tonight tom's in baghdad, where the u.s. has expended so much blood and treasure and where there's been a real spike in violence in recent weeks. and tom, it's true, it has fallen from the news because of everything going on elsewhere in the region. >> reporter: brian, it has been a violent week here in iraq. in baghdad alone on monday there were three ied explosions. north of baghdad gunmen stormed a home and killed six people. a police officer was shot at a security checkpoint. and over the weekend two more american soldiers were killed, presumably by enemy fire. american forces are scheduled to leave this country by the end of the year, but this week the american ambassador said that the embassy staff will more than double, from about 8,000 personnel to about 20,000. so iraq is a reminder of just how difficult it is to establish a democracy in this part of the world. after all, we've been at war here for eight years now. hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent, and thousands and thousands of lives have been lost o

. >> on march 5th, 2007, a car bomb was exploded on mutanabbi street in baghdad. mutanabbi street is a mixed shia-suni area. more than 30 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded. this locale is the historic center of baghdad book selling, a winding street filled with bookstores and outdoor book stalls. named after the famous 10th century classic poet, al-mutanabbi, this is an old and established street for book selling and has been for hundreds of years. mutanabbi street also holds cafes, stationary shops, and even tea and tobacco shops. it has been the heart and soul of the baghdad literary and intellectual community. this tragedy is part of a wider and continuing tragedy, but one that we want to isolate and address, not only for the loss of lives but also for the implications underlying the destruction of a street where books were sold. book selling on mutanabbi street is no different from book selling here. we traffic in memory, ideas and dreams. in that sense, we feel that mutanabbi street starts at the front door of all of our book shops. mutanabbi

>> rose: welcome to our program, there is a new play on broadway called "bengal tiger at the baghdad zoo" t stars robin williams, written barragive joseph and directed by moises kaufman. >> i said to moises after i read this play, this makes godot look amish or you could say a heavily armed "our town" but it is an idea that the play really kicked me hard. and it was like i went w and if i'm going to come back, why not take a chance with something this powerful. >> rose: we continue with alexandra styron and her memoir of her father, the novelist william styron. >> i feel like my father's story is a really extraordinary one. and he had this incredible success and this great rise and this really tragic fall. and though he wrote about his depression, that book came 20 years before his death. and he didn't write another major novel, he didn't write a novel at all in those last 20 years. and there was a story there that i felt like needed to be told. and his legacy deserved it. >> rose: we conclude this evening with the author and journalist james stewart, his new book "tangled webs" is a

. >> reporter: erik vadalma served in baghdad,eft the air force in 2008. all he could find-- a part-time gig at ikea. >> i didn't have enough money to make ends meet. >> reporter: debra bain did a six-year hitch. >> you feel like you've lost who you are as a person, your value. >> reporter: just three of more than two million iraq and afghanistan vets. despite incentives to hire them, 11% were jobless last month; for those aged 18 to 34, 14%. paul rieckhoff founded and runs i.a.v.a., iraq and afghanistan veterans of america. >> they're coming back from serving our country, sometimes multiple tours, and their welcome home is an unemployment check. >> reporter: this week, rieckhoff led the now-annual charge on washington dubbed "storm the hill." this year, vets urged congress to help thin the jobless ranks with hiring inducements like employer tax breaks. >> so if folks want to support the troops, want to support veterans, hire them.

this local is the historic center of baghdad book selling. a winding street filled with book stores and out door book stalls. named after the famous 10th century arab poet, this is an old and established street for book selling and has been for hundreds of years. book selling on this street is no different from book selling here. we traffic in memory, ideas and dreams. in that sense we feel the street starts at the front door of all of our book shops. monthknabe street starts here. >> just before the street was eviscerated by a searing length of deaths and despair, delusion and destruction that destroyed more than the 30 lives. twisted more than the 100 souls who were bent and crippled amidst it's rage. just before the moment you were the proclamation, the prayer as they summoned and swore laugh, controlled, denied and affirmed. did you hear the words as they fell. for 2,000 years we have. what do you think. this says, map, border, resistance. truth. spirit, faith. doctrine, domaine. love, free, open, winds, cut. did you here the euphony of t

opposing the motion, we have sir david richards. 30 years of service in baghdad. in 2003, david returned to baghdad. he is the un special representative to iraq. he is the head of defense and intelligence. he has had a long and distinguished career and side of the u.s. government. that says here that he was responsible for the security of the protesting systems across the world. a journalist has recently been moved to become assistant director of the society. i think you were due to be in new york this evening. i am grateful that you could arrange your flight to be with us this evening. >> thanks very much. i think it might be quite exciting to do this before you speak. two of you have a view about the motion. whistle blowers make the world a safer place. by a show of hands, those of you who would support that motion. this house believes that whistle-blowers makes the world is safer place. who would oppose that? only a few of you oppose that. you have a lot of work to do to find that. how many abstained? that is interesting. as many as those opposing. >> it is a p

. >> on march 5th, 2007, a car bomb was exploded on mutanabbi street in baghdad.utanabbi street is a mixed shia-suni area. more than 30 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded. this locale is the historic center of baghdad book selling, a winding street filled with bookstores and outdoor book

. >> on march 5th, 2007, a car bomb was exploded on mutanabbi street in baghdad.utanabbi street is a mixed shia-suni area. more than 30 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded. this locale is the historic center of baghdad book selling, a winding street filled with bookstores and outdoor book stalls. named after the famous 10th century classic poet, al-mutanabbi, this is an old and established street for book selling and has been for hundreds of years. mutanabbi street also holds cafes, stationary shops, and even tea and tobacco shops.

there's more violence in the streets of this country than there are in the streets in afghanistan or baghdad. then one night in the spring the man breaks or. the buzz of them is going. to come from. some. crowd gathers room a pretty young man down the street of a. wealthy british style. sometimes the. markets finance scandal. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mikes cars are run no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into kinds a report on our cheap. download the official antti applications. i phone or i pod touch from the i choose our story. life. video on demand our teens my broadcasts and r.s.s. feeds now in the palm of your. question on the dot com. they say that it's time for a military team to advise the rebels let me put government says more holding good tripoli says the actions of britain for all its andys he will follow and find to destroy any chance for peace deal. with the world and warning of a new crisis finally sides say it's time for america to step back for his daughter role in the global economy and focus on reducing its potent p

understand that there's more violence in the streets of this country than there are the streets of baghdad. bracing. christian believers are united in eastern celebrations and this year the man falls on the same day for all of them for thousands of worshippers in moscow a service was held in a main russian orthodox cathedral artists are further witnessed the grandiose ceremony. there's over five thousand people have attended the service this year including both president medvedev and prime minister and lots of families inside bringing their children it really is a family event a religious event that's marked by thousands and thousands of people every year but plots to look at will and celebrate not only inside but also lined the streets as well with candles just to take part in a ceremony. to celebrate easter it's a russian christian holiday which is always been celebrated all over russia where in moscow want to business trip and we just couldn't help but come here is the first time you had a chance to celebrate this festival in moscow so we came to see the service here it's a joy to be he

two car bombs have gone off at a security checkpoint in baghdad killing at least nine and injuring dozens the blast struck early on monday morning near the hadley secured area which houses an international presence known as a green zone most of the dead and wounded were iraqi soldiers. there's been a surge of support for a nationalist party in finland which has won a fifth of seats in a parliamentary election the euro skeptic tour of finns strongly oppose rescue plan for debt ridden european economies there is a possibility fillin could veto the aid projects the party came third in a close run vote and just a few seats separate the top three now the leading national coalition party will look for partners to form a government. police in yemen have fired on protesters as thousands marched through the capital in a bid to and the thirty three year rule of the country's president dozens were injured the security forces shot live ammunition and tear gas at the crowd official say the clashes erupted after protesters smashed windows and attacked shops gulf countries are currently trying to broker

security contractors taking unprovoked pot shots at cars on a road in baghdad but. formally in the elite s.a.'s poll paxman did ten years as a contractor in africa and iraq while working under cover paxman says he's even had other contractors open fire on him if you got loads of security contractors coming into your village. or getting paid. amounts of money in comparative terms to what the locals would be paid of course it's going to be you know for a bit of. a bit of friction between the groups in over a period of time that can be exploited quite easily boy external groups such as shooters or terrorist groups security companies are typically hired by defense ministries and multinational corporations to protect people and property from insurgents because of the dangerous nature of the work it can easily get out of hand private security is i think a. it does go below libya increasingly looks like being a volatile state for a good while to come and a new conflict zone means a new cash cow for private security companies the reality of modern warfare is that private co

there's more violence in the streets of this country than there are in the streets in afghanistan or baghdad. one night in desperation become a brace of. bottles of. the most amount of. form. procure the may be only down the street a bit. more used today in holland says once again flared up. these are the images go for all he's been seeing from the streets of canada after. china operations are all today. a government a media conspiracy of lawyers the friends to volunteer know the truth about the conflicts that are unfolding which stressed it's really hard times international standing many are against president sarkozy and policies which they say are following and here it is. a game within a game all six balls with authority in the middle east an older worker it's actually possible american strategy to slow the rise of china eggs but it's going to stabilize and countries will sabotage china is that if you. are prevented from becoming the receiver. and a sick russia that resists requests from the beginning prompts fresh debate on why they do the nature should be legalized all song called it. s

there's more violence in the streets of this country than there are in the streets in afghanistan or baghdad. one night in desperation become a brace of. battles against them is from the. crowd gathers momentum going down the streets of the.

to the east of baghdad basically the the next big city after bin guys even doctors be there say that thirteen people were killed in this attack however we do also hear these reports from the witnesses all of what happened today earlier and they say that in fact it didn't seem like it were nato planes but it seems inside that those least this attack was conducted by god that. forces and it killed not thirteen but at least forty or forty five rebels and right after that. the the the checkpoints all for the rebels so forces right near i'd be which is around fifty sixty kilometers east of where i go they were attacked and basically sent the rebels running in can us retreating once again and one of our teams was actually filming there at the time they see that. they didn't hear any planes they didn't hear anything the dish just all of a sudden various explosions going on right in various so everybody get in their cars and to just stood ever actuate from that place including the rebels and he when they saw the army being evacuated bosses filled with soldiers going faster than the world at

there's more violence in the streets of this country than there are in the streets in afghanistan or baghdad. one night in the spring become a brace of. bias or. the most of them. will. come on the. road to the maybe only least among the streets of the. morning used today in harlem says once again flared up. these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada. china operations are all today. for the full story we've got it from the biggest issues get a human voice face to face with the news makers on r t. a french official calls for ground troops to enter libya saying the campaign will be cornered if they're not deployed but there's a transponder so i think three four was president sarkozy's biggest but his convincing his own people to spend some. critically ill russian conflict is leading to end his own life he's a severe diabetic his recognition synthesizing the use of his legs officials are ultimately with a laser is not an option it's a brand in the country. and veterans in georgia say they've been abandoned by the country falls for the force to survive on fifteen d

that we're sitting in that with their caucus in baghdad and now republicans are coming to wake up to see obama's child this notions of charge of of nation building in kabul and benghazi are the same thing that would say mistakes that bush made wealthy if that's the case do you think with obama's speech that he gave this week he's getting more tough on security because i think that there has been that report but then when i read his plan it's sensible are to paul ryan and he's calling for growth it doesn't exceed inflation that doesn't really sound like really hacking into military spending yeah you know it's interesting about barack obama he him and him and paul ryan are doing this dance right they're doing a proverbial waltz and both seem like a step both on the same thing but they don't they fundamentally done on military spending well but on the budget and military spending it's a total different issue for both parties and they come apart i myself i'm a conservative and so i don't want military spending cut and then it's going to health care i think that's a fundamental mistake bu

hour and at least nine people killed out of gaza as word after two suicide car bombs exploded in baghdad witnesses say both cars detonated as they were queuing to enter the heavily fortified green zone that's the heart of the capital of business and government violence in iraq has been increasing over the last year where the bombings once again and almost daily occurrence. to robots into the reactor buildings of the fukushima nuclear plant have found massive amounts of radiation barring any workers from entering the plants operate out also announced a new nine a month plan to stabilize the situation of housing to cover their reactors with h.r. noble like the sarcophagus the situation at the nuclear complex remains critical with radiation leaks and that difficult access hampering the progress. national vote count has put incumbent leader good luck jonathan on track to win the presidency of nigeria but the prospect of a christian president has put africa's most populous nation on the brink almost half of the country's population is muslim and violent writing has already begun in a number o

. >>> in baghdad, a new power plant went online today.the $150 million facility was built and paid for by iraq's neighbor and former enmy. iran. iraq still suffers from a shortage of power supplies. there are frequent outages and most baghdad residents only have electricity for five hours a day. iran plans to build five more power plants in iraq. >>> we all know stanford stanford university is a great place to get an education. now it's the perfect place to ride your bicycle. sanford has about 13,000 bicyclists. it was singled out for its cycling network incentives and bike programs. out of 32 schools that applied for the result, stanford received the only platinum award. >>> almost there. the milestone, the new bay bridge span reached today and what's next for the project. >>> and if you like today boy you could really like the weekend. our chief meteorologist bill martin will tell us which day is going to be the warmest. >>> a fish rescue along the sacramento river that we told you about earlier this week has been declared a success. ag

. >>> in baghdad, a new power plant went online today.the $150 million facility was built and paid for by iraq's neighbor and former enmy. iran. iraq still suffers from a shortage of power supplies. there are frequent outages and most baghdad residents only have electricity for five hours a day. iran plans to build five more power plants in iraq. >>> we all know stanford stanford university is a great place to get an education. now it's the perfect place to ride your bicycle. sanford has about 13,000 bicyclists. it was singled out for its cycling network incentives and bike programs. out of 32 schools that applied for the result, stanford received the only platinum award. >>> almost there. the milestone, the new bay bridge span reached today and what's next for the project. >>> and if you like toda >>> a fish rescue along the sacramento river that we told you about earlier this week has been declared a success. agents rescued 46 sturgeons, salmon and many bass. the fish were trapped behind two large bans after heavy rains. when the water

. >>> in iraq, nine people are dead after two car bombs exploded in bag baghdad -- exploded in baghdad. five iraqi soldiers were among the dead. almost two dozen other people were injured. including 13 soldiers and two policemen. no one has claimed responsibility for the attack. >>> for the second day in a row, the peaceful protest for northern iraq turned violent. they set fires, blocked roads and officers responded by firing live bullets and tear gas into the crowd. about 100 police officers and protesters were hurt, including 23 demonstrators who were shot in the legs. >>> scientists at livermore lawrence labs, say give the soldiers and marines bigger el mets -- helmets, saying that would prevent skull injuries by 24%. the army wants to check the research before issuing bigger helmets. >> reporter: there may not be enough classes for uc berkeley students now. >>> and we're back into the clouds and a chance of rain this week. i will let you know which cities could see the showers. >>> faculty members and students staged a protest outside of the administration because charles reed was

suicide on top of all these kills and now you know, what a mar gin in old baghdad in the wrong place at the wrong time why you're mourning is going in one ear of the deaf tomorrow. and out the deafening utter. air cane. one, the sorrow these many months isn't because celebrities put eyes all over my body as i was in the u.s. again. not the other america. it comes from the footprint of a kick stab in my back. got riding a bus to a reading with some really destitute brothers and sisters in a 16, 3 office space. i am sitting in the rear of the bus reading a translation of the book of the concealed mystery. my eyes are risen from a black woman standing and talking on her cell phone. i voice decibeled, latino black and white workers. when i arrive, i accidentally grace her sleeve with an excuse me. she pushed me. shouts don't touch me with hate red and what the hell do you think you did to me. the eyes coiled and in denial or at once and set to spring. when my shoulders i bear a gentle but insistent arms and turning from a black man, you don't want to go here. here's your stop. he leads m

one iraq war veteran probably had better days in baghdad compared to his recent experience on a dallas highway. the 25-year-old was tossed from his motorcycle when an suv hit him from the rear. he lost his spleen, fractured his ribs and broke for vertebrae. but he's amazed to be alive and he received three traffic citations. >>> a team of at least 75 firefighters battled flames after a raging fire erupted in jacksonville. heavy smoke blanketed the downtown area before the blaze was put out. happiness with the firefighter's success quickly turned somber when it was learned that a community center would have to be demolished as a result. >>> and in chicago, a couple of thieves netted a score when they pulled off the ultimate hair heist. that's right, hair. celebrities like jessica simpson and beyonce have turned hair into a hot commodity. suspects told $90,000 worth of hair extensions. so far, this bizarre crime has police stumped. >>> now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. >> i'll tell you, i don't k

a tranquilizer dart comes from out of nowhere and i wake up in baghdad. not an easy play. >> no. not meant to be. >> reporter: right. if people come to broadway thinking they're going to see robin williams. >> they're come to go see mork, wrong night. >> imagine you go out to grab a bite and then whack. >> reporter: the tiger bites off the hand of an american soldier, gets killed and comes back as a ghost. >> and now that i'm dead i'm a ghost. why aren't i gone. >> reporter: a ghost in an existential crisis. >> it's alarming this life after death. the fact is, tigers are atheists. >> he gets awareness and then a consciousness and then a conscience and then bitterness and then nihilist and then turns to primal buddism so it's not a bad journey. >> when an atheist suddenly finds himself walking around after death, he's got some serious re-evaluating to do. >> reporter: though there is dark humor it is a play about war. its chaos, its fallout. >> i am an orphan. >> sometimes it touches something very deep in people. sometimes when i finish the play, they're

we are the defendants of people who build great cities like casa blogging, baghdad, cairo, jerusalem, damascus -- casa blanca. we are the people of the world who have given the world great profits and religions. -- great prophets and religions. thank you. [applause] >> every year that i have been in city hall, i have tried to take an intern from the community and try to teach them the ways of politics to make sure we have leadership that keeps coming, so eventually, we have candidates for office. like when a friend on the school board. is she here? -- like winifred on the school board. a couple of years back, i was wise enough to bring on an intern that has made all the difference for our community, especially with arab heritage month. he worked so hard for last year's event and has made this year a success. we were really concerned about timing, and we were not sure he would get to it, and shadi came to me and said that we had to do it, had to continue the tradition. without his work, this never would have happened. shadi, can i introduce you and have you say a few words? >> thank yo

it has been the heart and soul of the baghdad literary and intellectual community. this tragedy is part of a wider and continuing tragedy, but one that we want to isolate and address, not only for the loss of lives but also for the implications underlying the destruction of a street where books were sold. book selling on mutanabbi street is no different from book selling here. we traffic in memory, ideas and dreams. in that sense, we feel that mutanabbi street starts at the front door of all of our book shops. mutanabbi street starts here. our first reader will be sinan anton. >> when i was torn by war, i took a brush immersed in death, and drew a window on war's wall. i opened it, searching for something, but all i saw was another war and a mother weaving a shroud for the dead man still in her womb. there was a photograph of an iraqi boy on the front page of the "new york times". he sat on the edge of the truck, 8 or 9 years old, surrounded by his family, his father, mother , and 5 siblings were asleep. his head was buried in his hands. all the clouds of the world

we have sir david richards opposing they motion. 30 years' service as a diplomat, in baghdad, brussels appeared in 2003, david returned to become the u.k. special representative to iraq. the head of defense and intelligence at the fo. he was director of defensive information warfare within the ministry or the department of defense. he was responsible for the security of more than 40,000 classified intelligence in 55 locations around the world. a journalist and recently moved to become assistant director of the henry jackson society, he is also a ubiquitous media commentator. i think you do to be in new york this evening. is that right? i'm very grateful that you arrange your flight to be here this evening. can i ask you to come forward and speak? [applause] thank you very much. something that may be quite exciting to do before you speak, who of you here have a view of the motion? "in this house believes the whistleblowers make the world a safer place" is the motion. by a show of hands, those of you who would support that motion. "this house believes whistle blows with the world a safer

it's located outside of baghdad and it houses about 3400 iranians who claim to be political refugees who want to overthrow the iranian regime but iraq considers them to be terrorists. one report says 12 people died, 33 perished in the attack. the u.s. and united nations and great britain have condemned that raid. >>> now that lawmakers have averted a government shutdown, the work begins on a deal to finance the rest of the year. president obama spoke at lincoln memorial crediting congress for coming up with an agreement to cut $38.5 billion from the budget. it leaves out federal funding for planned parenthood. now, the 2012 budget battle is shaping up. lawmakers have to decide by the end of the summer whether to let the government borrow more money to pay for this government's $14 trillion debt. boehner tackled that issue at a fund-raiser in connecticut. >> how can you raise the debt limit without dealing with the problem that is causing us to have to increase the debt limit. there is no plan to deal with it. i can tell i this, there had will not be an increase in the debts limit wit

prince wilam shares what he i lookg foard to abouthe baghdad. now to our ek-lg sers about themerin dream. we've shownyouave been drivg principle of millionsf immigrants -- t america is not lited tohe u.s., and neitr is dreamin nigh weet trazi where e americadrea ishriving in a unique way. >> gradesp like this are often found ithe united states, but this ione of the fewlace you wi find them here, in the southern hemisphe. ts amicancemery is ana small towness an two hours aw -- theest pserved phical evidence of the imgratn of almost 100 families from the american out after th u.s. civil war. many namesave bn lt in braz's the melting p, but somef the dreams they brought with them fromorth america persist. >> the american dream boss i brazil -- for us in azil also iso understd thfuture. to work for the better this and in youlifend for your untry. in 1866, the pioneers came to brazil led by conel william morris,ithhe town's- where american tns we born. e last few years,hey have survived. the has been chinese competition, proving fabri r spial applica

there's more violence the streets of this country than there are in the streets unless you can't stand baghdad. one minute a spurious element breaks or. the buzz of. mr . crowd gathers looming beyond. the streets of the. early in the morning the group of rafters heads of black gas come here they're going to face the challenge of rafting in shallow water a route winds through the mountains at a much higher altitude in the bed of the belisle river. more than three thousand mountain streams and springs flow into the belisle river small waterfalls cascade from mountain tops into rocky gorges from canyons to form a full flowing river and many of the rocks overhanging the water a one hundred meters tall sunlight never reaches some of these places this is a kingdom of rock and water. the instructor insists that the crew hold a brief final training exercise in open water before reaching black canyon this place is free from rapids and offers a good opportunity for safe training crewman put the finishing touches to stroke techniques and synchronize commands you know what it's like hell we can train here

. >> start with a poem i read after i learned that the rate of valum prescriptions in baghdad sky rocketed after the u.s. entry into that space. the title of the poem and it is the words the probably roost which is bitter. biting, cutting, sharp. bitan. once, she was a fearest dark girl who's tongue skipped top of meeting. teeth, teeth top of mouth like double dutch with the word that ment her thoughts cutting circles through the day. no chance she'd be the one to trip and break rhythm. then she could sit all day on her porch memorizing the trees. she could be still. the birds, winged through leaves like they didn't know anyone could hurt them. once she believed steam curled off asphalt when summer rains stopped with a prophecy. she believed this looked the way she would feel after touching a man. her body clean. and black. and right. something beautiful and painless rising up. i was talking with a friend about that idea of leaving places. and leaving places behind the title of this poem is stolen directly from this conversation in which he said there is a particular state that he would ne