Today show co-host Matt Lauer is in Russia this week reporting on the G8 summit in St. Petersburg, discussing fun Russian recipes and scoring an exclusive interview with Russian Federation president Vladimir Putin. The Today show asked for viewer questions and, not surprisingly, people were unable to shake last week's image of Putin touching a small boy "like a kitten." In a manner perfected by the sexual predator police over at Dateline, Lauer turns the issue on Putin, who explains that he just very much liked the child and the incident was "an emotional gesture." That's sweet, but it didn't help Putin's case when he added that the boy was "completely defenseless."

Earlier: I Hope The Russians Love Their Children Too, But This Is Just Creepy