Speech that included shots at republicans for opposing obama care. Weve learned not to make wild promises about how perfectly smooth its going to be at all times. Do not let the initial problems with the website discourage you. Were going to keep on working to fix whatever problems come up. Whatever comes up, were going to fix them. Were not repealing it as long as im president. Those statements come after announcing just yesterday and again today that the administration had met their own selfimposed deadline of november 30th to have the website problems fixed. Fox news chief White House Correspondent ed henry is at the white house tonight with our report. The bottom line is this law is working and will work into the future. Reporter a defiant president obama tried to change the narrative on his botched rollout claiming healthcare. Gov is turning the corner and benefits are kicking in as he unveiled another sales pitch that republicans are still not buying. While the white house wants to claim that healthcare. Gov is now working, we know obama care is still plagu with problems and every american deserves relief from it. Reporter relief is also needed for conditioningal democrats nervously watching their poll numbers sink ahead of 2014 while the president s own Approval Ratings plummet. He launched a new Political Campaign to call republica out for not offering an alternative to a law that he vow will n be torn down. Youve got good ideas . Bring them to me. Lets go. But were not repealing it as long as im president. I want everybody to be clear about that. Reporter with Embattled Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius looking on, the president declared this is a top secondterm priority. If i have to fight another three years to make sure this law works, thats what ill do. Thats what well do. Millions more stand to be helped. Weve got to make sure they know that. I have said very clearly that our poor execution in the first couple months on the website clouded the fact that there are a whole bunch of people who stand to benefit. Reporter another attempt by the president to assert the law itself is not the problem and if only his team had better communicated how good it is and done a better job with the web, all will be fine. Even though aids toenate republican leader Mitch Mcconnell said the president launched at least a dozen other major Public Relations blitzes on health care over the past three years. Do you feel youve made this pitch before and people arent buying it . The law passed, the president won reelection, a Million People showed up on the website yesterday. Guess what . 380,000 showed up before noon today. Reporter republicans insist website issues are just the tip of the iceberg. This bill is fundamentally flawed. Its causing people to lose the doctor of their choice, causing them to lose their health plan. If that isnt enough, theyre having to pay much higher prices at the same time. Reporter boehners office noting tonight there was not a lot of air cover from conditioningal democrats, didnt have a lot of news conferences on capitol hill, perhaps near vows about touting the Health Care Law. A white house official told me its only the first day of a threeweek campaign. Theyre confident the president will have the support in the end. Lou . Our first guest tonight is here to serve at least partly as a tutor for you and me. He says obama care is the biggest middle class entitlement ever conceived. He says beyond the flawed website, we need to stay focused on the fact that the Health Care Law spends too much on the wrong people. Joining us is tom skully, the former administrative for medica and Medicaid Services during the bush administration, the last. Also a Health Policy staffer in the bush 41 white house, currently a general partner with welsh carson, a new York Private Equity Firm investing in health care. Good to have you back was. Tom, first, the administration is claing first success and progress here. Were also hearing great skepticism. We just recounted the story of our own reports, correspondent, peter busey going through and tting error messages. It lookso be a bit of a mess. What do you think . I think its a mess. Im sure its getting better. I think its a lot better from the consumer point of view. I think the insurance companies, at the end of the day when you sign up for an insurance plan, theyre still finding huge problems with income verification. Thats going to be a real big problem for the aetnas and the cigna and the blue cross plans for the next few months trying to figure out who gets what subsidies. Its a real complex system. Theyre having a rough time. Its better than it was two months ago. You really knowts going to work in march or april if it will take that long. March or april. Actually jeffrey zients, the man in charge of getting this thing fixed, he said he could make it by the end of november. It hasnt quite worked out that way. David plug says hes confident this thing will be working by 2017. Were you little astounded when he said as soon as theres new management in the white house the program might be working . All these companies are offering insurance. Its a mess. Its trying to take 15, 20 Million People and try to verify their income and decide what their subsidies are going to be. There are huge subsidies. Thats the fundamental problem, telling aetna how much of your 15,000 Insurance Premium is going to be subsidized by the government. Zients is a smart guy. I havent talked to him in years. They have smart people working on it. They were pretty far behind the start. I assume frankly, when you talk about smart people, a little of us worked in management as well as on air. Ive known a lot of smart people. One of the first rules that i can remember being counseled on by my boss when i moved in to management was just remember this, this was the axiom. Once you got people involved, it screwed up. And it appears that that very basic lesson in management, no matter what level you work at, was ignored by a government and administration that frankly had very little obvious experience in managent of any kind. Obviously, its a much bigger nut than they expected. Not to defend them. Think the c administrator, marilyn, ive known her for 25 years, shes great. They obviously on the i. T. Side bit off more than they can chew. They have a long way to go. Its going to be a mess for a long time, a political disaster. For me the bigger issue is really this is a 200 billion Entitlement Program and giving a lot of subsidies to a lot of people. The primary reason it will work eventually, whether it works with the next election or not is another question. Theyre giving huge subsidies to a lot of people and it will work largely because of that. Thats really in many cases the wrong amount of money going to the wrong people and huge taxpayer dollars going to the wrong place. Henry at the wte house pointed out, chuck todd talking this weekend pointed out a line in the administrations report saying that they had decided talk about the performance now on the website, theyve gone all private sector, they were meeting new levels of efficiency, private sector efficiency. Actually doing things correctly as its done in the private sector. And outright admission that the government is not the solution, so why in the world do we continue to entertain with literally trillions of taxpayer llars the silly notion that government is the appropriate agency of resolution for so many of these problems and our society and our economy . I couldnt agree more. I think if they left us more gotten aetna, cigna, united and the blue cross plans in a room together and said lets figure this out. Why dont you go on the website for us, it would have been a lot more successful and done a lot more quickly. I think the more they delegate to private k350e7bs, the better off theyll be. Theyre learning it the hard way. Theyre learning it the hard way. I take your point that thesere good people, smart people, but not really the people i, frankly, ge a damn about. Im concerned about the American People, the people who have been promised much by an administration that seems to be capable of verylittle. The idea that weve gone through, over the last three fiscal years, theyve raised over 50 billion in revenue for the Affordable Care act. Theyre on track right now. There will be an additional 500 can we put that up, 50 billion collected, 2010 through 12. Then, of course, this year and next through the next ten years, well add 500 billion, creating in just medicaid unfunded liabilities because of the enormous shift to medicaid as a result of obama care 17 trillion, tom, in additional unfunded liabilities. What are we to do here . These are massive, massive entitlement expansions, both in medicaid, those are poor people who probably need it. You can argue about that. But these new expansions and the exchanges are huge amounts of subsidies that people way in the middle income stream, 62 of americans qualify for subsidies. In obama care. Yes, obama care, 62 of americans, family of four, 94,000 in income gets a subsidy. Its crazy. Never before imagined. Im upset about the websi. I think its a mess. But the bigger question is who should we subsidize. You cant subsidize 62 of americans for anything. Eventually website will work, for better or worse this thing probably not going to be repealed. Many of us wish we could start over. The bigger issue is these are massive new subsidies for a huge number of people. Once that spigot get turned on, its probably not coming back. I think theres another way to frame it, tom. Were over on time. But tell me if im not kroekt. What youre telling me is by the time this does work, we wont be thrilled its working but scared to death about how in the world to pay for it . That is my point. You debate about whether it will work or not. It scares me the amount of money were spending on midd income and upper income people who probably shouldnt be subsidized. We certainly do need to raise the iq of the folks running this government, republican and democrat. I mean that in the most buy partisan sense. Thanks very much. Come back soochblt well need the help. Vice President Biden in asia trying to keep the chinese from starting a military conflict. Former army four star general jack keen on what the administration should do next. Just by talking to a helmet. It grabbed the patients record before we even picked himp. It found out the doctor we needed was at st. Annes. Wiggle your toes. [ driver ] and it got his okay on treatment from miles away. It even pulled strings with the stoplights. My ambulance talks with smoke alarms and pilots and adiums. But, of course, s a good listener too. [ female announcer ] today cisco is connecting the internet of everything. So everything works like never before. Vice President Biden making no direct comments after meeting with the chinese leaders in beijing over the air zone dispute in the south china sea. The Vice President s did call for trust and practical cooperation. Here with his reaction now to the administrations response over what appeared to be continuing rising tensions is general jack keane retired four star army general, fox news military analyst. General, great to have you here. Great to be here. The platitudes falling from the Vice President s lips are hardly reassuring and the chinese seem to be raising at least the vel cosity of their position. Is there alear path we should be following here to avoid conflict and at the same time maintain and defend our allies in the regions interest . Absolutely. The fact of the matter s we know what this is. This is a power play for influence in the pa sifblg by the chinese. Theyre going to find things like this shipping rights, fishing rights, who owns the islands. These are all potential conflicts in terms of raising the bar, as you suggest, and creating a crisis. Why are they doing that . Because every country in that region except north corey wra is an ally the United States and weve had a dominant influence since world war ii. They recent it and they want to have that influence themselves. We have a right to be there, our allies want us to be there and there are smart ways to deal with this. One is the Vice President i think probably could have put a marker down and told the chinese, listen, were not going to honor this artificially created air defense zone that youve established, its not going to exist for us. The president acting adversely to what youre advising, telling the u. S. Air carriers to go along with and to provide flight plans and data to the chinese as soon as th created the air defense zone. This is the rub that that creates. Here you have the japanese looking right down the throats of the japanese who want to dominate in that part of the region, who are contesting some of the islands that the japanese own. The japanese civilian airliners did not recognize the air defense zone. Two days later, the United States carriers recognized it and the japanese are throwing up the hands saying what is the United States doing . Its a fair question, i think, of our allies. The degree to which were prepared to protect our interests in the area. It happens that the japanese who administered that zone over decades. Theres also substantial crude oil reserves and gas. This is an interest worlthd preserving for the japanese who are, of course, utterly energy independent. Economically theres been prosperity in that part of the world now for over 20 years. The United States military in helping to provide stability in that region of the world has been a force for good. Thats the harsh reality of it. Were going to have to stay focused in working with our allies at the same time we obviously want to have a dect relationship with china, but we have to manage this relationship and we cannot have the chinese puing our allies around and pushing us around. As at least metaphorically president obama bows to president xi, hes doing the same with president putin in averting his eyes from the ukraine in which its behaving, the current government, despite a popular protest and demonstration, its behaving as is russia. We know for a fact that the people in the ukraine do not want that. We should have been influencing this president way befo now so that this alignment that he made with putin, theres going to be a price to be paid. E fact is, lou, our stature in the world is the lowest its been in probably 30, 40 years people believe that we have a weakened president and our policies are to disengage from potential crisis in the world after iraq and ahanistan and theyre taking advantage of us. Surely to have consequences of it is not if not reconsidered is the policy of this administration. General, always good to talk to you. President obama pivot. This time criticizing five years of his own economic policies. We take it up in tonights chalk top, joined by Monica Crowley, david web and matt patrick. Whats better than zero heartburn . Nothing, thats what . Thats why i take prilosec otc each morning for my frequent heartbu. cause it gives me a big fat zero heartburn. Woo hoo [ male announcer ] prilosec otc. The number one doctor recommended frequent heartburn medicine for 8 straight years. [ larry ] you cant beat zero heartburn. And best of all, it means i can enjoy all the foods i love. Oh, zero heartburn is awesome. Just like zero clery. [ male announcer ] prilosec otc. One pill each morning. 24 hours. Zero heartburn. You are gonna need a wingman. And my cash back keeps the party going. But my Airline Miles take it worldwide. [ male announcer ] it shouldnt be this hard. With creditcards. Com, its easy to search hundreds of cards and apply online. Creditcards. Com. The esident very upset, today reeling against income and equality in america. I believe this is the defining challenge of our time, making sure our economy works for every working american. Thats why i ran for president. The combined friends of increased inequality and decreasing mobility pose a fundamental threat tthe American Dream, our way of life and what we stand for around the globe. I hated to be the one to point this out to the president and his speech writers, but the president isnt giving that speech in 2007 or 8, the president has been in office, for crying out loud, for five years the economic failures that he is slamming are not george bushs, theyre not bill clintons. They are his. And yes, the obama record poses a fundamental threat to the American Dream for millions of americans. Hes got that right. Take a look under mr. President. The income gap four times fast erbie comparing average wages to median wages, has expanded nearly four times faster than it did during george w. Bushs terms in office. Under president obama, 6. 7 million more americans have fallen into povty. Under this president , the same one who had the utd tutter audacity to stand before cameras and speak as though he has been absolutely uninvolved in policy for the past five years. I mean an extraordinary thought. The number of workers receiving disability benefits under his administration over the course of the past five years has risen by 20 to almost 9 Million People. Under president obama, the number of people receiving food stamps has risen by 50 to nearly 48 million americans. Under president obama, 21. 6 million americans are unemployed, underemployed or given up looking for work. Under president obama, the average duration of unemployment has nearly doubled from 19. 8 than 36 weeks. Today present obama joined the nearly 70 of voters who say the United States is now headed in the wrong direction. So often it seems, we say, you cant make this stuff up. Joining us now author, radio talk show host, Monica Crowley and david webb and matt patrick, radio talk show host. Monica, i got to ask you, have you ever seen a president be so deeply critical and profoundly punishing of his own administration over the course of five years . Well, i think on a superficial level, lou, youre absolutely right. I made it superficially . No, not you. Butti think on an obvious level youre correct. It does look like hes slamming his own presidency here. I dont think its a big mystery as to who barack obama is. You can call it socialism, you can call it leftism. The question was have you ever seen a ppesident be this deeply critical of his own administration. No. But ive never seen a president like barack obama. I think obama and the far left sees a rousing success. Why . The ultimate objective is to move as many people into government dependency as possible. Hes succeeding. Lets counter this with the president s own words when they talk about the economy from time to time, they say its head phd the right direction or getting better. These are their words, lou, to go against their own facts. To answer your question, how do you counter obama with obama . Its fundamentally what monica is talking about, the role of government, he sees the change being successful for them. Hes not being critical, hes not being honest with the American People because the American People live in that honesty. Thats their reality patrick, what do you think . First, here with david and monica and lou, you, what an awesome night im having, and in a red jacket. Can we stop you right there while we kind of take in that red jacket . Thats some kind of partner. Merry christmas. And im in a red sttte. Monica absolutely right. This is by design. This is what the president wants. He stands up there and pretends to be upset, but this is exactly the plan. The more people that he can get on the government dole, the better he likes it. Well see more and more Economic News like this because thats what the president wants to do. This is all part of the game. Listen, this guy is pretty good at playing the game. Hes a pretty good speech maker. All the things youre seeing the president do right now have been plotted out. I think itsall part of what we will continue to see while hes still in office. I dont want to scare you matt, monica, david. But what if his plan isnt to create this dependency, but rather to continue incompetence and terrible ideas and administration, he continues to fail and he is somehow projecting some sort of mind control upon you to make you thhnk that instead of failing, hes actually succeeding . Well be back in just wurn second with our panel. Wed like you to stay with us. Were coming right back. I want to find out what matt and monica and davi think about the millennials, theyre turning on this guy, showing more sense than a lot of other folks. Wed like for you to join us on twitter, go to our facebook page, find the links. Up next, harry reid of all people offering john boehner a strategy to get a republican elected president. It begins with the word amnesty oh, n. Stay with us. Were coming right back. As a business owner, im constantly putting out fires. So i deserve a Small Business credit card with amazing rewards. With the spark cascard from capital one, i get 2 cash back on ery purchase, every day. I break my back around here. Finally soones recognizing me with unlimited rewards meetings start at 11, cindy. [ male announcer get the spark Business Card from capital one. Choose 2 cash back or double mile on every purchase, every d. Whats in your wallet . I need your timesheets, larry Senate Majority leader harry reid saying if they ever want to see another. Good news for amnesty advocates. It appears boehner is ready to move on the issue. Boehner hired someone who is well known for helping them pass amnesty and telling several business interests in texas he will started Holding Immigration votes after the candidate filing deadline for the 2014 midterms. Maybe we have a sense of what we can expect. You dont have to tell the chamber of commerce, president tom donohue, that the speaker is working to enact immigration reform. He assured everyone last month boehner would do exactly that. It tells you mr. Donohue knows what hes talking about or is the man giving the orders, we dont know. The only question is whether boehner is doing as hes told. Well find out. Were back with monica and matt and david. David, lets begin with you. The millennials, were talking a sizable number calling for a recall. 47 of millennials in the harvard survey called for the recall as opposed to 46 who oppose it. This is strong stuff from the millennials. These are supposed to be his peeps. When you look at your future and dont see upward mobility as part of your picture, whether you put in time in Technical School in college on your masters. If you see no future, you dont want to stay home forever and be the kid who is a baender while your parents or you paid 80,000 for an education. Thats the reality the millennials face, lou. I said this in the break. No matter what people want to call obama or his policies or whats going on, its the results and the current results were dealing with. If you dont see upward mobility, you cant have the apartment you want, date the boy or girl you want or build something for your own future if you want a family. Thats reality for millennials. Politically these numbers are interesting. They cause great cause for concern. Oba won this group, 29 and under, by massive majorities. They thought because obama is so hip and cool and the jay z connection and wearing the ipod, they would be able to lock in this generation as a democratic voting majority. If you can get them young and usually thats their voting identity for the rest of theirs lives. They realize the debt is going to be on them. The cost of obama care is going to be on them. Theyre saying we dont necessarily want any part of this. This is not what we signed up for. Millennials identifyi by a very narrow margin, sixpoint gap, larr across the entire sweep of 18 to 34. I think we think the millennialare stupid and we kind of characterize them i dont. I dont think they are. I think they have caught on. They have seen that there is no future, that theres nothing happening. All their friends are living in their mothers basements. And theyve begun to realize theyre going to have to pay for us older folks. When it comes to obama care, they wt no part of that deal and they reaze theyve been had, theyve been had by a guy telling them all along hes going to bring them along and give them the future they always thought they would have. Its turned out to be nothing but smoke and mirrors like everytng else in this administration. They also talk to each other. Sometimes you have to go to the bars where these people are and talk to them good, lord. Thats your excuse for going for a bar. Thats called field research. Seriously, lou. I was down in south beach in miami for vacation. Looking for millennials. Looking for millennials. I actually ran into conservativeminded young people saying im looking at my ability to get a job. How can i y my student loan . How can i buy that car . This is the reality and what turns them on the promises. Poor millennials, i get it. This is still fundamentally where you pull yourself up by the boot straps and you go to work. And you may not have a job, but you can find work. Im so tired of hearing somebody say ive spent 80,000, 75,000 in student debt. Go get a job. I dont care whether youre mowing lawns, chopping trees, whatever it may be. Dont tell me you got a degree in marketing and the only thing youll put up with is being a Vice President at the age of 23. Its nuts. You absolutely right. It is stil aspirational society. Thats why looking at these numbers which dovetail with the quinnipiac poll. Theres a huge opportunity for republicans, conservatives, bertarians to talk to these kids. Dont just talk in abstract monica, the Republican Party isnt talking to anybody and it isnt listening to anybody. Lou is absolutely right. Lou, youre absolutely right on this. When you get to this growth and opportunity project nonsense, go talk to these kids about your future. Take a job that gets ou somewhere can we be honest with them . Weve got to be honest with them and tell them you dont need to go to harvard. You dont need to spend 80,000 on college. Easy, partner. No, you dont. The biggest there are jobs out there, but you dont have to spend all that money going to college. Some kids arent meant to go to college. Youre exactly right, matt. It gives me an opportunity to give my Public Service announcement. Find a communi college. Let me tell you its the best bargain and education in this country. I say it every time i get the chance, and this is it. To parents who think youve got to go in hock for 50,000 a year for your k to go to school, for kids who think youve got to go in hock for 50,000, theres only one part of this community outside the government itself ought all levels that is absolutely off the rails and doesnt feel accountable politically, responsible to citizens, doesnt have to be producti productive, doesnt have to be efficient, and thats our Education System in this country and its wrecking lives under the pretext of creating a foundation for lives and careers. And weve got to stop the nonsense. Matt, the lt word. Thats a message millennials are getting and thats a good thing. Its about time. Thank you very much matt patrick and david webb and monicagreat to see you. Pleasure. Up next, fists were flying on black friday. Amazingly the angry crowds, low prices didnt pay off for the enthusiastic retailers. Legendary investor jim riser joins us to tell us whether the American Economy is a good investment right now with consumers ke these. Could it be . Were coming right back. Every day were working to be an Even Better Company and to keep our commitments. And weve made a big commitment to america. Through all of our energy operations,e. We invest more in the u. S. Than any other place in the world. In fact, weve invested over 55 billion here in the last five years making bp americas Largest Energy investor. [ male announcer ] the parking lot helps by letting us know whos coming. The carts keep everyone on the right track. The power tools iroduce themselves. All the bits and bulbs keep themselves stocked. And the doors even handle the checkout so we can work on that thing thats stuck in the thing. [ female annncer ] today, cisco is connecting the internet of everything. So everyone goes home happy. For the first time in seven years, black friday retail sales took a dip, down nearly 3 , down 1. 7 billion compared to last year. Joining us now to assess how Economic Uncertainty may be affecting consumers both here and abroad, legendary investor and author of the book street smart adventures on the road and in the market, jim rogers. Good to be here. You will see things are not as good as they say they are. There are problems out there. Im not surprised. Im surprised you are surprised. Im not surprised. I thought you would be aghast at it. No, no, im ave. Raid. Lou, the only thing going on in the world right now is lots of money printing. Everybody is printing mone the United States, japan, europe, england. A lot of inflation. Yes, of course there is. Never in World History has everybody been printing money at the same time. But its our money and thats the great thing about it. Just relax people. What . Are you going to short america . Im not shortingamerica. Nobody should short anything right now. Its dangerous to sell short at a time like this, the people will keep printing money. Thats a they know to do. So why not go long . I own some things, yes. I own some things. Lets talk about what we should be buying. Were talking about an economy thats reinflating. Theyre making the money worthless. Let me try it again. Theyre printing money all over the world. Its a long way from singapore. It is a long way. Theyre printing with staggering amounts of money. The money will be worth less and less and less. Some day, when it is, were all going to suffer badly. Everybody watching this show should be very worried and prepared. Im all anxious. Im just torn up inside now because ive been listening to jim rogers, and i know that were going to be looking at an apocalypse. You say to be prepared. The only way for me to be prepared is to make a lot of money. Everybody listening to you wants to make some money before all hell breaks loose. So do i. Thats why i watch lou dobbs. What i do is buy things that hasnt gone up much . Agriculture hasnt gone up. Russia, of all things. Ive been buying russia. Ive been thinking about buying poland. Why poland . I love it. I do, too. I was bearish on russia for 46 years. You seem like youve been bullish on china forever. You told me this was a marketdriven joint. Now theyre acting like a bunch of wait a minute, wait a minute. Washington, beijing, tokyo. What are you talking about . The japanese and the Senkaku Islands have been administering those islands for 40 years. Now big china puts their big foot out there . Youre going to give us the chinese long view. Calm down, lou. Are we all going to go to war and kill each other and spend billions that we dont have over some rocks do you really think grownups should act like thi honestly, i cant find a world leader right now who i give two cents about. I cant either. They should all resign. Start talking to the chinese and well move west. Listen, the chinese are as bad as the japanese right now. Theres no estion. Why were involved. The japanese . Of course. The japanese are minding their own business. Lou, these are rocks in the middle of the pacific ocean. Who cares about them . Why do you care about it . Why do i care about snit. Do you think somebodys son shou go and get shot over two or three rocks. Can i ask how you can leap from one sma question to people going to war . Im asking you to offer a tutorial to your friends in china where you do business. I tell the chinese the same thing. Dont you worry. What i say to the chinese, why dont you just wait until japan goes bankrupt. Wait a couple hundred years and you wont have any problem. Why are in of us in such a hurry over a few rocks . Its sort of an interesting question. Thats why i asked it. But you havent answered it. Thats what youre paid to do. Its always a pleasure to ask you a question and see where the attempt at an answer goes. Jim rogers attempt at an answer . Thanks for being here. Nice to see you, lou. G good to see you, jim. The book stalins curse shows the collaboration with roosevelt, churchill and the west. Have the historians been accurate in who caused the cold war . So ally bank has a raise your rate cd that wothats correct. A rate. Cause im really nervous about getting trapped. Whys that . Uh, mark . Go get help i have my reasons. Look, you dont have to feel trapped with our raise your rate cd. If our rate on this cd goes up, yours can too. Oh that sounds nice. Dont feel trapped with the ally raise your rate cd. Ally bank. Your money needs an ally. Researchers in hawaii discovered a huge Japanese Submarine that the United States sunk back in 1946 to keep its advanced technology out of the hands of the soviet union. The world war ii era sub could travel one and a half times around the World Without refuelling. Imagine. A new book takes a fascinating look into stalins role in the cold war, his manipulation of the western allies in order to spread communism and extend hi red empire. Joining now, Florida State history Professor Robert gellately, the author of this book stalins curse battling for communism in war and cold war. Its now available in paperback. Professor, it is great to have you here. This is a fascinating book. We recommend it highly to our viewers. The idea that somehow it was the wests fault, particularly the United States fault in causing the cold war, you reject, repud eight and refute. How is it that its even necessary after all of this time . Well, part of the reason was that the documentation was not there and you couldnt really back up your opinion. But another reason was i think that people found it very convenient to blame stalin for the the blame the United States for the cold war. Once it got once the story got going, it took off. The Marshall Plan and things like that as i go into in the book, these were all blamed for being part ofmerican imperialism. This took shape very quickly after the Second World War and it persists, i must say, right up to the present day, even though it is not quite as credible, not quite as credible as it used to be. It still overwhelmingly informs understanding in the United States and in the western world. You write a brliant book informed by a greater traez your of documentation than any other before. You also make it very clear that the rejection by stalin and the Eastern European countries that were part of the soviet block and its proxy state, you make it very clear that that was a calculated choice by stalin thats lewded roosevelt and other leaders. Yes, its true. The reon i believe roosevelt and churill failed to really grasp the full enormity of what stalin was up to is they were grateful that stalin and the soviet union were carrying the burden of the war. The United States got involved little and late. The soviet union lost 26. 5 Million People. A Staggering Number beyond comprehension. Theyre very grateful and were anxious to not look too closely at stalin and his motivations. Stalin, from the time of the russian rev lux in 1917, he said well have socialism in one country. Well, it turned out that what they really sarksd what lennon had said is well take one step back when things wrnt going well, to take a great leap forward. The greatleap forward never left stalins mind. He was always a communist revolutionary first. He lived like one. When the war came, it was stalin who said, you know what, hitler without realizing it is a revolutionary. Hes eliminating all these governments across and were going to take over. This will provide us with a chance to renew the mission to vance communism and the world that we had to put on hold. Of course, roosevelt sorry to go on, but roosevelt and churchill, they wanted desperately to believe that stalin had good motives. Robert, theres a reason were doing this. We want people to buy your book, and were going to leave part of the story well and richly told. Robert gellately, thanks for being with us. Stalins curse is on sale online and in book stores everywhere. [ engine revs ] [ male announcer ] the mercedesbenz winter event s back, with the perfe vehicle thats just right for you, no matter which list youre on [ santa ] ho, ho, ho, ho [ male announcer ] get the allnew 2014 cla250 starting at just 29,900. [lghter]. To be a service to our president. They are eager to support their president how. They had no where to return until he arrived. Dont how how. Is specially the egalitarian system, not to stop the violence