Dubya bush and mr. Card under george w. Bush. They compare the leadership styles of father and son. That is what is coming up here on American History tv. We interrupt this program for an nbc news special report. Good afternoon. We have a late and truly a sensational report coming in from east germany. In a News Conference which ended just a few minutes ago in east berlin, government officials have announced communist east germany have announced their border open with west germany. East german citizens now have the right to cross directly from east germany into west germany. Up to now, the thousands, tens of thousands of east germans going west have had to pass through other communist nations, most of them passing through czechoslovakia. But as of right now according to the official statement just concluded, they have the right to go directly to west germany. Nbc correspondent Dennis Murphy is in berlin right now and has been following the events. What more do you know about this startling decision . It is truly astonishing. In a series of events that have happened the last few days and hours. In the last five minutes on television here in west berlin and also in the east, the germans east and west, speaking for the government, the Media Spokesman said are no more borders, that east germans may cross to the west over whatever existing border frontiers there are. That eliminates the route through czechoslovakia. We have been following the last few days, the hundreds of thousands of east germans who are leaving via that route. That is no longer necessary. In effect, i think what we have here is a berlin wall which is a symbol but the frontiers themselves are open. He says in the next few weeks, there will be some provisional time to prepare the legislation to make this all correct and constitutional. But what we have seen now in the last few hours is the collapse of all of the borders between east and west germany. Dennis, as you said, that the berlin wall which divided the two sides of the cities is a symbol. But as far as you know, will that wall itself along the Brandenburg Gate near check point charlie, will those openings be open for east germans . As we read the words, the words that were read to the people here tonight, that is correct. All of the checkpoints we know, checkpoint charlie and the others, those gates will be open. It remains to be seen how the news will be taken here in the next few hours, but the very grim facade of the wall, with all of the dogs and guards, this only is a symbol at this point because the gates will be open according to what the people were told on television tonight. Were just getting a bulletin cominge wire service from east berlin telling us what you reported, the east german Spokesman Says the new announcement means the new order means people can pass through the berlin wall itself from east berlin to west berlin. Of course these developments coming as the communist leadership, the communist authorities have been under tremendous pressure because of the tens of thousands of east germans fleeing their country. As of this evening, they can leave whenever they want and however they want. Of course we will have further developments throughout the afternoon and a full report this evening on nbc nightly news from tom brokaw, who is in east berlin today. That is the news for now. Nbc news, new york. This has been an nbc news special report. We interrupt this program for an nbc news special report. Good afternoon. Heres the latest information coming to us from east germany , where short while ago government officials made the very startling announcement that east german citizens will have the right to leave their country to travel directly to west germany or to west berlin. It will no longer be necessary for east germans leaving their country to travel to other communist nations such as hungary, poland, or czechoslovakia. That is the route that tens of thousands of east germans have been taking the last several weeks. The announcement was made by the spokesman. As you know, the government there has been under very heavy pressure from the new political opposition and from the tens of thousands leaving the country. Here is how the announcement was made on east German Television this evening. [speaking german] the announcer here says the communist leadership has decided to draw up a new travel law that until that law has been passed by the east german parliament, east germans will have the right to cross through all border points between east germany and west germany, including east berlin and west berlin. That announcement was made at the News Conference which concluded just a few minutes ago in east berlin. Of course two points to keep in mind here. First of all, the berlin wall, the wall of concrete and barbed wire and minefields still stands, but as of right now, it appears to be nothing more than a symbol of the old iron curtain because east berliners will now have the right to leave through the wall directly into west berlin itself. The government announced instead that east germans will have to have visas to go out but in order was given today to the Police Authority along the border to issue those visas to anyone who wants to leave and to issue them quickly. So, to wrap up again, the east German Government has bowed to the increasing pressure from its own citizenry demanding greater freedom, including freedom to travel. As of right now, they have that freedom to leave their country legally to come to the west. We will have more information as it comes to us throughout the afternoon from east berlin and this evening tom brokaw will be reporting directly from east berlin at nbc nightly news. That is it for now. This has been an nbc news special report. We interrupt this program for an nbc news special report. Good afternoon. We are continuing to follow developments in east germany. A short while ago as you may know the communist leaders announced their opening their border between east and west germany from east berlin to west berlin the berlin wall itself. That announcement, a very surprising and important announcement, came this afternoon made by the chief official spokesman of the communist party. Tom brokaw is in east berlin at this moment. He was covering that News Conference. Tom, give us the details. It was a surprise because it came at the end of a lengthy News Conference that came from the east Berlin Communist Party chief. It was almost by accident he told the assembled reporters they recommended this afternoon and it is about to become formal government policy that any east german citizen who wants to leave this country temporarily or permanently will be able to do so by going through the many checkpoints of the berlin wall by crossing the borders into the west. It will no longer be necessary to go to hungary or czechoslovakia to get out of here. This, in effect, in effect, dissolves the berlin wall, although of course it will remain standing physically. And of course it has been standing there since 1961. We are familiar with the pictures of the tens of thousands of east germans who have been coming to west germany over the last several weeks and months. Is one of the ideas that the east germans have that this could ease the pressure on them by giving east germans the right to leave directly to the west . Well, there are two intentions, two strategies here. One is have got to relieve the burden on czechoslovakia. That is the cover tonight. But the underlying motivation is that the communist party hopes that this will demonstrate its him good intentions, its determination to reform this country. It has been trying everything as you know in the last several weeks, including throwing out the hardliners card, today promising free elections, recognizing opposition parties. Tonight, this dramatic announcement that the wall, in effect, after almost 30 years, is coming down. Tom, thank you. We look forward to your report this evening from berlin on nbc nightly news. Reaction is also starting to come in from washington, from the bush administration. Secretary of state jim baker had this to say about the east german declaration. Be a would seem to me to very positive development and it should be a development that we should welcome, if indeed the announcement means that they have opened the border to free travel. We have been talking for a long time about freedom of travel as being a basic human right. We have been talking for a long time about open borders. And weve been talking for a long time about the importance of seeing the wall come down. I dont know what this announcement means because i have not seen it yet. In terms of its full impact. But if they are indeed opening their borders, i think that is a positive development. Rick perry of state secretary of state jim baker. Just trying to figure out what all this means. There is considerable concern the Administration Things may be going too far, too fast. This is not necessarily a happy development, because what it means is there is now great instability. We have seen the east German Government try one strategy after another to deal with this, but there was a period of instability. Diplomacy basically does not like instability. Remember your history, that the assassination at sarajevo, a small event in itself, eventually touched off world war i. What we are not talking about that in this situation. The decision made by the east germans today should and will be welcome as the fact the wall has been opened up. I think the thing that they will welcome the most is the fact it may now lance the boil and let off some of the pressure so that you dont have such instability in east germany that eventually there might be clashes between citizens and the police. We should also remember that all of this is happening just a few weeks before the summit conference between bush and gorbachev in the mediterranean. Exciting times. John, thank you very much. At the department of defense, fred francis, who covers military matters, is standing by with the pentagons view of what is happening today. In the last hour, ive spoken to several senior military officials in this building, both civilian and military. And they are quite frankly awestruck by all of this. One of them who has been deeply involved in looking ahead a year or two on what u. S. Military cuts would mean in europe on the budgets, said consider the impact of the u. S. Military in europe without walls, consider the impact of the u. S. Budget in europe where there is no credible threat of war. And those are significant numbers. Right now there are 770,000 u. S. Americans in europe, 320,000 assigned nato soldiers, men and women, another 300,000 dependents of civilians, 150,000 civilians working there. An extraordinary number. And it amounts to approximately 170 billion a year of u. S. Taxpayers money. And if there is a europe without a credible threat of war, with a warsaw pact that it cannot mount an attack on the west, then is there the need for all of these troops . And those are the numbers and the surprising calculations that are going on in this building today. Thank you very much. Of course those are very important, exciting questions to face. We are not there yet. Where we are right now on this thursday in november is that the east German Government, the communist leaders have decided to open their borders as of tomorrow morning. Any east german citizen can leave to the west of his or her own choosing through the east west german border or even through the berlin wall itself. Hard to believe, but that is the news of today. This evening tom brokaw will be reporting from berlin on nbc nightly news. Been an nbc news special report. Our objective is a europe whole and free. Gorbachev talks about a common home. Is it a step towards that . Probably so. What about immigration to this country . There is no indication of that. These are germans going to germany. What is the danger of this spinning out of control . Secretary baker commented earlier about on how rapidly nobody expected this to happen as quickly as it did. Is there a danger here that things are accelerating too quickly . I would not want to say this kind of development makes things be moving too quickly at all. The kind of development we would would long encourage by our strong support. Im not going to pontificate that if anything goes too fast. We are handling it in a way where we are not trying to give anybody a hard time. We are saluting those who can move forward with democracy. We are encouraging the concept of a europe, polandfree. And so we just welcome it. I dont like to go into a lot of hypothesis about too much change or too rapid change or what i would do, what our whole team here would do if something went wrong. I think it is being handled by the west very well. And certainly, you salute the people in east germany whose aspirations for freedom seem to be a little further down the road now. [indiscernible] i dont think anyone can resist it in europe or in the western hemisphere. That is one of the great things about dynamic change in central america. Moving in our direction. Did you ever imagine anything like this happening on your watch . We have imagined it, but i cant say i foresaw this development at this stage. Now, i did not foresee it, but imagining it . Yes. When i talked about a europe whole and free, we are talking about this kind of freedom to come and go, this kind of staying with and living by the helsinki act, which gives people the right to come and go. In what you just said, this is a great victory for our side in the eastwest battle, but you dont seem elated. And im wondering if youre thinking of the problems i am not an emotional kind of guy. I am very pleased. I have been very pleased with a lot of other developments. And as i told you, i think the United States part of this, which is not related to this Development Today particularly, is being handled in a proper fashion. And we will have some that will suggest more flamboyant courses of action for this country. And i think we are handling this properly with allies, staying in close touch. In this dynamic change, try to help as Development Takes place, try to enhance form both political and economic. And so, the fact that im not bubbling over, maybe it is getting long for the evening because i feel very good about it. What i wanted to ask is the second part of that was, is your what are we going to do if it does explode over there . Obviously, if they just flood into west germany, they are handling it now, but they only have 200,000. What if they get one million . What if they get two million . What i would like to think is the political change in the gdr would catch up right, would catch up very fast with this liberation, if you will. You may remember that before i went to poland, i dont know whether jim baker was sitting next to me, i know brent was there, john sununu, and i was asked by a polish journalist if i were a young pole, what would my advice be . What i said was, i think you ought to stay there and participate in this dramatic change in your country. You ought to feel the surge of freedom, feel the move toward democracy, and be a part of it. And these are germans. And germans love their country. And at some point, i think a lot of germans who had felt unable to move are going to say, look, we can move, but wouldnt be better to participate in the reforms that are taking place in our own country . So i think it is too early to but these openings are there. That means everybody is going to take off. [indiscernible] he said to gorbachev that europes side is winning. Is that the kind of thing youre going to communicate to him . He has expressed his interest in a common european home. We faced it differently. We said a europe whole and free. And when you see citizens wanting to go and flee what has been an oppressive society, clearly, that is a message that mr. Gorbachev will understand. He sees it not only in eastern europe, but he sees it inside the soviet union. So we will have a lively before these developments took place, i have said we would be discussing a rapid change inside eastern europe. And we have been talking about that today, just before you all came in here. We have been talking about the gorbachev meeting. And one of the things that we are determined we will discuss, and i know he will want to discuss, is this change. Mr. President , do you think maybe east germans will want to stay and participate in reforming their country that suggests you think german reunification is some ways off. What is your view . I do not see they are related. Huh . [indiscernible] i think it is way too early to speak on that. I have spoken out on the question of german reunification. The know the president of france spoke out. Ive heard what the chancellor has had to say about it. But michael, i dont know whether the development of today speeds up the day or not. Mr. President [indiscernible] discussing a wide array of those subjects with the soviets. I know of their interest in talking about that, so we will be prepared to talk about it. [indiscernible] i would like to talk to him soon, but he is off in poland. I may try to get him there. But i talked to him quite recently. We confer quite regularly. Have you talked any of the others . Not yet. No. [indiscernible] we might want to talk about it. President george bush speaking just moments ago from the oval office on the surprise announcement from the government of east germany that there were opening their borders, all their borders to the west, giving the east german People Freedom to travel where they wish as long as they wish, for the First Time Since the berlin wall was erected in 1961. Early on in that News Conference, president bush was referring to west german chancellor helmut kohl, who has just left for a trip to poland, left before the surprise announcement was made. West germany of course has been besieged by refugees. 200,000 of them over the last several weeks. 50,000 of them since saturday alone. The u. S. Pentagon has announced that it has agreed to temporarily provide emergency housing for about close to 1000 of the east germans flooding into the west. There is a lot more reaction in washington. Robert hager is standing by there. Mary alice, as you can imagine, everybody is talking about this here. Just before the president spoke, Vice President dan quayle called reporters into his office at the old exec of Off