and he's working for vladimir putin at exactly the time that the intelligence reports tell us that vladimir putin is paying to kill american soldiers. donald trump still, still at that time, is trying to get vladimir putin invited back to the party at the g-7. the trump solution to their public relations problem, because that's all it is for them, it's not a problem about american soldiers and danger, it is a public relations problem for donald trump, the solution for the trump team was to claim that donald trump simply knew nothing about it and yesterday donald trump claimed that intelligence briefers, quote, did not report it to me or the vice president. so you have to ask yourself, is there any reason, any reason at all to believe donald trump? the same person who is claiming that he didn't know the video he retweeted had a trump supporter saying white power twice. obviously there is no reason to believe donald trump's denial that he knew about intelligence indicating russia is paying to kill american soldiers. donald trump denies that he was briefed on it. donald trump has decided that

echos of his repeated deferns to vladimir putin. no retaliation, no warning, no stern message sent to moscow. no sanctions, no broadsides at putin since march, since this information came out. there hasn't been anything over the last few days since the story became public, other than denials and an effort by the administration to keep the president out of it. and the president on twitter the last couple days, as you say, sort of denigrating the quality of u.s. intelligence which is what he did in that summit in finland almost exactly two years ago, but it speaks to a broad pattern of deference to vladimir putin. of course, he spoke admireingly of him during the 2016 campaign, he called for russia's help. his relationship to russia was the center of a two year probe let by robert mueller. since then we have seen, even as the administration at times has moved to be tough on russia, the president himself has been an obstacle to that. he has never wanted to crack down on moscow, condemn putin in some of their lower profile meetings as we

donald trump is parroting vladimir putin. and vladimir putin's propaganda chiefs. so here we are again with donald trump taking the word of an ex-kgb officer who said the collapse of the soviet con sum was a tragedy. he's taking vladimir putin's words over the words of his own intel chiefs. willie, that's where we still are in late 2020, and it doesn't matter to him that young american troops have had bounties put on their heads and that the intelligence community has known about this now since 2019, and they were pushing the white house to do something in march of 2020. >> yeah, it's bad enough the initial reports that say it was march of this year. now the ap is reporting last night in march of 2019 the president was briefed in the president's daily briefing about this attempt by the russian intelligence services to use taliban-linked militants to kill american troops. the president, the white house had nowhere to go from the corner they painted themselves in. they said pointedly and clearly and flatly that the president was not briefed on this. you can believe t

that is what he likes about vladimir putin.ther people reasons why this might be the case, but it is one of the internal mysteries of this administration were donald trump has been ppared to rip into angela merkel or theresa may or whoever it happen to be, westlies. he will not say a word against vladimir putin. >> such an interesting story. thanks very much for joining us. a quick look at other news now fr around the world. the city of leicester in the u.k. will not be allowed to ease lockdown restrictions on july 4 when the rest of england does so. the decisi follows surge in ses of the coronavirus in the area with over 800 reported in two weeks. schools and essential shops will close. all t essential travel is t be avoided. france's former prime minister and his wife penelope have been sentenced to jail for fraud over a fig jobs scandal. the scandal ruined his bid for the french presidency in 2017. they have appealed the verdict. you are watching "bbc world news erica." still to come on tonight's program, protecting access t

." >> how would you describe trump's relationship with vladimir putin? art, tough. i think he sees that he's not faced with a serious adversary here. i think putin thinks he can play him like a fiddle. i don't think he's worried about donald trump. >> hi, everybody. welcome to moscow. >> in the years before he was president, donald trump brought his miss universe pageant to russia. >> of course, the big man on campus, donald trump. >> hoping that president putin would attend. through the years, his interest in russia and putin continued up to the 2016 election. >> i mean, he might be bad, he might be good, but he's a strong leader. >> but it was this comment on the campaign trail that raised questions. >> russia, if you're listening, i hope you're able to find the 30,000 e-mails that are missing. >> he essentially called on russia to hack into hillary clinton's emails. >> by the way, if they hacked, they probably have her 33,000 e-mails. i hope they do. >> since he took office, trump and putin have shared a complicated relationship. >> putin struck me as

united nations they have agreed with the criticism that vladimir putin floated against the body in in his piece also c.n.n. somewhat ironically accused them of putin in its headline of rewriting history you know the article that calls against rewriting history and the reaction is a headline accusing said article of rewriting history i know it's complicated but you can see that for yourself it was so we expect more reaction to come to that because the article is available in english and in russian and it is sort of bound to be reprinted in other languages as well so i will be standing by here to bring you more on that egos down or keep us posted down there in central moscow thanks for now good day the next britain's hard court has rejected not but cation blog. even parents to disclose details of a secret agreement maybe between london and washington over the son's death harry dunn was killed when his motorcycle collided with a car allegedly being driven on the wrong side of the road by the wife of u.s. intelligence officer and his parents are now taking legal action against the foreign

the country decides whether to change the constitution so vladimir putin can stay in power for anotheryears. leon panettave sas american defense secretary and hadf the cia under president obama. he has written a piece in the washington pt where he argues if russians are paying money to those killing our men and womeni inrm, they are just as guilty of murder as those killing the trigger -- pulling the trigger. he joins me now. thank you for joining me, mr. secretary. this is as close to enact of war as it can get. cashould ame retaliate against russia? >> t president of the united states has responsibility, not only to defend our country, but to defend our men and women in , uniformo are putting their lives on the line. the president should be taking on tmake it clear to the i russians thatf they are putting bounties on the heads of our soldiers, that is not to be wtolerated awill do everything necessary in order to protect our forces in battle. iththe message the president ought to be -- katty: as a former head of the cia and former defee secretary, you would say that reportedly bes do

russian president vladimir putin says the world owes the former soviet union a debt of gratitude for its contribution to the defeat of nazi germany in world war 2 he was speaking at a major military parade in moscow marking 75 years since the end of the war the parade was originally scheduled for may the 9th bot was postponed because of the covert 19 pandemic the kremlin dismissed criticism that it's irresponsible to go ahead with it now saying infections in moscow are declining. a correspondent is standing by for us at moscow's red square where the parade took place today emily why did president putin decide to go ahead with this parade now despite. all the risk to public health. well 1st of all this is the 75th anniversary this year is the 75th anniversary of the soviet victory in world war 2 and that's a hugely important event for russians and for vladimir putin as well and we saw this bombastic parade here today including foreign troops from former soviet states and from china from india we saw tanks crossing red square artillery fly over so this really big parade. but also this

why is vladimir putin in a rush to get this done? changes to thee basic law of ththe constitutions being essential to what he sees asas his legacy. member, , these are the first mn changes to the constitution since 1993. this is a a big deal inn russia, and it is impoportant for p put. you hinted at it. in 2024, he is o out according o the present constitution because he has served two consecucutive terms. the constitution will not let him stay on any longer than that, but president putin, alall those who are around him anand depend on him arare very w worrd about t what might comome after thatat. because of the s structure of russian government, he says there is no mechananism for a chanange of government, makes ia very hierarchal system. underwew man that comes in ththe present syststem will proy want to build hihis own people araround him.. where would d that leave presidt titin? he is probabably very nervouous about thatat. ththis helps them get aroundnd t conundndrum. according g to this constitutio, the terms the presidentnt wi

he invited vladimir putin to the g7. that's a policy decision.e decided to reduce troops in germany. that's a policy decision. and that is incumbent upon the national security team to put that all together and say hey, mr. president, maybe you don't want to invite this guy to the g7 because of this intelligence we have. >> but what does it mean that he did? i mean, the problem with that analysis, ambassador, is that they all knew. donald trump knew. russians were paying the taliban to murder american soldiers. and donald trump was courting vladimir putin and cheerleading his participation, his joining the g8. both those things are true. what does that mean? >> well, that's shocking and horrible. i don't know what else to say but tragically and you're showing the photo right now, it's a consistency policy. president trump doesn't have a lot of consistent policies. john bolton says he doesn't believe in anything with respect to foreign policy. over four years there's been one very consistent policy. he wants to be putin's friend. he won't listen to

and vladimir putin russian president for a wife well that's what russian's minds make possible as they go to the polls they're deciding on constitutional amendments that could allow president vladimir putin to remain in power until 2036 voter turnout is a key factor for the kremlin but critics say the public information campaign to mobilize voters has been anything but neutral and distant. takes a look at the messaging ahead of the vote. for accessible health care for a strong stable russia for family values the flyers read the so-called volunteers for the constitution in the moscow region are working with russia's electoral commission they've been tasked by the author worries to inform citizens about what's at stake in the vote including about an amendment that could keep president vladimir putin in power the volunteers insist their messaging is completely neutral and that's the but. our job is to get people to the ballot box so that they can make whatever choice they want we want people to come and vote for them to know that their opinion makes a difference rather than thinking this

how would you describe trump's relationship with vladimir putin? >> i think putin thinks he can play him like a fiddle. i think putin is smart, tough. i think he sees that he's not faced with a serious adversary here. i don't think he's worried about donald trump. >> reporter: donald trump, as we say, sees himself as a dealmaker. what happened to the dealmaker in those situations? >> well, the president may well be a superb dealmaker when it comes to manhattan real estate. dealing with arms limitation treaties on strategic weapons, dealing in many, many other international security issues are things far removed from his life experience. when you're dealing with somebody like putin, who has made his life understanding russia's strategic position in the world, against donald trump, who doesn't enjoy reading about these issues or learning about them, it's a very difficult position for america to be in. >> reporter: bolton was criticized for not testifying during the president's impeachment last year, saying now it was because the focus was too narrow a

vladimir putin was 1st elected as russia's president in 2020 years later he still had he served longer than any russian or soviet politician since the early 1950 s. and it could be on course to be one of his nation's longest serving leaders putin's opponents say he plans to never leave office constitutional reforms introduced in january will allow him to stay in power for another 26 year terms his current one ends in 4 years russians have started voting in a weeklong referendum on the amendments but the state duma has already approved those changes to the constitution while also passing a law that says the reforms must have the public support its president putin says he'll consider running for a 5th term in 2024 he said this to the russian media if this doesn't happen then in about 2 years and i know this from personal experience the normal rhythm of work of many parts of government will be replaced by a search for possible successes we must be working not looking for successes the vote was shuttle for april but got delayed as russia imposed restrictions to tackle the covert 1000 pande

the bounty story reminds us that nancy pelosi has perfectly summed up trump relationship with vladimir putint -- any holding up of that foreign -- the military system. putin benefitted by the action taken by the president. putin benefitted from the president's comments about uncertainty that our support for nato -- it won't go into the elections. just those three because they're the three i have mentioned to the president when i had said with you, mr. president, all roads lead to putin. liberty mutual customizesutin. your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. i wish i could shake your hand. granted. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ >>> we have seen examples around us in the midst of the national trauma. so many of our fellow americans are rising to the occasion. their words and deeds as a reminder that in this time of stress and catastrophe, we are all in this together. >> washington, d.c. is the home to more americans than two states and more than 46% of its 700,000 residents are black. make no mistake, race underlies every argument against d.c

severe patients. >> victor, thank you. >>> russia is going to new lengths to protect president vladimir putinesperson confirms special tunnels have been installed in putin's residence and two more in the kremlin. visitors go through tunnels where they are disinfected with aerosol before seeing the russian leader. >> the tunnels were installed at the height of the outbreak. putin said last month the worst of the crisis has passed. some experts question the government's numbers. not bad with the tunnels. line them up, make them go through there. >> i would take a tunnel in my house any day. >> this is before the pandemic, right? just to spray down the kids. >> any day, exactly, with aerosol. right now their government in russia is saying on wednesday that they have less than 8,000 cases, the lowest daily number since april. but of course those numbers could be questioned by some. >> exactly. >>> coming up, a rare bear attack in southern california. >>> plus the star of "that '70s show," danny masterson, now charged with three counts of rape. when those assaults allegedly occurred and what his l

another is the president's relationship with vladimir putin. mean, there are a number of scenarios here. >> there are a number of scenarios here. remember, this is the same president who called for the russians to interfere with our elections, and they did. pay bipartisan panel found that the russians did interfere in the 2016 election after the president called on hem to d ee so. we have seen that with roger stone with the democracy. and now he's putting russia's interests, putin's interests, over that of the american troops. he was briefed on this months ago, he asked for the g7 meeting to be delayed so that russia can be readmitted into the g7, after they were expelled for annexing ukraine. so there's all sorts of problems here. not the least of which that the commander in chief of the united states military is listening to the president, the head of a foreign adversary and putting their interests above those of america. >> there are congressional briefings, apparently, but i presume not by intel officials because they have yet to brief the

. >> how would you describe trump's relationship with vladimir putin? >> i think putin thinks i can play him like a fiddle. >> "nightline" starts right now with juju chang. >> good evening, thanks for joining us. tonight, swift action taken against two atlanta police officers, charged in the murder of rayshard brooks, a black man, a husband, a father, whose personal struggles with life after serving time are now coming to light in a newly-released video. >> okay, well, i'm ray slashardd brooks, 27 years of age, have three kids, happily married. >> reporter: months before his death in a fast food parking lot, rayshard brooks was opening up about his life's mistakes and the rock eye roy road to redemp. >> i feel like some of the system could look at us as individuals. we do have lives, where it's just a mistake we made, you know, and, you know, not, not just do us as if we are andhis d dialog at the intersection of policing. questions about if and when police should be allowed to use deadly force. brooks had had run-ins with the police in the past. after

. >>> also, later, as lawmakers are pushing for interesanswers, president trump and vladimir putin are pushing back on reports that russia put a price on the heads of american service members in afghanistan. nistan this is my body of proof. proof i can fight moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. proof i can fight psoriatic arthritis... ...with humira. proof of less joint pain... ...and clearer skin in psa. humira targets and blocks a source of inflammation that contributes to joint pain and irreversible damage. humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. humira is proven to help stop further joint damage. want more proof? ask your r

so why did vladimir putin decide his litary show must go on? is not jusabout the past, it's very much about the present. vladimir putin wants to be seen as the fathere nation, the protector of russia. and crucially, he hopes that all of this will boost his popularity ahead of a referendum extending his rule. away from the square,he ignored rules of staying safe by staying home and watching the parade on tv fearing a spike in infections. they have called on investigators to open a criminal case against president putin over the parade. >> we are on the very high level of the pandemic. i think it's dangerous, and i think that he and his people understand that it's dangerous. so i think it's a crime. it's a crime. it's murder. steve: but this war veteran does not agree. >> vivus ono virus, nothing would stop me from being here to cebrate our victory. just like we defeated the nazis, russia will defeat the ronavirus. steve: just the kinanof optimism d patriotism vladimir putin uld achieve of debtor prove up as he looks to achieve his rule over russi

♪ >> russian's referendum to see vladimir putin stay empowered beyond 2024.ases rising again in the u.s. in several states like new york, asking people visiting from states with high virurus rirights to self-isosolate. and the eiffel tower reopens to the public. visitors must wear face masks and the top level is off-limits. us.o and thanks for joining it is good to have you with us. boasting, they started onon a constitututional reformrm package that could see vladimir putin run twice more for president. election day is next week officially july 1. voting is a spread over a few days because of the pandemic. russia reported more than 7000 new infections again thursday. a poll suggests majority of russians support the constititutional changes. the authorities who were supposed to remain neutral have run a campaign. we have a report from moscow. >> [speaking foreign language] ina position counselor moscow is struggling to get an alternative voice heard amidst a campaign that is impressively encouraging russians to vote yes to vladimir putin's reform. >> [speakin

suggesting the information may have been shielded from the president over concerns he would tell vladimir putin. separately, cnn has exclusive, new reporting on how president trump was so woefully unprepared for conversations with world leaders that he was actually considered a national security threat by his own senior staffers. >>> florida is one of the states that's seen an increase in coronavirus cases, a steep increase. cnn's randi kaye is live in palm beach with that. good morning, randi. >> reporter: good morning, john. we're in palm beach county here. and certainly, too much of the virus in the state of florida is what we are hearing from folks. yesterday we learned that there were more than 5,200 new cases of the coronavirus here in the state of florida. that is down from the record high on saturday of more than 9,500 cases, but certainly not a number that anybody wants to see, and that explains why a lot of the counties have taken it upon themselves to close the beaches for the upcoming july 4th holiday weekend. you have palm beach county, where i am, closing it. you have miami-dade c

on constitutional changes that would allow president vladimir putin to stay in power. until twenty thirty six. the vote had been delayed from april amid concerns over the corona virus pandemic but now russians have it shown for the essay about changes to the constitution local use the hotel was preheatedd set level to showow s shown this much we- page for more. mckinney it's the key. the last month. the future of russia until longtime presisidet vladimir putin already in power since nineteen ninety nine including a four year stint as prime minister the changes would reset the clock on its time limits potentially allowing him to remain in power until twenty thirty six. months of campaigning around it though has spent it on tapping into the nation's conservative values the reform would effectively ban same sex marriage lying on the fencee since the economy of norway goes to polls on the blessings and she's putting it to the little d. well yeah. you missed so you're gonna see a sending an image that. cushing is other publishing customer's you blood apology. opposition to

vladimir putin was, vladimir putin was in the mideast a long time before that. and now he's going to go out and put a bounty on our men and arms? i think that somebody should be counted for and put in prison. we have more here from "the washington post" piece. "these people and others who discuss this, they did so host: we have bruce from mars, pennsylvania. good morning. cashr: i know where the came from. joe biden and obama gave it to them through the iran deal. plane loads of cash. $97 billion went to the iranian military. they want -- they went to russia and bought ak bombs and missiles and they went to afghanistan. they even bought the rifles to kill our soldiers with in several state in the middle east and nobody ever brings it up. military, they bought all of them boats to harass us and the missile technology that they are working on and even the military that's working on the atom bomb for them. it was financed by obama and biden. that money was spread for terrorism. we know they are terrorists. is on theright, frank line now from northport, new york. my

officials and their concerns over the president's conversations with world leaders, particularly vladimir putinnt to this discussion. and he writes -- let me put my glasses on -- "in numerous calls with putin that were described to cnn, trump left top national security aides and his chiefs of staff flabbergasted, less because of specific concessions he made than because of his manner. inordinately solicit us to of putin's admiration and seemingly seeking his approval." so, take carl's reporting in conjunction with what's going on right now regarding this intelligence, and what questions does that raise for you about the president's attitude towards vladimir putin? >> i mean, we've seen it time and time again. we saw it on the stage in helsinki. we saw the most powerful man in the world, the president of the united states, take russia's word over the word of our intelligence community. this isn't the first time that we've seen something like this. but at this point, the notion that on phone calls, he wouldn't be aggressively pushing this issue or that -- and reporting is that there's been multip

in russia for a vote on a number of controversial reforms one of which would allow president vladimir putin to stay in office for another 16 years now putin proposed the constitutional changes back in january other changes talk about improving social benefits and effectively banning same sex marriage. as a massive surprise during the state of the nation address in january russian president vladimir putin stunned the country with his plan for constitutional reform. proposal envisages strengthening the role of the state council as well as expanding powers for parliament and creating new entrance hurdles for presidential candidates the reform would also allow putin to stay in office until 2036 christmassy. the speed with which the changes were rushed through parliament stumped the opposition in much the duma passed the reform and the constitutional court also gave green light now the only thing putin needs is the approval of the russian people. and i am joined now by fabio burkhardt from the german institute for international and security affairs he is an expert on eastern europe and russia we

when it comes to vladimir putin, this president just seems to think that he is the greatest thing going. i don't understand it and nobody understands it. so we had a nice discussion today, but i think the american people deserve to know, why doesn't the president question putin? why doesn't the president condemn what putin has been? why doesn't the president stand up for the united states? i mean, for god's sake, these are our soldiers, and if we are not quite a protect them, what are we going to do? it really kind of left me with no answer, didn't really come away knowing anything more than i knew before, and it's just too bad. i think we will eventually get an answer because i think the american people will demand nothing less. thank you, steny. >> thank you. thank you mr. engel. i also want to say specifically that as i think all of you know, mrs. bamberger and others have had direct involvement in the intelligence community. ms. span berger served overseas and for the central intelligence agency and is also spent time at the agency and both very knowledgeable. ms. cheryl, want to th

of military muscle the british judge ruled event also holds special importance for president vladimir putin. i'm told me a lot of well welcome to the program authorities in germany state of north rhine-westphalia are conducting mass coronavirus testing after they re imposed local lockdowns the restrictions affect hundreds of thousands of people in the districts of veyron doff and goods are slow and follow a major virus outbreak at a meat processing plant and as the summer holiday season gets underway all the parts of germany and europe are imposing travel bans on the affected region. this is what it looks like when the coronavirus restrictions are back long lines have formed outside the testing facilities in the district of goo to settle the new restrictions here and in neighboring valen doff took effect at midnight the mass testing follows a huge corona virus outbreak attorneys slaughterhouse where more than 1500 workers have contracted kovac 19 now some 600000 people are affected by the restrictions goodness knows met told d.w. he's furious. group is a company of term yes i'm angry with t

polls have opened in russia for a controversial vote that could allow president vladimir putin to stay in office for another 16 years russians are being asked to approve constitutional reforms proposed by putin in january voting at polling stations is underway despite concerns over the spread of the coronavirus the changes would allow her to run for another 2 terms as president and make it possible for him to stay in power until 2036. a massive surprise during the state of the nation address in january russian president vladimir putin stumped the country with his plan for constitutional reform that will include his proposal envisages strengthening the role of the state council as well as expanding powers for parliament and creating new entrants hurdles for presidential candidates there a foam would also allow putin to stay in office until 2036 christmas with years the speed with which the changes were rushed through parliament the opposition and much the duma passed 3 foam and the constitutional court also gave green light. now the only thing putin needs is the approval of the russian

so, why did vladimir putin decide his military show must go on? the present. vladimir putin wants to be seen as the father of the nation, the protector of russia and, crucially, he hopes that all of this will boost his popularity ahead of a referendum on extending his rule. away from the square, muscovites ignored calls by the city's mayor to stay safe by staying home and watching the parade on tv. fearing a spike in infections, politician leonid gozman has called on investigators to open a criminal case against president putin over the parade. we are on the very high level of the pandemic still. so, i think it's dangerous and i think that he and his people understand that it's dangerous, so i think it's a crime. it's a crime. it's murdering. but this war veteran doesn't agree. translation: virus or no virus, nothing would stop me from being here to celebrate our victory and just like we defeated the nazis, russia will defeat the coronavirus. just the kind of optimism and patriotism vladimir putin would approve of as he looks to extend his rule ov

how would you describe trump's relationship with vladimir putin? >> i think putin thinks he can play him like a fiddle. i think putin is smart, tough. i think he sees that he's not faced with a serious adversary here. i don't think he's worried about donald trump. >> donald trump, as we say, sees himself as a deal maker. what happened to the deal maker in those situations? >> well, the president may well be a superb deal maker when it comes to manhattan real estate. dealing with arms limitation treaties on strategic weapons, dealing in many, many other international security issues are things far removed from his life experience. when you're dealing with somebody like putin who has made his life understanding russia's strategic position in the world against donald trump who doesn't enjoy reading about these issues or learning about them, it's a very difficult position for america to be in. >> reporter: bolton was criticized for not testifying during the president's impeachment last year saying now it was because the focus was too narrow and politic

so, why did vladimir putin decide his military show must go on?o be seen as the father of the nation, the protector of russia and, crucially, he hopes that all of this will boost his popularity ahead of a referendum on extending his rule. away from the square, muscovites ignored calls by the city's mayor to stay safe by staying home and watching the parade on tv. fearing a spike in infections, politician leonid gozman has called on investigators to open a criminal case against president putin over the parade. we are on the very high level of the pandemic still. so, i think it's dangerous and i think that he and his people understand that it's dangerous, so i think it's a crime. it's a crime. it's murdering. but this war veteran doesn't agree. translation: virus or no virus, nothing would stop me from being here to celebrate our victory and just like we defeated the nazis, russia will defeat the coronavirus. just the kind of optimism and patriotism vladimir putin would approve of as he looks to extend his rule over russia. steve rosenberg, bbc news

russian president vladimir putin says the world owes the former soviet union a debt of gratitude for its contribution to the defeat of nazi germany in world war 2 he was speaking at a major military parade in moscow marking 75 years since the end of the war the parade was originally scheduled for may 9th but was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic the kremlin dismissed criticism that it's irresponsible to go ahead with it now saying infections in moscow or declining. will do they will use only sure one is selling by force goes red square where the parade is to has just finished evilly why did president putin decide to go ahead with this parade now despite the risk to public health. well terry on the one hand of course this is the 75th anniversary of the soviet victory during world war 2 so that's really an important date for russians and for vladimir putin as well but of course there's also more political dimension here a more national dimension as well because this parade took place just ahead of a vote that is starting tomorrow on constitutional amendments that could keep

as a massive surprise during the state of the nation address in january russian president vladimir putin stunned the country with his plan for constitutional reform. proposal envisages strengthening the role of the state council as well as expanding powers for parliament and creating new entrance hurdles for presidential candidates the reform would also allow putin to stay in office until 2036 christmas. the speed with which the changes were rushed through parliament stunned the opposition in march the duma passed the reform and the constitutional court also gave green light. now the only thing putin needs is the approval of the russian people. while the dog your correspondent emily sherman is joining me now from moscow emily tell us a little bit more about the vote what's really at stake here. well these amendments cover a huge range of topics actually and many of them are are are rather popular they're being kind of advertised across moscow on big banners for example there is an amendment that states that marriage can only be between a man and a woman and there's an amendment saying th