richardson said he urged maximum self-restraint on all sides.o show maximum restraint right now. he also said to richardson, he provided with a series of proposals. his proposals to try to calm things down. i asked him what those proposals were, he wouldn't say what they were. he said, but there are a bunch of serious proposals that he thinks that if implemented could ease is crisis, which by all accounts right now is the most serious crisis on the korean peninsula since 1953. >> richardson arrived in north korea on thursday on a four-day trip. he's not there as an official u.s. envoy. the government is urging both sides of the peninsula to use maximum restraint. we don't know if and when they'll go forward. canceled again for the time being because of bad weather. >>> turn to washington now. that tax cut extension. it's a done deal at this point. seemed to split some republicans who are thinking ahead. our deputy political director paul steinhauser standing by for me in d.c. it's amazing. they learned, they know this game well. what they say ri

richardson is the third. richardson does believe based on his initial conversations that the north koreans are interested in easing this crisis right now, but there's a lot at stake, a lot at stake, obviously, including prestige and respective sovereignty of both north and south korea. so it is a tinderbox. no doubt about that. one miscalculation god forbid could cause another war. that's what everyone is trying to avoid right stakes, clearly enormous. >> i want to bring in barbara starr joining us live as well. barbara, late today there were new signs the obama administration could be preparing for a weekend essentially of worry. they're worried about the situation. how do they feel the tensions are between the north and the south? >> i think what you just said, sudan, is spot on. a weekend of worry. what we have learned is the white house, the pentagon and the state department have set up sort of a contingency stantd by over the weekend with the government in seoul as the exercises unfold. if heaven forbid

governor bill richardson is here with me.re getting ready in the next few hours to go to the north korean embassy. you've been envited by them before and this time you're going for four days. what do you hope to accomplish? >> my main objective is to try to calm down the north koreans, to get them to stop these aggressive actions, the artillery shootings, the sinking of the ship, the uranium enrichment. i've been there and pushed them towards noish agss and remains out, american remains of soldiers some four years ago. they've invited me but i'm there on a private mission. i'm not representing the administration. i am there to see if there's anything that i can do to cool things down and see where we go from here. >> but you wouldn't go if they said to you, governor richardson, don't go, this is a bad time, for you to go, nobody in the obama administration said, don't go? >> that's correct. six months ago they invited me. the north koreans did, and i asked the obama administration if they felt it was okay for me to go. i'm a

>> the richardson delegation is very small.ith i think four or five of his aides, including one of the his good friends who is a real expert on north and south korea, and so, some of his other aides are here as well. but that is a very small delegation. as far as the news media, me and the cnn photographer, and the new york times reporter, so richardson is traveling rather lightly. the north koreans, there are a lot of north korean officials here all over the place obviously, and they are making sure that he gets what he needs, and they are protecting him, and it is -- it's an interesting -- i will put it this way, an interesting environment what is going on. sort of, you know -- it is a little different even the restrictions which were rather limited that we had in beijing the other day were virtually none, but obviously here, it is much more complicated. >> are you able to walk outside of the hotel and walk freely on the streets and view for yourself what is going on? >> yeah, but i'm accompanied by north koreans. but it is w

what does richardson hope to accomplish?ll go globe trekking after the break. [ male announcer ] humana and walmart are teaming up to bring you a low-price medicare prescription drug plan called the humana walmart-. it's a new plan that covers both brand ans and has the lowest-pricednatioy of only $14.80 per month and in-store copays as . when you could save over, you can focus on the things . ♪ go to walmart.com for details. ♪ [ male announcer ] open up a cadillac during our season's best sales event. and receive the gift of asphalt. experience the cadillac of crossovers, the striking srx. it's the one gift you can open up all year long. see your cadillac dealer for this attractive offer. backed by the peace of mind that only comes from cadillac premium care maintenance. the season's best sales event. from cadillac. >>> blitzer is the only television reporter from the u.s. there's something from the "new york times" as well. wolf asked richardson about the tension in the region. we want to bring you some of those comments r

sports is next. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, jason richardson and gilbert arenas and hoped they would one >>>rt off with the nba. lots of action today. >> you have to check out the head of hair on dennis o'donnell. back in 2001 the warriors drafted richardson and arenas and hoped they would one day become the face of the franchise. >> just powered over you. what would happen now? >> what would happen now. >> probably do the same thing. >> but the fun didn't last long. two years later arenas left for washington and in 2007 richardson was traded to charlotte before being dealt to phoenix. now the two have been reunited in orlando after the magic completed two separate trades with the suns and wizards to acquire arenas, richardson and earl clark. here is a look at the rest of the deal. suns get vince cart, another former warrior. two players and a first rounds pick. while the wizards pick up rashard lewis. >> last year butler stunned everyone by making it all the way to the title game. today stanford found out the clock hasn't struck yet. end of the first half butler in bounding with 4 seconds l

they spoke -- wolf was -- is with bill richardson.overnor has already met with both sides to talk about key issues. >> it sets the stage for a more important meeting tomorrow that richardson will have with the chief nuclear negotiator of north coria, the man who invited him -- richardson here, they'll have a meeting tomorrow and there will be a big banquet in richardson's honor tonight. so i think they're pleased that the discussions have moved forward. >> you can see more of wolf blitzer's report on "the situation room" starting at 5:00 eastern today. >>> to pakistan where three suspected drone attacks occurred in the tribal region. that's the region that borders afghanistan that you can see there in the orange. cnn's pentagon correspondent is in islamabad, chris lawrence. he joins me live from there now. chris, what's the latest? >> one thing that this shows is want only is the u.s. both increasing the frequency and the intensity of drone strikes, but they're now expanding into new areas of pakistan in a very big way. all three of t

getting north korea not to attack if the exercise take place but the experts believe the governor richardson's trip is valuable because it may help officials back here in the u.s. read the tea leaves, get a real insight into what the north korean leadership is thinking right now, and what they are hoping to try to achieve through this. listen to this. >> we know nothing about what is going on in north korea. that that is a danger. and we do not know what their understanding is. we want everyone to be on the same page with respect to the facts. we do not want anyone to make a mistake or misjudge our intentions. just as we do not want to misjudge theirs. >>jonathan: he says it is unlikely the governor will get a meeting with kip kill but -- meeting with kim chong-il but it

richardson's visit comes at a particularly dangerous moment. someone who runs such a closed country, his methods of communication are often very public and sometimes lethal. recently kim jong-il and his north korean military machine have launched a deadly attack, killed dozens of sailors in 'n sync ing a warship and now enriching more rur rain yum than previously thought. the atmosphere is as tense as it has been since the korean war. if there's one more provocation from north korea, former director of national intelligence dennis player says south corey wouldn't launch full-scale war but -- enter bill richardson, entering north korea for the eighth time, not going on behalf of the u.s. government or in his capacity as new mexico's governor. this is a private trip. he was invited. a source with knowledge of the visit tells us richardson assumes the regime will relay a message to him to pass to u.s. officials. mike green spent four years in the national security council dealing with north korea. >> he was invited by the country's chief nuclear v

duncan richardson is chief equity investment officer at eaton vance management. he joins us this evening from boston. duncan, welcome back to nightly business report. >> happy holidays, tom. thank you for having me back. >> tom: let's talk compromise first. i'm guessing you're talking about the compromise on capitol hill. wthe tack bill. why could that pay dividends for shareholders. >> nobody seemed to be happy about the bill in washington, but investors should be really happy about it. there are a lot of gifts in there. for one, it ensures that part of the economy is going to stay on track, but, two, it allows for investors to take advantage of the differential in capital gains rates. particularly important for income investors. and that's one of the most important things for an investor to consider. >> tom: locks in the lower rates for dividends that we've seen over the past several years. what about confidence? does that compromise play into confidence next year? >> yeah. i actually think that getting some things done in washington is a good thing, probably g

and with me now from santa fe is new mexico governor bill richardson. a former u.n.mbassador, he's been to north korea seven times over the past 16 years, to help free shot down helicopter pilots, recover remains of american servicemen killed during the korean war and to promote nuclear disarmament on the peninsula. and governor, well cook, thanks for joining us on this christmas eve. >> thank you, merry christmas to all of you. >> warner: you're one of the few americans who has history ever meeting with north korean officials on the ground there. what was the atmosphere of the talks this time? what was their attitude? >> well, it was different than in other times in two ways. the first difference was, the state of tension in north korea over the drills and in the entire peninsula was the highest and most negative that i'd ever seen. the second is that there is a new core of north korean officials that i was dealing with in the foreign ministry. in the defense department in the military, and i was encouraged because there was more of a pragmatic streak in this core o

richardson 25 points. warriors dut can the it to three at one point. veteran players, all things being equal take over. 107-101. smart's team lost 9-11. lebron james returns to cleveland. [ crowd booing ] >> all right. cavaliere fans seemed more inspired than their team, they were messing with him. the problem is, the guy is just too good. if you want to pick on somebody, pick on somebody that can't score 24 points in one quarter. ties a record. lebron james had 38 points, eight assists, 5 rebounds, 24 points in the 3rd quarter. didn't even play the fourth. 108-90, the cavs worst loss of the year. fans can do whatever they want but he is too good. some sharks dany heatley, what does this mean to you? >> my boyfriend said the fans were giving it to him too. >> all right. look what his team did. he didn't turn on the red light but the shark won 4-0. -- sharks won 4-0. your boyfriend enjoy the game? >> yeah. >> he watched the sharks instead of lebron james? >> he watched both. >> jackie, you watch everything. michael vic another chance to jump out tonight

. >>> bill richardson has until friday to decide if he's going to pardon billy the kid. the outlaw was convicted of killing a sheriff back in the 1870s are but apparently a territorial governor promised the kid amnesty in return for testimony in another murder case. he broke that promise. now richardson must decide if that's reason enough for a pardon. >>> a woman is dead at a popular safari park in the north bay. that's after a tree came crashing down in the storm on her tent. we're going to have a live report from santa rosa. plus there are encouraging new signs that the salmon is making a comeback. what that means for fishermen and fresh salmon in the market. >>> that's going to do it for us at noon. have a great day. w t ileororr li irore

the offers that they made to governor richardson to allow "eyeopener" inspectors back in would... i.a.e.a. inspectors back in would begin to restore things back to where they were around the time that president obama came into office. the inspectors left north korea i think in april of 2009. but the situation in terms of the nuclear program is a lot more complex. the north koreans announced a new facility at the main i don't think bee i don't think complex and almost every expert who has looked at this believes that there are other facilities around the country. there's no indication they would let the inspectors outside of... >> i certainly agree we look better than we did yesterday but i saw the north korean statement they said they did not need to respond to the childish behavior of the south koreans but they also said there will be a second strike and a third strike, implying there will be more elling along the lines of what we've seen before and/or other sorts of provocations. there's one thing we can say about the north koreans since 2006 is that despite international pressu

governor bill richardson says he has a new offer from the north koreans. the north will allow a u.n. nuclear inspectors expelled last year back into the country. p'yongyang may also sell nuclear fuel, getting rid of some of the material that could be used to build bombs. and consider his proposal for a joint military commission to work with the u.s. to try to reduce tension along the border. >> my meetings with the north koreans, they are always very strong in their position. they were very strong on their message. they are sometimes -- but i notice a pragmatic attitude on their part. >> inspectors have for years tried to get an accurate picture of the north's nuclear facilities. china welcomed the suggestion. they may be allowed back in. in seoul, lawmakers were briefed by the defense minister on the military drills close to the disputed border. officials have so far given a cool response to the offer from the north, hinting it still has not been officially confirmed by the government of p'yongyang. >> the latest headlines, for more than nine months of wr

richardson was on a private trip. let's talk about consumer confidence. >> germany coming out on the high end. consumer confidence is falling in the euros on suggesting that europeans might cut back on purchases as they prepare for further government spending cuts and higher taxes. it is a different story in germany where a survey shows that consumer confidence remains high in the largest economy. >> consumers have been walking into department stores and shopping centers across germany. some items are now in short supply. germans continue to spend even though some expectations fell from november to december. sentiment is much higher compared to last december. in december 2009, the consumer confidence index was 3.6. since then, it has risen to 5.5. consumer confidence for 2011 is expected to depend heavily on the outcome of wage negotiations. trade unions are expected to have more leverage but public sector employees are generally skeptical about whether they will get significant pay increases. >> the new york attorney

richardson revealed they agreed to sell spent nuclear fuel rods to foreign nations. the rods could be used to develop nuclear weapons. the diplomatic sources confirm north korea is considering inviting u.n. inspectors to yongbyong but it wants the u.s., japan and south korea to compromise on the nuclear program. japan has learned north korea has set a high price for the sale of nuclear fuel rods. five times the going rate. this is seen as a sign the country has no intention of selling the rods. china is calling for an emergency meeting on the six-party talks on the nuclear program, but the u.s., japan and south korea have rejected the plan. speaking to nhk, japan's top nuclear negotiator used a baseball metaphor to describe the situation. >> translator: north korea is throwing a breaking ball, and the world needs to watch the ball closely before swinging a bat. in some cases, you should not swing your bat. we have to make a plan so that inspectors can fully survey many nuclear facilities in north korea. >>> meanwhile, political analysts say north korea is expected to

nuclear inspections of its uranium enrichment during talks in pyongyang with bill richardson. he's the governor of the u.s. state of new mexico. but gibbs said the united states is not interested in words but in actions. he said north korea is not living up to its obligations. >>> a giant christmas decoration has been illuminated by south korea near the border with north korea for the first time in seven years. the north has called the move a provocative act. ♪ the lighting ceremony took place on tuesday evening amid heavy security, attended by around 400 people. the ceremony was an annual event since the 1950s. it was suspended in 2004 under an interkorean agreement to end border propaganda activity. the south korean military's decision to resume the yearly ritual followed last month's shelling of yeonpyeong island by north korea and the sinking of a south korean warship in march. north korea said this is part of the south's psychological warfare and such an irrational provocative act could trigger a new armed conflict. >>> subway authorities in washington have begun random c

tol richardson 's trip north korea. the government promised it would allow inspections of its nuclear facilities. p.j. crowley also addressed secretary of state clinton's efforts to get ratification of the nuclear arms treaty with russia. this is 35 minutes. due to a technical issue, we are unable to bring you the first few months of this event. >> a couple of things you mentioned at the top before you get north korea questions. on the ivory coast you said you are preparing to oppose additional sanctions. are there any sanctions? >> additional to what the european union has announced. we have a process under way to reduce sanctions against the president, his immediate family and those supporting him. we will announce this as we finish that process. >> but it is still your position he should step down and leave the country? >> yes. >> are you concerned sanctions might affect his ability to lead the country? >> nothing we decide to do will impede his stepping down and making way for the government of president elect. >> o

north korean official greeted governor richardson in english with the words "so nice to see you." off the tarmac the officials called the south korea defense minister united states ally a quote war maniac keen to ignite war. the north is threatening a deadly response should they carry out live fire drills. jonathan hunt with with us now. this sounds serious but often there is more bluster than action. often. >> the experts say, shep, on this occasion it is a very dangerous situation. you have these two countries, north and south korea with a history of hostility toward each other. both right now, for their own reasons seem very keen to flex their military muscle. one is backed by china. one is backed by the u.s. it is a volatile situation. it's not hard to see how it could explode. not hard to see how it could spiral out of control. listen to north korea expert now jim walsh. >> i don't think it's likely there will be war. there is risk that there will be a war. it's not a war by intention. it's not because south korea. a war or north korea wants a war. north korea doesn't want a

two years later arenas left for washington and richardson was traded to charlotte before being dealto phoenix. now the two are reunited in orlando after the magic completed two trades with the suns and wizards to acquire four players. here is a look at the rest of the deal. suns get vince cart, mickael pietrus and the wizards pick up rashard lewis. butler stunned everyone last year by making it all the way to the title game. today stanford found out the clock hasn't struck midnight yet for cinderella. even the bulldogs wanted to run against the cardinal. butler inbounding. layup at the buzzer. just perfect execution with a little show time mixed in. butler led 41-22 at the break. stanford shot just 31% from the field. off the miss. the bulldogs on the run again. sends it ahead to howard who lays it in for two of his game high 27 points. butler blows out stanford. >>> 82-74 win over long beach state. young scored a career high 28 points. cal beat cal poly 51-41. career win 599 for montgomery. >>> college bowl season arrived. first in the books. the new mexico bowl. throwing four touch

envoy bill richardson to attempt to have u.n. inspectors in north korea? >> the u.s. governor bill richardson said he came back with positive signals from p'yongyang, but the view from officials in seoul is the north is sticking with their two track policy like in the past. on one hand, they are signaling dialogue, but at the same time keeping up the military pressure to remind the u.s. and south korea of a doctor -- of a darker picture. analysts see this as a typical from the north as they jointed walk away from nuclear talks for years what continuing to buy time to develop their nuclear program. >>> the greek parliament has approved next year's budget which imposes the spending cuts and sharp tax hikes. this was an exchange for 110 billion euros of bailout from the imf and the european union. earlier, demonstrators against the measure hit the streets. >> in the end, their resistance was blown away. all day, they had demonstrated outside of the greek parliament, striking trade union members determined to stop the government's plans for an austerity budget. previous p

>> yes. >> probably do the same thin . >> richardson in 2007 was traded to charlotte. now take reunited in orlando after the magic completed two separate trades with the wizards and suns to acquire arenas, rich, and two other players. the suns get vince cart, another former warrior mickael pietrus. stanford became the first pac- 10 team to travel to butler's fieldhouse in 45 years. even the bulldogs wanted to run against the cardinals. end of the first half 4 second left. to matt howard who makes the touchdown. to smith for the layup at the buzzer. just perfect execution with a little show time mixed in. they led 41-22 at the break. bulldogs on the run again. zach hawn sends it ahead to howard who lays it in for two of his 27 points. butler blows out stanford 83- 50. usf visiting the passage north west taking on washington. keep an eye on terrence ross. it is like they forgot all about him. the dunk. one of four huskies in double figures as they take care of them 80-52. they are now 4-6. >>> st. mary's improved to 9-2 after an 82-74 win over long beach state and cal be

he told richardson he didn't sleep last night because of the tensions on the korean peninsula. it's a very serious situation. richardson told me even though he had a good meeting with the chief nuclear negotiator, he said the situation is extremely tense. he urged maximum self-restraint on all sides. he says everyone has to show maximum restraint now. he also said he provided him with a series of proposals, his proposals to calm down. i asked what the proposals were, he wouldn't say. he said they are a bunch of serious proposals. by all accounts, it's the most serious since the 1953. >> richardson arrived in north korea thursday on a four-day trip. he's not there as an official government envoy. excuse me. turn to weather now. severe weather. it's across much of europe this morning. from northern ireland to bulgaria they have canceled hundreds of flights. the situation isn't much better on the ground. forecasters don't believe the extreme weather conditions will improve much over the next few days. wonder how things are going to shape up in california as well. pretty intense we

richardson says the north koreans are ready to allow u.n. nuclear inspectors back into the country. and that will return -- and that they will return to multinational nuclear talks. south korea's president says his country is ready to retaliate against the north, if it continues its recent provocative behavior. >>> in britain, a dozen suspects are being questioned about an alleged large-scale terror plot. they were rounded up in four british cities early monday. all the men were believed to have links to pakistan and to bangladesh. those arrests come on the heels of warnings about possible terror plots, both in europe and here in the u.s., possibly during the holidays. our diane sawyer talked to homeland security chief, janet napolitano about that. >> reporter: what do you say to the american people right now about the degree of anxiety that's just realistic right now, as we head into the holidays? >> well, what i say to the american people is that we are and thousands of people are working 24/7, 364 days a year to keep the american people safe. >> and you can see diane's interview

look at the the pass to richardson and nash.ore ellis in the third quarter, nice one hand finish, you get to see that on the replay. ellis tonight with 38 points but as it turned out it was a big time former warrior richardson, hit the j there as the shock clock expired late. 10 #-101. >>> they booed him, of course it was just powder but it might as well have been salt in the wounds. lebron, they're rubbing it into the entire area in cleveland. he was great, driving the baseline here. and getting the bucket there with the nice play and dwayne wade will definitely chime in as well as the heat wins it in the affair. hard to get used to, but he apparently is just fine with it. got to consider the competition, ottawa won't fighten anybody but might have been the shark's most complete victory. they do it up right north of the border in canada. danny heatly returning to ottawa. and quickly dan boyle is rejected here but patrick marlow with the put back. the rookie justin brown, one timer sharks win it 4-0. 28 saves for his first shut

look at the the pass to richardson and nash.lis in the third quarter, nice one hand finish, you get to see that on the replay. ellis tonight with 38 points but as it turned out it was a big time former warrior richardson, hit the j there as the shock clock expired late. 10 #-101. >>> they booed him, of course it was just powder but it might as well have been salt in the wounds. lebron, they're rubbing it into the entire area in cleveland. he was great, driving the baseline here. and getting the bucket there with the nice play and dwayne wade will definitely chime in as well as the heat wins it in the affair. hard to get used to, but he apparently is just fine with it. got to consider the competition, ottawa won't fighten anybody but might have been the shark's most complete victory. they do it up right north of the border in canada. danny heatly returning to ottawa. and quickly dan boyle is rejected here but patrick marlow with the put back. the rookie justin brown, one timer sharks win it 4-0. 28 saves for his first shut out as

richardson especially worried about it. been here many times over the years. a former u.n.unclear to achieve much but we'll see where he goes. he's going to be here tomorrow. he's going to be here saturday and sunday and goes back to beijing on monday. >> so is a lot of this saber rattling on the part of north korea just posturing? one of the things they want is to control the waters off of the islands that you were referring to that have been under south korean control. is this an economic decision or to just try to flex the country's military might? >> reporter: look, it is unclear what's behind all of this. there's speculation about the succession after kim jong-il and maybe his youngest son and part of that process. i don't think anybody really knows for sure what's going on. but what is clear is that the crisis is a real crisis right now and there's enormous concern not only to north and south korea but the u.s. and china and japan and russia. six parties that have been really involved. and the recent u.s. delegations that have come over including some private american

>> somebody says the new mexico governor richardson, new mexico governor richardson. >> richardson, governor. >> okay. yeah. >> i'm sorry. will travel to north korea next week. is this true? >> well, i'll defer to the governor's office. we understand that he has confirmed that he is going to north korea. it's a private visit. he will be not carrying any particular message from the united states government. >> and that's all. has he contacted you directly? >> normally before governor richardson goes he checks in with us. whether that has happened or not, i don't know. i suspect we would have some contact to bring him up to speed before he goes. >> what about afterwards? >> it's not unusual that when we have these kinds of high level visitors he'll let us know afterwards. you know, president carter did come by and he debeliefed the secretary in the aftermath of his visit. i would expect governor richardson to report back. just to emphasize, this is a private visit. he will not be carrying a message from the united states government. >> just about the iran meetings yesterday, can you say more t

is this the right time for richardson to be is there? >> no, not at all. it's a glory trip. department gave him approval but people in the administration are not happy him being there. it sends mixed messages when we're trying to be stuff with north korea and china. he is playing like it's rewarding them for the bad behavior. >> bret: uncertainty in europe about protests. future of euro. a complex issue down the line. about explosions over the economy. >> what we saw in italy was more political event than economic event. a vote of no confidence for silvio berlusconi. in italy. he survived it. they came back. longer term economic problems but what we saw in the video was political. >> this is a crisis in europe that is rooted in debt government spending. the question is whether the politicians and citizens will look at that and take cue to see it as a way not to go or end up. >> one domino after another. it started out with greece and ireland. now belgium is wobbling and spain where the bond rating is lowered. interest rate shoot up as a result of no confidence in them. in th

richardson was on a private trip. let's talk about consumer confidence. >> germany coming out on the high end. consumer confidence is falling in the euros on suggesting that europeans might cut back on purchases as they prepare for further government spending cuts and higher taxes. it is a different story in germany where a survey shows that consumer confidence remains high in the largest economy. >> consumers have been walking into department stores and shopping centers across germany. some items are now in short supply. germans continue to spend even though some expectations fell from november to december. sentiment is much higher compared to last december. in december 2009, the consumer confidence index was 3.6. since then, it has risen to 5.5. consumer confidence for 2011 is expected to depend heavily on the outcome of wage negotiations. trade unions are expected to have more leverage but public sector employees are generally skeptical about whether they will get significant pay increases. >> the new york attorney

a cnn crew is accompanying new mexico governor bill richardson, who has held talks with north korean officials in the north. it also reported that the north has agreed to negotiate the sale of 12,000 fuel rods and ship them to another country. if the report proves true, it suggests that north korea may be ready to take concrete steps toward denuclearization of the korean peninsula. south korea's foreign ministry has responded cautiously. ministry spokesperson kim young sun said it is as yet unclear what activities north korea will allow the inspectors to carry out. he added south korea needs to take various factors into consideration before it can determine north korea's intentions. >>> that concludes this edition of "newsline." i'm hideshi hara in tokyo. we'll be back in half an hour. thanks for joining us on nhk world.

ambassador and now new mexico governor bill richardson is visiting the north tonight as a private citizen. >> i'm concerned because there is a potential for a miscalculation. i have raised request the north koreans the importance of being extremely restrained, to cool down, to not overreact. >> governor richardson is scheduled to meet with north korean generals tomorrow as part of his unofficial visit to that country. >>> in other news of the world tonight, in mexico federal police and mexican troops are searching for 141 convicts who escaped yesterday from a prison just across the border from texas. the prison staff allegedly allowed the inmates to walk free, possibly under pressure from local drug gangs. mexican authorities say the head of the prison is also missing. >>> in italy, three people have died in weather-related incidents. a number of storms have blanketed europe from england to bulgaria and it reached now south to the mediterranean. london and other european cities have been completely or partially closed. roads and rail lines have also been affected by the storms. >>> in chi

bill richardson will leave the u.s. for north korea tomorrow. he has served as diplomatic troublhooter in years past and has made regular visits to the region >> investigators are trying to figure out what caused a fire at a kennel that killed four dogs this weekend. early yesterday morning flames destroyed a farm on neptune lane near pennsylvania avenue in calvert county,maryland. rescuers were able to save 100 other dogs housed in a kennel on the property. the facility is nationally known for its champion american staffordshire terriers. no people were hurt. >>> 6:35. 32 degrees. dskins's not so special performance. the performance was so bad it almost brought one player to tears. ♪ >> flashmob will be spreading holiday cheer later today, but it could also slow down your commute. >> it is cold. we have snow around the region this morning. weather and traffic together on the ones next. >>> he the redskins are watching. beacon house falcons pop warner team won the 75 pound and under championship, winning 19-0. the beacon hse is a nonprofit after

this is adjacent to richardson ave. many people drive on this every day. i think in a very short amount of time, people will realize that this would be really nice of st. parking for people have no intention of going to the exploratory and. the neighborhood is opposed to this. secondly, you don't need to do this. if you do this, i don't think you'll get the intended result of providing the parking spaces. they will be used by people for other reasons. thank you very much. it seems that last parking provided, the more demand there is on the street for existing parking. there should be concerned about compounding the problem with a lack of available space. there have to be a way to explore this as exploratory and parking. nothing would be more of a tragedy than to provide commuters with free spaces in a neighborhood. i share that opinion. those are my observations. >> we're talking about 18 spaces. this is minute compared to those that are necessary. i acknowledge it will help but i don't think very much and i agree with you that this parking lot will be so