became the target of anthe ii assassin. pope john paul the ii's election to the papacy in 1978 was unique for a number of reasons - he succeeded one of the shortest papal reigns in history, he was the first non-italian pope in over 400 years, he was relatively young but what really made john paul the ii stand out was his presence. "this one could easily be dubbed the tireless or vigorous pope with crowds, especially children. he is as active as a politician." "the pope in his usual bulliant fashion did some greeting of his own working the crowd along the fence like an experienced politician." for the time, john paul the ii's rapport was unusual. he was exceptionally public, insistent on being among the people and his weekly general audiences were always an opportunity to greet his supporters that gathered in vatican city's - st. peter's square. but on may 13, 1981, among that crowd lurked an assassin. riding in an open-air jeep, pope john paul the ii passed through the square waving at the crowd of thousands but then all of a sudden - gun

. >> it is important to understand solidarity without understanding the impact of john paul ii. >> theiets are nervous about john paul ii, he is anti-communist and beloved by the pols. they're pressuring the government how to keep control. >> the strike by polish shipyardworkers is over. for the polish strikers, it was a day worthy of hyperbole, telling his followers we are co-masters of this land. >> they're showing that you could have an independent union in a communist country, and the question was how independent were they going to be allowed to be. >> how the u.s. deals with poland, with the eastern block and, of course, with russia will be early challenges of foreign policy with president-elect, ronald reagan. >> reagan spent much of his career blasting the soviet union, attacking any republican or democrat who said we can negotiate. he had been the leading opponent of detente, the policy of trying to ease relations with the soviets. >> what he disliked about detente was they were hitting the negotiating team as equals. reagan thought there are two super powers, but we have moral

john paul ii. >>> the president is speaking about new steps to prevent financial corruption like money tax evasion. lets listen in. >> it's not growing as fast as it should be and lagging groenl in places like europe and japan and now china. here in the united states there are folks that are still hurting and we have to do everything we can to strengthen the good trends and guard against dangerous trends in the global economy and if the republican congress joined us to take steps that are common exception, then we could put additional wind at the back of americans. to create new jobs they should invest in our infrastructure, roads, bridges, schools, water mains -- >> we are listening to the president from the white house delivering a statement on the u.s. economy and financial trabs transparency and fighting corruption. if you would like to see the rest we are streaming it at 6abc.com. and we'll have a wrap up on "action news" beginning at 4:00. >>> still to come on "action news" at noon, residents in one city face and extra charge at a grocery store. it may have shoppers changing thei

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>> i think reagan and margaret thatcher, john paul ii. all of those people deserve a little credit. and did on many occasions that the lion's share of the credit ought to go to the people who were actually living under communism, resisting it at every turn. they were heroes in the eyes of people like reagan. john: who's next? >> how do you go against the nature of what's popular in society and fight and go to another country. what motivated you to change the regime there. >> this may sound corny, it was a movie. john: yes, it does. >> in 1966 -- [ laughter ] >> well, i was 14 when my mother insisted on take my sister and me to pittsburgh near where we lived to see the sound of music. and so when the soviets later invaded czechoslovakia next door to austria where the movie took place, i took a keen interest. john: yes, sir? >> i'm a libertarian, i have read milton friedman, how come many of my generation and most americans look at politicians as gods but unfortunately frown at businessmen. >> it's not just your generation, that was true in my generation, too. one of the reasons is bu