these are the remains of the old eastern bloc borders own. story entourage was on duty precisely here. at the time the area was finally great so that movement could be easily detected. the guards would quickly notice any attempts to cover up tracks and be able to tell if it was an animal or a human who had left the tracks. the thorny bushes behind the fence were also a deterrent. and each time the fence was touched a silent alarm was sent to the border post. but this was not the final obstacle the actual border was 2 kilometers away but few people knew this. when the alarm was triggered 2 squads would be sent out one went to the 1st crossing a restricted zone with a tracking dog the other unit went to the actual border people trying to escape hardly had a chance this is the area in which most defectors was shot dead. no i never shot anyone who i never shot at people who are brittle with some other gun if someone was already close to the border and we couldn't catch him in a more than whether we would shoot in the air 3 times. these were warni

in june 1989 was something that started the final stage of the collapse of what was called the eastern blocnative tongue] [cheering and applause] bret: many of the soviet republics began to assert their independence while gorbachev ought to transform the transformed ussr into a confederation called the union of sovereign states. but a group of hard-line communist aides had had enough. in august 1991 they launched a coup. they wanted to place gorbachev under house arrest. tanks and troops appeared on the streets of moscow. at the time, constantin eger was a newspaper reporter in moscow. >> i rushed off to my editorial office in a city newspaper and it was this feeling of oh yeah, here they come back. you know what they will do. it will not spare anyone. bret: then something remarkable happened. hundreds of thousands of citizens poured into the streets to resist. many of the soldiers joined th them. >> [inaudible] nothing happened just all these mighty armies, kgb, all those people held sway over the country. they just did. there was no one to defend it. it was a system without defendants. br

for rus nick: he began his military career when communist poland was the largest country in the eastern blocutenant, he deployed to west germany, one have -- one of 300,000 service members faced off with the soviet union. today, there are 35,000 troops in germany. til 2017, he commended u.s. army europe and he is at the center of european policy analysis. >> the presence of u.s. troops in germany benefits the united germany gives us a forward station presence that allows us to carry out our national defense strategy and conduct operations in africa, the middle east, as well as all over europe. nick: president trump wants to cut u.s. troops deployed to germany by one third and the tnumber of troops who cvel through germany in half. what's i said, let's get -- >> let's get it dowfrom 50,000 to 25,000 because they are delinquent. frustrated germany spends 1.3% of gdp on defense, below the promised 2%, and it is resisting efforts to cancelth a pipeline ussia. >> they pay, the coury, we are supposed to protect them from, they pay millions of dollars to that company. we are supposed to protecte? t

was still split into 2 camps with an iron curtain dividing europe bulgaria was part of the eastern socialist bloc it was also a magnet for tourists from east and west alike who were drawn to black sea coastal resorts. it became a place where germans from both sides of the wall could meet. your conceal lake was a citizen of the german democratic republic the g.d.r. in september 1988 he and a friend flew off to bulgaria from. me of all members of us from all the time for whom it was our 1st time on a plane and we were hoping to have a nice holiday here in bulgaria at the seaside when it was well for me so it was really satisfying for me to go on a trip abroad for the 1st time. so until then i'd only been allowed to go on holiday in the g.d.r. . it was really a feeling of joy leaving the country for the 1st time. at the time anybody who wanted to travel outside the g.d.r. had to put qwest official permission it was a lengthy procedure one that had also gone through. the flight to bulgaria took 3 hours his greatest adventure had begun he was $24.00. and since. he arrived in borg was. the terminal was

was still split into 2 camps with an iron curtain dividing europe bulgaria was part of the eastern socialist bloc it was also on magnet for tourists from east and west alike who were drawn to black sea coastal resorts. it became a place where germans from both sides of the wall could meet. you can see who lake was a citizen of the german democratic republic the g.d.r. in september 1988 he and a friend flew off to bulgaria from like to. be of all members against the mob. who and it was our 1st time on a plane and we were hoping to have a nice holiday here in bulgaria at the seaside. as well for me so it was really satisfying for me to go on a trip abroad for the 1st time. until then i'd only been allowed to go on holiday in the g.d.r. . it was really a feeling of joy leaving the country for the 1st time. i have almost become. at the time anybody who wanted to travel outside the g.d.r. had to request official permission it was a lengthy procedure one that you're going to take had also gone through. the flight to bulgaria took 3 hours his greatest adventure had begun he was $24.00. this is. he arriv

schifrin: hodges began his military career, back when communist poland was the largest country in the eastern bloc. as a lieutenant, hodges deployed to western germany -- one of 300,000 service members faced off with the soviet union. today there are 35,000 troops in germany. until late 2017, hodges commanded s. army europe. he's now at the center for european policy analysis. >> the presence of u. troops in germany benefits the united states. a germany gives orward station presence that allows us to carry out our national defense strategy and to conduct operations in africa, the middle east, as well as all over europe. >> schifrin: but president trump wants to cut the total number of us troops deployed to germany by travel through gerin half.n >> i said, let's get it down from 50,000 to 25,000 because they're delinquent. >> schifrin: us officials are frustrated germany spends 1.3% of its.d.p. on defense--below the promised 2%, and is resisting us efforts to cancel an $11 billion pipeline with russia. >> they pay the country we're they pay billions of dollars to that country.we e supposed to prote

the tripoli offensive but they do back half that they do back i get assad if they do back the eastern bloc egypt believes that given its economic crisis given the various regional issues if the libyan war cannot continue if it is going to threaten the domestic stability of egypt egypt is essentially saying to jeanne a look you proved yourself you ousted half the turkey came in to bail you out come on the message has been received let's sit down and let's talk about this the g. and a are saying listen we're on top there's no reason to sit down let's take as much as we can and this is why egypt is saying that if you push as much as you can i will bring this force into play and i will force you to the negotiation table right those are the and what will g.m. going to do in that case jna will do that because what would a political solution look like that would be acceptable well to both parties. i think that right now it's out of the g.n.a.t. hands and any and i think right now it's between turkey and egypt i think it's turkey that is pushing to d.n.a. to take it serious and just and so large h

communism and worked with gorbachev and president reagan to end communism as we knew it in the eastern bloc -- he did it, though, through the solidarity movement which was a peaceful protest of abusive government. i think it would be a great opportunity for the president to invoke john paul ii's name and say as a country we need to come together in unity and in peace. john paul ii had to [ inaudible ] a lot of other movements were trying to use violence to obtain their motives or their end, their objective. john paul ii said no to that, that through solidarity we can have victory. i hope president trump invokes that same message. stuart: very good point there, jonathan, because you're quite right. essentially, pope john paul ii had a huge role in defeating communism. certainly in the soviet union and certainly in his native poland. as you say, he did it peacefully. john paul ii was not a man to -- he wasn't anybody to sort of shout and scream about violence and end it now and burn it down. he was the exact opposite. yet the man was wildly successful. good point, jonathan. good point. now, i

bloc-wide decision. warning of a surge in 11 countries and territories. most of those countries in easternpe, alex. that's the real fear, if visitors start coming in, and certain countries start surging, it's going to spread all around europe once again. alex? >> molly hunter in paris, thank you so much. >>> joining me now, dr. john torres, nbc news medical correspondent. good to see you. i want to get your reaction to the starting new number of cases in the u.s. how concerning is this for you? >> alex, this is very concerning. what has happened is overall, across the country, we flattened that curve and did a good job of plateauing out. across the nation, some states are worse than others, but across the nation you're seeing those numbers creep up again. thursday was the highest single day of new cases we've had since the pandemic started. true, there are more testings out there, more testing sites and more testing being done. that contributes to that increase in numbers, but we also have higher positivity rates, higher hospitalizations, which means those numbers aren't just testing. that

was still split into 2 camps with an iron curtain dividing europe bulgaria was part of the eastern socialist bloc it was.

eastern district of new york. mr. mcconnell: i ask that the senate vote on the nominations en bloc, if offered, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table en bloc, the president be needly notified of the -- immediately be notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: without objection. the question is on the nominations en bloc. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the snogs are confirmed en bloc -- the notions are covid en bloc. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the 0 senate proceed to the consideration of calendar number 713 sand 716. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will report the nominations en bloc. the clerk: united states, united states postal service, william zollars of kansas to be a governor. donald lee moak of florida to be a governor. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the senate vote on the nominations en bloc with no intervening action or debate, that if confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, en bloc, the the president will be immediately noti