>> it has terrible echoes of beirut -- >> in australia? of the transfer of troops where there are too many to die but to view it to fight. -- too few to fight -- >> in darwin, australia? >>>> the united states is the major player in the world trade . our navy, whwhich has been matched disparage, still has more ships than 13, the next 13 natioions in the world. it is a statement of reality the e united states involvement and engagement in the pacific and it is a trade initiative that charles has saluted and what wch i endorse. >> the bigr military sue hehere is the navyvy. china all of this ship- killing missililes. our navy is vulnerable by chinese technolyy. that is a problem that pentagon has not figured out how to solve. >> nina? >> i really don't have athing toto add to this. >> i do find the comparison between beirut mid-1980's, and darwin australia, is rather stretch. the australians are deeply in ho and all the commercially with china, and our worry is it becomes over-involved in over dependent, is going to lose freedom of action in

>> terrible echoes of beirut -- >> in australia? >> in terms of the transfer of troops where there are too many to die, too few to fight. >> but in darwin, australia? >> united states is the major player in the world. our defense budget, even with cuts, is 17 times larger than the next 17 countries and the world. our navy, much disparage, still has more ships than the next 13 nations in the world. it is a statement of reality, the united states involvement and engagement in the pacific, and it is a trade initiative, which charles has looted and i endorse -- has saluted and i endorse. >> the bigger military issue is the navy. our navy is a vulnerable. that is a problem that the pentagon has not figured out how to solve. >> nina? >> i really don't have anything to add to this. [laughter] >> i do find a comparison between beirut, mid-1980's, and darwin, australia, which has not had a lot of trouble recently, it is a stretch. the australians are deeply in hock and involved commercially with china, and our worries that it becomes over-in

abc's alexander mar cat is in beirut. >> they were able to figure out who the u.s. diplomats and handlers were. >> reporter: in washington today, no one wanted to talk publicly about the massive cia failure. at the state department -- >> i'm certainly not going to comment on anything having to do with intelligence relationship or at the white house. >> i'm not going to comment on intelligence matters from here. >> reporter: the only public comment comes from an unnamed u.s. official who said that failure can always be expected in a risky game of espionage but the exposed u.s. assets failure will most likely mean a death sentence. for the u.s. it means a dangerous gap in what two determined u.s. enemies are. >> especially in iran where we already had a gap. one other got action. the president signed in -- a young woman was murdered in 2009 after she blew the whistle on a fellow volunteer who she believed was molesting young girls and this will protect them. >> exactly. very important bill for people to be able to come forward and not expect to be harmed because they

of the cause of the me because more perspective analysis from beirut based political advisor found it very very rigid damascus has been sanctioned by foreign powers for cracking down on peaceful protesters but understands force is perfectly justified in fighting back if they're being attacked by armed insurgents like the free syrian army as apparently happened today what were your thoughts about. let's first of all talk about the recent events starting from the arab league initiative the syrian has accepted the arab league initiative then suddenly we found that. the arab league has decided recently an illegal decision trying to first spend syria out of the arab league which is illegal because it's against of arab league charter and convention today we don't know what will happen in the evening there are holding a meeting and are about in but here what we would like to say as a result of of the whole situation there is clearly no it is not a demand of free phones it is targeting syria which is very dangerous and very risky to the whole region nobody can shake the major pull in the regi

embassy in beirut. at the time the u.s. embassy dismissed that as quote empty accusations.fficial we spoke to today would not say what effect the capture had on cia operations in beirut. he said reports that the ia station had shut down as a result of this are nonsense. we also spoke with bob bair, a former cia officer who worked in beirut and he said it's standard operating procedure when you lose multiple assets to shut down a station temporarily at least and assess what went wrong. just getting word now of what happened probably over the late spring, early summer in lebanon. >> let me ask you this, what would hezbollah likely do to agents it captured? >> you said at the beginning there's a fear they might have been executed. that say tangible concern right now. we spoke to matthew levitt, an expert on hezbollah. he said in some cases when hezbollah catches spies, it puts them in prison, maybe later rehabilitates them. at the time hassan announced this, he said he knew some of them personally, knew their families. that may lead to speculation that they were imprisoned and

i'm out to get more live comments for you from beirut based political analysts talk to most and sell a bit later in the program we're talking a more about what's happening on the streets in cairo and also of course these upcoming elections you start on monday more casualties are being reported in syria as armed rebels and government troops continue to clash in the country's eastern region the arab league's ultimatum demanding that damascus let foreign observers in or face sanctions expired without a response on friday the legal now look at new measures including suspending flights to syria as well as crippling restrictions on its central bank that's on the back of increasingly harsh rhetoric from western countries towards the syrian leadership robin iman's policy director it's just foreign policy call he told us the idea of nations outside the arab region getting involved would play right into the hands of the regime. the french government. talked about humanitarian corridor meaning western troops are just playing into the hands of the regime anything that has to do with these issues

it all has put all of our reporting right there well let's get some more perspective on this from beirut based political analyst a comment was me thank you for coming on the program today the e.u. was just slapped additional sanctions on damascus on monday how effective all these measures are is there a limit to how far they can actually go well obviously the situation is going into escalation and this is the western will pose its will on the syrian people and on the syrian government we can see that the west led by the united states where they are you will be given the orders i don't believe to suspend its membership and go with that escalation against syria that american has lost iraq after they've but trillions of dollars they know of the of the middle east as not go and do it their way they want to do anything to change the regime in syria and that's why with the fear of the persian gulf playing a very crucial role they become the puppet of the united states as you say so i'm sorry i interrupted you you mentioned all about the american led west going for regime change in syria but wi

director of the sea for middle east studies in beirut mr jaber thanks for being on the line with us members of the syrian opposition say they want a peaceful solution to the conflict out there how exactly are they planning to bring that about when this deadly fire is going on both ways. let me let me talk first about the decision of the arab league which came in correct in my opinion. foreign affairs. dire a big. problem and made the problem much mark complicated and i think syria doesn't deserve this and we have to yes. i was going to touch on a little bit later but i mean how how much how much notice is the syrian regime going to take of that anyway. i think it's very dangerous very very complicated and that this decision is very dangerous. city of course and syria and of course and i think if the arab league initiative. i don't think it will succeed and succeed it's very difficult and the failure of this initiative is very dangerous and i think it would go too far to bring the problem to the international scene and and maybe to the. security council. that's next here on state of sort of

part of the blame, they say, goes to sloppy procedures by cia officers in beirut. >> we have lost our touch with espionage. >> reporter: it turns out the cia met many of its spies in the same places, a pizza hut and a public beach, and failed to detect two double agents sent in by hezbollah who learned of the secret locations. abc's alexander marquardt is in beirut. >> through careful monitoring, hezbollah was able to figure out who the u.s. diplomats and handlers were. >> reporter: in washington today, no one wanted to talk publicly about the massive cia failure. at the state department -- >> i'm certainly not going to comment on anything having to do with intelligence. >> reporter: or at the white house. >> i'm not going to comment on intelligence matters from here. >> reporter: the only public comment comes from an unnamed u.s. official who said that failure can always be expected in a risky game of espionage, but the exposed u.s. assets, failure will most likely mean a death sentence. for the u.s. it means a dangerous gap in the knowledge of what what two determined u.s. enemies a

joining us live from beirut. and i thank you for coming on the program today protesters want the army top brass to step down immediately in favor of a civilian government how likely is that to happen do you think. i don't think that's going to happen anytime soon i think the army is strong and their position. deviated from that position they want to protect the legacy of mubarak i think they take in the order of the american drawing a picture of the whole middle east and they want it to be in their camp in the western camp and i think if they will have an election. the middle east will shift and will not be in favor of the united states and jeopardize our relation with israel i think the israeli are very worried this. if an election is held any time soon because they think that as long as they will and that the peace treaty with israel will be gone or that i think there is. support from the american not. they don't really publicize it but there is support from the american as you say i want to say this they have

renewing friendships torched in cities from beirut to bangkok. food a reminder of the good old days. >> we have a big pan am family and we like to get together once a year. >> reporter: frank papoucheck was a pan am stewardess. for these fellow travelers memories are sweet. >> what do you miss about pan am the most? >> the comradery. getting together with the crew and joking and just having a great time. because we had such characters. >> i don't think anybody had the spirit that we had or has left the nostalgia that pan am has both for those who worked for pan am and for our customers at the time. >> this year also marks the anniversary of a movement that changed american history. in may of 1961 a small group of people took a journey into the unknown and in the process joined an epic battle to bring equal rights to african americans in this country. tracy mitchell first brought us this account of the freedom writers. for too long in america, segregation in the south was synonymous. but in the 1960s a new generation armed with a new supreme court

officials said part of the blame, they say, goes to sloppy procedures by cia officers in beirut. >> we have lost our touch with espionage. >> reporter: it turns out the cia met many of its spies in the same places. a pizza hut, and a public beach. and failed to detect two double-agents sent in by hezbollah, who learned of the secret locations. in washington, no one wanted to talk publicly about the massive cia failure. at the state department -- >> i'm certainly not going to comment on anything having to do with intelligence. >> reporter: or at the white house. >> i'm not going to comment on it -- on intelligence matters from here. >> reporter: brian ross, abc news, new york. >>> a former head of the fbi is now leading penn state's investigation into the sex abuse scandal. louis freeh says he will go back as far as 1975, as he looks into the case. freeh says he will look at any evidence that the crime was given to the proper thoughts. a hotline and e-mail address has been set up for anyone with information about the case. >>> as more alleged victims come forward, it now appears inevita

. >> jim in beirut, thank you for joining us. if we get news out of the arab league in cairo, we will bring them to you straight away. >> let's look at other stories making news. >> prioritization in the philippines are asking gloria arroyo to be moved from house arrest. one of her doctors said she is fit enough. she went to the court last week in a net brace. she was refused the act to leave. >> a bbc poll found little public appetite for building new nuclear reactors. more than two-thirds of respondents are opposedbuilding. >> the first novel written by the american author jack kero uack has been published. he wrote "the sea is my brother" based on his life as a merchant sailor. it was arkifed by his -- it was archived by his brother-in-law. >> moroccans have brought forth a new p.m. election. it is the first held under a new constitution which gives greater powers to the prime minister and parliament. some reformers insist changes do not go far enough. richard galpin reports. >> printing presses churning out leaflets for what

. >> of course, those guys in beirut are not alone. politics can get heated. sometimes your temper can get you on tv.of countries have come to blows in taiwan and russia, italy and indonesia. all of them making -- woo -- congress look pretty tame. man, this is a toss to the "the jersey shore." >>> for our next story, some people might tell you cats are lazy or untalented. but not this feline. you see, when the phone rings, fred answers it. take a look at the youtube video. [ phone ringing ] >> they say maybe fred doesn't like the noise. or maybe the vibration from the phone. and that's why he likes to take a swipe at the receiver. >> i think it's pretty impressive. >> that's not bad. i'll be more impressed if he can put it back. >> a good point. >>> finally, more incredible video this morning. a family trio with a powerhouse lead singer is now taking youtube by storm. ♪ we could have had it all >> that's the sounds of mexico, with 10-year-old angie vasquez belting out their hit, "rolling in the deep." and backing her up, her 13-year-old and 15-year-old brother

. >> it has terrible echoes of beirut -- >> in australia? >> in terms of the transfer of troops, where there are too many to die and too few to fight. >> in darwin, australia? >> the fact is the united state as is the major player in the world. our navy, which has been much disparaged, still has more ships than the next 13 nations in the world. he is a statement of reality of the united states' involvement and engagement in the pacific, and it is a trade initiative that charles has saluted and which i endorse. >> the bigger military issue here is the navy. chinese have all of this ship- killing missiles. our navy is a vulnerable by chinese technology. that is a problem that the pentagon has not figured out how to solve. >> nina? >> i really don't have anything to add to this. >> let me step in. i find the comparison between ,eirut, mid-1980's, and darwin australia, which last i heard has not had trouble recently, is rather a stretch. the australians are deeply in hock and also involved commercially in china, and our real is that it becomes o

you know we discussed the situation in syria with the beirut based political analyst was in the assad's opinion that the country is under arrest is part of a foreign a plot to topple the syrian government. i think it's a conspiracy by the regional power that they wanted to change the regime of bashar al assad they wanted a different regime different government was different had and that's why there you can see the regional power hasn't been friendly to the situation it's taking the place inside syria actually some of this country has been funneling weapons and money and certain i just to topple the regime of president assad the president of syria acknowledged there is opposition in that country and he extended his hand to reconciliation within the his country for those people who are asking for change and that's why today they have a constitutional reform but there is an external power of what they say in opposition an exile those are backed by the western powers some persian gulf country. meantime historian and author f. william things that the west's interference in the uprisings in t

abc's correspondent is in beirut. >> reporter: hezbollah was able to figure out who the u.s. and handlers were. >> reporter: in washington nobody wanted to talk publicly about the cia failure. at the state department. >> i am certainly not going to comment on anything having to do with intelligence. >> or at the white house. >> i will not comment on intelligence matters from here. >> reporter: the only public comment from a u.s. official, who said in the risky game of espionage, failure is always possible. brian ross, abc news, new york. >> scary news concerning how worried the country is about iran's nuclear capabilities could not come at a worse time. >> these are folks that need to remain their covers. this is really, really startling. >> lot of questions to be answered about this one. >> to your pocketbook and record price for gas as you travel to grandma's house this thanksgiving. the average price for a gallon of gas nationwide is now $3.37 a gallon. that's the highest it's ever been on turkey day. that's up 50 cents a gallon from last year. those gas prices aren't keep

it looked like beirut out here. >> after the crash the driver bailed. a woman passenger was left behind. police arrested her. they're still looking for the drive. >>> to virginia now, police say -- driver. >>> to virginia now, police say teenagers and college student were buying more than groceries at a store near the university. police arrested her. >> reporter: the lights are off, the door is locked. lee's market in university mall is shut down. the people who use the daycare center and dance studio nearby say it's about time. >> for a while there we were going to hesitate even continuing where we were here. >> reporter: dorie schiefer brings her daughter to dance chance on a regular basis and says she's always thought there was something suspicious happen being at the store. >> we've seen a lot of -- happen being at the store. >> we've seen a -- happening at the store. >> we've seen a lot of kids hanging out here clearly underage smoking. >> reporter: she wasn't the only one. >> i'm extremely happy it's shut down. >> reporter: why? >> because there w

well really are we discuss the situation in syria with beirut based political analysts comment. echoes assad's opinion that the country is on arrest as part of a foreign plot to topple syria's government. i think it's a conspiracy by the regional power they wanted to change the regime of bashar al assad they want it at different regime different government with different had and that's why you can see that regional power hasn't been friendly to the situation taking place in syria actually some of the country has been funneling weapons and money than i to topple the regime of president assad the president of syria acknowledges there is opposition in that country and he will extend his hand too but it comes away then the his country for those people who are asking for change and that is why today they have a constitutional reform but there is a sudden external power or what they say in opposition an exile those are backed by the western powers some persian gulf country. and staying with this theme historian and author of william engdahl thinks the west interference in the uprising

. >> paul wood in beirut. aaron joins us with business news, talking about olympus. mr. woodford facing the people that got rid of him. >> yeah, you'd love to be a fly on the wall. we knew that he was the c.e.o. of the japanese camera maker, olympus, returned yesterday to tokyo, the first time since he basically got out of tokyo when he was fired. he faced the board members at olympus. again, as you said, the very same people that fired him after he started raising questions -- and this is the background to the story -- raised questions about this $1.3 billion that had been paid out to, as advisory fees to rather obscure company, also money that had been spent on takeovers that were subsequently and largely written off. back at that time, olympus denied any wrongdoing, but they later admitted that, look, they were basically covering up huge investment losses that had been going on for decades. so we know three directors of the firm have resigned. the whole world for olympus has tried to prevent it from being delisted on the tokyo stock exchange, which obviously would be

authority as the voice of the arab people according to dr arnie and that's me university of maryland in beirut. the arab league is basically digging its own coffin here and it is publicly declaring that it has no more legitimacy in the arab world so it is no longer speaking for the arab people are representing are of interest in any way whatsoever when we look at who is really pushing for these decisions within the arab league we see it's primarily being led by the g.c.c. the gulf countries particularly of qatar and saudi arabia and when we look at the credibility of these countries i mean that if you want to take one example when we had mass protest and beheading protests that the government of the day and responded we threw toilet tea against a protest in which the people were asking for democracy and reform as is their legitimate right the g.c.c. countries did not ask for sanctions against the bahamian government for the suppression rather they introduced their own armed forces into a hurricane and supported the repression so when you have these very calm trees hear themselves condemning re

the arab league's move to isolate the sad cracking down of what they call peaceful demonstrators beirut based research are modest. six's the conflict won't be resolved in this forum. is if you will stop fighting. that the arab league is pressing for the syrian government to withdraw its forces and the syrian government and the military and intelligence services are being attacked quite violently and well armed people then there's not really much chance for the syrian government to take the troops from the streets to the tanks. really right now should be putting pressure not only on the syrian government but also on the protesters and if they're going to require syria the syrian government to enter into dialogue and certainly the protesters should start the violence and also enter into dialogue with the government so right now really the pressure is being directed only to one side and the conflict is two sided and so we really need to start focusing on a deescalation of the opposition in syria if there is a civil war is to be averted and that this point the way the opposition is framing

peter out of a reporting there in beirut based political analysts kummel was neat things that syria's neighbors are doing the bidding of the west by going against a mask. when we talk about the arab league we're talking about the burgeoning gulf country which actually maintain bases for the american. power of the american region order came from the united states when the president of the united states and its administration tell the opposition. lay down their arms and continue. syrian army the gulf country they're not looking to because they don't have one and the united states cannot talk about democracy because there are crimes in iraq and other parts of the world still visible so here we look at the west is interesting in maintaining its interest and keeping the balance intact they lost iraq they want to compensate for it in syria and now it's actually bush and iraq to play their dirty role. to nearby iran now where moscow says sanctions have outlived their usefulness and insists it won't support any additional measures against the islamic state the statement from russia's foreign

has a brand of moscow to reverse its stance that both sides should be engaged in peace negotiations beirut based researcher sarovar sect says the conflict won't be resolved unless the opposition lays down arms the syrian government and the military and intelligence services are being attacked quite violently and my well armed people there's not really much chance for the syrian government to take the troops from the streets to the tanks pressure is being directed only to one side in the conflict is to cite it and so we really need to start focusing on the escalation of the opposition in syria if there is a civil war has to be a burden at this point the way the opposition is framing things they're not thinking about how many people are still in the country and who support president and this is really really potentially destructive because they could pretend they're a popular movement and of course they have a lot of support but they also have a lot of opposition in syria people come into the streets by the tens of thousands to protest for the government and for president assad and right now

let's talk to his job or he's director of the center for middle east studies he joins us live from beirut what as we've just been talking about the arab league is meeting at the scene of the recent violent crackdown on protesters there in cairo and yet it's syria rather than egypt that's only agenda why is that. really you are right the league they're meeting in another city. don't care at all not be surprised and all talk about on a big later but they are in cairo and the protesters are around them and they will not they did not even command. what that's going on in egypt and the conflict between the people and the military council and. i don't have any explanation for the behavior of the arab league except one explanation that i believe and majority are under the pressure. of the united states of america. the gulf countries who control you know because they have money and has to be afraid of the financial problems i didn't know but there's that sense of. secretary-general. we have many. here every. very much too few years ago and i remember he told me that the brains to be financial pro

meantime our beirut based political analyst come on new told us here at r.t. that the syrian regime fell out of favor with foreign powers which is why then are pressuring president assad solely. i think it's a conspiracy by regional power they wanted to change the regime of bashar al assad they wanted a different regime different government with different had and that's why you can see the regional power hasn't been friendly to the situation it's taking the place inside syria actually some of these country has been funneling what pens and money and start an ideology to topple the regime of president assad the president of syria acknowledged there is opposition in that country and he extended his hand to reconsolidation away then the his country for those people who ask him for change and that's why today they have a constitutional reform but there is an external power or what they say in our position in exile those are backed by the western powers persian gulf country western in interference in the arab spring has left the middle east and north africa deeply w

if you don't have a reporting there and beirut based political analyst kamel was anything syria's neighbors are doing the bidding of the west by going against damascus when we talk about the arab league we're talking about the burgeoning gulf country which actually maintain bases for the american. power of the american in the region order came from the united states when the president of the united states and its administration tell the opposition not. lay down their arms and continue to. army the growth country they're not looking at the market because they don't have one and the united states cannot talk about democracy because their crimes in iraq and other parts of the world still visible here when we look at the west is interesting in maintaining its interest and keeping the balance intact they lost iraq they want to compensate for it in syria and now it's actually pushing up to play their dirty role well the rule is interested in your opinion on these matters russkie at the moment do you think that syria will follow libya's fate in going to web site r.t. dot com and join in with our l