vladimir putin in his place, on his very first day in office president putin signed a decree granting boris yetsonom future prosecution. to save his own skin yetson struck a bargain. optimism that followed the collapse of the soviet union was replaced with putin's russia. he surrounded himself with loyalists and cracked down on dissent. the stage was set for russia to become what critics call a criminal state. >>> next up from hamburg, a story that shows what happens when the power of the state is placed in the hands of criminals. stay with us. oh, millies. trick or treat! we're so glad to have you here. ♪ what if we treated great female scientists like they were stars? ♪ yasss queen! what if millie dresselhaus, the first woman to win the national medal of science in engineering, were as famous as any celebrity? [millie dresselhaus was seen having lunch today...] ♪ [...rumors of the new discovery...] what if we lived in a world like that? (crowd applauding) ♪ we know a place that's already working on it. ♪ cohigher!ad! higher! parents aren't perfect, but then they make us kraft mac & cheese and ev

boris yetson ordered all units involved in the overthrow of gorbachev to stand down and said he was assumingitory of russia. clearly there's a major confr t confrontation shaping up in the russian republic. >> the day began with a session of meetings and phone calls. among his conversations were one with status in the white house has risen sudden bly to the potential savior of soviet democracy. >> when the tanks came in, the commander called him and said i'm supposed to attack you, but i will not. i will protect you. and that's when he stood up on the tank and indicated to the coup leaders these guys are with me, not you. >> it is a coup by criminals. >> because what gorbachev brought about the communist party and military could no longer move against the russian people. that was earth shaking. >> tonight the skyline was ablaze with celebration. relief as the symbols of conflict were removed. >> he comes back to moscow, but the totalitarian system of government that had led this country for 70 years collapsed virtually overnight and that was an amazing thing to see. >> when he saw evidence h