. >> tiananmen square became the focal point of the protests. t in front of the great hall of the people, where the seat of chinese government is. it was mind-boggling. i was in the middle of that march. i'm 6'2". i weigh 200 pounds. i was literally swept off my feet by those demonstrators. >> photojournalist jeff widner covered it for the "associated press." >> there was this amazing, uplifting feeling in the air. >> a few weeks later in mid-may, the situation intensified when soviet premier mikhail gorbachev heads to china for the first sino-soviet summit in years. >> it remains a world turned upside down tonight. >> he was an advocate in his home country. his visit gave them an opportunity to go to the streets and express themselves in a way that they had not before. >> they knew that they had the world watching them. >> and this also enraged the chinese authorities who are used to stage managing every photo op. and suddenly they had no control. >> after gorbachev leaves and the protests continue, chinese authorities change their tactics. >> t

and then you had after all events at tiananmen square, the democracy demonstrations in 1989 which at that point had happened just five years earlier and i was absolutely fascinated by. i was fascinated by the medal because they were young people are older than i was to build this really a tent city at the center of party power but also because you saw it remember you saw very clearly that they were torn. these young people were torn between what it meant to be of the east and upper west. they had shag haircuts and their boom boxes and in some cases they carried placards that had the words of patrick henry, give me liberty or give me death but then also sang the great communist party him. when it came time for them to present their demands to the leadership they did in the traditional style, down on their knees in a formal petition that they handed up to these men who are still buttoned up in their mao suits but you a sense that was on the cusp of extraordinary new defense. people were demanding so much more of their country, of themselves, and does a student protester who said that s

. >> reporter: the thick smog blanketed tiananmen square in a murky, hazardous haze. levels of the most poisonous particulates were more than 20 times what the world health organization says is safe. on a polluted day like today, beijing is limiting activity at factories and construction sites. it is also encouraging people to stay indoors and encouraging more street cleaning. china launched a so-called war on pollution, which today it appears to be losing. two-thirds of china's energy comes from coal. heating systems make pollution even worse. out with his family today, han wei told us the choking smog makes it tough just to leave the house. your son is about 6.5. how much do you think about him when you're out in this pollution. "i hope the government could do more so my kid could live in a better environment," he told us. "but i know it's not going to be done in a day." the government here said the smog was made worse by high humidity and a lack of wind. scott, we didn't see many people on the streets actually wearing these masks. some told us they didn't believe t

tiananmen square also happened during that time.nd for many of your interests, the end of the cold war happened during the bush years. so on the national stage, so much going on. what was happening domestically during that time period? myra: a lot of social upheaval. jeffrey alluded to it with the changes in society and the role of women. hillary clinton becomes the first lady later, but first lady aspirant who had gone to graduate school, having graduated from yale university. just a very different time. susan: and did barbara bush get involved in any of the debates over changing society, such as abortion, rights for women, gays, and gender equality, that sort of thing? myra: well, she stayed away from the abortion issue. many years later, in a televised interview, she came forth and pretty much came out and said that she'd been pro-choice all along, but certainly she stayed away from it. when george bush had become ronald reagan's vice presidential candidate, both barbara and george had had to take a few steps back from their posi