ali baba has profits. so that's going to be an ipo that will be looked alt and of interest to the ipo market. >> do you expect it will buck the trend, in other words, 70% falling below the forecast range? >> we think so. can you look at ali baba and put a mumt pm on their earnings and come up to a valuation of that $150 billion. that will make it a little easier to value. i think almost every portfolio manager will want to own this company, which will be the world's largest ecommerce company. >> you know, back to the overall ipo mark, it was really strong in the couple months of this year the last couple weeks it's gone soft. we have a lot of going public, in fact, a lot are chinese companies as well. how do you think these companies are going to do this week? >> i do think investors are going to be very selective about these and there will be some pricing pushback, particularly the ones that aren't making money and i do think that there's a focus on the very largest most valuable internet properties. so i

if you look nationally aly, very few people make minimum wage.y first jock back -- my first job was $2.30 an hour, back in illinois. and the first job you get is one of the most important ones. >> yeah, the distinction is whether we have kidslying at home who are earn -- >> and that is an important point. i'm not in favor of raising the minimum wage, but if we do, at least i think there should be an agreement for teenagers or people less than 22, let's have a starter wage or teen wage. i have two teenagers, and i love my kids but you would be crazy to pay them $15 an hour. >> there are -- conservatives often have other suggestions. people come out and say no -- we have people who made the argument that there should be no minimum wage at all. what i think the country needs is to say here is our better alternative. what would that be? fixing the earned income tax credit? what would that be? >> if you look at people at the bottom end of the ladder, the bottom 20%, ali, the problem with those households is that they are not earning enough, it's that

tell us what's on your mind, @ali velshi or facebook @ali velshi. fracking, hydraulic fracturing. whatever you call it, it's a billion dollar boom that's adding millions to state covers. horizontal drilling and explosive charge creates holes in the rock then a combination of water, chemicals and sand is injected into the well at high pressure. trapped air and gas is shot into the well and sent back to the surface. mission accomplished. on the flip side environmentalists have called attention to side effects like earthquakes and contaminated water among other problems. but let's focus on the money. you might assume people who own manned where fracking is taking place are enjoying a financial windfall. but travel to north dakota and you'll see that's not the case. many owners received a rude awakening when they discovered, they didn't own what was under the ground and found an oil rig on their property like it or not. >> like generations before him, richard jordan works a farm in can north dakota. but even though he has title to this land, he doesn't own all of it. he only has right

i'm ali velshi, and this is "real money." ♪ >>> this is "real money."ou are the most important part of the show, so tell me what is on your mind by tweeting me or on facebook. a big announcement from an american icon, ford announced that the ceo will step down in july after eight years at the helm. long time ford executive mark fields will take over in his stead. under alan's watch this man, an outsider who came on from boeing. he reinvented ford and its brand to something that means quality today. an unlike ford, detroit's rivals which were forced to plea for a $63.5 billion bailout from the federal government, ford didn't take a dime from uncle sam. >> i'm alan, i'm from ford, and i'm ready to take care of your car needs. >> he se corrected his reputation after becoming ceo in 2006. the year the company lost nearly $13 million. >> i got a call from the great grandson of henry ford, and he told me about the situation, and as you pointed out, it was pretty tough. >> his expertise came from 37 years at another american icon, boeing. once at ford, he move

ali baba filing for a u.s. ipo.look at the chinese entrepreneur behind the internet giant. >> lucky, just lucky. >> reporter: jack ma may be lucky. she also relentless, 15 years ago, he launched an online b 2 b website ali baba, no one would help him. >> i was rejected when i talk about it, they look at me strange. what, alibaba, what are you talking about? i went bab to china, with nothing, no money, nobody invested in me, but i full o confidence. i sold of american dreams. >> reporter: the hard work paying off. it did, it has turned into the largest platform, beyond b-to-b online payments and more, making this 49-year-old former teach worry taught himself english worth nearly $9 billion. >> today we have lots of money and we are careful for every penny we spent. >> reporter: ma is a different sort of chinese businessman, he's funny. here he is in stamford in 2011. >> are you going to boy yahoo? >> a good question. yes, we are very interested if that. >> he has a knack foranalogy justs. >> this talk is just like a

i'm here for you. >> oliver: you're lucky it was me and not aly. if she'd walked in and seen taylor in your arms... >> thorne: i'm not sure why it's any of your business. >> oliver: i know what happened to your wife and how it's affected aly. i care about your daughter. i don't want to see her get hurt. are you and taylor a couple? >> wyatt: so, we got to

and ali you may remember that from your days.ar a big country star will be at the speedway they have already sold 45,000 tickets for that. so lots of changes. >> and it's becoming much more of a festival? what is the overall economic impact that it has on indiana? not just this but events around the year. >> yeah, absolutely, ali, and motorsports are estimated more than 400 businesses are somehow related to or teach motor sport. there have been estimates anywhere from 400 to $600 million in determines of direct and indirect impact. and the nascar race, the brick yard 400, there was the grand pree as well. >> i know ali velshi likes to claim he is from inn, but david shuster i'm the one that gets to claim indiana as my home. so who is going to actually win the race? >> david i will tell you, a lot of favorites out there, but ed carpenter, the fuzzies vodka car, a good young drive, steps on actually tony george from the george family which is in an ownership position at the speedway. so i'm picking ed carpenter to win it all. the w

. >> taylor: aly! aly! no! >> oliver: this is bad. you and taylor? the way aly feels about her?>> thorne: i didn't say this conversation was going to be easy. >> oliver: it's gonna be a lot harder than you think. i'm sorry, thorne. i can't tell you how to live your life. but aly can't handle this. she still blames taylor for her mother's death. you know, a lot of people say it's best to be honest, but sometimes it's not. sometimes it can be devastating. >> donna: wow. you and ridge are engaged. that...

tell me what's on your mind by tweeting me eighth ali velsh me @ali velshi. it's the american dream, but finding an affordable home is getting harder to do. in a report put out by real estate data company trulia only 14% of the markets are now within reach of middle income buyers. a year ago this was 20%. only half the houses available in denver are now affordable to a median income earner, down from 67% a year ago. down from two-thirds. in atlanta, 72% are now within reach of the middle class. that's down from 79% a year ago. predictbly the most affordable market for america's middle class are concentrated in the south and midwest. when we say a share of the market is affordable or within reach of middle class home buyers that means the total monthly payments on a home loan are no more than 31% of a metro area's median household income. more than 31% of the median income in a given metro area. metro areas in ohio, akron, toledo, columbus, all of them have markets that are now within reach of between 81% and 86% of local area middle income buyers. gary, india

flahertyn for the brings to his role as chairman of ali baba. ceo of china's biggest e-commerce company next. ♪ >> welcome back to "the best of bloomberg west." -- ali baba founder has changed the way the chinese do things. he enjoys performing for employees. take a listen. [singing] quite a voice their. has his zany personality helped pushed ali baba to the jack sincehas known he started the company. i asked him what he is like. >> just like that. he was singing. he leaps out at you. a is not a tall man, but is very tall man in terms of his personality. he has a wacky, larger than life image. you get a palpable sense that he is somebody different, both in chinese and english. did you have any inkling that he could take the company this far? to become one of the biggest technology companies in the world. >> when i met him it was a small apartment with a bunch of toothbrushes in the apartment which was the number of employees. you could see they were living in the apartment and working around-the-clock. that. there was already a vision. goldman w

there is no law -- no love lost between baidu and ali baba.e have a balkanization emerging between these two. now we have the rise of $.10, that is pitching the two off against each other more and more. >> it sounds where it really was a small group of people who kind of knew each other, had personal relationships, not just in the .com days here in the late 90's, but in the early 90's, there was a small group of people that tended to know each other and go off in their own directions. >> in 2000, jack convened a group of internet pioneers. there was another company that predated jack, but he had the chutzpah. he can speak truth to power to the government and people of that stripe. >> antivirus pioneer john mcafee has been very busy after fleeing believes and returning to the united states. we have all the details on his newest venture in an exclusive interview right here on "the best of bloomberg west." ♪ >> welcome back to "the best of bloomberg west." i'm emily chang. john mcafee was on the run after being deported from a prison in guatemala

and we will have stand-up from comedian ali wong, the very funny ali wong.t back more "late night." [ cheers and applause ] ♪ ♪ the beam family has a long history of doing things their own way. in fact, they age every drop of jim beam twice as long as the law requires for a true kentucky straight bourbon. ♪ so four long years from now... i'll be back for this one. that's how jim beam makes history. how will you make yours? but they don't yet know we're a family. we're right where you need us. at the next job, next adventure or at the next exit helping you explore super destinations and do everything under the sun. 12 brands. more hotels than anyone else in the world. so wherever you want to be, whatever you want to do, chances are we're already there. save up to 25% and earn bonus points when you book at wyndhamrewards.com. ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> seth: welcome back to the show. we have such an excellent program for you tonight. wonderful guests, great comedian. but, before we can continue, i must say we have many distinguished guests in our studio audi

"real money" with ali velshi starts now. thanks for watching. >> the struggling middle class is sure to be one of the biggest issues in the mid term elections. i'm going to ask a republican. and exactly where we can't afford to have them, in our education system and canada's got something america used to have and we'd like it back, please, i'll explain, when we come back. i'm ali velshi and this is "real money." >> this is "real money." you are the most important part of the show so tell me what is on your mind. by tweeting medium or sending to facebook. science philanthropy meet in los angeles for milken conference. i will introduce them to you, it's a unique event put together by the milken institute, a nonpart distant institute. the institute was set up bip michael milken. now known for his philanthropy michael milken was known 20 years ago for fraud that landed him in prison. mary snowy has his story. >> welcome mr. prime minister. how would you like me to refer to you at this session? >> tony. >> michael milken now attr

how has his zany personality helped push ali baba to the top?io, he is -- alibaba launched in 1990 he consulted for the company. cory is here as well. you met him back in 1999 when he was just starting this thing. what was he like? questions like that. he was singing. no, he wasn't. he leaped out at you. not a tall man, but a wacky and larger than life image. you get a palpable sense he is something different in chinese and english. inkling hen, any could take the company this far? to be one of the biggest technology companies in the world? withsmall apartment toothbrushes with a number of employees. you can see they were spending a lot of time there, living around the apartment and working around the clock buried there was already a vision. inwas before softbank came and goldman came in. even then, it was like, why are these people so interested in the company? talk is a vision he would and make it very comfortable but also feel he is something special. >> what is the fascination with the u.s.? is not true for a lot of the tech entrepreneurs in

give himded people to $60,000, the beginning of what is now known as ali baba. for commerce, he has broadened the company's interests. alibaba is involved in cloud computing, banking, and even has an online music service. his personal fortune is valued at $13 billion. an empire seems to be his motivation. he told charlie rose that if alibaba cannot surpass microsoft or walmart, he will regret it for the rest of his life. >> for more on the man in charge, i am joined by matt miller, editor at large for our numbered billionaires team. he looks pretty in tune. >> such an empire builder. you cannot discount how big a deal object model -- how big a ma isack mock -- jack to e-commerce. there are more people shopping online in china than the countries on earth. 700 mutual -- 700 million people shop online in china alone. his ambition -- she has some quirks and we can talk about company, heis really is one of the richest people in the world and to probably be in the top 10 soon. weiss what are his quirks? with started the company $60,000 from 80 people, not that quirky.

i will talk with laila ali, daughter of the world champion and civil right icon muhammad ali. and we have the latest on the search for flight 370. your tweets about the plane and donald sterling pouring in by the minute and my experts are standing by to answer them for you. forcing donald sterling to sell the clippers would be a wrong to his wrong. booting him out is okay. i want to begin with the fallout from donald sterling's racist rant. if you ask the american public, the people, it's not on easy decision. 47% of the public supports a forced sale of the team, while 50% are against it. could donald sterling hold on to his team? joining me is laila ali, the daughter of muhammad ali, one of the greatest athletes of all time and a civil rights icon. thank you for being with us. your dad is known as both a sports and civil rights icon. i have been wondering what he thinks about the story. have you had a chance to speak to him about donald sterling? >> hi, don. thanks for having me on. yes, i have been able to get my father's perspective on this. and you know, he feels that if h

tell me what is on your mind by tweeting me at ali velshi, or hit me up on facebook.merica's housing market appears to be cooling off a little bit. existing home sales fell by 6.6% in the first three months of 2014, compared to last year. existing homes, used homes, if you will. at the same time the national association of realtors said home prizes continuing to rise but at a slower pace. home prices are still about 17% below the 2006 peak. but a cooling off in a much smaller slice of the housing market. newly constructed homes has some people a bit worried. last month there were 635,000 single family housing starts. by comparison there were 1.7 million single family starts a month at the height of the housing boom. but by the depths of the recession, starts fell by 72% to just 353,000. since that low point housing has been slowly recovering. but a healthy economy should have as many as 1.2 million a month. these are new homes. and that's a 50% gap from where we are today. the economic ripple effects are a lot bigger than you might think. new home construction creates

tweet me on eighth al @ali vels. or facebook.comali velshi. vladimir putin flew into change high to chum with his chinese pouncounterpart. while they still have not signed a gas pipeline agreement, some say it's only a matter of time. this is not just about business. it's also about political security. and the growing confrontation with the west for both china and russia. russia is the world's second largest producer of gas and third largest producer of oil trailing only hyped the united states and saudi arabia. but there is a vulnerability for russia because three-quarters of its experts right now--of its exports right now go to europe. the di veers flying from europe is key. let's look at china. it's on a coalition course with the u.s. and it's allies as it continues to asserting it's rights in the oil-rich south china seas. two banks in russia and the bank of china is making waves. both of these two banks agree to do business with each other in local currency instead of u.s. dollars the way most international trade is done today. i'll have

real money with ali velshi is next. david shuster is sitting in tonight for ali. >> middle class families were being squeezed many being priced out of the areas they've lived in for decades. the fracking boom has farmers doing the unthinkable in the western plains. they're selling water. i'm david shuster in for ali velshi, and this is "real mone money."

i'm ali velshi, and this is "real ne

i'm ali velshi, thank you for joining us. >> on real money with ali velshi, a yearlong series, america'sishing middle class... >> i'm on a mission, that i have to keep this business going... >> three families struggling every day >> we had to pull the whole retirement fund... >> real stories... real people... real advice... >> you need to pay the water bill, if you don't pay it, we're shutting your water off in a half hour >> how will you survive? >> the stakes are so high... >> america's middle class: rebuilding the dream on real money with ali velshi on al jazeera america >> cl >> announcer: this is al jazeera. >>> hello there. welcome to this newshour. i'm laura kyle in doha. these are the top stories - boko haram massacre. >>> a day after yingluck shinawatra forced out of office - another ruling >>> one of syria's

i'm ali velshi, thank you for joining us. >> on real money with ali velshi, a yearlong series, america'sng middle class... >> i'm on a mission, that i have to keep this business going... >> three families struggling every day >> we had to pull the whole retirement fund... >> real stories... real people... real advice... >> you need to pay the water bill, if you don't pay it, we're shutting your water off in a half hour >> how will you survive? >> the stakes are so high... >> america's middle class: rebuilding the dream on real money with ali velshi on al jazeera america >> >>> michelle bachmann accused of a mass -- boko haram accused of a massacre in nigeria, in the same region where they seized more than 200 school girls. >>> hello, welcome to al jazeera - live from our headquarters in dough hoe. also ahead - rebels leave homs after a brutal 2-year siege. >>> rebuffing vladimir putin - ukraine's separatists dismiss the call to postpone a referendum. >>

that is our show for today, i'm david shuster if for ali velshi.e entire team at "real money," thanks for watching. ♪ >> hi, jeff, welcome to al jazeera america. >> atrocities car bombings, chemical weapons and a new global push to end the horror in syria. >> outrage of protestor kicked by an aid to turkey's prime minister, as turks bury the dead after the coal mine disaster. ink person know, dozens of wild fires in bone dry southern california, a look at the science fueling the flames. cancer killer, why a

with ali velshi. see you then. >> it's a generally accepted idea, collect experiences instead of stuff. forget the far ari, but spend the money on a trip that you love. but other researchers say not so fast. they say for some people, particularly those who buy too many things and experiences already, experiences will leave us just as empty and unfulfilled as buying things. for these people, it's critical to buy the right experiences, the ones that mesh with their personalities. if you're a baseball fan, a trip to the museum probably won't cut it. but when it comes to the obvious, it pays to think before you spend. and in the end, money only goes so far. as those famous common mists, lennon and mccarty once sang, money won't buy me love. aim ali velshi, thank you for joining us. >> hello and welcome to al jazeera america. i'm john seigenthaler in new york. breaking news, a mine disaster, a desperate effort is underway right now to save hundreds of trapped miners in turkey. >>> u-s jets. in the air now

tweet me on ali velshi.com. i am here in washington d.c., where the white house today released an 800 page gorilla of a report on climate change. now, this report describes the damaging present and future affects of global warming, warming temperatures on the united states. and it's called the national climate assessment. it's the result of three years of work by more than 300 scientists and other experts, and this report says that extreme weather linked to climate change like prolonged heat, heavy downpours, floods, and drought is "disrupting people's lives and damaging some sectors of our economy." like everything in this town, both parties will try to score points by praising or bashing this report in the leadup to the midterm leaks. more on that in a moment. but right now, i want to focus on some of what is actually in this monster. look at this map. look at these colors. i don't have to give you alienliened. it's a heat map, and it shows that america, generally speaking, is getting a lot hotter. you can see

s stake in ali baba.ot making an excuse but they do not want to take the risk and not get the license they need to operate in china from the chinese government. they kind of use that as kind of an excuse to do that year-and-a-half go. i think the backlash that has been created is tough and taught management a very good lesson. given how smart they are, i don't think they will do it again. >> zia, one thing we are wrestling with is how to define this company. is it say it is the paypal of china -- is it fair to say? >> it is different in that it is an escrow based service. you can wait until you actually received the product to pay him the funds are not released to the seller until you guaranteed it has arrived safely and you are satisfied. there are a handful of other ways in which it differs but it serves a similar process that paypal would on ebay here today. >> crawford, how much does this idea of how much we can trust jack ma, the alibaba team, how does this play into your assessment of this company's

. >> and ali? >> good evening. and i guess that in my eagerness to share the good news, and i am try to trump the good sergeant here. to be brief, and actually to take the chief's words, try to be enforcement is up, and our collisions are down. albeit a little, they are down. for the first quarter of 2013, we issued 22,000 citations roughly, 22,000, 14 to be precise, but the comparable figures and the first quarter 2014, we have issued 34,000 in 97 citations and tremendous amounts of citations, you know, once with the answer to making our streets safer save the citations and that is why we play. >> move it along. >> yeah. >> and yeah, there we go. >> all right, there we go. and the answer to citations, or to the traffic safety and our on streets is not just traffic enforcement and that is where we play a very pivotal role with working with the department of public health and san francisco municipal transportation agencies are partners with the walk sf and the bicycle coalition, and the commissions on bicycle, and a

"real money" is ali velshi is next. for more information throughout the day and evening go to our website at www.aljazeera.com. >> confidence is key, and the american consumers haven't felt that way about the economy in six years, i'm looking at why and what could be for the economy. and how to turn seattle's big dig in a main thing money pit. and a low cost solution for education. a computer lab small enough to fit in a backpack. i'm ali velshi. >> this is "real money", and you are the most important part of the show. so tweet me. ali velshi, the weather is warming up and so is the mood of american consumers, and the question is how much better they're feeling. today, the conference board, a private research group, said its confidence index increased 1 to 3 points in may, and they don't bother the real number because it's hard to explain. but this is significant. it's the second highest reading since january of 2008, which was roughly the beginning of the great recession. 83 looks good when you think of the index avera

it is reasonable to think about ali baba as kind of eric indicated. one of the seminal internet companies to come public over the last 10 years or so. f-1 we look over the filing, which became available in the last few minutes, the number that struck me was over a dollars ina trillion gross merchandise volume. was is what the company responsible for in terms of sales over the last year. that is a very large number. -- $250illion dollars billion. >> right. exactly. a large player. the other data point we thought was interesting, understandably alibaba is a dominant provider when it comes to the chinese e-commerce market, which is big and growing substantially. what is noteworthy is they broke out their chinese e-commerce revenues and international e-commerce revenues. forrnationally is accounted 15-20% of overall revenues. it is already big and growing substantially. we think alibaba wants to become more than the dominant chinese e-commerce company. they have aspirations well beyond that as well. >> cory johnson, i want to bring you back in here becaus

secondly, the whole ali-pay part. there were rumors whether it will be part of the filing or wouldn't be, or would comeback in the future. that is a huge part of the story as well. not a lot of people have been paying attention to because it hasn't been formally part of the group until now. >> i want to bring in david garrity, they had of gba research. you have been following ali baba. what are the numbers you want to learn? >> one, basically. what price talk we are going to be seeing in terms of evaluation. >> no mention of that. >> we haven't seen that yet. you want to know how much people are being asked to pay for the company. clearly the ipo has been wide open for the last year or so. we're getting to the point now where high percentage of companies are unprofitable. alibaba is profitable. the question is, how much of a way this is going to put on the sector. this is a large transaction. people are going to have to sell stocks to buy this deal. clearly there is after hours correction. even though we have seen a b

i am ali velshi. this show marks the beginning of al jazeera america's year-long conversation about america's middle class: rebuilding the dream. nine out of 10 americans identify themselves as already being in or aspiring to be in the middle class. and most americans agree that the middle class is in crisis, squeezed by years of job losses, rises costs and stagnant wages. over the next hour, i will introduce you to people like yourselves, people with real world pressures in their daily lives, people like the sabino family of new york, the maddox family of oregon. i will speak to america's foremost experts that follow problems americans face. robert reich, teamster's union james hoffa suzie hormann and robert schiller. we will identify why the middle class is crucial to a thriving economy. who is in the middle class? the pressures they face and what it will take to keep the dream from slipping away from millions of americans. while 90% of americans aspire to be in the middle class, when you dig deeper

i'm ali velshi and this is "real money." >> this is "real money." you are the most important part of the show so tell me what is on your mind. by tweeting medium or sending to facebook. science philanthropy meet in los angeles for milken conference. i will introduce them to you, it's a unique event put together by the milken institute, a nonpart distant institute. the institute was set up bip michael milken. now known for his philanthropy michael milken was known 20 years ago for fraud that landed him in prison. mary snowy has his story. >> welcome mr. prime minister. how would you like me to refer to you at this session? >> tony. >> michael milken now attracts the spotlight from education to health. but it 's a role that might not have seemed possible two decades ago. the junk bond king in the 1980s. that set upon risk 80 low income bonds that but institutions in debt. it was the largest criminal prosecution in wall street history. he was sentenced to ten years in prison but was released after 22 months after cooperating with the government. then p

tell me what's on your mind, by treating me @ali velshi. philadelphia has seen a shocking decline in its middle class in the last four decades dropping morning 22 percentage points. the city lost more than four in ten of its middle class adults. loss of the city's manufacturing base and the decline of the city itself. high crime and a poor public school system. but there's good news. a recent pew report shows philadelphia's middle class has started to stabilize. but it's a different middle class than it was in the 1970s. few blue collar folks, more professionals today. this is a special episode on philly's rocky middle class and how the middle class has changed over the last four decades and what it's going to take for the middle class to get back to good. we begin our story in south philadelphia, a traditiona trade collar italian neighborhood. >> philadelphia is for reasons as diverse as the people who live here celebrated in equal parts for its cheese stakes, rich history and many, many a rocky movie. here in south philadelphia lies a gem

. ♪ >>> my co-host and digital producer, wajahat ali is here bringing in all of your feedback.aj, one of the largest segments of the shared economy is sharing a room in your home, renting out a room or your entire home, and we were talking about this earlier. it's kind of a weird concept. >> i'm the paranoid son of immigrants. i don't even want my family members staying with me. to have a stranger live in my room, seepsubious, but . . . >> yeah, indeed. which goes back to what we were saying about lending your house to a stranger. would you do that? or lend your car? or how about leave your dog with someone that you just met on the internet. average citizens are turning to just that. it's called the sharing economy. people with stuff that they are not using rent it to people who want it, and it has evolved into a $26 billion a year industry. everything from a $12,000 handbag that can be yours for an evening for 100 bucks, to a weekend surfboard, 2-hour lawn mower, or your very own dog for an afternoon. it's about monetizing your idle assets. two of the biggest are cars and hous

i'm ali velshi in washington, d.c. and this is "real money." >> this is real money coming to you from washington, d.c. you remain the most important part of the show. tell me what's on your mind. >>> russian president vladimir putin and chinese president signed an historic international deal in shanghai valued at $400 billion. china commits to buy russian natural gas for 30 years to power it's growing economy. the world's second largest after the united states. today's deal connects russia's northeast t through siberia. today's deal has huge implications for u.s. engagement in the world. now in a stroke of a pen today russia got some strategic space to breathe and it's confrontation with the west in ukraine. this weekend vote necessary ukraine go to the polls to elect new leaders. at the same time pro russian separatist agitate for secession in the east. right now three-quarters of russia's exports go to europe through ukraine. the good nick news helps putin's standing at home as russia continues to slide into a recess