that led of course to the 45 decision by truman. then we begin the origin of a great idea for a documentary or a movie and he wrote a script. it didn't work for me, but 10 years later it haunted me that story in washington and he is still teaching a class when i came back. we decided to go ahead and do it.mandari about wallace and the bump. that one hour turned into ultimately -- our eyes are bigger than our stomachs and we tried a 12 hour national security state story from the 1940s to now and it actually started in 1900 with the philippine american war but the spanish-american war and then in 2012, we started 1940 in the series. the book two years after our series we decided hey this is getting very serious and we know i'm going to be called on this because of my back round in making movies. people will say this is part fiction and part fantasy that we decided to go ahead and go with this book. peter took over the book. i was running the series, the film and we were cross fading all the time and checking each other constantly but

this is a truman-stalin moment. this is -- of course gorbachev is offering him an oyster, going to take all the soviet troupes out of eastern europe. going to let nato take over germany. unite germany and nato can have their germany as long as nato doesn't go further. these kinds of things are in the air. what does bush do? tianimen square happens, he suspended relations, but behind the scenes does business as usual with china. he goes into panama, in december '89 -- never forgot that because i had -- born on the 4th of july was opening that day, and the american people loved it. they backed the invasion. it was our backyard, it was a war on drugs and that was new issue now. communist had been forgotten. noriega was the new stalin, and then a year later, we had this iraq 1, and that's another untold story. iraq 1 was really depressing when you go into all the false intelligence and the doctoring of the photos. do you want to tell us about that? it breaks my heart personally, and as a veteran of the vietnam war, i se

we've talked about truman. let's talk about reagan, a guy who when many people on the left thought he stumbled into office as an accident of history, few could expect this guy to be as transformative as he was. i would guess most historians 100 years from now will talk about the 20th century, they'll talk about fdr and reagan. >> well, there's no question. having created -- i mean, fdr creating a generation of liberal followers and reagan creating a generation of conservative followers, changing the whole idea of what we thought about government, whether one agrees or not, dealing with the cold war, being able to finally bring about that partnership with gorbachev, you know, take that wall down, the strength he showed, the communication ability, the fact that people felt optimistic during his time, the fact that the economy got better. i mean, the debt that grew is a problem. everybody has cons. none of these guys get through it without weaknesses that counterbalance their strengths. but i must say the more i l

but truman won. and he won in part not just because he ran against his republican challenger but also against that republican congress. at his nominating convention that year, president truman delivered one of his most fiery speeches ever. he called the republican-controlled congress the do-nothing congress and called on that do-nothing congress to return to washington to a special session to finally do its job and pass legislation, thank you very much. after that fiery convention speech, congress did come back for a special session and they still did nothing. and president truman, therefore, continued to call them the do-nothing congress. and he railed on them about it on the campaign trail. and that campaign trail led him all the way back to the white house for a second term. 1948, harry truman talking about and criticizing the 80s congress. this congress, the one in washington today is the 102nd congress. here's what has happened since the time of truman's do-nothing congress. that is truman's con

truman -- truly stalin moment. gorbachev is offering as you said an oyster so the typical of the troops on a figure up and they can have their germany as long as nato doesn't go further. these kind of things are in the air and what does bush to? trademark and square happens and he suspends relations but behind the scenes to beat he does business as usual. he goes into panama in december of '89. i will never forget that because fourth of july was opening on that same day and the american people loved it. they go back to the invasion. of some backyard. it was a war on drugs and that was a new issue. noriega looked like the bad guy. and that is another untold story because it's really depressing when you go into all of the false intelligence and the doctrine. >> it breaks my heart. >> i see the next ten years we draft. we don't take advantage of the possibilities of the soviet union. >> to keep it stable we privatize them what russia and by the time bush 43 comes in it's not only squandered but it's a nightmare that r

>> it was a favor for truman. that is where truman was from. >> let's get a slice of that speech. >> an iron curtain has descended across the continent. behind that line, like all the capitals of the ancient states of central and eastern europe -- baltimore, berlin, prague, vienna, budapest, belgrade, bucharest. all of these famous cities and the population around them lying in rubble -- lie under the soviet sphere. >> why did you want to talk about this? >> i was inspired in my first spoke -- book, and while this is in no way a sequel it represents thoughts i had. one thing i got interested in is the question why no people went along with it. what is the mentality? what are institutional pressures? why do camp guard do what they are told to do? i decided to write about this period right after world war ii, because it was a time the soviet union had reached a height, there was an apotheosis of stalinism. it was reinforced by the experience of the war. by 1945, it was a fully developed system with an economic theor

let's back up and explain i think we buy the book too quickly the americans knew truman knew he said that the main reason he was going to potsdam was to make sure that stalin and the russians came into the war because the intelligence kept saying that the thing that the japanese dreaded the most finally break the japanese back was the soviet entry into the war and so he said to the war on august ninth three days after the bombing of hiroshima and then the second bomb before the soviets have a chance for the japanese have a chance to respond to the soviet invasion and what that's what great the difference the united states had already shown that it could wipe out japanese cities we wiped out one hundred japanese cities. but what changed the equation was the soviet entry which meant now the japanese military strategy was going to be bankrupt and their diplomatic strategy trying to get the soviets to get them better surrender terms was bankrupt that's what led to the end of the war but we knew that in advance that was going to have the effect. of dropping the atomic bomb six out of seve

if we didn't get trapped atomic bomb the united states would have had to invade we would have lost truman says in his memoir just tell the half million men would have died in the invasion and he had no choice but to drop it. that's not the end of the story for us that's the beginning of the story and it's the beginning also mythology and the soviets are invading japan that's the other side of the court and the soviet invasion is what really terrifies the japanese and the bomb is being dropped to basically said the message to the russians in a new ballgame and a world war two with no we're no longer allies i'm going to make a long story short but truman has a different strategy than roosevelt ever dreamed of and that's a strange disconnect we get into. too because with the wallace and well it was a vice president who got bumped off the ticket in forty four allowing for truman to get a great story that's why you say it was history because the past is prologue we'll hear much about wallace and i will let you know back up and explain i think we might have gone too quickly the americans knew t

which we walk in his shoes we we understand how this not very deep thinking man who resembles harry truman in my mind a bit. president because he's the son of a president and his drives are very simple to me and i think there's a human in the film at the same time a little bit of heart quite a bit hard but it's not because i like a. big bird's when i'll be right back much more with oscar winning they go next. as. cuckoo. cuckoo news. thank you. thank you you are going. to go. you'll. know much more about security if you are saying anything like someone says. us. so you guys just heard me talk the prolific oliver stone about his film trajectory clearing some of the most important cinematic masterpieces of our time and now he and historian peter because nick are seeking to push the envelope once again this time through a ten part showtime series called the untold history of the united states check it out. i mean i want to make it as exciting as a. history and we make it not only for me but we. always feel there's a disconnect what's officially reported what actually happened we can't accept

and what were your thoughts on harry truman? >> i am not sure i heard my father say this but almost every petty my father's stage where harry truman's name came up said he bought a tie from the his haberdashery. i said in a column everyone actually had. clifton daniel married to the king of western missouri. a lot of people thought harry truman that he was under rated. actually interviewed harry truman when i was in college trying out for the paper. the library had not started and he was then an office building in downtown kansas city like frosted glass there was a secretary. that was his entourage. he asked me to send it to him and he sent me back a letter that said thank you for the article it was perfectly all rights. [laughter] i have a lot of time for harry truman. he is the on the kansas city president. >> i am from kansas city. >> could we pause for a minute? where did you go to high school? >> she is from johnson county. it is okay. that is called cupcake plant >> i have read your humorous books but the favorite is about

which we walk in his shoes we we understand how this not very deep thinking man who resembles harry truman in my mind a bit becomes president because he's the son of a president and his drives are very simple to me and i think there's a human in the film at the same time a little bit of heart quite a bit of heart but it's not because i like him. thank you for explaining i'll be right back much more with oscar winning to get all of our stone next. wealthy british style. that's not on. the. markets why not. come to find out what's really happening to the global economy with max cons are there are no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into kinds a report on r t. do we speak your language or not a day of. news programs and documentaries in spanish what matters to you breaking news a little tentative angles couldn't stories. you hear. that all teach spanish find out more visit i to our. tito it's calm. and. look. so you guys just heard me talk the prolific oliver stone about his film trajectory clearing some of the most important cinematic masterpieces of our time and now

truman, eisenhower, reagan, clinton and bush. we're including truman because he took over after f.d.r. died. president nixon is out because he resigned before the second midterm sha lacking. she lacking. but let's put up the numbers. truman's second midterm, in 1950, his democratic party last 28 in the house. in ike's second midterm, the gop got wiped out. reagan, 86. republica republicans lost five seats in the house, eight in the senate. not so bad. but it did cost the republican's control in the senate. president clinton is the big out liar, here, if you'll recall, because he didn't lose anything, winning five house seats, staying even in the senate eight years later, 2006, he got hammered. republicans lost 30 seats in the house, six in the senate and control. both houses were gone from the republicans. a couple things to note. the 1988 election marked the only time a sitting, two-term president saw any kind of games. in addition, two-term presidents have one really bad midterm and not so bad. for instance, eisenhower did much

>> reporter: spend a minute in the nurse's office at truman high school in independence, missouri, and you'll immediately notice something troubling. what problems are you seeing? >> we see type two diabetes, high blood pressure. people with joint pains, arthritis, stre swrierkt depression. from being above a healthy weight >> reporter: school nurse lori halsey tells us 40% of students at truman high were overweight or obese. two years ago, he was part of a district-wide program to test students' body fat. >> you worry where they are going to be in the future. >> we have a major issue in kids because what they're eating, what they're not eating, the lack of exercise. this is a crisis in our country. >> reporter: the crisis that school superintendent jim hinson saw in his school. through higher rates of absenteeism, illness, and lower test scores. he attacked the problem with mandatory nutrition classes in grades k-12. >> at the >> how many of you use a measuring cup? >> reporter: at the gym, they know the record students' levels, and, in the cafeteria, chicken that was fried is now bak

truman, eisenhower, reagan, clinton, and bush. we're including truman because even though he wasn't elected in 1944, he took over after fdr died just three months into his term. nixon is out before he resigned before the second midterm shellacking. let's put up the numbers. in truman's second term, let's take a look here, as you can see, in that midterm in 9050, his democratic party lost 28 seats in the house, 6 in the senate. in ike's second term in 1958, the gop got wiped out, losing 48 house seats, 13 senate seats. reagan, '86, republicans lost 5 seats in the house, 8 seats in the senate. i'll tell you about that in a minute. but it cost republicans control of the senate in the process. president clinton, of course, is the big outlier here, if you'll recall. he didn't lose anything in the second midterm, winning five house seats for his party, staying even in the senate. eight years later, president bush got hammered, losing 30 seats in the house, 6 in the senate, but control of both houses were gone from republicans. a couple

>> reporter: spend a minute in the nurse's office at truman high school in independence, missouri, and you'll immediately notice something troubling. what problems are you seeing? >> we see type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, people with joint pains, arthritis, stress, anxiety, depression from being above a healthy weight. >> reporter: the school nurse told us that 40% of students at truman high were overweight or obese. two years ago she was part of a districtwide program to test students' body fat. >> it's very concerning to see that they're dealing with adult illnesses at such a young age, and you just worry about where they're going to be in the future. >> we have a major issue with kids because of what they're eating, what they're not eating, the lack of exercise. this is a crisis in our country. >> reporter: a crisis that school superintendent jim hinson saw was undermining his school in absenteeism and lower test scores. he attacks the problem with mandatory nutrition classes in classes k through 12. now they record students' physical level and in the cafeteria chicken that wa

truman's party was much worse in '46 than it was in '50. reagan split decision after losing big in the house and gaining a senate seat, republicans lost seven senate seats in -- lost a bunch in '86 and the control but did better in the house. so, let's take a look at our next one. the two most recent examples of midterms. bill clinton's democrats lost 54 house seethes and 8 seats in '946 before turning the tables with the surprise wins in '98. both parties said it was due in part maybe in whole to the public backlash against republicans who seemed too focused on the lewinski scandal. president bush of course saw the opposite. had a great first midterm. not so great second one. two there. republicans gained ground under president bush. before losing big in 2006. what's behind the truth of the theory of the six-year itch? seems logical over the course of six years but when you look at each case, there are circumstances that make it hard to draw a sweeping conclusion. by the time his second midterm rolled around, truman was four months in to u

today we call it secretary of defense under harry truman after world war ii. jackson appoints eaton has secretary of war. here's the scandal. there was a young girl in washington d.c.. the calder little peg, peggy o'neal and her father owned a tavern. this tavern was a tavern/boarding house where jackson and be and other politicians when they go to washington they would board their but in truth it was a tavern/boarding house/brothel. little peg, the daughter, peggy o'neal was sort of the most popular attractioattractio n at the boarding house. you can picture her like a mae west coming down the steps. she would sing and perform. she was known to sit on all a politician slaps. she was the sort of dashing figure, have frances diane, half may west. that is peggy o'neal. peggy o'neal runs away against her father's wishes and marries a guy in timberlake and while timberlake is at sea for your peggy gives birth to the first child and while he he is a seed for another year she has another child with him so it's a huge scandal. timberlake may have jumped overboard and

kind of general on a white horse to comes back to redeem the republic and slap back corruption of the truman administration and return the republic to its ideal values but also someone who just winds up going further and further to the right and placating the right within his own party and be trading some of his own political principles. the relationship between nixon and eisenhower is a curious one and has a father/suns for development and almost oedipal struggle going on. a lot of pundits and to the book including walter that men and joe alsop who hoped eisenhower will be more what eisenhower actually has become. there is pat nixon. pat nixon is up from to dick nixon literally during the speech he is sitting watching him nervously not sure what he is going to be saying that. she is crucial to the strategy of making her husband into a normal looking guy. she writes a slew of articles where she talks about her being a normal suburban housewife. there is also a fascinating thing about pat nixon, she is weirdly open about the fact that she doesn't seem to like politics and seems to even have s

truman sits with him on the podium but he can't say it. he has read that speech before. >> the iron curtain. >> he has read that speech, knows what he is going to say. >> in the adriatic and ire curtain has descended across the continent. behind that line lie all th the-- of the-- warsaw, berlin, prague, vienna, buddha pest, belgrade bucharest and-- all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what i now call the soviet sphere. >> this is a convenient trial balloon forth administration when there is a lot of complaint a lot of protests in new york, when churchill comes, truman can stand back a little and say nothing to do with me. but actually churchill has helped to change the weather and that is important. the other thing about the iron curtain speech is the reminder of the power of words. churchill coined some of the most important sound bite its there, you know, modern diplomacy, iron curtain that is a phrase that is not unique to him but he popularizes it. special relationship, that is another churchillian phrase whi

>> it was a favor for truman. that is where truman was from. >> let's get a slice of that speech. >> an iron curtain has descended across the continent. behind that line, like all the capitals of the ancient states of central and eastern europe -- berlin, prague, vienna, budapest, belgrade, bucharest. all of these famous cities and the population around them lying in rubble -- lie under the soviet sphere. >> why did you want to talk about this? >> i was inspired in my first book, and while this is in no way a sequel it represents thoughts i had. one thing i got interested in is the question why no people went along with it. what is the mentality? what are institutional pressures? why do camp guard do what they are told to do? i decided to write about this period right after world war ii, because it was a time the soviet union had reached a height, there was an apotheosis of stalinism. it was reinforced by the experience of the war. by 1945, it was a fully developed system with an economic theory and a clear ideolo

in truman's second term, let's look here. as you can see, in that midterm in the 1950s, the house lost 20 seats, the senate six. eisenhower, house lost 48 seats. 13 for the senate. reagan's 1986 re-election, house lost five seats in the house, and eight in the senate. president clinton is the big out-liar here if you recall, because he didn't lose anything. he gained five in the house for his party and staying even in the senate. president bush got hammered. republicans lost 30 seats in the house, six in the senate and control of both houses were gone from the republicans. the 1998 election was the only time a two-term president saw gains. in addition two-term presidents typically have one really bad midterm and one not so bad. truman was much worse in '46 than in '50. reagan, split decision after losing big in the house and gaining a senate seat in 1982, republicans lost seven seats in '86 and control, but did better in the house. so, let's take a look at our next one. the two most recent examples of midterms, bill clinton's

there's famous story of bess truman burning harry truman's love letters and harry truman saw her and said, what are you doing, think of history? and she replied, i am thinking of history. and she burned the letters. i'm worried the justices are thinking about history, too, and it's to our detriment. >> i want to talk about asking justices for interviews. i do think that if you ask them for an interview on a particular topic they feel comfortable talking about -- for instance, justice breyer, a fairly easy justice to interview, about what it's like to be the senior justice because he served for almost 11 years in the role of senior justice. i think he was bested by joseph story for a couple weeks so he notice record holder but he was happy to talk about that aspect of the court and how seniority fits into it. so it's easier to approach them about a certain subject. in my book i was planning on interviewing them all, and at jeff was saying, c-span did this wonderful series of interviews of the justices,, and i think they went in to ask them about the building, the court building, and t

in the 1948 presidential campaign harry truman called any such notion a red herring but communists had infiltrated the federal government all the way up to and including the white house. defending alger hiss became a liberal obsession, consequently the hiss/chambers case contributed to liberalism's lurch to the left and its inability to view the soviet union objectively and to concede that it was a clear and present danger. the case demonstrated the intimate connection between communism and liberalism, quote, when i took out my little fling and aimed at communism, chambers wrote in "witness," i also did something else. what i hit was the forces of that great socialist revolution which in the name of liberalism is been inching its ice cap. the one x liberal who saw the connection clearly was president ronald reagan. who awarded the medal of freedom. asked why, mr. reagan replied, 100 years ago people will ever forgotten the details but i want them to remember that out his went to jail as a traitor and whitaker chambers was honored by his fellow citizens. his conviction verify anti commu

, the truman doctrine. which, you know, was to provide these type of vessels and other military aid to other countries. so this particular vessel went to greece. and it was their number one vessel for a long, long time. and until about 1991 when the greek government decided they no longer needed this vessel. within a very short period of time, the destroyer escort sailors' association raised nearly $300,000 to have it towed back to america. it was housed for a short time at the intrepid air, sea, space museum in new york city. when they no longer had room for it, they had to search for a new home, and fortunately, mayor jennings -- who's the mayor of the city here in albany -- felt this would be a wonderful attraction on the waterfront which he was trying to revitalize at the time. and now it's, it's the only destroyer escort still afloat in america in its original world war ii configuration. this is the kind of thing that allows people to see what it was like back then, why there was world war ii and what

truman intended to show japan that he would use any weapon at our disposal. there was no atomic diplomacy. he wanted to show the japanese that it was surrender or die. when japan 70, came the victory of the principles of american exceptionalism, worldwide. unlike all the previous empires, the u.s. was unwilling to dominate the free world the way previous victors had. that postwar world asked of america that it share its resources unreservedly, restrain itself economically, and rebuild both former friends and enemies enthusiastically. this in turn would produce heretofore wealth and leisure in western europe. all provided by the protection of the american military. that wealth and leisure would in turn the road the very institution and disciplines needed to maintain let alone expand freedom and prosperity for others. i wanted to mention just for a moment the role of the soviet union in world war ii, because i think we take this on as a challenge to much of the prevailing wisdom. yes, after 1942, the red army overwhelmed the nazi in men and intakes. but it was

in the early cold war the a m a won that battle and truman's proposal. other presidents including richard nixon and bill clinton tried to pass universal health care programs but they failed due to entrench and vigorous opposition from not just medical professionals opposition from business and increasingly powerful insurance industry. health-care reform in the u.s. was pronounced impossible but then the impossible happened and sedate we have the 2010 affordable care act or obamacare which everyone is calling it now. does the passage of the affordable care act mean we now have a right to health care? in the united states? the answer is not really. there are some important victories. the biggest one is the ban on insurance companies being able to exclude people from coverage because they have preexisting health conditions. the affordable care act will expand access to health coverage by providing federal subsidies for people who can't afford insurance on their own but even when the law is fully implemented if the law is fully implemented there will still b

some of them were given to other countries as part of president truman's truman doctrine which was to provide these types of vessels and other military aid to other countries so this particular vessel went to greece and was their number one vessel for longtime and until about 1991 when the greek government decided they no longer needed this vessel within a very short period of time, the destroyer escort sailors association raised $300,000 to have it towed back to america. it was housed for a short time at the interested air and space museum in new york city. when they no longer had room for it they had to search for a new home but mayor jennings who is mayor of the city in albany felt this would be a wonderful attraction on the waterfront which he was trying to revitalize at the time and now it is the only destroyer escort still afloat in america in its original world war ii configuration. this is the kind of thing that allows people to see what it was like back then. what happened and how valiant the sailors were who served aboard these vessels. it is remarkable testimony to the brav

. >> follow clifton truman daniel on his journey to hiroshima sunday on american history tv. he joins us to discuss meetings with bomb survivors and the inspiration for his trip at 9 eastern. >> now discussion of slavery in contemporary society. oppressors and authors discuss the legal economic and policy -- a group of authors discuss the legal economic and policy decisions. toast the by young university. -- hosted by yale university. >> good morning. what a full room. what a full room.

president truman, in 1948, declared that fort mchenry should fly the flag 24/7, 365 days. >> like our country, our flag has changed a lot through the years. how long has the flag looked the way it does? >> the flag has had 50 stars and 13 stripes since 1960. >> that's when hawaii became our newest state. what is the most-famous american flag? >> the most-famous american flag is the flag that flew here in 1814. it is now in the smithsonian museum in washington, but it inspired the national anthem, and, therefore, it is the most-famous american flag. >> that flag had 15 stars and 15 stripes, and if you look closely, the flag they are flying here at fort mchenry is the same -- just a lot smaller. what are the right ways to handle the flag? >> the proper way is to not let it touch the ground, to bring the flag down slowly and reverently, but to hoist it briskly and with enthusiasm, especially in carrying the flag, they carry it close to your heart with your hands crisscrossed, and just showing general proper respect to the flag. >> we'll hear more about that in a minute, but first, here's

the whole dixiecrat thing was in reaction to an address that shouldn't give, a set of proposals that truman gave in early 48. and all the southern governors, meeks in north florida outside of tallahassee at a governors conference that's what whole thing starts. and right was the hard line when. and thurmond, worked out by his close advisers said no, they said what we need is a 40 day cooling off period where we can figure out what we're going to do in that kind of thing. thurmond offered a resolution for cooling off period, and that's what got adopted. but then as he was asking people what they could do you realize that can people interested in cooling off. they wanted to stay fired up. and thurmond then kind of double down and said i need to keep involved in this. the reason, many people in south carolina recognized this at the time, is that thurmond was looking ahead to 1950. his gubernatorial term would be up in 1950. he couldn't succeed himself in after our politics and you want to run for the senate, the next rung on the latter. and to do that he had to get to the right of johnson. so

president truman's oldest grandson, who was the first truman to travel to japan. tonight on c-span 3, a look at hiroshima. a talk with his trip and what he learned it. learned through his words teacher made that his grandfather went through and now he went through in hiroshige of. 6:00 for those on the west coast on c-span 3. here is a preview. [video clip] >> i tried to look down and i saw so many dead bodies floating on the surface. people --'s so many the people suffered from the burned bodies. they went into water. it jumped into the river. >> that was a survivor of the bombings in hiroshima telling her story for the first time to daniel on his first visit to the two cities where the bomb was dropped the in 1945. you are listening for the first time. what did you see your role as as you were listening to it? >> just to be there to listen to her and to let her speak and to let her do this for the first time. >> for her understanding she was talking to the grandson of the man who made a decision to drop the bomb. did she talk to you about that? >> she did not. a

it involves two killers who were made infamous in truman capote's "in cold blood". phil keating joins us live on the story from sarasota, florida. phil what pushed this back into the limelight again this case? >> reporter: absolutely. modern dna science unavailable in 1965 when those notorious killers were executed and buried. possibly this could all solve another quadruple murder that happened here 53 years ago today. >> oh, i can't describe it. it was horrible looking. >> reporter: don mccloud can't forget the horrific day in 1959 when he waked in on cliff walker, christine and their two children all shot dead in their florida home. it remains sarasota county's longest unsolved major crime. 52 years later detective tim mcgrath thinks are the same killers of the clutter family in kansas a month earlier. perry smith and dick hickock. >> hickock and smith were driving a stolen 1956 chevrolet belleair and walker family was shopping for a 1956 model and basically the same model. >> reporter: before hickock and smith were arrested for casas killings several witnesses sp

congress before the end of the year, the government will be forced to buy vast quantities of milk under a truman era law that could send consumer milk has high as $6 to $8 a gallon because the government would be forced to pay twice the rate under the 1949 rules. fomples are would sell their milk to the government first prompting a shortage in supplies which would spike the price consumers pay. >> the farm bill is like this low hanging ornament on the congressional christmas tree that, if they just embrace, it they can automatically come up with tens of billions ever dollars in budget savings. >> reporter: the problem is the bill is stuck in the house and there appears to be no political will to move it forward. agriculture secretary tom vilsack says out of precaution, his department is preparing for the law to take effect. >> this is a bad outcome. let me be very clear about this. i don't think we should want nor should we advocate for nor should congress consider it a good outcome that permanent law goes into effect. >> reporter: and it is not just of the cows going over the cliff. it could be

without it, pricing would go back to an outdated law put in place during the truman era. the government would be required to buy dairy products based on 1949 production costs, when milking was done by hand. that would double today's price. farmers would lose incentive to sell directly to producers, and prices in the grocery store would sky rocket. >> it can't happen. it just can't happen. >> reporter: farmers like skip hardy in new york say it would be nice to get high prices from the government at first. but ultimately, this would kill the industry. >> the economy being what it is, if -- the price of anything doubles, people are going to stop buying it. >> probably go back down to water. >> reporter: lucky for congress, it won't happen right away. the department of agriculture could take weeks to put a new dairy purchase program in place. >> they'll have time enough after the new congress is seated to pass legislation thand eithe extend our previous farm bill or perhaps even pass a new farm bill. >> reporter: but eventually congress will have to agree on something. or a

we have seen the archives that describe relationships between stalin, church hill, and truman. we know the events from our point of view. i wanted to show from a different angle from the ground up, what did it feel like to be one of the people who work subjected to this system. how did people make choices and how did they react in the cave? one of the things that has happened since 1999 is the region we used to call eastern europe has become differentiated. these countries no longer have much of in common with each other. >> from the end of world war ii through 1956. from "iron curtain" on c-span a &a. >> how states are bracing for sequestration. the schedule for january affecting many agencies and

we've seen the archives that describe the relationship between roosevelt and stalin and churchill and truman. we know the media and from our plan tough viewed we have written them. what i wanted to do is show from a different angle from the ground up what did it feel like to be one of the people who were subjected to the system and how that people make choices in that system and how did they react and how did they behave? it's interesting one of the things that happened since 1989 is the region that we used to call eastern europe has become very differentiated. it is no longer these countries no longer even have anything in common except for the common memory of >> more to pulitzer prize winner book tv is a location that the u.s. naval academy in annapolis maryland where we are interviewing some professors who are also authors. we are now joined by richard ruth, a professor here at the naval academy. professor ruth, what do you teach? >> i teach predominately sian history of why in pre-modern asian history. mostly i concentrate on thailand and vie

mean they pushed through the whole taft hartley thing back in one thousand nine hundred seven harry truman vetoed it they overturned his veto i mean everybody's always known republicans hate labor and working people but how what is the what is the on the ground response in michigan to this that the president won the state but the state elect has had a like that locally republicans what's how are people reacting to. people are upset i mean you know the governor has not told the truth legislator about the vice president's route of the coen brothers and push their agenda across the united states i mean you know when you live sort of of the people that's not a very good thing the people of various. are benefitted from labor whether your part of the union and not your way views are based upon what the unions are good and unfortunately people have this disassociation with the union but if you turn away that labor rights and you can take the right way the rights of every. one of their union or not. josh in the in the last minute we have here do you expect that we will see a blow back to this like