with changes sweeping the soviet bloc. the following month he was inside dresden's kgb headquarters when protesters surrounded the building. >> putin takes a pistol from a security guard, he holds it up and makes clear he will shoot anybody who tries to get inside. don't know what to do beyond protecting the headquarters. he went inside, talked to the military and said contact moscow, find out what we need to do here and the military attache said i contacted moscow and moscow was silent. >> in his book, putin states that i got the feeling then that the country no longer existed, it had a terminal disease without a cure. >> this was this searing moment for him when suddenly he felt cut off from everything he had understood. he had been part of the system. he had helped hold up the system and now the system was in effect abandoning him. >> if the kgb is his signature