Bulshovik revolution, we had the u. S. S. R. Come into being. That was 1922. And then communism basically had its heyday on earth thereafter. At one point or another in the 20th century, the list of countries that ran on a communist system of government was a really, really big list. Right . The soviet union, yugoslavia, poland, romania, hungary, east germany, czechoslovakia, albania, bulgaria, right on our doorstep in the western hemisphere, of course, was cuba. Africa, the middle east, central asia, there was afghanistan, angola, ethiopia, mozambique, south yemen, somalia. Far east in southeast asia, of course, there was vietnam, north korea, laos, cambodia, mongolia, the big one, china. Talk about red states, right . In the heyday of communism, there were lots of communist countries not quite all over the world, but over really big swaths of the world. Turns out, though, that communism in practice is a pretty terrible way to run countries. Send your hate mail to rachel msnbc. Com. In any event, the soviet union, itself, collapsed of its own weight in the late 1980s. The soviet union was gone as an institution by the early 1990s. And today there are only a handful of communist countries left in the whole world. There are, in fact, exactly five communist countries left on the face of the earth. Vietnam is still a communist country. And its neighbor, laos, is communist as well. North korea is communist, among its many forms of north korean insanity. Cuba, of course, under castro. And still, the big one, china, the most populous nation on earth. But thats it. For the whole communist world, only five are left. And the soviet union is no locker. Theres no longer an archipelago of countries around the world for the soviet union to use to project itself as a superpower the way it used to be. Its just those five countries left. And a funtny thing happened on the way to the collapse of global communism. Vladimir putin was first elected Prime Minister of russia in 1999. He became president soon thereafter then they made him Prime Minister again, now hes president again. Vladimir putin has been in power in russia continuously for 15 straight years now. And soon after he first came to power in russia in 2001, mr. Putin declared that russia could no longer afford to maintain its sovieterica superpower styley system of outposts all over the world. Russia was broke. I mean, in what was left of the communist world, the Old Soviet Union had maintained spying posts. Electronic eves dropping bases in communist vietnam and in communist cuba spying on local radio traffic, spying on local military actions, keep in touch with their own spies that hay had working in those regions. The base they set up outside of havana in cuba, that was only 150 miles from the coast of florida, so it was particularly handy for keeping an eye on, say, the u. S. Space program at Cape Canaveral as well as anything else they could pluck from the sky from the giant radar rays that they set up just outside havana. But in 2001, 13 years ago, russian president Vladimir Putin, 2001, announced that the old soviet, now russian spying station in vietnam, and the one in cuba, they would be closed. Right . Its a new world, right . A new russia. No reason to pay to keep Something Like that up and running anymore. That was 2001. They announced those two would be closing down. Then this past week, Vladimir Putin took a trip to cuba and reportedly reconsidered that decision. This was the headline in the New York Times. Russia plans to reopen post in cuba for spying. This was the bbc. Russia to reopen spy base in cuba. Reuters had it as tt russia set to reopen spy post on cuba. Heres the miami herald. In and around miami. Russia will reopen spy base in cuba. Heres the guardian, rush ha sha to reopen spy base in cuba as relations with u. S. Continue to sour. Now we get word that they are reopening just the one in cuba. Just the one thats 150 miles off the florida coast. Hmm. At least that was the word that we got last week. The zedeal to reopen the spyin post in cuba was reported in a russian newspaper called kommersont. Cited multiple Russian Security forces in their piece that said the spy base was going to reopen. When the New York Times followed up on the reporting in the russian paper, former Russian Military officials told the times that the Russian Military was extraordinarily interested in reactivating that cuban base. Reuters did followup reporting, too. They got a Russian Security source to confirm the report. A Framework Agreement has been agreed. When the guardian followed up, newspaper from london, a moscowbased defense analyst told the guardian that russia reestablishing the base was one more way for russia, to show washington the middle finger. Particularly because of the u. S. Pushing russia on the issue of ukraine. This time last week, it really looked like this was going to happen. I mean, russian news sources breaking the news, multiple sources talking about the russian reasoning behind the deal. Russian sources confirming that the deal was in place. Vladimir putin had been in cuba meeting with raul castro, right . I mean, russia is reopening its spy base in cuba. That news broke on wednesday of last week. And then on thursday of last week, Vladimir Putin took it back. About 12 hours before the news broke of the Malaysian Airlines plane being shot down over the russian ukrainian war zone in Eastern Ukraine, 12 hours before that shootdown, russian president Vladimir Putin announced that actually russia wouldnt be reopening that spy base in cuba after all. Very weird thing. Very weird thing with very weird timing that ended up later getting overchateshadowed by al news about the plane. Still looking back at it now, its weird. Maybe, yeah, the initial story was misreported and all the other confirming sources that all those other newspapers were able to put together, those sources were just going along to get along, i guess . Doesnt feel like that kind of reporting and it doesnt feel like that kind of story. It feels like this widea of reopening that spy base off the coast of florida, spy base, a russian spy base in cuba, it feels like idea was a trial balloon. Floated to see what kind of reaction it might get. Or maybe they had decided they were going to do it but Vladimir Putin just decided to change his mind. But to flirt with that openly, to sort of uncork the geni of the good old cuban missile crisis, right, and the russian staging just off the florida coast in cuba, to bring all that back this year in 2014, that is a heck of a trial balloon for a world that is supposedly, you know, putting the cold war behind us. It no longer feels like were putting the cold war behind us, does it . Today in brussels, Foreign Ministers from the European Union met to discuss potential sanctions on russia, like the u. S. , the europeans want russia to basically stop their war against ukraine, to leave ukraine alone to its agreed upon international borders. To stop supporting the prorussian separatists whove taken over parts of that country and who the west is largely blaming for the shootdown of the Malaysian Airlines passenger jet last week. The europeans did expand their list of russians who they want to make subject to sanctions when they met today. But they also delayed for a couple more days any final list of options for what else they might do to russia. The government of David Cameron whos leading the hardline faction, arguing for the strongest against russia. Beyond just pushing other countries to go along with the british and u. S. Hardline approach diplomatically. The brits also today pulled their own version of maybe reopening the cuban spy base. This was an amazing turn of events today. In 2006, there was an amazing and bizarre and terrible radioactive poisoning case in london. Probably heard about it at the time. Got a lot of international attention. It was basically an assassination by radioact i means of a former russian spy, who fled russia after he basically became a whistleblower against what used to be called the kbg. Now to a genuine mystery that sounds like something out of the cold war era. The search is on to find out who put poison in the sushi that was eaten by a former soviet spy and will he live to tell about it . Nbc news correspondent keith miller reports tonight on a spy drama that involves politics and poison. Reporter at this london hospital, armed guards are keeping watch over the former russian secret agent along with a team of doctors. Theres speculation hes the victim of the dark art of political espionage. Alexander letvenenko was poisoned with falium. Less than a gram is fatal. A highly skilled specialist in toxicology who could produce this poison then train the person to use it. That would point to the security services. Reporter like russias president , Vladimir Putin, letvenenko was a colonel in the kbg, then he defected, and worse, he talked. He wrote a book lichinking russs spy agency to domestic terror operatio operations. November 1st at this sushi restaurant, lentvenenko met a contact who gave him documents related to the case. Shortly afterward, he felt ill. A russian Government Spokesperson tells the allegations that it carried out the poisoning nonsense, suggesting the former spy may have poisoned himself. Scotland yard tonight launched an investigation that could take it all the way to the kremlin. Many of his former colleagues probably have their personal scores against him. Or may just hate him as somebody who betrayed the aswrgency and country. Reporter tonight levenenko claims to life. His doctors give him a 50 50 chance of recovery. Keith miller, nbc news, london. That was the initial report on nbc nightly news when the story first happened in 2006. Turns out Alexander Litvenenko did not recover. He died. Turns out the radioactive poison that killed him was actually polonium 210, weirder than the previous allegation there, and turns out it was put in his tea, not in his sushi. It turns out the Scotland Yard investigation that could go all the way to the kremlin, well, it did no such thing though he gave a death bed statement blaming Vladimir Putin personally for ordering his assassination and even though british authorities named a specific former kgb officer as the likely assailant and said they wanted him extradited back to britain. That guy was never extradited from russia, in fact, hes a member of parliament now in russia. Vladimir putin is still russias president , and the British Foreign office just last year ruled that because of International Relations reasons, there could not be an inquest into whether or not the russian government had had a hand in that assassination on british soil. They cited National Security interests and just said that the inquest into that assassination and whether or not the russian government ordered it, that just could not go forward. And that decision was last year. But that was last year, and now whats happening is the whole world is turning against russia and against Vladimir Putin. And so today the British Government sent its foreign minister to brussels to try to talk europe into the harshest possible sanctions against putin and his government and back at home, the British Government announced a reversal of that decision about looking into the litvenenko assassination and who did it and who ordered it. The home secretary in britain today announced, in fact, there will be a new Public Inquiry into that killing on british soil. The one which the murdered antikgb whistleblower said on his death bed that the man who ordered his death was Vladimir Putin. The world feels like it is turning on a slightly different axis when it comes to russia right now. The investigation of the plane shootdown, which the west has all but blamed on russia now, the investigation has begun in earnest. The black boxes are going to britain to be analyzed. Refrigerated train containing bodies from the crash site has been moved from the crash site. The dutch say they will repackage the remains into coffins and then load them on to a hercules c130 transport plane to fly them back to the netherlands. The dutch investigators on the ground, though, say they dont have nearly as many bodies as they expected to have. The prorussian separatists announced they had shipped off 282 bodies on that train, but the dutch say they counted the bodies on that train and there were only 200 of them. Not 282 of them. And that means the that the remains of nearly a third of people who were on board the plane are still missing. The white house said today that the u. S. Intelligence community would be releasing more information to back up their assertion that it was a missile that took down that plane and it was a missile fired from territory held by the prorussian separatists. They said they would release that information. So far, actually, though, we just have more detailed versions of that assertion from u. S. Sources. We have no new data to help them prove it. And as to the question of whether or not the plane crash debris is going to prove at all useful to the investigation, well, the ontheground management of the crash site and the debris, itself, continues to make that quite hard to believe. Today, for example, we learned that for some inexplicable reason, the cockpit of the crashed plane has been sawed in half while it laid there on the ground in that field in Eastern Ukraine. International monitors who have finally gained full access to the Malaysia Airlines crash site in Eastern Ukraine said today that the boeing 777s cockpit inexplicably has been sawed in half. While under the control of russianbacked separatists. The cockpit apparently was cut in half with dieselpowered saws. Sure, why not . Who could possibly object to that . Lets make sure we get to the bottom of this crime scene by sawing it in half before the investigators get here. Rush that sia is widely accused couple blt in the downing of this plane. Russia is widely acknowledged to be the only entity on earth with sufficient sway over the separatists that they could not only tell them what to do, they could stop the whole war if they wanted to. Russia is also now increasingly being thrust into a corner in the world. Isolated, disbelieved, punished, and back in an us against the west, us against the world kind of stance. Except this time they are doing it without superpower status and without a communist world out there to back them up. Within the next 24 to 48 hours, europe is probably going to push russia and push them really hard. What will that accomplish . Will that war end . How will russia respond to being pushed when theyre in the kind of crouch that theyre in right now . Hold that thought. Weve got lots to come tonight. [ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. She can print amazing things, right from her computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] she makes trains that are friends with trees. My mom works at ge. Thats why i always choose the fastest intern. R slow. My mom works at ge. The fastest printer. The fastest lunch. Turkey club. The fastest pencil sharpener. 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We let you tell us what you want to pay, and we help you find options to fit your budget. Where are they taking him . I dont know. This seems excessive decontamination in progress. I dont want to tell you guys your job, but. Policies without the price tags. Now, thats progressive. The summer that summers from here on will be compared to. So get out there, and get the best price guaranteed. Find it for less and well match it and give you 50 toward your next trip. Expedia. Find yours. Russia must recognize that no move on the geopolitical chess board, no zero sum game with the west can match the pain being felt by the passengers families worldwide. U. S. Ambassador to the u. N. Samantha power accusing russia in engaging in a zero sum game with the west over the crisis in ukraine. On the ground, the cockpit of the clashed malaysian airliner has reportedly been sawed in half for some reason by the prorussian separatists who control the ground there. The black boxes from that plane are going to britain to be an lisz analyzed. The european Foreign Ministers met to start edging toward new sanction to try to make russia control the separatists, to allow the investigation to go forward, and not incidentally to stop the war in that region. Joining us, nina khrushcheva. Shes also,