Page 2 - Announced Gorbachev News Today

All of us kind of grab it, we looked it over and it was a holy cow moment. this guy really wants to reduce nuclear weapons. here was a soviet leader who was not going by the script. here was a guy that wanted to do business. >> the first indication that some progress may have been made at todays talks at reykjavik came at a white house briefing here a few minutes ago. theres no prediction yet on the outcome of these talks, but they give rise to some optimism. >> i was up there as the clock was t...

Their advisers, mr. reagan invited gorbachev to stroll through the garden to the poolhouse where they sat alone before a fire. mr. reagan talk without notes, not about arms control but about of his personal feelings about reducing the level of fear and misunderstanding between the two nations. >> the main thing is they met each other as human beings, reagan, in particular, had concentrated his attention on gorbachev as a person. he spent more time studying gorbachev than he did the esoteric thin...

Looked it over, and it was a holy cow moment. this guy really wants to reduce nuclear weapons. here was a soviet leader who was not going by the script. here was a guy who wanted to do business. >> the first indication that some progress may have been made at todays talks at reykjavik came at a white house briefing a few minutes ago. theres no prediction yet on the outcome of these talks, but they do give rise to some optimism. >> i was up there as the clock was ticking down. they had worked and...

Empire. to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between right and wrong and good and evil. >> reagan delegitimized the soviet union. now the trouble is youre both poised with these weapons at each other, which is a terrible way to live. mutually assured destruction. reagan said, why dont we do something and put a protective shield between us so that i can have some other option? and that was the birth of the strategic defense initiative...

Language. >> president reagan and secretary gorbachev appeared to have reached tentative agreement on much of a historic breakthrough arms reduction arrangement. but in the end, the soviets insisted that president reagan must drop his star wars program to get the deal. president reagan wouldnt do that. >> the soviets feared that sdi was a lot more real than it was that the strategic defense initiative could protect the united states. it wasnt mutually assured destruction at that point, it was as...

Astonishment and, beyond that, fear of what reagan has talked about doing, banning nuclear weapons. >> a reagan administration move to sign an arms deal with the soviets was criticized today by former president nixon and former secretary of state henry kissinger. the two men said it would be, quote, a profound mistake, unquote, to eliminate all medium-range missiles in europe. >> many conservatives thought reagan had been charmed by gorbachev and reagan actually had more problem dealing with his...

>> he delegitimized the soviet union. now the trouble is youre both poised with these weapons at each other, which is a terrible way to live. mutually assured destruction. so reagan said, why dont we do something and put a protective shield between us so that i can have some other option. thats the birth of the strategic defense initiative, called sdi or unkindly called "star wars". >> what if free people could destroy strategic ballistic missiles before they reached our soil or that of our alli...

Former president nixon and kissinger. the two men said it would be, quote, a profound mistake unquote to allow medium range missiles in europe. >> many conservatives thought reagan had been charmed by gorbachev, and reagan had more problem dealing with his hard right than he did the left. so reagan had to constantly let the right know, i know what im doing. >> reagan was being accused already of getting soft on communism, but he hadnt forgotten the problems we still had. europe was still divided...

Must drop his "star wars" program to get the deal. president reagan wouldnt do that. >> the soviets feared that sdi was a lot more real than it was that the strategic defense fish -- initiative would really protect the united states. it wasnt mutually assured destruction at that point, it was assured destruction of the soviet union but assured protection of the united states. so they went crazy about the sdi. >> translator: the president insisted until the end on retaining for the united states ...

His personal feelings about reducing the level of fear and misunderstanding between the two nations. >> the main thing is they met each other as human beings, reagan, in particular, had concentrated his attention on gorbachev as a person. he spent more time studying grbachev than he did the esoteric things having to do with arms control. >> it is understood the president tried to dispel gorbachevs negative image of the u.s. gorbachev wouldnt budge but he was not nearly as combative as he was wit...