a threat to democracy anywhere is to democracy everywhere. no doubt about that. this is not an isolated case. russia is probing, testing the u.s. and nato alliance, testing democracy. other countries are looking. china is looking and watching. autocratic leaders are looking and watching and if we don't handle this right we could see a snowball effect around the world. >> 8500 u.s. troops on alert tonight. part of the nato force in eastern yup. europe. do you think having the troops nearby will do anything to deter putin? had secretary william cohen on earlier and he was saying putin feels like he has the upper hand at this point like let the games begin. >> it may not. we don't know. the oebl person who knows for sure what is going to happen is vladimir putin. if anyone comes on any show and says they know what's going to happen with any certainty