the constitution in six years? >> this is ridiculous, what you are saying. let's do the math. you expect me to stay here until i am 100 years old? of course not, no. >> do you have any plans to meet with other candidates? >> yes. i do not know when. my staff will contact them. i will invite them. all of them. >> what will happen in the next six years? will it be a new vladimir putin? or an old vladimir putin? >> we all change. thank you. theelcome the graduate of u.s. military academy at west point and the wilson center.

let's talk about the situation in russia and the poisoning of that russian double agent and his daughter. what do we know about the nerve agent? guest: the nerve agent was produced during the soviet era. it is a reference to the products themselves that were put together to create the poison. it is a standard nerve agent that inhibits nerve -- inhibits brain activity. host: do you have any doubt that putin was behind this effort? confidentcan be especially when you have statements coming from the united states, france, germany and the united kingdom condemning this and say that they believe it was led by the russian leadership. condemnation,t what will that mean for russia? does it make any difference for vladimir putin? guest: i don't think it does.

the intended assassination, any ifders on the road that even , thatraitor company doesn't mean the russians cannot second,k after you? there's a signal in this to the russian diaspora. you can go to london with all your money and support opposition figures, that doesn't mean the russian leadership cannot come after you. this goes back to the 1920's and 30's -- 1930's. ,he soviets infiltrated kidnapped people, assessment people. this is a trend. seeour point, the flagrant with which this was done signals that putin is not playing by rules that we recognize. host: what is his motivation?

guest: about those three reasons , the russians see themselves up against an international order that they believe seeks to surround and weaken russia. there are no rules as to what they are willing to do to bring themselves back to the table, to be recognized as a superpower, and to have a voice in international affairs. they believe they deserve based on the history, their size, their nuclear weapons, their military. host: you can get more information at wilsoncenter.org. ,ikki haley said this past week taking aim at russia and vladimir putin. the group if the russian government stops helping its syrian ally to used chemical weapons to kill syrian children and if russia cooperated with the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons by turning over all information

related to this nerve agent, we would stop talking about them. we would take no pleasure in having to criticize russia. we need russia to stop giving us so many reasons to do so. russia must cooperate with the uk's investigation and come clean about its own chemical weapons program. russia is a permanent member of the security council. it is entrusted in the united nations charter with upholding international keys and security. it must account for its actions. if we do not take immediate now,res to address this salisbury will not be the last place we see chemicals used. they can be used here in new york, or in cities or any country that sits on this counsel. this is a defining moment. , number time again states say they oppose the use of chemical weapons under any circumstances.

now one member stands accused of using chemical weapons on the sovereign soil of another member. the credibility of this counsel will not survive if we fail to hold russia accountable. the united nations, nikki haley, and a couple of points. first of all, how do we connect the dots between this nerve agent? these poisonings in the russian government involved? guest: i cannot speak to any information that may be classified. the biggest indicator is how difficult it is to produce these types of weapons. 2006,ou see, like in there was a man who was poisoned. weaponnd of material and really suggests a state sanctioned act. host: as we heard from nikki

haley, the u.s. is a potential target. how real is that? guest: i don't know of any threats to the united states from russia for poisoning. demonstratedave they don't play by the rules. what i will but out? absolutely not -- what i rule that out? absolutely not. host: we put in place sections toward russia. will that work? guest: sanctions are the only way you can go. during the obama administration, we crafted careful sanctions to impose some pain. we need to look at that again. i don't think the kicking out of diplomats really has much impact. this is an international system that i don't think vladimir putin wants integrate. versions this now a new of the cold war between what we

saw in the 1970's and 1980's? guest: i think that the threats are not new, the types of instability we have in our relationship is new. there are new dynamics. it is not as ideological as it was. my worry is if we job in analogy with the cold war is we are going to think like we are doing the cold war, we need new ways of thinking about this problem. host: it is election day in russia. what does that mean? guest: vladimir putin is to be the next president. the other candidates run on an implicit agreement with the kremlin. the russiant seeing media come after them. you would see the kremlin clamping down on that. they have to maintain some veneer of fair and free elections. host: my guest is jeffrey

edmonds. -- an army veteran. let's get to your phones. we are focusing on russia election day. the investigation into spies that have been poisoned. steve is joining us from massachusetts. republican line. caller: good morning. let me try to understand this. we have the russian state taking the spontaneous, 100% risk with zero benefit assassinating a washed up long out of service, retired double agent spy in a foreign country using a unique chemical directly traceable to a 30-year-old russian -- preceding the russian election? russiansow that the aren't yet involves -- are in the end results.

routinely probe ask inebriated with vodka. give me a break. there is nothing in the story that is not similar to saddam's bio weapons and anthrax in a six-month timeframe for nuclear launch. this is ridiculous. this many other countries have much more motivation than the russians. thank you. host: your perspective? guest: to the timing, i think even this narrative, is not just couldn't that believes the west is trying to conduct imaging change. change, manyregime believe many are anti-russian. i think you cannot discount as to why this was done. the diaspora in london is quite large with a lot of money.

from the russian leadership perspective, they are worried about the diaspora with all this money and machinations toward the elections in 2025. what that could mean for opposition figures. they are try to send a clear signal that you -- no matter where you are at, we can come for you. host: this is a piece from "foreign policy" magazine. the saints to be desperate seems to be the method of choice. guest: when you go back to 2004 and look at victor, the candidate who is running for ukrainian president, fell ill. when he came back to the camera, his face was horribly disfigured. he did go on to be president. russian response was he ate bad sushi. to someone getting stabbed by an umbrella in london. it is a technique that we have

seen. will nato hit back at russia for the poisoned? is anything the alliance could or should do? guest: i am not sure there is anything that nato alliance could do. the eu and united states need to look at additional sanctions. to impose some kind of punishment. host: what do you know about this agent who is still hospitalized with his daughter? guest: the timing of this, he ended up working for mi six. it came over. i don't think this is assassination was operational come in that they were worried about him getting over additional secrets. i think it is a signal to anybody who would go down that line and become a traitor in russia. putin just said that the one thing he will not forget his betrayal. host: this is a picture of him.

york. joining us from new caller: thank you for taking my call. i wanted to comment on the recent administrative moves toward russia. rex tillerson came out against russia. he was gone. nikki haley at the u.n., steve mnuchin. it never seems that president trump is the one coming out and directly holding russia accountable. i was wondering if your guest putiny comment regarding is a former kgb agent. we know the kgb's reputation for recording the five-star hotels. the own them in moscow. i was wondering, if he could make a connection between the fact that this is a way that would not rates. president trump has never come up directly taking on the

russians. thank you for taking my call. i would say, i cannot speak to president trump's own behavior. what i can say is the administration itself, mainly the pure cats -- mainly the bureaucrats have taken a pretty hard stance of russia. when you look at the nuclear posture review, the national security strategy, all of those things reflect a more competitive view of russia and one that betrays that is not the serial role. that is a space where large parts of the government are taking the actions they need to take. virginia.andria, good morning. yes, i am a veteran from the korean peninsula. spent 13 months there in the early 1960's. nine months in vietnam during

the height of the offensive. it is when i was let go from the service. what i would like to say about the russian collusion in the spies. i think the first color made the most intelligent comment -- first caller made the most toes and comment about the situation. for some reason this country wants to make russia a big enemy and a big monster. they want to vilify russia when russia is really not our enemies. we get more people internal in this country and if we focus on people who have committed treason, like hillary clinton and people in the democratic party and stop distracting everything toward russia, maybe we could clear up a whole lot of problems concerning our country vital survival.

we don't have to do it militarily but we can make compromises. host: we will get a response. guest: the leadership in russia wants to undermine western democracy and hours. in that regard, they see as as an adversary. i would characterize the relationship as a necessary one. we need to contact ourselves. guess we need to protect ourselves. -- we need to protect ourselves. it doesn't appear -- i don't think the russian leadership really want that kind of role. host: we are talking about russia/the u.s., our nato allies in the poisoning that took place. the history of this type of technique. our guest is jeffrey edmonds. we want to get your reaction from great written. first from the british prime

minister last wednesday. >> following the murder, the u.k. expelled four diplomats. under the vienna convention, the united kingdom will expel 23 russian diplomats who have been identified as undeclared intelligence officers. they have just one week to leave. this will be the single biggest expulsion for over 30 years. it reflects the fact that this is not the first time that the russian state has acted against our country. through these expulsions, we will degrade russian intelligence capabilities in the u.s. just in the u.k. for years to come. they seek to rebuild it, we will prevent them from doing so. second, we will develop proposals for new legislative powers to harden our defenses. this will include the addition of a target power -- at the u.k.

border. this power is only permitted in relation to those inspect -- suspected of terrorism. i have asked the secretary to consider if there is a need for new espionage powers to clamp down on the full spectrum of hostile activities and our country. mr. speaker, as i set out on monday, we will table a government amendment to the sexes bill to strip and out of -- to the sanctions bill to strip in our powers. in doing so, we will play our part in an effort to punish .hose responsible for those demandthat this will cross party support. we will make full use of existing powers to enhance our efforts to monitor and track the intentions of those traveling to the u.k. who could be engaged in activities to threaten the security of the u.k. and our allies.

we will increase checksum hybrid sites just increased checks on private sites -- increased checks on private sites. they may threaten the life and property of u.k. nationals or residents. host: that was last wednesday. this wednesday will be the deadline for those russian diplomats expelled. guest: they can be replaced over time. certainly it might degrade russian intelligence collection in london. i do think some of the steps she mentioned about border control and monitoring russians, that is helpful. we need to look at sanctions. watch thatan exchange tonight, 9:00 eastern time here on c-span. steve rosenberg is a reporter for the bbc. he was asked about the

poisoning. --president clinton president clinton, is russia behind the poisoning? [speaking russian] host: we apologize but those subtitle sing the russian leader focusing on agriculture and refusing to answer the question. guest: of course he is not going to acknowledge that. they may suspect that he may have done that. that could be seen as a show of strength from h

>> coming up monday morning, mike preview the storylines this week on capitol hill and the white house. then bipartisan policy center's reports on the supplemental nutrition assistance program. be sure to watch c-span's washington journal at 7:00 eastern monday morning. join the discussion. on landmark cases, we explore the 1896 case of plessy versus ferguson where homer plessy was arrested in new york on aour taking a seat train reserved for whites. the decision established the doctrine thatqual allowed segregation. this interpretation of the 14th amendment was not overturned until the brown.

examine this case with ted shaw and the director of civil rights at the university of north carolina and the former president of the and aa cp. and michael, the legal historian and law professor from harvard law school and author of the book "from jim crow to civil rights." monday at 9:00 eastern on c-span, c-span.org, and the free c-span radio app. order your copy of the landmark cases companion book available c-span.orgrs $.95 at -- $8.95 at c-span.org. there is a link on our website. on c-span, "q&a" is next talking about how american

politics have been depicted in followed by theresa may taking questions from the house of commons and giving an update on the recent poisoning of a former russian spy on u.k. soil. ♪ announcer: this week on "q&a," colorado college professor thomas cronin discusses his book, "imagining a great republic: polirixl nocwla ns rhw political novels and the