the health of the population life is just simply got better for people in central and eastern europe. dramatic improvement they've got a wider access to health care. it's a really very very impressive ok minute ok but harold there's something that's happening i think you should there's something more than economic indicators ok so how would you do explain the rise of populism and nationalism in eastern europe i think it is the region it is a reaction in many ways a rejection of neo liberalism ok because the communist period put a put into deep freeze a lot of ideas in eastern europe and probably ideas that should have been frozen ok but now with the end of communist rule in eastern europe you're seeing it come up again and and the e.u. and new liberalism is not answering all those needs. economic indicators isn't enough i mean we live more we need more than just bread ok that was the whole point of the question. were there but people do need a basic. measure of existence and that was really problematic if you look in the 1980 s. their life expectancy was very low there were more death

know that and commenting on it it is the people's power the rise of the spring of nations in eastern europe but that's a kind of a narrative that is very western i suppose but i lived there it was it i don't have that same kind of feel for it ok though having said that i'm very glad those communist regimes are gone and the wall go ahead john. you know well like you peter i lived through those events very directly like you i was studying eastern european studies at oxford at that point i spent that summer in 1909 in romania and hungry and indeed in september 89 i was in west berlin and was there when the 1st east berlin is arrived in west berlin having driven through czechoslovakia hungry austria and the whole of germany so i have a very strong memory of it as well i would make 2 points the 1st is that none of it would have happened without gorbachev decision to pull the rug on the eastern european communist regimes that was decision he took in june and which he announced to the german chancellor helmut kohl at the time and all the events that we remember now the jangling of keys in wencesla

there was a college basketball uprising in various countries in eastern europe and that mass uprising that people's revolution was critical in pushing events in the. direction such as like said i agree. with my roots yes i was to the fact is is to go. to revolution from above is led by colwich off and it's the revolution from below that comes from the street ok and you. had. thanks i mean obviously it's difficult to discuss such big issues in the short term it's needed for television the reason why i said what i said is that on the 13th of june 1909 gorbachev effectively toyed helmut kohl that he the soviet union would not oppose german reunification that the communication of that information to call in the gardens of the federal chancellery says it all because once the soviet union let it be known to west germany that it would not oppose east german reunification then the entire house of cards could only collapse of course they were popular discontent i would never dream of suggesting otherwise and i certainly didn't suggest otherwise what i would say though to harold james is that t

that he's not really counting on eastern europe to build you up to date he sees that eastern europe is really a different mentality and we've seen it concerning immigration recent concerning the liberalization of work permits in different countries there's different talents in eastern europe which is sometimes difficult to control coming from western europe and i think that emanuel macro's europe is based mainly on the french european economies and they would like to duplicate that all across europe and just impose their vision of europe to eastern europe and he's just finding that it's very difficult that eastern european countries want to remain sovereign they want to marry your room keep being hot democratic countries voting the laws themselves and not having lost coming in from the european commission imposed on them and men are not going to see this difficult to control them. honest international islam israeli authorities for banning one of its employees from traveling abroad they have the rights organization described the measure is punitive like does a palestinian human right

again it's a question of yes and no the standard of living of people generally in eastern europe the former communist countries and certainly in eastern germany has risen beyond recognition and so the flowering landscapes that they were promised 30 years ago have eventually after 30 years certainly in eastern germany they have to advantage extend materialized however as in the. movements social and personal cost $1.00 talks about a lost generation the initial reaction to introducing the free market economy remember this was the time 30 years ago where everybody was talking about deregulation of markets if you deregulated markets let the markets regulate themselves everybody would be happy and as the american philosopher. said it would be the end of history he wrote this famous book the end of history because everybody would be content. of course that was not the case people put up with the tremendous suffering with huge unemployment for many years believing that there was no alternative. but of course with the financial crisis of 2008. experience something different right i'm clarity

that she's not really counting on eastern europe to build you up to date he sees that eastern europe is really a different mentality and we've seen it concerning immigration we've seen it concerning the liberalization of work permits in different countries there's different talents in eastern europe which is sometimes difficult to control coming from western europe and i think that eman no matter what europe is based mainly on the french european economies and they would like to duplicate that all across europe and just impose that vision of europe to eastern europe and we're just finding that it's very difficult that eastern european countries want to. storen they want to. be in hot democratic countries the laws themselves are not having lost coming in from the european commission imposed on them and i'm not going to see this difficult to control them. and the pentagon has just released a startling report showing that veterans suicide takes more lives than active duty combat watching the hawks delve deeper into that and that's next. the people who are printing the money don't

eastern europe is a bird or not onwestern europe -- burden western europe and until eastern and western europe rejoin into one common europe, we are always going to be ironically bound, with the chinese and the russians. i am very candid that the wall is down and everything is ok. in new york this morning, john is out of ferrum, virginia. go ahead, you are next. caller: hi, how are you? host: i am well, go ahead. i am 31 years old, and the previous caller talked about the lack of education people receive on the subject? me, i was never taught anything in school. here in public schools in virginia. theso for me, observing situation on television and division of the state, in this case, makes it mean --ted because -- i it is representative -- are you still there? host: yes. caller: it's really sad and it's really scary how the divisiveness between -- you do not see that stuff where i live in virginia, the conflict and competition, and it is just really shocking. you do not see this sort of stuff you are young, for me in school. -- me it is really scary, so anyway, i appreciate you taking

china really has spread everywhere it is the big deal economy power throughout the 3rd world into eastern. europe as well and of course what they saw also in 1989 and the americans in particular although they stick together vis a vis best in europe and raise too many rights and important to condemn what happened in china they also persecute the americans a back channel promised policy to keep the economic relationship going considering that china was planning to open to the world economy and that it's exactly a similar position we're in now sadly we don't see so much defending office that values spoken vis one voice by the transatlantic alliance but we do see the importance of keeping at least trade relations going because it cannot cut yourself off altogether since you're working in the world economy you talk about this tension the western values and then the need to be pragmatic because of global trade there is a conversation right now around the world about the rise of authoritarianism and in battle democracies with the benefit of hindsight which you've already talked about a little what do yo

communist east from the west of the city finally fell and set in motion the collapse of communism in eastern europe some even describe it as an end of history but today is germany remembers the fall of the wall it's also contending with the resurgence of the far right and with divisions placing its alliances so 30 years on from november of 1989 i'm going to medical a sound it a note of caution defend democracy and freedom she says don't take them for granted i feel gail in berlin and this is the day. to day in the i would like to honor those who were killed near the wall because they sought freedom. i honor the 75000 people who were imprisoned because they attempted to flee east germany. this place and this day remind us of a great historical achievement. so after decades of living with a border patrol by ruthless armed guards under orders to shoot on sight anyone who tried to escape the east freedom which had seemed unimaginable in berlin i arrived in november 989. we just walked right through without being stopped it was fantastic and what my mother and my father over there can i go over there an

it is a global problem, but it is particularly acute in europe and in eastern central europe where it has become a particular problem. we can talk about some of the reasons for that. one of the things i think that was essential to u.s. success in the cold war was the role of liberal anti-communism. the fact that the centerleft in the united states agreed with the center right that certain parties in europe were beyond the pale. they were beyond the pale because they had an allegiance to a foreign government and took assistance from that foreign government. and they were beyond the pale because they would not agree to abide by the rules of democracy if they actually won an election. and the centerleft said that is unacceptable, and you can't be a participant in the international liberal order that we are creating if you go down that path. i think it is incumbent on those of us who self identify on the center right today to take the same attitude to these movements that are arising that challenge norms and habits of democracy and are taking assistance from foreign powers. joel: let me t

earlier in the day leaders from central and eastern europe placed rosen's to honor the many who were killed trying to escape communist east germany under an arch tosser the wall ran straight to the middle of the street dividing families neighbors and friends. chancellor spoke at the chapel of reconciliation nearby it was built on the former death strip where the east german government demolished a church to build border posts. having grown up in eastern germany america knows the impact of the berlin wall firsthand. at this ceremony she delivered a message of hope. well you know obama normally the berlin wall ladies and gentlemen is history kind of proves that no war that segregates people and limits freedom is so high and so wide that it could not be broken through and. this is brilliance message to the world on this 9th day of november not unlike the scenes that captured the world's imagination 30 years ago. we're following all of this for us is the correspondent john barrick good to see you john to begin with tell us what's your assessment did macros address resonate with a crowd w

it is not just in central and eastern europe. you see in france, for instance, theell, and you see it in history of various referendum and treaties where the history of democracy has been to some degree subverted that we vote on this until we get it right by having multi-referenda on treaties that had been rejected by multiple publics. there has been a disconnect. just to add to what charlie said about migration, it is not that there have been a couple of waves of this. one is the fear of migration new western europe by the members of the eu because of freedom of movement, which created problems in central and western europe. then it was the failure, ultimately, to deal with both libya and syria that set off a new wave of migration both in sub-saharan africa and the made notst that has just actual migration but fear assailanton i as charlie suggested. joel: i will ask sam donaldson if he can come back out if anyone wants to ask questions about earlier things. while they are lining up, if i could get a lightning round of questions

gorbachev is making clear tanks will roll into eastern europe. that all matters. i am not saying the united states is unimportant. it is just that doesn't actually open the wall. t creates a context on which the wall can open. but you need a spark and catalyst. catalysts aren't like buses. they don't come along all the time and look the same. the nature of the cass list and the way they interact with the powder keg actually give shape to the explosion of the revolution. i realized he was right. i said i need to look at the catalysts, the locals. i need to look at the people who turned the potential for the reopening of the wall into the rereality of the opening. i think the sort of take-away bless on is the united states, it needs in its foreign policy to pay attention to the locals. it goesed badly wrong when it face to do that. the united states is good at things like con text creation, but it ising bad at producing specific results. it is better when it empowers people on the ground to push through and make the final changes. it is not adviseable for the united

eastern europe is a bird or not onwestern europe -- burden western europe and until eastern and western europe rejoin into one common europe, we are always going to be ironically bound, with the chinese and the russians. i am very candid that the wall is down and everything is ok. in new york this morning, john is out of ferrum, virginia. go ahead, you are next. caller: hi, how are you? host: i am well, go ahead. i am 31 years old, and the previous caller talked about the lack of education people receive on the subject? me, i was never taught anything in school. here in public schools in virginia. theso for me, observing situation on television and division of the state, in this case, makes it mean --ted because -- i it is representative -- are you still there? host: yes. caller: it's really sad and it's really scary how the divisiveness between -- you do not see that stuff where i live in virginia, the conflict and competition, and it is just really shocking. you do not see this sort of stuff you are young, for me in school. -- me it is really scary, so anyway, i appreciate you taking

that might be how change comes to eastern europe. but then something very expected happens. the hungarian regime, which is also interested in reform, the hungarian regime decides to put holes in the iron curtain. at first only for its own citizens. it decides to open the border for hungarians to cross into austria. what they do not anticipate is that other east europeans and east germans will try to sneak out through the holes as well. and the hungarian government is bound by treaty to east germany not let east germans out. it can only make this decision for its own citizens. so first it has to restrain and send back the east germans and does so with force and there's even an east germn who is killed n front of his wife and child in august of 1989, trying to get out via hungary. and it becomes a huge crisis and the west german chancellor, helmut kohl says to the leader of hungry, i have friends who run banks. if you let these east germans out and my banks will be very good to you. so the hungarian leader decides to let the east germans out in september of 1989, and indeed, w

also thinking of developments in eastern europe where the promise of those euphoric days 30 years ago has not been entirely fulfilled and democracy may be a bit under threat and sometimes you have to raise as you mentioned not just an occasion really to look back but also look for we heard the president. warning about the threat of new walls within society what did he mean about that well he of course is a former foreign minister and i think inevitably perhaps his perspective was not simply on germany and german history but internationally he received resoundingly applause from the thousands of the brandenburg gate when he made a thinly veiled remark. criticism of the u.s. president donald trump's rhetoric against germany where he put in the context of the late president reagan's. friendship towards germany and said germany wished for a relationship of mutual respect between the 2 countries and it was while the floors. i think. steinmeyer. is very concerned about the fact these walls were going up in people's heads as indeed quite a literal war perhaps in the united states but there i

he made clear that soviet tanks would stop rolling into eastern europe has they had done in poland, hungary and eastern in the past. he makes clear that he wanted reform to be the order of the day. but that was not enough, increase the possibility that it can open but not the actual reality of the opening. he of course dealt with his american counterpart, president ronald reagan and george w. bush who previously becoming providencpresident. he had a series -- ronald reagan did not result in any agreement to open the wall even if those are words about control and other issues. when president george h. w. bush in january 1899, it turns out he added internally attitude and that was one of the biggest surprises of my research to discover the weight of the bursa ministration and i'm talking about george h. w. bush, the 41st president of the united states, not the son, when george h. w. bush took off the office. internally, president bush when he took office in 1989 essentially stepped onto brakes. he and his team thought that there may not be for real, he might be trying to law the united states

not only in eastern europe, but inside the soviet union. lobby.ave a good we will be discussing rapid change in eastern europe. we were talking about that today, just before you all came in here, talking about the gorbachev meeting, and we are determined that we will discuss, and i know we will want to discuss change. sam: joining us today, a distinguished panel to talk about that day in washington, beginning with that gentleman you spotted at the end of the video standing against the wall behind secretary baker as president bush talks. marlin fitzwater, right here -- [applause] who served with both ronald reagan and george herbert walker bush, one of the longest-running press secretaries of our country. someone who, i say this admiringly, he knew how to handle the press. he has written four books about his experiences in the white house. i have to give the title of one decade with presidents and the press. who us also, to reporters -- 2 reporters who were on that beat for many years. gibbons, who was full-time for three presidents ronald ,

eastern europe is a bird or not onwestern europe -- burden western europe and until eastern and western europe rejoin into one common europe, we are always going to be ironically bound, with the chinese and the russians. i am very candid that the wall is down and everything is ok. in new york this morning, john is out of ferrum, virginia. go ahead, you are next. caller: hi, how are you? host: i am well, go ahead. i am 31 years old, and the previous caller talked about the lack of education people receive on the subject? me, i was never taught anything in school. here in public schools in virginia. theso for me, observing situation on television and division of the state, in this case, makes it mean --ted because -- i it is representative -- are you still there? host: yes. caller: it's really sad and it's really scary how the divisiveness between -- you do not see that stuff where i live in virginia, the conflict and competition, and it is just really shocking. you do not see this sort of stuff you are young, for me in school. -- me it is really scary, so anyway, i appreciate you taking

it was a crucial trail blazing for protesters across eastern europe. and in the summer of 1989, it polish regime to agree to semi-free elections. 99 of the 100ns seats that it's allowed to contest. but it has to still share power the communist regime. so it seems like that might be the way for it. slow process where the reformers grab one hand hold but still have to share power. that might be how change comes to eastern europe. but then something very expected happens. the hungarian regime, which is in reform, the hungarian regime decides to put curtain.the iron at first, only for its own citizens. it decides to open the border for hungarians to cross into austria. regime doesgarian not anticipate is that other allern europeans and above east germans will try to sneak out through those holes as well. the hungarian government is treaty to east germany to not let them out. first, it has to restrain and send back the east germans. so with force. there's even an east german who killed, tragically, in front of his wife and child, trying to hungary.ia this b

prosperity support of ukraine's success also fits squarely into our strategy for central and eastern europesince the fall of the wall 30 years ago this past week a europe truly whole free and at peace our strategic aim for the entirety of my foreign service career is not possible without a ukraine whole free and at peace including crimea and the donbass territories currently occupied by russia represented by the red in the map looking forward the trumpet ministrations national security strategy makes clear the global strategic challenge now before us great power competition with rivals such as russia and china and the need to compete for a positive influence without taking countries for granted and that sense ukraine has been on the front lines not just of russia's conventional war in eastern europe since 2014 and it's broader campaign of malign influence but of the greater geo political challenges now facing the united states ukraine's popular revolution of dignity in 2014 forced a corrupt russian leadership the fleet in moscow. after that russia invaded ukraine occupying 7 percent of its

support ofukraine's success also fits squarely into our strategy for central and eastern europe since the fall of the wall 30 years ago this past week. a europe truly whole, free and at peace, our strategic aim for the entirety of my foreign service career, is not possible without a ukraine whole, free and at peace, including crimea, territories currently occupied by russia, represented by the red on the map. looking forward, the trump administration's national security strategy makes clear that global strategic challenge now before us. great power competition with rivals such as russia and china, and the need to compete for positive influence, without taking countries for granted. in that sense, ukraine has been on the front lines, not just of russia's conventional war in eastern europe since 2014, and its broader campaign of ma lined influence, but of the greater geopolitical challenges now facing the united states. ukraine's popular revolution of dignity in 2014 forced a corrupt, pro-russian leadership to flee to moscow. after that, russia invaded ukraine, occupying 7% of its terri

the last nail in the coffin of the communist system in eastern europe. we should have positive feelings maybe we understanding had exaggerated ideas about how easy it would be to integrate the east end west germans -- east and west germans. if it is that hard, how much more difficult it has been for the rest of eastern europe and in russia for the post-soviet states to make the transition. it will take a very long time. we should be positive but realistic about how long it will take to get over the defamation of this system. host: professor angela angela stent. you can follow her on twitter. " putin's world." up next, more of your phone calls. stay on the line. we will get to your call and talk about your thoughts and memories from 30 years ago today. if you are in the eastern or central time zones, (202) 748-8001 if you are in the mountain or pacific time zones. the special line for german-americans, (202) 748-8002 . as you continue to call in we will show you president george h w bush's public reaction to the news they wall had opened when he talk to r

eastern europe has had cases, too, and now, western europe is preparing.survive in infected frozen meat and in vehicles that have transported infected livestock. meat shortages and price rises are already happening. and the virus just keeps on spreading. 50 countries are now affected. some animal health experts suggest a quarter of the world's pigs, hundreds of millions, could die. imogen foulkes, bbc news, geneva. a ban on smoking in restaurants and bars has come in to force in austria. the country was one of the few european union nations which did not have a ban, as rich preston reports. the ban applies to any enclosed space where food or drink are being prepared or served. it is coming later than expected. it had been due to come into force last year but the government, which included the far right freedom party, scrapped it, when the government fell in may, the idea was reintroduced. about one quarter of austrian adults smoke, above the european average. many see this as a step in the right direction for a modern western nation. translation: i am tota

general secretary gorbachev if you see these if you see prosperity for the soviet union in eastern europe if you see liberalization come here it is good mr gorbachev open this gate was. mr gorbachev tear down this wall was. the. 'd center of the conflict so with him sebastian if own homes pro-democracy movement imagine if it has the i'm qualified support of the international community it is better think again my guest this week here in berlin these joe you see you the pro-democracy activist show me how a movement now tries to make a deal with. hong kong government before that becomes impossible conflicts are. next on t.w. . there. is a calculable. their egos and such. their rivalry 10 to. 3 princes. who dream of leading the arab world. there are full power and boundless ambition have touched the middle east into a grave crisis sunday. to rival princes of the gulf states nov 27th on t.w. . syrian born on man visits a local bar in berlin. he lives just opposite with a father who is a member of the hitler youth as a child. some residents are suspicious of refugees in the neighborhood. and th

but those countries in eastern europe which at that time was still a member of the valse a pact invested dominated by the soviet union they are now free countries and most of them are members of the european union of nato and so far it's a success story of $89.00 is. part of the relative of europe today but what has changed we have a more critical relationship with russia today we have an unpredictable u.s. administration unpredictable in many directions and we have a new conflicts in parts of the void like an ethical middle east which we couldn't predict at that time. i spoke today with a group of us journalists who were here visiting for the 30th anniversary they covered the fall of the wall 30 years ago and what struck me is they they seem very very disenchanted by what has happened in the united states in washington with politics and i heard time and time again the question. what's germany doing is there something that germany is doing that we could follow do you see germany now emerging as a bigger leader on the global stage now that some time is past 30 years as the fall of the wal

heywood, uber regional general manager for northern and eastern europe.s is bloomberg. ♪ ♪ romaine: we just heard from uber's general manager for northern and eastern europe. joining us on the phone with reaction, dan ives, wedbush securities managing director for equity research. he has an outperform rating for uber. what can uber do to satisfy london's regulators so that they don't have to completely shut down in the city? dan: i think ultimately, they were caught flat-footed, and i think they dropped the ball a bit. now they need to significantly step up their game to make sure they stay in london. we are talking not just 45,000 drivers, three point million consumers. this would be a 3% to 4% revenue hit for uber, so there is a lot of pressure on them to handhold the issues with regulators within london. guy: is this proving that changing the culture of uber is harder than maybe some had assumed? dan: yeah, i view this as a blackeye that they are in this situation after there's been a back-and-forth for two years. it is not like this came out of nowher

if you see prosperity for the soviet union and eastern europe. if you see liberalization come here it is. mr gorbachev open this gate. which all cheered this wall. in. a phone. book and. a shortage of teachers in rural areas. it's a big problem for russia and a huge problem for children. arsalan jaan isn't a teacher but he wants to do something positive. he voluntarily travels to remote areas and teaches kids to open doors of opportunity for them. next on d w. repeated new beginning continues battleforce. west and east germany 30 years after the fall of the wall. how competitive are the 2 economic region what about salaries and of course the residents. of clue what happens when everything changes. made in germany in 60 minutes from cong. coleman. discover you. discover it with. google. to 100 lives the ideals of the fonts are more relevant today than they were. this year it's been shaped things to come to all of the people understood the sign is a way of shaping. the part documentary starts november 14th on t.w. . hello and a warm welcome to focu

now, pro-family programs have a certain resonance in eastern europe where immigration and a falling birthulted in population declines. but this is bigger than demographics. the law and justice party has in general expanded the welfare state and raised spending on the poor. as "the times" reports, the government cited it would nearly double its minimum wage. it raised pension payments and eliminated taxes for people under 26. kachinsky, the party's leader, said he drew inspiration from the kmen french economist. the german president crippled the judiciary and the press. but on economics, he's offered young couples interest-free loans. he's exempted women of paying income tax for life if they have four children. and pledged to expand nursery school capacity. he's expanded work for welfare programs. and look further back to his first term in office. after the financial crisis, he did something few dared to do. he bailed out borrowers at the expense of the banks, by offering extremely favorable rates on mortgages and forcing banks to absorb most of the difference. as the political scientist m

if you see prosperity for the soviet union and eastern europe if you see liberalization. it is. mr gorbachev open this gate that one with. mr gregory draw carry down this wall. 'd into the conflict zone with tim sebastian is from holmes pro. democracy movement imagine if it had be our qualified support of the international community it is better think again i guess this week here in berlin it is joey see you a pro-democracy activist show me how a movement now tried to make a deal with the hong kong government before fast becomes impossible conflict so. in 90 minutes on d w. syrian born american visits a local bar in berlin. he lives just opposite with a father who was a member of the hitler youth as a child. some residents are suspicious of refugees in the neighborhood. and there is curious about the bar's regulars to cross the road worlds apart. starting november 11th on d.w. . come and follow the adventures of the famous naturalist and explorer. to celebrate alex on the phone while its 251st day were embarking on a voyage of discovery. expedition was on t.w. . on. oh we can be

it is interesting to see as we saw in that report that using phages is far more widespread in eastern europefor example than it is in western europe how extensive is research for example here in germany in western europe into the usaf ages as far as us as no as far in germany we have real 10 to 20 different research spots as even bird in sri research institutes or sri interested groups and we have a group in bronze like. been hung over in munich instance got i guess even in germany we have a lot of research institutes and in europe we have i think a lot and perhaps some if there would be a good network. more in s. in poland or in georgia we saw in that report it's tremendously expensive on a daily basis according to that woman who was just talking in terms of that treatment all the hurdles that need to be overcome to make phage therapy more viable. first says we need an awful approval in germany and the big front for the official approval would be we need evidence based at they based data for a benefit for the patient and for the safety of the features and therefore we have to took all toget

i am the deputy secretary of state for eastern europe. i have served for more than 27 years. as i mentioned last month, i represent the third generation of my family to have sworn the oath of office that all u.s. public servants do in defense of our constitution read indeed -- our constitution. indeed, there is a george kent sworn to defend the constitution for nearly 60 years, ever since my father reported to annapolis after graduating first in his naval academy class in 1965, the year best known for his heisman winning roger stop that, my father served an honorable 30 years, including as a captain for a ballistic submarine during the height of the cold or. served honorably in the army and navy in world war ii. in particular, tom taggart was stationed in the philippines at the time of the attack on harbor -- on pearl harbor. he survived the brutal death march and three and a half years in a prisoner of war camp unbroken. he returned to service as an air force judge advocate, upholding the rule of law until his death in 1965. today i appear for you once again, under subpoena,

human rights protests, protests for freedom all across the captive nations of eastern europe. starting in poland of course and spreading from there. we knew the trend was very much in the right direction as far as we were concerned. i don't think anybody could have told you. i'm not even sure the soviets could have told you that was going to happen on that day. low level east german officials made an announcement that had something to do with visas. it was interpreted to mean we will open the gates and let people freely pass between east and west germany. i'm not sure that was exactly -- message this low level wski -- i'm not sure that's what he meant to convey. recall when i was next there. i was the only secretary of state ever to have gone to east germany. bridge, thes the bridge of spies in the pot stamp dam when no american official had done that because the cold war was at its height. host: i want to end with one of the questions that president bush got in the press conference that you described on that day on november 9. is this the end of the iron curtain? what were yo