Mikhail Gorbachev - live and in person.

Pat Mitchell - the former President of PBS - is now the President of the Museum of Radio and Television and Radio. But long before she was the head of documentary at CNN, Mitchell was an interviewer. And she hasn't lost her touch.

So when Mitchell is able to sit on the stage for 90 minutes and have a frank and open conversation with Mikhail Gorbachev, it seemed like too good an opportunity to miss.

Mitchell brought Gorbachev onto the stage to a standing ovation.

For the first forty minutes of so, it was all pretty polite. Mitchell showed clips from The Cold War - a series she Exec Produced on CNN - and Gorbachev answered questions through a translator. It was all very congenial.

But as we moved from historical to modern days - Gorbachev became more engaged, agitated in fact.

The moment i'll never forget began when Mitchell asked if there was anything Gorbachev regretted - he retold a story about protecting a key cabinet member who should have been replaced. The he said, "much like your president who has trusted advisors who've overstayed their welcome." It was a gentle criticism, but from former head of Soviet Union - it was a powerful condemnation. He then shifted his body from Pat to the audience, his voice rose, and he delivered about a four minute soliloquy about the power of democracy and the importance of freedom as a motivator of people and societies. He became so impassioned he basically drowned out the translator.

It was a moment i'll never forget.

To have the Russian President speaking about democracy with reverance was startling and stirring. But all the more so, given the number of freedoms that we seem willing to allow to be compromised or traded in exchange for a promise of protection from terrorism.