by the late '80s vladimir putin's employers, although he wouldn't admit he was a spy. >> translator: was in the special police. >> sergei is a friend. president putin at that time never talked about his work. i was interested in the kgb, their intelligence officers, it was very romantic. he immediately told me in intelligence, the less they know about you, the better. >> mr. gorbachev, open this gate. >> it was the late '80s, the height of the cold war. >> mr. gorbachev, tear down this wall. >> vladimir putin was a mid level kgb agent posted to east germany with two young daughters and an attractive young wife, a former airline stewardess. >> the soviet union defined him. not just the soviet union but the security services, the kgb. >> president of the brookings institution. >> he was part of not just the machinery but in some ways the characteristic of the machinery and the most powerful machinery in the soviet union. >> the kgb was a powerful part of what some called the ministry of fear. putin was unflinchingly loyal to the kgb and the soviet union. so when the berlin wall was sud

a "the rewrite" tonight vladimir putin pussy riot and edward snowden. nd "the rewrite" vladimir putin pussy riot and edward snowden. [ susan ] ...as though he had never left. the end. lovely read susan. but isn't it time to turn the page on your cup of joe? gevalia, or a cup of johan, is like losing yourself in a great book. may i read something? yes, please. of course. a rich, never bitter taste cup after cup. net weight 340 grams. [ sighs ] [ chuckles ] [ announcer ] always rich, never bitter. gevalia. >> an olympic skier dropped out of a competition because she refuses to compete for her country -- ukraine. that's next. (vo) you are a business pro. seeker of the sublime. you can separate runway ridiculousness... from fashion that flies off the shelves. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. and only national is ranked highest in car rental customer satisfaction by j.d. power. (natalie) ooooh, i like your style. (vo) so do we, business pro. so do we. go national. go like a pro. ♪ they lived.

certainly vladimir putin does.putin wants a restoration of the russian empire, of which ukraine is the crown jewel. and i'm very worried about what actions after the olympics that putin may take in order to ensure that. >> those criticisms, you hear it not just from mccain, from a wide range of foreign policy types that the president has been inconsistent. >> putin has been consistent, but this a way we don't like. old hands saying you're seeing a return to soviet style tactics that forces the only answer and not just in the ukraine, but seyri syria. the question is, you saw these sanctions this week against 20 leaders in the ukrainian government. has an effect on them, but does it move the dial inside the ukraine? maybe not. i am told by a number of people watching this crisis, the real key, the real way the u.s. can influence this positively is with an economic aid package, following a political agreement that has to be clearly more than $15 billion, right? what the russians have offered, in effect. to help get t

good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian, vladimir putin's war games so close to ukraine prompted this stern warning from secretary of state john kerry in his interview with us. also a not so friendly caution from kerry to putin about how quickly these kinds of uprisings can catch fire. >> i think the rapidity with which it has moved should frankly be a message to russia. and mr. putin should listen carefully to ukrainians who have voiced their desire for change. so we're hoping that russian -- russia will not see this as sort of a continuation of the cold war, we don't see it that way. we do not believe this should be an east/west, russia/united states. this is not rocky iv, believe me. >> the russian prime minister today said that the opposition and the rebellion in ukraine are extremists. >> we are not looking for confrontation. but we are making it clear that every country should respect the territorial integrity here, the sovereignty of ukraine, russia has said it will do that and we think it's important that russia keeps its word. >> and then there is this, kerry has told me

i think there is a sense of tension growing over in the west, over what vladimir putin is going to do once he returns back to moscow from the sochi olympics. i think that at the moment president poout jip is probably -- putin is probably weighing his options. he had a good conversation with president obama. there was a lot of diplomatic niceties, and both great that ukraine needed to stay together. also spoke with the chancellor angela merkel, and great that ukraine has to be - has to stay together. this is just talk. we need to see what is going to happen on the ground. i think we are going to see a dightening, a strengthening of the position of moscow because they believe that what happened in the ukraine was a coup, and that although i get the feeling from officials i'm talking to, that moscow no longer has interest in president viktor yanukovych. and it's looking at who else is going to appear on the scene. i don't see any closeness of the positions between america, europe and moscow. >> so there is some concern in some quarters that russia may send troops into the ukraine. is tha

vladimir putin is a man of an iron hand. and he's all about stability and development.o russians, and it's very popular even to this day. >> so a guy like this can spend $50 billion openly and get away with this in this country? >> not only get away with it, it's the way of doing business. these are his pyramids. this is his great display to his people, his grand construction. and it may be criticized enormously by the west and by the dissident younger critics in russia today, but it's of great appeal. >> when the games are gone, putin wants this to remain as an international ski resort. he said recently he's hoping for tourists from the europe and the u.s., even china. and just like holding the games here, it's something of a gamble, given the threat of terrorism across the mountains from here. >> i think vladimir putin has enormous confidence in his ability to keep the peace. let's put it that way. it looks like a ski resort, and it certainly is for the moment. but this is a tough neighborhood. >> reporter: remnick knows the media coverage of toilets and hotel rooms a

vladimir putin's street enforcers beating the women of pussy riot. (vo) you are a business pro.e. you can separate runway ridiculousness... from fashion that flies off the shelves. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. and only national is ranked highest in car rental customer satisfaction by j.d. power. (natalie) ooooh, i like your style. (vo) so do we, business pro. so do we. go national. go like a pro. ameriprise asked people a simple question: can you keep your lifestyle in retirement? i don't want to think about the alternative. i don't even know how to answer that. i mean, no one knows how long their money is going to last. i try not to worry, but you worry. what happens when your paychecks stop? because everyone has retirement questions. ameriprise created the exclusive confident retirement approach. to get the real answers you need. start building your confident retirement today. >> vladimir putin, pussy riot and edward snowden are next in "the rewrite." and oscar talk with the director of "american hustle," d

putin who they had to report about for everything. >> stephen: so would you like to say thank you vladimir putingive you all the time you need. >> ( translated ): we'd much rather thank the people who have nothing to do with putin who supported us and the people in this audience in particular. (cheers and applause) >> stephen: well, my folks, too, my folks, too. all right. i don't know what the russian word for "pander" is but -- (laughter) well done. the okay. you said that you were only released as a public relations stunt for the sochi olympic games. do that you believe's true? >> ( translated ): well, i don't think --. >> stephen: i got that one. i not go one. i -- know just what you're saying. no, go ahead. >> ( translated ): we don't think it actually improved the image of russia so made putin made a mistake and he should just throw us back in jail. (audience reacts) >> stephen: i wouldn't tempt him. >> ( translated ): we'd much rather work on freeing the people who are still in jail who got arrested in the square on may 6 for standing up for freedom and there are 12 people in jail right n

is that what vladimir putin wants to hear? >> it is inviting this president to call -- turn the cold war page and treat this differently, not in the old cold war terms. the question is, on the part of a lot of folks in the u.s. government are the russians prepared to turn the page? collaborativemore effort, can the russians play ball with everyone else? work on a financial package for the ukraine, that sort of thing? it is not clear at this point whether blood may. is rather -- whether vladimir putin is ready to accept that. the actions on the ground may speak much louder than the words from vladimir putin. >> is irrelevant that the president did not mention the united nations at all? that it makes a big difference at this point. we know that the un security council has been discussing these issues as well. having a lot more to do with the russian government. the one will play big role in the immediate situation, they are going to have to do a lot more that vladimir putin and the decisions that he makes at this point. >> we ha

clearly vladimir putin does.ion of the russian empire of which ukraine is the crown jewel. and i'm very worried about what actions after the olympics that putin may take in order to ensure that. >> reporter: but how much influence does the u.s. really have? to encourage a political solution, the u.s. banned visas for 20 senior members of the ukrainian government and is considering freezing their assets overseas, but steps beyond that are limited. >> you can have a much wider not only visa ban and economic sanctions but really not being willing to meet with the ukrainian leadership in any conference is short of shunning them. the problem with that, and this is what the europeans say, well that just drives them closer toward russia anyway. >> reporter: u.s. officials are telling us that a key focus going forward is stabilizing the ukrainian economy and this may be where the president's influence is greatest. russia has offered the ukraine -- ukraine, rather, $15 billion in economic aid to tempt it away from closer

there was no cut to vladimir putin. it was -- the russians were definitely disappointed, but they believed it was a good game, and as we heard, this is just the beginning. they could face each other again. >> oh, yes. that's right. we were just hearing andy say, you know, the u.s. goes to slovenia and who knows. if they win that, and if russia wins its round, they could be heading it off again. okay. so now what about the crowd? what about the russians? this is their home turf, and, of course, i'm sure there was a lot of exuberance in the stadium. what kind of reaction was coming from them on that loss? >> reporter: well, you know, they were extremely excited to be playing, and this was built up as the game of the day. the match of the day. every was watching it. behind me there is the stadium, and you can see on it there was lights. they were lit up. showing the score of the game. the russians very much looking forward to this, and they are favored to win a medal. they were -- predicted to beat team usa, but the united

that, of course being vladimir putin. so no, we're not going to talk today about -- well let me just say one more thing. because we are in washington, d.c. i don't think ever before has a sports icon from washington, d.c. been so close is associated with the foreign host, the leader of the country vladimir putin of these games are obviously i'm talking about alexander ovechkin, the russian hockey team and is a friend of putin. very close friend i believe. so an interesting aspect of the washington, d.c. angle. so i've already said too much because we have a really terrific set of panelists. in which i will give brief introduction for all of them in the order in which they speak. the first speaker will be jeffrey mankoff, to my left as the deputy director and fellow here at csis of the russia and eurasia program. speaking after jeff will be orden on analysts and advisory board member of the geostrategic forecasting corporation and gordon has been a visiting fellow here at csis. and i would point to in particular a report t

vladimir putin may end up regretting it. >> dear friends, ladies and gentlemen. me declare that 126 session of the international olympic committee open. thank you. >> these are the putin olympics. the games in sochi, russia, designed to showcase a leader in command of his people. putin spent years lobbying to win the games for russia and now the country has spent a record $51 billion making it the most expensive olympics ever. that's 2.5% of russian gdp. in the u.s., that would mean spending $400 billion on the olympics. or as one dutch newspaper illustrates with this graphic, the sochi games will cost more than all the modern winter games combined. $265 million for a ski jumping venue, six times more than the original estimate. $371 million for an amusement park locals call putin world. it's not yet finished. $8.7 billion with at "b" for a rail link project awarded to the state rail company run by putin pal. it's a curious mix of grandiosity and bungling. the first time the olympics are being held on the edge of a war zone. pair of creepy toilets thrown in for go

instead, he chose a lucrative deal with the russian president vladimir putin. president obama called vladimir putin to discuss ways to end the ukrainian crisis. al jazeera's white house correspondent mike viqueira has more. >> after several exchanges in public between russia and the united states, some bitter, some adversarial, it was a long call that president obama placed to vladimir putin, of course, his counterpart in russia, lasting the better part of an hour, according to the read out from officials by the administration. they spoke about several things, syria, iran, and the bulk of the conversation had to do with the situation in ukraine. it's involved in a tentative agreement and both sides described it as very, very fragile. the official described the talks as constructive. this comes after a back and forth, a coarse assessment of the e.u.'s role. it continued on through barack obama's statement recently while visiting mexico for the north america summit. where he spoke in derogatory terms about vladimir putin, and his views on basic human rights. obvi

. >> i think it certainly adds those echos as far as vladimir putin is concerned. of his actions for years have indicated his desire to rebuild the russian empire, the so-called near abroad balance particulars invasion of georgia, mald maldova. it's clear that maybe the president has been naive about vladimir putin and his ambitions and we're seeing the commitment, an absolute belief that ukraine is part of russia and he's not going to let it go and that is something we are going to have to understand in our relations with vladimir putin. >> i know you've been briefed about what is going on. in your opinion, is there an invasion that has already started? in other words, what's the latest information you're getting about russian troops in crimea or other parts of ukraine? >> especially ukraine, troops have come in, moving out of a very vital base of sevastopol into the area. they have taken control of the two airports and these people are paramilitary. as you discussed earlier, it's not going to be russian tanks. it's going to be russian special forces, special oper

vladimir putin would have wanted this to be handled earlier.russia would have probably favored a crackdown of some sort. but viktor yanukovych panicked in the sense that he waited a while, trying to bite some time, which looked at first as if they were looking at some sort of peaceful resolution of the crisis. amnesty, talk of a concert -- constitutional revision that restricts the president of some of his powers in favor of a stronger parliament. it all seemed to be going ok. the the protesters sacked party headquarters. you also had the march on the parliament itself on the day they were to be debating. the debate never really happened. the revisions to the constitution i just talked about, there was a sense that we have to do something. co. -- yeah new code which -- there was a sense of a lot of pressure on this man, and from russia's perspective, this is really a nightmare right now for vladimir putin. this is the last thing he wanted to see happening in the midst of his sochi showcase. >> thank you so much. we will be talking about ukraine

this was seen as vladimir putin as what? >> the reassertion of russian confidence and power on the world stage. the soviet union collapsed in 1991 and with it collapsed not only on economy but a kind of national self-confidence, and empire like the ottoman empire, austro-hungarian empire. a terrible was like time lapse photography over a generation. certain things happening that works jointly encouraging, but a lot of things happened that were awful. thething that happened was process of demoralization about the inability to build institutions, democratic institutions. utin sees himself as a man of an iron fist and development. that's the way he seems himself. >> he sees himself as the man in charge of a strong state. >> he is a state builder. at the this opportunity cost of $51 billion to essentially build a city -- sochi was a very old, modest city. skiuch, bridges, roads, jumps, and it cost $51 billion that we know of. how much of it was bribery, we may never know. $51 billion is more than all the other winter olympics co

that's what vladimir putin would like you to think.e rehabilitation, putin found himself pawing around with an endangered snow leopard. in russia, freedom of speech is nonexistent. where peaceful protest is met with police brutality, where being gay is a crime. the political crackdown led by putin himself is the worst in the country's post soviet. in russia today, there are no politics or real discussion of views. almost two years ago, pussy riot sang a song of protest against putin. it landed the band in prison for 22 months. they're in new york this week on a human rights tour. appearing on the kolbert report last night, they reminded america of their distaste for the guy in charge. >> what do you have against vladimir putin? >> we have different ideas about a bright future, and we don't want a shirtless man on a horse leading us. [ applause ] >> vladimir and i get together shirtless and go hunting all the time. sometimes we don't even get around to the hunting. >> you should take some handsome boys with you. >> this is shirtless vla

i guess he feels compelled to talk vladimir putin.rica's enemies. >> he is a kinder -- >> what is did was rescue obama who's serial policy was messed up. they have not had a steady presence. charles: he was also able to rescue a sod. assad looks like you will certainly win. >> airbrushing the facts. he has harassed people. he has threatened people. he has vanished them. there is corruption in the government and the court system. somehow that gets lost. charles: i find it very frustrating. i think that amir poulin is the most dangerous guy on the planet. not too long ago, he said he would never use the word redskins again. >> that bothers him. charles: how can that bother you? and then let amir poulin is a peacemaker. >> he spends his entire term of russia killing people. the list goes on and on. >> putting young women in gulags. charles: we could talk about this all day long. leading the market, leaving the economy, why are there so few women in the film? we will talk to one that actually started her own technology company. she is nex

is it put vladimir putin's worst nightmare? >>> an embarrassed gop candidates in texas distancing themselves from ted nugent after his vicious rants. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> let's begin with the breaking news. a new threat just issued by the department of homeland security here in washington warning airlines to pay additional scrutiny for the possibility of terrorists attempting to hide explosives hidden in shoes. the warning flights from overseas coming to the united states. jim sciutto is standing by as well as our brian todd and our national security analyst peter bergen. let's begin with jim sciutto. what is the precise information, jim? >> we always take new warnings seriously, but let's talk act what it is and what it isn't. it's based on new intelligence that terrorists are working on new shoe bomb designs. this is a trette threat that u.s. intelligence has been watching closely ever since richard reid, the attempted shoe bomber. what we will not see is any new measures as folks are getting

vladimir putin calling for a russian military exercise on ukraine borders. he calls it a very clear side to show that russia is here present and very, very close and influential on the region. >> jennifer class reporting to us live from the crimea peninsula. now let's head northwest to kiev where our nick schifrin is standing by. nick, what is being said by politicians trying to understand the situation in crimea? >> well, it's a huge sauterne ray. they're calling it no less than a russian occupation, what they're worried about so much here, what secretary of kerry is worried about and president obama worried about in washington is whether this government is up to this task. the government is 30 hours old. this government would have challenges no matter what was happening in the south political unity challenges, economic challenges, unmarked economic challenges. this country will default in three months. and then you add on top of all of that the security challenge, huge security challenge in crimea. the rhetoric from the government is aggressive. they say t

having said that, i think that vladimir putin is a smart guy.e's not going to do anything in the short term it really damages his standing. he's riding the crest of a wave right now. there were no incidents. he is really the guy who is moving forward with their nuclear weapons and everything is on his ride right now. and i don't think that he wants to damage that by using oars at this time, but he is an old kgb operative and that i will take whatever time it takes in my judgment re-create what happened in georgia when back in 2000 a russian troops went into two of the provinces because russians and their, at the russians were being threatened. lou: so setting the stage for precisely that with his words. i thought, frankly, his use of the expression of the global community, talking about the ukraine membership therein of the european community as if russia is the head of that particular table. an artful language and tone and president vladimir putin artfully has not said a word even as president obama in the white house secretary kerry are making

why shouldn't americans look at vladimir putin and russia today as an enemy? >> david, first of all, we have to be very pragmatic, and president obama has been exceedingly pragmatic about our dealings with russia. there are areas where we can cooperate with them, there are areas where we disagree bitterly with them. look at both sides of the ledger. we will have been able to reach a new and very important arms control with them, the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty. we've been able to cooperate on afghanistan and russia's role in enabling us to move our equipment and personnel in and out of afghanistan, very important. on iran we've been working together on the effort to use diplomacy to see if we can't obtain a nuclear agreement. they have been cooperative in that. on the other hand, we differ bitterly over issues of human rights. we differ over syria. we differ over their treatment of lgbt persons, and we differ over a number of issues. the fact of the matter is, we should cooperate where we can. where we can't agree and don't agree, we should be very plain about that

i think vladimir putin is taking advantage of that.e has always had a long hold on that part of the world. he owns the gas facilities. so they have to kind of deal with him or did he really did not want the ukraine to enter into a strategic alignment with the eu and he must have offered them an economic package. neil: they said that there would be consequences for the actions. so we going to do? eventually if you're going to threaten someone, the time comes where you have to follow up or you're going to look like this. >> this is exactly why the foreign policy has been a flop. the president of afghanistan, either you sign a treaty or we will move our troops. and then we come back to the end of the year and so you'll start reducing the troops. and so we are not committed to our word. so i think that there is a mixed message. but he's a very happy camper right now because the united states and we couldn't come up with an economic package to settle at the ukraine. gerri: neil: let's talk about chris christie. charlie gasparino reporting t

maybe it's not to the president and john kerry but it is to vladimir putin.to rebuild the russian empire. that's why he pressures the baltic stakes and meddling in mullkova and troops are in georgia and he views ukraine as the crown jewel of that. there's an old loin about russia with ukraine is an empire, without it, it's a country. it's a vital part of his scenario for russia's role in the world, and we have to be vigorous in our response, and i think we can be, but first we got to realize who we're dealing with. >> senator john mccain, thank you very much. good seeing you again. >> thank you. >> signed up for obamacare and now desperately wants out of obamacare. but now he can't get out of obamacare. >> this educator makes more than the president and let's just say taxpayers didn't know about it. now they're furious. >> this is ridiculous. this is nuts. my wife -- i give my wife everything. i do anything i can for my wife. i'm sleeping with her. who are you sleeping with? i ke prilosec otc each morni for my frequent heartburn. zero heartburn. becat wohoo!

she had a close personal relationship with vladimir putin. it may be she is not the force of the pro western and pro democratic forces, but she is putin's choice as well. >> listen to more about her with the story of her arrest and being jailed for two years and the image of her in that wheelchair because of back problems from being in prison. speaking out, coming out like the woman with freedom, bringing freedom to her nation. she won the election in may, but you don't think she may be held to full promise? >> she will be important, no doubt about it in the politics going forward, but i think it's still unclear. you cannot look at the heavy population in the southern and eastern ukraine that speaks russian and may be ethnical ukrainian, but the decisions are very deep and russia is interested in making sure they do not sit out. they remain much stronger than the weak european interest. in effect with the $15 billion, putin launched a bidding war. we will see how much the european union is prepared to put up. >> in june, there is a group of ei

just a few years ago that spelled the low point of relations between the bush administration and vladimir putinhat do you make of the relationship between the president, president obama, and president putin at this point? >> well, you know, i would say that certainly, it's cooled off considerably from its starts and i think that, you know, there was talk of could we try to get these two leaders again back together for one-on-one meeting? that hasn't happened. president obama very visibly snubbed the sochi olympics which were meant to be the big show of vladimir putin's accomplishments in russia. canceled the meeting supposed to be held, the one on one meeting between putin and obama september. right now that relationship would be characterized as frosty at best. >> and what do you think this does measurably in terms of scuttling or complicating the deal with iran that the russians have been very active on in terms of its nuclear weapons program? >> well, i think that's an important point. remember, we can't just afford to ignore or freeze out russia, even if we very much disapprove of what they

russians finished in first mace on the medalled table so vladimir putin is proud and the russians areoo. nothing like victory to boost the russian mood. >> putin made no attempt to hide it. he said that this is the olympics, devoted to the resurgence of the russian nation, so for him, it was an extremely important to do this sort of national building effort. through sports. >> reporter: global events can always spoil a big party, ukraine's ongoing crisis has so far shadowed the games to a certain extent. and once the circus leaves town, it's the people who live in this region who will be best placed to answer the question was it all worth. it. >> so rory as you point out the russians are proud of what they have achieved even though the games were in part, perhaps, overshadowed by events in ukraine, how do you think they will be seen in international eyes among the guests and spectators and, of course, the athletes themselves from all overraover the world? >> reporter: well, we know that the german chancellor angela merkel was speaking to vladimir putin earlier on today by phone, they

they see vladimir putin trying to shore up a sphere of influence. they see the russians releasing this tape of our diplomat victoria nuland talking about the opposition and the political future of ukraine. they see russia talking about the u.s. meddling in its area, giving an i lum to edward snowden, blocking the united states when it comes to syria. why shouldn't americans look at vladimir putin and russia today as an enemy. >> we have to be very pragmatic about our dealings with russia. there are areas where we cooperate and areas where we disagree bitterly with them. look at both sides of the ledger. we will have been able to reach a new and very important arms control with them, the new stfrlg s.t.a.r.t. treaty and cooperate on afghanistan and russia's role in enabling us to move our personnel in and out of afghanistan, very important. on iran we've been working together on the effort to use diplomacy to see if we can't obtain a nuclear agreement. they have been cooperative in that. on the other hand, we differ bitterly over issues of human righ

having said that, i think that vladimir putin is a smart guy. he's not going to do anything i the short term it really damages his stading. he's riding the crest of a wave right now. there were no incidents. he is really he guy who is moving forwardith their nuclear weapons and everything is on his ride right now. and i don't think that he wants to damage that by using oars at this time, but heis an old kgb operative and that i will take whatever time it takes in my judgment re-create what happened in georgia when back in 2000 a russian troops went into two of the provinces because ssians and their, at the russians were being treatened. lou: s setting the stage for precisely that with his words. i thought, fankly, his use of the expression of the global community, talking about the ukraine membership therein of the european community as if russia is the head of that particular tble. an artful language and tone and presidentlamir putin arully has not saida word even as president obama in the white housesecretary kerry are making some bellicose st

this was seen by vladimir putin as what? >> the reassertion of russian confidence and power on the world stage. i think that it's-- the soviet union collapsed in 1991, and with it collapsed not only an economy but a kind of national self-confidence. an empire dissolved, like the ottoman empierk the austrian-hungarian empire, and the fallout was like a time-lapse photography that took place over a generation. there was lots of talk about democracy. certain things happened that were extremely encouraging but a lot of things happened that were awful. and one thing that certainly happened was a process of demoralization about the inability to build institutions, democratic institutions, for the economy to develop and all the rest. and putin sees himself like certain figures in the czarist era as a man of the iron fist on the one hand and development on the other. that's the way he sees himself. >> rose: he sees himself as the man in charge of a strong state. >> he's a state builder. and so to have this opportunity at the cost of

don't think there is a direct line. >> a lot of people have criticized your relationship with vladimir putin, as somebody who has not been good for human rights, and they view you as an artist, as somebody who should stand up for human rights and yet, they see you being very close to president putin. what is your response? >> first of all, i think a lot of people are wrong about president putin. that's my view. i myself am a student so i saw many people, met many heads of state, i look at their policies or their actions better to say, especially on culture. many of them are totally uninterested. i think president putin belongs to a very small group of world leaders, very small group, who thinks this is actually very important and he would do something -- he recently came to the rehearsal of the children's chorus, rehearsal, it was christmas day in russia, basically, president like all of us has a right to simply be free, you know. he chose to be there with the kids who represented all regions of russia. >> having the president show an interest in art and opera, is one thing. on the other han

i think vladimir putin has been everything but a peacemaker. in does, it's what he justifies. the atrocities to lgbtq folks in the nation of russia are absurd, and we should all speak out against this. it's similar to what's happening in uganda, and i think because of that there's no peacemaker in vladimir putin in the same sentence at all. martha: yeah. david, what do you think about what costas had to say? >> it was clearly, basically, nbc who's going to broadcast 1500 hours or so, they're playing to the problems in russia. let's not put aside what putin in and what russia does, but first nbc's looking at the problems with journalists, the problems that are going on over there, security issues with the threats from radical muslims. yeah, putin, russia, syria, it's all about the only warm water base since the cold war, and they're backers of iran, they trade with iran which is the world's largest sponsor of state terrorism. so before you even get to human rights, you've got a broader picture of one of the world's largest if not the largest arms

and forced him to say gay. >> the head of the ioc said that vladimir putin assured him there would be no problems in russia during the games. after seeing the video, what is the ioc smoking. >> seriously. since vladimir putin and the russian parliament passed the laws. 436 to nothing, the amount of hate crimes are on the rise. there's is number called "the iron closet", he details it, goes to the club and talks to kids and it is harrowing. the idea that the ioc is blessing russia with the games and giving vladimir putin an international platform is disturbing. >> final word. >> i agree what is happening in russia is hore ied and demands a moment of courage. i hope an athlete will stand up and show that courage. >> let's hope they have a positive effect on what is going on, and help those that suffer as a result of those laws. good to see you both. >> coming up, if you think hillary clinton's president hopes are the best, you are behind the times. social media producer harmeli stories. >> we talked about silk road. police got worse for the man authorities believe created the site. what

vladimir putin.ughter) do you think he might volunteer to come in and help ukraine. >> the reason-- we don't want put toin get involved in this. so we are basically, we want to try to involve him in the decision so that he allow its ukraine to go. we actually want to not-- we want a nonexclusive relationship with ukraine. you can have a relationship with him too. >> stephen: you're the only one making this into a girlfriend boyfriend relationship. >> ukraine is basically choosing its future between two completely different course of action. we're trying to blur that choice so the old boyfriend doesn't get too up set when it makes the right choice towards us. >> stephen: well, thank you so much, gideon rose. (cheers and applause) >> stephen: gideon rose, foreign affairs magazine. grab a canada dry ginger ale. real ginger. real taste. real ahhh to help pay for her kids' ice time, -before earning 1% cash back... -guys! -everywhere, every time... -close the front door! and 2% back at the grocery store, e