you did not get engaged to boris yeltsin. >> well, he's crying, so i hope -- >> you were off the marketg. we're going to usurp the japan times motto. >> the motto is all the news without fear or favor. >> the new "street signs" favor. >> all the news without fear or favor or flavor. >> there's a little fear actually. okay. so here you go. tongue in cheek a while back i said the next big collectibles in cars would be the imports. the datsuns. robert frank has been invited on the show to tell me why i'm right. >> this is either a sign of a collecting bubble or the true beauty of old datsuns. this 1968 datsun 1600 was sold over the weekend for more than $50,000. of course, they don't make datsuns in the u.s. anymore, but this is among the highest prices paid ever paid for a datsun. it was a convertible, beautifully restored. all the old imports just as you said are soaring in price. the vw beatle, this sold for $82,000 over the weekend. now, the big prices, of course, are still for these really high end imports. this 1937, this was the star of the weekend, $6.6 million. it's known as the f

. >> in 1994, a different russian president, boris yeltsin agreed with ukrainian independence. the ukrainance in return gave up their nuclear weapons and allowed the russians to have this base in crimea. putin is not a typical russian. he's a typical kgb cold war -- >> the point i'm trying to make is i do want to say that if i'm behind the scenes, i want to screen the russians carefully and slowly. i think the ukrainance have handled this incredibly well. they just kicked out an incredibly corrupt president who really had no stanton anymore. they have an unstable government, because they're trying to put this together. for them not to fire a shot was very, very smart. they would have ended up where the georgians did. this is tough stuff. i don't have to tell you that. you've been in the seat. it's not a matter of saying we have to support the president. it's a matter of saying we need to give this president time to get to the result he needs to get to. i think running -- going too fast and too hard is probably a mistake. >> do you agree with the ambassador we should cancel our

the problem they have is for all of the flaws, boris yeltsin basically respected that. every time in the '90s when you have the russian parliament passed the law that says yeltsin came out and did the right thing, but part of ukraine we respect the territorial integrity. and the problem is that it's now flooding into ten -- of what bld america then and he doesn't believe that. it's very important that they continue to do what they have done for the last week which is to keep the military race trained. it's been quite commendable and there are probably about 12,000 troops on the peninsula. they have stayed on the bases and there've been at least seven cases to revoke them and they've not responded. i think that's important. what they say one comment about the situation where i think is a little bit less tense than the military terms than it was a couple days ago. it still is worrisome. russia and ukraine right now are in the state away from something very bad happening that could spin out of control. and there needs to be some action. there needs to be some kind of de-esc

power, but he's a strategic leader, a leader that came after the trauma of the 1990s, in which boris yeltsin resided over the looting of a country. russians wanted stability, pensions, salaries. despite the media control, the newspapers are free. there's a popularity that vladimir putin achieved following on the heels of a president yeltsin, perceived as presiding over lawlessness. he re-established russia as a world player, a power. >> you wrote in "the nation", that his success was the popular support of the brutal chechnya war and the media portrayal of him as a sober man, a robust leader, how has that change youred? leaders over stay their time. he's been there 14 years. he maintains a popularity which is shored up by western actions. by the way, there's a right wing mantra that u.s. weakness embowledened vladimir putin to invade russia. it's been 20 years since the cold war, something that diplomat called, saying it's perceived as aggression, as three former soviet countries are members. for russians, if you stand in the tubes, there's a few that the united states has not been a good st

. >> kosovo happened when russia was week under boris yeltsin's rule. that was a humiliation for russia. it is now flushed with hydrocarbon revenues and is stronger under putin's leadership. we don't appreciate the degree to which kosovo was the humiliation for vladimir putin, that is why steve was right, what vladimir putin is doing now is repaying the favour. >> i wonder, should the u.s. be involved in the crisis to begin with, since it's unclear to a lot of people, what the united states interest is. why should we get involved especially when russia seems to have to much. >> viktor yanukovych was not a particularly effective leader. he was not popular. we should have waited for him to be voted out of office and for us to fit in favour of the protesters was a mistake, because we didn't anticipate what vladimir putin was likely to do. >> you think it was unexpected. must have been. we shouldn't have done it, understanding that vladimir putin had more cards to play. russia's interest in this region is greater than ours. we are a more powerful country. i

president what is the situation of russia today, and boris yeltsin said, well, do you want the short answer first or the long answer first? journalist says i guess the short answer first. yeltsin says situation good. what is the long answer? long answer is not good. [laughter] that's one way of introducing the topic. [laughter] but there's another, there's another way of introducing the topic of the state of the union. it also happens to take place in istanbul, and that's a speech which the prince of darkness, richard pearl, gave 12 or 13 years ago at a meeting organize toed by turks, the turkish foreign minister. and richard was going on about how hopeless, feckless, spineless the europeans were and that the european union was a complete, you know, complete wreck. there's nothing good to be said about it. and then he said, oh, yes, and it is unacceptable that they will not accept you, turkey, into their ranks. then, work of course, it came my turn to speak and i said, well, you know, there's a little bit of a problem here. if we're really spineless, hopeless, feckless as has been pa

. >> and you know, it is interesting, because you mentioned boris yeltsin and he is a cautionary taleng the russian leadership, and they look at him as having given up russia's power in effect. and now over to steven cohen, and how much is that driving force when you look at someone like president putin in his words and views, i won't repeat jelt s yelts yeltsin's mistake, but i will stand up, and hold on to the countries that we consider part of our sphere. >> it is not a factor, and you have to understand already if you don't already what we are witnessing. we are witnessing the possibly worst history of our lifetime. we are watching the descending of a new cold war divide between the west and the east, and only this time, it is not in far away berlin, but right on russia's borders through the historical civilization in ukraine, and it is a crisis of historic magnitude, a fnd you ask how we got into this, how we got into the crisis, and how therefore do we get out, it is time to stop asking why putin is doing this or that, and but ask about the american policy, and the european unio

all the way to the clinton presidency which was so solicitors of the boris yeltsin to george bush could try very hard work without him you couldn't look into the soil. all the way through president obama speaks at policy. the west has always treated russia like on wheel one humiliate them. we went to work with them. we don't take them too seriously as a threat that's been the problem with the western policy toward russia. he did take lashes backside seriously enough. i think that's why the west by myself so far with it today it's not because we were rude to the russians or all weekend so take account of their historical interest. a second mark off let me get your response to again remind our viewers are joining us in the middle here that at the beginning of this conversation you said that up after what's happening crimea perhaps there are those who are saying there should be up to a breakaway from ukraine from those in eastern ukraine but that's legitimate at this point in time have you. how does everyone tone it down it's a whale of this that. did it much. they want to stand to be. nei

during the period of boris yeltsin, the president before putin, he also actually attempted similar acquisitions or reacquisitions of neighboring territory, at least through the same kinds of mechanisms, but they didn't have the capacity to pull it off. so, again, this is a very strong signal now that russia feels it has the capacity, it certainly feels that circumstances necessitate it. and what it shows for other instances where russia feels its interests are challenged in some way, that vladimir putin feels he has the ability to act and that he will act. so, it's a very strong signal that putin and putin's russia will defend their interests as they see them in certain sets of circumstances. but it's also because they're seeing a moment of acute weakness on the part of ukraine and also that they know that the west, the united states and the european union are highly constrained in the ways that we can act in response to this, especially if we've ruled out any kind of military response off the table right at the outset. >> all right. global chess pieces moving, very important information. thank

he then turned to a life in politics, but it wasn't until 1999 when boris yeltsin appointed him primee then, his mission has been clear -- wrapped in an ideology to restore russia to its former greatness, putin has positioned himself against the united states at nearly every turn. after the tragedy of 9/11, he opposed the war on terror. and more recently granted asylum to the nsa whistle-blower, edward snowden. the carnage in syria continues without any end in sight. up to 150,000 dead, all thanks in part to putin's support of bashar al assad. and last year, he wrote a scathing op-ed of american foreign policy saying military intervention is now commonplace for the united states. he also took a shot at the american people, writing, quote, it's extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation. >> putin, big, strong, muscular, on a horse. >> big, strong, muscular on a horse? that's an image that looked like it should be airbrushed onto the side of a van in a new jersey rest area. >> reporter: putin is also a master of manipulation. carefu

it was during that time that russian president boris yeltsin said in kiev we respect and honor the territorial integrity of ukraine. as a participating state in the final act of the conference for security and cooperation in europe in 1975, russia committed to respect the sovereign equal and individuality of other participating states. mr. president, it is clear that in many respects, russia has violated the very agreements it signed. it has shown an act of aggression in a sovereign nation of ukraine. now i will concede the situation is complicateed because of the basic agreement between russia and ukraine when it comes to that critical piece of real estate in the black sea, but it still does not warrant the efforts that have been made by putin to destabilize an effort toward peaceful government. mr. putin has argued that the change in government in kiev was just the mob in the street. nothing could be further from the truth. it occurred through its parliament and through its constitution and with the promise of an open and free election on may 25. it's up to us in the west and all countries t

really was not as important as it became important in 1991 when the soviet union fell apart and boris yeltsine the president and as the first president of russia really did not claim crimea back from ukraine in russia in 1991. so i think it's very complex in this sense. as for vladimir putin, i actually think that indeed he got what he wanted. he wanted crimea. he is a uniter or sees himself as a uniter of the russian land. he obviously cannot rhee re create the whole soviet empire, the whole soviet union, but he certainly can take strategic parts that he feels important for russia to have and also boost his own image because he does appear as this defender of the russian nation, of the russian ethnic people. and as for -- it's not proven -- maybe it's not proven, but what i study is i study political patterns, and this is a political pattern. he does this. this is his pattern. he sort of goes in and sees it, claims it, then says, well, that's the story and how we have to deal with it. >> nina kruschev, thanks for joining us. vladimir, thanks to you as well. as i said, all the eyewitness acco

there have been a host of those at all different levels, including under boris yeltsin, the first president over crimea. crimea is the one that got away with the post-soviet collapse. we have seen it all over the news. in 1954 by the jurisdiction of the russian federation to the ukraine, there is a great deal of discussion about the historical links between the russian states going back and the establishment of the rule of the russian empire which was different under the protection of the ottoman empire. going back a long time in history. a longtime that was the end of the jurisdiction in the form of a today is than what then what was the russian entity within the russian empire. so it has been a great desire for the restoration of this bureaucratic state, the cursor family back in the 1950s to bring crimea back into the russian fold with various points talking about this. including the russian parliament over and over again. signing resolutions and bills about the ukraine and various points when american has talked about this in all parts of the russian population into crimea. it's what we

at a ceremony to the monument of the liberated soldier in kiev, the late president of russia, boris yeltsin, declared that ukraine is a sovereign country. russia does not lay claim on any part of ukraine or on any other cities. and yet, in defiance to the budapest memorandum, whereby the russian federation referred -- reaffirmed its right to use force against the territorial integrity, -- contrary to the treaty of friendship between ukraine and the russian federation of 1997, which are from the book countries agreed to respect each other's territorial integrity and confirmed the ability of the existing rules between them. and in violation of the commitments undertaken by russia during its international organizations. ukraine is about to be carved up. individual world leaders have been trying hard in the past few weeks to get russia to engage with ukrainian authorities, to avoid a crisis over crimea. while the ukrainian authorities repeated their readiness to accept international monitors and efforts, russian troops and equipment were being amassed in crimea. accompanied by an aggressive pro

the problem for all of its flaws, boris yeltsin basically accepted that. when time in the 1990's you had the russian parliament passed some laws that said ukrainians had sevastopol, yeltsin said the right thing, we respect ukraine's territorial integrity. the problem ukraine has now is vladimir putin is present -- is present and he does not believe that. the tools that ukraine has is limited. it is important they deal with crimea what they have done last week, which is to keep their military restraint. it has been very commendable, and there are probably about 12,000 troops on the crimean peninsula, they stayed on bases, they have not challenged the russians, they have been several cases where the russians have tried to provoke them and they have not responded. that is important. second point of looking out is -- let me say one must comment about the situation in crimea where i think it is little bit less tense in military terms than it was a couple of days ago. it is worrisome. russia and ukraine right now are one nervous 20-year-old soldier's mistake away

he, strategy of campaigning, lessons from ronald reagan and boris ellio yeltsin. what is russia trying to do? good russia is testing the new government in kiev. i don't think russia wants to invade but it is dispatching troops in crimea, president yanukovych flew back to his home base in donetske. later on wound up in russia. russia is in a defensive posture in some respects but are pushing the kiev government just as it good in the jann government in 2008. >> you're from the russian ukraine. what do you think the russians are doing? >> i think it's important to remember the domestic political situation both in ukraine and crimea. ukraine is one of the weakest moments in history, the country is essentially bankrupt. the ex-president has dubious legitimate legitimacy. there was a lot of reshuffling at the top of the command structure in the armed forces and just recently, yesterday, the new leader, the new prime minister of crimea was elected and that person is a representative or the leader of so-called russian unity block, which is a prorussian political force th

boris yeltsin's downfall and ndeadimir putin's rise to power.e was the editor of a weekly independence news in holland. he was a correspondent for the london independent based in washington, dc before leaving for -- and earlier in his career he worked for the bbc as a renturnalist. he holds a bs from the london school of economics and studied polish. mr. lucas is the author of a new book entitled "the new cold war" which he'll talk about this afternoon with all of us, for about 20 minutes, and then we'll open the floor up -- i raul use the prerogative chair to ask one or two questions and then open it to all of you. mr. lucas. >> guest: well, thank you very much for that gracious instruction and thank you to radio free europe, radio linter, the chance to talk here. i have the most longest and happiest memories of radio free europe, dating to the time when i used to listen to the czech service to try to find out what was going on. the best news seemed to come via munich. so, it's a great perspective to be here. and i want to start off by just mak

. >> for robert frank, mandy drury, boris yeltsin -- >> thanks for watching "street signs." >> the "the closing bell" starts right now. >>> and welcome to "the closing bell" on a monday. i'm kelly evans here at the new york stock exchange. >> and i'm bill griffeth. invests kicking off the trading week focusing on warning signs for this bull market which turned five years old over the weekend, getting long in the tooth according to history and how long bull markets tend to last. >>> if you want to talk about the 11 prior bull markets, three of them were longer than the current one. so we've got a little bit of history on our side here, bill, but with each passing day, this becomes more extraordinary. >> the dow was down 118 points on the open this morning. some weakness in theati asian markets overnight. we're off the low, down 56 points. >>> we're following general motors. take a look at the stock. it's lower as a recall controversy grows. new reports that the government ignored warnings as early as 2007 about a potentially fatal problem with ignition switches. shares down almost 2%. we

you once worked for boris yeltsin who stood on a tank. would you say that was a coup d'etat?that wasn't. at that time, president of russian federation, penalty had all the right to stand against them, because these people seized power illegally. so there was a completely different situation to the one that is happening in ukraine. if we go back just a bit -- we would see -- that the reason why this current -- >> if we would take a look back at what happened in ukraine, they said they wanted change, went to parliament, asked for change, asked for elections. they didn't seize power. they said they didn't like the pepper in power and said there should be fair elections for that power to be challenged. is there not a major difference in what happened in ukraine and a coup d'etat. >> no, there was going to be an election in february, 2015 anyway, so i don't really understand why you should demand an election. you know, you have -- people in america who don't like obamacare and many of his policies don't demand the elections to be moved a year forward. that does not make sense but

president bill clinton, boris yeltsin and john major, u.k. premier. it was a deal, it is binding still, so that ukraine would give up its nuclear arsenal in return that their territorial integrity would remain intact. at the time it was aimed at allaying fears in moscow. they were afraid that n.a.t.o. would encroach upon its buffer zone, the spheres of influence. now it's being turned around and saying that actually it's russia that is - that is a threat to the integrity in territory. >> they are different players on today's stage. still interesting context there, phil. meanwhile, troops on the russia-ukraine border are on high alert. ukrainian authorities arrested a man suspected of being an undercover russian spy. what happened there? >> well, have been hearing for some time here from our sources within the ukrainian intelligence agency that they fear that there vice-president what they call agent prove okay tours and fifth columnists sent from russia to the ukraine. they say that the protests and the violent protests that they have seen out in the

he moved to moscow in 1996 into boris yeltsin's adding and was appointed to the security service, servedof the security council, named prime minister in 1999 and later elected president after a rebounding economy. >> this came after extreme recession in 1990's and suddenly the economy was getting back on its feet, people felt greater stability and were grateful to those in charge, pool tin. >> he served two terms as president but prevented by the constitution from running again. he served at prime minister under medvedev. he reorganized the country into districts, oversaw reforms, visited israel and strengthened image as a strong leader with a brutal and military campaign to put down the rebellion in chechnya. >> the popularity that comes from sump actions in short lived. there was a huge rallying behind putin in the early months when he sent troops into chechnya for the second time. his popularity evaporated quickly. >> he used the media, becoming famous for his shirtless photo opposite and showing his martial arts prowess. his marriage ended last year. they have two daughters, still a

it was during that time that russian president boris yeltsin said in kiev we respect and honor the territorial integrity of ukraine. as a participating state in the final act of the conference for security and cooperation in europe in 1975, russia committed to respect the sovereign equal and individuality of other participating states. mr. president, it is clear that in many respects, russia has violated the very agreements it signed. it has shown an act of aggression in a sovereign nation of ukraine. now i will concede the situation is complicateed because of the basic agreement between russia and ukraine when it comes to that critical piece of real estate in the black sea, but it still does not warrant the efforts that have been made by putin to destabilize an effort toward peaceful government. mr. putin has argued that the change in government in kiev was just the mob in the street. nothing could be further from the truth. it occurred through its parliament and through its constitution and with the promise of an open and free election on may 25. it's up to us in the west and all countries t