garry kasparov is our guest, his book is called "winter is coming." it's about vladimir putin and the soviet union. we'll begin taking those calls in just a few minutes. >> you just said soviet union. >> i'm sorry? >> you just said soviet union and putin. yes, there is something about the soviet union, but it's mostly about russia. >> i apologize. you know what, i apologize. >> it's quite freudian. we do understand that putin has been trying to sort of resurrect, you know, the soviet empire. it's not accidental that many times he said the collapse of the soviet union was the greatest political disaster of the 21st century. >> let's go back to your book. the soviet union existed in 1991. what was that year like for you and what was vladimir putin doing in 1991, when the call came down and the soviet union started dissolving? >> i don't think anybody knew the name vladimir putin until he appeared in moscow as the head of the kgb in 1998. before, he was the right-hand man of the st. petersburg man. i was in st. petersburg in 1996. i couldn't recall, you

-russia relations from "washington journal," featuring former world which is champion garry kasparov. it's about 55 minutes. now on your screen is garry kasparov, former world chess champion and the author of "winter is coming: why vladimir putin and the enemies of the free world must be stopped." mr. caspkasparov, what's your history with vladimir putin? >> i never met vladimir putin. this man has been steadily destroying my country. he's a dictator who is quite desperate for staying in power. now he's been searching for enemies outside of russia since he ran out of enemies inside the country. that's what's happened to dictators before. probably it's inevitable. history is a vicious circle. he have been saying that vladimir putin, who was for a long time our problem, russian problem, would eventually be everyone's problem. and we can see now that he has expansionist plans, spreading way beyond former soviet union borders. >> you call him a dictator, but he's been elected in democratic elections and has a high approval rating as well, right? >> okay, let's not mix two things. let's go