stores like this one are everywhere in beirut. one reason behind that is because levin on is living through a rare period of political calm. peace brings opportunity. she is now trying to set yourself up in beirut. >> you just walk around and you are inspired. 's a very creative place to be in. at some point, i want to relate my own country. i want to be able to give to it ke it has given me in terms of creativity. >> competition is fierce. she says even finding a location is a real challenge. it's also a sign that the route has regained its status as the capital of fashion in the middle east. >> the science-fiction " avatar"has become the fastest to reach $1 billion in ticket sales around world. is now the fourth biggest grossing movie of all time. >> a ground-breaking epic, a film that combines. it's a story of a paralyzed war veteran. he is sent on a mission to a distant moon called pandora, where he falls in love to the blue alien. the futuristic movie is in three 3d. it is being talked about as a potential contender for best

a lebanese-born american, was president of the american university of beirut.he was killed by two gunmen outside his office. hezbollah said the assassination was part of the organization's plan to drive all americans out of lebanon. march 16, hezbollah kidnapped william buckley a political officer at the u.s. embassy at beirut. he was supposed to be exchanged for prisoners that didn't happen. but hezbollah, and there was a trial in u.s. district court of a civil nature, not a prisoners of war, not of enemy combatants, but there was a trial in u.s. district court where the evidence came forward to prove and it was established and the court found that hezbollah was responsible for the attack on the beirut marine barracks and that it was sponsored by iran. that iran was the one behind that all. they've been at war with us since 1979 and we didn't know it. you would have thought as other things occurred, like the kuwait airways flight 221 being hijacked and diverted to tehran where two americans were killed, that might have been a clue. it might have been a clue wh

. >> sreenivasan: an ethiopian airlines plane crashed early this morning just off beirut, lebanon. 90 people were on board, but there was no sign of survivors. the boeing 737 caught fire and plunged into the mediterranean sea minutes after taking off. plane debris washed up on shore, and search and rescue crews recovered at least 21 bodies. investigators said stormy weather could have been a factor in the crash. lebanese president michel suleiman said there was no sign that terrorism was involved. in iraq, baghdad was hit by a series of bombings on the same day that a notorious henchman of saddam hussein was executed. we have a report narrated by lindsey hilsum of independent television news. >> three suicide car bombs in baghdad today. all targeted at hotels where foreigners stay. the bombers didn't get right inside. but still managed to kill more than 30 people and injure 70 others. >> reporter: neighboring houses are were blown apart. firefighters helping survivors to safety. as iraq heads towards elections in early march, such attacks are expected to continue or increase. the amer

. >> and robin, we knew you were in beirut the last time the cia was attacked in this scope. you heard what the security director said, did you see a breakdown s this simply the risk that they face? >> well, clearly it's the risk they face. i think leon panetta is right. the reality is, 27 years after the first attack wiped out almost an entire cia station, the united states should have known better. this is a counterintelligence failure. >> robin wright, thank you. >>> meantime, the families of the fallen cia officers are now laying their loved ones to rest. in many cases these families had no idea the men and women they lost were working the front lines for cia. here's david kerley. >> reporter: it is a sight seldom seen. harold brown jr., a father of three young children, killed in that suicide bombing in afghanistan. >> a wonderful life. i love you now and forever. >> reporter: even brown's parents never knew their son was a spy. this attack has been exception. we have learned some of their names. elizabeth hanson. scott roberson. david's wife said good-bye near >> i love

deadliest attack on the agency since beirut in '83. >> caroline shively in washington. thanks. in the meantime a brazen and deadly attack demonstrating how big a threat the taliban now poses in pakistan. it happened during a volleyball tournament in the northwest part of the country not far from the lawless tribal region where pakistan's military is battling the taliban. police say a man drove his car on to the field which lies in an a crowded neighborhood and report he decimate add side of a vehicle, causing nearby homes to collapse and killing at least 75 people. investigators say this appears to be a retaliation attack after folks in the area formed militias to try to keep the taliban away. back here in the united states, an ice climber falling hundreds of feet down a canyon and what happened next caught on videotape. plus, we're hearing from rush limbaugh for the first time since he went to the hospital with chest pains and he's not just talking about his health. that's next. [ male announcer ] let's talk about putting our best square foot forward. then let's do more than t

they will go to beirut. but yemen kind of struck me as someplace a little bit different.d someplace new. so that's kind of how i ended up there. >> it is those things. new and very different. and so you went to -- to study the arabic language. >> right. >> and as you snapped off photographs, your real objective was to show these pictures to friends and family back home. they got an idea of what you were seeing. so how did you see yemen? >> you know, it's funny looking back on these photos now, you're absolutely right. my objective was really just to share this experience with friends and family back home. and what i was trying to capture was the neighborhood i lived in, the people i would meet on a daily basis. i was lucky enough to do a little bit of traveling and see some of the places we're seeing on the screen now, to be able to share some of that with everyone back home and give them an idea of what it would be like. >> what did you find remarkable about the people, the place or maybe even unremarkable in some ways? >> well, for one thing, yemen is an incredibly beau

[laughter] and having grown up in beirut and with the middle east eddie's program we got a nice addition to meet with a group with tri-state area people i drank far too much wine by which time i knew the late place i would get my master's was at harvard. [laughter] and then a career dedicated to middle eastern studies. thank you for coming. the subject to night that goes back to the history that preoccupied the time of my book. so i start with barack obama and where he is going with the arab world. the arab world has been reaching for the change in mideast policy for some time. since 9/11 the new conservative government of george of the bush resumed policies that were widely perceived -- perceive to be hostile for most of the arab world the american-led war on terrorism was the and declared war on islam. so when barack obama was elected and came to cairo many people believed there moment had come and a change was about to happen. we needed a time of tension between the united states and muslims throughout the world he told his audience, attentions bridget and historical forces going beyo

i'm ry mindful of 17 april 83 when we lost our entire statiovirtually in beirut to the hezllah bombing. i nt through that painful process because some of th people killed i knew very well. so we're goi to go through this again. i think dcia director patta said it right. we're very strong organization. filled with lot of brave people who putheir lives on the line every y. and they do it repeadly, every day. and that's the kind of agency that know, it is my beloveagency and will get through these diffult hours. >> reporter: we wi have to leave it therecharles allen,aul pillar and tyler drumhell, thank you all ree very much. >> thank you. >> suarez: now, we taka second look aa report from our economics correspondent paul solman. in january paul wento san francisco to ask some of the nation's leading ecomists why they fled to predict the economic meltdown. it's part of his ongoing reportinon making sense of financial news. financial -- wned for a decade oirrational exuberance, and entual bust to the housg and stock markets. >> s prices were going up, up, . and it seemed like it woul never

when i talk about the broader middle east, it is to run to beirut. everything in between.here is a continuing concern with iran and its development, its strategic intent to have nuclear weapons and i think that would be incredibly de- stabilizing. not least of all because of the potential for an armor -- arms race in that part of the world which is what we don't need. as well as their continued support for terrorism, whether it is has a lot or hamas or other terrorist groups. hezbollah or hamas or other terrorist groups. anybody listening has watched the development and iran over the last couple of months. i am sure those will continue. i think we need to be mindful of those events, of what is going on there and clearly, the need to continue to, i think, aggressively address the nuclear potential issue internationally. there are discussions of additional sanctions right now. we need to continue where possible to engage and have a dialogue. i talked about the lyqy of trust between the united states and pakistan. we are building on the 12-year gap. we are four or five years

special envoy george mitchell arrived in beirut today. he'll meet today with the foreign minister and have dinner with prime minister hariri. he meets with the prime minister, the speaker and u.n. special representative of lebanon michael williams. later tomorrow he travels to demascus for meetings with the president and the foreign minister. later tomorrow night he travels to israel where he will have meetings later in the week with israelis and palestinians including prime minister netanyahu and the president. his trip is part of our ongoing efforts to encourage both sides to return to negotiations as soon as possible to secure a lasting comprehensive peace in the region. over the weekend, we congratulate the ukrainian people on the conduct of their january 17 presidential elections which the osce showed significant progress over previous elections. this is another significant demonstration of the development of democracy in the ukraine. the u.s. looks forward to free and fair runoff elections on february 7 and working with whomever the

usually when i talk about the broader middle east, and academicly i may get this wrong but it is tehran beirut and everything in between. and you notion the continuing concern with iran and the develop mechblt its --. i believe strategic intent to have nuclear weapons -- i think that would be incredibly destabilizing, not the least of all because of the potential for an arms race in that war which is what we do not need. as well as their continued support for terrorism whether it is hezbollah or hamas, or other terrorist groups that they are -- they are supporting. so, and certainly, i like, i am sure like everybody in this room, and anybody listening have watched the developments in iran over the last several months. and i am sure that those will continue. i think that we need to be mindful obviously, of those events. of those -- what is going on there. including the need to i think, aggressively address the nuclear potential and nuclear weapons issue. internationally. discussions right now of additional sanctions. and to continue where possible to engage and to have a dialogue. i talked abou

crashed in the route, "the new york times" online have the story about the airplane crashing near beirut in stormy weather. officials said that 82 passengers and eight crew members were on board. we will update the information as we get it. ruth, democratic line. caller: i am not quite sure if we ever did what we were promising. to try and help people who were in trouble with their mortgages. i think that we took the wrong approach to begin with. so many people that were out of their homes. the fact ripples through the economy. -- the of fact ripples through the economy. let's help -- bethe effedctct te riffles through the economy. if the loan was renegotiated to what it was really worth, they can afford it, but the communication that happening. host: or you hit by the mortgage crisis at all? caller: i was not, i have a system set up with my children. but the news in the country, it boggles my mind. congress is not working. host: thank you for the call, more politics are coming up in the program. citrus, california. carol? caller: good morning. i do not believe that the banks of doing wh

we are deeply saddened by the loss of the passengers on ethiopian airlines flight 409 in beirut, lebanont night. our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of those who lost loved ones. the united states commends the government of lebanon and the united nations rescue workers and their immediate response and recovery effort. >> the middle class initiatives that the president and vice president outlined today, would you expect that to be essentially the laundry list of new initiatives that we might see in the state of the union? or will there be more announcements and proposals that he plans to put forward on wednesday? >> as is my desire, i do not want to get too far ahead of the man who will make a speech on that and a couple of days. i think you'll see a series of ideas that the president will outline that fall into a few different categories. how to get our economy back on a firmer foundation, and how do we create an atmosphere in the private sector that lends itself to more hiring. what do we do to put our government back on firmer footing with the middle class. and

middle east included the focus on the gulf area, i ran, and the challenges that go from tehran to beirut. that includes south asia. i have learned a lot and we all have. it has been instructive the policy debate we had late last year, the strategy for afghanistan and pakistan. the president made his decision -- decision and spoken december and now we are in the execution phase of that. that was not an easy decision did i felt was a courageous decision. i am very supportive of it and we have the resources we need now to turn it around in afghanistan. when we got to last summer, it was my view and not many people really had focused on afghanistan. they did not know much about it. we had been heavily focused on iraq since 2003. i encourage the debate and i think you should always have a debate on issues of this -- magnitude in this country we did in the president made his decision. all over the next couple of years, we are into executing that strategy. we spent an awful lot of time on that part i put my best people in positions to lead. general mcchrystal would be the signature individual t

the focus on the gulf area, iran, and the challenges that i describe to sort of go from tai run to beirut. it includes south asia. i've learned a lot, i think we all have, very instructive to me, has been this -- the policy debate that we had late last year for almost three months about the strategy for afghanistan and pakistan. the president made his decision and spoke in early december last year and now we're in the execution phase of that. that's not because that was an easy decision, in fact i felt it was a courageous decision and i'm very supportive of it and we have the resources we need now to turn it around in afghanistan. come -- when we got to last summer, frankly, it was my view, not a lot of people in america really had focus on afghanistan, knew much about afghanistan, because we've been so heavily focused on iraq since 2003. and i encourage the debate and i think we should always have a debate on issues of this magnitude in this country. we did, the president made his decision as i indicated, so now, certainly over the next couple of years, we're into executing that strategy

talk about the broader middle east, i may academically get this wrong, but it's sort of tehran to beirut and everything in between and, you know, the continuing concern with iran and its development, its -- i believe its strategic intent to have nuclear weapons, and i think that would be incredibly destabilizing. not least of all, because of the potential for an arms race in that world, which is exactly what we don't need. as well as their continued support for terrorism, whether it's hamas or hezbollah or other terrorist groups that they are supporting an certainly i like anybody in this room or listening has watched the developments in iran over the last several months and i am sure that those will continue and i think we just need to be mindful obviously of those events, of what's going on there, and clearly the need to continue to, i think, aggressively address the potential nuclear weapons issues internationally. there are discussions right now of additional sanctions, and to continue where possible to engage and have a dialogue. i talked about the lack of trust between the united s

since the bombing of the beirut embassy in 1983. the news of this challengic -- tragic loss was of particular personal sadness for me as i had the priven to meet the khost team when i last visited afghanistan. i can attest that these men and women were among the finest america has to offer. they did not shy from the dangers that they knew existed and they believed in the mission that they were asked to perform. they worked tirelessly in an environment that is always dangerous. i'm proud of the work that they did and the work that their colleagues continue to do today to keep our country safe. the officers who died in khost were true professionals. they were savvy officers who relied on years of experience to make judgments and to calculate risk. these men and women were deployed to an any of great danger and hardship and they did so knowing that the worst could happen. but they did it anyway because we as a nation are relying on them and colleagues like them to make the united states safe from the threat of terrorism. i realize that

we are deeply saddened by the loss of the ethiopian airlines in beirut, lebanon last nine bird our thoughtsand prayers what the families and friends of those who lost their loved ones. united states commenced the government of lebanon and the united nations rescue workers in their immediate response in recovery efforts. >> the middle class plans that the president and the vice president joe biden outline today, do you expect that we will see the effect the unions or will receive more announcements? >> i don't want to get too far ahead of the president making a speech on that and a couple of days. you will see a series of ideas the president will outline. that will cover a few different categories. how to get our economy back on firmer foundation and how we trade in an atmosphere in the private sector that lends itself to more hiring. what do we do to put our government back on firmer footing with the middle-class and along with that what ideas do we have for changing the way washington works so that people in this country feel like the middle-class is getting a fair shake and not the specia

the focus on the gulf area, iran, and the challenges that i described as sort of go to tehran to beirut. and that includes south asia. i've learned a lot. i think we all have. very instructive to me has been the policy debate that we had late last year. for three months that the strategy for afghanistan and pakistan. the president made his decision and spoke in early decision last year. and now we are in the execution phase of it there that's not because bet that was easy decision. i thought it was a courageous decision. and i'm very supportive of it, and we have the resources we need now to turn it around in afghanistan. when we got to last summer, quite frankly, it was my view, not a lot of people in america really had focused on afghanistan. knew much about afghanistan. because we have been so heavily focused on iraq since 2003. and i encouraged the debate and i think we should always have a debate on issues of this magnitude in this country. and we did and the president made his decision, as i indicated. so now certainly over the next couple of years where and to executing that stra