turned out to be. he's a native russian speaker. he has not been a confrontational politician when it comes to moscow. but at the same time, i think they've come to realize now, after the first couple of years in office, that he's not, you know, a stooge of theirs. it may be that putin has decided he needs to crack the whip in order to stabilize ukraine and keep it further drifting to the west. >> i do love your experience in moscow with "the new york times." this week the president is expected to meet with some of his potential supreme court nominees to replace retiring justice stephen breyer. how quickly do democrats want to seat the next justice and how quickly do they need to do so? >> it's a good question. obviously there's a great hunger to move with speed and alacrity. we know from the recent illness involving senator lujan exactly why, because the senate is a 50-50 senate and they can't afford to delay longer than