it was strictly off-limits to everybody else. >> this is what the kgb left us in 1991 when we may sayhey disappeared from the house one day. there were about 60 rooms that were wired, or it was possible to spy, to record. >> the kgb's agents had their ears everywhere. they communicated regularly with their colleagues in helsinki and also had a hot line to moscow. the hotel technician recalls how his services were not wanted on the 23rd floor. >> once i had to replace a phone. the door was slightly open. i took a look inside and suddenly felt the barrel of a gun in my stomach. they grabbed the phone and threw me out. ♪ >> back then, the hotel was the showcase of soviet architecture and design. western guests were particularly welcome. the hotel opened in 1972. it was meant to show that communism, modernity, and luxury did not have to be mutually exclusive. 20 years after the collapse of the soviet union, the 23rd floor has been turned into a museum. for hotel guests from the old days, it is an eerie experience coming back. >> they all told us that the room that you cannot say what you

still call it the kgb. hasn't changed its name.re was a close relationship between belarus and today's russia but it turns out it was not a belarus' case. it was a g r u case. he was arrested during a meeting with that defense attache for the military. the russian g r officer, not russian kgb officer was p n ged out of the netherlands and it seems in august it surfaced that he had more secret than they thought at a time that they wanted to use them. they didn't say he had this much when he was first arrested and eventually discovered he had hidden this in a container that was shipped to the united arab emirates. this is where his material was in files and cd roms. more than it originally appeared to be. he tested -- attempted to pass the information. he wanted $5,000 euro, $750,000 american depending on the exchange rate. he was convicted this december. he got five years in prison. if it were an american case he would have gone five years. european spy cases are only about 1-third the american effort what they get. are taught to eu

they were kgb. and they lost their jobs when the soviet union collapsed. >> reporter: what percentage of a whole of the eastern european work in south florida? >> about 10%. >> reporter: one reason the bolaris scam is successful, victims are often married. targeted because they look rich. and when exposed, are too embarrassed to fight back. but john bolaris did fight back. testifying before a miami grand jury in a case involving 87 other victims, which led to 17 indictments and 11 guilty pleas. six defendants will be tried in october. >> i came back. i'm very excited to be back. >> reporter: violating the mafia's cardinal rule, bolaris may have talked too much. he told his story to "the philadelphia daily news" last year. a cover story they called "the hangover," for obvious reasons. then, a tell-all tale of womanizing to "playboy." fox 29 bosses weren't amused. issuing a statement this month saying, they mutually agreed it was time to part ways. for "nightline," i'm matt gutman, in miami beach, flo

by the way, they still call that the kgb. there is a close relationship between belarus and today's russia sbrfsb. it turns out it was a gru case. he was arrested at a meeting with the defense attache for the military. it seemshat in august, its serviceshat he had even more circuits -- it surfaces that he had even more secrets that they thought. when he was originally arrested, they did not say he had this much. he had in this and a container that was being shipped to the united arab emirates. that is where his material was, which was iluded in files and cd-roms. he attempted to pass the information, $500,000 of euros, and he was convicted in december. he would have given up five more years. i have talked to europeans -- colonials a sensitive test and i should have had great debates about that. -- colonials are sensitive to espionage. i have had great debates about that. spy scandals -- great britain had won this year. the thought that after the and enchantment case, -- the anna chapman case, they had to have a big one. katia

by the way, they still call that the kgb. there is a close relationship between belarus and today's russia sbrfsb. it turns out it was a gru case. he was arrested at a meeting with the defense attache for the military. it seems that in august, its services that he had even more circuits -- it surfaces that he had even more secrets that they thought. when he was originally arrested, they did not say he had this much. he had in this and a container that was being shipped to the united arab emirates. that is where his material was, which was included in files and cd-roms. he attempted to pass the information, $500,000 of euros, and he was convicted in december. he would have given up five more years. i have talked to europeans -- colonials a sensitive test and i should have had great debates about that. -- colonials are sensitive to espionage. i have had great debates about that. spy scandals -- great britain had won this year. the thought that after the and enchantment case, -- the anna chapman case, they had to have a big one.

by the way, they still call that the kgb. there is a close relationship between belarus and today's russia sbrfsb. it turns out it was a gru case. he was arrested at a meeting with the defense attache for the military. it seems that in august, its services that he had even more circuits -- it surfaces that he had even more secrets that they thought. when he was originally arrested, they did not say he had this much. he had in this and a container that was being shipped to the united arab emirates. that is where his material was, which was included in files and cd-roms. he attempted to pass the information, $500,000 of euros, and he was convicted in december. he would have given up five more years. i have talked to europeans -- colonials a sensitive test and i should have had great debates about that. -- colonials are sensitive to espionage. i have had great debates about that. spy scandals -- great britain had won this year. the thought that after the and enchantment case, -- the anna chapman case, they had to have a big one.

a russian officer, not a russian kgb officer was out of netherlands because of the case, and it seems in august is surfaces he had more secrets than they that. he was wanted to use them -- admitted when they arrested him, they didn't say he had this much, and that they eventually discovered that he had hidden this in a container that was being shipped to the united arab emirates, and that's where his material was that included files and cd-roms. it was more than it appeared to. he wanted $500,000 euros -- about $750,000 american depending on the exchange rate, and he was convicted this december. he got five years in prison. if it was an american case, he would have got more than five years. european spy cases are about one-third the american effort as to what they get. i've talked to europeans and they said you clonians are sensitive to espionage. we're more sophisticated than that. we realize it's not that important. i had great debates about that with them. he gets five years in prison for that case working for the gru. there's nothing like a good spy scandal, and great britain love

first of all, that's like the kgb, a state within a state, has huge power inside iran, and some peoplelooked at this case, and that study in iran saying it doesn't make sense. if you study, iran makes sense. we at the cia center teach a ten day course on the iranian culture, iranian intelligence service, and a complete view looking at iran as a very important national security issue, and one of the things we know about the services is they like to use family. they like to use tribes. makes all the sense in the world a member of their intelligence service reaches out to the cousin down in texas who is 5 car dealer and say could you find someone in the mexican cartel to conduct an assassination in washington. if they had been successful, which they were not because he reached out and was fortunate to a dea informant in mexico who is in the cartel, but if that had not taken place and they had been successful, you can imagine what would have happened if there was a bombing or an assassination here in washington with the saudi ambassador, and then the investigation and tracked it back to me

>> rose: he had some interesting mentors, kgb, what was his name? >> dropov. >> i would come back to george and talk about this and he said, look you said in 1947 the system carries within itself the seeds of its own destruction and this new generation of people are going to come up and he would acknledge he sd that in 1947, but he would not take credit for having foreseen the emergence of gorbachev, he was quite extraordinary in his reluctance to take credit for his own insights. >> rose: i think it was kissinger who said that this great american dilemma between idealism and realism played out in george kennan's soul? >> uh-huh. >> rose: what did he mean? >> he meant that george kennan's character really contained ements of both, so there are aspects of kennan's thinking that could be said to be cold-blooded in geo political realism but there are also these ideals that were there, one of them has to do with what his expectations were of his own country, and that is why i sub titled the book an american life. >> rose: expectations in terms that he d

for most of that time, this vast country has been run by vladimir putin, a former kgb spy who now stands accused of rigging last month's elections. to stay in power even longer. videos emerged of votes stuffed into boxes long before the polls even opened. this woman was filmed voting dozens of times, and officials record on camera busily trying to change the election results. "mr. putin's hometown is st. petersburg where the mood is turning against him. "give power to the people," they chanted last month. others never had the chance to be heard. the 1917 revolution began here. so could this be the launch pad for russia's version of the arab spring? channel 4 news has been given access to three groups in the vanguard of anti-putin protest. these are the most notorious and secretive of st. peter burg's revolutionaries. they're currently in hiding and there's an international warrant out for their arrest. their name means war. on new year's eve they set fire to a police transportor. claiming this was their gift for all political prisoners. they've turned over police cars in protest. the aim