the olympic games where stones like this would have been part of the temple. to temple. stempel lowe's. home. from.

playing. well that was a rather surreal. definitely the way to stream i've had for a while. there was a memorable ceremony. who i'm pretty sure the high priestess never spoke to me. what was it she said. full of the flame or something. and there's. a lot more of course of base. on which the top story this morning than the sochi twenty pulteney olympic flame as of right in moscow seven days after it was in the ancient greek city of limpia carried by russia's deputy prime minister dmitri cool with ak the

flame traveled in a through lanton to red square where president vladimir putin spoke of its meaning for the russian people in the limbic tilt the symbol of the world's primary sports competition of peace and of friendship. but he has come to russia. there are many marks the start of the longest tools relay in a limb take a street the flame but it's great that so many people have turned out to the start of the russian really it looks like a lot of fun and back. in a minute. but it was. the stone i picked up in the end it was on my mantel piece and if that isn't a sign i don't know what it is. i knew i had to get down to red square and experienced atmosphere for myself fortunately they were having

a two day event. so from sunny greece to rather soggy moscow just at the very start of the torch is journey around the whole of russia i'm excited. the days first run there was paralympic star let's see of logic you know who picks up two gold medals in the beijing and london games. we do curling is still a big gold medal is there still something special for you. of course it's a unique feeling because i had never carried dorsch before i had first i ran with it quite easily then i felt i was becoming heavier and heavier but i was determined to carry it properly and show it to everyone so that they could all appreciate the moment. and the crowd's reaction word sexists i missed out on going to my home games in london and i was determined not to let

such a twenty four team passed me by there were fourteen thousand torchbearers slots up for grabs one of them was going to be mine. when we were making the technical order for the factory we say look let's make the thing we want to who. you know whole and also desirable should be like wow. a lot of questions where or. wait it's quite we have to take all the cover and we milled the biden machine extra weight of

the aluminum so it's really fine. it's the feather feather over the period of burton firebird in the russian. stories and fairy tales and to get this feather from the firebird is a super challenge for the guild. the problem can be. underneath here and it just caused the fire but in this kid we have a special need wiring inside which melted and of like really a red color. and it's the fire so basically it's a rift fire in itself. i

was going to have to wait a while before i found out if i'd been picked as a torch bearer more than enough time to try and learn a little more about my mysterious stone. some of russia's most eminent geologists live in. the center of russia's diamond industry on the rocks down here in the most expensive in the country. the pits descends more than a kilometer under and uses the most sophisticated drilling equipment to get to the precious. stones have been taken to assaulting sense and closely examined each rough gem is

appraised. and i had a close up focused on my precious stone to. add must be some kind of. there i can see small crystals here proving that it's ancient rock. but really it should lights up should it was a miss and. no it's false but it's luminescent as from. ok maybe you could make it luminescent if you really believed it right thank you did you really expect it to glow. maybe maybe i'm just not right. there's certainly something very special about this and this ground i don't

know but it might just be because they use to pulling glittering thing this out of the dark here. but who wants minis diamonds what the top attraction in turn it was time to head towards the city's most well known landmark where they were getting ready to welcome some very special guests. from all in forty years these huge realized trucks one of the most famous symbols in your couture carrying the region's diamonds soon from its quarries and factories and now. it's getting ready for its most important passenger ever. it must have been close to minus forty celsius but these olympic torch is and torch bearers are made of stern stuff. this huge quarry has been the frozen heartbeats of the city for more than fifty years producing more than seventeen billion dollars diamonds my stone it meant i

was here to watch the parade but what was i supposed to do next. great shot. lives so when two mates were to. again show me the and. by car. choice. they can be few more famous natural landmarks in russia than lake baikal the oldest and deep this lake on the planet on the site of a very special olympic celebration. for the first time ever they're planning to light the olympic flame on the water. in

this case your average tool which isn't going to cut it so special equipment is required and special people to carry it and who better than the local rescue ranger . are professional activity is mostly dedicated to rescuing people on lake baikal our job is important difficult interesting and in a way romantic by cow has many faces in winter it's tough and in summer it's beautiful you can't help but admire its power it attracts you and it's very important to me because it's a jewel of russia. everything's ready let's go then as nicholas puts the final touches to his equipment the excitement begins to build along the water's edge. rallies have been warmly welcomed across the country but

the crowds here are about to witness something that's never been done before. and there's plenty of local showmen own hands went to take in the while they wait. a massive noise and color to cheer the torch bearers on. this torch is based on a special system there is a pyrotechnic charge that can burn at any depth in any temperature and under any circumstances. when it's under water it's like a second son the flame literally illuminates the entire lake. autumn when you curious you can feel its enormous power. of the water temperature is four degrees celsius it's really freezing we could feel it on our uncovered faces but we were united by this flame that had absorbed the energy of the entire country of every single person who cares about the flame that was what united us and that's why everything went perfectly.

as i watched from out on the water you could almost feel the crowd's energy coming across the waves it had been another remarkable spectacle for this record breaking to interrelate i was wondering what could possibly top it. looks like on the right track. so what well but. i think. like joe did you know the price is the only industry

specifically mentioned in the constitution and. that's because a free and open press is critical to our democracy check albus. in fact the single biggest threat facing our nation today is the club for a full work of our government and our crafts to mco we've been hijacked by handful of transnational corporations that will profit by destroying what our founding fathers once it's all just i'm john mark and on this show we reveal the big picture of what's actually. going out into the world we go beyond identifying the problem try a rational debate and a real discussion critical issues facing if i feel ready to join the movement then welcome to it. i know c.n.n. the m.s.m.

b c fox news have taken some not slightly but the fact is i admire their commitment to cover all sides of the story just in case one of them happens to be accurate. that was funny but it's close and for the truth and might think. it's because one whole attention and the mainstream media works side by side the joke is actually on here because the people coming. out are teenagers we have a different pretty. good though because the news of the world just is not this funny i'm not laughing damnit i'm not. good. at. you guys stick to the jokes i will hand over the stuff that i've got to.

but what a ship. i was. fifty years of the pride of the russian nuclear fleet for a true. time experience. flame was traveling to the north pole i was going with. it was telling me to follow the flame i was going to take it as far as i could. hundred miles of beautiful ocean lay between us and the top of the

world. well just in case you didn't actually believe we were going to the north pole i think that eliminates any doubt. it's another historic. on a relay around the ship was planned for the occasion. and you can learn so many new things. as well as the crew's experience. what the ice breaker is really capable of. i mean this tour of the olympic torch to the north pole. as a surface ship so late in the season the ice was much heavier and to cope with it we almost needed the ice breakers maximum power.

we were making incredible progress slicing through the thick polar ice like bazza and after only four days we were already near our destination that's a world record pace. we made it. less to do ninety degrees north and sit top of the world. once the champagne and been finished everything kicked into gear the torch bearers went off to get ready and our organizing committee began making preparations for the relay. we love the one on the other one and. tried to hold it the right way all. right but what. with everyone in position we were ready to go and our captain was given the owner of starting off the run my main task was to keep the torch warm and make sure it

goes into past hand in time and just seconds later she was away and i was on collection g c. i think that's me now. thank you very much yes i got it they can look off the list and return it they know. i was it good. yeah go through it most that. we stepped off the ship and on to the ice the torches glowed flickering through the pitch black hole and nights. of pioneering soviet polar explorer. or of would ignite the culture of the most northerly place on the planet. it's not often you get to witness a moment in history this is the first time the olympic flame is out of in the north pole. and i'm here to see it. from the north as it's

possible to go it was time to head east with the olympic organizing committee. the flame the ip that is has its own security team at all times not to mention its own private jet. blue gulf this special service with the plane cooper which is just responsible for the security of the plane the keep the plane a little. on the special food bill you know until these flame will never go off. each city's greasing ceremony is unique and hundreds of volunteers helped make the occasion memorable. there's also to keep the

security a full. you know nobody will homey nobody will get this push. police just. because it's just a flame it's very dangerous for everybody. this is. a peninsula that's one of the most easterly places in russia. that is the whole the highest so that you don't burn yourself when your torches lit are going. for the mood fortune never talks to the flaming torch bearer and russian because you never. everybody every had an inhabitant of the cities just very proud that comes to his cd and i say that ok lation now three of them. it was the end of another remake and i was in one of the most beautiful places in

the country on the shores of the pacific itself but i was beginning to lose patience. i've come to the end of. what's. what do you want. where am i to go. i literally run the house of land. but the torch would move all over the mountains across the sea. even else of this world. we live.

in yes another historic moment it paid a visit to the international space station more than four hundred kilometers above the planet. and although safety reasons made lycee its on board a heavily fueled rocket summer all the bad idea the world's first olympic spacewalk was no problem. i don't know if i was getting some inspiration of my own. yes i mean. i've come so far with the torch i was going to have to see it through to the end but what so many different people in relays all over russia and even beyond now i was going to have my own moments with the symbol of the sochi games i was a new father in the south of the country in under two hours i was going to be

a torch bearer. for. the show uniform. it was time to suit up pick up the most vital piece of equipment. i think. let's make. a stimulus up to their english training thank you. last. more than two hundred of us would be running through the streets and the excitement was already beginning to build there was just time for a few tips on how to make the most of the moment. smile and wave your hand then they put out my torch and i stepped back and i'm not there anymore it's your turn you start and i'll be in the car that will be filming us starts to move

up and we run towards it ok going to. brush through. the. book or. none of us could wait to get started on the pulse he was in full swing as we moved through the city thousands of people had turned out to cheer us all and watch the parade and we even had a few guests from the north pole putting in an appearance. we were dropping off people every two hundred meters so i just had a few minutes to. my neighbor cotton mill. you can really imagine how exciting it is. looking forward to the moment when the whole country will see me. on a sleep i can't believe it. did school really freezing today isn't it.

planned so let's meet our church. as i wave to the crowd i hadn't expected to be so nervous one whole epic journey had led to this moment and as i waited for number one million three to pulse me the flame all i could think of was for goodness sake don't drop it. by. the dream come true mr london twenty games i never thought of the thoughts of another day and now i'm. going to play with this moment fantastic.

i think. i got a little further to go with this story. i was with it when it was lit for the very first time in a limpia increase it went deep underground into diamond mines and you could see i was with it when it plunged into the waters of lake baikal and i was with it when the wins by president of the very top of the world and then it went. to the international space station. to believe. if you could combine the four elements of . you could base metal into gold this tool which all of those elements even a fifth element the quintessence from space itself well i believe that this torch has the energy to help you win gold in sochi.

russia. now that carries an hour or.

so we leave the deep. sea to suit your. physical. issues that no one is asking with to get that you deserve answers from. politics. the i'm terrible a problem very hard to take on a problem to get the among here a lot that are saddled with the. no legs. below. the i'm

flummoxed. well i'm a. bit of a. problem .

it's a classic. oversight. that you know the price is the only industry specifically mentioned in the constitution and. that's because a free and open press is critical to our democracy which recall books. will. never go on i'm sorry and on this show we reveal the picture of what's actually going on will we go beyond identifying the problem to try to rational debate a real discussion critical issues facing america about the book go ready to join the movement then welcome to the big picture. oh i'm tom hartman in washington d.c. and here's what's coming up tonight big picture.