mr. gorbachev. according to an aide, mrs.n sat down in the chair reserved for the soviet leader, and the president said, "well, you're much prettier than i expected." it is that kind of personal chemistry that could make this summit a success. >> we haven't given them a script, let me get that straight at the start. the man knows what he's talking about. if there's an occasional slip, anyone can slip on a factor two. it is the principles, he'll never slip on principle. >> 3,500 accredited reporters to cover all of this, speaking all languages. using the latest technologies. ♪ >> it's been an issue all of ronald reagan's career, whether he's a strong leader able to sell his vision of the future or whether he's just a salesman with plenty of style and little substance. >> more than the motorcade. [indistinct chatter] >> they shook hands in the driveway, the first moment of meeting for the 74-year-old american president and the 54-year-old russian leader. >> will you pose again? >> pose again! >> can you stand there and pose aga

mr. gorbachev. according to an aide, mrs.and the president said, "well, you're much prettier than i expected." it is that kind of personal chemistry that could make this summit a success. >> we haven't given them a script, let me get that straight at the start. the man knows what he's talking about. if there's an occasional slip, anyone can slip on a factor two. it is the principles, he'll never slip on principle. >> 3,500 accredited reporters to cover all of this, speaking all languages. using the latest technologies. ♪ >> it's been an issue all of ronald reagan's career, whether he's a strong leader able to sell his vision of the future or whether he's just a salesman with plenty of style and little substance. >> more than the motorcade. [indistinct chatter] >> they shook hands in the driveway, the first moment of meeting for the 74-year-old american president and the 54-year-old russian leader. >> will you pose again? >> pose again! >> can you stand there and pose again? up at the top, sir. >> then they posed for pictures

mr. gorbachev's already established himself as a shrewd political chess player. when mr. gorbachev is weak, however, is at home with an ailing economy. mr. gorbachev's dilemma is that he cannot move any faster than he can drag along party conservatives and the old guard. an agreement could politically strengthen his hand to deal with his greatest need at home, modernizing a third world economy. >> yes, i have a very brief statement. i'm pleased to report that i'm in route to denver here. i received a call from geneva and it appears that all of the remaining issues on reaching an imf agreement have been resolved, including a reliable and credible verification. package. this treaty will be finalized when general secretary gorbachev and i meet in washington next month. >> can you tell it to the senate? >> what? >> can you sell it to the senate? >> i'll bet we can, yes. >> what did you think? >> i just couldn't believe. it's great that he came out to meet us all like that. >> i'm very surprised and pleased. >> what did you think of gorbachev? >> the guy is a pr genius. >> i th

mr. gorbachev, tear down this wall. was there a sense on the president's part that making it that personal would have some kind of resonance with gorbachev. was he challenging a guy he had come to see as almost as a friend or was it not as intentional as that? i think in my view, it was very intentional. i remember listening to reagan talk about his first meeting in gorbachev in geneva and maybe you remember this, too, and there were in the meetings that they had in the morning were sort of large groups and maybe ten, 12 people on each side of the table, and the idea arose of -- let's let the two leaders take some time after lufsh nch sit down and talk together and this is something he fantasized about. he was frustrated in his first administration and he once famously said they keep dieing on me, but remember, he had breshnev, andropov and korie, in ko, and i remember because i went to all of these funerals with george w. bush. he was frustrated and he wanted and i think all presidents in one form or another and certain

mr. gorbachev can accept. >> george bush understood he had a partner in mikhail gorbachev.orbachev wanted to be neutral. bush always wanted a unified germany and in a very disciplined manner moved gorbachev towards that position. >> in a major concession, gorbachev agreed to the western position that a unified germany is free to join nato. >> once you solved the german problem, you removed the basic source of tension between the two superpowers in the cold war. >> this is the big photo opportunity, the important picture that president bush came all this way to get. at this moment, gorbachev chooses to give president bush his present. the present was a soviet cartoonist's depiction of two presidents as boxers having just knocked out the cold war with the world as referee. >> george bush and brent scowcroft, his national security adviser, liked to fish together and one summer, they were fishing and they were thinking about what kind of world would emerge after all the dominoes had fallen. it's very rare that the world is so fluid and flexible that world leaders can think this

gorbachev. a period of detente between us and the russians. not so good under mr. putin, owl though there are some changes going on there have to see how that plays out. but you cannot understand, russia, soviet heritage and legacy, one has to realize that mr. putin spent the first 41 years of his life under communism. the was ten years being trained by the kgb. so one lesson from the cold war is legacies matter, that ideology matters. you can't touch base with somebody like that without taking into account that he has spend most of his life under communism. >> host: here's the book "the brief history of the cold war." lee edwards and elizabeth edwards-spalding. this is booktv on c-span2. >> here's a look at some upcoming book fairs and festivals happening around the country... >>> book of the recently visit capitol hill to ask members of congress what they're reading this summer. >> right now i'm reading a book called "dream lean." this is a book about the history of opiates in our country. it's a nonfiction book but it's absolutely fascinating. we have an epidemi

mr. gorbachev.rs today. >> i want him to fight for peace. >> enter a bear smiling, but why is he smiling? he won over the british press, which may be something to smile about. he won over britain's iron lady, which is certainly something to smile about. >> i like mr. gorbachev. we can do business together. and he seems to be exploiting a division in the western alliance. and that is something to make him smile back to the kremlin. at 53, this rising star exudes charm, smiles easily, has a keen sense of humor and an attractive wife. >> the soviet government has gone to great lengths to portray gorbachev as the voice of reason, the man trying to prevent an arms race in space. >> mr. president! what do you think of gorbachev? >> what do you say? >> did he upstage you? did he upstage you? >> the strategic defense initiative has been labeled "star wars," but it isn't about war. it is about peace. in that struggle, if you will pardon my stealing a film line, "the force is with us." >> privately, nato fore

president ronald reagan harness the power of television to give a historic speech at the berlin wall mr gorbachev tear down this wall. and when president barack obama wanted to talk to the american people about climate change and everybody he chose to do it on his first ever facebook video post this has been my backyard for the last seven years over the years the ways presidents communicate to people has evolved but when the history books are written about donald trump's presidency there will certainly be a chapter dedicated to a little bluebird specifically his political use of twitter the most important role for presidential communication is not necessarily in swaying opinion but in setting the agenda and dictating what it is that americans in the media are talking. but trumps tweets are a window into his thoughts and were the subject of a recent satirical donald trump presidential twitter library exhibit in new york. the most famous tweets were framed in gold a jab at the president's love of bling even this puzzling tweet where he typed a word nobody knew how to pronounce let alone what it mea

mr. gorbachev.fe place. >> he needs some time to feel better. >> warn today that the white wing cue will have tragic consequences. it is the beginning of civil war. >> there seems to be draw may here in moscow tonight. destruction, fire and even blood on the street. >> four people died, crushed by armied vehicles. >> the speculation of gorbachev now being held in moscow. >> gorbachev wasn't that popular but these people were less popular. if they had mounted a coup he might have fallen and the new soviet union would have been different. but there are already nulew legitimate figures that the russian people were supporting. >> people gathered to chance their support. >> george nelson had been p.o.p. lateral elected as president of the federation. >> let me put on my glasses here for a moment and read you a piece of ware copy that has just come across. russian president ordered all army and kgb unit involved in overthrow of gosh clef to stand down. clearly there is a major confrontation shaping up in

mr. gorbachev and i both agree on the desirability of freer and more extensive personal contact between thehe united states. >> we began to realize that the best way to get a message to a foreign leader was to have the president go in the rose garden and make a statement. because everybody was watching cnn. >> cnn was a breakthrough. it changed the whole world. >> it changed quickly. the network news business. that business that we weren't the only ones. and it was hard. it's hard to be on the top little perch and have to come down off it. >> a special segment tonight, the network news. the first in a two-part series on the profound changes taking place in television news. changes being brought about by business, competition and technology. >> there were a variety of reasons why people who worked at the broadcast networks were freaked out in 1980s. one of them was cnn. and the rise of cable. another was being taken over by foreign entities in corporate america. >> new owners spend billions buying the networks recently, and all of them want their money's worth. >> people began to find out th

president ronald reagan harness the power of television to give a historic speech at the berlin wall mr gorbachev tear down this wall. and when president barack obama wanted to talk to the american people about climate change and everybody he chose to do it on his first ever facebook video post this has been my backyard for the last seven years over the years the ways presidents communicate to people has evolved when the history books are written about donald trump's presidency there will certainly be a chapter dedicated to a little bluebird specifically his political use of twitter the most important role for president of communication is not necessarily in swaying opinion but in setting the agenda and dictating what it is that americans in the media are talking about but trump's tweets are a window into his thoughts and were the subject of a recent satirical donald trump presidential twitter library exhibit in new york. the most famous tweets were framed in a jab at the president's love of bling even this puzzling tweet where he typed a word nobody knew how to pronounce let alone what it meant

mr. gorbachev, take down that wall kind of speech.d trump needs a moment like that tomorrow. >> martha: matt? >> well, i don't agree with the governor that the nato speech is all that successful. as you recall, he left out the article five still exists. the problem -- >> martha: he did say in poland just a week or so later. >> yeah, later. but he had to kind of correct himself. the problem with president trump is that he seems to have attention for punching our allies in the face and cozying up to our adversarieadversaries does it with nato and the u.n., right at the moment, as you pointed out, martha, north korea and iran at the front burner, and we have never needed our allies in the world community more than we need them now. >> martha: many would say we've pacified them for the past many years through the last administration, and certainly beyond that to some extent. during that period, they both have spent a lot of time and money building up a nuclear program that north korea likes to show off on a regular basis now. pacifying th

mr. gorbachev, tear down this wall.y're expressing it compellingly and a sense of pride in the national direction. that was totally missing. i gave him a b for bombasting, bullying and belligerence. you know, it was not a speech in which americans could take pride or direction or comfort in. >> i don't mind tough talk when reagan called the soviet union an evil empire he was telling the truth and that's fine. the problem with donald trump's rhetoric is it's self-destructive. first of all, it may put the north koreans in a corner where they can't back down because of their own psyching needs and creates a context where north korea can do whatever they want in the atmosphere, and suddenly we look like the bad guys. that's the interesting thing about the speech was so nationalistic. >> yeah. if you're the country who is the top dog in the world, which we are, you need international organizations and alliances to exthe end your power. if you take that away, you diminish yourself. so his nationalistic pose makes sense if you