incidentally, the things that vladimir putin are saying closely resembles what vladimir putin was doing, and saying what he was saying before the world war ii. the reality that vladimir putin would be aggressive no matter what. from the beginning he proclaimed this is his goal to reassert soviet sphere of influence, and squeeze out the west from there. the west can apiece him, many say let's apiece him. but he proved by these things, the west basically appeased him to georgia, then crimea happened. they apiece crimea, and ukraine happens. >> you say if oil goes $60 it will crush them. >> absolutely. >> it will put companies out of business that produce oil. and at that point we have an oil supply problem. >> what happens is two sides. in case of russia, it will be a problem, and long run forcing russia to be a normal economy, and being a normal country. >> normal diversified. >> diversified, modernized, opening up the political system, giving people more say. the whole thing is this is a result of shale gas. that's all with the united states. this is back to the u.s. but going back to t

vladimir putin spoke at length during the press conference about this.e said it caused a hardship, but said that the central bank and the government had the situation under control. he said the measures they have taken were adequate to try to combat this move in the value of the currency. what is interesting, of course is that as they -- as he was speaking, the currency had started going down again on some of the rally that we had seen. it will be interesting to see how the ruble situation evolves as the days and weeks go on. let's take a look at the stock market. the russian stock market was very impressed with what vladimir putin had to tell them today. it started out the day of over 1%, but has gained significantly since then, as you can see. the markets up 6% in trading. across europe, a positive day in the markets. a lot of it has to do do with what federal reserve chair janet ye

since vladimir putin last weighed in on the currency, the ruble has been in freefall down at one point a full 30% since he last spoke. far from hiding, this commercial advertising putin's annual has conference suggests the russian president is ready to take the ruble and the world on. expect a robust defense of syria, everyation thed crisis, and of course crisis. we have seen him with the record 1000 journalists attending the press conference last year and per usual, vladimir putin answered the questions for a full four hours. this year, he's unlikely to do some. standby. a vladimir the defender. wellis was well billed, anticipated. what i the big changes if at all? of sort of deflating people's expectations, i don't think we will get any big policy changes. it's not really his style to go in front of 1000 journalists and announce big policy initiatives. i think we will get some anti-western rhetoric and a bit of blaming this currency crisis on the sanctions. to a certain extent, that would be fair. that's not the only thing going on here. as the economy minister said, it's a perfect s

aus, we will be spending great deal of time talking about vladimir putin. ess conference on going. many more hours still to go. >> a few more hours to go. just a reminder, you can follow us on twitter. we will also head over to athens. ♪ >> putin at the podium. the russian president says the central bank is acting properly. >> negative territory. cuts ass national bank the euro becomes more expensive. >> sunny pulls the release of the controversial film -- "inte rview over." pulls at the release of the controversial film after threats by hackers. >> good morning to our viewers in europe, good evening those in asia, and a very warm welcome to those just waking up in the u.s. i'm guy johnson. >> i'm francine lacqua. this is "the pulse." live from bloomberg's european headquarters in london. >> let's talk about vladimir putin. >> speaking at his news conference. going on for about an hour and we are expecting it to last around three hours. ryan chilcote has been listening in. >> the important thing is, this is basically the russian president's first time weighi

vladimir putin is on his feet. this is the state of the nation address. town, very the focused on russian statehood. describes crimea as the temple mount and it is sacred. support for the ukraine and described it as a coup. he will continue to talk for the next few hours and we will bring you the headlines. once this is the vladimir putin we have come to know in the last couple of months. on one hand, he says he respects sovereignty and that he says that crimea is the russian temple mount. also next is our exclusive interview with the former anti-and prime minister. we will get his views on the right decisions and the advisory council closed-door meeting this weekend. >> welcome back to the polls. vladimir putin is giving a state of the union address. >> he talked about the crimea and the relationships with the ukraine. they would have sanctioned rusher with or without the ukraine at some point. it is interesting to see how he segues into the economy. how is he going to tackle that will be a theme running through the speech that he delivers. let's get the

very widely anticipated press conference by vladimir putin.ocus on russia over the course of the past 12 months. particularly in the course of the past week with the economic crisis here reaching extreme levels. vladimir putin going out of his way to reassure russians that the country would do, he would do as much as possible, to make sure the impact of the economic crisis is limited. he vowed to diversify the economy and weigh oil in the future. he was asked this interesting question. is this economic crisis the price we have to pay here in russia for annexing crimea? paraphrasing that question. he rejected that categorically. russia annexed that territory of crimea in march. it is one of the reasons why the economic crisis being felt right now is so bad and extreme. it is not just the oil price, but sanctions as well. vladimir putin rejecting that. it is the matter of our own independence. plucking on the heart strings making russians understand he did this for the good of the nation. >> fascinating to say the least. i have been monitoring w

. >> vladimir putin spoke for a little over three hours in moscow today. we have the main points of the speech. >> i suppose there never has been or never will be a good time -- now is as good a time as any in his final two years. he is doing what he finally believes in, acting on it. his values are converging with the policy he is pursuing. i think he has the advantage of public opinion on his side. >> our apologies. a technical gremlin there. that was interview about cuba. we will try to get that back for you later in the show. how to deal with russia was at the top of the agenda of the european union summit in brussels. eu leaders calling on putin to make a radical change in his policy towards ukraine and learn to be more cooperative with the rest of the world. he is calling for a tougher stance in his role as european council president. hungary's prime minister has warned the eu not to be too harsh. our correspondent is covering those talks and joins us live. is the eu expected to widen sanctions against moscow, or have they gone about as far as they c

as we speak, russian president vladimir putin on the defensive

. >>> well, we are just 45 minutes away from russian president vladimir putin's annual speech to parliament. and we will have live coverage on cnn international. >> mr. putin will spell out kremlin policies in the face of western sanctions brought on by the crisis in ukraine. those sanctions and a rapid drop in oil prices have really damaged the economy. our cnn correspondent joins us live from moscow to discuss what we can expect today. matthew, some analysts look back at 2014 and say this was actually a horrible year for president putin. he is more isolated, more constrained financially, yet somehow more defiant than ever. i wonder how he may try to spin events of this year. >> well, i doubt very much whether he would spin them in that direction. because one of the achievements from the russian point of view of 2014 has been that they reabsorbed, annexed the crimea peninsula. because of that, vladimir putin's popularity has soared to levels that even this popular politician has not experienced before. i mean, the latest polling coming out this week is that his popularity, his approval rat

should we have known that vladimir putin would react, afraid n.a.t.o. would have a strong hold on his borders. >> i would agree with patrick in the sense that the historical stronghold is importance. look at what the united states and the west has done to bring russia in. they created a council with n.a.t.o. to allow the russians to take part in discussions. they brought russia into the ga, into the world trade organization. the u.s. and the west has been trying to bring russia into the system, the premise - if the premise is that n.a.t.o. is a threat, to the u.s. and europe, if they want to take aggressive action against russia, this argument may make sense. but n.a.t.o. never started a war in europe. and to think that somehow n.a.t.o. or the west is - has aggressive intent towards russia, historical record, doesn't support that for the past 20 years. >> to greg's point. we did try to include russia in a lot of these meetings and then there was a reset during the obama administration, where there was an opening tour and improving relations. >> okay. th

, president vladimir putin and former kbb spy vladimir putin. and the winner is maybe. there you go. oh, my god. vladimir putin. and putting up the votes. the russian president snagging 58% of those votes. now in case you're counting, this is the 15th year in a row old lad has grabbed russian's man of the year title. tracy, what a shocker. i'm so glad -- >> if anyone office the fence, that photo with him shirtless, put a vote in his corner. neil: how do you get votes like that? i think you want to vote for me. >> these are the same people when they polled who should be man of the year, they were asked to name an important artist and scientist, they couldn't. these polls are screwy, much like a lot of things there. neil: you're not calling them into question. the odds someone wins 15 years in a row. >> without his shirton a horse. neil: he was a little charlton heston, but that was just me. >> i'll never forget that photo either. he's got a crumbling economy. the currency is falling through the floor. if that's the criteria for winning, you know,

will it rein in vladimir putin's aggression. social media producer harmeli aregawi is in washington d.c. helping out on "the stream", but is tracking the top stories on the web. what is trending. >> a professional athlete is praised for the way he eloquently defended a decision to protest on the field. whether or not you are watching, let us know what you think. join the conversation: >>> the republicans first main contender all but jumped into the race jed bush is setting up an exploratory committee to explore running for president of the united states of the we are two years away from the presidential election, why making the move so early, and how does it shake up the race. republic republican strategist lesley joins us. we are joined from l.a. by al jazeera political correspondent michael shure. good to have you with us. lesley, a few months ago you told us you didn't think jed bush had the fire in the belly he needed to be president. have you changed your mind? >> i think that jed bush clarified that he does have the fire,

will it rein in vladimir putin's aggression. social media producer harmeli aregawi is in washington d.c. helping out on "the stream", but is tracking the top stories on the web. what is trending. >> a professional athlete is praised for the way he eloquently defended a decision to protest on the field. whether or not you are watching, let us know what you think. join the conversation: >> television icon norman lear >> we hoped we were delivering real characters... >> creator of "all in the family" "the jeffersons" and "good times" talks race, comedy and american culture today... >> you're taking me to a place in this interview, i haven't been before... >> i told you this would be your best interview >> ...and it is... it's the current one... >> every monday, join us for exclusive... revealing... and surprising talks with the most interesting people of our time... talk to al jazeera, only on al jazeera america ♪ make the best entertainment part of your holidays. catch all the hottest handpicked titles on the winter watchlist, onl

vladimir putin used the word betrayal. i don't think it can be dismissed. >> what do you say to that. how responsible are we. is there a certain american arrogance that thinks hey, we won the cold war, and we have the right to do whatever we want, and the rest of the world should be more like us, more democratic, more capitalist. do we have the right to push the world to be like us. we r with you -- we can try the policy. i would make the distinction between working towards greater economic cooperation is a good thing. it's difficult for russia to oppose that. expanding militarily, with the nato expansion, you can argue this is wise for not wise. with ukraine, they have requested n.a.t.o. membership in 2008, and europe was very much opposed to that. it did not go forward. and so you crepian member -- ukranian membership in n.a.t.o. has been off the table for the last six years, out of sensitivity to russia. the u.s. has been, i think, sensitive in some ways. obviously russia - vladimir putin doesn't feel it's been yourself

as vladimir putin gives his annual state of the union address. the russian president portrayed his country as a strong state that would overcome its difficulties and western sanctions. >> regarding sanctions, this is not just a nervous reaction of the united states and our allies in regards to the coup in ukraine. i'm certain all of this -- it all of this did not take place -- and i want to underline this for you politicians in the hall today -- even if all of it did not take place they would have come up with another reason to contain russia's growing capabilities to influence it or better, to use it for their own goals. >> or more we go to our moscow correspondent. julia, as we heard, putin was blaming russia's enemies for destroying its economy, but did he mention any concrete measures he would take to combat the country's economic woes? >> this year's state of the nation address comes at a difficult time for russia. the economy is sliding into recession because of falling oil prices and western sanctions against russia, but according to putin

vladimir putin criticized the fall in the price of oil for destabilizing his currency. let's show you the scope in moscow where he holds the annual end of year press conference. this comes at a distant time when you take into account the economic situation that the country finds itself in. let's listen. >> it is not that different to the formula we employ with regard to europe. regarding the coefficient it is different. this is different in the world. anyway, this contract has - is going to allow russia to concentrate great resources, and not just to create a gas pipeline. it will help us provide the russian people with gas, and allow us to link the western gas pipelines and the eastern pipelines and redistribute gas flows from one part of the country to the other when it is profitable, beneficial. had it been not for this, we would not have been able to provide gas to liberia, and the russian far east. let alone a great site, this part of russia. regarding turkey, the turkish economy is growing, as the asia pacific region, it needs new energy resources, recreating the

vladimir putin, strongman or madman? >> strongman, but with a real problem. >> you can define this either way. >> there is a third way. he has a problem. the ruble is collapsing, the price of oil is collapsing. the russian economy is hugely dependent on oil. on the other hand putin is hugely popular within russia because of the situation in the ukraine and this idea that rushes being persecuted. -- the idea that rushes being persecuted. he referred to the u.s. as the little piggies. he needs to cast the blame on foreign adversaries, and that is what's happened. >> also, people laugh at "chain the bear," but the truth is his whole strength in russia is built on the notion that he is a strong man for a big powerful superpower. the bear, although it is clumsy and weird, it is also really resonating probably with russians, saying we are a strong and defiant country, we can make it through this, do not try to threaten us. >> or you will have to contend with our top leader riding his steed and doing all the other things that v

what do you think of vladimir putin ? >> well, i refer to putin among others. but russia when you look at its history has always needed an external enemy. they are not able to rule their company without an enemy. these were the people from chen chechia chechnya, the poles. this is the philosophy and it has to be changed. and this is not the right time for such philosophy. and we are not able to afford such losses. and rule through enemy. and russia has to change its philosophy of that necessary enemy. >> you remember a time when even in poland there was not a free press. now. vladimir putin is very popular in russia for his action he becaus sbecause it seems the people fel he is defending russia and greater russia. do you think he would have more support? >> definitely. the support he gets nowadays is smaller but russia may like it in a certain way. the additional problem for russia is that they used to be a superpower as ussr. they lost that position and now only superpower is the u.s.a. but i also refer to weapons, to the economy, to the moral and social and

many have learned to disbelieve what couldn't advisors say. >> is there any way that vladimir putin cankraine and still remain proud vladimir with a bare naked chest? of guy withe kind the popularity ratings that would make it possible -- >> he is a kind of guy with the popularity ratings that would make it possible for him to do anything. but people will say, the west coast you around if he backed down. -- the west pushed you around if he backs down. for notces criticism going far enough when it comes to ukraine. it's a risk of him doing something more when it could antagonize the situation. year long, i've been saying putin would not do anything crazy, and he keeps doing it. [laughter] i think a new move in these circumstances and the -- is unlikely. him responsible for terrible consequences and inflame the situation. but you cannot rule it out. >> you are a senior fellow at cfr. that carries a certain responsibility. mr. cannon was the father of containment. putin'se contain mr. aspirations. >> containment buildup on our side of the line. that would focus on making sure ukraine succe

vladimir putin has used the term betrayal. i don't think it can be dismissed. >> greg, what do you say to that? how responsible are we. is there a certain american arrogance that thinks hey, we won the cold war, and we have the right to do pretty much whatever we want and the rest of the world should be like us more democratic capitalist. do we have the right to push the world to be more like us? >> well we can try that policy. we need to debate the wisdom of whether it's working. with eastern europe and ukraine, i think - i would make the distinction between, i think, working towards greater economic cooperation is a good thing, and that's difficult for russia or anyone else to opposed that on solid ground. expanding militarily into eastern europe with the n.a.t.o. expansion that we have seen you could argue that this is wise or not wise. these countries have wanted it and with ukraine - they have requested n.a.t.o. membership in twitt, and europe was very much opposed to that. it did not go forward. ukranian membership in n.

obviously russia, vladimir putin in particular doesn't feel it's been enough. but this has been part of the debate. you can argue whether it's wise or not. discussion. >> to greg's point about some countries wanting more economic discussion with the west, you argue how vladimir putin stands for the rights of nonwestern rights to be nonwestern. what if they do want to be western. do they have a right to align themselves with russia. >> of course they can. going back to greg's first point, the thought that america has the right to press its version of democracy around the world as a debatable idea - i'm sorry, that's a cock eyed debate. i'm not on it. as to the rest of - as to the eastern european nations, of course. they can democratize, determine their futures. certainly. if they don't care to, that's another matter. that's another matter entirely. >> what about the question you raise. you raise it and have been quoting dr kissinger. you talk about power politics, but you can't ignore them. should they not be passed on a focus of influence. there can't be n.a.t

putin who they had to report about for everything. >> stephen: so would you like to say thank you vladimir putin me from jail? i'll give 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 pe

vladimir putin has responded by looking more inward and pivoting russia east towards asia.e has urged russian companies to rely more on russia's domestic market for growth. so far that's not enough to head off a recession that officials now say could shrink the economy by 4% in 2015. and with living standards falling for ordinary russians growing economic uncertainty on the horizon, more people may be willing to question or challenge putin and his policies. in a country like russia that inevitably means more repression. we have this report from peter sharpe. >> reporter: aleksei navalny arrived with prosecutors calling for a ten-year term. instead he and his brother were sentenced to three and a half years, be alexei receiving a suspended sentence. his supports claim the trial is another attempt by the kremlin to curb decent in russia. and it will certainly remove one of the most effective opposition campaigners from the political stage while deriving him of a long jail term that would just increase his popularity. alex navalny is for men the credible face of opposition. he

obviously, they will -- they see him as the popular figure to oppose vladimir putin and his policies in russia today. and the fact that he's been taken off the political stage will pose deep inc. aer from the people. i can tell you there was a deep outpouring of anger from his supporters when they discovered the verdict which was originally scheduled for jan 15th, was brought forward to this morning and that's why they're planning this mass demonstration outside the kremlin later today. and navalny obviously unrepentant, as he was leaving the court called on the people to protest and call on vladimir putin to be destroyed. there was obviously distress at the kremlin at this point. there thank you peter. >>> isps can now block websites considered security requests, without approval. previously they needed a court order to do so. the new laws applied to social media sites. access to google in chien ah china access had been denied because ever google's refusal to abide by chinese laws. >>> ending israeli occupation of palestine by 2016, jordan handed over the document on behalf of the p

we are awaiting a speech by vladimir putin in moscow. you're looking at live pictures of the kremlin palace where he's due to start speaking. the nation addresses to the duma any minute now. we will bring you pictures of that and the headlines of the speech if and when it comes. the speech comes as relations between the u.s. and russia remain strained. the u.s. president barack obama has laid the blame firmly at the door of the kremlin. >> i'm less optimistic about russia. i have a very direct and blunt business-like relationship with putin. we had a very productive relationship when medicine very was approximat medev was president. partly because he was been integrating himself into a nationalist backward-looking approach to russian politics. it's scaring the heck out of his neighbors and badly damaging his economy. sanctions are having a big bite on their economy. >> chris is joining us now. great to have you here this morning. >> thank you. >> let's talk about what putin is likely to say. does the fact that the ruble has weakened sign

let vladimir putin shut them down. let him be the one who wants to force the issue, let the russian people demand to have it back caving is so bad in this case. >> it's obvious facebook is choosing money over doing the right thing. they are siding with putin over the russian people that want to protest the bad things that are going on. this is quite the -- >> you can't put pornography on facebook. there's no porn anywhere. no. >> we don't -- >> we don't put pornography on fox news does that -- is that censorship? >> to your point -- >> we keep talking about russia's laws and their rules of laws. ever seen their laws? they suck and they're all against the people and facebook should open up and do something about t. i'm take your word for it, gary. thanks a lot, my thanks to dagen and charlie. >> who's the bad guy? putin. not facebook. >>> up next to the new christmas sweater. probably will return that. picks from the pros definitely keepers. >> refund? are you crazy? >> refund? refund? refund! >> easy, easy. >> refund.

i think vladimir putin calculates profit and loss. he calculated that he could take crimea and there would be minimal response. he then figured he could go into eastern ukraine. one of my favorites is when he said those are the russian soldiers in crimea. they were uniforms they bought from stores. this really echoes the old cold war days and that kind of statement. all i can say is we will have the debate on the floor of the senate now that we are in the majority. we will make sure this issue is kept alive not only for ukraine, not only for ukraine because that is a compelling enough argument, but what happens next to the baltic? what happens to moldova? what happens to the other countries in the region? not only are you seeing direct threats but other countries in the region in eastern europe, former soviet union, making accommodations to vladimir putin because they see a lack of american leadership. that also has very significant long-term consequences as well. rest easy because we just confirmed an outstanding american as ambassad

vladimir putin does not represent any party there like the soviet union you had the communist party belowthe leadership. this is a cult of personality. that is why putin always had to use russian propaganda to whip the russian people into thinking he was the guy in control. there was a couple of things he said in the press conference that struck me as interesting. one, he's now talking about moving away from an oil dependent economy and retooling it. going to take two years to get done. which suggests to me that putin is finally realized that he alone is not going to be able to rescue russia from the current problems that it has right now. and he may have to move into a direction that actually is slightly more rational. but at the same time, he is pushing that paranoia button very hard, blaming west for causing these problems. >> will that lead, do you think, to more adventure abroad. >> it's a historical fact that russian weakness has been accompanied by a policy of expansionist and not contraction. you're now going to see, i suspect, i should say, a putin who's very given to taking geo

didn't vladimir putin stock away a few hundred billion dollars?> he came to power at the end of the 1990's with this message of never again will russia policy economy be pulled down by collapsing oil prices. he had the finance minister of the decade build up and they have about $380 billion of foreign exchange reserves, maybe $200 billion of that is accessible. between everything else that is happening, that could go down fast. ,hey do have that protection which they did not have last time they were in this situation. >> let me bring up another quote. can we play that? >> we have to implement those decisions that have already been burden ofessening the tax payments for small enterprises that are going to register for the first time. they will have a two-year tax break. zero, thereart from will be a total amnesty of the capital brought back to russia from abroad. >> it sounds strayed to have the queen of england overdubbing vladimir putin. [laughter] that his taxng policies are seemingly more liberal than the american tax policies. >> well, yes. th

. >>> also coming up, vladimir putin preparing to address the nation, russia we'll take you live to moscow for a look at the big issue, of course, the economy top of the agenda but we'll see what he has to explain if anything here coming up in a few hours. >>> now, the u.s. and cuba have been at odds for more than half a century but today you really do get the sense there's new hope that the countries could be mending their broken relationship. >> since 1961, the u.s. has had no diplomatic mission with cuba but started with this. this is the beginning, this was the beginning, rather, of normalcy between the u.s. and cuba. the release of a u.s. aid worker, alan gross there, you just saw him hugging his wife clearly elated and overjoyed to be back on u.s. soil and spent the past five years in a cuban prison. his crime, quote/unquote alleged crime rather was trying to bring the internet to the country's small jewish community. officially he was freed on humanitarian grounds but his release is actually part of a bigger prisoner exchange between the u.s. and cuba. >> cubanos or at least most of

from vladimir putin.gressive with these sanctions and the rubel is crashing. it looks like he's had an event. >> and isn't it ironic, we did sanctions there, we enforced them, strong sanctions and we're bringing putin into a weaker position and at the same time we're appeasing the dictator's 90 miles an hour. >> wait a minute. >> do you think we'll see progress in cuba because of the sanctions? >> do i think we'll see progress because of the sanctions? you know, i think we haven't seen a victory by the dictatorship because of the sanctions. the sarnctions at this point ar symbol electric at this point but we're closer to the dictators than we were 55 years ago. they are 80-some years old and we have not even seen fidel castro. for all we know, they bring out his corpse every now and then. >> i won't respond to that part of it. >> go ahead. button up quickly. i've got to go. >> i strongly disagree, one, the point about sanctions to me is mind boggling. we've had nearly 60 years of sanctions. no, all we've

if you were waiting for vladimir putin to back down in the face of economic pressure, you would have been disappointed. the issue of russian military flights probing nato defenses, a case in point. president putin rejectling allegations of cold war style aggression in the skies. it is the united states, not russia, it said, that's the agret aggress aggressor. the budget has grown. it's about $50 billion, and the pentagon's budget is ten times more, $575 billion and you're trying to say we are pursuing an aggressive policy? >> reporter: it's the kind of jab that's resonated with russians in the past, making putin a popular hero. but will it be enough to comfort russians, now mired in economic pain? matthew chance, cnn, moscow. >> popular hero, indeed. earlier this week, vladimir putin was named russia's man in the year for the 15th time. remarkable given what's going on in that country. >> who was number two? who is he competing against? >> you wonder. >>> coming up next, the boston bombing suspect appeared in court on thursday. take a look at the drawings there. details on the shoutin

at his into the year press conference, russian president vladimir putin puts the blame on other countries for problems at home. european union leaders agreed to tighter economic sanctions on russia and pushed for hundreds of billions of euros to stimulate economic growth in the du -- in the eu. cubans hope for a better future after the united states and their government move to restore normal relations. when you are russian president vladimir putin and a thousand journalists ask about your teetering economy what do you do? well, you blame the outside. at his into the year marathon press conference today, he accused the united states and saudi arabia pushing oil prices down in an attempt to put russia back in a box. >> but couldn't still enjoys high popularity numbers at home. he said he will not allow the rest -- the west to turn the russian bear into a stuffed animal. he promised a return to growth in two years time. we start with this report from moscow. >> the images of the beginning of his media extravaganza show him relaxed and confident. but when the talk turned to the currency cris

vladimir putin faced tough questions in a conference. we'll bring you the news from that this morning. we are looking at the futures. up 63 points. and let's give you a quick snapshot -- nap shot. that you have to go back to 2011. see a representation of the euro rising and the swiss franc falling. making it very clear full -- make it very clear that if you have a popular currency, we will defend it. the chinese say they will defend banks. there is also that coming back until the first quarter. janet yellen channels alan greenspan from 2004, using the word, patients. a six month time span between using patience and seeing rates rise. there is a great article written by me showing you the moments. the little bit you want to tune in. when they get going, they have a habit of going quickly. it is up in the united kingdom. openyou have has yet to and you will get retail sales up. european leaders meet in agendas and part of that that they have is russia. had as the conversation i couple of minutes ago. this is the dollar down and the ruble r

of a sudden, is vladimir putin invading the ukraine?and now, here we have cuba knocking on her backdoor. i ich, for some respects, think that relationships with cuba could improve. nobody can tell me that things can i get better between these leaders and our countries. but i'm just curious as to why -- after the elections -- vladimir putin invades the ukraine and now we have cuba knocking on our door? an airliner is shut down over the ukraine. and this stuff just seems to go on and on. what i president obama's take on all this? host: and steve is coming in on our line from illinois. good morning. caller: good morning. the work you for do, hosting at c-span day in and day out. you are to be commended to the high heavens. host: thank you, steve. caller: you're welcome. it is also funny, they got this to wall stmas present street -- it is due to this number coming up, or the economy creating jobs. and the politicians are all at a conflict of interest because they are tied into the stock market. one last thing, please. i am at the old folks

happened with sanctions in march, they said, listen, there's only so much pressure to put on vladimir putinuse he actually holds all the cards. >> there is clearly a push and pull here between the richest and also putin. speaking of some of the richest, one of the top 10 richest billionaires in russia also owns the brooklyn nets here, and the nba has actually helped him protect some of this as well. >> they each internally -- each internally value -- each journal the team.ly value that element of his fortune has propped him up a little bit. he cannot get the net. -- nets. >> thank you so much. on to our other story, rejoicing, tobacco products are among the goods allowed with cuba. will it start to lose some of its feel? joining us from our atlanta studio thomas written on this, and 80 smoke some cigars in his life, who knows, how much of this was built on the fact that you could not get any legally? yesterday i talked and he said, a lot of it is just scarcity and scarcity is just a man. -- just demand. couldwas a time when you bring some in but that was lifted a few years ago. these newre

. >>> plus, russian president vladimir putin prepares to address his nation very soon in the midst of an economic meltdown. we'll take you live to moscow for a preview. >>> and coming up later, sony cancels the release of the controversial movie "the interview," but will the movie only encourage the hackers who've targeted the entertainment studio? we'll explore that question this hour. >>> we do want to begin with major developments in u.s./cuban relations. these places are so close geographically but for half a century they've been so far apart over a political ideology and human rights. well, now what we're seeing is a change in direction as the two countries are announcing plans to normalize relations and it all began with a prisoner exchange. global affairs correspondent elise labott reports. >> reporter: u.s. contractor alan gross on american soil with his release a historic opening of u.s. relations with cuba after five decades of confrontation. seeing the american flag for the first time in five years, a frail gross was overcome. his toothless smile offered the untold story of

vladimir putin will field questions from the thousands of journalists who are attending. marcus will be looking for any response, reaction from the residents and the standoff with the rest over ukraine. geoff cutmore has been in moscow for the last two days and is standing by with what to expect. of course, given the financial crisis or stress that russia is under, it will be interesting to see if putin is able to address the economic challenges. >> this event generally tends to be a public relations exercise. you always get the state of the nation address in the early days of december and that generally sets the policy tone. there wasn't a great deal that the markets could run with. now we have this opportunity yet again for president putin to speak and the germans are gathered in the room and i guess we're just waiting for the president to walk in here. hopes are high that he will say something that is supportive of the ruble and the economy here in moscow. we've seen a much more aggressive intervention in the currency markets over the last 24 hours by the finance minis

alexi navalny is a threat to vladimir putin. he led mastiff protests before and after putin's run for president. navalny has political aspirations of his own. he lost the election for mayor of moscow and said he'll run in 2018. we spoke with the director of the center for russia and eurasia at the rand center. i asked her why he was a threat to vladimir putin. >> i think of all the opposition leaders available in russia, he has not just name recognition but standing as a nationalist standing with the russian public as a whole. he does not present himself as this egg head divorced from the public. that's not his image. he has been a fighter against corruption. because he does have a nationalist way he thinks and talks about russia he has a certain appeal that i think others in the opposition do not. >> fighter against corruption. i wonder if that's the reason why i often hear him referred to as a tool from the west. a realthe--tool for the west. >> i think that's another thing of his appeal. he's russian-grown, russian activist.

we'll have the latest on vladimir putin's visit to new delhi, and the nuclear options. also indigenous people from all over south america head to peru's capital to demand action on climate change >>> and why this man has been a long time coming for argentina's favourite football club. >>> we're off to hong kong where we understand the police are arresting demonstrators, refusing to leave one of the main protest camps. let's go to sarah clarke on the streets, and it's quarter past six in the evening. it looks pretty empty. the police moved in and carried out their threat to forcibly remove those that don't go voluntarily. >> yes, they forcibly removed the remaining protesters taking part in a sit in ahead of me. this includes legislators that have been arrested. they were taken away one by one, put on a police bus and removed. we have seen the last lot of protesters who left this dome once it was declared illegal. when they left the details were taken, they were recorded by police and may be followed up and charged down the track. you may see that it looks more like a co