of vladimir putin. he could go in the stasi building here in dresden, because he was officer in the kgb and the stasi. in dresden, this archive keeps the records of east germany's secret police, the stasi, and the documents of kgb officers who operated here, like vladimir putin. in here, we've got a photo where you can find vladimir putin. where is he? 0h, on the end. yes. wow, it's amazing to think that this great figure at the end went on to become president of russia. astonishing. —— grey figure. in december 1989, a crowd stormed the stasi offices in dresden and took control. a small group of protesters moved away from the stasi building and came here. this is where the kgb headquarters were. and inside the building was vladimir putin. so, what did major putin do? well, he telephoned the local soviet tank commander to ask for urgent backup. but the message which came back was this... i've asked moscow to sign off on that, but moscow is silent. that was the moment that flood may putin realised his

i am very grateful to mr putin and i take my hat off and bow my head to mr putin because he saved generations of the crimean people from rivers of blood here. there would be a war. because of those extremists who might have come from the ukraine to settle their own rules here. that is what i think. in sevastopol they are marking russian navy day. and centre stage is the black sea fleet. it's an opportunity to showcase russian power at sea. since it annexed crimea, russia has become the dominant force in the black sea. it's upgraded its fleet. more ships. more weapons. and new missions. some of these ships have taken part in russia's military operation in syria. after its annexation of crimea russia has consolidated its control here. and increased its presence in the black sea. it is using that as a springboard to project power far beyond this region into the mediterranean and the middle east. and the balkans. at nato headquarters russia's actions are causing alarm and disappointment. at the end of the cold war a partnership with the kremlin seemed achievable. there was even talk russia might

and inside the building was vladimir putin. so, what did major putin do? well, he telephoned the local soviet tank commander to ask for urgent backup. but the message which came back was this... "i've asked moscow to sign off on that, but moscow is silent." that was the moment that vladimir putin realised his motherland had abandoned him. egon krentz says that moscow abandoned him, too. he claims that at this meeting, soviet leader mikhail gorbachev assured him german reunification wouldn't happen. he accuses gorbachev of surrendering to america. mikhail gorbachev rejects criticism of his leadership. he is fiercely proud of his role in ending the cold war. it would take moscow four years to bring all its troops home. but to what kind of a country were they coming back? the soviet union had gone, russia was struggling, the returning soldiers were low priority. vyacheslav had commanded a tank battalion in germany, the 16th guards division. its mission, he says, was to defend the motherland and moscow's allies in eastern europe. they were an elite unit, but t

should be opposed to putin, it would be helpful if you didn't disparage putin and -- he accidentally said to me, you accidentally referred to our problem as russia when you meant putin. so i think i've learned that lesson with regard to russia but i think a lot of us around here don't always sufficiently distinguish between china and the chinese communist party. so i just wanted to affirm and underscore your message not just good legislation that is good for americans, is good for investors in the u.s. and abroad, is good for a level-playing field, but as we oppose the bad action of the chinese communist party and their intellectual property theft and manipulation of currency and numbers and public health data and on and on and on, our opponent is not the chinese people and we should say that both so the american people understand it and so that the chinese people understand it. and so i commend you on the way you introduced y

kremlin's chief spokesman was hospitalized with copd at 19 despite the outbreak president vladimir putin is pushing forward with a plan to roll back restrictions across the country but hard hit moscow has introduced new rules people have to wait clubs and mosques in supermarkets as well as in texas and public transportation. in the show been reports the no entry without gloves and a mask employees. tell people. the mini market in the center of moscow is sticking to the city's new rules despite a huge drop in profits due to lockdown measures the store can now only let people wearing protective gear shop. we all know that these are precautionary measures but people are unhappy about them it's hard to find gloves and masks at the pharmacy at the moment otherwise we would give them out to people so that they could buy things at our store restaurants and non-essential stores remain closed in the capital but construction work has now we started the author worries have said that workers aren't at risk of infecting the public. on monday president vladimir putin announced an official and to the s

live from russia ends its lockdown as the number of corona virus infections race is higher president putin says many sectors of the economy will begin to reopen but michigan's will stay in place in some regions including hard hit moscow bring an update from the capital also on the program. a grim warning from the u.s. government's top infectious disease expert and to me she warns of needless suffering and economic damage if the country relaxes its i'm sick of it knocked down too soon. and nurses on the frontline of the pandemic speak out as the world marks the international nurses day many say they're still not getting the protection they need. until gail welcome to the program russia has begun to ease its lockdown despite a surge in corona virus infections the country now has more than 230000 cases placing it behind only the you asked and vladimir putin spokesman was today hospitalized with covered 19 this by the rising tide of infection president putin is going ahead with plans to roll back restrictions across the country but hard hit moscow has introduced new rules but people now have t

putin is in lockdown and he is frozen, stalled. you cannot react or say anything to the world all the russian nation. every nation is under pressure from this pandemic. after yea rs of under pressure from this pandemic. after years of chronic underfunding, the russian public health system has been stretched to its limits. butamid but amid the crisis at home, moscow is sending aid abroad. the russian army has been in italy to help tackle the epidemic there. russia is saying, we are still a power, we are still a power, we have the possibility to help you. no little green men, this time it was the boys in blue. they presented this as a mercy mission images of the russian military in an eu and nato country. it isa military in an eu and nato country. it is a propaganda coufal russia. military in an eu and nato country. it is a propaganda coufal russiam is good for geopolitics but not good for us. priority is our own country, not another. the pandemic is the biggest challenge for moscow since the fall of its empire 30 years ago. and it h

the program russia uses its lock down as the number of corona virus infections races higher president putin says many sectors of the economy will reopen the restrictions will remain in some regions including target moscow. and of the mysterious illness that's that's affecting dozens of children it shows symptoms with a potentially deadly disease and might be linked to the whole that 90. i'm told me a lot but welcome to the program the u.s. government's top expert on infectious diseases dr anthony follett she has warned that reopening the country too soon could cause a new spike in corona virus cases testifying from home he expressed concerns to a senate hearing about the risk of a fresh outbreak is the easing of lockdown measures is rushed he also told the panel that a call that 19 vaccine would not be available in time for the also school to test our. correspondent all of a salad joins us from washington what more did dr fox he have to say. well tell me his issued a stark warning 1st and foremost and he does say the united states is moving in the right direction but he also says at the sam

using its walk down even as the number of prone of virus infections race is high and president vladimir putin says many sixes off the economy will begin reopening but restrictions will stay in place in some regions including hard hit moscow will get an update from the capital. nurses on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemics be conscious as we mark international nurses day to day many say they are still not getting the protection they need as they risk their own health saving others. i'm christine want to welcome to the program russia has begun easing its walk down despite a surge in corona virus infections the country now has over 230000 cases facing it behind only the united states and today the kremlin's chief spokesman was hospitalized with close at 90 despite the outbreak president vladimir putin is pushing forward with a plan to roll back restrictions across the country but hard hit moscow has introduced new rules people have to wait clubs and mosques and supermarkets as well as in taxis and pepper a public transportation use every show would reports. rob no entry without gloves and

presiding over a time of national crisis putin faces plenty of challenges ahead. doubly correspondent in early show when is covering the commemoration for us at moscow's red square emily this is anniversary celebrations were meant to be a major showcase of power for president vladimir putin who is very invested in this day how did he approach scaled down commemorations. well let him hear putin essentially didn't mention the coronavirus at all in his speech today he did talk about the importance of this victory day for all russians he said that the commemorations are part of the russian people's soul and he also said that we will have a celebration we will have a parade at the moment it's not clear when that postponed parade will take place of course today is a very important day for russians. after all an estimated 26000000 soviet citizens were killed during world war 2 which is known as the great patriotic war here and for vladimir putin and for russia as well it has always been an opportunity to showcase its military power and its political power and bloodier pu

president vladimir putin's approval rating is plummeting. the coronavirus preventative measures need to be preserved or expanded. taking into account all factors and risks. amy: we will get an update with joshua yaffa. all that and more, coming up. welcome e to democracy now, democracynow.org, the quarantine reportrt. i'm m amy goodman. the u.s. coronavirus death toll continues to climb e even as 41 states have announced plans to partially reopen their economies. officially, more than 73,000 u.s. residentsts have died of covid 19, more than a quarter of thelobal tololl, though many researchers believe the true figure is likely tens of thousands of deaths higher. this week a university of wawashington studydy predicted e than 1 1 thousand d u.s. resides will die of covid 19 b by the ed of the summemer as statates looe and stay at home and social distancing rules. in texas, leaked audio of a conference call reveals republican governor greg abbott knew his plan to reopen texas' economy would result in more coronavirus infections and deaths. the

coronavirus with the red square military parade and a mass procession postponed president vladimir putin laid down flowers at the turn of flame near the kremlin wall. calls before giving a speech to the public he called for russians to stand together saying russia is invincible when united russia also stage an air show with $75.00 jets and helicopters flying over moscow in a single formation showcasing the country's most advanced warplanes their flyovers planned in 47 cities across the country. and d.-w. correspondent emily sure one is covering the commemoration and she joins us now from moscow of red square hello to you emily so these celebrations in particular 75 years since the end of the 2nd world war they were intended to be really bombastic and kind of a boost to president vladimir putin we know he just made a short speech at the turn of the flame near the kremlin what was his message this year. well i think the interesting thing about putin's speech this year is that he didn't mention the coronavirus at all he did say however that victory day is part of russian people's souls and

working with image putting adopted in mr putin godawful colleagues and he must have almost i would like to present a number of undiluted co. it's most outcomes that we have. talking about the month of as a problem that excise should it went down by 30 percent. mostly because of the pneumonia and deferral to naturism versus production cuts and of course income taxes it went down by 14 percent. i think should we take into account that is being what's made at the same time when salaries are. naturally industry which was dealt immediate blow we see that today we have. 30 percent of companies in the retail market and non-working and their revenues went down by. 25 to sanya we break it down into the weeks of the station measures like the 1st week in the last week that we have now we can see that the number of companies not working in the retail business unit showing up. by again 25 percent and. the revenues which we generate today were also. consumption a few oil went down in the 1st week but today last week we have. used as a huge decrease accumulating and you know that it is it will move as

trust in putin has fallen to new lows so it could be that putin and the government may need a kind of boost ahead of that vote but we don't know of course yet there hasn't been an official announcement of when that vote will take place thank you really show in moscow well growth of ours crisis is severely a dump and the desire of many consumers to show had a catastrophic impact on the retired industry a survey by the german retail trade association shows that in the wake of the pandemic in one in 3 norms food retailers is fighting for survival. saturday used to be shopping day but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. it's here here everything's changed to few passes by too few people too few potential customers. mark blind is touring the 65 or so shoe stores belonging to his family they've come back after the 4 shut down but the customers haven't. since we reopened on april the 20th we've done 40 to 90 percent less business in the same time last year depending on the location that's a very dramatic drop. not having enough customers is just one problem but the whole atmosphere is

bombastic parade that you just mentioned and this year for the 75th anniversary of the celebrations putin had hopes that world leaders would attend the celebrations after all since the annexation of the crimean peninsula from ukraine in 2014 leaders have largely boycotted the celebrations but that will not be happening obviously with celebrations postponed and at the moment it's not clear when they will be taking place well emily even if president putin didn't mention coronavirus in his speech it is still very much a problem in russia the infection rate is spiking many russian citizens are very worried about the pen demick are they in a celebrant torrie mood. well it's kind of a sad day i think for many russians usually here in the center of moscow crowds would have gathered to watch the parade and crowds would be gathering as well to take part in what is called the immortal regiment where people carry photos of veterans of their relatives who died during the war and who were affected by the war efforts that is all only taking place online and one person i spoke to said that it really doe

in the past and i said russia, when i met vladimir putin. and a think the american people stand interested not just in the future of the chinese people but also with the russian people and both ofby these countries are le by some really bad actors. and onelo time i made a speech here on the floor about some of the terrible things vladimir putin was doing to oppress his people and to meddle in our election and other elections, and after the speech which i thought covered the point i needed to cover, agaricus bar off some of the former world chess champion came kimmitt sad cannon talk to you? we went to lunch and he said if you actually want a fight against bladder and putin because freedom loving people in the u.s. and russia should be opposed, it should be helpful that you not a disparaging vladimir putin say a whole bunch of that stuff aboutpa the word russia. you accidentally, he said to me, you accidentally referred to a problem as russia when you met putin. i think i've learned that lesson with regard to russia by think a lot of us aroun

vladimir putin's spokesman was hospitalized with covid-19. president putin is going ahead with plans to roll back restrictions across the country. hard hit moscow has introduced new rules. people have to wear gloves and masks in supermarkets as well as on taxis and transport. >> no entry without gloves and a mask employees tell people. the minimarket in the center of moscow is sticking to the city's new rules despite a drop in profits. the store can only y let people weararing protective gear shop. >> we all know these are precautionary measures. people a are unhappy a about th. it is hard to find gloves and masks at t the pharmacacy at the momement. otherwise we would give them to the people so they can buy things at the store. >> restaurants and 90 central stores remained closed atat the capital. the authorities have said workers are not at risk of infecting the public. on monday, president vladimir putin announced an official end to the so-called nonworking period in russia, allowing a gradual easing of the lockdown. >> based on an analysi

he says he hasn't seen putin in a month putin just announced a partial reopening in russia his government has been hit hard. three ministers including the prime minister testing positive critics have questioned russia's official death toll of around 2,000 russia reports roughly the same number of cases as the u.k. which had a death toll of 32,000. just today five more covid patients died in russia when a ventilator caught fire in an icu. covid and historically low oil prices have hurt putin's approval rating, according to a recent poll. it's at its lowest level in years lester >> all right, richard engel tonight, thank you. >>> now to the high anxiety in the airline industry and the devastating prediction today from the ceo of boeing here's tom costello. >> reporter: calling the threat to the airline industry grave the prediction from boeing ceo to savannah guthrie on "today" sent shockwaves through wall street and airline offices. >> do you think there might be a major u.s. carrier that might have to go out of business >> yes, most likely, you know, something will happen when september c

of the 2nd world war they were really meant to be major showcase of power for the president vladimir putin a short time ago he made a speech at the eternal flame near the kremlin what was his message this year. well i think the most interesting thing about the speech that we heard from putin today was that he actually just didn't mention the coronavirus at all he did said say that we will have a parade referring to russians that we will celebrate but he really emphasized the importance of this holiday for all russians and for the country he said that this is the most important holiday for russians and he said that the celebrations and the kind of sad history of this day are really part of people's souls of course you have to remember that an estimated 26000000 people soviet citizens were killed during world war 2 every family kind of has a story and as you say this day also has huge political side significance for russia it's an opportunity for russia to show off its military might usually in these big parades that we see on red square and putin had hoped that this year world leaders would

spokesman was hospitalized with covered 90 despite the rising tide of cases president putin is going ahead with his plan to roll back restrictions across the country but hard hit moscow has introduced new rules of people not have to wear gloves and masks in supermarkets as well as in taxes and on public transport if you don't lose emily showing reports. no entry without gloves and a mask employees here tell people. the mini market in the center of moscow is sticking to the city's new rules despite a huge drop in profits due to lockdown measures the store can now only let people wearing protective gear shop. we all know that these are precautionary measures that people are unhappy about them it's hard to find gloves and masks at the pharmacy at the moment otherwise we would give them out to people so that they could buy things at our store. restaurants and non-essential stores remain closed in the capital but construction work has now we started the author worries have said that workers aren't at risk of infecting the public police station on monday president vladimir putin announced

will putin even raise an eyebrow i'm bored golf in berlin this is the day. the honesty it pains me there is hard evidence that russian forces are working to do this i find it outrageous too by the way. i try to improve my relationship with russia every day still i will continue striving towards good times with russia but it doesn't make it any easier. also coming up will summer holidays and vacations become yet another big dim of the coronavirus pandemic in europe the answer is maybe maybe not what we want to do is to restore freedom of movement and integrity of saying and then allow your p.s. to travel look at. but to be able to do that we need to how we make travel in a safe way in this new normality. puts you our viewers on p.b.s. in the united states and all around the world welcome we begin the day with hard evidence and soft options today german chancellor angela merkel told at lawmakers here in berlin that there is proof that russia did it 5 years ago the german parliament the bundestag was the target of a cyber attack merkel's office was hit as well

covid and historically low oil prices have hurt putin's approval ratings. according to a recent pole he's at his lowest level in years. >> richard engel tonight, thank you >>> now to the high anxiety in the airline industry and the devastating prediction today from the ceo of boeing here's tomter: calling the threat to the airline industry grave the prediction from boeing's ceo to savannah guthrie on "today" sent shock waves through wall street and airline offices. >> you think there might be a major u.s. carrier that just has to go out of business? >> well, i don't want to get too predictive on that subject, but, yes most likely, you know, something will happy when september comes around >> reporter: dave calhoun did not say which airlines are most at rick, but with few exceptions every airline is flying less than 10% full. on september 30th the federal government's bail out money comes to an end. airlines are already warning as many as 100,000 employees could be laid off if passengers don't return in large numbers. >> you don't know who has what and how c

president putin says many sectors of the economy will begin to reopen but restrictions will remain in some regions including hot it was to bring you an update from the capital also on the program the group warning from the u.s. government's top infectious diseases expert dr anthony found she wants of needless suffering death and the deep economic damage if the country relapses it's. too soon . a mysterious illness that's affecting dozens of children in chasin terms with a potentially deadly disease and might be linked to conflict 19. and nurses on the front line of the coronavirus pandemic speak out as we mock international nurses day many say they're still not getting the protection they me. time feel go welcome to the program russia has begun to ease its lockdown despite a surge in corona virus infections the country now has more than $230000.00 cases placing it behind only the united states and flemmi spokesman was today hoss. but lives with cough it 19 despite the rising tide of infection president putin is going ahead with plans to roll back restrictions across the country but ha

so i think that the pressure on putin certainly will mount. i think something -- who will emerge as a potential new leader of russia, not that putin is going to lose power but i think power certainly is going to shift really away from him to others. and hopefully among others who view russia's future more as aligned with europe and the west and with the chinese communist party. >> you are a student of military governments. we talk much i north korea, does the coronavirus pandemic strengthen the hand of them? >> we try to capitalize on this. look at how china handled this initially. suppressed the human transition -- transition aspect of the city's, most dangerous aspect of the disease. lied to their own people, lie to the international audiences, subverted the world health organization, stop internal travel for the stop international travel. and now this ham-handed approach to promote china as the solution to the problem. i don't think it's -- in china let alone the rest of the world and there's a real backlash against china for this. okay, le

that is exacerbating the sentiment against putin. i think there is an opportunity within venezuela to pose as a leader who will actually help them get out of this crisis. and really the key factor to watch his venezuelans, especially among the former -- are they going to begin to contribute their grievances? i think it's bad for dictators, really do. i think what we are seeing, tom, is the benefit of a free open democratic system. as dissatisfied as americans are with the government's initial response of this and so forth, we have the self-correcting mechanism. we have a say in how we are governed. in these societies that don't, really as the people's voices are suppressed, the only alternative to change might turn out to be a revolution of some kind. i am optimistic about democracy, and a free and open societies. as long as it paid attention to ourselves and do everything we can to strengthen the democratic process and institutions. >> host: before you go onto the middle east we have a question about this war for this going on. [ina

the moon is a boon as he hasn't been able to end the war putin won't let him. convinced his promises came from the heart he really meant it he just doesn't know how to make it all happen. he promised to end the war he should at least start doing something this war has been done for 6 years and nothing has been done. but so. i'm disappointed i voted for him but i'm really disappointed right now. i think selenski is an honest man but he's really trying it's the people around him that are the problem. and they calmly ukrainian policy exist it's quite an interesting phase at the moment to me as a landscape not the only high profile figure to take office that how of the other ukrainian i have this to scar. well that's the thing he is only one of whole a cohort of people from showbusiness that have made their way into politics apart from him he was this country's most famous stand up comedian and actor we have ukraine's most famous rock musician. who predictably set up a party called voice he seems to have slightly lost interest in day to day politics and has kept on

there were huge protests against putin and mass arrests. and killing protesters so i think that the pressure on putin certainly is going to mount and i think something we will be watching is who will emerge as a potential new leader of russia, not that putin will lose power but i think power is certainly going to shift away from him to others. and hopefully among others who view russia's future more as the line with europe and the west and with the chinese communist party. >> or a student of authoritarian governments and we talkedabout china and north korea and russia . does the pandemic strengthen the hand of authoritarian leaders ? >> i think it's weakening their hand and this is something we should try to capitalize on . look at how china handled this initially. suppress the human transition , transition aspect of this disease, the most dangerous aspect of the disease. lied to their own people. lied to the international audiences. subverted the world health organization . stopped internal travel before they thought of it and now there's

but yesterday economy tri pdmite right-hand man of vladimir putin, his spokesman, you don't see putin anywhere without peskov either at home or abroad. the fact that he's been hospitalized poses questions about what's the health of vladimir putin like. peskov before he went into the hospital said, i haven't had a face-to-face meeting with president putin for at least a month. he tried to reassure the public. but it's got to make you wonder, has president putin been effectively shielded from all the people around him, including his spokesman and the prime minister as well, who now have coronavirus and have been hospitalized in russia. >> it really doesn't get much closer than peskov to vladimir putin. that is for darned sure. matthew, real quick, do we know the testing, like is vladimir putin getting tested on a regular basis? is that something they're divulging? >> reporter: yeah, he's being tested all the time, so are the people all around him. he's also not working out of his normal kremlin, he's working out of his home office, usually by videoconference, although he having some fac

on monday president vladimir putin announced an official end to the so-called non-working period in russia allowing a gradual easing of the lockdown across the country. based on an analysis of the situation and on the opinion of chief medical officer has the heads of each individual region to decide what restrictive and preventative measures should be in place and on how i didn't want to gradually eased into and. easy going and. moscow has been the hardest hit by the coronavirus over half of russia's cases are in the capital but the lockdown is also a huge blow to russia's economy and that is the main worry for many people now. know of the mostly i don't think it's too early to come out of it most people don't have any savings and people need something to live on a way to feed their family and pay their rent. i should know that not so you think the restrictions should be in place for 3 years why not make it 5 there just messing people around. there could look around people get out on the streets anywhere no matter what restrictions or. political analysts argue that the kremlin's decision t

hasn't been able to end the war putin won't let him. he promised to end the war he should at least start doing something this war has been done for 6 years and nothing has been done. so let's start with the latest a verbal tussling between the united states and china and the apparent unwillingness on both sides to tone down. the rhetoric the latest flashpoint is taiwan u.s. secretary of state mike pompei are loud and bitter from beijing after he congratulated the taiwanese president on inauguration a condemning what is what he said it was interference in that china is condemning what china said was his interference in domestic affairs beijing of course claims sovereignty of the island which is governed itself since the communist came to power on mainland china in 1949 this is the latest in a catalogue of disagreements on trade and technology amongst other things and more recently of course the u.s. president blaming beijing for what he calls the mass worldwide killing of the coronavirus pandemic president she claimed this week the chine

|j the clear propaganda value that mr putin has attached to it? i think for central europe, going back to 1945, it is very much what one might have seen then as an mutilated victory, to use that phrase. large numbers, about 200,000 polish soldiers, as a good example, had fought under british command it and in the polish army in the west through world war ii, and in many cases had made decisive intervention is, for example in the battle of britain, the 303 squadron, the battle of monte cassino, the battle of brick, the campaign of narvik. they were very proactive in what we consider to be the european war, and for those soldiers that were still going in 1945, it would have been a great relief that the war was over, but tainted by a real concern for what their own future held and for what their own future held and for what their own future held and for what the future of poland held. for many of them, they either had no home to go to because the areas of eastern poland had been an exploit of the soviet union so they had nowhere to go, and many other

and, of course, president putin has been repeatedly tested. but he has been seen in various photographs in various public appearances in quite close proximity to other senior officials. but, again, it just shows how high and how comprehensive this virus is in a country like russia. >> of course, and given the previous comments from putin really brushing off the severity of all of this, it says a lot. we wish him the best. matthew chance, thanks a lot. >>> in moments, the supreme court is set to hear arguments in critical landmark cases that could determine if we ever get to see a president's tax returns or financial documents. we'll have jeffrey toobin here, wrote a whole book about the supreme court, he'll talk to us about the stakes today. usaa was made for right now. and right now, is a time for action. so, for a second time we're giving members a credit on their auto insurance. because it's the right thing to do. we're also giving payment relief options to eligible members so they can take care of things like groceries before they worry ab

in a national address, mr putin paid tribute to the millions who died and said russia was invincible when its citizens stood together. the bbc‘s steve rosenberg is in red square. this is a very strange victory des in moscow. i've been to many of these celebrations in red square in these celebrations in red square in the past and normally there is an incredible atmosphere. you see thousands of russian troops marching across the square. hundreds of pieces of military equipment, military bands, there is a big crowd, quite an amazing atmosphere. today, it is empty. and of course thatis today, it is empty. and of course that is because of the coronavirus pandemic. russia has had to turn down the celebrations. having said that, president putin did lay red roses on the tomb of the unknown soldier, made his address in a short speech to the russian people. there area number of speech to the russian people. there are a number of events that will be taking place across the country, some of them online. russia, still determined to make this a celebration, because it is such an important day fo

putin's hesitation? >> reporter: already some weeks ago the kremlin announced various relief measures to excuse people from mortgage payments, debt relief and tax payments. it's been criticized to be nowhere near enough as the kind of debt that the company needs to ride out this economic storm. just this morning the kremlin launched a new website to help businesses, help individuals sort of get through this very difficult time in russia. but you're right, it hasn't announced a major sort of relief fund effort that countries like the united states, brittain, other countries have announced in order to make sure populations have announced. russia is trying, i think, to keep its powder dry. it does have half a trillion dollars, more than that the fact that it has the international fund. with oil prices, it's going to be hard to get that money back and replenish the could haiffeu. i think the other way of looking at it, perhaps the more negative way, the fact that the russian government is allowing businesses

presiding over another time of national crisis putin faces plenty of challenges ahead. now earlier we spoke to gustaf gristle senior policy fellow at the european council on foreign relations we asked him for an assessment of russian president vladimir putin's handling of the coronavirus pandemic. oh. she tried to get sort of get the responsibility to the local governors quite early on in a crisis which is if something sepia in russia happens at c b a domestic crisis he tries to delegate this to other people and especially too many other people sure he can try out basically the fire the incompetent all them promote the more competent members of. government. coronavirus is no exception. now the relaxation of lockdown measures in taiwan caused excitement among baseball fans on friday as a small number of them were allowed into stadiums to watch their teams play the lucky ticket holders had to undergo temperature checks before they were admitted while social distancing and mask wearing were also required crowds were limited to $1000.00 people per stadium far below the usua

presiding over another time of national crisis putin faces plenty of challenges ahead. earlier we spoke to gustav aggressive a senior policy fellow at the european council on foreign relations we asked him for an assessment of russian president vladimir putin's handling of the coronavirus pandemic. well. he tried to get sort of get the responsibility to the local government quite early on in a crisis which is if something sepia in russia happens to be a domestic crisis he tries to dedicate this to other people and especially to many other peoples who he can try out that basically the fire the incompetent old and promote the more competent members old greats of government. coronavirus is no exception let's turn our attention now to the latest developments in the corona virus pandemic the number of confirmed covert 1000 cases has passed the 4000000 mark that's according to the tally being kept by the johns hopkins university in the u.s. more than 776 sided 277000 have died of the disease egypt's president of belfast tel sisi has approved amendments to the country's state