John: Good evening. I'm John yang. The most significant challenge to Russian president Vladimir Putin's two decades in power lasted only about 24 hours, but today there are questions about the long-term consequences. The streets of Moscow were quiet today as the last Russian troops left the capital. To the south, yevgeny prigozhin and his Wagner mercenary group were cheered as they left rostovondon late last night. They had captured the city that morning. The deal that defused the mutiny calls for prigozhin to live in exile in Belarus. On NBC's "Meet the press," secretary of state Antony blinken said the episode was a blow to Putin's authority. Secretary blinken I think we've : Seen more cracks emerge in the Russian façade. It is too soon to tell exactly where they go & when they get there, but certainly we have all sorts of new questions that Putin is going to have to address in the weeks and months ahead. John: Blinken also said it's unclear whether the Wagner fighters will return to the battlefield in Ukraine. Angela stent is a Russia expert. She worked in the state department during the Clinton administration and was a top intelligence officer during the administration of George W. Bush. She's now a professor at Georgetown university. Angela, you heard the secretary of state say cracks in the façade. Is it possible to know how deep the cracks go? >> It is difficult. There is a lot we do not know about what happened yesterday and it could just be the first act of a much longer drama but clearly the fact that the troops were able to get within 200 km of Moscow, and they were welcomed and cheered, does raise serious questions about the security services in Russia, the military, and Putin's own future. He certainly looks weaker emerging from this but there is a lot we don't know. Let's wait and see where and when he shows up again. Will it be Belarus? We have to see. John: You talk about the progress he made while advancing on Moscow. Was there a carrot or stick that made him stop? >> Again, we do not know a lot but it is possible he thought there would be more support for him from some of the top people in Moscow and it is possible that it became clear that that wasn't so, they could rethink what they were doing because it looks like they could have reached Moscow pretty quickly and taken over, which is what people thought at the beginning of the day, or it is possible a deal was made with him yesterday where he was promised the chief of general staff would be fired, which is what he had been calling for for months, saying they were incompetent, but that has not happened yet so we will have to wait and see. John: Is a publicly chastised Putin dangerous? Is there concern that he would do something rash to show he is back in charge? >> Someone can always have those concerns but there must be a lot going on that we don't know about right now inside the Kremlin. What is interesting is that none of his colleagues have come out publicly and supported him and he did not announce a deal yesterday but his press secretary did and he has been absent today. No public figures in Moscow. So there has to be some concern about what is going on inside the -- going on inside the Kremlin. John: The deal was brokered by Alexander. Why do you think he got involved -- Alexander lukashenko. Why do you think he got involved? >> He is a Putin ally and dependent of him and subordinate on him. Maybe he wanted to make it look as if those his hands had not touched this and left someone else to do it so he was not the one negotiating. John: You said there is a possibility the defense minister and general chief of staff may resign, which is what preclusion wanted. So did Goshen accomplish anything? >> What he accomplished was showing the Russian people to the extent that they knew what was going on that he has quite a lot of support. He has come out as a populist figure. He said a couple days ago that the war in Ukraine was a big mistake in Ukraine was not a threat and it was oligarchs in Russia who wanted to get their hands on assets in Ukraine and that was the reason for the war. The fact that that resonates and then telling the Russians people that their sons and brothers are dying while the children of the elite are sitting in the south of France, that resonates and it should get everyone in the Kremlin thinking about what it means to continue this war. John: Yesterday was tensions between Russians while Ukrainians were forgotten. What effect does this have on the war? >> I'm not sure that it has much effect on the war unless Putin were to rethink the war. I think Ukraine will continue the counteroffensive and Russia will continue defending against it so if there was an opportunity, it might have been yesterday but the way it ended now I think the war will just continue. John: Angela from Georgetown university, thank you very much.
