vladimir putin is popular. poll showed that his approval rating is holding steady at 86%. >> quite high. thank you so much. >>> up next - nearly a quarter of america's children live in poverty, putting the u.s. second-last in the developed world and the organization tasked with protecting children say the growing income gap between rich and poor is growing. we look at what needs to be done to reverse course. stay with us. >> america votes 2014 go behind the scenes in the all important swing states >> this could switch from republican hands to democratic hands >> with the senate and congress up for grabs... >> it's gonna be close >> these candidates will stop at nothing to get elected. >> iowa was never sent a woman to congress... >> i wanna squeal! >> i approved this message >> i need your help >> midterms, the series begins only on al jazeera america >> alaska, a state that depends on it's natural beauty >> we need to make sure that we have clean air >> some are living off natures bounty >> we're rich cause of

vladimir putin is popular. a poll showed that his approval rating is holding steady at 86%. >> quite high. thank you so much. >>> up next - nearly a quarter of america's children live in poverty, putting the u.s. second-last in the developed world and the organization tasked with protecting children say the growing income gap between rich and poor is growing. we look at what needs to be done to reverse course. stay with us. >> you've witnessed their incredible journey. >> i'm ready to get out man... i'm ready to get out of high school. >> the triumphs, trials and struggles. "on the edge of eighteen". don't miss the class reunion. were the right paths chosen? >> it was absolutely devastating. >> have family wounds begun to heal? >> our relationship still is harsh. >> are their dreams coming true? >> it wasn't my first choice, but i'm glad i made a choice. >> the edge of eighteen class reunion. immediately after the final episode. only on al jazeera america. >>> nearly one in four american children or 60 million

they make vladimir putin seem resilient. the famous dissident mikhail khodorkovsky believes the economy is shakier than it thinks. he has the interesting backstory for a political disdent. >> he does. mikhail khodorkovsky's life is the story of post soviet russia. he was an oil oligarch tycoon, he was the richest man until he meddled in politics and fell afoul of vladimir putin. he was convicted of fraud and tax evasion and spent 10 years in gaol before being released. much of his fortune is gone, his oil company broken off. he lives in switzerland, where he relaunched open russia, an online platform aiming to gal veinizing russians who wand a european-style democracy. he was in the u.s. drumming up support and we asked whether given all that transpired in ukraine, if he thinks the west underestimated vladimir putin. >> translation: i doubt that anybody in the west today underestimates vladimir putin. if anything, he is being overestimated because he's being compared to the current leaders of their country, and none of they

russian president vladimir putin is asserting his country's still matters, still makes things happen,an still turn heads in world capitals. >> the swedish military has been searching it's coastal waters the capitol, for a vessel that thinks it is some kind of foreign submarine. >> it could be be a submarine or a small submarine, it could be a diver using some form of underwater ever vehicle, and it could be divers that don't have any business in our territory that's where i think you have the span of what could be foreign underwater activity. >> several sitings of a mysterious vehicle, including these captures in amateur photographs, has enganged the nation's attention, and begun a full throttle hunt, not since the cold war has sweden a neutral nation seen so much a mobilization. back then, sweden used depth charges to currenter frequent soviet incushions, swedish government is not specifically blamed russia still, but the ministry of defense said in a statement, there have been no irregular situations and even less so accidents involving russian naval vessels. and on several occasion

vladimir putin is a hero of the people. includes little people. this children's choir has written a birthday song for putin. "you are one-of-a-kind," they crooned, but not everyone is singing along. leaders, asr for people worshiped him, he begins to believe he is indeed infallible and this of course is not true. >> for now at least president putin is a crowd polar. russians love his policies. we are so proud of him, natalia says. approval rating over 80%, vladimir putin enjoys the kind of popularity even hercules himself could only dream of. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. isyou have to wonder if that the painting that he will hang in his bedroom after this. the royal court stands out as being unusual. beginning back in 1933, he got an insiders view of palace life and secret ceremony, intimate details. they are on display now in washington. tina bryant gives us a look. ceremony for the king of benin. it is a centuries-old ritual and one that was missed by cheaper long day. olange. to theintimate access ancient kingdom under british rule. he off

ambassador, is vladimir putin unsure about whether france would go to war for astoria.hether david cameron's britain would go to war for astoria? is. >> i think he is unsure, and wanted to create that uncertainty more and more. by nextinging russia's muscles he is trying to show that you guys want to protect astoria, there's a cost to that. and do you really want with to pay that cost. and i think that's what with with are seeing the muscle flexing going on now. where does it all end? can somebody make a mistake, and get us really shooting at each other in a way that nobodien had wanted? is. >> i think definitely that's a real possibility. because the military power is based on the premise that you can use it, and that if you think of the submarine, what would with happen for ever swede withen has fished that up. when a russian submarine was with stranded. when you have that, and then if russia makes threats back, then you are instantly in a stand off situation, and that i think -- a shooting situation with doesn't need to been further than that when you are using milit

russia's vladimir putin turns 62, a group of his supporters has come up with an unusual solution. ey're staging an art exhibition featuring president putin in a number of heroic poses very loosely modelled on ancient greek myths. he's seen as hercules holding up the world and fighting off various threats, including war planes, missiles, and there looking a ukrainian looking bull, seen in various others. a number of poses. the 12 poses there. much more, of course, on all that and all our breaking news, of course, coming out of spain, too. we're just hearing that madrid has 22 contacts of the nurse have been identified. we're back soon. growth is gratifying. goal is to grow. gotta get greater growth. i just talked to ups. they got expert advise, special discounts, new technologies. like smart pick ups. they'll only show up when you print a label and it's automatic. we save time and money. time? money? time and money. awesome. awesome! awesome! awesome! awesome! (all) awesome! i love logistics. faster than d-con. what will we do with all of these dead mice? tomcat presents dead mouse

and vladimir putin was cheered by the tens of thousands of people who are watching the parade. it's interesting, because serbia is between russia and moscow. and they only came to the country for the european union, sanctions from the russians, and sometimes they feel pressure. it's the second time in five days that the serbian prime minister and putin are talking about probably vladimir putin and the visit and they will stay there, and vladimir putin says that moscow will not do anything to stop serbia from going to the european union. >> that's marco reporting from belgrade where that military parade is taking place, and vladimir putin is the guest of honor. >>> here with the aljazeera news hour, and coming up, the main opposition party says that there are signs of fraud in the presidential election. >>> and plus, the struggle to modernize it's military forces. and coming up, the kansas city royals. all of the action later. >> . >> the first hong kong government says that it's ready for its new talks with students. the demonstrations are in the third week, occupying parts of

i believe that vladimir putin is expressor of the system. in actuality, the fight is with the system. as for igor [indiscernible] element wholeasant of ouride the bounds real objectives. >> do sanctions work? >> badly. yes. they're not having the impact that we might think they are in the crisis over ukraine. ini think that in the form which they were adopted and announced him a let's put it that way. the second one is more important where the steps were announced, they had more of an opposite effect than the one which they were supposed to have. fixed you believe that vladimir putin fears you? today, no.that but i do think he is worried. is dependsthis worry on how effective i am. like all my life, actually. competitors, my worried about me only when i was working well. >> are you working well? >> i am just starting. try.oing to >> thank you for joining us. let you to have you here. -- pleasure to have you here. ilnversation with mikha khordokovsky. a covers nation about vladimir putin and russia and some of the realities about russia today

i believe vladimir putin is but the expresser of the system. in actuality, the fight is with the system. as for igor sechin, he is just an unpleasant element who is outside the bounds of our real objectives. >> charlie: do sanctions work? badly. >> charlie: badly. yes. >> charlie: so they're not having the impact that we might think they are in the crisis over ukraine? >> i think that, in the form in which they were adopted and announced -- let's put it that way. the second one is more important. the way these steps were announced, they had more of a -- an opposite effect than the one which they were supposed to have. >> charlie: do you believe that vladimir putin fears you? >> i think that today, no. but i do think he's worried. how strong this worry is depends on how effective i am. like all my life, actually. my opponents, my competitors worried about me only when i was working well. >> charlie: are you working well? >> i'm just starting. but i am going to try. >> charlie: thank you for joining. pleasure to have you here. a conversation with

vladimir putin has nuclear weapons.t is why there are no military solution. >> do you think he will use him? >> he can blackmail you. the whole point find the black war was a mutual blackmail. >> they have the responsibility for the system. it is very dangerous. at certain points his survival becomes paramount and everything else is secondary. >> congratulations on being so bold. thanks a lot. world chess champion. agenciesther of all ad , wait until you see its client list and headquarters. are watching "market makers" here on bloomberg television. ♪ >> some exciting changes starting monday afternoon. the authors of game change hosted bloomberg's new show about politics. pimm fox will join you at 5:30 p.m. eastern time for taking stock. that is coming on monday. >> it is an ad agency you probably have never heard of. it has been the creative force behind some of the biggest brands out there. the him work? i went inside the new york office space to find out. >> welcome to mother, one of new york's hottest advertising ag

the news -- vladimir putin does show up. the news after joe hockey met with russia's finance minister, he said he had a full and frank discussion with him and vladimir putin can expect the same in brisbane, rich. >> thank you very much indeed. paul allen there for us in sydney. let's check on what's going on as far as trading go there's for the time being. just having a look at the market which was lower along with the rest of the asian-pacific, global growth concerns partially responsible for that. we have a.s.x. 5,159. and peeking it out to what's going on in seoul, bucking the trend there. top 1.9% in this declining market. kospi down .7%. and they announce they had invented a wi-fi system, samsung, five times faster than the current available product. that's what they have at the moment with the kospi, down at the moment. looking at what's going on in hong kong, protests continue with occupy sen thral. -- central. police on the streets removing barricades and taking back government property. that's what we have at the mo

. >> you expect to see vladimir putin run for reelection in 2017 and win? >> i think that he will run and i think that he will get the victory, but the method i which he will get this victory will depend on how events develop. he could get the victory relatively honestly because right now, this national chauvinism is supporting his popularity rating. >> you have said before about ukraine, you have said to him, you believe that he did not expect this. this was not a well-planned action on his part. but it may very well be what? the consequences of ukraine for vladimir putin. >> if ukraine will be a successful country from an economic standpoint, then this will have a very serious impact on the readiness of russians for a change of regime themselves. if russia is -- if ukraine is not successful, this will be an additional argument for not changing the existing leadership in the country. putin understands this perfectly well and it is for this reason that ukraine's success on its path of anticorruption revolution is unacceptable to him. >> part of the conflict

how much of an effect is that having on vladimir putin and his circle? >> none of them is very happy. so they have all withdrawn into russia. evidently a lot of their money has been taken back to russia. i doubt that all of it is back. a lot of it will be buried deep in the hope that we won't find it and there'll be a second reset, and so in the near future, things will be all right, and those funds will be there. a lot has gone home. and, i mean, one of the the closest friends has said that he regrets the loss of his learjet. two weeks ago they went after rotten burg's property in italy - his villas, a luxury house and so forth. it's not just sanctioning of bank account. the west is moving to identify and point out that we know you have it. that's a very unsettling thing for them. >> again the book is: it tells an important story about what is going on in moscow. pleasure to have you with us. >> "consider this" will be right back. >>> the world wildlife fund released a report, and the news is terrible. we have lost 52% of wildlife populations between 19

. >>> son 278 los nominados algunos controversiales el presidente de rusia vladimir putin , tenemos laleel de la paz . >>> un hombre que ha dedicado su vida a revindicar la dignidad del ser humano y la paz y el dialogo por su decisión y coraje , nosotros hemos formulado esta postuladcoin ñ. >>> el papa francisco ha condenado y ha intentado mediar entre judios y palestinjos . >>> el año pasado fue considerada la gran favorita la estudiante pakistani alguien le disparo en la cabeza con 17 años podría ser la ganadora mas joven del premio . >>> entre nominados también snowden , cuyas revelaciones provocaron un debate global y el derecho a la privacidad . >>> es importante por que responde a nuevas necesidades y cambios informatica y seguridad ciudadana , que representa para mucha gente . >>> chelsea ex soldado transexual , que cumple condena de 35 años por revelar información clasificada a wikileaks . >>> daños y le darnas un premio nobel otro nombre . >>> vladimir putin el presidente de rusia . >>> bnueno es que las nominaciones enviadas al comite nobel , de todas partes del mundo , este

having vladimir putin there will make it a whole lot more interesting. key got confirmation of putin's attendance from the russian finance minister. he said he had a lengthy conversation in which he raised australia's concerns over russia's actions in the ukraine and assured the finance minister that mr. putin can be assured up a full and frank dialogue when he gets to brisbane in november. >> thanks for joining us. up next, the latest on the protest right ear and hong kong. police moving to clear the barriers. this is "first up." ♪ >> police have mobilized in central hong kong, clearing barriers as the street protests enter a third week. othero sides blame each for the collapse of talks. student leaders wrote an open letter to china's president that the hong kong government has misrepresented their views. the chief executive rejected demands to resign. for more perspective on this one, my next guest who is an official at the u.s. state --thanks for joining us. in any other country this would not go on for three weeks. there would be dialogue, would there

if vladimir putin is managing something now. they'll keep doing that. >> you saw the hardship as you travelled. one of the interesting lings is we see the russians as dour. once you know them, they are warm and welcoming. it's a fascinating description of russia from west to east. >> yes, cold on the outside, but some of the warmest people once you get in the apartments and homes of people. >> the book is "mid night in siberia, a train journey into the hartland of russia." and time for what is trending on the web. >> last week we told you about "the guardian"'s application that whisper promises anonymity is tracking users and sharing information in some cases with third partys. jay rocker fella sent a letter to whisper's c.e.o. requesting a staff briefing saying: growing concerns leads to a number of sites guaranteeing anon mimenty, yik yak is one. a post was posted threatening to kill students. before noon officials announced that the campus was on lockdown after a second social media threat: classes were cancelled and it was a

this is a man vladimir putin actually needed. he needed his enthusiasm for russian investment at a time when everybody is backing away. stuart: he was very much on vladimir putin's side. a supporter in the oil industry. doesn't want him gone. >> they have a $27 billion exploration and joint venture in siberia. he wanted to double the output from their shale exploration by 2020. he was very much a russia now man and the sanctions were holding him back so if anything one would have to look at someone who wanted to do harm to vladimir putin and given russia, given the level of drunkenness, given the fact that it was snowing on october 20th which was unusable nobody is ruling out anything, not even pilot error according to the russian press. stuart: alcoholism in russia? it is well known that it is a severe problem. you think it raised its agree head in this instance? >> 29% of russian men die before the age of 55 most of that from alcohol. that level in view k is 7%. stuart: glad you brought up the british. and the russians -- one m

leaders are meeting with vladimir putin for peace talks. withis standing by details. >> we are in the periphery. i had a chance to do an exclusive interview with president barroso. he said some of the countries are in his opinion doing a pretty good job. >> there are several indications that indicate -- that can suggest slow global growth. we have to take this seriously. >> here is the context. prime minister renzi has just made a speech where he said a financial crisis may be looming on the horizon. you will know it is the day before yesterday that the italian minister introduced a new plan that calls for 18 billion euros in tax cuts. something someone in his own party says is unsustainable. he would have to have the same kinds of austerity measures. we heard in that speech a message to the new authorities that they need to correctly interpret the new climate on financial markets. be indicating he wanted it to go a little bit easier when it comes to budget deficit targets. authorities in brussels to get it right. that, and hebout clearly d

he tells "real money" the west has overestimated vladimir putin.wait to hear what he says. >> the blue ray special -

she talks about vladimir putin ice rise -- putin's rise to power in russia. professor dawisha spoke about her book at the woodrow wilson center in washington d.c. >> welcome. we are, indeed, in for a treat today, and if you haven't got enough discussion on putin, i think we're going to hopefully satisfy your curiosity today. it is our great pleasure to have karen dawisha here to talk about "putin's can kleptocracy," and you should add that the books are on sale as well. karen is professor of political science and director of the center for russian and post-soviet studies at miami university in ohio. she is a former wilson center public policy scholar as well as a former guest scholar at brookings. she has taught at many universities including a long stint in the area of the university of maryland. the author of several books, but this one rises to the top the list, and she received her ph.d. from the london school of economics. karen will be followed by professor elizabeth wood for a commentary on her presentation. professor wood is the professor of russian a

vladimir putin held a final one-on-one meeting with his ukrainian counterpart and said they resolved the cast dispute for the immediate future. >> our ukrainian partners at i agreed on the conditions to reinstate gas supplies at least for the wintertime. we discussed all the parameters of that agreement. >> poroshenko said there was still some outstanding issues. he hoped they would be wrist -- they would be resolved by another summit last week. angela merkel says there is still much to be resolved. >> we are about to take a one minutes break. two former yugoslav spies are in trial in munich framer that was committed three decades ago. >> we are back in 60 seconds. , it is the longest series of unsolved murders in postwar germany. the secret service of socialist yugoslavia assassinated 29 people on german soil. >> two high-ranking intelligence officials were expedited to germany. they are charged with masterminding the murder of a yugoslav to student in the southern german state of bavaria more than three decades ago. it has taken 25 years since the collapse of soviet communism and t

. >>> rare talks between vladimir putin and petro poroshenko, as well as other western leaders, have been described as positive, although differences remain. they met on the sidelines of the asia-europe summit in milan. david cameron was one of the leaders at the meeting. he said the onus remains on president putin to bring an end to the conflict in eastern ukraine. >> vladimir putin said very clearly that he doesn't want a divided ukraine. but if that's the case, then russia now needs to take the actions to put in place all that's been greed, getting russian troops out of ukraine, getting heavy weapons out of ukraine and respecting all the agreements and only recognizing one legitimate set of ukrainian elections. and if those things don't happen, then clearly the european union, britain included, must keep in place the sanctions and the pressure so that we don't have this sort of contact in our continent. >> british prime minister david cameron. let's speak to damian gramaticas. we're getting mixed messages. a spokesman for the kremlin is saying there were lots of divisions and a lo

. >> the russian president vladimir putin ordered troops to withdraw from the border. military exercise has been taking place. the troop withdrawal comes ahead of talks between vladimir putin and petro porashenko. the two leaders will meet in milan under a fragile truce agreement. the authorities in mexico said that some of the bodies found in mass graves are not those of 43 missing students. they were taken away by police in vans. the kidnappings sparked protests across the country. dominic kane had this report. >> reporter: the children are missing, they are angry. students are taken by police alleged to be linked to a criminal gang more than two weeks ago. bundled into vans and taken away. since then, there has been no sign of them. on saturday a mass grave was found outside the city of iguala. 28 bodies were recovered. four more graves from found. in a news conference, the state governor had this message for the families. >> translation: i can confirm that some of the corpses, according to legal and forensic evidence do not correspondent to those of the students. t

. >> tickets to russia where vladimir putin -- take us to russia where vladimir putin has been speakingbout the economy. >> the president says sanctions would not hinder russian development and he pledged to boost capital in banks affected by the sanctions. >> stephen carroll, thank you so much. sports now. results from the champions league -- they start right now. >> after losing their opening group a game, atletico madrid put their european campaign back on track in spain. a 70th minute strike was enough. they are joined by malmo. as time went by, when you then tells started to get better -- juventus started to get better, we change things around. we switched to a 4-2-2, and the game opened up. the game was there for the team that was ready to score and take the chances, and it was us that scored. the french international striker came off of the bench to score as real madrid came from behind to rescue a 2-1 when in a group --win in group b. >> for the match, in my opinion i think it was good because we did not do too badly in it. ok, we conceded a goal at the beginning of the game. th

nato's plans have provoked strong criticisms from russian president vladimir putin.the year since construction the income of the political climate has changed greatly. the conflict in ukraine has some residents deveselu of worried. >> naturally we fear being the target of an attack. we are now the second american base in the area. all the world is watching us. >> it is the same anywhere the military is. war won't break out right away. just because we now have a missile base here. if war breaks out, then of course we will be a target. >> the mayor prefers to think about deveselu's glorious past. there was a military base here, but it was closed when the cold war ended. he does not mind whether it is in russian or american hands. >> i feel safe with a missile base here. if there is a strike, we will not be the only ones attacked. >> then he takes us to see his favorite project, a new water purification plant with a well. deveselu receives grants and there is money in store for schools and a day care center. the mayor does not know he what he will do with the rest of th

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>> the accused of vladimir putin tells bloomberg, he is always being blamed. debut,hoo's market shares of the luxury shoemaker are up. the halo seo gets out of the cab. we will speak to j greg len about his new robot business and why halo is bowing out of north america. >> want to welcome you to "the pulse." i am guy johnson. vladimiran president putin is competing with leaders in the land, peace talks we could call them but his latest to cuthave been a threat in -- cut the flow of natural gas to the ukraine. a few words with president putin. the hot topic in the lawn is without a doubt the war in ukraine. they were supposed to meet last night at 7:00 p.m. local time, that was going to be their first meeting since they met at the d-day celebration in june. the meeting did not happen until a 11:00 p.m. and did not and until after 130 in the morning. we will still standing there outside the hyatt hotel when he came out and i had an opportunity to ask him what he makes of the allegations that he is not doing enough to resolve the crisis in the ukraine. he inferre

and her book is also on vladimir putin and the performance of power in russia today. so with that, i turn the floor over to karen. >> i'm going to stand. thank you, will, and thank you very much to the kennon institute and to the wilson center both of whom hosted me when i was here, and i would also like to give a special thanks to the staff in the library who were really terrific in supporting this research. well, we are in a very interesting period for u.s./russian relations or for european/russian relations. here we have the most serious crisis since the cold war in which one country expanded its territory at the expense of another, and the united states responded quite unusually by putting sanctions against financial holdings of named individuals close to a certain russian politician. this doesn't happen every day. we very quickly got accustomed to the idea of sanctions, but normally -- if we could use that word, normally -- there should have been some movement of the sixth fleet, there should have been some military-to-military response, there should have been mo

does anybody think vladimir putin would have gone into crimea had george w. esident? no. >> in the nose in ten seconds. back in 2008, putin did, in fact, invade another former member of the soviet union. the republic of georgia. george bush was president at the time. bush did not punch either putin or nedmedvev. >>> so both clintons are pitching in. bill clinton is headlining a rally in denver for senator mark udahl. also will appear for john hickenlooper. hillary clinton had to back pedal on comments last week about job creation. she said corporations and businesses don't create jobs. she now says the economy thrives when tax breaks are not given to companies that outsource jobs. >>> bob dole wants mitt romney to make another run for the white house. he made the comments campaigning in kansas for senator pat roberts. romney joked saying, you never know what a 90-year-old will say. do you? >> bob dole ran in 1980, '88 and '96. maybe he wants another member. >>> a security scare for prime minister david cameron. this is remarkable. the troubling moment caught o

>> now, russia has said it will recognize the election results and over the weekend president vladimir putinmed the u.s. for the crisis on ukraine and many, many other problems around the world. take a listen. >> translator: maybe the united states exceptional position and the way they are carrying out their leadership really is a blessing for us all and they're meddling in events all around the world is bringing peace, prosperity, progress, growth and democracy and we should maybe just relax and enjoy it all. let me say that this is not the case. absolutely not the case. a unilateral dictate and imposing one's own model produces the opposite result. >> some in the audience pleased with what they heard but that was just a snippet really a tiny portion of what mr. put headline to say about what he calls america's meddling around the world. russia expert toby gaty talked about russia's political views with our john vause. >> you were a special adviser to former president bill clinton on russia. when it comes to russian leaders, have you ever seen anything like the meltdown that you saw which h

withid a lovely one-on-one vladimir putin. how did you get in front of putin?n, the stocks have been going literally round-the-clock. they were supposed to take off with the german chancellor meeting the russian president at 7:00 p.m. yesterday for their first talks since june. i was in normandy. that is when they spoke last about ukraine. they were supposed to sit down at 7:00. putin was late, so they sit down after 11:00 p.m. in the intel after 1:30 in the morning. i'm still standing outside behind. the russian president emerges and i asked them, what do you have to say to this criticism, these accusations that you are not doing enough to solve the crisis in ukraine? he looks at me and says, i'm always accused of something. he jumps in his car, waves to me and drives off. little did i know, he was on his way to the former prime minister italy's villa, sylvia berlusconi for two more hours of talks. at least that is what we were told. is,hat i would like to know how does the fighting in eastern ukraine color these meetings? people are dying as we speak. does an

we will build it all on our own and that actually explains vladimir putin support, 80% of the population really feels that he's doing the right thing in ukraine. at the gulags of the mind. i would like to read a few lines from the beginning of my book. i actually, the reason i do is because i myself am very fascinated that it happened to me. i guess if i read it out loud i may feel better because i still cannot believe it. so just bear with me for a couple of minutes. and i'm reading from prelude which is called prelude only in name. this is nina, the oldest daughter. i was introduced to an old balding man with glasses. the man greeted me with silence holding his gaze. granddaughter, he said. the kgb recently uncovered an account saying your grandfather was a nazi traitor. i cringed. a nazi traitor? at the time i knew little of him but what i did know, joseph stalin had ordered him to awarded him with two medals for bravery in battle and that implied heroism, not treachery. all at once i realized who this man was. stalin's old powerful foreign minister, and once considered almost as ruth

now, as these diplomats huddle, any major breakthrough still depends on this guy, vladimir putin, whocits reactions like this from other heads of state. >> look, i'm going to -- mr. putin, you bet you are. >> you bet he is, that's the reaction from australia's pm. he was talking about literally tackling putin in the apparent downing of that mh-17 civilian aircraft. before putin was running russia, he was an unlikely leader. a frustrated spy, a municipal bureaucrat who built his power base with a loyal band of cronies. if u.s. officials want to outfox putin now, a man who sees himself as russia's super hero, they need to know his origin story. that's the plot of a new scholarly book. thanks for being here. >> my pleasure. >> let's start with a great line you dug up with an older, earlier vladimir putin where he says, i remember coming into the kgb building where i worked feeling as if they were plugging me into an electrical outlet. in the kremlin i have a different position. nobody controls me here. i control everybody else. it's a striking line. but deep down, it may not be that diff

where does vladimir putin begin to worry about the ruble? ruble weekends and weekends and weekends and weakens. at what point does it affect him? >> if we look at the opinion polls, he still has a lot of popularity. it seems like the people like his strong line, strong-arm approach, but the economy really is suffering. we have higher inflation in russia. that is not a pretty situation at all. interestingto be through the winter to see how the polls to react. he seems to have a fold -- firm hand for now. >> jane foley, thank you for joining us. >> you see the volatility in the fx market. stay with us. ♪ >> good morning, everyone. "bloomberg surveillance." good thursday morning. i'm tom keene. let's get to our top headlines. peshmerga is ready to battle isis at kobani. kurdishaccording to state run media. cheered thepeople troops. earnings rose 16% at volkswagen. ends sixal reserve years of bond buying known as quantitative easing. it added trillions of dollars to the fed balance sheet. the central bank still plans to keep short-term interest

i do not know whether vladimir putin feels this challenge today. whole,ime, as a certainly feels of this challenge. when we see this conducted our first conference. we can -- we conducted in eight cities. all of the groups that took part were invited to the local and that conducted so-called prophylactic meetings with them. choosinghe question of the most effective place for doing what i want to do. if i returned to russia, i would immediately of course turn up under house arrest, not in prison. there is a new practice that russian authorities put to their opponents under house arrest. every six months, areat -- our investing organs extend the term of the investigation of one of ukos criminal cases. if i returned to russia, i would not be free to act. it is more convenient for me to act from abroad. >> is there anything in your pardon that prevents you from returning? wayyou make a deal in any that you promised not to return to russia? no, idea not take any augmentations like of that upon myself. i spoke about how i indeed needed to leave the count

means that task is not important for these people. >> is your argument with the russian system or vladimir putin? >> i consider the current problems of russia do not have to do only with a specific person, with putin. he is without a doubt a representative of this system. he is without a doubt, a cornerstone around which the system is being focused more and more. by the way, this is fundamental instability. the problem is not just him. the problem is that russian has not formulated the question properly for itself. the question, if not putin, then who? and this leads beyond the scope of discussion on the system is self. if not putin, then what? and what is a normal law based state with separation of powers, a transfer of powers to local government authorities. that is the government closest , to the people. this is regular elections to replace people in power through honest elections. if putin would agree to follow this path, which of course, i really, really doubt, but still, if he did agree, then there would be no personal aspects for me with this. >> you have told me before you do not hate hi

money he used to fund a political party opposed to vladimir putin. in october of 2003 khodorkovsky was arrested on tax evasion and fraud charges. found guilty he was sentenced to prison. he was slapped with a tax bill and fell into financial ruin before being auctioned off in pieces. in 2010 his fortune largely gone khodorkovsky's sentence was extended when found guilty of embezzlement. in 2011 amnesty international declared him a prisoner of conscience. by december 2013 with the eyes of the world training on russia ahead of the sochi olympics, president putin freed khodorkovsky bringing an end to a decade behind bars. he now lives in switzerland where he's working to galvanize reform-minded russians. he was recently in the united states drumming up support, and we asked as he met with representative in silicon valley to tap their expertise. >> silicon valley specialists are of great interest to me, not only because of their technical knowledge, but they present a new way of thinking, seeing a world that is very attractive to the young and active peo