mr. putin has called on both sides to resume dialogue. abbas is refusing to re-enter negotiations until israel halts the settlements in the east bank. john joins me. what leverage, if any, does vladimir putin have in the middle east, especially on this peace process? >> there are not too many optimists in the region in terms of peace talks. the have been stalled since 2010. russia sees itself as a big player in the region. it is a member of the middle east quartet. in that respect, it does have leverage. there was not too much coming out of the press conference today. mr. putin and his huge entourage are about to leave actually. both men gave brief statements. mr. putin said that he wanted both sides to take the necessary measures to get back to negotiations. mr. abbas move to the idea of an international peace process to be held in moscow. it will be interesting to see if that gets any traction. there were no questions. you get the impression that mr. putin in particular did not want to talk about syria today. >> in a more general sense,

and mr. putin already today has said that without the removal of visa barriers there cannot be genuine partnership between russia and the european union. >> and steve, immediately after his swearing-in for this third term in office as president of russia, he chose not to go to the g-8 summit in person. what does that tell us about where his head is facing? where is he looking more closely? >> yes, do you get the feeling that certainly mr. putin's priority is what they call here the near abroad, former soviet republic. he visited belarus last week, and certainly he seems to be keen on integration with former soviet states. he's creating, in a way, his own verse of the european union with former soviet countries. so, that seems to be his priority. and you do get the feeling that the european union has been dropping down russia's table of priorities to quite a large extent. i'm sure today russia and the european union will be stressing the importance of cooperation. they are neighbors. they do a lot o

connection between two nations to states if you want and to elites but don't forget that putin is long enough in power and mrs america was before becoming chancellor of germany as the leader of the opposition party in the german bundestag for many years so she knows putin very well or more or less well since he became russian president and she has a working relationship with him from all the european leaders and you see the the french president has gone tony blair has gone in britain obama is relatively new bush was leading america the first decade of the century mrs merkel remains the old veteran coming events. of course a very responsible in in what she's doing for the west now she is still to meet leader of europe secret about this and she feels more and more for it was each year when she's in power that kind of responsibility and that means that she also feels a lot of responsibility towards russia and of course even if she may be disliked fortune because of his biography nevertheless i think she will do good work with him and by the way i watch this press conference during their visit and detected some p

that russia is not unilaterally supporting the assad regime anybody that says that is simply wrong mr putin and president putin saying the common objective is for peace to prevail the annan peace plan must be supported are not expected to fail again president putin saying that russia will not act unilaterally with syria it is an issue that all major global players must work together towards peace and ultimately the german chancellor angela merkel echoing the russian president sentiment saying a political solution within the u.n. framework must bring peace and the global players to the negotiating table more details on that at r.t. dot com we'll be back in just a moment. two things i'm open to one takes is transmission since the break from the big thing haunts of this incident one remaining open channel will come from missing from trouble free from filters then back to back to the ship didn't like speak to cyberspace where battle just melissa make the jump to hyginus space challenging the establishment's grip on information and are now being pursued by sinister agents more of what's happenin

mr. putin is in charge. the former president, back story again.n russia was betrayed in libya. he has not regained a status since then. mr. putin won't make the mistake. russia is an energy super power deploying major combat elements. combined arms, the marines from the black sea fleet on their way to syria. this is boots on the ground. there will be perhaps 400 aircraft involved. specialists, gru units, everybody who knows special forces this is the russian equivalent. the scenario they are entertaining is in the event of an intervention from the western north and syria. they are making it clear there will be no military option ffr the united states. there is no option for the u.s. at all. >> they are in effect completely defending and protecting the brutal murderer assad. that's what they are doing. in so doing, john, they are completely protecting iran which is essentially the syrian banker, is it not? >> correct. iran and syria are linked. russia is committed to both. they are buffer states in the middle east. there are reasons for this histor

do you believe mr. putind russia are ready to control the damascus regime and we are looking at a scenario not unlike the cold war with the u.s. calling moscow and working it out between the two super powers? >> well, moscow does not want any western intervention in syria. the russians know western intervention really shortens the shelf life of the ally assad. the russians, i think, will be working the issue hard trying to get the turks to stand down. trying to ensure that no western powers intervene and to keep the status quo. certainly washington will be calling moscow to try to work on the issue. frankly washington is showing no signs of wanting to intervene either. in that respect there is a potential for dialogue between moscow and washington. >> let's turn to the question of iran which is a much larger producer of oil and where mr. putin has gotten involved. what does putin and russian resurgence in the region mean to the price of oil three, six, 12 months from now? >>. >> that's their key ally. in the

just as secretary clinton and mr. putind of at really odds about how much russia is supporting syria and how much russia is responsible for the style and lethality of the killing. r particularly about these attack helicopters. then of course, president obama meets mr. putin at the economics summit a couple of days later, so it's coming down to a big power confrontation. will there be a humanitarian corridor established? will the cease fire blow because the big powers guarantee it or will this fall through the cracks and have more and more killing. >> those are the two choices? if you were in charge of a meeting right now at this cross roads, who would be in it and what would our choices be? >> i think i'd call the russian bluff or the russian plan of last weekend and say let's do this. let's have the regional conference. let's bring all the the actors together because historically, you don't get a piece in a near civil war situation unless all the neighbors are involved. in this case, the neighbors are involved because all

said, right before president obama spoke, mr. putin spoke, and he said, that's one of my fundamental positions. that no one has the right to decide for anyone else who goes, who stays. and that's the way they look at it. so maybe they're hedging their belts till they feel that assad really is going down and then they jump on the bandwagon. but right now, they can take this high position, almost a theoretical position, of saying, well, you know, nobody else should decide who goes. >> right, certainly not a position they've taken in the past on chechnya or afghanistan or other places where they intervene militarily. breaking news out of cairo to talk about, we'll take you there shortly live. we'll continue this conversation after a quick break. join us on facebook, on twitter right now, @andersoncooper. a lot more ahead, stay tuned. [ male announcer ] this is genco services -- mcallen, texas. in here, heavy rental equipment in the middle of nowhere, is always headed somewhere. to give it a sense of direction, at&t created a mobile asset

mr. putin. >> mr. putin. >> president. >> yes, not mr. romney. >> i said putin. >> you did. [laughter] >> you see what happens when you work with these guys? >> in a moment we're going to take some questions from the audience, but if you got your calls returned and if you were in the discussions these days about policy, two quick questions. what would your, what would your key message be about, number one, syria; number two, iran. >> on syria is it is an extremely difficult situation. i know president assad. i've worked with him, i've met with him in damascus. he lies constantly. you can't believe or trust him on anything. but he is in solid control still of the country even with all of the troubles that he is facing. and he is of a minority group as was his father. his father went through something like this and killed 80,000 people. so these are brutal folks who are not going to give up power easily. and even if they were to leave power easily or otherwise, it's not entirely clear what it is we'd be supporting on the other side. so if i was in right now, i would say be ver

>> do you still have to meet mr. putin in the next few weeks, or do you think he doesn't plan or want to meet you right now? >> we have not discussed the concrete calendar issues. as you may recall, i called him and congratulated him on his election a few days after the presidential elections, and we agreed to meet bilaterally in the not too distant future but, of course, at the end of the day it's also a calendar question and no dates have been fixed yet. >> thank you very much. >>> each week washington journal spotlights a recent notable magazine article. on wednesday "vanity fair" contributing editor michael joseph gross talks about the internet, how it was created and regulated. tune in and call, tweet, or e-mail "washington journal" live at 9:15 eastern on c-span. federal reserve chairman ben bernanke is on capitol hill this week. he's testifying before the joint economic committee. he's expected to address may's job growth and the unemployment rate. join us live on thursday at 10:00 eastern here on c-span3. >>> final

thousands of protesters took part in a major anti-government rally in moscow on tuesday, the first since mr. putin returned to the kremlin as president. the final round of negotiations begin in rio today to produce a draft agreement ahead of next week's rio plu 20 summit. the summit will discuss issues such as water and food security, a fossil fuel subsidies, but many world leaders are expected to stay away while they tend to economic crises at home. hundreds of firefighters are tackling a wildfire in the u.s. state of colorado, which has left at least one person dead. the blaze near fort collins has spread to an area nearly 110 square kilometers. half of america's firefighting airplanes are fighting to control the fire. >> it is one of the biggest wildfires colorado has ever seen, and it is still burning out of control. the warm weather and high winds have spread it quickly across dry hillside. flames have been dropping flame retardant to try to stop the fire from spreading. some big water tanker aircraft have been grounded from the winds. many homes have already been destroyed. hundreds of extra

i have one question to president putin and mr barroso is practically the same question from different perspectives from. your previous presidents cycle you have said that as soon as russia was. hearing into the w t o that would give us a boost to working on the new basic agreement how is this statement true today when and this iteration has changed by little oil prices falling where there is a negative. public opinion in those sectors of russia who would start off from russia as a teacher and stood up a duty oh well russia is a part of the customs union how this statement made by you remains true. i mean that the attention to w t o. a minimal economic block of the basic agreement and mr brosnahan opinion on how we do integration of russia w t o what influence we have to the. elaboration or for the new. treaty of partnership and cooperation thank you. no no it is a letters beginning with a w t o. we have you see have seen the response separate sectors of russian economy. when we are here to w t o there are reasons but the instruments which we use within the requirements of a double to

the into account the positions of small crowds and units where you were germany and my question to mr putin how the in the going to difficult situation if you were a zone will ever pay to be in the supplies of energy if it goes to europe or will arise sure it will be forced to correct this budget due to the fall in their oil prices thank you very much they were pretty good. a let me begin so that my colleagues will have time to be immigrating as you do nobody knows that you can make situation in europe and facts correctly with the economy of the russian federation anywhere close in the interconnected as i already a man should. use the tory for the last year when it was worth three hundred four billion dollars in two thousand and ten it was sure it was put off with impunity because it. was a flurry sixty billion dollars so they'll do girls that is quite significant of course she eve to make this situation in europe will lead to recession to the few that will shrink the economy and the volume of incomes go to consumption of produce from russia is spent you spend. phillips petroleum chemistry

it said the report of street violence against mr. putin last month. >> from early morning, there were police on the doorstep and many more inside. they've come to this block of flats to search the home of one of russia's most vocal critics of the kremlin. they seized computers and mobile phones, the start of what appears to be coordinated crackdown on president putin's opponents. what is happening here is being repeated across the russian capital today. police have been searching the homes of opposition activists one day before the next anti- government protest. police said the operation was part of investigation into violence at last month's protest near the kremlin. the activists have been classified as witnesses. they fear they may face prosecution and the authorities are trying to crush dissent ahead of the next major protest expected tomorrow. among those whose flat was searched was this man. vladimir putin was once a family friend. she has grown increasingly critical. she was detained at a recent protest. >> i never thought in the 19

measures for arms reduction a long time ago in a would have done nothing to debate it because both mr putin in his first presidential term and then use presidents george w. bush have declared the cold war over and said we are strategic partners not i think you just keep what you are what we're really practical steps to back this up. so i'd like to ask for size thirty if only i'd there was genuine confidence backed by practical measures the world would be in a much safer place. and that's why the we is exports the way. so i think you thank you thank you very much for the with this is good on the show and just a reminder that my guess was its last count and that's it for now from all of us here spotlight we'll be back with more comments on what's going on in and outside pressure until then stay on and take care. u.n. monitors investigating reports of a massacre in your home on syria find evidence of human remains in burned homes this is pressure builds on both sides in the conflict to lay down their arms with anti-violence rallies across the country and rising proclamation from a broad. brush

practical measures for arms reduction a long time ago and we have done nothing to debate it because both mr putin in his first presidential term and then use presidents george w. bush have declared the cold war over and said we are strategic partners not i think you just keep what you are what we're of the practical steps to back this up. so i'd like to laugh a size thirty if only i'd there was genuine confidence backed by practical measures their world would be in a much safer place. and that's why the we is that sports should be the way. thank you thank you very much for the with us get on the show and just reminded that and i guess they want us it's count and that's it for now from all of us here spotlight will be back with more comments on what's going on in and outside pressure and so let's stay on top and take care i suppose. violence rages on in syria with blasts and gunfire in the capital as un observers step up their investigation into the latest massacre and hama. demonstrators breaking the law now face higher fines and russia as analysts claim the protest movement support and numbers a

white house hoping that mr. putin would be on board with the plan to remove syrian president assad to end the slaughter of civilians in that country. instead president putin called on the syrian people to decide for themselves who will lead them. >> economic groom and doom at the g-20 summit, president obama and other world leaders turning up the heat on europe to solve its debt crisis. that is triggering a war of words saying european nations don't come to the g-20 to get lecture. today president obama will meet with hu jintao. >>> the national average is $3.50 per gallon. >>> a nerd arms race, a new battle is being waged in the war between microsoft and mac, microsoft getting back into the hardware business, unveiling a direct challenge to the ipad with its own surface tablet. this is video given to us by microsoft with pretty tight restrictions. it has nearly the same speks as the ipad, take a look. it's a little thinner, weighs a little more. has a larger screen and it has a kick stand. >> i like that. >> i do too

news agency i have a question for both presidents both about mr putin you mentioned that you discussed the european missile defense system during the negotiation and i would like to hear your take on the outcome of this discussion you know whether there is any progress especially with regard to the recent nato summit in chicago. but is there any progress on this track or is it still a frozen issue. well we can reach much progress on missile defense was. talking to a single nato ally we know believe french attitude. that. they have a consolidated stance within the alliance but we believe that a lot of decisions if we were taken in by nato with without. and with no attention paid to russian interests and to russia's position. as for is this issue is concerned i can tell you that france is one of the very few countries . you know who actually listen to us and hear what we're saying and we hope that as a nato member state and also as a as a nuclear power france understands that brush is a legitimate concerns and we hope that with their help we'll be able to. find a common ground with the e

measures for arms reduction a long time ago in a would have done nothing to debate it because both mr putin in his first presidential term and then use president george w. bush have declared by the cold war over and said we are strategic partners not i think you just keep what you want it what we're really practical steps to back this up previously so i'd like to emphasize that if only i'd there was genuine confidence backed by practical measures their world would be in a much safer place. but that's why the we is that sports should be the way. thank you thank you very much for being with us get on the show and just reminded that and i guess it was its last count and that's it for now from all of us here spotlight we'll be back with more comments on one of the away on in and outside pressure until then stay on tarting and take care this is. well for some.

measures for arms reduction a long time ago in a would have done nothing to debate it because both mr putin in his first presidential term and then use presidents george w. bush have declared by the cold war over and said we are strategic partners not i think you just keep what you are but we're of the practical steps to back this up. so i'd like to emphasize that if only i'd there was genuine confidence backed by practical measures their world would be in a much safer place. and that's why you will see is that sports should be the way. listen thank you thank you thank you very much for the get on the show and just reminded that and i guess. it's kind of and that's it for now from all of us here spotlight will be back with more comments on what's going on in and outside pressure until then stay on and take care i see. three. things. if you're followed up on my bill and your old one of the. names are sort of a throwback and i can't part of our long. and it goes back to a time when people would write down their forces in the wild and become these huge and it's important to mention the sheriff

mr. putin's arrival, china describes syria as one of the most pressing issues. me from beijing now is our correspondent michael bristol. they've got some common ground with regard to syria but not quite a common front, is it? >> well, certainly, as you indicated that china and russia have resisted cause to more criticism of president assaad's go. they blocked two u.n. resolutions previously and both of them favor the peace talk forward by the former secretary general of the u.n., kofi annan. but as that peace time seem to be unraveling, perhaps these two leaders will face more pressure from the rest of the world to do what they can to step in and stop the conflict. of course with them resisting these u.n. resolutions, perhaps they will feel a little pressure to say something. >> and in three days, you cover a lot of ground out there, michael. regional security issues will be to the forefront as well, ig i guess. >> yes. one of the things on the agenda is the shanghai corporation organization. that is a regional grouping of russia and china and central asian coun

mr. putin will be holding talks with the german chancellor, angela merkel in per berlin, followed by a visit to meet the new french president, francois hollande. the counting of votes are underway in the irish republic following thursday's referendum on whether or not to support the european fiscal treaty. voter turnout was low, and ireland rejected previous e.u. treaties. some sources say they are confident this time of a yes vote. aaron has just slid in alongside me, and china, not good. >> these are worrying numbers. they're very important. they're forward-looking numbers. i'm talking about p.m.i. they sound boring, but they're not. >> it's always. >> has it really? i see sarcasm. p.m.i., the purchasing managers index. they sit at the top of the supply chain for all sectors. they make the advanced bookings, advanced orders for all the raw materials. if these guys are pessimistic or in the doldrums, that's seen through. we're seeing a sharp slowdown in growth in basically the world's largest

mr putin i will holding a press conference. hopefully sign some more deals some seventeen major business deals and trade deals are expected to be signed live event all the headlines from us egypt's muslim brotherhood saw it with moves for a million protesters calling for mubarak's execution hoping it will also sweep aside the presidential election and rival. europe today without top stories now world sport. thanks kevin hello and welcome to this is sport with me or i'm on call serve plenty of ahead over the next ten minutes or so but first the headlines still standing russia's sole representative in the french open maria sharapova books her place in the quarterfinals with a three set win over czech claros a couple of our. youth against experience. with a rush a usa scheduled for thursday with both warriors speeding confidence of their victory . and russia's young weightlifting stories hoping to clinch the country's first ever olympic gold at the london games. let's start on the clay courts of the french open where the last russ

the same page when it comes to world politics you're watching the chinese president hu jintao and mr putin holding a press conference to hopefully sign small deal some seventeen major business deals and trade deals are expected to be signed live event other headlines from us egypt's muslim brotherhood saw aides with moves for a million man protest calling for mubarak's execution hoping it will also sweep aside the presidential election and rival. europe today without top stories now world sport news roman. thanksgiving hello and welcome to this is sport on arts eat with me or i'm on call served plenty of ahead over the next ten minutes or so but first the headlines still standing russia's sole representative in the french open maria sharapova books her place in the quarterfinals with a three set win over czech klara as a couple of our. youth against experience fight night showdown returns with a russia usa clash scheduled for thursday with both warriors speeding confidence of their victory. and let's all russia's young weightlifting stories hoping to clinch the country's first ever olympic

fact will contribute to escalating the violence in the country well certainly this is not how up mr putin of views the situation. where no discussing the tragedy of a syrian town where fourteen or fifteen people were killed some of them were actually tortured as well this is stirred up the world's media but how many civilians of actually been killed at the hands of the so-called militants have you looked at that body count now as far as francois hollande and putin are concerned they both a stress that they are looking at a diplomatic solution. but this is still the ideal and to solve the crisis in syria however it has to be pointed out that there are differences they were approach saying that more sanctions are necessary to put pressure on the assad regime will putin saying that this is ineffective citing past examples for example in iraq or libya he was questioning security level at this point today. well an independent un panel is to conduct an investigation into a massacre in syria which claimed the lives of more than a hundred people last week damascus blames armed opposition fighters

differences between them are much greater than differences between every single of these groups and mr putin himself you know liberals say that which is nationalist nationalist say that which is liberal leftist say that crashed the sort of social system. liberals say that no one is rebuilding the soviet system and he's aggressive towards the west which is complete crap to my mind so in fact it's very difficult to react to something something that is contradictory within itself for it what do you think about that very very strange bedfellows as points out here ok but i think we need to remember how this movement got started and it got started in a clear demand for fair elections and it wasn't just about the vote count who got what is about the whole stage managed political look are you serious you're talking about the parliamentary election or the parliamentary elections in which you know you have one huge party that is basically a trade union of officialdom that sets the rules you has a monopoly or monopoly state resources. and you have a kind of purging of the ballot so that you only get a

differences between them are much greater than differences between every single of these groups and mr putin himself. there's much more for you on mine at r.t. dot com right now including a perilous place for babies find out all about this annual ritual in a spanish town aimed at balancing evil spirits from a new more. cyber war enters a new era with the two latest most dangerous virus attacks persuaded by the same group that's according to a leading russian internet security about. syria is now in a state of civil war that's according to the head of the u.n. peacekeeping operation there the country is. only seen a spike in violence of u.n. observers now reporting not just offensives by government forces but also an increase in coordinated rebel attacks two conflicting reports on the number of victims and forces behind the violence have triggered mixed reactions from world powers or she's written ocean or is in damascus. u.-n. morning to us have reported a heavy surge in recent weeks of rebels college a nation and attacks in response they say the syrian government has given the army too much

problem is that differences between them are much greater than differences between these groups and mr putin himself. syria is now in a state of civil war that's according to the head of the u.n. peacekeeping operation there the country has recently seen a spike in violence with un observers now reporting not just offensive by government forces but also an increase in coordinated rebel attacks two conflicting reports on the number of victims and the forces behind the violence have triggered mixed reactions from world powers are to refer notion is in damascus. you earn more interest have reported a heavy surge in recent weeks of rebels called a nation and attacks in response they say the syrian government has given the army too much freedom and too much free rein and that all the lads to dramatic increase in civilian dads one of the remotest talk in the recent example of this fresh wave of violence here in syria is we have we are to rebuild bodman to of the rebel stronghold backed by helicopter strikes in the central province of holmes and again we've been receiving conflicting reports on exa

mr. putin does that all the time. [laughter] >> a russians? [laughter] >> not mr. romney. >> i said to 10. [laughter] see what happens? >> in a moment we will take questions. >> nephew got your calls returned and in the discussion of policy what about syria and iran it? >> i met with him and he lies constantly and cannot trust him on anything. but he is in solid control of the country even with all the trouble he is facing. his father killed 80,000 people. they are brutal who will not give up easy. it is not entirely clear of what we are supporting on the other side. i would say be very careful. intervention is appropriate. but it is the best way but it is very hard. he really is the bad guy. and on either side we need to have a clear idea who we are supporting or who would take over power. to put pressure on them, they start to hurt but they do not give up the nuclear program easily. they keep insisting that they don't want to let them but i see what they develop which is rockets. you cannot trust them. this solution may emerge a that is all you want to, how do th