putin's "times" op-ed. >> i would like to have a chance to have a commentary in pravda. >> the pravda that mccain was thinking of, that was the original state newspaper that for 80 years delivered what was literally the party line of communist russia. the current "pravda" is a weird orphan of that one and has nowhere near the influence "the new york times" has in america. pravda is the 535th most read website in russia. though to be fair, i don't think any of the other sites accept op-eds. zlat described the new pravda as a cross between the worldnetdaily and "the national enquirer," with headlines of, an expose of boston marathon bombing hoax," and "13 terribly weird facts about women." not exactlily a platform of global prestige. but what mccain's decision to publish in this "pravda" shows us, the old habits of cold warriors die very, very hard. joining me now is matt taibbi, contributing editor for "rolling stone." he lived and worked as a journalist in russia for quite a few years. he speaks fluent russian. >> ten years of it. >> did anyone read john mccain's op-ed? >> i seriously

in the russian newspaper "pravda."re joined by cnn political analyst john avlon in new york. good to see you. >> good to see you, fred. >> first off, not that you're a spokesperson for john mccain, but why? >> yeah, far from a spokesperson for john mccain, but i'll tell you, john mccain has famously been a critic of president putin back when george w. bush said that he looked in putin's eyes and could see his soul, mccain said he looked in his eyes and could see three letters, k-g-b. and mccain like many folks was angry when he saw putin getting an op-ed piece in "the new york times." he said fine, give me equal time in "pravda." it seems like foreign policy comes together on that, and mccain might have his chance to push back at putin. >> oh, my goodness. a lot of people angry, not so happy about what putin wrote, but especially right now at a critical juncture in diplomacy. might john mccain's sentiment be disruptive? could it interfere in all that's taking place so far? >> well, to be clear, john mccain hasn't writt

the pravda of today is a little bit different. it is just a news website, and it is really quite tabloid in its approach and not widely read. so it is, by no means, "the new york times" of russia but it does have that symbolic name and that is perhaps what john mccain was going for here. >> phil, finally, in the op-ed here, he also says, quote, president putin doesn't believe in you, he doesn't believe that human nature at liberty can rise above its weaknesses and build just peaceful prosperous societies, or at least he doesn't believe russians can. is there any response from putin? >> reporter: putin was quite restrained in his response today, i would say. he said he hadn't read the piece but his general view of john mccain, he doesn't know about russia. mccain is a frequent critic of putin, his leadership. but in the past, putin has used more colorful language. i recall a time live on television 18 months ago when putin was asked about some criticism from mccain. putin responded basically he thought mccain was crazy because of h

there's two pravdas, one that was online and took it and one that refused to do so.y said they would take it and i wrote it and it is what it is. >> putin suggested you were locked in an outdated cold war mindset. what's your reaction? >> well, mr. putin has made several remarks about me over the years, none of them flattering. and i'm afraid that in response i could say that mr. putin has taken russia back to many of the cold war practices of the then soviet union. if you look at any human rights organization, they give them very low or failing marks. you look at the case, look at carter covsky, outlining what they view as a different lifestyle of what they find acceptable. this kind of thing is really all earmarks of an autocratic government led by a person who wants to stay in power for life. >> he's obviously got a kggb background. to you -- is there any way you can trust him? any way you see the u.s. able to deal with him? >> only in a situation where he viewed it as his interest, which means it would be to his detriment if he didn't agree. and then, of course,

on pravda he offers a response to putin's critical op-ed.he republican senator accuses putin of corruption, repression and self-serving rule. he singles out putin and his associates for punishing dissent. mccain mentions laws like anti-gay laws that codify bigotry and talks about building a more peaceful and prosperous world but writes "president putin doesn't believe in these values because he doesn't believe in you" on the crisis in syria he says, putin is supporting a syrian regime that is murdering tens of thousands of its own people as well putin is destroys russia's global reputation, mccain says, "he has made her a friend to tyrants and an enemy to the oppressed." >>> we have a new 400 million fair to tell you about. the lucky powerball winner doesn't have to share it with anybody exception uncle sam. the single winning ticket holder won the jack pot. that ticket was sold at a lexington, south carolina, location of convenience store and gas station chain murphy usa. they beat the 1 in 175 million odds. we wish we could have been that

now, it is arizona senator john mccain's turn on the website of russian paper pravda slamming the russian presidents. mccain's shortstoply worded critique zeros in, saying: mccain argues that putin "rules by using those weaknesses by corruption, repression and violence. he rules for himself, not you." >> although mccain's op ed was submitted to the newspaper and website, only the website opted to publish the commentary. >> egyptian troops backed by helicopters have surrounded what they say is a radical strong hold after accounts changing gunfire. one police officer was killed during that exchange in the outskirts of cairo. we are getting these pictures from egypt t.v., reporting that troops have stormed the district to arrest people excused of torching a police station and killing 11 security officers last month. for more, let's speak to our correspondent in cairo, who we're not naming for security reasons. we've been hearing reports about the subway system in cairo being shutdown briefly, reportedly because of two unexploded bombs found on the tracks. what can you tell us that? >> there'

whoever, there is another pravda, the news website. one person stepped forward to offer mccain a spot on television. that's right, a presenter with rosia television channel said he'd like to offer mccain a spot on his interview show. so mccain has many invitations. >> is seian oppositions consists of many extremist factions who numbers exist abroad. >> this may look like an ordinary farewell amongst friends but the man is a suicide bomber leaving on his final journey. this is his last conversation with his elder brother in a car that is supposed to take him to the walls of a central prison and then explode, sending him to paradise, according to his believes. these clips were taken from one of the men seen in the footage who's now in a syrian prison. he says he came from a former soviet republic to fight. >> a group called marad approached me and confinesed me that muslims in syria are being oppressed and killed ask that i should go and take up arms against assad for world jihad. >> he sneaked into syria last january through turkey and

>>> senator mccain uses pravda to hit back at vladimir putin accusing him of corruption and repression. >>> there is a new multimillionaire with a single winner to the $400 million powerball jackpot. >>> plus grand theft auto v hauls in 8oo million in one day. >>> architects building an invisible skyscraper. >>> true battle of the big men. >>> good morning. i'm mara schiavocampo. >>> we begin with two fronts on the economy. on wednesday fed chairman ben bernanke said he would continue massive government stimulus to the economy. futures are higher today. all of the green arrows may be short-lived. in less than two weeks the government will run out of money. and republicans say they will link defunding of obamacare to negotiations on the debt ceiling and the federal budget. that did not sit well with president obama. >> you have never seen in the history of the united states the debt ceiling or the threat of not raising the debt ceiling being used to extort a president or a governing party. and trying to force issues that have nothing to do with the budget and have nothing to do with the

>>> senator mccain uses pravda to hit back at vladimir putin accusing him of corruption and repression> there is a new multimillionaire with a single winner to the $400 million powerball jackpot. >>> plus grand theft auto v hauls in 8oo million in one day. >>> architects building an invisible skyscraper. >>> true battle of the big men. >>

the article was published on the russian news site pravda.e paper during rush is that's soviet years. up next, betting on the house. an interesting way for you to make 2014 predictions by the numbers. and you can geek out on the pre-kicks dikss and the polls on the website. is this the bacon and cheese diet? this is the creamy chicken corn chowder. i mean, look at it. so indulgent. did i tell you i am on the... [ both ] chicken pot pie diet! me too! [ male announcer ] so indulgent, you'll never believe they're light. 100-calorie progresso light soups. ♪ [ male announcer ] bob's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today his doctor has him on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack, be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. >>> over the next year, you can expect plenty of action as lawmakers battle for their congressional seats. but will anything really change in 2014? looking at our nbc "wall street journal" poll, the newspapers point to status quo. we've done

look, by the way, there are two pravdas.the old line communist one who said they wouldn't print mine because i didn't adopt their position on syria . i was pleased they published online. i was glad vladimir putin today not only said i was wrong but he invited me to a discussion club in moscow. i will have to look at it and maybe take him up on the invite. >> let me -- this is beyond me how it can happen. you described it here first of all by the editor described it as an active anti-russian politician for years. you basically just ripped the skin off putin. off of him. i'm not saying he doesn't denver it. >> what's going on in russia is outrageous. ranging from the jailing of some young women who did something pretty rude to the magnetski issue situation where a man who was a reformer was basically killed in prison. there is not a media outlet not owned by the government in russia. the repression and even killing of some dissidents is rampant. they are total violators of human rights. we need to realize who we are dealing wi

>> i am hoping i get a chance to go over to russia and do a face to face interview with pravda. to that opportunity. maybe while i'm there get a chance to chat with vladamir, take my shirt off, we can do some things together, huh? >> arm wrestle or something? >> senator mccain. >> that's the loudest uh in the world. tempting to call that the best new thing in the world if only mr. cooper on cnn keeping his composure. as john mccain tells him he wants to take off his shirt with vladamir putin and do some things together. mr. cooper holding it together for that is an excellent thing. this is better behold the best new thing in the world today. oh. why the long face? this dog was reportedly a stray, found on the streets of kiev in the former soviet republic of ukraine. the dog's picture was posted by a ukrainian newspaper under oddities. if you can't read the alphabet, trust me. why this picture of a street dog is an oddity. does he look at all familiar? thank you, google translate. on khreschatyk found a dog like a putin. the dog is a dead ringer for president putin. amazing. amaz

putin and members of his government in an opinion piece that he scribed for the russian newspaper pravday punish dissent and imprison opponents. they rig elections. he, putin, is not enhancing russia's global reputation, he is destroying it. this is after putin talked about president obama in an op-ed piece in "the times." cnn's jake tapper will interview john mccain today. be sure to tune in to that. always a great interview. >>> so on the lighter side, after the power ball drawing last night, somebody in lexington, south carolina, or maybe passing through that state, is $400 million richer today. so if you bought a powerball ticket on the side of a highway and you haven't matched your numbers yet, here they are. the winning numbers, 7, 10, 22, 32 and 35. the power ball, 19. now, the lottery officials are saying no one has come forward yet to claim that money. >> we really hope this one is home grown. how proudful we are in who we are and who we want to be. making south carolina more economically sound and successful. >> okay, so here's the problem, we may never really know who the luck

piece on the russian news site pravda.na republican cites putin's support of syrian president bashar assad as an example of failed foreign policy. mccain also challenge's russian laws. >>> new this morning, flash flooding knocked out power to thousands of homes in chicago. a slow-moving thunderstorm flooded expressways overnight. traffic jammed on some roads because of standing water. right now there's still about 3300 homes in the dark and about 70 flights have been canceled at the very busy chicago o'hare international airport. >>> so much severe weather happening. >> i know. we are switching gears. yeah. looks like we are getting ready for fall but we're basking in sunshine in the bay area. a lot of sun continuing today. today likely to be the warmest day of the week. out the day we have mostly clear skies. we'll have patchy fog at the coast not much and then looking at this, how about that, doesn't that look gorgeous? temperatures chilly in spots especially in the north bay valley down to the 40s but 50s elsewhere. by

in pravda mccain said putin rules by weaknesses, using corruption repression and violence.mself not for you. talking to the russian people. it's the latest sign that u.s. lawmakers now consider russia and putin a real threat. do you remember a year ago when mitt romney was mocked for saying russia was america's quote biggest geopolitical foe? now more and more u.s. lawmakers agree. here's democratic senator chuck schumer. >> and as long as prime minister putin acts like a bully, we have only one choice, to stand up to him and show him that bullies pay a price. >> this is exactly the the kind of talk putin wants. the russian president works very hard to create a cultive personality where he's strong, powerful and important. and oppeds like jok mccains and what chuck schumer said play into that. the more america says putin is relevant and dangerous the more the rest of the world cease him as relevant and dangerous. if you don't believe it putin will tell him himself. when mitt romney called russia a threat a year ago putin said i'm grateful for romney for formulating his stan

he is going to write an op-ed for pravda. his office told "the washington post" that today.ing wrong with any of this. thanks, brian todd for that excellent report. let's wrap it up with a quick look at some of the hotshots coming in from around the world. in england, dancers performed for an exhibit at the tate modern museum in london. in the netherlands, cavalry guards trained for the next week opening of the parliamentary year. and in indonesia, drummers perform at a festival. and in wales, check it out, a young girl plays on a human chessboard. hotshots, pictures coming in from around the world. remember, you can always follow what is going on here in "the situation room" on twitter. tweet me @wolfblitzer. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in washington. "crossfire" starts right now. >>> tonight on "crossfire," vote for gun control, lose your job. it just happened, twice. >> if doing this costs me my political career, that's a very small price to pay. >> a veto fight in missouri. is it the will of the voters or special interests butting in? on the left, van

in an op-ed, published today in russia's communist newspaper "pravda" mccain writes that putin rules. overnight, the kremlin responded. and mccain business. >>> and in colorado, search and rescue teams will be out in the flood zone again today. and some evacuated families will be going home, though uncertain of what they will find. abc's clayton sandell is in lyons, one of the hardest hit communities. clayton? >> reporter: this morning, teams are desperately searching through homes and piles of debris for as many as 200 people still unaccounted for. they're scanning from the air, too. but hundreds of people are refusing to leave. officials say it may be their last chance to get out. >> we want to make sure that those folks know that if they refuse, we may not be able to deploy helicopters again down the road. >> reporter: overnight, new reports of a damaged oil tank spilling thousands of gallons of crude oil into flood-swollen rivers. in towns that have working roads, some are being allowed back in. artist john king took us to his home in lyons. part of it ripped away by a river, now

wrote a scathing article about the russian leader that was published on a russian news site called pravdaed russia's international stature by allying russia with some of the world's most threatening tir yins, a regime that has killed tens of thousands of its own people to remain in power. end quote. >>> hurricane katrina may be to blame for a brain-eating amoeba. the parasite killed a 4-year-old boy would visited st. bernard parish last month. the 2005 hurricane left most of that area in ruins. state health officials think pipes that went unused for months, even years, helped breed the amoeba. the parish is now flushing those pipes with chlorine. >>> if the latest iphone upgrade isn't working for you, you might want to wait. many owners say installation of apple's new operating system has been extraordinarily slow. likely the result of overwhelmed servers. developers are also pushing out apps now optimized for the new system, so be patient. we'll be right back. writer and i'm also a survivor of ovarian and uterine cancers. i even wrote a play about that. my symptoms were a pain in my abdo

guess who answers the russians, senator mccain in pravda. >> you're right. we talked about it.y at the u.n. general assembly to stand up for america and to say, yes. is america committed to world superiority, american principles or committed to be a witness to history and attacked by puppets like assad and bullies like putin? where the do we stand in the world? >> a lot of dra in at the u.n. all the talk has been about the president of iran talking to us. we lost the upper hand. >> ef we have to have a response to the war of words. >> have a great weekend. 12 minutes before the top of the hour, next, what happened when we went hunting with real bullets? one of us missed entirely. one hit the target and one never came home. in this date in 1974, can't get enough of your babe. my catch phrase. by barry white, the number one song. ♪ [ male announcer ] even ragu users a. chose prego traditional over ragu traditional. prego?! but i buy ragu. [ thinking ] i wonder what other questionable choices i've made. [ pop muzak plays ] [ sigh of relief ] [ male announcer ] choose taste. choose

when glenn beck or one of these draftdodgers is taking out a full-page ad in "pravda" in moscow, i wonderver there. third, i'm old enough to remember the consequences of dictator to run the whole continent of europe. i think we should stand for something. you know the old adage, if you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything. i am fully behind president obama, who is very smart and getting exactly what he wanted. when you are staring down a gun, and you are about to lose your biggest customer, you will change your tune. thank you very much. host: ann, thank you for calling in. oscar tweets in michigan, mountain, up in the north part of that state. caller: hello. i just wanted to say that there are 2 different factions in the progressive -- and the democratic party. there is the progressive faction , which i belong to, and the moderate faction, which barack obama and bill clinton along to. they consider themselves new democrats, which comes from the democratic leadership council, which is founded by a foundation that william kristol got his money from. .bama follows the dlc h

. >> so you believe taft and pravda? >> no, but i'll read you a sentence. he writes the potential strike by the u.s. against syria despite opposition in many countries and major leaders and including the pope may -- i thought that was an interesting sentence. >> but he knows exactly how to say these things. >> he's saying two things, innocent victims, which will happen by a default, and then he says an escalation, which is a threat. >> he makes the argument against american exceptionalism and his last line about is about how we pray and people can relate to, but he moves that over because many people don't like it. >> i would think if i were there, i would not leave with trying to arrive here at -- i would try and arrive at maybe a quarter till in case there were cones on the bridge. that's what i would do. o i cod look at the show and see what was in -- whether i needed to prepaver anything, instead of arrivin for makeup, o to -- i may have recalculate. >> okay. just a thought. just a thought. y almost got just, you know, i almost literally got out of the