alex's mom, vassi lisa, was only slightly younger than her son when the ussr broke up.sband were once card carrying members of the communist party, but grew to despise it. they don't like russia either. "we thought if communism fell we would be free. we were naive. we didn't think capitalism with a russian face would be so ugly." vassi says "we don't have democracy, even though we badly wanted changes back then. much of the system is still the same." when you talk to people attending recent political protests, many say their lives are comfortable but they believe they've given away political freedoms in return for prosperity. this is the new cry of russia's unhappy middle class. you won't hear it in this small apartment in one of moscow's outer suburbs. eduardo says almost all the money he makes as a writer goes toward the rent. he feels life is hopeless and he has no chance of leaving a better one to his children. his memories of the ussr are not all bad. we don't have the positive things like money, stability. we feel lied to, he says. these two generations grew up in

alex's mom, vassi lisa, was only slightly younger than her son when the ussr broke up.usband were once card carrying members of the communist party, but grew to despise it. they don't like russia either. "we thought if communism fell we would be free. we were naive. we didn't think capitalism with a russian face would be so ugly." vassi says "we don't have democracy, even though we badly wanted changes back then. much of the system is still the same." when you talk to people attending recent political protests, many say their lives are comfortable but they believe they've given away political freedoms in return for prosperity. this is the new cry of russia's unhappy middle class. you won't hear it in this small apartment in one of moscow's outer suburbs. eduardo says almost all the money he makes as a writer goes toward the rent. he feels life is hopeless and he has no chance of leaving a better one to his children. his memories of the ussr are not all bad. we don't have the positive things like money, stability. we feel lied to, he says. these two generations grew up i

his memories of the surks ssr are not ussr are not all that bad.don't have the positive things like money, stability. we feel lied to, he says. these two generations grew up in very different countries. just like the many diverse faces that have joined street protests over the last month, they all shared the belief russia's government and political system have let them down. phil black, cnn, moscow. >>> service on london's underground subway system, you'll know it as the tube, was disrupted after conductors staged a one day strike, demanding extra pay and a holiday comp. day. several lines have been suspended with only limited service available. the strike comes on the day after christmas or boxing day, which is one of london's busiest shopping days of the year. extra buses were added to ease the service disruption. the strike didn't deter bargain hunters, many of whom had been lined up since midnight to take advantage of holiday sales. >>> queen elizabeth's husband, prince philip continues to recover from emergency surgery to repair a blocked coro

hobbies, travel in the form of ussr, the mideast and europe. paul, jeffrey sarrabin. >> the statistics that i gave from this quite remarkable 5,500 were recapped. do you believe that the historical account as given by at least two of the gospel writers of the christmas the angels announcing to mary. >> no, i'm not a theologian. >> do you think it's not treating as historical jesus' true history? >> well, i'm a histo historian t know how much historical evidence there is for this. we don't know the historical evidence his yuns go by. >> well,, the row monocatholic church council said you don't have to accept it in it full littoral teerality. >> sure i do. these statistics are from your article. it's on the question of is religion very important to you. 60% of americans say religion is very important to them. 30% that of the irish, 30%, 27% of italians, 20% of germans, and 10% of french say that religion is very important to them. does that kiss appoint disappoi? >> it's welsh. in the netherlands that figure is 17%, and this is another huge dispa

former ussr mikhail gorbachev told journalists yesterday he does not see democracy in russia's future. >>> a look at other stories making news early today in america. a raging fire burned a colorado buddhist temple to the ground. frigid weather conditions made fighting the inferno a tough job for firefighters. they were able to contain the early morning blaze by afternoon. unfortunately, it wasn't before the house of worship was totally destroyed. >>> a cold weather front in texas produced the season's first snowfall as well as treacherous driving conditions in several parts of the state. light snow mixed with icy road conditions caused several rollovers and smash-ups. the weather conditions also led to school shutdowns and power outages in western and northern cities. >>> the cold weather isn't stopping the traffic to one texas woman's home. judy has collected nearly 3,000 nativity scenes over a decade. tourists have even stopped by to get a peek at the holiday themed souvenirs she's picked up from all oef the world. her husband had to build a separate house for them. >>> finally, ri

today also marking 20 years since the fall of the ussr. officials estimate that some 30,000 people are in the streets and squares of moscow. protesters also angry at the results of parliamentary elections held this month. widely seen by russian voters as being rigged. also another important story from overseas. syrian troops pushed into the city of holmes this weekend with heavy shelling and machine gun fire. this is video uploaded by a resident who says thousands of troops are surrounding the city, digging trenches and positioning tanks. it's the epicenter of a long-time anti-government movement in syria. >>> and news on the presidential election front. reaction coming in after newt gingrich and rick perry failed to get on the virginia primary ballot. a pretty big deal for them, an important state that they will not be on the ballot for. gingrich's team announcing that they would now launch an aggressive write-in campaign. one problem, though -- virginia law specifically prohibits write-ins for a primary. so now what? the gingrich campaig

ussr. we have wouldn't have -- i don't know what history would have. >> the confidence in the christmas period between roosevelt and churchill made it pretty clear that russia wasn't really an ally. we just wanted to keep russia at war, fighting the germans. we had to divide our arms not only among the british on the russians, but we also had to keep for ourselves to fight japanese. that meant huge industrial buildup to push in to by church hill. >> sean: you put in a little fackoid i found interesting. goods that were available, that december, '41, things as simple as nylons. would a year later be perishs. incapable of finding them. >> no new tires or audibles. with converted from automobiles to planes and tanks and ships immediately. >> sean: immediately. >> a year later we were launching 2,000 ships a year. building 90,000 planes a year. it was inconceivable we could do that. be churchill made it realistic for americans to think in terms of really going at the heavy production of war mat

today marks 20 years since the fall of the ussr. >>> pope benedict prayed for peace in his annual christmasiff prided over his seventh -- presided over his seventh christmas mass as pope. he urged to focus on the reason for the holiday and the need for harmony in an increasingly violent world. the vatican celebrated midnight midnight at ten clm last night to accommodate the aging pontiff. >>> to politics, the newt gingrich campaign is evaluating its options after failing to get on the virginia primary ballot. the team announced late saturday they'd launch an aggressive write-in campaign. problem here is virginia law specifically prohibits write-ins for a primary. >>> that's a look at the headlines this hour. don't miss my holiday special today. it's at 4:00 p.m. eastern time. it's called "big stars, big giving." one o one interviews with jennifer lopez, tony bennett, will ferrell, and president clinton. that's at 4:00 p.m. eastern. i'm alina cho, "fareed zakaria gps" continues next. >>> spy agencies are the stuff of fantasy and fiction. so it is fitting that one of our best journalists on t

or they remember the ussr coverage of the 1930s. denying the famine. his reward was pulitser prize. you were smitten during this. >> kimberly: i know. i'm trying to throttle back. i find him to be exciting and funny. i don't know. i like his approach to things. i think he is a little off the cuff. like bob. he's just being himself. >> bob: is similarity between the two of us? christie is being himself. there were 12 people behind christie and nobody in the audience. >> eric: you got to love christie. the man says it like he is. so many people out there going where are you? dabs the occupy wall street -- >> dana: the occupy wall street folks call him corporate goon. but she a public servant. he served as assistant u.s. attorney. worked up to u.s. attorney. served in the state government in new jersey. ran for governor. >> greg: but a big white guy has to be a private goon. >> dana: is there any private sector position acceptable to them? >> bob: what i have right here. every week i'll have one for you. >> kimberly: what is that? >> bob: this is a new -- this is 1350 -- >> kimberly: w

today also marks 20 years since the fall of the ussr. >>> pope benedict prayed for peace in his annualthe 84-year-old pontiff presided over his seventh christmas mass as pope. he urged the faithful to focus on the essence of the holiday rather than the commercialism. and he stressed the need for finding harmony in an increasingly violent world. >> translator: at this hour, when the world is continually threatened by violence in so many places and in so many different ways, when over and over again there are oppressors' rods and blood-stained cloaks, we cry out to the lord, oh, mighty god, you have appeared as a child and you have revealed yourself to us as the one who loves us, the one through whom love will triumph. and you have shown us that we must be peacemakers with you. >> the vatican actually celebrated midnight mass at 10:00 p.m. last night to accommodate the aging pontiff. >>> and in the race for the gop presidential nomination, mitt romney maintains a solid lead in new hampshire. according to the latest boston globe poll, romney is ahead with 39%. both newt gingrich and ron p

he details the day mchale gorbachev resigned as president of the ussr in the failed coup that led to that day. he discusses the historic transition from communist superpower to open market republic with thomas blanton, director of the national security archives. >> author of moscow, december 25th, 1991, last day of the soviet union. described it as a miracle day. we ended and empire without firing a shot. there are all kinds of versions of that day including geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century. can you give us a sense of that historical importance? your big picture take? >> when my publisher asked me to write a book about the fall of the soviet union to mark the 20th anniversary i came to realize that this day was a day of human drama because of the conflict between boris yeltsin and mikhail gorbachev but also it goes pretty well unrecorded in most histories of the time, i came to realize this they marked the end of the superpower when you consider that gorbachev as president of the soviet union could say he was leader of the superpower as long as he held on to the nuclear c

the former moscow correspondent detail the day mikhail gorbachev resigned as president of the ussr and the coup that led to that day. discusses the transition from communist superpower to open market republic with thomas blanton, director of the national security archives. >> conor o'clery, author of moscow december 25th:1991:the last day of the soviet union. a stupendous moment, end of an empire without firing a shot. alternative versions of that day include the current prime minister of russia calling it a geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century. can you give us a sense of that historic perspective, your take legal big picture? >> when my publisher asked me to write a book about the fall of the soviet union to mark the 20th anniversary i came to realize that this day was a day for a human drama because of the -- boris yeltsin and mikhail gorbachev, but also it goes and retarded in most histories of the time. i came to realize this day marked the end of the superpower. if you consider that gorbachev as president of the soviet union could say he was the leader of a superpower as l

if you remember in the late 1950s when the soviet union, ussr, at that point, sent up the satellite sputnik but we came together as a nation with a common purpose and a common vision. that is what we need today. we need a common economic purpose and a common economic vision. if we don't get all this, as diane said, things will get harder and harder. >> even, you know, mohamed, it seems as though whenever we see policy makers do anything including the central bankers, when they do something it's defensive. it's not playing offense but defense. we look at the emerging markets, china investing an awful lot of money in infrastructure. brazil making big investments as well. russia and india the same kind of -- when is the united states going to be able to be playing offense again and is that a completely political statement? because republicans would say, we don't want this administration or anybody to be doing any more. you've done enough. >> so two things that you point out. first we need to go as you said from playing defense to offense. when you play offense, you need a game plan. you need t

right, after the breakup of the ussr, they were all over the place, and they know where they are, and they were secure. does this put that in question? >> and there were reports that there were suitcase nuclear weapons that went missing. also, there have been nuclear shells that were taken out of a kazakhstan nuclear dump. there were all sorts of stories, we can't confirm them. but with clearly, they exist, and we know who wants to buy this stuff. that's the atomic ayatollahs in iran. >> do we know how these were obtained? you were talking about an iranian courier, but anymore details that you can think of what might have happened here? >> as you pointed out, this was not made in somebody's basement. this came from a particle accelerator. that means it was a university or a government lab. that means people had to have been bribed. and if people can bribe to steal sodium 22, which is after all, not that dangerous, they probably can also be bribed for uranium and plutonium, and russia has a lot of plutonium that's unsecured. >> so what does this tell us about who's helping iran? could

if you remember in the late 1950s when the soviet union, ussr, at that point, sent up the satellite sputnik, we had a huge shock, but we came together as a nation with a common purpose and a common vision. that is what we need today. we need a common economic purpose and a common economic vision. if we don't get all this, as diane said, things will get harder and harder. >> even, you know, mohamed, it seems as though whenever we see policy makers do anything including the central bankers, when they do something it's defensive. it's not playing offense but defense. we look at the emerging markets, where they are -- china investing an awful lot of money in infrastructure. brazil making big investments as well. russia and india the same kind of -- when is the united states going to be able to be playing offense again and is that a completely political statement? because republicans would say, we don't want this administration or anybody to be doing any more. you've done enough. >> so two things that you point out. first we need to go as you said from playing defense to offense. when you play o

right, after the breakup of the ussr, they were all over the place, and they know where they are, andhey were secure. does this put that in question? >> and there were reports that there were suitcase nuclear weapons that went missing. also, there have been nuclear shells that were taken out of a kazakhstan nuclear dump. there were all sorts of stories, we can't confirm them. but with clearly, they exist, and we know who wants to buy this stuff. that's the atomic ayatollahs in iran. >> do we know how these were obtained? you were talking about an iranian courier, but anymore details that you can think of what might have happened here? >> as you pointed out, this was not made in somebody's basement. this came from a particle accelerator. that means it was a university or a government lab. that means people had to have been bribed. and if people can bribe to steal sodium 22, which is after all, not that dangerous, they probably can also be bribed for uranium and plutonium, and russia has a lot of plutonium that's unsecured. >> so what does this tell us about who's helping iran? could th

former irish times moscow correspondent details the day mikhail gorbachev resigned as president of the ussr and the failed coup that led to that day. he discusses the historic transition from communist superpower to open market republic with thomas blanton, director of the national security archives. >> host: conor o'clery author of "moscow, december 25, 1991" the last day of the soviet union, you describe it as a miracle day, stupendous moment, and of an empire without firing a shot. they're all kinds of versions of that day also including the current prime minister of russia who called it a geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century. can you give us a sense about of baathist oracle importance? >> guest: your big picture take. >> guest: when my publisher new york asked me to write a book about the fall of soviet union to mark the 20th anniversary, i came to realize that this day was a day full of human drama because of the conflict between boris yeltsin and mikhail gorbachev but also it goes pretty well into history at the time and i came to realize that this day marked the end of the su

and ussr to doubt. no nuclear weapons have been used since nagasaki in wartime, again compounding every expert prediction. there have been no wars between great powers in 1953. probably the longest span of time without a great power war as the roman empire. there have been no wars between western european countries. again, your first reaction might be to say ho-hum horse there hasn't. no one expects france and germany to go to war. what a concept. for sweden and russia. but any student of european history knows this was the rule, not the exception and tell the precipitous decline of interstate war after 1945. there have been no wars between developed countries. that is the 45 or so countries with the highest gdp per capita appeared but about the rest of the world? well, they are safe if major decline of violence that i called the new piece, that refers to the rest of the world. so what happens -- we've set aside the great powers of the western european countries. the rich countries. what was the rest of

irish times moscow correspondent details the day that mikhail gorbachev resigned as president of the ussr and the failed coup that led to that day. he discusses the transition from communist superpower to open market republic with thomas blanton, director of the national security archivement -- archive. >> host: conor o'clery, author of "moscow: december 25, 1991, the last day of the soviet union," you describe it as a miracle day, a stupendous moment, end of an empire without firing a shot. there are alternative views of that day, including the current prime minister who called it a catastrophe of the 20th century. can you give us a sense of that historical importance, your take, your big picture take on that day. >> guest: well, i came to realize that this day was a day full of human drama because of the conflict between boris yeltsin and mikhail gorbachev, but also it goes pretty well unrecorded in most histories of the time, and i came to realize this day marked the end of the superpower. if you consider that gorbachev as president of the soviet union could say he was the leader of a

this weekend marked the 20th anniversary of the collapse of the ussr. >>> we have got a lot more to covere next two hours. watch. >>> this soldier won meddals fo bravery at war. but it was his family living room where he took the bullet that paralyzed him. >> he's a good boy. he's an excellent boy. >> today what we're learning about this young man and the shocking argument that put him in the crossfire. >>> and a big-time ad executive loses her entire family in a house fire. you'll hear about this family's tragic final moments. >>> we're keeping nutd gingrich honest after truth comes out about his first divorce. >>> then the power of extreme couponing used to do good. >> on this particular receipt we spent $3.69 and we saved $63.36. >>> plus, it's monday. that means we fill your afternoon with music, but you'll want to watch closely to see how this musician makes her beautiful tunes. the news starts now. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. for you today ? we gave people right off the street a script and had them read it. no, sorry, i can't help

>> remember, sang back in the ussr and that got under their skin. >> money for a festival promoting hawaii'sustry. i thought they were about leis and coconuts. >> macadamia nuts. >> been to hawaii? ok. >> that's part of the money that coburn has identified. he said some may have merit but they're not national priorities at a time when the united states government is operating at such gigantic deficits. >> all right. meanwhile, straight ahead, it's the part of the payroll tax that no one is talking about and you're going to hear it next. >> plus this -- elves making toys at the north pole. now the poster people for greed. >> finally! >> that's right. a school play changing this christmas classic to occupy the north pole. oh, man! details straight ahead. let's go to vegas. alright, let's do it. let's do it, let's go to vegas. vegas baby! maybe we should head back to the dealership first? vegas! no, this is a test drive. vegas! [ male announcer ] it's practically yours. but we still need your signature. volkswagen sign then drive is back. and it's never been easier to get a jetta. that's the po

. >> back in the ussr. >> you know it? >> sing it for us. ok.other example of how local politicians bring home the bacon at our expense. $48,000 to promote the chocolate industry in hawaii. can't you just see a local guy saying, you know, i got a chocolate business here. i've given money to this politician. give me some back, promote my industry. >> chocolate is -- everybody knows you go to hawaii and chocolate is the best kept secret. >> obviously, some of these sound like chump change because we're into such astronomical numbers. it adds up. >> that's the point. >> $6.5 billion is what senator coburn finds overall. it does it every year. the bottom line is this, government is bureaucratic and wasteful. the more government you got, the more waste you've got and we've got a lot more government now than we had a couple of years ago. that's the bottom line. only way to stop this is to expose it, ridicule it like you just did, ali, and then cut spending. >> but that's -- >> that's the only way to stop it. >> ok, we've seen this once before and we h