ban ki-moon used the site of a massacre in bosnia to call for an end to the civil war. nhk world's jun takahashi reports from srebrenica. >> reporter: ban ki-moon wrapped up his tour of the former yugoslavia by visiting a city that saw the worse atrocities of the war there. he visited srebrenica to remember the past but also to warn of what's happening elsewhere right now. >> international community failed to provide the necessary protection for many people who were killed at the time when they needed our support. >> reporter: troops were stationed in the area as u.n. peacekeepers, but they were outgunned and outmanned. bosnian serb troops overran srebrenica in july, 1995. they separated man and boys from women and girls. then they slaughtered 8,000 of them on a remote mountainside. 17 years on, people in srebrenica are reminded of the massacre almost daily. scientists are still trying to find the remains of victims who are unaccounted for. this year, families buried 500 bodies in this graveyard. ban visiting the site where many victims were laid to rest. he pointed to o

secretary- general ban ki-moon expressed frustration that diplomatic relations had failed to stop the fighting. >> action, meaningful action, will take the place of the efforts of the international community. without unity, there will be more bloodshed. more death. >> meanwhile, the head of the u.n. observer mission held talks in damascus with syrian's foreign minister to discuss the conflict. the un has also reduced the number of its observers in syria because the fighting has become more intense. as the fighting rages, arab nations planned to ask the u.n. general assembly to approve a u.n. resolution that calls for political transition in syria and the creation of a democratic government. >> along those lines, up to 15 members of the syrian opposition are reportedly working in berlin with plans for a transition after a possible ouster of president assad. >> the confirmed a report that they were working with generals and legal experts on what could become a new constitution. >> the opposition of c document could serve as the foundation for political debate, should the assad governmen

secretary-general ban ki-moon says the fighting in syria is destroying the country.n says 96 people were killed. another sign the regime may be crumbling. two more defecting generals arrived in turkey overnight. officials say about two dozen syrian generals have now fled to turkey. and in bulgaria, a bus bomber may have had had an accomplice. suicide bomber the man highlighted here blew up the tour bus wednesday at the burgas international airport. the driver died and more than 30 injured. official tell cnn that a second suspect is a possibility but it hasn't been confirmed. >>> worst drought in more than 50 years is crippling farmers in the midwest. many states are reported to be in severe to exceptional drought. that region produces about 75% of the nation's corn and soy bean crop. the drought is especially hard on livestock. many ranchers have had to sell off their herd early because they can't afford the corn to feed them. keeping you informed. you're watching cnn. the most trusted name in news. >>> for far too many americans, the street is their home. a life bad

secretary general ban ki-moon says the fighting in syria is destroying the country.ition says at least 96 people were killed today as battles raged in damascus and other hot spots. dutch journalist sander van hoorn is in the capital. >> reporter: a wider area of central damascus it was life almost as usual. now the last three hours new developments have been fierce fighting in the southern suburbs of damascus. i can hear heavy shelling and gunfire and it's been going on with an intensity that i didn't see before in the nine days that i'm in dplas cuamascus right no >> rebels are making gains in other parts of syria. they've seized key towns along the turkish border and in another sign the regime may be crumbling two more defecting generals arrived in turkey overnight. officials say two dozen syrian generals have now fled to turkey. in bulgaria officials say a bus bomber who killed five israeli tourists this week may have had an accomplice. the suicide bomber, the man highlighted here, blew up the tour bus wednesday at the international airport. the driver also died a

secretary-general ban ki-moon and welcomed at buckingham palace by princes william and harry and kate, the duchess of cambridge. >>> and mick jagger turns 69 today. >>> all day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and more as they break on msnbc. and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." >>> and, finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. meredith vieira sits down with the director of the london olympics opening ceremony as he prepares for tomorrow's big event. and live from london, british chef jamie oliver stops by to share some healthy recipes. >>> and now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports, and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station. the day, today on your nbc station. have a good one. -- captions by vitac www.vitac.com >> child molestation charges ignored. new charges about a camp counselor and what the church that hired him knew. >> there is a significant rodent problem

secretary-general ban ki-moon. karzai is expected to ask the international community from vied afghanistan with annual aid of $3.9 billion. the money will go towards reconstruction and development after foreign troops leave the country in 2014. the japanese government hopes the international pledges will reach the requested amount. >>> donors have criticized karzai for years for failing for reign in corruption. police, military, and government officials routinely demand bribes. nhk world melt with the man responseible for cracking down. >> it's very serious. you know, it is the most corrupt country, you know, in the world. >> afghan anti-corruption office absolutely says corruption is already pervasive even among high-ranking government officials. >> from police -- traffic police on the road until our ministers. yes. there are a lot of these corrupt people. i have to cases from ministers. i have cases from the environment, from the governor of provinces. >> reporter: he also knows that less than 10% of cases were p

sectaryener ban ki-moon regrets the security council's failure to agree on a resolution. he argues that other nations have a collective responsibility to the syrian people and says the u.n. will continue to try to end the violence and human rights violations in syria. >> russia's u.n. ambassador says his country vetoed the original resolution because it would have helped to lead to external military involvement in the syrian conflict and the man in charge of nato forces ruling out that kind of intervention. secretary general rasmussen tells nhk a political solution is the only way forward. we spoke to rasmussen around the time of the u.n. security council vote and he expressed concern about the failure of countries to find common ground as the violence in syria appears to be escalating. >> the fact that the u.n. security council has not been able on a legally-binding resolution sends a very, unfortunaty, dangerous signal. >> he says nato won't be intervenes in syria something it did last year during the conflict in libya and says it could trigger unintended consequences,

secretary-general ban ki-moon will be among those attending the meeting on sunday. japanese officials are trying to negotiate a total package of $15 billion by 2015. the amount is expected to meet a request president karzai made. he wants the money for reconstruction and development after nato troops leave his country in 2014. >>> an afghan minister outlined where some of that funding will go in a speech ahead of sunday's meeting. wais barmak says continued international support is needed to revive his country's rural areas. barmak is the minister for rural rehabilitation and development. he made his appeal friday at a symposium in tokyo. >> major challenges remain. residual conflict continues to delay and destruct development, growth and peace building. >> barmak says access to drinking water and medical services has improved in some villages, but he insists $125 million will be necessary for the next three years to build water supply systems and schools. barmak adds if the afghan people were to stop reconstruction, international assistance would go to waste. >>> o

afghan president hamid karzai, secretary of state hillary clinton and ban ki-moon will be among those attending the meeting on sunday. japanese officials are trying to negotiate a total package of $15 billion by 2015. the amount is expected to meet a request president karzai made. he wants the money for reconstruction and development after nato troops leave his country in 2014. >>> an afghan minister outlined where some of that funding will go in a speech ahead of sunday's meeting. barmak says continued international support is needed to revive his country's rural areas. barbak is the minister for rural rehabilitation and development. he made his appeal friday at a symposium in tokyo. >> major challenges remain. the conflict continues to delay and destruct development, growth and peace building. >> barmak says access to drinking water and medical services has improved in some villages, but he insists $125 million will be necessary for the next three years to build water supply systems in schools. barmak adds if the afghan people were to stop reconstruction, international assistance wo

observer mission convoy in syria has come under attack by tanks according to the world body chief ban ki-moon the incident apparently happened in an opposition held area outside the flashpoint city of holmes meanwhile a u.s. state department spokesperson said washington is planning to increase aid on top of a fifteen million dollars package already allocated for the opposition anti assad forces have also called on their foreign supporters to supply them with sophisticated weapons to use against government tanks and aircraft that's amid continuing clashes in the country's northern city of aleppo where both the army and rebel forces claim progress the focus of the battles have shifted to the syrian commercial hub after of troops flushed out rebels from damascus over a week ago on a boy reports the dust is now slowly settling in the capital. it doesn't take much to set syrians off these days on average and on the very tight budget residents of damascus are now trying to reclaim the basics they used to take for granted. rising may have started with political protests but now they're starting to m

secretary-general ban ki-moon wrote a letter reiterating his call on council members to quote, insist on the implementation of the council's resolution and to exercise their common responsibilities by taking necessary collective actions under the united nations charter". yet, the u.n. missions report, persistent flagrant violations and the secretary-general's appeals and that of the joint special envoy, have been met only with intensified violence and security council inaction. the blame for this unacceptable situation --. jon: security council inaction. after all of the deaths in syria, bashar assad ordering the death of his own people, at last count, something near 20,000 syrians believed to be the dead. the ambassador to the u.n. from the united states, susan rice, who is absolutely furious that china and russia vetoed a program that would have clamped down on bashar assad. we'll have more on that as we continue to monitor her speech. jenna: a big question about what's next. now to this story. israel blaming iran for a deadly homicide bombing on a bus full of tourists in bulgaria.

secretary- general ban ki-moon condemns the attack and syria denying its troops play good role in theming tries. meantime, the attacks continue on the city. the red cross is now viewing the fighting as an internal armed conflict. in other words, it's a civil war. the distinction is important because it can help lay the ground work for future prosecutions and for war crimes. while the 300-member united nations observer mission was suspended in june, unarmed monitors have been responding to some specific incidents in the conflict. julie banderas, fox news, new york. >>> still to come, how often do you find yourself on the internet. researchers are adding how much time people are on their laptops, smartphone and iphones. >>> >> an olympian returns home as the u.s. basketball team prepares for the next exhibition team. >> showers are winding down. we have showers to the south of the city. what will tomorrow hold in store for our washington weather. i will have all the details on the forecast coming up in a few minutes.  laces? really? slip-on's the way to go. more p

. >> so hala, you have even general secretary ban ki-moon speaking out against this, and you the world united saying this is awful and chaos. what will it take do you think before you have world leaders who are going to take a more active role in intervening? >> well, the world is the united is saying that it is awful, but the world is certainly not united in how to approach and solve the crisis. you have on the one hand russia and china and then the western powers. at 3:00 p.m. there was a u.n. security council vote to condemn the actions in syria, and russia did not want the sanctions included, but western powers did. we have heard from two sources that kofi annan has asked the united kingdom and france to delay the 3:00 p.m. vote, and most likely a vote will take place tomorrow, but it is a question in light of what happened today if the russia can get closer to the western powers on the language in the security council resolution, but to me, it is not going to come in the coming days, because russia has said repeatedly, that it is not wanting to be included in the text. >> so the t

drafted was fully consistent with the six-point plan and what kofi annan and secretary-general ban ki-moon asked of the council and shirely at the 11th hour not necessary to rewrite the annan plan. thank you. >>> you have been listening to the u.s. ambassador to the u.n., susan rice, and condemning china and russia for vetoing what would have led to the eventual sanctions of syria and assad's regime saying that history and they would be judged harshly, and history would judge them harshly, and also saying that they were concerned about the chemical weapons in syria. they would work with other bodies and we are not sure what international bodies she is talk about to make sure that the chemical weapons were in fact secure. a lot of frustration, you can see a lot of disappointment from the am bbassador there and othe, part of the world body trying to hold the assad regime accountable for the violence that we have seen over the last 17 months. and our next story, he was the first president to hold a cabinet meeting underwater. and now he has been thrown out in a coupe. we will speak to the for

we have been told that the ban ki-moon potentially picking up the torch and running a short distance just over to the left-hand side in a few minutes' time. it has gone 8,000 miles across the uk. this is day 69, and we are nearly, nearly there. >> oh, my goodness. okay. so then when it makes its way through the beautiful, you know, park and roadway to get to buckingham palace, what happens once it gets to buckingham palace? >> what happens next is that it has gone round here and going to go through buckingham palace where you see the duke and duchess of cambridge and prince harry. they are not involved, but overseeing two torchbearers swapping over, and then that will go on the hyde park. there is a huge concert there this evening in the calderon there that will be lit. that is it for the time being. tomorrow, the torch leaves hampton court, one of the royal palaces up on the glorian, and if you watched the jubilee celebration, it was a beautiful barge n the rain, but it is a beautiful barge set up on the river and we are hoping for a much better day and the forecast is fabulous for

secretary-general ban ki-moon says it's more evidence that a political settlement is needed in syria.ig american victory at the london summer games. but also a little disappointment. ryan lochte won the first gold medal for the u.s. in the 400 meter individual medley, taking the race by more than three seconds. a lot of time in the pool there. superstar michael phelps finished fourth. phelps has 14 gold medals from previous games. >>> mitt romney was at the olympics earlier, but he's moved on to israel on his overseas tour. he arrived in tel aviv tonight. the gop presidential candidate is to meet tomorrow with israeli and palestinian leaders. a romney aide says iran will be a major topic. romney is planning to hold a fund-raiser and give a major foreign policy speech tomorrow. >>> florida senator marko rubio had a scare today. he was on a private plane that had to make an emergency landing in albuquerque. rubio tweeted that he might be late for his appearance at a mitt romney rally in iowa. an airport spokesman says a sensor on the plane indicated there might be an electrical problem.

secretary general ban ki- moon warned sunday that the conflict had taken a turn for the worse. >> the situation on the ground has deteriorated dramatically and has become more militarized , violations of human rights continue to take place, and at least 1.5 million people are in need of urgent humanitarian aid. >> kofi annan's arrival in syria comes as dozens more were reportedly killed across the country and secretary of state clinton warned that time was running out to save syria from a "catastrophic assault." >> the future to be should be abundantly clear to those who support the assad regime. the days are numbered. and the sooner there can be an end to the violence in the beginning of a political transition process, not only will fewer people die, but there is a chance to save the syrian state from a catastrophic assault that would be very dangerous, not only to syria, but to the region. >> earlier at an international friends of syria gathering in paris, clinton pressed for greater sanctions against the assad regime, invoking the threat of chapter 7 under the u.n. charter, which i

at the end of nations, secretary-general ban ki-moon condemned the violence. >> the government [unintelligible] with fighter aircraft and helicopters. the armed opposition groups have stepped up their attacks. each day as the violence spirals, more civilians are killed, injured, tortured, or forced to flee their homes or their country. >> republican candidate mitt romney has drawn international criticism for suggesting that a superior culture, not occupation, explains the gap between israeli and palestinian economies. speaking at a fundraiser attended by wealthy u.s. donors in jerusalem, romney spoke of a "dramatically stark difference in economic vitality" between israel and the occupied territories. he concluded -- romney added similar economic differences are present in other neighboring countries such as the u.s. and mexico. in his comments, romney also grossly understated income gap between israelis and palestinians living under occupation. palestinians have denounced bronner's remarks and others say romney had been racist. >> [unintelligible] >> in his remarks, romney lavished praise on

reheard about the latest violence in hama we heard very strong words from hillary clinton from ban ki-moon, from kofi annan, all condemning the violence, condemning the government for its use of heavy weapons and helicopters. and hillary clinton in particular called on the security council, the u.n. security council to take firm action. she said history will judge this council if we sit by and do nothing. but those strong words really don't change the reality on the ground which is that over the course of this uprising, syria has proved largely impervious to this kind of pressure to this kind of diplomatic pressure. there's really no appetite for any sort of international military intervention like we saw in libya. several rounds of sanctions from the u.s. and other western countries have done nothing to stop the violence. and crucially, syria still has the support of russia which is a veto wielding member of the security council and has proven to, you know to really have formed a buffer around syria on the international stage. but there's still these efforts to get the security council to

secretary general ban ki-moon, joint special envoy annan or the u.n. monitors.quarely with the heinous assad regime and those member states that refuse to join the international community and their fellow council members in taking firm action against the regime. >> that was u.s. u.n. ambassador susan rice last hour criticizing russia and china for blocking a u.n. security council resolution against syria. yesterday president obama worked the phones as the turmoil intensified, spoke with vladimir putin after violence escalated in syria. the attack penetrated a heavily secured government building and signaled perhaps assad's grip on power might be crumbling. president obama then called israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu after a terrorist bombing took the lives of several israeli tourists in bulgaria. the israeli government is blaming iran for the attack. joining the panel now, james rubin, former assistant secretary of state and spokesman for the state debarment during the clinton administration. jamie, great to see you as always. >> nice to see you. >> a l