in london correspondent elizabeth palmer. elizabeth, i'm going start with you because one of the most dramatic moments on face the nation this year was when egypt suddenly erupted, everything was this turmoil there. when we switched to you here's what happened. >> there's reason to believe that the looters are police who have turned into thugs. (plane flying close by overhead). you were not dive bombed as it turned out, elizabeth. they were just flying over for show. but how is it these days in egypt? we know what happened that day. where are we today in that part of the world? >> well, shortly after that incident, mubarak was forced to step down. and since then, egypt has been lurching very uncertainly toward electing a government. but the problem is the military doesn't really want to let go of power so we've

exit draws near, we were curious about how life has changed inside iraq and so we sent elizabeth palmerbaghdad. >> reporter: intern internist dr. hider rasheed is in such demand that sometimes he has to see 200 patients before lunch. but that's an improvement. cbs news first met him in 2008 when the hospital had run out of almost everything-- even anesthetic. this man is having his foot stitched up with nothing to kill the pain but his son's embrace. fast forward four years. he says he now has most of the equipment and drugs that he needs. conditions here at the hospital may have improved for dr. rasheed but he, like many of iraqis, finds that just getting through everyday in baghdad is still is a struggle. take electricity. at home with his wife abeer-- also a doctor-- his in laws and three-year-old sara, the family gets only four to six hours of power a day. >> we have been adapting. >> reporter: adapting to no power. >> yes. >> reporter: adapting looks like this. a maze of jury-rigged power lines hooked up to private generators all over the city. then there's the traffic. dr. rashid

as our other war winds down in iraq, elizabeth palmer tells us some of americans sworn enemies are nowons of power there. >> reporter: meet hakim al-zamili, member of parliament for the shi'a stronghold of sadr city. this morning he's touring local schools and getting an earful from teachers about their lousy pay. but just four years ago, sam sam was a wanted man. at the time he was the deputy minister and authorities believed he was using that position to funnel money to the mahdi army and order assassinations. the mahdi army was the feared shi'a militia that murdered hundreds, probably thousands, of sunnis and christians in a vicious religious war. its fighters also attacked u.s. forces. it was run by the radical shi'a cleric moqtada al-sadr who vowed that he was an enemy of america to the last drop of his blood. hakim al-zamili was his right hand man. in february, 2007, u.s. and iraqi security forces arrested hakim al-zamili at his office and he spent 13 months in jail. we went to sadr city, a neighborhood so religious that women have to cover up completely to catch up with him. "th

but elizabeth palmer reports tonight in one city, homs, not much has changed. >> reporter: with arab league observers on the way to homs this morning, syrian tanks began pulling back from positions they've held for weeks. but when the team hit the streets, the violence hadn't stopped. this cell phone video shows a political activist urging one of the observers "come, come and see in that street over there, snipers." but in the background, there are the sounds of gunfire and the man refuses to go. we managed to get in touch with an activist in homs who was monitoring the observers' progress. we're concealing her identity for her own safety. >> pelley: in a nearby suburb, thousands who couldn't get close to the arab league observers instead joined a huge funeral march for an elderly man activists say was shot by government forces this morning. before the observers arrived, syria's government couldn't stop demonstrations like this and now they're here, the protests look set to get even bigger. elizabeth palmer, cbs news, london. >> glor: a new report shows an increase in sexual assaults

elizabeth palmer, cbs news, london. >> pelley: u.s. defense secretary leon panetta was in tripoli last week to see whether the u.s. can help the new government form a professional army. britain's prince phillip was hospitalized this evening after suffering chest pains. buckingham palace says the queen's 90-year-old husband underwent minor surgery to open a blocked coronary artery. he is expected to remain in the hospital far few days. world leaders gathered in prague today for the funeral of vaclav havel, the anti-communist dissident who became the czech president. secretary of state hillary clinton led the american delegation, which included her husband, former secretary of state madeleine albright spoke in her native czech calling havel a citizen of the world who brought light to the darkest places. winter is here, but where's all the snow? a dazzling light snow from a newly discovered comet. and huge crowds storm the stores just to buy basketball shoes when the "cbs evening news" just to buy basketball shoes when the "cbs evening ne

elizabeth palmer in baghdad this evening and joins us now. liz, you just arrived back in baghdad yesterday. your last visit was a year and a half ago. how have things changed since then? >> reporter: well, the city feels pretty good. it's a bustling. there are traffic jams. people are out and about in the streets, and the shops are well stocked. that being said there is still only between five and six hours of electricity a day here. there are no signs of u.s. troops, in fact, they were drawn back out of the cities in the summer of 2010. but there's still a feel of an armed camp in the sense that there are check points manned by either iraqi police or military on all the major roads, and it's a big armed presence. you know, they have military vehicles and big guns. so there is still a whiff of war about baghdad. >> mitchell: how would you compare the level of violence now compared to a couple years ago? >> it's been falling steadily since 2007 when it was at its real peak in the days of ethnic cleansing. there were 50 corporations a night som

and joining us from baghdad is correspondent elizabeth palmer. liz, i know you have been in and out of baghdad now for almost a decade. how would describe the city today? >> reporter: in a word, russ, it's broken. we were out driving around today #-r. there's garbage everywhere, smashed concrete, blast walls. the services are not functioning very well at all. people are getting five to six hours of electricity a day. hospitals are terribly overcrowded, and in some areas there is even problems with water. the iraqis are really fed up. they keep being told that theirs is an oil-rich country so they're asking, "oh, yeah, well, where's the money being spent because it's not being spent on services for us." >> mitchell: iraqis are fed up. how do they feel about americans now that they're leaving? >> reporter: many iraqis do respect and admire americans, but there is still a boiling resentment. they feel americans started the cycle of violence here, that they were guilty of violence through their own military, and nowadays, iraqis blame americans for p

elizabeth palmer, cbs news, london. >> pelley: u.s. defense secretary leon panetta was in tripoli last week to see whether the u.s. can help the new government form a professional army. britain's prince phillip was hospitalized this evening after suffering chest pains. buckingham palace says the queen's 90-year-old husband underwent minor surgery to open a blocked coronary artery. he is expected to remain in the hospital far few days. world leaders gathered in prague today for the funeral of vaclav havel, the anti-communist dissident who became the czech president. secretary of state hillary clinton led the american delegation, which included her husband, former secretary of state madeleine albright spoke in her native czech calling havel a citizen of the world who brought light to the darkest places. winter is here, but where's all the snow? a dazzling light snow from a newly discovered comet. and huge crowds storm the stores just to buy basketball shoes when the "cbs evening news" just to buy basketball shoes when the "cbs evening ne

in a follow-up elizabeth palmer talks about his spiking gear. >> days after the u.s. withdrewthe last troops from iraq and the political battle raging this new violence invoked fears that this country may be headed for a civil war. the bombs hit too close to home for a man we call terry. man we met last week in baghdad who worked with the army fighting fraud and reconstruction projects. he asked that we conceal his identity to protect him. >> what did you do for theunited states. >> i helped distinguish who werethe good guys and bad guys. >> he was on his way to workwhen one bombs exploded at his office killing 25 colleagues. >> what will happen to you ifyou stay in ironing iraq and you can't get to the states. >> i will get killed. >> terry has been waiting for ayear for a visa that will allow him to move to the u.s. in a skype interview yesterday he told us he can wait to longer. >> when i was working i wasliving in a secure place. i didn't fear my life. even for the one moment. and now there is no such place. >> the u.s. state departmentsays they are looking into t

in a follow-up elizabeth palmer talks about his spiking gear. >> days after the u.s. withdrewthe last troops from iraq and the political battle raging this new violence invoked fears that this country may be headed for a civil war. the bombs hit too close to home for a man we call terry. man we met last week in baghdad who worked with the army fighting fraud and reconstruction projects. he asked that we conceal his identity to protect him. >> what did you do for theunited states. >> i helped distinguish who werethe good guys and bad guys. >> he was on his way to workwhen one bombs exploded at his office killing 25 colleagues. >> what will happen to you ifyou stay in ironing iraq and you can't get to the states. >> i will get killed. >> terry has been waiting for ayear for a visa that will allow him to move to the u.s. in a skype interview yesterday he told us he can wait to longer. >> when i was working i wasliving in a secure place. i didn't fear my life. even for the one moment. and now there is no such place. >> the u.s. state departmentsays they are looking into t

in a follow-up tonight elizabeth palmer tells us about his spiking fear. >> reporter: just days after the u.s. withdrew the last troops from iraq and the political battle raging between the shiite prime minister and suni vice president, this new violence invoked fears that this country may be headed for a civil war. the bombs hit too close to home for an iraqi man we will call terry. a former u.s. military interpreter we met last week in baghdad who worked with the army fighting fraud in reconstruction projects. he asked that we conceal his identity to protect him. >> what did you do for the united states? >> i helped them distinguish who were the good guys and bad guys. >> reporter: terry's father who works with the anti-copuption office was on his way to work when one bombs exploded at his office killing 25 colleagues. what will happen to you if you stay in iraq and you can't get to the states? >> i will get killed. >> reporter: terry has been waiting for ayear for a visa that will allow him to move to the u.s. in a skype interview yesterday he told us he can wait to longer. >> when

in london correspondent elizabeth palmer. elizabeth, i'm going start with you because one of the most dramatic moments on face the nation this year was when egypt suddenly erupted, everything was this turmoil there. dhen we switched to you here's what happened. >> there's reason to believe that the looters are police who have turned into thugs. (plane flying close by overhead). you were not dive bombed as it turned out, elizabeth. they were just flying over for show. but how is it these days in egypt? we know what happened that day. where are we today in that part of the world? >> well, shortly after that incident, mubarak was forced to step down. and since then, egypt has been lurching very uncertainly toward electing a government. out the problem is the military doesn't really want to let go of power so we've had round after round of violence and chaos really. and the big winners so far are the islamists, the political party representing the muslim religion look set to form the next government. so it's highly unstable. >> sc

. >> mitchell: elizabeth palmer in baghdad, thank you. and take care. >> here at home in the nation's capitol u.s. police moved against the occupy d.c. movement today tearing down an unauthorized wooden structure the protestors were building and arresting roughly 20 people. last night in portland, oregon, police arrested 19 people who were occupying a downtown park. and in thousand oaks, california, tiger woods has done it he won his first turnment in some two years today. he captured the chevron challenge by one stroke over fellow american zack johnson. >> later this evening, the tightrope walker without could hold the key to the future of niagara falls. college graduates forced to move back home in a bad economy. and california, there they go. why are so many residents leaving the state that was once golden. those stories when the "cbs evening news" continues. called atrial fibrillation, or afib, that's not caused by a heart valve problem? are you taking warfarin to reduce your risk of stroke caused by a clot? you should know about prad

. >> two car bombings in syria's capital killed more than 40 people this morning and elizabeth palmer has the latest from london. >> reporter: streets in the eastern suburbs of damascus were littered with bodies after two explosions only minutes apart near state security buildings. syrian state television said the attack involved two suicide car bombs and blamed al qaeda, although offered no evidence to support the claim. the bombing comes just a day after an advanced team of arab league observers arrived in syria hoping to broker a cease fire in this country which is slipping towards civil war. yesterday, syrian state television showed the president bashar al assad meeting with syrian leaders but syrian tanks and armed forces are still employ deployed in what the country as the government describes as an operation to defeat terrorists but the syrian opposition says is ruth less progression demanding greater freedom and democracy. more than 2,000 people by the u.n. estimates have died already in the violence in syria. but there has just been nothing like this, these mass bombings and

erica. >> elizabeth palmer in baghdad this morning, thanks. >>> up next, would you say today is the mosty? supposed to be a peaceful time of the year in a perfect world, right? >> this is true but in terms of most peaceful time in history is an argument to make. steven tinker has made it and we will ask him about that coming up next on "the early show." stick around. hershey's air delight. experience light and airy, melty bubbles. made from pure, delicious hershey's milk chocolate. hershey's air delight. care and dedication. our family-owned company has focused on making... the best-tasting sour cream for over four generations. it's made with farm-fresh cream... that's 100% natural without any additives or preservatives. and no added hormones. so you can feel good knowing every creamy dollop... will bring all your favorite dishes to life. ♪ do a dollop, do-do a dollop of daisy ♪ will bring all your favorite dishes to life. this was the gulf's best tourism season in years. all because so many people came to louisiana... they came to see us in florida... make that alabama... make that miss

>> all right, cbs' elizabeth palmer in london for us this morning. >>> now here is jeff glor at the news. >>> good morning once again. a new survey predicts the u.s. economy will keep getting stronger but will grow slowly. the survey of leading economists forecasts the economy will expand next year by 2.4%. this year it grew less than 2%. it's expected 177,000 jobs a month will be created through election day, but the european debt crisis could still create a setback. >>> for the first time since the summer, more americans approve of the job president obama is doing as opposed to disapprove. mr. obama's approval rating jumped to 47% according to a recent gallup poll. 45% disapprove. >>> in iowa three republicans presidential candidates launched bus tours a week before the caucuses next week. governor rick perry plans four stops on his campaign bus. michele bachmann is scheduled to travel to ten counties. newt gingrich plans three stops in dubuque. mitt romney will arrive in iowa today after a quick stop in new hampshire and right now what appears to be current iowa front-runner ron paul

cbs' elizabeth palmer in london. thank you. >>> debbie turner bell is at the news desk with a check of the day's other headlines. >> good morning to both of you. good morning to you. an emotional farewell to former czech president former president bill clinton and his wife, secretary of state hillary clinton were some of the world leaders who attended the funeral services in prague today. in 1989, the dissident playright led the peaceful overthrow of communism. >>> there's a warning for women worldwide about breast implants made by the french company pit. french officials say the implants should be removed as a preventative measure because they're made with an industrial silicone that could rupture or link. they're linked to eight cases of cancer in women in france. about 300,000 women have the implants. none, though, were sold in the united states. >>> and a strong earthquake hit new zealand this morning. the city of christchurch was rattled by a 5.8 magnitude quake sending people into the streets. there were no ser

>> elizabeth palmer, thanks. >> now jeff glor is at the news desk with a check of today's ooth headlinesy about keep getting stronger but will grow slowly. the survey of leading economists forecasts it will grow next year 2.4%. this year it grew less than 2%. it's expected 177,000 jobs a month will be created through election day, but the european debt crisis could still create a setback. >>> for the first time since the summer, more americans approve of the job president obama's doing as opposed to disapprove. mr. obama's approval rating umped to 47%approval rating >> announcer: this weather report sponsored by citibank. what's your story? citi can help you write it. learn more at stories.citi.com. >>> coming up next, meryl streep's won about every award an actor can, and this month she added a kennedy center honor to the list. >> julie chen sits down with the two-time oscar winner when the "early show" comes right back. oscar winner. sories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been ear

elizabeth wenger thanks liz. toss to gary if you block, you shall recieve.. raiders quarterback carson palmer handing out gifts to his "o" line... and nba for real today... what did the heat think of the mavs unvieling thier champinship banner.. ??? the heat was in dallas.. sports is next... toss to gary le finals... to make things worse, today they had to watch the mavericks raise their championship banner... that was the only highlight for the mavs... it was all miami after that... already up by 33 points in the 3rd quarter... check out this play... mario chalmers with an alley oop pass to lebron james.. in mid air james tips to dwayne wade for the dunk in mid air... that's like a video game... lebron was a beast all game long... he finished with a game high 37 points and added 10 rebounds... the heat destroy the defending champs... 105-94... opening day at madison square garden... celtics in town... right to the 4th tied at 102... carmelo anthont drives the lane and floats one up... it's good!! carmelo had 37 points and 8 rebounds to lead all scorers... last chance for the celtics... kevin