important, and certainly that has to do with

our relations with the eu, the european union has taken the decision that the baltic state have to enjoy their energy lines and that causes problems for us in terms of supply. it's required additional resources to build a new supply line. i'm not sure why they are doing it. previously we didn't have any issues in terms of energy supplies to the baltic states. everyone, everything has been running smoothly. our european partners always tell us that we need to come together, we need to move closer and find common ground, well exactly the opposite is happening here. they have disrupted our relationship in such a key area

as energy. certainly we will resolve this issue and we will ensure energy independence. as you've heard we will supply liquefied natural gas. we plan to build a power plant. we might choose small scale nuclear plants produced in russia. this is one of the key area for the development. we need to have some kind of energy resources. road construction, infrastructure, certainly there are a lot of issues. i just mentioned to but there are others pending. the most important thing we need to provide is the use of the opportunities which is really

close to our european partner. it needs to be economically aligned in the economy, in terms of the preferences they reach. you had a free community of those preferences but instead you now have subsidies from the federal government so it needs to be all lined so that you are sustainable without interruption to the manufacturing sector, to the infrastructure, in terms of crimea, one of the problems is the energy supply and i would like to inform you that the chairman, an oil company has

finalized its project. the oil pipelines are now fully connected with the oil network of russia. in the next two or three days we will announce that. russian oil and gas will be supplied to crimea. it means that today, right now we have winter and crimea consumes 1300 megawatts. it used to be supplied by ukraine, it's proprietary generation capacities generate 1000 megawatts but we will start

supplying russian natural gas and will start the construction of two power plants in crimea with a capacity of 470 megawatts so the total capacity will be around 2000 megawatts so you can see the peak consumption is 1000 megawatts so there will be around 8000 megawatts extra capacity. for the future that will be needed for the development of the economy for the agricultural sector and manufacturing, construction of new hotels so

this is a landmark event for crimea and i hope this will be good news for them. >> good afternoon vladimir putin the international community is fighting terrorism and first and foremost, with an organization that calls itself is onyx state. unfortunately, people in russia, including mass media but we know terrorism has nothing to do with islam or state.

don't you think it would be logical and right too for bid the mass media to use islamic state as a name >> what kind of media do you work at >> do you need to ban anything? i think it is wrong to ban anything, certainly islam should never be put together with terror >> you have a person from the region, let's have have a question from the north >> good afternoon you have visited our region a number of

times. let's be honest, this will remain one of the charters of the russian economy. we have a lot of projects but we don't have enough roads. there is a project with all the agreements with russian railroads, et cetera so you are the person to ask. when is the construction going to start. another question, right now the taxes of the donor region get redistributed to neighboring regions that are having a hard time. should this be permanent or temporary >> you just said that we need to implement that project.

will you be able to do it on your own? no. you realize that so you need support two. so the practice by the finance ministry which is called leveling out the income of different regions is the appropriate one. there might be regions that get extra income thanks to minimal resources. we need to also keep in mind that all of this belongs to the people. all of the russian people, and you can only ensure their rights through that leveling out practice. evening out the incomes of regional budgets, and redistribution is necessary to

kickstart economic growth. you absolutely absolutely right that we should not have any free riders in russia. we need to stimulate regions to increase, i don't want to go into detail. there are lots of ways to do it, but it has to be done and we've been trying to do that so we will continue to do that. as for the specific project that you referred to, when. once it is deemed economically viable and feasible, if they realize it's going to generate revenue we will launch that project. it's a project that the russian economy really needs.

it will provide a new capacity for rail transportation and a connection to the port which is up and running and will set one of the biggest enterprises in russia and perhaps it's one of the biggest investment projects in the world. the partners, both european and chinese and investors from japan and other countries have been able to move forward on schedule, and it's really surprising given the harsh climate and condition they are working in. this is the problem someone is

trying to create. i don't know why someone is trying to create this problem so i hope it will prevail, but i can see, see, even from today that the project will be implemented so as we implement this project, certainly infrastructure will be needed, and i am sure we will come to that, and the sooner the better. >> good afternoon. i have a question as you know

the kurds played a key role in fighting international terrorism russia is playing a major role in the middle east now. so what is russia's stance on the fact that the iraqi kurds have taken steps toward independence? >> russia has always had a special and very good relationship with the kurds. they have their own very difficult past. we know what is happening in the middle east.

i can only reaffirm that the current units have been really courageous and fighting international terrorism. they have been very efficient in the battles. as for sovereignty, we proceed from the premise that we need to act in accordance with international law. ultimately, the ride to the kurds, it will be insured, but how will it be done depends on the rock and the kurds themselves. we have been in contact, we will be in contact with kurds but we will not interfere with domestic affairs of iraq.

>> thank you for this opportunity. we talked about patriotism today as well. this word has been used a lot this year. the question is, is the state overzealous in terms of patriotism. there was a jesus christ

superstar opera, it's hard when this can be called patriotism so should we distinguish between [inaudible] as for animal torture, well, you talked about some animals that don't have owners and what are we to do then. there should be shelters and taken from the street >> that was the main take away of my statement. as i said we need to apply the

most humane principles. certainly we need to provide a system, we have heard when wild animals attack children and we can't turn a blind eye. as for patriotism the russian government will support patriotism. we have no other unifying force should we distinguish between good and bad hooligans, no. hooligans are hooligans hooligans. you need to distinguish between common sense based actions around it. we shouldn't only rely on the

phobias we have in the media space. we remember that incident with the exhibition. perhaps no one had paid attention if it hadn't been attacks. but how about that photographer. he was charged in the u.s. but he thought he could do it in russia which is not acceptable in the u.s. the response was not that civilized and perhaps that's bad , but certainly you have different government agencies that need to take decisions in the community needs to have some kind of checks and balances. the council will was a council of culture.

there have been other questions on the banner of jesus christ superstar opera. actually the year before it took place but right now when they started selling tickets, they only sold 46 tickets. that's by the organizers decided not to go ahead with it. it's impossible to bend something in modern world. we will not go down that road. it's a very delicate area and we would need a constant dialogue with the community and we need space but i agree with you 100%

>> education may be there are only three hospitals in our country and the moscow hospice has been operation for a few years and thanks for the children to get care when their mothers are always with them when they can play, but the construction is very slow. it is only due to charity funds that precedent and children do

not have enough time to wait while it is completed. maybe the government agenda government should help considering it's about children >> probably, but that project was initiated by charities. certainly it's a sensitive question. we always support a project like this kind. just recently i granted and awarded to a priest who devoted all his life to it. certainly the government is doing a lot in this area, but if a chair he starts a project, it needs to know that it will be able to finish it. that has to be done in any area. if you say you can do it then you have to do it, as the russian saying goes so you can't really start something and then ask for help, but by and large,

certainly we need to focus more on it and i hope that after our conversation you and you represent channel one that the municipal authorities will pay more attention to it just like in other russian regions >> juvenile justice, what's meant by that? >> good afternoon, dear colleagues, mr. vladimir putin, on february 9, 2013, there was a meeting and made a statement

that without a public discussion we will not have juvenile, will not be designed after the western standards, but i can tell you our system is about the same as it is in scandinavia. then you ask to decriminalize article 116 in your decision was implemented in a very strange

>> >> to test these people and so, l.i.. what is the purpose? do you have some long term plan and if so what are they ?

>> translator: the only goal is the welfare of russia the economy and the right kind of people how many regions do we have? eighty-five you just mentioned three. is that part of any trend how to pay a key role? so you ask, do you trust local politicians? yes. the vast majority those that come from those regions certainly there are cases

unique to find someone new from the outside this is supported by the people of that particular region. people say that they need a reshuffle. you just mentioned three people. there are many more. one -- yes they are young people they have a lot of energy and they have a lot of promise. they have a good reputation in terms of management. we look at the personal qualities. that makes us think that they can perform their

duties in a sufficient way and i rely on them to do that to. as for their future that depends on their performance . he worked for six months and then 85 percent of the region voted but that is not enough. that applies to other appointees from other regions. i just recently to talk to the first woman in space and chief thank me for finding such a good person. but this is the first time the new governor is trying to assimilate and integrate

and we wish them success in the interest of the people who live in those regions. somebody from berlin? >> translator: [speaking russian]

>> translator: okay her going through girds to our relationship with europe, i already cover that would answer a question from your colleague from poland. it is not because of the us that russia and germany went sour we did not put any

sanctions reid just responded to the restrictions imposed on the russian economy. we would be happy to lift all the sanctions even though our companies. but if our european borders and those entire russian sanctions so take an objective look at what happened and how we got here. first our european friends were guarantors of the agreement of the opposition and they violated everything and seized power to condemn the entire constitutional coup to ask them to respect

the tree the cosigned by the foreign ministers of three european countries, and they supported this and as a result people living in crimea wanted to go back to russia this use -- caused ukraine to louis crimea and caused the conflict. what was this based on? it is amazing but the entire tragedy was based on the fact that they could not coordinate their positions on ukraine signing the association treaty with the e.u.. -- are purely economic issues how do you take such an issue and escalate through the conflict? we have been talking to you for years asking to coordinate the parameters of

this agreement and what they said eventually come i want to join you with the association agreement and to coordinate the parameters we need the russian market. so take some time to think about it but the european partners said no and the rest is history. how could you do such a thing? thought we did not do it. what happened next was going on. after the coup or after the pretense of a joining this association ride away they did exactly what they suggest that they do and

they procrastinated for over a e.f. off -- for over a year and put it of the back burner again and now with the referendum i don't know what to say about the situation. now the matter of the visa free travel for the gradients it is questionable. this will only bring the ukrainian legal migrants to europe and they will have a disadvantage they're the best way to handle the situation is to do it together and now called way constructively work together

this is the relationship we would like to have with europe to face these issues that includes fighting terror. of course, our hearts go out to the victims and families of berlin and like i said from the u.n. on the anniversary of the organization said we should all work together to have the united front. heidi have that with the sanctions and counter sanctions? for example, our uk colleagues have suspended their contact with the efforts so how can we work effectively to fight terror as a result? me suffer attacks very dangerous attacks so i hope we can restore this cooperation in the future.

>> translator: another journalist from the kremlin. mr. putin, what do you say if you were asked whether or not you should become president again? >> it is a provocative question. >> translator: you'll get my standard response. when the time comes, i will

take a look at the situation in the country and in the world and make a decision based on what we will be able to achieve i will make uh decision whether or not i should run in the upcoming presidential election. >> translator: good afternoon mr. putin. i am sure you know, about of controversial situation so what did your opinion on of discussion that has been

started? he criticized the center to justify it loss of troops and distorting history. so what do you say to those people who are angry that on state money? >> i had the meeting and i guess there are certain issues that need to be studied further in more detail. specifically, and the issues related to russia's history. i am not only talking about recent history but perestroika up through now.

history in general. and they agreed with me that perhaps certain things need to be presented in a more accurate manner. but there is one thing i don't like. i don't like to escalate the issues. there is nothing wrong with having a discussion. this is normal and proper some people may like it may be some not. some people are more liberal others are more conservative. we had non-western nurse -- westerners but for example,

looking back at 1917 then next year will mark the centenary of the revolution revolution, what we seek is reconciliation, unity, harmo ny, we should not escalate conflict around this issue berger that is why response to your question. okay. what is your question quick. >> translator: my question is about the environment. to construct those strategic facilities fife thought that there are some organizations like i says that the agenda is the environment.

manipulation of public opinion and another thing, the village that was isolated from the world that was 70 kilometers away. if the road will be built until 2018 but what do they do until then? >> translator: on the second

part of the question i will point out this matter to the governors and i hope they will respond with local authorities. this is unacceptable of course, . athena's like that have been unfortunately a different parts of our country and it is too bad local authorities are unable to cope with such situations that people should not be isolated from the rest of the country and definitely should have access to basic services. now you mentioned the environmental organizations for those who really care about nature. even our rivals use environmental organizations in order to slow down those

growing sector is our infrastructure or power plants. but i remember for governments support to environmental organizations and asked them to argue against construction of the other infrastructure. we knew how much money was donated by foreign governments to help those organizations stop us. we also should care about environment with nuclear energy agency. definitely they should be mindful about that. but this is a major company and after fukushima fukushima, investors said our standards were the safest in the world.

we cut as we learned all the of lessons of this period and from abroad and our technologies are the safest but then there is always abuse. even in the matter of the environment. i talked to one of my foreign friends and he ata meeting with one friend of his that is an international environmental organization and said they exported $30 million and then you are off the hook so they had a board meeting and decided to pay the money for both things like that have been and we are aware of that but of course, you cannot just

ignore such situations. the lists is looking at the economic assessment and consider the factors. okay what is this question you want to ask? >> translator: thank you. i know i looked silly there but negative of the life-and-death variety. i always watch your ad dresses in the san to your statements but uh very next day it goes in the opposite direction and i will reduce

some examples. everyone was nodding when you said your address as an aggressive response should be made so it is a movement and there is a very aggressive slogan in suppose a the orthodox organization what you preach the makes them turn away so this movement, and they provoked

the believers and they went to the police on them. so you say we are sensitive to truth and justice but we can seek for example, to start to constructing a house and is a civil servant in a not very rich country. seven years ago is said that you are in favor of the mayor's being elected but in fact, your initiative went the other way.

but the thing is people agree with you. wide use say one thing but then in real life you do the opposite. is this a slow to? another question a journalist has been detained for years now and the accusations leveled against them are absurdly. and another case where the publisher of video of a boy that was tortured and. and that attracted the attention of law enforcement but she was evicted. we need to do something about our justice system. please save the people. >> translator: . okay. what you said about the

judicial system, actually recently, we've made a number of steps to make our legal practice more humane includes criminals and its minister it of offenses and other things and we have then pursuing this policy intentionally and we will continue this work. extreme use and radical actions, we have a large and complex country people who who organized exhibitions. they say they want to raise awareness and things like that you should not go to extremes like that as well but be reasonable.

the same goes for patriots added that he should be reasonable. you mentioned something i have not heard those things but i promise you i will look into that i don't know of all of those decisions were fair. the decision of the company's government operation executive builds something luxurious and ostentatious i agree with that. people should be more modest . and i really hope that they will hear me and the same goes for their in comment

you should realize what kind of country we live in and not make people angry. and now you also mentioned the lawsuit is up to the courts to decide the amount of compensation if there is any and who filed the of lawsuit to protect their reputation. it is up to the court to decide of this media organization so to get those 7 billion rubles there were only 360,000 and that is not that much. but i often talk to people and they complain that the

journalists harass them and approach their children even . see you shuttle so be more careful in the way that you do your work. you should not interfere with their private life. celebrities or athletes or people like that. we should all follow certain rules. we are all cultured people in our country. >> translator: . >> good afternoon mr. putin.

i would like to follow up on the question. so now the situation was very difficult with the migrants and instability in the least. in light of this, what are the new approaches to like russia and china can resolve all those issues? . .

in the rail or in the production has been increasing substantially. we have an agent doing projects in aircraft manufacturing, space, energy including nuclear energy. we have some very good projects with infrastructure. we continue and we will continue there are certain difficulties of course that i will not talk about this right now.

we have some interesting ideas about switching to national currencies in bilateral trade and essentially we are going to use the r&d as the reserve currency now and congratulations to china on that. our positions on international issues are very close and have a certainly strong stabilizing factor in international affairs. we treasure our relationship with china and we expect to continue developing it further in the future.

rashad. >> translator: good afternoon mr. putin. i will start with a question i was going to ask last but since my colleague mentions it. a year ago in this very hall you said you would look into space so now the case went to court. maybe you have been busy and didn't have enough time but please look into it. >> i'm sorry i have to interrupt you but let me stop you there. if this was public the president looked into this matter and if the case went to court this means it's not as simple as you say.

>> another question. you talk about the media being responsible but there's a different side. it always ends the same way. the courts demand that the articles do you talk about would be taken down or destroyed so don't you think this is a varied dangerous precedent's? >> the fact that you don't have accurate information. you need to take a closer look. like other people that go to court how do you expect them to protect their reputation? should they take a.

club and go to your office? they go to court like people do. now, about those decisions i only know about the case that he went to rbc with two or 3 billion rubles and the court awarded him 300,000 rubles. this is a significant amount for rbc daily and i don't think this will series we affect your economic spending but the very fact that, okay let me start from a different angle here. the fact that sometimes they criticize government officials and businessmen i think it's positive. >> would about the decision to take down the article? >> well i cannot comment on

that. if it was a legal decision and if it was local you have to comply with that. >> and another question. >> let's talk about taxes. >> in your address you asked the government to work on the tax system after 2018. and what will be your stance if the taxes, if they decide to decrease taxes? >> back in 2014 we decided not to increase any tax load on the community despite the different proposals from different agencies.

eventually there has been no tax hike. instead we introduced a number of privileges and tax breaks. we have been thinking that self-employed people will also be eligible for tax breaks so they need some time to settle down. we have also been talking about prior date development areas, about special tax regime for agriculture. there are two options either to product tax payments in a legal way and also high-tech business including small high-tech businesses perhaps would be eligible for less payments in

terms of the payroll tax. in 2018, this period will end so right now we need to think about it carefully. together with the business community including rpk because it focuses on business. you have very good experts sometimes arrive your broadcast so how about together we will be able to draft an action plan for the next four years? and once we have a solution we will provide the sustainable foundation for the business community in the next four

years. >> way back over there there's a poster about alcohol so this is about the tragedy that has happened. good afternoon regional newspapers. yes, over the last week it became tough news for a tragic region -- reason. now the province is leading the fight against illegal circulation of alcohol or substances containing alcohol.

there are a number of measures that will be implemented to achieve that and it's comforting to know that it's not our problem. their other regions suffering from the same thing. so one of the suggestions is to increase excise increases so there is no proper control and another big problem is the number of drunks. it's not only people at the very bottom but people with low income who can't afford to buy alcohol in stores so they go to illegal traders. so first of all what is your

take on the measures suggested by the authority and are there any measures that are going to be taken against the alcohol addiction or the population in general? >> first of all what has happened has been a tragedy. certainly the other agencies that were supposed to prevent it didn't do it. what actually happened, and number of people from the foreign states set up a workshop to produce that bath lotion bottles and they use methanol.

it's not a poison but some of the people decided to generate extra cash so he got somewhere that methanol and used it and that led to the poisoning. as for what the government is doing with outside duties, these are proper measures but it's too little too late. so the business community has now complained that perfume and others are going to cost more. but we have to admit that still

these actions are justified because of these tragedies so i instructed the government to set up an action plan and i hope that it will yield results to save lives and help our people. as for the level of alcohol and addiction, indeed it's a problem but it's far worse in other countries especially nordic european countries. we need a series of measures. we do have the program in place. we cannot simply ban things although some bands have to be implicated. do we have any beer bars near the kremlin? i don't know that there should he know beer bars near schools.

businesses have been made. we need to enforce these decisions and certainly we need to continue to work on those. there needs to be a lot of education. the meeting needs to focus on that and i would like you to support us in this work. this is extremely important. demographics depend a lot on it so overall it's one of the key areas of our joint work. love, the question about love. we need to end our press conference or lovell turned to hatred if we sit here for too long. george, a question on georgia.

there was a question on the russian drink class. we will get back to it. that's a story from last year. [speaking in russian] >> translator: recently our culture and other relations were reinstated but that's where it stops. one of the reasons for that aerial -- territorial problems that exist, so what are our prospects in terms of clinical dialogue or the status quo or are we stuck with the status quo? so the regime between the ukraine and the eu but what about georgia which is going to

have the same with europe? it's going to come faster than the regime for georgia in russia. >> well i think that a regime in europe is a thing of the past. regardless of whether ukraine or georgia. we need to establish a regime for all citizens of all countries. as for russia and -- the crisis in our relationship started after a conflict. it might seem trivial but it was irrationally started in south is that shia but we need to start thinking about normalizing our relations and perhaps we could go back to free travel for

georgians. we have all the grounds for it. we are receiving certain signals from some georgian officials. it's very important to established normal relationships between law enforcement agencies and security services in terms of fighting terrorism so that this regime would not undermine our security so we need to have cooperation in fighting terror. overall this is possible. was it last time or the year before that? [speaking in russian]

>> translator: thank you for exporting to china and the u.s.. >> the market is parlous. >> without your support there would not have been any of this so come to see us any time. so the question about governors of your people so our governor wants to create a platform so if i come to every time to discuss the planned. >> do you think we could leave that last? >> mr. pitts and we have a lot of things to be proud of and he wants to create a platform where we could flourish. i will explain.

so what we want is to basically restore. we want to produce things here here -- in europe and then bring them here. is the president going to support this idea and people all over russia? >> well we have that in moscow. just recently there were some low skill markets while this place in moscow is known for exhibits from different regions. it's all been reviving. we have an idea in presenting your goods. i think we can do that and i'm sure that the mayor of moscow will hear us and they could talk together with the governor of

the regions. certainly we need to develop markets and we need to move to new markets and revive the old ones. >> so i can tell him you support this project? when are you going to come over to our province? >> thank you for the invitation. i will try to come as soon as possible. you know the question -- the final question, otherwise it's going to be an endless event. okay, just a couple of questions. [speaking in russian] >> translator: thank you, i will be concise. when you think you will meet with donald trump and what kind of issues are you going to have on your agenda, strategic issues

i mean? >> it's difficult to say that. at this stage. first of all the newly-elected president needs to have time to build his new team. dickson -- it's not expedient to have meetings and certainly we need to discuss ways to normalize our relations in the selection campaign. trump said it would be proper to normalize their relations and it could be worse, well it could be worse and i agree with him. we have to figure out how to make it better. you have a good question. give me, give you what? >> good afternoon.

mr. putin, which of the mistakes you made do you think is the biggest one this year and what do you think was your biggest mistake as president? this term or any presidential term? >> i have been asked questions like that several times. every person makes mistakes. you can't live your life without mistakes so i will not repeat what i said previously. but i will try to certainly do some homework so that we should have fewer mistakes in the future so that we all work in an efficient way.

[speaking in russian] >> translator: mr. putin, in your address utah about being a moral person. this is impossible without reading to children these days are on the internet. they play games but it's the journals and magazines that create the habit of reading. we talked to the libraries. there are cuts so they can't buy

as many magazines that they want so is there going to be any support so that the libraries can have everything they need and my second question is from his aid. he asked about -- what kind are you missing in the kremlin? >> we need it in the industry. we deal with delicate issues and certainly a lot depends on us and we need humans in this area. certainly we can't rely on roberts in deciding the future of millions of people. as for libraries, as for children's books, i agree with you. we are trying to revive the library movement but as a new

base it's important to come to listen and to look at the books, to watch the pictures in the books. then we can see the media but we also need to provide the right content on modern media that is necessary for the education of the younger generation so that we can influence their souls and minds to shape their world view, their attitudes for life. libraries need to return to multimedia centers with books and on line activities. there are other sensitive areas and we need to focus more on this. not just the federal but

primarily at the regional and municipal level. if they need additional support, if they need support from us, okay we will think of that but the support is up to them. we can't just earmark money. it's not always the most efficient way of support but we definitely need to do that. [speaking in russian] >> translator: everyone says we hate chechens but that is not true. there are some things that raise questions.

cuts in lesson programs etc. but we have a company. the dividends goes to the russian -- first so all this money ends up in the accounts. so, this money, our money, why doesn't go toward the budget? it could be used to implement the social sphere or something. why, why are the in these accounts? maybe we should just take them. >> you represent a liberal

business paper and you were saying we need to take it away. well, indeed we do have the funds but it's absolutely transparent. they are under the control of the government. and we use some of the funds for other projects. last year and this year they issued additional money to finance projects in science and education. this applies to the so-called mega-grant. they will also earmark money for small aircraft production for

regional airlines. they will also use their funds for big aviation projects and for the new aviation engine. luckily, we have an engine. the first one in 29 years and we also need a new one. together with the chinese we will be able to build a new wide latte, long-range passenger jet but these are the coffers we are going to use for extra projects. thank you. merry christmas and happy new year. thank you so much for your patience. good luck.

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] >> i am steve levingston non- fiction editor. tonight the tv and c-span2 has invited me to post booktv in prime-time. tonight we look at four books the book world is selected for its 2016 notables list. each year toward the end of the year we have book world take a the book back at the nonfiction books we review it and in search of the best of the best. we look for significant

storytelling and uniqueness. we look across john ross, history, biography, politics, science and culture. he carefully study the titles and discuss their relative merits and out of this comes her "washington post" booklist of the 50 notable of the year. now, first up john donvan and caren zucker's new book "in a different key". this is hardly just a medical fail. it's a very human story of doctors who studied and misunderstood conditions in patients who spent years away, hidden away at home or in institutions and the parents who were maligned for their children to uncontrollable behavior. it's the story of the darkness of the past and attempts to discover brighter future for those who have autism. the "washington post" reviewer

herself, the mother of an autistic child said the book does what no other autism book has done, captures all that bewildering and -- aspects. i've wept and rage for reading it all the while thinking yes, this is my experience. brought together with dignity and affection on the page. with the "washington post" year and notables light -- and might just inspire us and help us understand our world. john donvan and caren zucker's book does just that. >> sean, thank you and welcome everybody. it's a great book. i feel bad that you've got might but back over there. it's a very moving book and