most of the rest the news just a few hours ago ukrainian president viktor call bitch reached a truce with opposition leaders that could put a freeze on that country's ongoing political crisis the move comes just a day after twenty six people including ten police officers were killed and the government tried to break up the protest camps that have taken over independence square in the capital city of kiev in a day of brutal street battles anti-government protesters formed barricades and far off police officers with gas bombs and paving stones live ammunition was reportedly used as well but it is not yet clear by which side although the most extreme violence occurred in kiev the clashes have spread outside the capital city to

regional cities as protesters have tried and in some cases succeeded occupying government buildings speaking to reporters in mexico the day president obama urged restraint and warned there would be consequences if things go ahead. expect the dreaded government to show restraint it's not. dealing with peaceful protesters. we also expect peaceful protesters to remain. we'll be monitoring virtual situation. recognise that along with our european partners that there will be consequences if people step over the line but is restrained even possible at this point john and joining me now for more on the situation in ukraine is stephen cohen contributing editor of the nation magazine professor emeritus of russian studies and politics at n.y.u. and princeton author of the book soviet fates and lost alternatives and his new article. this is the cover story of the nation magazine this week. and stephen

remind me of the our the title of that article i'm sorry distorting russian. history. you how the american media misrepresents putin sochi in the ukraine i want to be sure to get that. professor cohen this latest news out of the ukraine is the president has agreed to a truce with opposition leaders is this true for real is it going to last and and maybe give us just a snapshot of you know where we're at how we got here. well a snapshot is key of his burning we saw that on your the video when you introduced this segment and everybody who claimed to be in control of the situation. at the beginning with bats brussels that is the european union moscow washington and the so-called moderate leaders in kiev have lost control of the situation as has president yana coleridge of ukraine so when you run

a covert says that he and these moderate leaders have reached a compromise i presume it means that he has agreed to hold back the police from restoring order by force in the streets of kiev and in return the moderate leaders will vacate the buildings and get these ultranationalist who were thrown fire bombs at police to stop but what we've seen the last two weeks is that the so-called moderate increase the leaders cannot control the street so it's a compromise in tension meanwhile you have president obama apparently uninformed about what's going on he says he hopes these protesters won't become violent whereas the bad they've been violent for more than a week they've killed policemen they were occupying government buildings they've set buildings on fire in ukraine and then we get this incredible statement by the

european union and washington that they're going to sanction people who resort to violence now of course that's meant to be a threat at the president and crane but how about the guys wearing masks in the streets and hurling the wallets of cocktails. them all at the molotov cocktail to somebody from the state department going to go on the street and get their names phone numbers and addresses it's provide stress to what extent is what's going on in ukraine right now a lot for us is right or vice a versa or gnash. lists first is something else or you know what how it how do we characterize as how do i don't how do americans understand what's going on. you begin by understanding that ukraine by reason of hundreds of years of history is profoundly divided country half mainly in the east in the south want to stay close to russia politically economically the other in the west wants to join europe it's

a profoundly divided country so that's what this is about what precipitated it was in my judgment not the president great in not putin as the media is playing in but the but the european union's ultimatum backed by washington in a room that the democratically elected president of a profoundly divided country had to choose either crain or russia not reported was what putin's there why do they have to choose why can't we russia help ukraine in its time of economic need and europe while that was rejected by the west so blacks were precipitated no you've got all ran a political forces ranging from very decent progressive liberal minded people in the among the protesters to a small will acknowledge were people who reasonably could be called a fascist you've got the whole political spectrum of a very angry divided graeme now in the streets we do which of.

there's a couple scenarios that people are kind of gaming right now one is that the ukraine tears apart that it falls into civil war another is that the ukraine becomes a flashpoint for a conflict between russia and the e.u. slash the united states nato basically the west and arguably even in one nine hundred fourteen kind of world war three moment. what are your thoughts on those various scenarios and how this most. it likely is going to play out if i have to find a historical analogy i would say that we may be watching the descent the creation the descending the creation of a new cold war divide in europe between west and east but this time not too far away berger land as was before the divide during the forty year cold war the now right on the border of russian right through the heart of slavic

civilization and you don't have to be highly educated to understand that if that happens this new cold war divide between two ukraine's on russia's borders that you're going to have decades of instability and the potential for a hot war this could be the worst kind of history unfolding and there are people who made this happen who are taking their responsibility what they're doing is you're saying it's the putin who did all this he didn't i mean let me give you an example you have this violence last the killer of looked like it would burning from above during the switch lympics everybody agreed on one thing who didn't want these images during the sochi olympics and yet you get the washington post in its editorial today saying putin caused this he must be happy he said he must be very happy by this in miserable. i mean it's the coverage in the reasoning of the

united states which seems to extend to the white house itself in these vacuous statements being made by our president and our state department. suggest they don't know what's going on and there's one other thing. when you say that all the protesters are struggling for democracy you're license to the crazy fascist among to throw more moderate off cocktails they feel protected by the west this is unwise policy is that is there a rise of fascism in. modern a near naziism in ukraine that is a piece of this i don't you know i don't like to throw around the word nazi in fascism but if we mean cults of racial purity it comes with in bed it is a true terry body else from blacks and jews and gays and russians and europeans in america that way has been spreading you know we know it has been spreading across europe these far right parties are getting stronger and stronger in europe mainly

because people been hurt so badly by the austerity policies now craniums are in pain can only can social pain but in addition to crane has particularly in western not in the eastern part your russian history of fascist they can you movements each were groups and fought with the nazis during war to win hitler's armies occupied ukraine and they helped the germans exterminate jews in ukrainians and russians in gypsies and homosexuals and everybody else and you got young toughs running around today or the leaders of that war were to fascist movement so the answer is it's all over the world the civilized so-called civilized world today that has deep historical roots in ukraine pictured to me in western ukraine it's a small town it let's be fair it's a small percentage of the protesters but if we've learned anything from history in a time of chaos and breakdown

a small determined well organized well funded minority that no one's. going to have an enormous political impact while the syrian. they i mean they certainly did in the one nine hundred thirty s. in spain and italy and in germany in your article distorting russia the cover story for the most recent issue of the nation you pointed out that the american media doesn't do a good job of covering conflicts in the post soviet region how has it covered the american the in the american media how is it covered the ukraine conflict so far. putin's to blame. let me put the blame for everything in the american media from the threat of terrorism in the world lobel warming to the problems that gays have around the world enough for ukraine but look here is what putin didn't want in ukraine he didn't want the book comm another outpost of nato nobody says in the american media that the so-called economic friendship

partnership the european union offer be crain included military or security provisions that the blog rain upon signing to abide by the rules and policies of nato in fact. ukraine would have become a kind of the accomplice of junior partner of nato would national leader anywhere in the world would embrace a foreign military alliance of his or her boarders imagine if tomorrow canada now says that it's joining putin's or asian you i mean obama would be impeached if you didn't do something why the cuban missile crisis. the expectation here is putin's to send him a valentine card that's what he doesn't want the rest of it he wants a stable ukraine because it's bad for russia and he would like ukraine in would like ukraine in his economic which he's creating called the eurasian economic union but he would only say one other thing why can't we have complete cooperation

between the european union's economic union alliance and ours i mean even a peace faking even if he's bluffing why don't we say let's sit down talk about this show your cards but this either or mentality our way or the highway is being imposed by the west of ukraine and i say to you now that the blood in the streets of kiev some of that blood is on the hands of brussels and washington. steven cohen thank you so much for being with us. for. coming out if he doesn't watch out president obama could should santa claus tell you why it's a nice day we take. i

would rather ask questions to people in positions of power instead of speaking on their behalf and that's why you can find my show larry king now right here on our t.v. question more. i

know c.n.n. the m.s.m. b c 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 in for the truth and might think. i'm. good because one whole attention and the mainstream media work side by side the joke is actually on here. ok. i don't or teen years we have a different breed. ok because the news of the world just is not this funny

i'm not laughing dammit i'm not how. i feel about. you guys stick to the jokes well handled in the sense that i'm. back to the big picture the nine justices of the supreme court have arguably the most important job in the country unfortunately most americans don't know what it's like to watch them work that's because cameras are not allowed inside the supreme

court but now alliance of activist groups is trying to change that the so-called coalition for transparency is just released a new television ad urging the supreme court to televise oral arguments take a look at the supreme court's decisions impact the lives of americans everywhere but only a privileged few get to see justice in action republicans democrats and a large majority of americans support a simple fix putting cameras in the supreme court state and federal courts allow cameras in the interest of transparency shouldn't the nation's top court do the same it's time for a more open judiciary it's time for cameras in the supreme court find out more and take action have opened go to stock so well as had been up to put cameras in the court joining me now for more on this is my passion tony attorney and host of ring of fire radio and perhaps first of all welcome back it's great to have you here to be here in the studio physically you know the same space. article three section two

of the constitution says that the supreme court will operate under regulations established by congress would it be a simple thing for congress to pass a law saying that they have cameras and it's very easy i think the interesting point of this discussion is you have school out in front of cameras every chance he gets i mean this is a guy has been more public he falls over himself to get in front of cameras saying right way really if you watch if you if you've watched roberts if you if you've watched a couple these guys just in the last six or seven months and but now. they say we don't want you in our court room well you know the truth is they're public they're public servants transparency applies to all public servants taxpayers pay for them to do what they do but what you have tom is you have a political court here so now more than ever we need transparency used to be the decisions were decided according to what we call stare decisis and precedent they would look at all cases and they would say this is the law let's not shake it up too much let's adapt but now what you have these radical movements by completely

political ideology and so more than ever we need to be inside that courtroom watching what happens well and maybe watch what happens outside the courtroom there's this thing called the federal code of judicial conduct and scalia and thomas we know for sure the two of them by going out and hanging out with the koch brothers and others and taking big fees for speaking gigs and things and scalia hanging out with dick cheney just before he decides a case that cheney's in and that's that's one of several these guys had they been federal judges they would have been impeached fired or in jail by now but they have said rules of judicial conduct for all other federal judges don't apply to us we're special we've made a terrible mistake in the united states we've made something magical and mystical and mysterious about these ideologues in robes this is what you have right now you have a republican majority on this court that are completely ideologues anyway you analyze

what they do you know i can tell what's going to happen before they make their decision if it's a corporation versus a consumer consumer loses all the time if it's a drug company versus a consumer consumer loses if it's the environment versus government the environment loses so any time you have ideology that strong we need to be in the court even if it means we have to watch clarence clarence thomas failed to ask a question for ten years even if it means we have to what scalia's bombastic quality. the way that he gives this impression that he's so much smarter than everybody else and if sometimes it's difficult to watch but i think it's it's a real education when we can understand exactly what's at work in that court it is no longer a it's no longer a process that we used to see forty years ago where there was an analysis based on the law rather than political ideology this doctrine of judicial supremacy that the court can actually blow up the law as done by congress and signed by the president

is not anywhere in the constitution but and but we've kind of tolerated it all these years i mean you had marbury then you had dred scott those are the first two cases in the first seventy years of the history of america where the court really asserted they're there supremacy over the over the legislative and executive branches now virtually every decision is asserting judicial supremacy there is not a king or a queen in europe who has that kind of power no so have we not and particularly since these guys have become so activist rather than sturdy decisis rather than just saying we're going to we're going to go with the stablish law salish president have we not moved into a rena in the last decade or so where america has become a constitutional monarchy rather than a divider well it is if you look there is no check and balance with be on the supreme court where the monarch is there is simply our monarchs they're there for life now we've we're now we're getting the point we say we really can't watch what they do we really can't watch their conduct inside of

a courtroom when we get to that point we have lost control not only of the judicial process but of that very important arm that supposed to keep this democracy combined together and it's a very scary thing i hope that this there's a movement that actually holds these guys more accountable for what for what they're doing in court every day i have so they agreed you know i think about this opens go to group and yeah i don't i don't know if they've been around a long time in one form or fast in the first i've heard of it i don't know if they are going to read all of what they are yours but in different form or does it make sense might happen. thanks so much for being with us great to see. if president obama doesn't watch out he could shoot santa claus and if he does go

ahead and shoot santa clause that will mean the end of the democratic party in the coming weeks the president is expected to announce his new budget plan for fiscal year two thousand and fifteen and while he's more than a year into his second term in office a time when he should have the democratic party behind him many progressives are worried that's because the last time president obama put forward a budget proposal that included a plan to use these so-called chained c.p.i. to calculate social security cost of living increases that account for inflation budget hawks say it's a good way for the government to save money but in reality chained c.p.i. is a sneaky way to cut social security benefits over time and president obama first proposed using chained c.p.i. last april progress is we're outraged and rightly so that's why this time they're not messing around last friday a group of sixteen senators led by bernie sanders of vermont wrote a letter to president obama urging the president not to propose cuts to social security or any other social safety net programs in this fiscal year two thousand and fifteen budget so president obama listens to those sixteen senators because if

he doesn't and he goes ahead and cut social security it could kill the democratic party let me explain. at its core the democratic party the democratic party has always been the party of santa claus it's always been the party that gives you stuff like santa clause that's right namely medicare medicaid social security forty hour work week their idea denies free public schools and start going stamp school watches the list goes on acting like santa clause is actually the right thing for a general for the for the for the general welfare of we the people and fulfilling the general welfare is a requirement of government at least according to the constitution but acting like santa clause isn't just the right thing to do it's also how politics are supposed to work in a democratic republic give people giving people what they want and what they need made the democratic party successful interaction after election in the twentieth

century it won franklin roosevelt four terms in office one lyndon johnson is massive victory in the sixty four presidential race and it kept republicans out of power in the house of representatives one hundred fifty five until nine hundred ninety five as long as the democratic party actually like santa claus it will win elections because republicans with their core oppose the social safety net and up looking like scrooge in comparison just a fact and republicans know that's that's why they came up with the santa clause strategy of their own it was first outlined in one thousand nine hundred seventy six in an article by conservative strategist jude one in ski republican santa claus strategy is quite straightforward instead of giving people the gift of health care or the gift of retirement savings republicans would give them the gift of tax cuts if the republican party could successfully be called the santa clause of tax reduction when is it could shrug off the scrooge wreck because reputation of the party had been haunted by since the roosevelt days and once again they could start

winning elections today it's pretty obvious that the republicans have read their wineskin since he wrote his influential article republican presidents ronald reagan a jew. w. bush have signed massive tax cuts and except for a brief period between two thousand and seven and two thousand and eleven the g.o.p. has had control over the house of representatives for most of the past two decades in other words the republican spending close strategy has worked and it's worked in two ways one as i just mentioned is by turning the republican party into the tax cuts into clothes the other is by starving the government of revenue. look at history and you'll see this and the republicans are in power they run up huge national debts and people like dick cheney say things like reagan taught us the deficit so i'm out of the day that a democrat becomes president suddenly a republican they're all screaming about the national debt and pushing the democrats to shoot their benefits basic laws that's why republicans have been

whining about the debt the deficit since day one of the obama presidency. most triple the national debt now to be out of the republicans clinton came into office all of a sudden republicans had their hair on fire about the national debt forcing clinton to end well as we know it something that actually is hurting a lot of families right now during this recession similarly george w. bush rang and ran up the bill with his massive tax cuts and two wars and now republicans are yelling about a peep back when bush was president yellin that the democratic president should prioritize medicare and cut so scary with chain c.p.i. . and in the bizarro world of today's politics it looks like republicans might have succeeded in convincing the democratic president that he should shoot the democrats' best ever and history santa clause program social security. make no mistake about it president obama's decision to include chained c.p.i. in his budget plan last year was not a fluke he had just won

a huge election victory and there was no need to cut social security but he still talked about the chained c.p.i. that's why progressives have every right to worry he might do the same thing this year and call for a chain c.p.i. in his twenty fifteen budget and if the president does go ahead and do that it's going to be game over for the democratic party if he cuts social security or even just calls for a cut in the source or it's going to be the democrats not the republicans who will become the party of scrooge and no one let me repeat no one wants to vote for or frankly ever has fought for scrooge. democrats who want to lecture natural action with their santa claus strategy in the process have made america a much better country let's hope that president obama recognizes this and takes his hands off the trigger. and that's the way it is tonight ones february nineteenth

two thousand and fourteen and don't forget the mocker see begins when you get out there get active tag your. lead.

cross talk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want. well if you're going through a moment like these policies i think people. pleasure to have you with us here on t.v. today i roll researcher.

on larry king now the adelaide they had clearly artist terry gross i'm always know as the best guy in that terrible movie. i'd never ever ever thought i would ever get an award i was the artists in the whole thing but it was one of those things where the let it was the only way i'll especially in the city i have moments in my life of astounding immaturity and mounting one of these night world i have to stop and spear is empathy and i'm going to scene myself to my wives up and to my kids and that seems everything plus you're on special teams so and i just those are crazies run down the field and hit somebody i was knocked out on monday night football i hit a guy so hard i'm not myself. all next on larry king now.