margaret thatcher who was a political ally of ronald reagan, she very famously said of mikhail gorbachev, we can do business with him. did your european allies play any role in softening the impact of the cold war? >> the question is, margaret thatcher came out and said, we can do business with gorbachev. was there any other ally that that kind of influence on ronald reagan? >> in different ways, yes. that was very important because reagan's intelligence organizations was telling him that gorbachev was simply a more efficient leader with the same goals of the past. but he did take what thatcher said. the french president also played a role. particularly in convincing dp h gorbachev. he and thatcher both. that reagan was a person he could do business with and not simply an ideologue. i would say in general, we had excellent support from our allies in working out the cold war. so it was not just a bilateral thing. so that is often the way it is viewed. and those of us dealing with the soviet union, we dealt very closely with our allies along the way because we knew we had to keep that. and

-russian relations during the time of ronald reagan and mikhail gorbachev. and asks where those relations are heading in light of all that's happened since. the next program in the harrold and ruth newman world beyond tomorrow series will feature gorbachev himself in conversation with charlie rose. stay tuned. mark october 20 on your calendars. before i introduce tonight's speakers, i want to recognize some additional people in the audience. trustees who have supported our efforts. judy burkowicz, and our amazing pam shafler. i would like to acknowledge and thank members of our chairman's council, our highest donor group, who include ruth and harrold newman, frank and caroline lambs, steven stein, judith sternpeck. thank you very much for all the wonderful things you do for us. [ applause ] and on the topic of generous support, i just want to encourage all of you here tonight who are not yet members of the new york historical society to join. you'll receive invitations to exhibition openings and half priced tickets to most of our public programs, like the gre

he was very strong not only with his rhetoric to you and me but also with mikhail gorbachev.ieved him when he said i'm going to push put you on the ash heap of history. he backed it up with strength. in this administration there is absolutely none, megyn. when you have a president, the first act he did what is with? ronald reagan walked away from reykjavik because of "star wars." and barack obama, first thing he did was take away missile defense from poland and from the czech republic. i was there in 2009 on the 20th anniversary of freedom for those two countries and the first question the president of poland asked of me that morning at breakfast was, why did your president take away our missile defense? that afternoon the ambassador to poland, asked me the very same question. you had this administration, the first thing they were doing was caving in to the russian government. they do not respect an america that caves in to them. they only respect strength. my father used to say it. peace through strength. megyn: you talk about your father saying that the communism was going

for a president to beat his chest and go over here. >> bush had his first official summit with mikhail gorbacheve express his support for gorbachev's restructuring initiative and other reforms in the communist block. >> i wanted to do it on a ship thinking back to the days roosevelt did that kind of thing. we planned to go over to their cruiser and they were going to come back to our cruiser and we were going to have exchange visits but the seas were so rough gorbachev wouldn't come out to our ship. >> no agreements were signed but they struck a cooperative tone which would lead some to believe this sea board summit defined the end of the cold war. following his russian sum miftz on the verge of another foreign policy challenge removal of man well another ying ga. >> there was an election he stole the election. interestingly enough president carter went down there supervising the election and said it was part of the election. we decided had to get rid of noryega. we did use force. by the time that happened the president called all of the leaders of latin america the first military move he would

delivered a speech at the brandenburg gate of the berlin wall and called on soviet president mikhail gorbachevo "tear down this wall." here's that 25-minute speech. [ applause ] >> thank you. thank you very much. chancellor cole, governor mayor deacon, ladies and gentlemen, 24 years ago president john f. speaking to the people of this city and the world at the city hall since then two other presidents have come each in his turn to berlin and today i myself make my second visit to your city. [ applause ] we come to berlin, we american presidents, because it's our duty to speak in this place of freedom. but i must confess, we are drawn here by other things as well. by the feeling of history in this city. more than 500 years older than our own nation. by the beauty of the wall and the garden. most of all, by your courage and determination. perhaps composer paul linky understood something about american presidents. you see, like so many presidents before me, i come here today because wherever i go, whatever i do -- [ speaking foreign language ] [ applause ] our gathering today is being broadcast t

francois mitterand of france. [ laughter ] he had a strong relationship and friendship with mikhail gorbachev. one of the other famous lines of reagan was the russian proverb that he used all the time. trust but verify, and that's what symbolized his relationship with gorbachev. we used to kid inside the white house that president reagan, god help us, trusted everybody, and nancy reagan and i were the verifiers. he had an awful lot of faith in his vice president, in george herbert walker bush. he thought he was the right person to carry on his presidency, into george herbert walker bush's presidency. he knew that the relationship with the then soviet union would be solid. that's why we brought george herbert walker bush with us. there is a great photo, i'm sure you have in your archives, it's the only time i was ever allowed to play advance man in the white house. when we went to governor's island in new york harbor, since i came from new york city, from brooklyn, new york, the backdrop of governor's island is the statue of liberty. what symbolized that lunch was gorbachev flanked by reagan a

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delivered a speech at the brandenburg gate of the berlin wall and called on soviet president mikhail gorbachev to tear down that wall. you can watch that speech tonight on american history-tv. >> they are often referred to as the conscience of the congress, and after now having worked there almost two years, i can't think of a better name. it is really the heartbeat of the people. >> executive director and general counsel of the congressional black caucus, angela rye, on the role of today's caucus. >> it is designed to ensure that members of congress, who are african-american, can come together on issues that are plaguing the community at large, issues that may be plaguing their districts where they can find commonality but really come together to discuss legislative solutions, legislative proposals to advance the causes of people that don't have a voice. >> more with angela rye tonight at 8:00 eastern and pacific on c-span. >>> the b-52, you know, everyone thinks back to vietnam. they think linebacker operations. they think of the history of the b 52, cold war, so there's a -- a different kin

the former soviet leader, mikhail gorbachev, criticized the law too. even the kremlin's own human rights council has come out against the new legislation. >> credit ratings agency moody's has downgraded the ratings of six german banks. among them, the country's second biggest lender, commerzbank. moody's says it took the decision in view of the increased risk of further shocks coming from the eurozone debt crisis. bbc's steve evans in berlin told me more. >> it's a sense of the crisis coming home, if you like. when a big international assessour of risk, one of the organizations which does it on behalf of the finance houses and the finance markets, says that a german institution is at risk or greater risk than it previously thought because. situation in southern europe, then people in germany will take note. it sort of brings the thing home a bit. >> does it say much, if anything, about the strength, stability or otherwise, of the german economy there? >> no. they're saying that the german economy remains one of the strongest -- perhaps the strongest in