Transcripts For CNNW CNNI Simulcast 20141109

Matthew todd miller touched down in Washington State early this morning. They were released after u. S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper flew to north korea to discuss the mens situation. Kenneth bae spoke shortly after arriving in the United States. Listen. I just want to say thank you all for supporting me and standing by me during this time. And its been just amazing blessing to see so many people being involved, getting me released for last two years and not to mention the thousands of people who prayed for me as well. Reporter kenneth bae there. Matthew todd miller, the other american detained in north korea had been in north korea since april. His family was also at that News Conference but not make a statement. Back to todays events in berlin, the german chancellor Angela Merkel has arrived at the berlin wall memorial. Lets take a look at some of the events unfolding in the german capital. Ceremonies are getting under way. Its a very special way. Youre seeing on your screens some of the speeches taking place at that memorial. There will be roses laid along berlins hinterland wall and Solemn Services at the chapel. All this mark a quarter century of the fall of the wall. Events will continue at the next hour for the vic dims of the berlin wall. So many lost their lives in that very area youre seeing on your television or on your laptop right now which is the area where east germans tried to cross over several decades in west berlin, many lost their lives. Thats the mayor of berlin in the center. To his left the Angela Merkel, the german chancellor. Other dignitaries and vips as well, all holding yellow roses in honor of those victims. Next hour chancellor merkel will officially open the countrys new permanent exhibition in the Documentation Center of the berlin wall memorial. So much of the history of the berlin is intertwined with the history of the United States as well. Behind me is the German Parliament and Brandenburg Gate. Ronald reagan calling on mr. Gorbachev to tear down the wall. Lets bring in Fred Pleitgen live at the east side gallery and jim clancy is live at Brandenburg Gate. There you all are. Jim clancy, lets start with you. Whats going on where you are . Reporter two things missing the day, related definitely, the clouds and the beautiful sunshine that we were promised by the weather man. Very chilly here today. As i look over the clouds, several hundred people have been gathered here. The bands have been doing some sound tests. People are waiting. I imagine these crowds will swell. Perhaps the weather, the skies will clear up a little bit and well see more people out here. I already know some people have told me theyre planning on watching it all from home. Yes, germans know the importance of all of this. We may have seen a lot of people coming internationally to visit the city filling in the gaps today. Back to you. Lets go to Fred Pleitgen at the east side gallery. Interestingly, fred, you are where the longest stretch of the wall Still Standing in berlin is located. Tell us more about your location and the significance of it in todays anniversary events. Absolutely, hala, the east side gallery is the longest part of the wall Still Standing, 2. 2 kilometers long, 1. 6 miles. Its a very interesting one with the installation, the border of lights where they recreated the path that the berlin wall used to go down. Because you have the wall Still Standing here, you can see the lights in front of the wall that they actually are supposed to represent. It makes for a lot of historic significance. We have a lot of tourists here and our cnn group. Well also go to the next stage. Today were asking people who are going to come by here to sign the car. Youre supposed to sign your name and the city that youre from. We hope in the end, at the end of the day we are going to have a Truly International cnn trevan. Well do Fred Pleitgen, cnn, my hometown, cologne. In the end we hope to have folks from cities all over the world sign our car, come over here to the east side gallery. We already apparently have someone over here who is going to sign the car right now. Were getting that under way. Well be here all day, a place of a lot of significance. Try this pen. There you go. Well also get our routine down better as we go along. It will look great at the end, hala. All right. Ill look forward to it. Im also curious to learn what will end up happening with this car that has been the true star of our coverage. For all our viewers who havent had 65 fred squeeze into that car, do stay tuned. Franks, fred and all the people who are going to sign the trevant. Cnn was still a relatively Young Network in 1989 as events unfolded right here in berlin. Viewers around the world tuned in just as you are now, to watch history in the making. Here is a look back at some of what they saw and heard. [ cheers and applause ] reporter it was the largest demonstration in east german history. The main square was carpeted with a half million people. The city virtually came to a standstill. Our top story, the iron curtain between east germany and west berlin has come tumbling down. East germany sal lauing its citizens to go anywhere they wish. East jer germanys leaders have taken a sledgehammer to the wall. Theres no longer any point of it being there. A prospect that no one could have predicted a year ago or a month ago. This has been a city physically divided for 28 years, now come together east and west in a spontaneous outburst of emotion. Reporter this could be the first move to dismant telling berlin wall that has stood as the most painful symbol of a divided germany since it was built in 1961. Reporter one after another, drivers and passengers alike say they plan to use their new freedom to spend a weekend in west germany to take a look at how the other half live. Reporter every one coming here receives about 50. Many west german businesses are staying open round the clock to pick up goods to take home. Reporter hundreds of thousands of east germans storm the streets of west berlin. It was like a sea of people. This morning a new hole was made in the berlin wall. Yesterday the bridge opened up. To many of us these are just place names. But what signal do these places send to the german people. Reporter it was the times square of berlin before the war. I was on the bridge yesterday. Ive never seen more grown many with tears in their eyes. The vast majority of east berliners dont want to leave. The question is whether its wetted the appetites of people here not for just a little more change but a lot. East german leaders hope by dismantling those things that have become symbols of their past, the doctors, engineers and scientists needed to rebuild the countrys future. Reporter well, you may have recognized our own jim clancy there in our original coverage from 1989 along with our team of reporters there. Lets get back to Fred Pleitgen. In the end, it is about the human beings who made it happen and who were affected by what was going on around them. One womans journey to flee east berlin as well, fred, is what you have for us and how that changed her life and how she took every risk in order to make that happen. Reporter how it changed her life, she took a lot of risks and how thats symbolic for many people who didnt want to live behind the iron curtain, behind the berlin wall. Noting in our coverage all this week that berlin wall was really fortified more and more as time passed on. It started with barbed wire and then turned into the death strip, machine gun towers and tanker trucks to stop everyone from fleeing. We met one woman so fed up living in ha place where she couldnt be free, she tried to flee twice. Her will was never broken. When berlin was divided on august 13, 1961, renata was 23 years old and in the final stages of her medical studies. She and her parents immediately knew they couldnt live in the communist east and decided to flee. We were unhappy in east germany, she said. We were christians and liberals. That was just impossible in communism. The dictatorship of the patrol tart was something i couldnt deal with. Their way out was supposed to be a tunnel, similar to this, dug from a basement from a house in the west to a house in the east. When they came to that location, there was a nasty surprise. When we got to the house where the tunnel was supposed to be, one of the helpers came out, he was totally pale and says the tunnel has been discovered. You cannot use it. She was sent to jail for 2 1 2 years under harsh conditions. She kept thinking of new, creative ways to try to flee the communist state. A desire for freedom that put many of them behind bars. This is an exact replica of what the berlin wall and the death strip used to look like. Most estimates say 138 people died trying to get from east to west berlin, but that didnt deter others. There were people who tried to build tunnels, some who tried to climb across and some built their own aircraft to make it to freedom. After getting out of jail, she immediately tried to flee again with a false passport by a bulgarian. She was captured again. But she made a defiant vow, she would send her wedding picture when she got married in the west. Thats exactly what she did. After being released in 1969 as part of a west German Government program that purchased the freedom of jailed east germans. Today, she says, the communist repression must never be forgotten. It was worse than you kim imagine, she says. This was not a country of law and justice. It was never like that. 25 years after the fall of the wall, her testimony is more important than ever. Aa whole generation has now grown up not knowing what German Division was like. Well get back to fred in a moment. Lets take you live to the berlin wall memorial. The german chancellor Angela Merkel along with other dignitaries including the mayor of berlin has laid roses in honor of all those who lost their lives trying to cross from east to west. Youre seeing the event there. Those balloons, by the way, there are 8,000 of them. Theyre marking the path of where the wall once stood. Theyre lit up when the sun goes down. Later today well see them released into the night sky. Theres going to be a service to mark the anniversary itself of the fall of the wall at the chapel of reconciliation. And then there will be a lighting of candles at the National Memorial for the victims of the berlin wall. Angela merkel is the german chancellor. Shes talking to ordinary people there, berliners tourists alike. Angela merkel grew up in east germany. Behind her is the mayor of berlin. We spoke to him a couple days ago. He told us something interesting. He said we want the world to watch these ceremonies and these events because when the wall came down, it was a signal to the world that freedom is possible. And there are many other walls in the world, he said, and people who do not live free. We want them to be able to watch these ceremonies and events and be inspired by them. Angela merkel will be walking along the border wall. Fred pleitgen joins us from the east side gallery. Tell us a little bit about Angela Merkel. She has an interesting story and one that is interesting to remind ourselves of as we celebrate the fall of the wall today, fred. Angela merkel is interesting in two respects. Shes the first female chancellor of germany. On a day like this, the more important fact is that shes also the first east german chancellor of the unified country. She grew up in the north of germany. Her father was a pastor that was quite uncommon in east germany. They had communist and didnt really have much time for religion. Angela merkel was not someone who fought the system very much. She was never really comfortable with the system. She was in a lot of east german youth organizations and had a career in east germany, in the christian democratic party. Her political career in unified germany took off very quickly after unification. She is one of the east german politician whose put her stamp on west german politics early on. She was in the cabinet of helmut ko kohl. After he lost the election in 1998 she became the head of the Christian Democratic Union and ultimately the chancellor of germany. She is someone who really was a person who bridged the gap between east and west journey. She became a unified german politician. It didnt matter whether she was from the east and the west. She still, however, does take her east german heritage very seriously. She talks about it a lot and certainly makes it very important in her political career as well and does a lot for the east german part of the country. She has a very interesting biography to remind or selves of on this day. She likes to take other heads of state to her hometown in east germany. There was one, i think it was with george w. Bush a couple years ago where they ate roast pork in her hometown. She certainly does like to celebrate the heritage and where shes from, and it is something where i can say she truly is the first unified common german chancellor since unification, hala. Fred, whats interesting, i dont know how many of our viewers have been to this berlin wall memorial, but it is really poignant. You see right there this area that was a no mans land between east and west berlin because there wasnt one wall, there were two walls. And if you wanted to flee and try to make it across that border, often times it ended very badly. So you get to see and stand on what is hollowed ground for berliners in general. It is an experience. It is something i would recommend to people coming to berlin to go there, stand there and take it all in. Its an experience and its also something that has a lot of significance for people in berlin and in germany. The memorial is where there was a lot of significance in the early days of the berlin wall. What you had there, it was one of the place wheres in many place it is border went through some of the houses. What they did in the beginning, a lot of people jumped out of therapy windows to try to get to safety. The east German Authorities started putting bricks into the windows and not allowing people to flee. There were devastating scenes that took place in the early stages of the berlin wall where people jumped over the barbed wire. It was where people came and really saw up close what was taking place. What happened in that area as well. Because you had these residential areas so close to each other and the wall, thats where a lot of the tunnels were dug to try to get underneath the wall, like the one, for instance the one that was right where that memorial is. A very significant place. Another big significant event took place there as well which really was symbolic for the ruthlessness of the German Division that was going on and that tlafs church that was right on the death strip there in the ber gnaw stros is a, in 1958 that church was by order by the east German Government blown up. It was a big scene where west german media was also there to film that search being blown up and show how horrible this division of germany was. Anybody who is a berliner and anybody who is german really knows the name of that street, knows the significance. Today youre absolutely right. It really is an amazing monument they built up there where they recreated the wall, recreated the death strip where you can see how big it was, how heavily fortified it was and how impossible it must have seemed for people to get across that area. Very significant place for germans, hala. Fred pleitgen, thanks very much. Where im sitting right now, by the way, was no mans land. The wall would have been right under us. Were a few floors up in berlin. This is where were seeing the line of lanterns and balloons as well that over the last several days that have been set up, have been lit during the nighttime hours and eventually in a few hours time, they will be released into the sky symbolizing the end of the wall, the fall of the berlin wall. There we continue to watch Angela Merkel, the german chancellor greet wellwishers, people who have come to that memorial to remember what it was like 25 years ago today exactly. That is when the wall came down, when people started streaming toward the border between east and west berlin and where they finally met, chipping away at the wall sometimes with their bare hands. My next guest here with me knows a thing or two about the wall. He has several of the original pieces in storage. Hans Martin Fleischer is an artist and collector. He joins me with more of whats going on today. Good morning. Youre an enthusiast, a collector and artist. You actually reproduced portions of the wall for educational purposes. Its a really long story. I was the eyewitness of the opening of the berlin wall. I was studying in the west. You were there in 1989, exactly 25 years ago. Exactly 25 a years ago. Some days later, two days later the wall also got physically removed only 300 meters from here. You see that beautiful historic scene. The first cut was made here. The first piece had been taken out here. Its a very interesting historical graffiti. The first cut was made near the swastika. In a way these four pieces symbolize the beginning and the end of the european division. Whats interesting is there isnt much left of the wall in berlin. There are more pieces exposed in the United States than in germany. Thats true. What happened . Was that just because of how badly germans wanted to rid themselves of this symbol of division . I would think its Something Like that th. In order to see some of the wall in berlin, you have to make quite an effort. Thats true. That came 15 years later that people had the feeling that we should preserve something and explain the history. And people were able to buy sometimes chunks of the wall. Then it became quite a business and then you werent sure if it was genuine. What were seeing is historic images from november 1989. Were you there at the Brandenburg Gate . Definitely. Going around berlin almost three days without sleep. Well, that would keep you up, wouldnt it, the end of the cold war. If that doesnt keep you up, nothing will. It was so beautiful. I grew up in a time when people say this cannot be changed, you have to accept it, more or less. This scene gives back to human, mankind that things can be changed if you really want it. Thats the most beautiful thing. In these days if you look at political landscape, there are so many conflicts going around and even approaching cold war 2. 0 in a way, so hopefully not. Weve heard mikell gorbachev, the former soviet leader who has been the soviet leader who decided not to send in the tap,. Without his willingness to refrain from forceful action, perhaps none of this would have had the happy ending. Definitely. Really strong movements. They had some ideas how to interact and it was a very difficult thing for gorbachev. Now, were 25 years ago. You remember it. I remember it. You have a whole generation now born after. This memory, how important is it to preserve it . Definitely very important. This is one of the reasons still feeding me was energy, this project. This would be the original places where i stole them. I believe we have some video, by the way, the of the reproductions. I can teach, ki talk for hours, but i can also make a 30second thing. I built a replica of the first piece that had been taken out, only 50 kilograms. I put it in the north sea, a Beautiful Island in the north sea. Its interactive. People can write something on it. Instead of your own sort of canvas to write what you want on the wall. Its not my canvas. Its your canvas. As in ones own canvas, youre able to use it to express yourself artistically. Which is what the original wall on the west side was about. Yes. And the thing is, today you can write on both sides. Thats also the symbol that the wall came down. Hans Martin Fleischer, artist and collector joining us live in berlin. There youre seeing some of those images. You had it floating in a pond next to the eiffel tower. That was the hardest thing i did. It took me four hours. Too long to tell that story. The fact that you got the municipal authorities no, no, no. No authorities at all. We went ahead and floated it. Well, it was all form a good cause. Hans Martin Fleischer, thanks very much. Well be live back here nooer berlin as we continue to mark the events commemorating the fall of the berlin wall. 25 years ago. A bit early in the morning, colder than expected. Im already seeing people streaming past our position on our way to Brandenburg Gate. Well be right back. Dont go anywhere. Welcome back. Youre seeing live images coming to us from the chapel of republican sill asian along the i should say along the old path of where the berlin wall once stood. The german chancellor Angela Merkel was meeting and greeting the local population and tourists and visitors alike. This service, of course, is to mark the anniversary of the fall of the wall. Translator but there are no measures for the suffering, which it was a stone monument. My first pass through the wall took me to [ inaudible ]. We sensed in back of us our old pain and in front of us we saw we had liberty. We cried and embraced strangers on the streets. Its 25 years ago, but it seems like yesterday. We remember where we were that night, whom we talked to, whom we embraced. And the fall of the wall is such a small word for what happened to be, the courage to change, to be free and the word fall of the wall is not enough what happened afterwards in germany and in europe. The end of the cold war. The iron curtain was open, and the war was crumbled. Welcome here in the chapel of unity in berlin. Welcome to our chancellor, welcome mr. Mayor of berlin, welcome for all those present. Welcome to all of you who watch this on the tv. [ speaking Foreign Language j. Youre watching a service at the chapel of reconciliation at the berlin wall memorial there. To remember the events of 25 years ago, but also to remember the victims, all of those who tried to flee east germany, east berlin and make it to safety into west berlin and lost their lives in the process. More than 130 individuals, those are the official figures, possibly many more. Angela merkel the german chancellor is there. Other dignitaries, government officials. The mayor of berlin. Lets listen in for a moment. My colleague jim clancy is at brenden berg gate. Jim, you were right here in 1989 when history unfolded before your very eyes. What does it feel like being here again today, a quarter century later, jim . Reporter it brings back all of those memories, hala. Theres no doubt about it. Theyre good memories. It was one of the greatest days in my life and in the lives of most of the people who live in this country. Anybody who witnessed it i think had to be moved without a doubt. Last night we had the occasion to sit down with Mikhail Gorbachev for dinner. We heard from people like the former Hungarian Prime Minister who talked about negotiating with gorbachev and how they kept the talks a bit secret from the americans really so that all of those details werent revealed. Hungary decided they would allow east germans to travel through their country and escape into the west. That was one of the Major Pressure points that forced the east germans to open up the wall that existed at that time behind me. Gorbachev, though hes about 85. Hes got a foundation. This was a fundraiser for that foundation. They were really concerned that the old cold war that vanished after 1989 risked a return. He was very forceful about this and so, too, i brought up the Hungarian Prime Minister because the Hungarian Prime Minister said mr. Gorbachev had the two things that were needed here. He was a man you could trust in your negotiations, and he had the political will to go forward. Earlier yesterday we sat down and interviewed Mikhail Gorbachev. Here is a little bit of that. Translator right after the end of the cold war when we signed important agreements, we had a calmer situation and people believed more in the possibility of improvement. Now its alarming. The time is alarming. Therefore, let us not engage in mutual accusations. Let us rebuild the trust that has been wrecked and let us cooperate. I think people feel less secure, i saw it myself in rake vic, Mikhail Gorbachev, ronald reagan, they disagreed on many things, but they both were held accountable, they both knew they had to be responsible. Today groups like isil, this Islamic State and others, theyre held accountable by no one. Translator the International Circle Islamic State and many other radical forces that are in tune with them, i think that requires a common effort on our part. The possibilities and the resources are available. The fall of the wall 25 years on, we look at the situation now, and some say were moving backwards, were not moving forwards, but with ukraine, with other issues, sanctions now, its made things people feel were not making progress again. Were not taking advantage. So a lot depends on america, europe and russia. They have to work more actively and more decisively in protecting what was achieved by them. When you talk about the new walls that are up, what are the dangerous ones . Is that from the lack of talking to one another . Translator there is a kind of Information Warfare under way. The time now is not for playing politics, but for responsible policies, for building institutions, for working together. There are russian critics today who say the kremlin is cracking down, controlling media, suppressing its critics. Do you share any of those concerns inside russia . The media is financed by various vested interests, economic interests, and the press may look free, but actually its less than free. So the media should be free and responsible. We need to give attention to this. This is very serious. What is the lesson that people around the world who look at the events here today, what lesson should they take from it . Translator we made the right decision. Those decisions required courage. Those decisions required a lot of work and this is the only right approach, acting responsibly, acting with a few to common efforts. What do you think of president obama . His presidency in in its final years. Translator obama has problems, its difficult. I them thighs with him. But say la vee. Thats life. He has to see it through to the end and stand firmly on his position. After all, its not the most important thing to be in power. Its important to withstand the pressure of those who would like to bend you. Let us wish that he does not waste the positives that he has, and there is some danger that could happen, perhaps it is happening. Hala, perhaps one of the biggest things that changed when the wall came down was the fear came down, people in in the east were afraid of the west. People in the west were afraid of the east. Gorbachev is saying were at increased risk, talking about ukraine. Hes talking about russian tanks, artillery were pouring into eastern ukraine. That hants been confirmed at all. Hasnt been substantiated. Hes talking also about how the west, nato may have plans to do military maneuvers in the baltic states. Thats right on russias border. The russian people are asking themselves, why would you want to do that. What is the meaning of that . What is the purpose of that . So you have a situation where he sees increased tensions, he sees risks of what he calls provocations. Not by one side, but by both sides, instead of people Building Trust and working politically in order to improve things and move them forward. Gorbachev for his age and for any age is very strong in his voice to support the legacy that Time Magazine called him the man of the century, the politicians of 1989 were able to forge. Hala, back to you. Its remarkable how kindly history remembers men and Women Leaders who do not use force when they have an option to, try resolving things by other means, who relinquish power voluntarily, how kindly those leaders are remembered. What does he think of Vladimir Putin . He didnt comment directly about mr. Putin. Obviously hes a former president of the soviet union and literally russia. So hes not going to make comments directly about mr. Putin. We were trying to get at that. But at the same time he said his real concerns are based on the eastwest relationship today. Inside russia, i think he has a hard time making comment really about that, but he doesnt see it arizona pressing a problem as the eastwest tensions that have built, particularly over ukraine but also over other issues where you see mr. Putin, very forcefully, trying to defend his position. Mikhail gorbachev is probably more popular in the west than he is in his own russia. Some blame him for the demise of the soviet union. Of course, thats wrong. The soviet union was in trouble and he was trying to his openness and restructuring policies were all aimed at trying to support the soviet union at that time. One of the things he decided was they couldnt keep the warsaw pact countries like east germany after followed anymore. They were pouring billions of dollars into the warsaw pact. The economics helped bring back the wall. In terms of the politics today, whats going on inside of russia, Mikhail Gorbachev doesnt make last comments about that. Okay. Jim clancy at Brandenburg Gate, thanks very much. To bring our viewers up to date on what theyre watching now. On the righthand side of the screen, a service at the berlin wall memorial. Very emotional speeches about remembering where berliners were when the wall came down, who they spoke to, honoring as well all of those who lost their lives trying to make it to the west. There you see Angela Merkel as well as the mayor of berlin seated to her right and other vips and dignitaries listen to the service. In about 20 minutes time were expecting a lighting of candles at the National Memorial at the berlin wall. Well have more. Stay with us. Let me get tyes . Straight. Lactaid® is 100 real milk . Right. Real milk. But it wont cause me discomfort. Exactly, no discomfort, because its milk without the lactose. And it tastes . Its real milk come on, would i lie about this . Lactaid®. 100 real milk. No discomfort. And try lactaid® supplements with your first bite to dig in to all your dairy favorites. A live look at the Brandenburg Gate. It is the center of modern berlin, but 25 years ago this spot looked very different as people came together and tore down the wall between east and west berlin. Im hala gorani. This is special coverage of the 25th anniversary of the berlin wall. Where im standing now would have been no mans land t. Wall would have been just to the right, there was two walls, not one. And there was a death strip. None of these buildings were here in 1989. They were all erupted later on. The buildings had to be torn down for this barrier that symbolized the iron curtain between east and west. I want to update you on one of the other top stories of this day. Two american citizens held by north korea are back in United States. Kenneth bae and Matthew Todd Miller arrived on u. S. Soil early this morning, sunday morning. They were released after the american director of National Intelligence James Clapper flew to north korea. There you have kenneth bae hugging his mom. He spent two years in prison. He spoke shortly arkansriving ie u. S. Listen. I want to thank you all for supporting me and standing by me during this time. It has been just amazing blessing to see so many people being involved getting me released for last two years. Not to mention not only mentioning the thousands of people praying for me as well. Matthew todd miller had been detained since april in north korea. His family was there at that News Conference but did not make a statement. Lets bring you back to whats going on in berlin today. Fred pleitgen is at the east side gallery where the longest stretch of the wall is Still Standing in berlin. Fred, what many people around the world may not know, there isnt that much wall left in berlin. In fact, theres more of it on exhibit in the United States than in germany itself. You have to do your homework to try to find those pieces of the wall Still Standing, fred. You absolutely do, hala. Youre right. This is the longest stretch of wall thats Still Standing, 2. 2 kilometers long. Otherwise you really have a lot of trouble finding it. Were back here at our trevant. I want to show you some folks have signed it, one from mexico, here is someone from spain, here is someone from israel, someone from brazil, italy, austria. Were starting the gather countries from all over the world. Many people, we pan around here, are waiting to also sign the car as well. There they are. Hello everybody. As you can see, we are one of the Main Attractions here at the former wall. I also have a very personal history with the wall. Lets have a look at that as well. Reporter a drive here is like a journey back in time. My dad was a correspondent for west german tv and we lived right here on this street. Fritz pleitgen ran the bower row in 1987 through 1992, one of the people the communist regime feared most. It was war of airwaves, even more than a military war because there was a competition between east germany and west germany. Reporter we went back to our old house together to talk about the old days that i can barely remember that fwhau were among the most challenging of his career. This video was provided to cnn by the west german broadcasting company. It shows my dad and his crew getting harassed by east german agents while trying to interview the author and opposition figure stefan heim in 1979. They wanted to stop our contacts with the east german population. It was a nightmare, that there could be an alliance of west german correspondents with the people of east germany. Reporter many who talked to western meade ydia were jailed. On videos like this one the east German Secret Police showed their spying methods. They did the same to us. Their code fame for my father was the tiger. They broke into our flat but also in our office, they took pictures. Sometimes they wanted to show me that they were in. I got the impression, well, im observed. Reporter imagine trying to raise a family, first with three, later with four children, in that kind of environment. What was family life like . To me it seemed nice. To you and especially mom, it wasnt that great. It wasnt too easy for your mother. She had always real problems with the border guards. She was not ready to talk to them smiling because she hated their questions. Reporter but our family story also shows how far germany has come since the fall of the wall. The ruins behind us on this Family Picture from 1980 look like this today. This was the most desolate square in whole europe. It was lost. Now it has changed into the most beautiful square of germany. Reporter and the western reporters so dreaded by the communist leaders played their part making germanys peaceful unification possible. Hala, i have to say my dad and my mom of course are still the big bosses of our family and that will never change. They did master those times very, very well. I have to tell you i went straight from berlin to washington, d. C. , from east berlin. Going from one tv channel to about 20. All i did was watch tv for about the first five weeks of being there. The end of it, the only good thing i got out of it is i could speak english. Certainly having the choice between several television stations, good for something as well. I want to leave you with the folks signing our trevante. It is a true attraction. With that, back to you, hala. All right, Fred Pleitgen from east berlin to washington, d. C. I cant think of a bigger Culture Shock there. Well be back with fred, of course, a little later there on your screens as well youre seeing a service at the chapel of reconciliation and people lighting church kachbdales there in honor of those who lost their lives from trying to cross from east to west. The fall of the berlin wall, our 25th anniversary coverage continues after this. Q. Crumbling concrete, now symbols of freedom in berlin. Today the world stops to celebrate freedom really. The 25th anniversary of the fall of the wall. Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world this hour. Im holley garani. We are live in berlin as the events continue. Im joined by my colleagues jim