and coming up we continue our trip through russia soviet past as we are out of all the pages of history in the soviet files this time focusing on the labor unions leaders stay with us. western siberia this secret munitions factory became public knowledge after the fall of the soviet union is special capsules known as the kremlin pill will make a hand exclusively for the us. the health of the leaders of the soviet union was shrouded in secrecy. private doctors looking after them had a very risky job with their very lives not just a career is were at stake. leoni bresh head of the soviet union from one nine hundred sixty fourth one thousand nine hundred two in one thousand seventy six régime suffered clinical death. estonia and atherosclerosis died on november tenth one thousand nine hundred eighty two from heart failure. during brushing his reign the term trend in medicine the quote special significance the average age of the politburo as members was around eighty the country's leaders constant medical attention that's why doctors went through a special procedure to be selected for work

golos -- so the russians, world war i happens, the bolsheviks take over russia, the soviet intel starts going and they start communist party here and there and around the world and including here in the united states. he's also what we could call a support asset for the kgb. they have stations in new york, washington and san francisco around this time. so '30s and '40s. they ask for referrals. do you know anybody who could help us with this kind of information or that kind of information? do you know anybody who would get us real american passports? he's actually pretty good at that. that's his specialty for a while. getting bona fide american pass importants. then, even though he's not a trained intelligence officer he gets better and better at what he's doing. he knows the american target better than almost anybody in the kgb and the kgb has real problems around this time. because stalin keeps calling -- anybody gets to be too good at his job he gets called back to russia and shot. golos gets called back at one point, but he can't go because he's in trouble with the fbi. they have tol

. >> what was the relationship at that time between china and russia, the soviet union actually? >> it's a very interesting question because it was a very bad relationship. the two great communist powers had had a complicated relationship but they'd fallen out and split at the very beginning of the 1960s. it was something like a fight within a family. each of the soviet union and the peoples republic of china accused the other of being bad communists and they became rivals for supremacy in the third world, for example, and so it was very unpleasant. by the end of the 1960s it was more than unpleasant, it actually had potential for a major conflict. soviets started moving troops out to the common borders and they moved bombers out which were capable of carrying nuclear warheads and there were armed clashes between soviet and chinese troops in 1969 and towards the end of 1969, the fall of 1969, there were rumors and well-founded rumors that the soviet union was contemplated a nuclear strike on china tokn a . >> did china have nuclear power? >> yes, they did. they exploded a nuclear

we haven't seen anything like that for the past two decades since russia became a different state on the soviet union russia is changing as many say and corrals an economist from the principle asset management group is one of the people who believe in that. the fundamental problem is russia needs an opposition even needs serious loyal constructive opposition and for twenty years there hasn't been one i mean i remember the yeltsin years the opposition was fairly prophetic and right now it is it's not much better so it's still going to be putin for the probably the next six years russia needs to modernize but it's going to be a slow process and what mr putin keeps saying this gradually we're going to see gradual change so the question has to move up the value added chain and it has to modernize but it's not going to happen overnight. definitely the country is changing and the fact that this election takes place in the way it does is a change in itself because many of the people who are protesting in the streets of russia tens of thousands were directing their anger not at prime minister putin but

those in the streets and those of power something very unusual for russia which we haven't seen ever since the collapse of the soviet union russia has changed this is agreed by many experts including crowds of the head of the assessment company i managed to speak with a little earlier today the fundamental problem is russia needs an opposition it needs serious loyal constructive opposition and for twenty years there hasn't been one i mean i remember the yeltsin years the opposition was fairly pathetic and right now it is it's not much better so it's still going to be putin for the probably the next six years bush needs to modernize but it's going to be a slow process and what mr putin keeps saying is supposed to be gradually we're going to see gradual change so russia has to move up the value added chain and it has to modernize but it's not going to happen overnight. but it's not only the prime minister who had all the criticism against him it's also the election process in russia as it is which which was criticized by the people in the streets and and online so definitely this election the way we see it right now t

over 750 million people under communist rule, nearly one-third of the population of the earth, soviet russia holds a commanding position in the future destiny of the world. since world war ii ... (new announcer) it is a way of life, an evil, malignant way of life. it reveals a condition akin to disease that spreads like an epidemic and like an epidemic, a quarantine is necessary to keep it from infecting us. i guess huac is the transition. that's how america moved into the cold war. moved from the post-war era into the eisenhower era. i guess that critical period there from '52 to '54, where the shift occurred with the red scare movies and then where communists started becoming the villains. the noir cycle or series ends for a number of reasons. the mood of the country shifts, from a dominant anxiety. the 50s key word is togetherness. (announcer) the public has been told that television has finally emerged from the experimental phase. and curiosity alone is expected to sell thousands of sets. (paul arthur) the nuclear family, the turn towards a private suburban existence, away from the confl

union or the act of sorry their russia and the former soviet states and. your intentions and i think it's just a process where we can compromise to get something that works for both sides all right chris thanks that was mostly thoughts crystallography in their own lives from the democratic strategist journal did thank you very early we got reaction from a top russian lawmaker on the republicans hawkish comments towards russia. this logic of the called war the united states is first facing a lot of foods a lot of animism the world is still very much present in the sinking of the republican elite had a lot more to say as well you can watch the interview with alexei pushkov in the next full version available to you on our website streaming right now and. also coming your way shortly on the program tonight silencing the whistle. weekly wiki leaks we keep makes wiki leaks well the latest washington prepared to go to to prosecute the bulls most famous whistleblower julian assange. next the peace envoy kofi annan says the syrian government has accepte

he doesn't necessarily say he believes in communism or soviet russia, but he believes that the discipline that they imposed in spain was the only chance to win that war. now, ernest is wearing blinders when he's saying this because as time goes on in the spanish civil war, the soviets are ubds mining they're there to help. also they steal all of its gold. give it to us for safekeeping and we'll take the part we need to pay for the arms that we're sending you. but they take it all and stalin has a party when it gets to russia on ships going through the mediterranean. he has a wild party and says hey, if they think they're ever getting this back, they're wrong. anyway, it's probably still there. so ernest doesn't really focus on any of this stuff. he senses some of it. he thinks it's accessed by vims but he doesn't seem any reason for communist discipline. so what do they want from him? why would the kgb come to ernest? what do you have to earn? they looked at him as a journalist. for them journalists were use for for a number of things. they could write an article that's slanted towards yo

the fact that he thinks russia is the number one geopolitical threat does hearken back to a different era. there isn't a number one threat like there was in the cold war like soviet russia. but this underscores anyone running against president obama in that the president of the united states has this vast foreign policy experience, even if he didn't have it when he was running in 2008 has it now and there aren't a whole lot of openings with the death of osama bin laden and other foreign policy success to go after president obama on on foreign level policy. >> which brings us to the split level four car garage, he has hired a lobbyist to hire officials in san diego so he can built a flit level four vehicle garage and it has a car lift that can transport kubels between floors. is there a point at which somebody taps him on the shoulder and says stop with the money things until after the campaign? >> this has been a long running project for the rom niece. people have had those conversations or at least that's a part of his thinking, because in the run-up to his campaign, he got rid of a few properties and tried to scale back his lifestyle, but obviously this is some

has the threat of anybody since it became north korea when they were divided up and it was the soviet russia. was a terrible idea yet now was the i did he came back to get thirty year war the war was all called a real war. in south korea we gave it it was true as war kills so much blame for it it was wondered this really is the best region people like rose. don't know untold story right well the war against korea never really ended kiran it goes on daily and now it's about who start developing your technology well that your people starve will cancel of you lou we agreed to a mate with you instead of for starving people so it will be ordinary korean people who. are in a vehicle just before. it goes on we're a third grader still it's a rare breed serious a pretty state where a lot of you is that want to question our. kind of assume that would be the i'm so thankful for thanks for putting it so succinctly stephen leatherman a radio host and author much appreciated. now during his visit president of words for rad saying the window of the clothes you see is closing over its nuclear program the si

to observe the russian bear in the native environment was valuable in view of increasing soviet hostility. russiaeady loomed as the largest question mark in america's future. europe grew marshall's whole attention upon his return and recommendations were presented to the congress. >> it is still emerging from the devastation of the most destructive war in history. within its own resources europe cannot achieve within a reasonable time economic stability. the solution will be easier, of course, if all the nations of europe would cooperate. but they're not. far from cooperating, the soviet union and communist parties have proclaimed their determined opposition to a plan for european economic recovery. economic distress is to be employed to further political ends. there are many who accept the picture that i have just drawn and raise a further question, why must the united states carry so great a load in helping europe? the answer is simple. the united states is the only country in the world today which has the economic power and productivity to furnish the needed assistance. for the first 15 months

part of the timing was not only that he understood what was happening in soviet russia better than the policymakers back in to that of is the context of world war ii and the idea that the soviets were clearly not going to be our allies and partners anymore. but if we were quite meet again, was there any way other than a destructive third world war? that part of the context gets missing by the time of the end of the cold war. >> just in thinking was like as, but the reason the third wave will work to set their internal contradictions within the soviet system, both with respect to eastern europe because the provinces never are ultimately a source of strength. that is what he took in the empire, but there's also an internal contradictions in the sense that this ideology would never fit the russian national carrier air. that's it took. so he said with time, that system will self-destruct them will need to do anything other than simply holstered the mallet the europeans and the economic issue is the big one. kennan was ready once the marshall plan had been approved, simply to sit back and w

been conducted how it's being run it's also the most expensive election that russia has seen since the collapse of the soviet union not to mention certainly hundreds of thousands of independent observers working at every polling station across the country those are really russian citizens just those willing to be willing to play their role in the selection process as well as certainly almost seven hundred international observers from all across the globe also monitoring this election where the as i said this would become the most transparent election we are yet to see but so far there have been no reports of major votes of patients nor irregularities throughout the day of this election. let's talk about some of the candidates and understandably a lot of eyes if not most eyes are on the front runner vladimir putin of course but what about the the other four candidates how are they faring in the vote so far any idea. nobody has any illusions that they will eventually win this presidential race even despite the support has diminished compared to let's say five six years ago but still he is the clear front runne

there is a third way and part of the timing was not only that he understood what was happening in soviet russia better than the policymakers back in washington but it was the context of world war ii and the idea that the soviets were clearly not going to be our allies and our partners anymore, but if we were going to us there any way other than a destructive in life ending third world war? i think that part of the context really is missing by the time of the end of the cold war. >> guest: i do too and george is thinking was like this, that the reason the third way will work is that there are internal contradictions within the soviet system, both with respect to the countries they had conquered and eastern europe because concorde province was never ultimately -- that was what he took in the decline and fall of it but there were internal contradictions in the sense that marxist-leninist ideologists would never fit the russian character and that is what he took from tolstoy and dostoyevsky. so he said with time, that system will self-destruct and we won't need to do anything other than simply bols

there is a third way and part of the timing is not only that he understood what was happening in soviet russia better than the policy makers back in washington, but it was the context of wilbur knorr to come and the idea that the soviets were clearly not going to be our allies and partners anymore, but if we were going to be enemies again was there any way other than a destructive life in the third world war i think that part of the context really gets missing by the time of the end of the cold war. >> guest: george's thinking was like this that the reason the third way is that there are internal contradictions within the soviet system both with respect to the countries they conquered in eastern europe and this is never ultimately the source of strength, that is what he took from a decline of the entire but there were also internal contradictions in the sense that the ideology would never fit the russian national character. that is what he took. so he said with a time the system will self-destruct and we would need to do anything other than simply bolster the morality of europeans and the econ

soviets. i mean, not in the worst ways. system in current russia. and this is what you have to to bear in mind. the soviet intelligences have been revived. and as i said earlier about the three pillars of the old days, the three pillars are kgb as i said number one, russian church number two, russian business people who are willing to collaborate. if they do not they are in london like mr. berizovski, godfather of mr. putin by the way. well-known billionaire and i met in washington one day years ago. and he told me how he picked up putin. he thought that he would be his kind of sort of a player and he would manipulate. but he was wrong. putin had his own pride and human dignity. and that would not work. well, another guy who would raise the voice was mr. hunter gobsky now in jail serving five or ten or seven. they always increase the number of years he's going to be in prison. another guy, mr. guzinski who established russian relatively independent television who now lives in israel. because well, that's the best way to effect. so russia is facing di

well, as i mentioned earlier, there is a growing restoration of the soviets, i mean, not in the worst ways, systems in current russia, and this is what you have to bear in mind. the soviet intelligence have revived, and as i said earlier about the three pillars, well, of the old days, the three pillars are kgb as i said number one, russian orthodox church number two and russian business people who are willing to collaborate. if they do not, they are in london like mr. bear sovsky, mr. berezovsky, billionaire, met in washington one day years ago and he said how he picked up putin. he thought he would be, you know, kind of his sort of player, and he would manipulate, but he was wrong. putin had his own pride and dignity, and that would not work. well, another guy who would raise the voice was another man now in jail serving five or ten or seven. they always increase the number of years they are going to be in prison, and another guy, yeah, mr. guzinski who established russian independent television and now lives in israel. so russia is facing a difficult problem, and it's thanks to some people like mr. gorbachev and p

and in india and in russia or the soviet union at the time before, during and after the second world war. and as a reporter, as were many of his colleagues, they saw that indeed there is the picture -- that the future of china lay with him and not shanghai shek and that was a very unpopular view to take in the united states. and it is one of the ones that had senator mccarthy going after him. >> what was that like for you as a child and your family to have these charges filed against your father? claiming he was a communist. he is an american. >> absolutely. he was -- as somebody said to him, are you pro-communist or are you pro-nationalist? he said no, i'm pro-american. meaning i'm here to defend the interests of the united states and whatever country i am assigned to. at the end of his career he was in peru and, of course, shipped him back to the united states to answer the charges. he was charged nine different times. they brought him up to security charges and eight of the times they cleared him and in the ninth tomb they said it what was for lack of judgment. judgment being, of

alternative stocks in the news general electric says it sells well at the pole in russia when the u.s. withdraws sovietera trade restrictions the president of the russian unit says jackson valley amendment blocks us from a rapidly growing market. right now the u.s. exports to rush to about four percent vs east asia twenty nine percent and european union about forty three percent so the us has a big opportunity to increase its trade if we have. the jackson vatican member and grand plan to your will be able to take advantage of it so reduce the tariffs for equipment coming from the united states and also give us a little playing field against our european and asian counterparts if we see jacksonville and it being repealed in a rush of being granted by the united states we expect our sales to triple by two thousand and twenty in russia. about market update and i'll be back about fifty five minutes but i mean. it's technology innovation all the eastham elements from the round russia we've dumped a few jerks coverage. coming . in the litmus tests simply. pick. was. it. was it. was.

and the greenback and in other news general electric says its sales will triple in russia when the u.s. withdraws soviet era trade restrictions the president of the firm's russian unit says the jackson family commitments the us from a rapidly growing market. right now the u.s. exports to rush to about four percent versus east asia twenty nine percent and your opinion about forty three percent so the us has a big opportunity to increase its trade. if we were purely jaxon van to commemorate a grand plan to your would be able to take advantage of it so reduce the tariffs for appointment coming from united states and also give us a level playing field against our european and asian counterparts if we see jaxon van it being repealed in russia being granted p.n.t.r. by the united states we expect our sales to triple by two thousand and twenty in russia. and that's all for this hour i'll be back in fifteen minutes time headlines the next two are not a. few are chances but full of life. limited time. more optimistic. the theater where the ingenious opened their hearts to the rest of us. what are the real limits

russia also of the flamboyant the eccentric leader of the liberal liberal democratic party he also a veteran of the complaints also running in every single presidential election ever since the collapse of the soviet union he's eccentric certainly and he certainly has some chance of making it into the second round runoff should it happen another candidate is the leader of the fair russia party something that all of also quite frequent he has been running in every single election but still he participated in the two thousand and four election as far as i can remember and he used to be head of the upper house of the russian parliament and also we have russian tycoon mikhail prokhorov somewhat of a dark horse in this particular presidential campaign he's a newcomer to politics and it's the first time he's running as president also seen by many experts says the most as one of the likely candidates to make it into the second round runoff should it happen in fact it's the main intrigue of this presidential race whether it would be able to garner more than fifty percent of the votes that is in fact fifty percent plus one vote and thus gain

that this may become the most transparent and the most democratic election that russia has seen since the collapse of the soviet union take us through some of those steps if you could that are being made to make sure that this election is transparent. will certainly for the first time in the history of russian election process we have we have cameras installed at every single polling station across russia making this election in fact the most expensive in the russian history only a vis a procedure of installing web cameras alone cost health a billion u.s. dollars something which was proposed personally by prime minister vladimir putin indeed as i mentioned hundreds of thousands of observers out there this week talking here over eighty regular russian citizen who could have applied to be an observer at the polling station so that entered number of observers there that is eighty thousand in more school alone and hundreds of thousands across the country as well certainly as the international observers which also have a quite a large representation here of around seven hundred people across the country morning tory

have just witnessed was very much different to what we had used to seen before in russia since the collapse of the soviet union ever since the early one thousand nine hundred people were not only protesting and directing their anger at particular politicians but also taking more and more a role in the political life or be contrary namely the fact that we've been having with hundreds of thousands of observers during this election is something very much unique for russia and this is definitely a big change the only question which is warring now which is really interesting to see how it will unfold is whether the opposition will protest which will try to contest the results of this election because as we understand it the opposition is planning and mass rally today at seven pm moscow time in the central moscow will see how it unfolds. and the russian election authorities say well no effort has been spared to make this election the most transparent today how well have those preparations worked out do you think. well definitely we are yet to learn whether this election indeed turns out to be the most transpar

definitely the biggest protests russia has seen in its mordant history well since basically the one thousand the troubling times of the of the of the collapse of the soviet union and definitely this these protests have changed a lot many demanding fair election many demanding changes in the in the democratic system in the political system in russia which we have been seeing some indications from the authorities from the from the ruling power always that's sure to become the president of this country then russia will see some changes and definitely the selection of the election process itself has changed dramatically due to these protests but the interesting thing is that even before the election this election started some opposition forces have already started preparing for the protest action on monday march the fifth and definitely it will be very interesting to observe what happens come come tomorrow and exodus more about the candidates who are running for the top job this year. well there are five candidates running for the top job in russia this is certainly the current prime minister who is seen as a strong favorite by most of the analysts and most

missile defense system goes back for nato, back to bill clinton has been contentious with the soviet union with russiaen trying to get something done. nobody is able to get it done. a hot issue. if i have the election, used to put it off, that's what he was doing. saying look, i can't deal with this right now. you don't want to say wait-up in after the holidays, we'll have lunch. that is what this is about. nothing nefarious no, hidden meaning. giving him a chance to not deal that right now. >> greg: i could take that as a fair explanation. i do it all the time for kimberly. she asks me out for drinks, i have things i have to do. >> kimberly: dreaming again, yes. i saw this and i went ah-ha. now we caught him doing what we expect. what he is trying to say is hey. give me time if i win re-election, i'll take care of you. this is what they look at for sharing secret. cut back nuclear arms arsenal. >> bob: what do you think he is offering up here? >> kimberly: don't want to bow down to russia. >> eric: if you think it was an open mic mistake no, way that was a careless whisper. what that was, was preside

because my focus with regard to sort of the import side is on russia, central asia and the former soviet space particularly of concerned about azerbaijan. not because they'll be hosting the contest. they won't be participating but more broadly, we've seen a dramatic increase in terms of azerbaijan's acquisitions despite it the fact there's an embargo. a number of states within the region are continuing to supply and assist it in developing its arms industry against a backdrop of bellicose rhetoric with regards to the potential for the use of force despite the efforts of mediation. armenia is beginning to talk about its going to start acquiring systems in regard to the azeri buildup. that's a hot zone of particular concern. the other area in terms of reactive acquisitions where i'm not so concerned is southeast asia where we see buildup in advanced maritime systems and combat aircraft. at the same time, very clear descriptions of the threats they perceive in the region, in some cases explaining why the systems are being acquired. you can see roles for that. a lot of it there is very much

to the cultural, particularly which views itself as part of mother russia and they've been suppressed during the period of the soviet union and the communist. hear all these other christians of nominations came in. none were really talking to the russian orthodox church and kind of trying to be sensitive about this, and a campus of the competition in the form a scrum. this has led to other things. the orthodox church to say we don't like this religious freedom stuff. let's go back to a little bit of the authoritarian goal. author terry and by russia so that we will be the stakeholders and the religious representatives of russia, and then if there was and will hear it. the supporters of anti-democratic difference in russia. so, it's a good question because if they tell you, as religious freedom requires sensitivity? >> you have to be sensitive to the culture there its china commercial or pakistan. people feel very strongly about their religious beliefs and if you don't take into account profit, you're not going to be successful. this is part of american diplomats need to be trained about. if you're going not to russi

soviet state assets. but one of them is among those who earned it the old fashioned way. he built a $10 billion retail empire from scratch. welcome to retail in modern russia shelves of soviet times replaced by an abundance of goods from all over the world. we're not just talking in moscow, we're south. fueling russia's consumer boom, 50% of all households entered middle class in the last ten years. disposable income up by 26%. this super store on the cutting edge of russian retail founded by a man who some call russia's sam walton. >> maybe we can do what other guys can't do. >> what he's managed to do is bring western style shopping with traditional open air marketing that many are used to. the biggest country in the wo d world. >> in the next three months -- >> it's become an economic force in its own right. sales of nearly $8 billion last year and employed more than 123,000 people. with rush russians busier than ever with a few more rubles in their pockets, going for more pre-made foods at the deli counter. he's going to open 800 convenient stores and 50 new super stores like this. he uses 3,000 trucks to deliver his goods from 15 warehouses around the

have changed russia dramatically with tens of thousands of people hitting the street and also protesting online something unprecedented for this country ever since the collapse of the soviet union ever since the early nineteenth ninety's russia has changed something acknowledged by most of the experts and. does not mean that you can now relax and celebrate he still has a lot of hard work ahead of him and i earlier i spoke to a political writer from the commerce and daily newspaper who is firmly in believe that putin's main bartold in fact lies ahead. this will be sort of a battle between the two alternative concepts of the state a relevant coherent development credit for myself i identified the first concept as putting land is a state which is north going back strong from the. time will be reforms which was started by alan gordon president me to be a. bit for us of what you lend reforms not to be restricted to crops like skulk all they want to become capital cities to the world what they want russian political system to be transparent russia according to where they will get no nepotism and corruption and those people who support the idea they're still in the loyalty who w

so what happens to the debate in terms of inside of russia, this becomes, you know, these americans soviet russia that, you know, this issue that went away 20 years ago is still there because they're out to get us, they are out to destroy us. so it's a burden on the human rights activists. it's a burden on the jewish community or by the way, i see mark levin is here. i went around to talk to many leaders of the jewish community, not a single person supports jackson-vanik. it's a burden on them. it's not a useful argument for them. and so they would just as soon get rid of it and have a more interesting, modern, you know, intemperate conversation about the real issues that are facing those people as opposed to having, you know, their opponents just roll out this will be americans or so, a rational that are still holding, for something there's no longer the problem to let me also remind everybody that they just be a different debate. i think this is a very important point. before russia had agreed to join the wto, and now they will ratify that sometime in may or june. that's going to happen.

the soviet union collapsed years ago and russia has been judged to be in compliance with many of the provisions. here's part of the exchange as it took place earlier today with senator kyl. you'll hear from alan larson, and paul williams who is the president of the american society of composers, authors and publishers. >> you've got a little bit stronger hand to play if weep explain that on, for example, the bits, we want the duma to ratify the treaty that the united states has ratified. exappropriation is not instinct that in this day and age ought to be permitted among rule abiding commercial nations. and we'll talking about ucose in a moment here. but isn't it rather than urging the administration to begin addressing the problem, isn't this time that we would be better off addressing these problems so that we could get the commitments up front rather than trying to achieve them after we've granted the status? let me ask you first, mr. larson. >> senator kyl, you raise a very important point. it's not an easy one to be quite honest. i think that in my experience in diplomacy, it is

this theory of course and yet from the russian america kind of russia plays a very very small role in the middle east and. not like the soviet union and i think that the middle east will continue to be the most volatile. in today's world and something that will present a lot of huge challenges including the challenges to the revolution are immense and says sort of that a lot of westerners harbor and a lot of russians despise and. kind of that's i think. kind of as more and more kind of results started to appear kind of their thank you thank you very much jeffrey thank you thank you both for coming in just to remind you that my guests on showbiz tonight were under is the local and queen she felt pressure profiled by geoffrey taylor cost her correspondent of the atlantic magazine and that's it for now for all of us here spotlighted will be back with more first hand comment from what's going on in it outside michele until then stay on i'd say it's a cute. all . the.

him the liberal democratic leader also a prominent complainer in russia and he said only one complaint ever since the collapse of the soviet union at six point two percent with four million voters that is and last but not least again on the leader of the just russia party of the head of the upper house of the russian parliament at eight point three point eight percent excuse me that is two point seven million people voting in his favor now certainly it's clear to everyone now that will become russia's president for a third time in twelve years and last night he spoke to a crowd of his supporters of more than one hundred thousand people meters from where i'm standing here in front of the kremlin and. certainly was very emotional about the fact that he has managed to get this victory in the first round of voting . brazing the people who supported him and expressing his delight over the victory which he has managed to achieve. i refuse we have won in an open and fair battle but this wasn't just an election of the president it was a test of political maturity in independence and we have shown the nobody can impose anything on

now as i speak and definitely this is something unprecedented something russia hasn't seen ever since the collapse of the soviet union so definitely this election is something special we'll just have to see how it unfolds let's see it's widely seen that he will win the election but tell us more about the candidates challenging him. indeed you said it right many see that it will eventually win this election despite his support has diminished almost two fold as some suggest still it is the matter it is the biggest intrigue whether there will be a second round runoff because in order to avoid second run up to gain victory in the first round just has led to it which ended in two thousand and two thousand and four he has to garner fifty percent plus one vote. this will go you know directly make him the president of russia once again if this doesn't happen then there will be a second round runoff to be held on march twenty fifth in three weeks from now and there are four challengers who could make it into the second round in fact only two of them are seen as potential candidates this is the veteran of the election mo

however comparing russia with neighboring countries we see other former soviet union countries grew strongerso putin's time is a time of lost opportunities. russia has enormous gas, oil and energy resources and prices are very high. yes, part of this money remains in the country and led to the creation of the middle-class which now tries to get rid of putin because they understand that most of the money was simply stolen by him and his friends. >> warner: so what have you achieved with this so far? i mean, even if, as you say, it's a foregone conclusion putin will win. >> we see that putin and medvedev have already announced political reforms and we have realized that there is no huge gap between the political activists and the public. thousands of people came out to the streets and we found that in russia there is this critical mass of people that just will not allow vladimir putin to treat them as he has for the last 12 years. >> warner: prime minister putin and his party, the kremlin, have all accused the west of being behind protest movements, of being behind you. specifically the u.s.,

this election should become russia's most transparent voting ever since the collapse of the soviet union hundreds of thousands of observers as well as light webcams are monitoring every single police station across the country join me live for all the details from outside the kremlin in just one minute. and in other news this week china calls for an immediate cease fire in syria warns against the use of humanitarian aid as a pretext to interfere in the country's internal affairs. and the e.u. states sign up to tough budget rules to stop overspending europeans rally against harsh cuts in place to save the single currency. this is our tease with the news you welcome to the program but first the russians are going to the polls to choose their next president thousands of observers are monitoring the vote and thousands of newly installed web cameras are trained on the ballot boxes across the country. yes polling stations across all of russia's nine time zones have opened with us now to talk to us he's let's say air show scale let's see how has the turnout been so far. well the turnout so far

that i'm in the news general electric says that sells well of coal and russia and that's when the u.s. withdraws its oil from sovietair out. of the present other russian a unit says that jaxon van make a member of the u.s. from emerging markets right now the u.s. exports to rushed about four percent versus twenty nine percent and your opinion about forty three percent so the us has a big opportunity to increase its trade if we have. grand plan to your people take advantage of it so reduce the tariffs for equipment coming from the united states and also give us a little playing field against or european and asian counterparts if we see jaxon van it being repealed and russia being granted p.n.t.r. by the united states we expect our sales to triple by two thousand and twenty. hours or so the russian markets are going to be opening up in about thirty minutes time. in the next hour some of them. with the end of the boer war and the going away of the soviet union many people thought that nuclear weapons disappeared. the risk is not zero that something might be going off by mistake especially the fall of the nuclear weapo

. >> reporter: russia is the world's largest country. 45 times bigger than japan. in the sovietrea, domestic vehicles are the lion's share of the truck market. in recent years, european and south korean trucks have plodded in. a dealership sells japanese trucks. sales jumped 70% last year. >> translator: i have never driven non-japanese vehicles. the first one i bought was japanese. let me count just to make sure. fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh. okay. they were all japanese. >> reporter: here in russia, the headquarters was established four years ago. a subsidiary of one of japan's leading truckmakers. hiro chose to base himself in the far east rather than moscow because they have strong brand recognition in the region. >> translator: russia has a population of 140 million. there is no doubt that is a huge market and it is getting richer. so russia's presence has a lucrative market and it will increase. >> reporter: the region faces the northern part of the sea and coast. the perfect location for an experiment he began last month. test driving a vehicle built for extremely col