does vladimir putin have some kind of hold over donald trump? ch of a role did he have in meddling in america's elections? i tried to ask him. mr. putin did not agree to answer my questions, but his closest aide, dmitry peskov did. t >> the answer is very simple, no. you're humiliating yourselves saying a country can intervene in your election process. america, a huge country, country number with the most powerful country in the world, that's simply impossible. >> reporter: we will get at the truth of all this, but to do that, we need to go back to the final days of the country vladimir putin loved. >> i think that down deep in putin, there is this sense of extraordinary humiliation over the collapse of the soviet union. because it wasn't just the soviet union, it was the russian empire. [ chanting ] >> reporter: putin returned home from his kgb posting in 1990 to a country he did not recognize. the ussr had been transformed. by the policy of openness. >> a lot of things happened very quickly. >> coca-cola. coca-co coca-cola. >> the romance with

interesting question, vladimir putin hasjust citizens.r putin has just been re—elected with a landslide victory, it is clear that although this was not a level playing field, this selection, and only those candidates who pose no serious challenge to vladimir putin were allowed to take part, many russians do support vladimir putin, some because they really like his muscle flexing, his strong arm tactics, his anti—western rhetoric. there are other people who support him because they fear change, many russians fear change, they don't want life to get worse thanit they don't want life to get worse than it is now and they fear picking a new president. you talked about being on the campaign trail for the selection, added compare to covering western election? it is not like a western election? it is not like a western election, as i said before, only those candidates who did not threaten vladimir putin were allowed to ta ke threaten vladimir putin were allowed to take part, russia —— russia's most prominent opposition figure was barred from taki

or a servant of vladimir putin, a colluder with vladimir putin. so while he spent the day furious and embarrassed by the leak to not congratulate. we had to publically be proud of the thing that we know embarrasses him. so he tweeted i called president putin of russia to congratulate him on his election victory. the l.a. times is reporting one person who speaks regularly with white house officials said the most recent leak seemed more geared toward infantilizing trump who has ignored numerous suggestions that he rebuke putin. i'm sure there's going to be a scalping over this. how is the leakiest white house in history going to catch the person or persons responsible for this particular leak? we now know that all of the white house leakers have signed a completely ridiculous and unenforceable confidentiality agreement that they violate every time they leak something. it was the trump family's idea to force them to sign the nondisclosure agreements. ivanka trump was a cheerleader of the idea. it was a stupid idea. in all of the reporting today, ever

evening in moscow, —16 degrees, hard to believe there are people in the ground without hats on, and vladimir putin have one either, and he is looking very happy, 35 putin doesn't have one either, and he is looking very happy, as well he should be with the result tonight. he increased his share of the vote from 2012 when he won 64% of the vote, tonight 73.9% of the current exit poll results we are seeing here in russia. but of course those votes are still being counted. and there he was addressing that sea of people, saying it is so important we work together as a team, that we think about the future of this great country, and if we do that, we will achieve success together. so vladimir putin there winning his fourth term in office, and addressing his jubilant supporters there in moscow, just on the other side of red square. if we look at where we are, there is the kremlin, on the other side of that is where the concert is taking place this evening, the vote taking place on the fourth anniversary of the annexation of crimea. for nationalists here in russia, a very important day. there were a number

in a few days there will be an election and i hate to say this but you are not going to win, vladimir putins election is not about electing a president. speaking honestly. yes, he has a big advantage against all of us but this election is about how russia will be after the elections. and who will influence on the economy to go to the site of market competition and for the versification of the economy. —— de versification. the other way is back the 90s, backed to the soviet union, i'm afraid to say. this is a very possible alternative so we are fighting for that. that we do not go back, we go forward and for an open economy and free economy and this will lead us to a free society in the future. hello. temperatures are on the up this weekend as it turns milder but we are not there yet and snow is still part of our forecast for the first part of thursday. here's a look at the recent satellite picture. this area of cloud pushing in from the south—west, bringing in some rain, sleet and some snow to parts of england and wales as thursday begins. a fairly messy looking picture, by no means everyon

which is why vladimir putin was always going to win this vote.ection was not about choosing a new president. it was about reappointing the old one. and although many russians support vladimir putin, crucially, it is the political system he has built in russia that guaranteed him a landslide win. these images are embarrassing, however. caught on cctv, a woman stuffs a ballot box near moscow. suddenly, there are two of them at it. and during a vote count in siberia, balloons are moved to cover the camera. election officials say they will investigate. but the results will not change. neither will the name of russia's president. i spoke to an election observer tonight who mentioned some of those regularities but he said nothing will change here. the results certainly will not change. i also spoke to a young supporter of president putin. is the only xi has ever known and she says she was smiling from ear to ear. she believes he is the strongman that this country needs to lead it forward despite the fact that we are now seeing russia increasingly isola

vladimir putin were allowed to take part.nent opposition figure, alexei navalny, he was barred from taking pa rt navalny, he was barred from taking part in the election. and then you look at the amount of airtime that was given to president putin on russian television ahead of the election, he had far more airtime that all of the other candidates put together and all of the coverage of vladimir putin was very positive. so, you know, in that sense, no, this is not like a western election. the russian authorities have been particularly critical of the british media. do you worry about your safety at all? i have worried up till this point. as i say, walking around moscow right now, it feels pretty normal. you go into the coffeeshop, you get happy smiley serving you. and although i have noticed more anti— british sentiment on russian television, for example, i saw on russian television, for example, isawa on russian television, for example, i saw a report the other day where the reporter claimed that over the last few centuries,

tonight, by the kremlin, vladimir putin sent his people for re—electing their president. aid. russia, russia, they chanted. however, in putin's fourth term, our russia and the west destined for a cold war? later, the president dismissed rich accusations that he was behind the nerve agent attack in salisbury. translation: make it is rubbish, drivel, nonsense to think that russia would do something like that ahead of a presidential election and the world cup. president putin's pitch to voters had been to stick with me and russia will be strong. and many russians believe that. he is a genius. blood if it wants russia to prosper and thrust to live in happiness. she says that it is thanks to vladimir putin russia still exist. however, critics of the kremlin says that the election was fixed and only those candidates who stood no chance of an seating vladimir putin were allowed to run. the problem with russia is that there is no such thing as russian politics. politics has been rock eliminated in russia altogether. there is only one political institution in russia and that is the

here the russian behaviour doesn't match with vladimir putin's rhetoric.s an information operation. vladimir putin reaches out, without making any tangible concession, to whomever wants to pick up the hand in europe, you have the freedom party co-governing in austria or an italian government. and they'll want an excuse to say why sanctions are nonsense and why we should not reach out to this hand. ignoring the fact that the hand is well armed. brent: what do you think about what we here coming out of the united states with cambridge analytica and facebook. there's a controversy over facebook, and the controversy over russia being behind everything. is there any way to hold vladimir putin and the kremlin to account for in? >> well, that is difficult. first of all, because it's not so clear cut on what the kremlin does. russia here is - it's not such as vladimir putin is the only evil sislord sitting on the conceiving plots. it's more people that have moscow consensus, and we are at war with the west. they are trying to sell products to vladimir putin, raisi

no, i'm asking you whether you believe vladimir putin is corrupt and those around him? corruption. i've never seen this anywhere. really? really! no but, corruption where? let me read to you the latest helsinki commission report, highly respected, on russia. they say, "endemic corruption is the defining characteristic of the putin regime. while the president is the prime beneficiary, cronies maintain the system of corruption. these loyal supporters are necessary for putin to ensure the status quo and they often pursue the government's illicit interests." that's the helsinki commission report putting the blame on putin himself. helsinki... yeah. i don't know about helsinki but i have never seen anybody from putin's administration asking from anybody, from at least business, for a bribe. i have never seen, i cannot comment on that. you're trying to beat putin in this election, wouldn't it be worth your while digging away at navalny‘s claims that putin and his inner circle are corrupt? i am saying we have to work and go forward. if we will claim that everything is bad and t

our top stories: vladimir putin wins another six yea rs vladimir putin wins another six years as a resident of russia. he's also dismissed britain's claims that russia was behind the poisoning of former spy, sergei skripal. syria's president assad visits soldiers fighting rebels on the frontline in eastern ghouta. and it's a medical breakthrough, say scientists — after stem cell transplants are used to treat multiple sclerosis. vladimir putin has secured another six—year term as russia's president following a landslide election win. he told supporters he saw the result as a vote of confidence in his achievements and in the country. speaking at a news conference he spoke about the ongoing dispute with britain over the poisoning of a russian spy. he insisted that his government had no chemical weapons and had nothing to do with it. these are the latest figures from the russian central election commission. with 98% of the vote now counted, mr putin has won 76.6% — hugely ahead of his nearest rival — the communist party candidate pavel grudinin. he's won just under 12%. the far—right nationalis

she was eight when vladimir putin came to power.ors for the election will stop xenia calls it a fa ke vote election will stop xenia calls it a fake vote in any case, and as vladimir putin's last term brought warand vladimir putin's last term brought war and sanctions, she is worried what the next might hold. translation: i want russia to continue as part of western civilisation, and not closed off behind a wall. yes, we want to be seen as equals. we want to protect our interests, but we do not want to be seen as north korea. we don't wa nt to be seen as north korea. we don't want to be isolated. that seems to be the direction the country is heading in, though. we travelled north to st petersburg to investigate claims that russia's information war is now targeting the west, too. from here, the kremlin has been accused of using the internet to manipulate opinion at home and abroad. and this building has become notorious as russia's troll factory. it is mostly empty now. the signs as it is up for rent. but an investigation in the unite

still, vladimir putin was relaxed as he voted. in the programme i am offering my country, the president said. and his supporters agreed. he is a genius, he says. putin wants russia to prosper and for russians to live in happiness. it is thanks to putin, she says, that russia still exists. but critics of the kremlin say the election was fixed, that only those candidates who stood no chance of unseating vladimir putin were allowed to run. the problem with russia is that there is no such thing as russian politics. politics has been eliminated in russia altogether. there is only one political institution in russia and that is the physical body of vladimir putin. which is why the result of this vote was never in doubt. this election is less about choosing a new president, and more about reappointing the old one. the political system vladimir putin has built ensures he doesn't face any challenge. he's set for a fourth term in the kremlin. but these images will embarrass the kremlin. caught on cctv, a woman stuffs the ballot box at a poll

according to the latest results of vladimir putin has won more than 70% of the vote in the election, t‘s the political system mr putin put in place in russia that virtually guaranteed he would emerge the winner. it looked more like a show than an election. russian polling stations providing free entertainment to boost the turnout. free entertainment to inside, you could cast a ballot and cast an eye at the art. pride of place here reserved for a legendary russian ruler who had battled the west. for a legendary russian ruler who the current leader is facing international pressure after salisbury. facing international still, vladimir putin was relaxed as he voted. "i believe in the programme i‘m offering my country," the president said. offering my country," the and his supporters agreed. offering my country," the "he‘s a genius," he says. offering my country," the "putin wants russia to prosper and for russians to live in happiness." to prosper and for russians "it‘s thanks to putin," she says, "that russia still exists." but critics of the kremlin says the election was fixed. but crit

his name, of course, is vladimir putin. and, tonight, in an at times combative interview, he responds to the charges made by the special counsel against russians accused of trying to upend the 2016 election. in the coming days, mr. putin himself is up for reelection and it is clear he is trying to burnish his tough guy image. >> reporter: as i arrived in russia i was immediately reminded, the russian-american relationship is as cold as moscow in march. colder than it's been in a long time. inside the kremlin you can't miss the splendor of russia's storied past. and vladimir putin is determined to lead his country back to its days of glory. he is projecting power with new, supposedly invincible, nuclear weapons. symbols that marked our dangerous cold war stand off. >> ya ni razu. >> reporter: when i spoke with him last june in st. petersburg, president putin denied attacking american democracy, despite the findings of our american intelligence agencies. this time, armed with new evidence, i went back to confront him. >> so th

what did vladimir putin know and when did he know it? and tonight we have reason to believe that special prosecutor robert mueller is closer than ever to the answer to that putin question. we have exclusive new reporting tonight that robert mueller and his team are preparing new charges against the russians responsible for hacking and leaking the e-mails of the democratic national committee and the clinton campaign chair, john podesta, sources were not specific about the timetable of these charges, when they might come. but they have told nbc news that they could come in the next few weeks or months and the indictments could include counts of conspiracy, violations of election law and violations of the computer fraud and abuse act. the nbc news report says it is unlikely that the united states would be able to extradite alleged russian hackers or their pay masters but an indictment would send a signal both to russian and any americans who may have participated a government official said. it is unclear whether any americans could be charge

vladimir putin there and his supporters.g is under way in the russian presidential election. a huge effort, you can imagine in a ca nd reva a huge effort, you can imagine in a candreva size of this, 11 different time zones, 97,000 polling stations we re time zones, 97,000 polling stations were open today across russia. we saw some scenes of cosmonauts boating in space, even down in antarctica, polling stations were open there. it has been an incredibly busy day, quite festive at some of the polling stations, i was at one earlier, there were people singing, a man with an accordion, people playing sports as well. there was all very festive, but with a wrap—up of what has been happening around the country for us, here's our moscow correspondent, steve rosenberg. it looked more like a show than an election. russian polling stations providing free entertainment to boost the turnout. inside, you could cast a ballot, and cast an eye at the art. pride of place here reserved for a legendary russian ruler, who had battled the west. th

after every election, vladimir putin gives way to more vladimir putin. little turnd see out. >> only 30% of people turned out to vote yesterday because the island as been seeing a lot of unrest for the last month. this has to do with problems caused by the influence -- i nflux of migrants. ofthe problems are most visibln schools. classrooms are overcrowded and have become the stage of violence between rival gangs. primary school kids have been bringing knivest t t t t t t t d themselv. people have also been rounding up illegal immigrants themselves and taking them to police stations to get them deported. deputy prime minister has visited the island. they warned of a climate of civil war and say the french government has to act. molly: coming under fire for a controversial children's book in india. >> it is a list of 11 liters a single inspire you. -- leersers they say they say will inspire you. alongside barack obama and mahatma gandhi is adolf hitler. that has brought shop across the world. publishers say the reason they chose adolf hitler was because o

still holds on to this hope of having some sort of warmer relationship with russian president vladimir putin, and he has not given up that hope and continues to be a reason, at least according to his senior aides, as to why he's so reluctant to criticize putin publicly or highlight the policies he's adopted. at the same time, they have this phone call where the president says that he was clearly unhappy about putin's saber rattling in terms of his nuclear capabilities, and he raised that and said if you want to do this, i'll win. he also congratulated him. we can't forget that and he raised the issue of the nerve agent attack. it's a very convoluted inside the white house and they've struggled with that. >> so what is next? is the relationship going to be a positive one going forward? is it going to be a negative one going forward? is the bromance off? why not if he wants to have an arms race and he'll win, why not allow his deputies to be clear about where we stand in relation to russia? >> it remains to be seen. president trump has had what people have found to be an odd liking of vladimir

one of them is ngeny, an oligarch who is extremely close to vladimir putin. as putin's chef. he is accused of running one of these organisations, companies, involved in spreading misinformation during the election. a number of others have been charged in relation to cyber—attacks. america is talking about cyber—attacks on infrastructure inside america, including electricity grits, things they take very seriously. —— grids. what these sanctions mean is it would stop people from being able to get assets inside america. assets would be frozen. it would stop them having any business dealings inside america. but already, moscow is starting to talk about responding to that. some retaliation, potentially, of sanctions, potentially coming from a scale. —— moscow. ngeny says he is not worried and has no dealings in america. on line, he said this had happened before, and the only thing that will change as he will stop going to mcdonald's, the american restaurant. things are not good between russia and america. the language from the whiteout is becoming more tough. presi

tonight, by the kremlin, vladimir putin thanked his people for re—electing him their president. d," he said. "russia, russia!" they chanted. but, in putin's fourth term, are russia and the west destined for a cold war? later, the president dismissed british accusations that he was behind the nerve agent attack in salisbury. translation: it is rubbish, drivel, nonsense, to think that russia would do something like that ahead of a presidential election and the world cup. president putin's pitch to voters had been, "stick with me, and russia will be strong." and many russians believe that. "he's a genius", he says. "putin wants russia to prosper, and for russians to live in happiness." it's thanks to putin, she says, that russia still exists. but critics of the kremlin say the election was fixed — that only those candidates who stood no chance of unseating vladimir putin were allowed to run. the problem with russia is that there's no such thing as russian politics. politics has been eliminated in russia altogether. there's only one political institution in russia, and this is the ph

but she does confirm for the first time that vladimir putin was questioned as part of the investigationery professional. it is a fact that they found nothing, they were very disappointed. they didn't succeed. in moscow, factions were manoeuvring. putin was being groomed as the successor to boris yeltsin. the battle was over who would have sway over the new leader. in february 2000, anatoly sobchak died suddenly at the age of 62. at the funeral, russia's new president was distraught. that was the first and last time everybody saw him crying in russia. i still remember it. one of the shocks i had was his reaction. he was totally killed this. but what killed savchuk? to this day, that remains a mystery. the original autopsy was inconclusive, and many were suspicious, including sobchak‘s widow, ksenia's mother. she had her own autopsy performed but instead of making the results public, she keeps them locked in a safe in a secret location. today, the kremlin is still a place of rival factions. to threaten their power is to take a terrible risk. the girl with the silver spoon is not a the gir

the two issues he doesn't want to talk about stormy daniels and vladimir putin, the two people folks say again and again he doesn't want to criticize. >>> there was something interesting in that story, that was his concerns about the potential arms war, the new nuclear weapons that putin claims to have created here. i thought it was really interesting that was the one area the president really seemed to get up there and be willing to confrontational with putin, telling him, you know what, if you're going to go and build these, we're going to build them even bigger. the president is someone who likes to project this strength and this air of power about him. and if you've got putin who is kind of trying to play that same game with him, that's one area you might see the president potentially step up. >> steve schmidt, do you think that might have anything to do with any nuanced understanding of the cold war? do you think it would have to do with having bigger and better missiles? >> i think for sure he's making it up as he's going along. there's been no articulation, certainly not of a c

markedly pointing the finger vladimir putin and his regime. give us vladimir putin and his regime.take on the story. you know, the thing is that at this point, it is all rumours and we don't know. if it is true that the russians were behind it and if it was true that they were behind these other 11 mysterious deaths of people who criticised the regime, then clearly her majesty's government has to do something. but at this point, we are in speculation phase. we do need the brew. now, it was not clever vladimir putin to make these remarks. but, you know, these leaders, especially if they are autocrats and have been in there a long time, they say many things. what you think about the timing? they have an election coming up in a few weeks? of course, everybody is assured that vladimir putin will be reaffirmed as president for another term. but also the world cup is coming up in the summer. the football world cup. you know, ring ute sanctions were difficult relations with other countries. it is not good timing for them. relations with other countries. it is not good timing for themm rel

i think that's a problem but also what he didn't say on the call, he didn't call out vladimir putin for the election and didn't bring up the fact that the chemical attack in the uk and i understand the president wants a good relationship with putin, but sometimes you have to show a little tough love and talk about things that are uncomfortable. >> to that point, the leak aside, don't the american people deserve to know that their president is congratulating the so-called winner of this so-called election that the president didn't bring up election meddling and didn't bring up this nerve agent attack? >> well, there are two things. first you have the leak. and we all believe and all know with a good deal of certainty that it came from the national security apparatus and came from someone on hr mcmaster's team and likely because of the fact that they are tired of the president undermining their work to contain russia, to punish russia and have a strong front against russia. i think hr mcmaster, to his credit has taken on the tried and true professional method of yolo, he feels he's always

the headlines: vladimir putin declares victory in russia's presidential election, winning another sixr. putin. the president's hailed his victory as approval of his policies. at a victory rally in moscow, he also dismisses the suggestion his country is behind the poisoning of a former spy and his daughter in the uk. earlier, britain's foreign secretary, borisjohnson, accused russia of making and stockpiling the nerve agent used in the attack. scientists say they've achieved a breakthrough in the treatment of multiple sclerosis, after the results of an international trial involving stem cell transplants. the study showed an improvement in symptoms and the progress of the neurological condition halted. now on bbc news, to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the my lai massacre in vietnam, hardtalk is showing its 2004

matthew, it's been quite a weekend speak of vladimir putin. we've seen tensions heightened between russia and the uk over the nerve attack agent in england. is that having any sort of spillover on the election? was it expected to? >> reporter: you might expect it to looking from outside. the fact that vladimir putin has once again apparently led russia into confrontation with the west. but, in fact, it doesn't appear to have dented his popularity at all, as we've had no sense of that. if anything, vladimir putin has been using this latest standoff with in this case britain to reassert this idea that he is a powerful russian leader, that he will not allow russia to be pushed around by its enemies in the west. an example of that is just yesterday, the day before, voting opened in this country. that was the day that vladimir putin and the russian foreign ministry chose to issue their response, their retaliation for the expulsion by britain of 23 russian diplomats earlier this week. they just yesterday announced they were expelling 23 british dipl

president trump pushing back against the criticism he was too soft against russian president vladimir putin. after his call earlier this week when he congratulated putin on the victory and criticized for not raising other issues of election meddling and other matters with russia. of course, that issue here inside the white house. who leaked the information that the president was given a briefing paper to not congratulate vladimir putin? the president holding firm and pushing back on the criticism he was too soft with vladimir putin. he sent a tweet wednesday. they wanted me to eccoriate him. they were wrong. getting along with russia is a good thing. not a bad thing. bush tried to get along, but did not have the smarts. obama tried but did not have the energy or chemistry. interesting the president going after the people who occupied that office. spending a snow day on wednesday watching cable television and tweeting as well. as we start this thursday here at the white house, certainly meetings on the schedule that were added from yesterday's snow day. so many things hanging over this white

vladimir putin is a despot. the president of the united states was wrong to congratulate him. >> i'm not sure why the president felt like he needed to call and congratulate vladimir putin on what was a fake election. i think most of us don't see that as necessary. >> and let's remind you, when president obama had a phone call congratulating putin, it was republicans who went off, saying how inappropriate it was. i want to bring my latest panel in, evan mcmullin, a former cia operative who ran for president in 2016, and my friend eli stokeles, an msnbc political analyst. evan what do you say? trump says he's right to cultivate a good relationship with putin because russia can, quote, help solve problems in north korea, syria, ukraine, isis, iran, i mean, when he says syria, does he remember who funds assad? >> yes, right. of course it would be great if we could have a stronger relationship with vladimir putin but it can't be under vladimir putin's terms, right? a lot of the challenges we face internationally arou

it's so clear at this point that vladimir putin and his associates, somebody has something on donald reason he would be so praiseworthy and continuously be so essentially, as john brennan said, afraid of john pu putin and what he has over him. hopefully robert mueller can help figure it out and share it with us. >> occam's razor. who is the puppet? >>> next, the company that harvested data from millions of facebook users suspends its ceo after another undercover video is released where he touts his close relationship with, guess who, president trump. at the same time, facebook is trying to do damage control. they're trying but why are mark zuckerberg and sheryl sandberg nowhere to be seen? i've heard zuck is going to speak today, i'll believe it when i see it. >>> the former leader of the american nazi party has won in illinois, arthur jones ran unopposed. why would the republican party wouldn't to say, yep, that's our guy? the illinois state republican party disavowed his candidacy and successfully blocked his congressional bids in the past. but since the gop decided to not run any c

will it be a new vladimir putin? or an old vladimir putin? >> we all change. thank you. theelcome the graduate of u.s. military academy at west point and the wilson center. let's talk about the situation in russia and the poisoning of that russian double agent and his daughter. what do we know about the nerve agent? guest: the nerve agent was produced during the soviet era. it is a reference to the products themselves that were put together to create the poison. it is a standard nerve agent that inhibits nerve -- inhibits brain activity. host: do you have any doubt that putin was behind this effort? confidentcan be especially when you have statements coming from the united states, france, germany and the united kingdom condemning this and say that they believe it was led by the russian leadership. condemnation,t what will that mean for russia? does it make any difference for vladimir putin? guest: i don't think it does. the intended assassination, any ifders on the road that even , thatraitor company doesn't mean the russians cannot second,k after you? there's a signal i

but vladimir putin shows no sign of changing course. james, thank you. sident putin said claims that his country was behind the skripal poisoning were ‘nonsense' but that russia will work with the uk. he was speaking after winning another term in office in the presidential election. steve rosenberg has the latest from moscow. he has been centrestage in russia for the last 18 years. tonight by the kremlin vladimir putin thanked his people for re—electing him their president. we are destined to succeed, he said. russia, russia, they chanted. but imputing's fourth term are russia and the west destined for a cold war. later the president dismissed accusations that he was behind the nerve agent attack in salisbury. it is rubbish, drivel, nonsense to think russia would do something like that head of a presidential election and the world cup. is pitched to voters had been, stick with me and russia will be strong. and many russians believe that. he's a genius commissioners. putin wants russia to prosper and russians to live in happiness. it is thanks to putin, sh

it's very interesting to watch vladimir putin.ou know, as he voted r , he ca over to reporters, they asked him a couple questions and said what do i want? any results that would allow me to take office. vladimir putin doesn't really describe, you know, a platform in great detail, that's not really what he's doing. he's aperson w person who repree russian state. he represents what people read into him. from across many perspectives. so he, without defining himself, without even participating in these debates, he has not participated in debates, he is above the fray. and so ultimately if they get a good turnout, they will argue that the russian people are now on their side for this crucial vote. they are depicting it as defining, deciding the fate of the nation. others would say it's not really that much of a contest, it's not much of a question. but for vladimir putin, he needs that stamp of approval from the people. >> all right, jill. and in the backdrop of all of this that nerve agent attack, this back and forth of punitive acti

days ago defied his national security team's warning in all capital letters to not congratulate vladimir putin on his election victory. on a phone call with putin, donald trump didn't bring up the attacks or election meddling which lawmakers -- both democrats and republicans are worried this administration is not tackling. now trump will have a new national security adviser in john bolton. >> the director -- >> reporter: a new secretary of state in mike pompeo. both of whom called for strong action against russia, though in 2016 bolton criticized president obama on fox news for taking the same action in nearly expelling diplomats. >> that is utterly useless. so if you make them feel pain and others feel pain, then the possibility of deterring future conduct like this increases. that's what we need to do. >> reporter: today former cia operative bob baer agrees. >> you go after putin's money. you go after the oligarchs. you hit them in their pocketbooks. bolton is right. i don't usually agree with him but he's right on this. you have to make him feel pain and expelling 60 diplomats doesn't go fa

a range of issues including a possible meeting between president trump and russian president vladimir putin. as well as a special counsel's investigation into the 2016 elections and russian interference. this is 20 minutes. sarah: good afternoon. happy agriculture day. today we honor the men and women who work every day to feed, fuel, and clothe the people of the united states and the world. secretary of agriculture sonny perdue hosted vice president pence at the department of agriculture to commemorate the day. as you may remember when the president spoke at the american farm bureau convention earlier this year , he said our farmer deserve a government that serves their interests and empowers them to do the hard work they love to do so much. this administration is making sure government does that by reducing burdensome regulations allowing them to be more productive by cutting their taxes and empowering them to make their own decisions about investing in their operations. and by working to make sure our trade agreements are fair and that other countries play by the rules. the president was

russia is targeting this idea of soft power, activities, what does vladimir putin want out of this?this originates from russia, but what does he want? vladimir putin has a very strong idea that the west is engaged in an active conspiracy to belittle and humiliate and surround and envelop russia and try to squeeze it of all of its historic greatness. that is a view which is rejected in the west but that nationalism is driving vladimir putin, fuelled by the fact he is in the closing stages of an election which everyone assumes he will win, but this plays to his classic narrative. we will see more of this, and the real question now is whether the national security council and the national security council and the most senior cabinet ministers, they will make probably on tuesday, will they decide enough is enough and we don't want to go deeper into damage, one damaging the other and then reverse, or will they feel this retaliation from russia has gone beyond and they have got to be seen to respond. with this ever go as far as all—out conflict? some of the british people are watching, th

he was miles behind vladimir putin. so it really want in question that putin was going to win this election. the only question was really how much and also how big the turnout was going to be. vladimir putin also went back to business as usual very, very quickly, talking about the case of the former russian spy sergei skripal and his daughter who were poisoned, saying that russia was not behind it. and if it was military grade nerve agent used twhierks have been dead immediately. clearly the election for vladimir putin not much more than a formality as far as the election itself was concerned. and him going back to business as usual very quickly. fred pleitgen, cnn, moscow. >> in his 18 years in power, president putin has led russia into multiple spats with the west. but his supporters at home continue to back him. >> so to understand why, it is important to look back at history to consider what life was like for russians under the former president of russia, boris yeltsin. cnn contributor jill dougherty says that helps

will we see a new vladimir putin or an old vladimir putin? everything is changing.ing changes. thank you. vladimir putin, speaking to a huge number of interested journalists, asking if you would be interested in asking if you would be interested in a further term in office. he says it is funny to ask such a thing now, do you think i'm going to live to be a hundred? you think i'm going to live to be a hundred ? when we you think i'm going to live to be a hundred? when we firstjoined him he said it made no sense for russia to be involved in the sergei skripal case with the election and the world cup not far away. he says we are prepared to discuss what happened in salisbury and overcome any differences. more about that throughout the evening. mps demand answers from facebook, after accusations that data from millions of users is being mishandled without consent. they believe alexander nix has fresh questions to answer about the way facebook used the data. the head of cambridge analytica, the data firm used by donald trump's election campaign has been called back befor

host: if he needs to get in touch with vladimir putin, what is the relationship like? guest: if you wanted to talk to president putin, how could he do -- it was an interesting -- some's messages were

to congratulate vladimir putin. is it a problem that trump did so without bringing up election meddling, without mentioning the nerve agent attack in the united kingdom. >> that's exactly it. i don't care so much about the leaks. i think about russia attacked our longest standing ally, great britain, with a weapon of mass destruction. the last thing you want to do is call the russian president up and congratulated him on everything. he should have called him up and said, we have to sort this out, you can't attack a nato ally. i've never seen this in american foreign policy ever. i think this is the transgression that's occurred and i'm glad people are leaking. >> you said you've never seen it. barack obama did call in 2012, there wasn't the election meddling issue there, not the nerve agent attack. russia wasn't exactly a squeaky clean actor in 2012 either, were they? >> crimea and the rest of it. this has been a case of slow accrual. everyone was hoping that vladimir putin would see reason. clearly with this attack

the same vladimir putin who interfered in our election. as it is before all-important phone calls, especially with the leader of another nuclear superpower, the president is carefully briefed. this time, according to "the washington post," the president's briefing material contained a three-word warning on the election. the words all in capital letters, "do not congratulate," meaning do not congratulate vladimir putin on winning the election. then the president went ahead and did just that. joining us by phone, one of three "post" reporters who got the scoop. josh dossey, tell us more about the briefing materials, what was on them, and what the president ignored. >> thanks for having me. before a call with any foreign leader, the president is extensively briefed both by his national security team in person and in written papers that are given to the president. what we reported tonight was there were two parts of his written briefing that the president ignored in his call with vladimir putin. one of them was a part that said, in caps, "do n

we start with russia where vladimir putin delivers his annual stat of -- state of the nation address less than three weeks before russians had to ballot boxes to decide who w wil be their next leader with h evey indication that putin will win his fourth term. thomas is standing by in moscow. -- a lot ofmake praise for moscow and of course, this only weeks ahead of thee election. wasbsbsolutely, part of this really at his voter base two and a half weeks beforore the presidentialal election, which t a mere putting -- vladimir putin is certain to win. this is rhetoric about doubling the amount of f investment in , 2024 4 ll be the end of his nexext term if elected. these memeasures, thesese promis aimed at peoplple in the poorer areas of russssia who are more certain about voting forr vladimir putin than those in moscowow or st. petersburg.. one thing t that would have pleased many pepeople in russss, noonlyly those r regions, but particularly were his v very had cocomments about the militararys - twoof this speech, 66% thirds was about povererty edatation and d health. a gooood third i

and why would he be scared of vladimir putin?estion that's at the heart of the russia investigation. >> there you go again, jennifer, as the saying goes. >> exactly. and if you can come up with a better explanation for why he's afraid to confront putin on mangling and misleading and twisting our electoral process, why he won't confront them about the poisoning on ally soil of two people, and why he feels compelled to congratulate him for a victory in a non-election, other than that, i don't know what it is. by the way, this extends a little bit beyond putin as well. he also, if you recall, congratulated erdogan in turkey after he ran a fixed election. this is what trump does. he doesn't really understand or care to understand the difference between a real election and a fake election, which should be of concern. and this is not america first, this is russia first. >> russia first. jeremy, earlier in the show i played a little bit of mitch mcconnell trying to dodge questions on mueller. i will note that mitch mcconnell did take a

vladimir putin's re—election hands him another six years as russian president and extends his grip on's 12th biggest economy. as you can see, growth was stronger when mr putin came into office at the turn of the century — but the economy has suffered in recent years as global oil prices fell with russia dipping in and out of recession. russians have seen living standards fall. the average income is nowjust over ten thousand dollars — a third lower than its peak. but mr putin said he wanted to reverse that gap with a 50% rise by 2025. president putin did pledge to spend more on healthcare, education and infrastructure, including about $194bn on roads over the next six years. there is some room to spend because government debt is relatively low — just 13.2% of the economy in 2016. here is what mr putin had to say. translation: india so i can see the recognition of what has been done over the last few years. i can see trust and hope. hope of our people that we will continue working in the same way with the same great results. thank you for this wonderful, multi—million member team. succe

that benefits vladimir putin.afer to stick to the same path. in hungary, large pro and anti—government rallies have been held to mark hungary's national day, the anniversary of the 18118 revolution. just weeks before the general election, viktor 0rban‘s fidesz party is determined to win its 3rd term in a row. but the opposition have begun to believe they can stop him. they marched across the country in their tens of thousands. much more is at stake in the coming election, viktor 0rban said, than his own rule. europe and hungary is at a turning point in world history. 0n the one hand, stan the nationals millions, on the other, the global elite. and that global elite support immigration in order to dial it is the nations of europe. we feel safe year, there isn't a single refugee running around the streets. you can go out on the streets not like paris, berlin, sweden and neighbouring countries. long live viktor 0rban. just a few streets away, opposition parties held their own rallies. 0ne away, opposition parties hel

the president did not condemn vladimir putin as that part of call that he did. instead he talked about syria and north korea, which were also topics that were supposed to be discussed on the call that were provided in the briefing. he did mention those two parts with vladimir putin, but ignored the other two that the national security team put in the briefings ahead of the call. >> obviously it's up to any president to discuss what they want to discuss. how unusual is it for a president or i don't know if you know this, for a president to ignore, you know, two things of advice. particularly one that's in all caps saying do not congratulate this man on a sham election? >> well, we're in un-parallel territory here with president trump. whether you like him or dislike him, the president keeps his own counsel. he does what he wants to do, says what he wants to say. he has congratulate china's president for extending his term as president for life and turkey president, erduwan for his election win. this president when he makes thee phone calls, he is going to say wha