tonight, frederick kempe and his new book "berlin, 1961." >> i became a cold worrier the old-fashioned way, by being a reporter out there, seeing people fight for freedom. i had relatives that were east german who i visited as a student. i then covered poland, the changes in poland, rights of solidarity, the fall of soviet communism, german unification. i today myself, what i care about most is the cold war. and i thought the year that was most decisive but that hadn't been written about as much as i thought it should have been was 1961 and clearly the epicenter of the cold war was berlin. >> rose: and actress keira knightley whose new film is called "last night." >> it's a discussion about what's worse between an emotional betrayal or a physical betrayal and i think what i really loved about it is it doesn't impose morality. it asks the audience to bring their own life experiences, their own mortality to the piece. i think it's a discussion and i found that really exciting. >> rose: frederick kempe, keira knightley, next. every story needs a hero we can all root for. who beats the odd

eurasian, russian and european studies at georgetown, and it is my great pleasure to introduce frederick kempeauthor of "berlin: 1961." fred kempe is the ceo and president of the atlantic council of united states which is a leading washington think tank. for 25 years he had a distinguished career as a journalist. his last position being the editor of the european wall street journal. he is the author of a number of books, among them siberian odyssey and a book about his own family and germany and his own thoughts about a unified germany. so this is, i think, going to be a very interesting discussion. fred, most people when they look back at the 45-year history of the cold war say that the cuban missile crisis when the united states almost came to the -- or did come to the brink of nuclear war with the soviet union was, in fact, the most dangerous moment in that cold war. you think otherwise. why do you describe berlin in 1961 as the most dangerous place on earth? >> guest: partly because nikita khrushchev described it that way, and he was the soviet premier, and i think he probably knew better

frederick kempe is the ceo and president of the atlantic counsel of the united states, a leading washingtonnk tank. for 25 years had a distinguished career as a journalist. his las position being the editor of the european "wall street journal," the author of a number of books, and also the book about his own family and germany, and his own thoughts about a unified germany. this is, i think, going to be a very interesting discuss. fred, most people when they look back at the 45 year history of the cold war think the cuban missile crisis when the united states did come to the brink of nuclear war with the soviet union was the most dangerous moment in the war. you think otherwise. why do you describe berlin in 1961 as the most dangerous place on earth? >> guest: plater -- partly it was described that way there, and it was where people were willing to go to war. i think in cuba, the historians think that the backing off was already beginning halfway through that crisis wake, but when you have people faced off against each other in berlin, the first and last time there was soviet fighting tanks

and on after words, frederick kempe. look for the complete schedule at booktv.org and get our schedules directly e-mailed to you. sign up for our booktv alert. >> i am a very hopeful person, an unrepenitent idealist. and i've come to understand hopefulness and idealism as strength, as real blessings. and this book, a much as anything, is a gesture of gratitude to some of the people who have given me those gifts of hopefulness and idealism, the teachers who gave me a reason to believe in a brighter future, a family and strangers too who gave me a reason to believe in the power of kindness. the church ladies on the south side of chicago who gave me a reason to believe in the essence of faith, the voters for that matter, who have given me a reason to believe in the politics of conviction and many, many others. a friend of mine described this book recently as a love story which for me was the most powerful compliment i could be given. i wanted to write about these people and the lessons they taught me for two reasons. first,

east european studies at georgetown university and it is my great pleasure to introduce you to frederick kempe, author of "berlin, 1961:kennedy, khrushchev and the most dangerous place on earth." he had a distinguished career as a journalist. his last position being the editor of the european "wall street journal." he's the author of a number of books, among them sibeerion odyssey and a book about his own family and germany and his own thoughts about a unified germany. so i think this will be a very interesting discussion. fred, most people when they look back at the 45-year cold war think about the cuban missile crisis when it did come to the brink of a war with the soviet union was the most dangerous moment in that cold war. you think otherwise. why do you think better minimum in 1961 as the most dangerous place on earth? >> guest: partly because nikita khrushchev described it that way. and it was where people were to go to war. i think in cuba as a historians think that the backing off already began halfway through that crisis week but when you had tanks faced off against each other in octo

then frederick kemp on the standoff regarding the berlin wall. get our schedules and he mailed directly to you. signup for our booktv alert. >> inside, a new and returning house and senate members, with contact information, including twitter addresses and committee assignments, and information on the white house, supreme court justices, and governors. >> here's a look at this morning's shuttle launch. the last mission for endeavour as it delivers an times as the experiments to the international space station. >> t-minus two minutes and counting. >> go for pressurization. >> one minute, thirty seconds. >> now arming the sound suppression water system. >> one minute. oxygensing the liquid auct and liquid hydrogen control valves. standing by for control of onboard computers. inus 30 seconds, and a handoff has occurred. >> 25. 20. >> firing chain is armed. suppression of the water systems is armed. >> 8, 7, 6 -- 4, 3, 2, 1 -- 0 and liftoff for the final launch of endeavor, expanding our lives in spades. -- in space. >> roger, rolling, endeavor. >> ho

and fredericktown on one of the most significant standoffs in -- frederick kempe on one of the most significant as staffs of the cold war era. a sign up for our booktv alert. >> "washington journal" continues. host: day for our look -- day 4 of our look at select operations of homeland security. our first look at airport security. so rights and liberties on tuesday. on wednesday, which looked at critical infrastructure, electricity grids and that kind of thing. tomorrow, bioterrorism and preparedness. today, the topic of border security, the articulate the technologies that are used in securing the southern and northern border -- particularly the technologies that used in securing the southern and northern border. chris strohm of "national journal" writes about national security issues. what role does technology play in border protection? guest: over the years it has played more and more of our role. what they are trying to do is have a mix of personnel, technology, and infrastructure. a major component of that in the technology peace -- had been the technology piece. the department is reviewin

and frederick kempe.k for the complete schedule at booktv.org. >> follows c-span's "washington journal" on twitter and join viewers to get advanced notice of tomorrow's guests, the question of the day, and links to video clips of key highlights. do not miss any updates from "washington journal." start your twitter account today atwitter.com/cspanwj. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we are looking at selected aspects of the department of homeland security. on monday, we tackled the issue of airport security and looking at the various technology and people involved in that brief yesterday, civil rights and civil liberties. tomorrow, we will focus our efforts on border security technology. friday, we will look at bio terrorism. today, our topic deals with the larger topic of what is known as critical infrastructure protection in the office of homeland security. our guest today is the former assistant secretary at dhs for infrastructure protection from 2005 to 2009. what does this phrase mean for the

and on afterwards, frederick kemp on one of the most significant standoffs of the cold war era, the berlinook for the complete schedule at booktv.org. sign up for our "book tv" alert. >> this weekend on c-span 3 from lectures in history, the music of duke ellington. on artifacts, a look at smithsonian's efforts to preserve an exhibit, the jefferson bible. and live sunday from jackson, mississippi, the 50th anniversary sunglass of the freedom anniversary celebrations of the freedom anniversary rides, the goal to integrate southern bus stops. get the complete weekend schedule at c-span.org/history. >> history is -- as you know, is much more than just politics and soldiers, it's social issues. it's also medicine and theatre and poetry and ideas. we shouldn't lump things into categories. it's all part of the same thing. samuels morris, harriet beecher stowe, john singer sergeant, thomas edison, henry adams, sunday night on "q&a," part one of two weeks with david mccullough on americans who made the greater journey to 19th century paris. . seven times during the course of my presidency. i want