/russia relations. we talk this evening to senator richard lugar, the ranking republican on the senate foreign relations committee. >> i believe that at least during the next few years, it is possible not only that the united states and russia will set an example by destroying weapons or disabling them, downgrading nuclear material and doing so really very steadily and with full observation of the world that will encourage others to do like wise and hopefully discourage still others from not getting into the business to begin with. but i do not see, at least within the next few years-- and that's always a question of how many years-- the idea of a nuclear-free world. >> rose: we continue our analysis with stephen cohen of new york university, a russian scholar, chrystia freeland of the "financial times", claire shipman of abc news and thomas pickering, the leading american diplomat and former u.s. ambassador to russia and undersecretary of state for political affairs. >> we expanded nato, we left the a.

/russia relations are tremendous. it's a very, multifacetted and interconnected relationship, that's crucial to the stability and prosperity of the world. but i think that everyone will be well advised at this point, in view of the direction that russia is going, in view of the dynamics of security, politics and economics and rule of law, to lower the expectations. i personally do, i do not have high expectations. i hope i will be surprised for the better. i recognize and confess i am pessimist when it comes to russia. but we should lower expectations. russia today pursues policies of five no's. no to enlargement, no to u.s. defense in europe, no to the holding of arms, no to security and architecture in europe and no to @@@@ exchange in iran. and is offering to speedup russia membership in the world trade organization, something that got a rebuttal by the russian cabinet. to summarize, what should the administration do? they should pursue a limited agreement without a timetable and by signing a memorandum that would

russia wants to show that the u.s. and nato cannot deploy the weapons in europe without russian consent and without russian agreement. russia wants to show they are politically influential and they have a serious impact in europe and their relations with the u.s. that it can prevent any kind of military deployment close to its borders. this will be the core of the obama-mad that if discussions, and it certainly will be a serious test -- the core of obama-medvedev discussions. whether it is a global ballistic missile defense or not. i would mention that the russian attitudes towards obama are not so straightforward s irina yasina has mentioned. many people see obama's charisma, they enjoy his openness, but many people doubt whether he is really experienced, whether this charisma is translated into american leadership and protecting american national interests in inappropriate ways. whether his his speech in egypt or other places, it actually increases his personal popularity but many believed it does not solve the ameri

policy-making for russia should be informed by the deepest possible understanding of russia as a system, as a country, as a state, as a culture. during the cold war we devoted enormous resources to understanding the soviet union comprehensively, not just militarily. and that investment paid off. it was a substantial contributor to our successful management of cold war relations. a deep understanding of russia is a requirement for the conduct of a sensible policy today. despite the transparency, despite the much more open condition of russia as a country and a stake in the soviet union ever was, i would submit that our understanding of russia is weaker than it should be. this is partly because it is a confusing reality. it is also varied considerably because russia does not get the attention it deserves an academic, think tank anti- government analytical circles. other priorities have taken -- and government analytical circles. other priorities have taken over the attention spans of the community. as a result, we don't have the kind of institutionalized knowledge in the consensus about t

russia is not the solution to iran. russia is a part of the problem. in fact, there are many influential people in russia who are in favor of the iranian nuclear program. because it seems a good factor in containing american and israeli influence in the middle east, and increasing russian club in central asia. i believe it's a myopic view. in the long term russia will suffer from iranian threats, because iranian nuclear program will encourage moscow's fundamentalism and extremism in central asia. but many people, including many decision makers, ignore these objective realities. the second thing to why russia is not an ally in stopping iranian nuclear programs is because russian nuclear industrial complex is very interested in maintaining and developing nuclear cooperation with iran because it is lucrative and beneficial, which brings enormous profits, provides employment for the thousands of people. otherwise there would be unemployed. so the way russia behaved in security council when it was reluctant to go to introduce resolute sanctions against ira

and an ability to pressure russia or convince russia to withdraw its troops from occupied territories, to in place and a peacekeeping mission in georgia territories, or to restore georges turrell in territory will send a negative signal to all nearby states threatened by russia's ambitions and may actually encourage those ambitions in the years ahead. in conclusion, and and not going to go into many recommendations, in conclusion, president obama, through the popularity and support he has generated in europe, has a unique opportunity to rebuild transatlantic relations by basing them on three core principles. first, effective, security provides principally by the nato alliance. second, openness to new members that meets the standards necessary for an exception, or developing closer bilateral ties with the united states. third, a cooperative approach toward all other powers, including russia, but one that does not sacrifice the first two principles. that is it. thank you. >> sandy. >> thank you first to the heritage foundation, and to aerial for the opportunity to speak today on the eve

russia not only was mum, it did not denounce that, russia was the host to the organization summit and provided a platform for mahmoud ahmadinejad after the suppression of the elections to speak. what are your realistic -- i understand you're hopeful you have this agenda of expectations, as you said i am a pessimist. what realistically are you expecting to change in moscow? >> honestly, i don't expect any changes, because we have lots of institutes in our country having the same names like in your country. we have lots of institutions like the court is different than the u.s., we have mass media and press, which is not like press in the u.s. you expect anyone would denounce mahmoud ahmadinejad for bloodshed in the iranian streets. we are friends with ahmadinejad and many others you are not friends with. we have different friends. therefore, please don't pretend to be surprised. nothing new happened and all discussions with ahmadinejad at the organization summit were pre-programmed to. if it did not happen i would have been very much surprised. as for our own changes, what ever happens

russia is a part of the nato- russia council which was created to reach out to russia. if girls were deemed to be a benefit, and i do not think anyone has a problem -- and girls were deemed to be a benefit, -- drills were to be a benefit, i do not think anyone would have a problem. >> russia needs worldwide will prices to be high to build on their economy. the biggest natural gas producers are also russia and iran. let us say they would like to have a relationship in terms of fixing natural gas prices. they have suffered a catastrophic economic blow as a result of dropping energy prices. host: do you agree with that? guest: that is a pretty interesting observation. the russian economy has suffered pretty badly. energy prices have declined. in the aftermath of the fall of the soviet union, their economy collapsed and was rebuilt on energy resources. that is an interesting of starvation that could have some merit. host: next phone call from indiana. caller: good morning. i was listening to everyone earlier and i was interested about the cold war being over. my concern for

and russia is going to be russia's neighborhood, the post-soviet space. i think this could be an issue. the russians do not want these missile defense components deployed in eastern europe. the united states has said, we're reviewing the issue, but we're not going to stand up and say that we're never going to deploy them. >> and then the president also met today with mikhail gorbachev and then the opposition leader of the former world champion of chess, garry kasparov. what was the point of those meetings? >> well, when u.s. presidents go to russia -- well, at least in the last 20 years -- they have always met with different parts of the political spectrum and that's why president obama meet with these, it's shrinking opposition in russia. and i think with president gorbachev it's really a sign of respect and to show that we appreciate you know that the soviet union imploded peacefully. >> and now that this meeting is getting ready to wrap up and this visit ends, what do you think is next in this delicate and often pretty difficult relationship? >> well,

-russia relationship. the second part of the panel, are on a leading expert on arms control will speak, but we will start with someone who has the lifetime of experience and a bird's eye view of this relationship, as well as other strategic relationships. fritz ermath was a director of national security programs at the nixon center. he was senior director in a ronald reagan's national security council and the chairman of the national intelligence council. he will provide the american panoramic perspective on the relationship and where the summit is taking us. he will be followed by a irina yasina. she is the director of the original journalists and club. she graduated from moscow state and received a ph.d. in 1990. she worked as a reporter for a news agency from "moscow news weekly." she was the head of public affairs department for central bank of russia, so she has a broad perspective as a journalist and as the board member and project director for the charitable and education director at the non-governm

there's an old russia and a new russia, and he sees medvedev as new russia. >> let's talk some business in russia, boeing, pepsi, and john deere announcing deals with russia. boeing trading a little bit lower, deere a little bit lower. pepsico is trading higher. what are the investment opportunities for you in russia? let's bring in our panel, fund manager at fire bird management, nick, chief emerging markets analyst rbc capital markets, nick, let me begin with you. besides oil, i mean i always think of russia as oil, their stock market trades along with oil prices up and down. besides oil, what do you see? >> well, clearly i think russia is the two-part story. oil and politics. and right now oil's recent correction and the political situation being as it is, i think suggests that the outlook in russia remains quite uncertain, and in fact, we expect that over the long-term there's a number of issues that russia has to deal with, specifically the banking system has a large number of non-performing loans that are building up, somewhere on the order of 35% to 55% and the fiscal deficit is

and russia going to russia neiborhood, the post-soviet space. and i think this cld ben sue. russns do not want these missile defee componen deployed in etern europe. the united states has sai we're riewing the issue, but we're not going t stand up and say that we're nver going to deploythem. >> and then the presidentlso met tod with mikhail gorbachev and the oppitionleader of the rld champion of chess, gary casper off. whatas the poi of those meetings. >>hen u.s. president guess to russia or the last20 years always meet wth different parts of the polical spectrum and th's why president obama meet with these, it's shrinking oosition in russia. and i think with preside rbachev it's really a gn of respect and to show that we apreciate you know that the soviet ion imploded peacefully >> and n th this mting is tting ready to wrap u and this visit ends, what do you think is next in is delicate and often prett difficult relationship? >> well, i think the challen is toreate a group of stakeholdersn this relaionship. it's to this binational commission th's just been rermed forward. a

i will not united states and russia and russia agree on every issue. we have had frank discussions in other areas where we still disagree. we have a frank discussion on georgia and ivory into raided my firm belief that georgia's sovereignty must be respected. even as we work through our disagreements on georgia's borders, we agree that no one has an interest in renewed military conflict. we must speak candidly to resolve these issues peacefully and constructively. president dmitry medvedev and i are committed to leaving behind the suspicion and rubberivalry e past treated we have made meaningful progress today. tomorrow i look forward to broadening this effort to include business, civil society, and the dialogue among the american and russian people. i believe that all of us have an interest in forging a future where the united states and russia partner on behalf of our prosperity. that is the purpose of our relations. that is the progress that we made today. i want to thank the president and his team for being such wonderful hosts. thank you. >> colle

russia has about 800. as mort said the deductions they are talking about is modest if they are in the upper range. but could be more substantial if the lower range. and said that the new agreement will achieve lower limits on the number of deployed strategic warheads on those missiles and bombers. the agreement will move the ceiling down from 2,200, where we are today. down to 1,500 to 1,675. so roughly a one-third deduction. and along with that, it would be wkçñverification on exchange provisions based on the 1991 start treat that's been in place for two decades. that should be simple to carryover in the agreement, but there may be things they debate on. before that, the key issues that they need to resolve. note that overall this should be seen as an interim agreement. as mort said this is a stop-gap agreement that consolidates the approaches that were pursued under george bush the first in 1991, under start. and the approach pursued under george w. bush in 2002, in the moscow treaty. the start treaty li

and russia. will it work? we are looking at the story out of russia with president medvedev restarting relations. later california state treasurer bill lockyer and my guest telling us the golden state is anywhere near passing a budget deal foote billions of s tt were just issued are paid back time. today there's a wa to save more for retirent, with aties from fidelity. turn your savings into inc, and get a retirement "payche" for life -- guaranteed call... to get started, and learn how to secure rerement income that won go down -- guaranteed call fidely at... for details about guaranteed income for fe, and chan the way you think about youretirement savings. >>> welcome back. president obama in russia for the first time, and earlier he met with russian president dmitri medvedev, where they are trying to restart strained relations between the two countries. cnbc's chief washington correspondent john harwood in washington right now with the story. john? >> reporter: maria, the first u.s.-russian summit in seven y

pretty much, just leave russia alone. i like russia, you know?they are helping us in space, they are exploring just like we are. i don't think that's fair. host: anything there you want to respond to? guest: she is absolutely right. and even more than that. since we don't have shuttles anymore, we are completely dependent on the russian shuttles to move our astronauts and supplies to the space stations. we pay for it, but it is a need. i read we will not have our own again for maybe seven, eight, nine years. it is a form of cooperation. one thing about missile defense, if it is a step toward arms race in space that will and russian-american cooperation in space as well. a bad idea. host: what other people looking for these days? you mentioned the leadership part of it, but give us a sketch of the people of russia these days. guest: my friends who tend to be middle-aged, middle-class professor people -- teachers, writers, lawyers, doctors, engineers, artists, have been engineers, artists, have been through so much since the end of

the issue of georgia and the ukraine in terms of russia's intentions and what is important to russia, michael? >> this is a very tricky issue. as i mentioned, we have expanded our alliance system up to russia's borders. ukraine and georgia are both on russia's borders and both want to join nato. georgia very much wants to join, ukraine is divided and we've taken the decision that no country that wishes to join should be kept out and that doesn't seem to have applied to russia in the past but that's a different matter. the russians have made clear they take very seriously the prospect of these two coutries nato and they would not be silent and respond in some fashion if georgia and ukraine join nato. we're in a box. we're in a fix. on one hand it becomes dangerous to go ahead with member. and france and germany in particular will veto membership for ukraine and georgia but we can't say categorically they can join because it would under cut everything we said since we started nato so we're in a box and about what the obama administration will hope to do is tell them nothing will happen

russia also has deep concerns about the drug trade and its infiltration into russia. and russia has extraordinary capabilities when it comes to training police forces and training armies. and as part presidential commission structure we put in place, we'll further discuss both the military efforts in afghanistan and the development efforts and diplomatic efforts to make progress and president medvedev is right that this is important for afghanistan but also important with respect to pakistan. and we're going to have to think regionally in terms of how we approach these problems. obviously the countries along the border of afghanistan and central asia are of deep importance and it's very important we include them in the conversations about how we can move forward. but i just want to thank, again, the russian government for the agreement, for military transit that will save u.s. troops both time and money. and it's, i think a gesture that indicates the degree to which in the future russian/u.s. cooperation can be extraordinarily important in solving a whole host of thes

how would you classify russia today? >> russia is a -- is an authoritarian system with a various democratic possibilities and opportunities. but as it was in the soviet times, the power's still structured from the kremlin down 6 with now, with now two people in power. and although i think that -- does take precedence over medvedev. and it has moved on, though. i mean it's -- it's not entirely planned. it's not entirely unfree and whatnot. so it has an opportunity to develop further but russia hasn't decided yet what exactly it wants. i mean, one day it wants to be the west. one day it doesn't want to be the west. and i think as long as russia's conflicted about it, it'll be very hard for it to move forward. >> and how do you think russians look at president obama? >> they're conflicted. russians are very conflicted people. they love him. he has this incredible celebrity quality. russians, like everybody else, looks at him -- look at him as the new john kennedy. and they really appreciate the young face of american leader

president obama attempts to relations can the russia. did he succeed? a surprise revelation in the future of the g.o.p. do republicans have any national leaders out there? and the incredible shrinking stimulus, where is the money? where are the jobs? the journal editorial report starts right now. >> the president and i agreed that the relationship between russia and the united states has set adrift. we resolve to reset u.s.-russia relations so we can cooperate more effectively in areas of common interests. >> president obama traveled to moscow this week for the first summit between russia and the united states in seven years in his two days there, the president met with russia political lead, business leaders and dissidents in an efforts to reset relations between the two companies. former chess champion gary casp casparoff met with the president in moscow, i met with him earlier this week and asked how the meeting went. >> the most important about the meeting, the fact that objections, this administration decide today build relationships with russian o

should it be russia?which country in the years to come will become a more important player to the u.s.? china with its massive trade or russia with the untapped sea of oil, natural gas, and that growing middle class? we'll talk about that. >>> plus, the best plays in health sciences in the second half of the year. we have a four-star fund manager with that for us. that fund is up 10% this year. >>> by the way, let's get to hampton pearson with breaking news out of washington. >> hi, bill. the "wall street journal" reporting that the department of justice has begun what is being described as an initial anti-trust review of the u.s. telecom industry. department of justice are trying to determine whether large telecom companies like at&t and verizon may have abused market power in recent years. the journal saying according to people familiar with the matter, the review of potential anti-competitive practice in the early stages, the not a formal investigation of any specific company at this point. and it's no

and russia. other topics were at the war in afghanistan and missile defense. >> the ceremony of signing a joint documents is about to start. >> the chief of the joint staff of the armed forces of russia and on the u.s. side -- the chairman of the joint staff of the united states army, and that is the admiral will sign the frame work documented on the cooperation between the armed services. of the united states of america and the adoption of working plans on cooperation between the armed forces of the russian federation. [applause] >> the minister of foreign affairs of the russian federation, a senior deputy secretary of the united states, william burns are signing an agreement between the government of the russian federation and the government of the united states of america on the transit of weapons, material, military property, and military personnel through the territory of the russian federation concerning the participation of the united states of america in efforts to have restoration of the

secondly, the book really follows the story of russia itself in 19 and early 20th century russia through emancipation, to industrialization, to all of the labor strikes, the fall of the czars and of course the russian revolution. and i have never studied russian history, another problem for me. as you probably figured out by now if you have tasted some of the moscow mule, walking in. this book is about a man who made vodka, and i am not much of a drinker. [laughter] >> so the question why would i write this book is a very good one. and the answer simply is it was just too amazing of a story to ignore. when i was the legal affairs editor for businessweek magazine in 1996, a man came to see me. and he brought with him a long white scroll that he unrolled on a conference room table there and it turned out to be a smirnov family tree going back to the 17 hundreds. and he began to tell me the story of this family who began as serfs and as you probably know search were the lowest of the lows and russia and pyotr smirnov, our hero in the story here, was born a serf, completely uneducated, had a

this is great news for russia.y have to maintain these. >> it's also great news for us because there's a lot of loose nukes floating around the old soviet union and russia. that can only pose the danger of getting into the wrong hands. and president obama didn't give away anything. we still have enough, you know, warheads to destroy the world many times over, and they are ex expensive to keep up. they are expensive to keep up in this country, too. last time i checked, our economy wasn't doing so well. what this agreement mostly gives him is some moral high ground because he's got his eye on trying to keep iran from going nuclear, and it's very difficult to try to persuade other nations not to become nuclear powers when you are sitting atop the huge arsenal. so it gives him some bragging rights going forward towards his goal, however, unrealistic it may sound today towards a nuclear-free world. >> you think that obama changed russia's thinking, medvedev's thinking about nato expansion? >> not one iota. the problem w

president obama heads to a crucial summit, but who is really calling the shots in russia? and nbc news gets an inside look at the battle to control loose nukes. >>> murder mystery. new clues in the death of a super bowl star. >>> what's next for sarah palin? from wasilla to washington, that's the political question tonight. >>> and grand sl. one for the record books at >>> and grand sl. one for the record books at wimbledon. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> good evening. president obama is on his way to russia tonight where shadows of the cold war will loom over his summit meeting in moscow tomorrow. like east/west sum mitts of old, the control and reduction of nuclear weapons arsenals will be on the table, and then there's a question of just who is really in charge in russia. president medvedev or prime minister and former president vladimir putin? it's a a question that could complicate mr. obama's mission to repair a tattered u.s.-russian relationship. chief white house kornlt chuck todd sets the scene for us from moscow tonight. >> reporter: president

he is the most important and powerful figure in russia. i see that he has a one hour meeting with putin, then he is leaving to go meet with mr. gorbachev. i would blow off the thing with mr. gorbachev and spent more time with mr. putin. we have to face reality of what is going on in moscow. mr. putin has developed a sense that he can do whatever he wants to do wit. it is also clear that mr. putin has a chip on his shoulder about the size of the rock of gibraltar. mr. putin believes that for now, russia has the upper hand with the united states and that the u.s. needs to make all the fundamental concessions. this combination of feeling all powerful and over confident will not make for a very easy time in moscow. there are three things i would start with and what mr. obama is to convey to putin. there are possibilities of russian preparation for war. this cannot happen. lester's conflict was out mess in georgia. -- last year's conflict was a mess in georgia. the georgian president said there was no justification for responding to any russian

iran is muchloser to russia.y he contacts with russian territoriemuch cser to iran thanhe united states. so i think this progss on this front, but not as dramac. >> senator ree i'm going to talk to you. i know u're on the banking committee and i know you got ba from visiting your home state rhode island whe unemployment is among t five highest in the cou. what are your thoughts right now on the potential need r a second stimulus package? we heardavid axelrod raise that a couple of eks and yesterday, vice president biden they may have underestimated t extent of economic pain. what are you thoughts on what we need do to get theconomy ouof the slump? >> well, the only way we're going toet the economy out of the slump is to get people ba to w and to stabilize housing lues. i don't thinwe should rule out a second imulus package but as you understand, carlos, this package is a two-yea arrangement so additional money forthcing to the state in the next several mont. we haven expend all of the moneyet. hink the administra

/russia relations. >> we'll have to least h leave it there.an rather, ian bremmer, thank you both. >> good to be with wro. >> you thank you. >>> for more on afghanistan, you can watch dan rather's report "the raid on imam sabeeb" on the cable network hd net. >>> in russia, at least 20 people have been killed, another nine injured in a crash between a bus and a gasoline nker. the accident happened in the southern russian city of rosdonovan. footage the scene shows rescue workers removing the injured. officials believe the tanker truck veered into the bus. >>> any issue of traffic deaths in russia is a serious one. the recent report by the organization where economic cooperation and development named russia as the worst in traffic fatalities among 30 countries surveyed. as our partner abc australia reports, russian officials are hoping that a graphic new ad campaign will make a difference. >> reporter: evgeni chuck is returning to the road in moscow where his close friend nikolai was killed in 2007. the 22-year-old was racing another car, appare

and russia expect to have 20 exchanges this year alone.ret: frank discussions are always a little chilly. so far it has always been about dimitry medvedev but tomorrow there is time for the president to meet with vladimir putt tifn. what can you tell us about that? >> that's right, bret. usually when a u.s. president meets a prime minister, it is a diplomatic formality, an expression of kindness, but not here in russia because putin issues power alongside dimitry medvedev. when asked who is really in charge, he said president dimitry medvedev is the president and prime minister putin is the prime minister. that's the way they work here. they wield power effectively together and the president will meet with mr. putin tomorrow. prime minister putin disagrees with the statement that he has one foot stuck in the cold war bret: russia's economy ministry says the country's gross domestic product shrank more than 10% in the first five months of the year with industrial production falling more than 17% in may. correspondent dana lewis reports on a

ukine and georgiare bot on russia borders and both want to join nato. georgia ry much wts to join, ukraine is dividednd we've taken the decision that country that wishes to jn should be kept out and that doesn't seem have apied to russian the past but that's a dierent matter. the rusans have made clear they tak very siously the prosct of these two coutries nato and they wou not be silent a respond in some shion if gegia and ukraine join nato. we're in a box. we're in a fix. on o hand it becomes dangerous to go aad wh member. and france and germany in particular will veto membershi for ukrain and georgia but we can't say categoricallyhey can join because it would under cut everything we said sincee started natoso we're in a box d about what the obama administrationill hope to do is tellhem nothing will happen immeately and the russians should not hol backtheir cooperatn inarms conol and iran but without statesingwh the russians want. we're in a tough situation a the administration will try to finesse. >>harlie: with human rights and demracy and those iss

it is something russia is very much concerned about. if russia had its way, it would make this new start treaty conditional on the u.s. abandoning the missile defense plans that the u.s. is not going to do that. there's a lot to talk about and a lot to fight about. back to you. >> thank you so much, savannah. we appreciate it. we will be talking to you a lot today. let's bring in john harwood in washington monitoring this i h or rick visit. john, what's your take? >> erin, i think this is the beginning of a feeling out process between the president and the russian leaders. both medvedev and vladimir putin. what the obama administration hopes is they can make some progress there as a means toward get progress on the more important priority which is trying to get russia to go ealog with more severe sanctions on iran. ♪ >> i'm sorry about that, john. i thought we were waiting for a sound bite to come. i was trying to be polite there. in terms of the business side of this. one thing we were discussing this morning that i thought was fascina

relations with russia. those to fly home on the ground with the clash of supporters. bootlegging iranian style, we report the smugglers bringing whiskey to tahran's elite. and the winner of the grand slam of all times. it's 7 a.m. in washington mid-day here in london, urumqi is reeling with clashing of forces. not clear what sparked the violence, but chinese television is showing cars set on fire and turning on the military. the violence started on sunday, in the capital of western xinjiang providence. we have our report. >> hundreds of those protest the march in xinjiang on sunday, with the clash of forces of han chinese and you -- uighurs. after a curfew, officials say it's under control. there are forces to attack the chinese party and government. they severely undermine the unification of groups with chaos as a disaster. >> the western area of china has been a problem for years, wanting to break away from china. with the claim it was problem in a toy factory that caused the violence. >> joining me is ch

and russia. this morning mr. obama is speaking to students at moscow's new economic school. >> in i man and bali, islamabad and kabul, and they have the blood of innocent americans on their hands. they're allowing them to train and operate, particularly along the border of pakistan and afghanistan. that's why america has a clear goal, to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al qaeda and its allies in afghanistan and pakistan. we seek no bases, nor do we want to control these nations? instead, we want to work with international partners, including russia, to help afghans and pakistanis to advance their own security and prosperity. and that's why i'm pleased that russia has agreed to allow the united states to supply our coalition forces through your territory. neither america nor russia has an interesting in an afghanistan or pakistan governed by the taliban. it's time to work together on behalf of a different future, a future in which we leave behind the great gain of the past and the conflict of the p

they are not great russia they are not going to be great russia. they are not our peer in any sense of the word, other than the fact for the moment they still have a large arsenal of nuclear weapons they are in the process of having to dismantle, eliminate. they are modernizing some of them, but unable to afford all of them, and it's the throwback to the old cold war model that i find most troubling about this, larry, that it's comfortable. steve and others like him have -- have a well-honed track there. but the reality is the world is not what it was 25 years ago when barack obama was saying hey, we have to rid the planet of nuclear weapons and we need to do it by doing deals with the russians. >> it does bother me. russia has rolled back a lot of freedoms. in business, they have rolled back the rule oflaw, thr ceos and oligarchs into jail why do we believe them? >> much of the trade and investment in russia have gone to the europeans. >> why do you think that russia pulled its application to the world trade organization? because china is the wto.

president obama isn russia. do you know he's in russia? ye, obama went the, because from russia, you can actually see sarah lin cleaning out her office in alask >> chuck and andrea those first. >> here is the problem. if you're doing a late night show, d you see 12ours earlier th chuck todd has already done the joke, stay the hell away. it's jt not that funny. >> conan doesn't wantur show. that's hard to believe. >> conan o'brien. you would think. >> here with us now chief politicacorrespondentfor "politico," mike allen with a look at the playbk. >> good morni, willie. xt time yoll listen to mika. you won't wai for the gallup poll. >> mike, did i mak sense or was i completely off with my did you say thwro?? >> you always make sense and you're alwa on. >> well done, mike allen. well done. i want to ask, do you hav a cb in the back >>reaker breaker. hat's your handle? he got a police scanner. >> mad mike, what's your 20? brf breaker one nine. >> let me ask youbout the lead story if i could on politico.com, about ma nford, the south carona re

in calling for a partnership with russia, in saying that he wanted russia to occupy its rightful place as a great power, he really was sending a new message to the russians here who have been of the view, as we reported last week and this week, that the u.s. has wanted to really take advantage of russia's weakness after the cold war. so for them to hear him talk about wanting a prosperous and secure russia, i talked to some students afterwards. even though they didn't go crazy during the speech, they were very struck by that. that the united states was now seeking a partnership. he's also done an interesting thing which is to use the imagery of the second world war to talk about a time when russia or the soviet union and the u.s. were allies. the very first thing he did on arrival was to go to the tomb of the unknown soldier behind me up in red square and lay a wreath. he talked today about the time when the u.s. and russia were allies in what he called the greatest struggle of the 20th century. and he likened the young men who died at normandy beach to young soviet soldiers who died d