Obama noted that when Natalia Makarova defected from the Soviet Union in 1970, her name was excised from Soviet textbooks

From left, the surviving members of Led Zeppelin, ballerina Natalia Makarova, comedian and late night talk show host David Letterman, actor Dustin Hoffman and Blues musician Buddy Guy listen as US President Barack Obama speaks in the East Room of the White House on December 2, 2012.