i mean, that six weeks later the ussr will just exist no more. yeltsin will emerge as the leader of the russian federation, and all other republics, baltic states, i mean, ukraine, i mean, they all became independent. that was the beginning of the new era. i was really appalled. i did not really mean that. i thought the more solidarity internationalists we have, wherever we live, that's good for the whole world, but the -- this -- this dissolution of the soviet union, well, now, my -- my former subordinate, i mentioned mr. putin, vladimir, they were working intelligence one day. that's a major misconception, i mean, primarily made by the soviet propaganda. the only place abroad he ever worked was in dresden in germany. he was liaison officer between russian kgb and the stasi, the east jer began security and intelligence service and that was the interest. when he came back to leningrad, st. petersburg where i was born, we were born actually in the same block, mr. putin and i, well, he was never accepted back to work. well, the reasons are generall

in case the war was imminent between the united states and the ussr, one of his missions was to blow up lines in washington, d.c., or new york area and poison water supplies. not to kill people. just to make people uneasy. simple things, but that was part of the mission. fortunately, thank god he never had to do that. but that was the old days, when we really thrived on ideology, when i -- one of the guys interesting to you, was a high schoolkid, a graduate. and he was fingered by one of the old members one of the united states communist party. he said, why don't you meet this young man, he wants to become a member of the communist party, talk to him. i meet this young man. you want to become a member of the united states communist party? are you sure? he said oh, yeah. i said, okay, do you know that the communist party is totally infiltrated and controlled by the fbi? oh, no, come on, who said -- well, i know what i tell you. if you do really want to become a member, why don't you fill out the form, you know, application. give it to me, i'll pass it to moscow, they'll keep it in a s

and sputnik has proved the ussr's areas of technical ability. throughout the vast stretches of this empire you find new industrial cities, plants, assembly lines, the most modern equipment. soviet products of every distinction are awaiting delivery and reaching industrially backward areas of the noncommunist world. teams of russian technicians are available to operate this machinery. this is economic penetration, paving the way for political takeover. that band of soviet friendship which usually precedes an attempt as economic penetration has been reaching into every part of the world which shows the slightest inclination to receive it. recently we saw it extend into our own hemisphere, turbulent cuba where it was embraced as "a triumph of soviet policy." a few statistics will demonstrate how steers this threat is becoming to the free world. of the entire annual soviet economic capability, their gross national product, 70% or it may run as high as 80%, is devoted to the area of heavy industry. the u.s. and free world share of gross national prod

-- this to contradict today's common explanation, at least in some sophisticated circles, that the ussr collapsed because of its own internal decay. not because of any actions by any u.s. president. certainly not the one clark clifford, washington's foremost wise man, called that amicable dunce ronald reagan. since it was rotten at the core, the soviet union had to collapse. so says this argument. but then you begin to wonder just why did it have to collapse? history is replete with poor countries that either stay poor or get poorer, yet which do not undergo systematic revolution. and especially not a peaceful abandonment of the empire. the turkish and russian empires were poor and got poorer over several centuries. yet only the calamity of world war i brought a violent end to those empires. to assert the inevitability of the soviet breakup is simple minded. it leaves out people in that era. to summon this chatters class, there is room for a portrait in that historic -- there is room for a face in that historic portrait of the era. that face is of mikhail gorbachev. now, mind you, gorba

the ussr sent its first woman into space in the 1963. the united states did not follow suit for another 20 years. martha ackman tells the story of these remarkable women, all cracker jack pilots and patriots who sometimes sacrificed jobs and marriages for a chance to participate in america's space race against the soviet union. martha ackman spoke extensively with these women and interviewed chuck yeager, john glenn, scott carpenter and others at nasa and in the white house, with firsthand knowledge of the program. it provocative tribute to those extraordinary women, the mercury 13 is an unforgettable story of determination, resilience and inextinguishable hope. we are greatly indebted to martha for all the hard work tos story and for compelling writing which makes this book a fascinating read. please join me in welcoming martha ackman. >> thank you. thank you very much. it's a real privilege to be able to share the story of these accomplished women pilots, but it's an even greater treat to be able to do it at the odyssey bookshop, the a

. >> the old ussr is gone but there is pretty serious concern about the possibility of conflict withn in the middle east. regime has threatened to close the strait of hormuz, which analysts say could cause fuel prices to jump 50% within day days. >> bret: thank you. mortgage giant fannie mae said it lost $2.5 billion in the time quarter of last year. it's asking taxpayers for $4.5 billion to help cover the deficit. americans have already paid more than $150 billion to prop up fannie and fellow lender freddie. federal reserve chairman ben bernanke says he will stick with the plan to hold interest rate at record low levels until late 2014. bernanke told lawmakers today he does not expect unemployment to continue falling as fast as it has so far this year. next up, rick santorum's tactics in michigan. which brings us to tonight's infinity sponsored text to vote question. is courting democrats in an open republican primary good or bad politics? text sr1 to 36288 for good politics. text sr2 for bad politics. we'll bring you the >> announcer: announcing the first identity theft protection