>> greek prime minister george papandreou has called for a referendum. whether they should proceed with the referendums that have resulted in strikes. he said greeks must start but -- must decide if they want to go through with the plans. it could put a deal in jeopardy. if the greek people do not want it, they will not adopt it, the prime minister said on monday, apparently caving in to protests last week. last week's summit to flashed the mountain of debt. investors remain unconvinced that it will work. and for more, we're joined now by natalee, standing by in athens. natalie, this referendum comes as a surprise. what prompted george papandreou to run this risk? >> the weak government, the socialist party. they have fallen to one of their lowest approval rates since the creation. the second bailout, should call for some dialogue with his people, as he has been accused of depriving greeks from this need to approve the austerity, all of these measures. on the weather side, as well, his government and the prime minister himself have been accused of laggin

prime minister george papandreou hopes to secure a final vote in order to secure new loans from other you'eurozone members and international monetary fund. >>> china has sharply reduced its holdings of u.s. government bonds after a credit rating agency downgraded u.s. debt in early august. the latest data released by the u.s. treasury department on tuesday show that china's holdings of u.s. treasures fell to $1.173 trilli37 trillion at f august. that's down from $1.173 trillion a month earlier. this marks the first time this china has sold so many u.s. treasures in a single month. we spoke to christian carillo, director of asia pacific interest rate strategy at societe general securities in tokyo on what the impact on markets might be. >> the chinese, the pboc and its international reserve arm, are in the process of diversifying away from u.s. treasuries. this is mainly a result of their policy to try to realign their exchange rate at a more acceptable level in the international market. so it's normal for chinese authorities to be opportunistically trying to sell holdings of u.s. trea

when we hear george papandreou is saying that there is a real will and determination among greeks to get back on track, how on earth we expected to believe that? >> what he is saying is that the will and determination of the government. because that is really what george papandreou and his cabinet have to show to the international community, namely through the euro-zone and the imf, to try to get back on track. the budget deficit target will be missed for this year. it will be 8.5% as opposed to 7.6% target. they are spending too much money and not raising enough revenue. on the streets of athens, there is a real resentment. the problem really from the streets is that there is not a cohesive arguments as to what an alternative could be. people are angry at the austerity drive, but there is not a single answer for the alternative. could it be default or leaving euro-zone? the government said that would be a disaster in spread contagion. so there is some of my very very difficult challenge for the government to try to stick to international targets and show it is sympathetic for the co

prime minister george papandreou pleaded for support, understanding and responsibility. the proposed austerity measures, spending cuts, tax hikes, lay-offs and suspension of collective bargaining are painful and deeply unpopular. >> this is really bad. this is really difficult for a young person to not have dreams. >> there is no future here. >> reporter: greece owes half a trillion to lenders and they can't pay it. a default could cripple the economy of europe and beyond. in fact, tonight the leader of france flew to germany to meet with the head of the country to see if they can come up with european-wide solutions to the financial crisis here. the european economy is bigger than the united states and if it suffers a banking crisis, it could hurt an already weak u.s. economy. brian? back to you. >> another day of this tomorrow. michelle, thanks. >>> back in this country, the big story in chicago tonight is some big bad sporty weather. a big storm is making news. 60 mile an hour winds, 25-foot waves along lake michigan. weather channel meteorologist mike seidel braving

. >> the burden now rests on prime minister george papandreou. at a meeting with the greek president, he called for political unity, and assured the people his government will find a way out of the crisis. >> we are fighting a very difficult battle. it is a battle to lift this heavy debt burden we inherited. we are trying to share the burden, so the greek people can breathe easier, so the country can be reborn. >> at the moment, fate is out of their hands. policy-makers in brussels are calling the shots. >> a triple threat of the eurozone debt crisis, market turmoil, and fears of global slowdown have combined to create the worst financial climate since the collapse of lehman brothers. germany's leading lender has reported a decline in profit, but did manage to beat forecasts. deutche bank faces huge charges in connection with its u.s. operations. >> josef smiling, but has reason for concern. he has seen hopes for record profits in 2011 slipped through his hands. it has been especially hard in the investment banking sector this year. just one year

let's hope a new and better day dawns as the prime minister george papandreou says he hopes greece's debt burden will be sustainable. and we've heard some skepticism from the athens chamber of commerce in the last moment or two about that. some other stories we need to bring to you this hour -- thousands of people are fleeing the thai capital bangkok after the government warned that large parts of the city could soon be inundated by floodwater. a five-day holiday has been declared in the worst affected regions. rachel harvey has the story. >> i know it's fair to say that anxiety has been rising in line with the floods. the water keeps rising, increasing deeper into the capital, and as it does, people look on nervously. those who can are in large numbers now heeding the authorities' advice to get out of the city, at least for the next few days. this special holiday has been declared for flood-affected provinces only, but that is 27 provinces, including bangkok. so those who can are trying to get out of town. but there are plenty of others who are choosing to stay or have no where else

the prime minister, george papandreou, on tuesday described the situation as a war greece must win. from athens, our correspondent chris morris reports. >> strikes, protests, sit-in says, it's become the norm in austerity greece. and for the last few weeks, protests have been intensifying, as many people reach the limit of what they think they can accept. now a general strike called by unions from both the public and the private sector. once again, the target is parliament, and the plan to pass yet more tough austerity measures. taxes are going up again. spending is going down again. and tens of thousands of public sector jobs are likely to go. >> the last stone is being installed on our ability to live with dignity. they're zpriving public and private sector workers of the chance of being able to survive. >> but there are plenty of people in greece who say change has to come. the public sector is bloated and politicized. but many businesses are also suffering from rising taxes and slumping demand. unions talk about a death spiral. the country sinks deeper into recession. but the go

windows >>it's a critical week for greece in dealing with its debt crisis greek prime minister george papandreou it is crucial for greece to show it to work together for a change in the united and calm way finance ministers from the world's largest economies also pledged to take necessary steps to stabilize global markets after the european union was given a week to fix the crisis by members of the g-20 the next meeting is on sunday. >>i ran said it is willing to look at evidence that an iranian man plotted to kill saudi arabia's ambassador to the united states iranian american mansorr ar-bab-siar are this far is a clue as to ofis accused of trying to hire a mexican drug cartel to kill the ambassador by setting off a bomb at a washington d.c. restaurant the excess state department claims there had been direct contact with iran about the alleged plot the iranian government denies that but has asked the united states to give iran information to back up the claim i iran's supreme ruler told thousands of supporters yesterday that the allegations are meaningless and observedabsurd >>the fbi has joine

last night greg by minister george papandreou address the nation and said the deal would give his countryextra time to rebuild its economy. his comments are just over five minutes. >> translator: my fellow citizens the agreement we have just achieved opens up new prospects for our country. gives us the possibility to determine our own future. the efforts of the greek people is to produce results step-by-step and it brought us to last night to yesterday's decisions. this did not come by chance. our own collective effort is what gave us the most important tool for the negotiations. not only for our debt, but also for our very future. yesterday's decision gives us time. it gives us the opportunity to plot out and follow our own course and i want to assure you that this decision in no way creates a problem for a banking system. on the contrary, creates new possibilities from development to the economy to the supportive social welfare. it gives us also the courage to move forward under better conditions. when negotiated and managed, a substantial part of our debt, tens of billions of euros wil

. >> brown: the new framework was of particular relief to greek prime minister george papandreou, whose country has been teetering on the brink of default, despite $150 billion in rescue loans: >> ( translated ): i think we managed to escape from this trap. the fact that we are still here today is a big achievement for the greek people. so today i think we can close a chapter on the past and i think that now we will start with all our strength to begin work for a new future for our country. >> brown: and in washington, president obama called the agreement an important first step. >> we've seen the message they are going to deal with this in a serious way has calmed markets all around world. it will help lay the predicate for long term economic growth not only in europe, around world. the key now is to make sure implemented fully and decisively and i have great confidence in european leadership to make that happen. >> brown: and in washington, but not everyone in europe shared the optimism. there were warnings in greece, where austerity measures have already triggered sometimes violent p

prime minister george papandreou used emergency powers to force action.it came on the eve of a general strike that's expected to disrupt most public services. the planned two-day strike would coincide with a greek parliament vote on the toughest round of austerity measures yet. record flooding in thailand menaced bangkok, just a day after the city appeared to have skirted the danger. monsoon downpours have affected two-thirds of the country, and now industrial sections and residential areas on the capital's northern edge are submerged. we have a report from john sparks of independent television news. >> reporter: for weeks government ministers have been clear about one thing: bong koch won't flood, they said. well, they were wrong. this is a district on the city's northern edge now subject to açfull evacuation order. tens thousands of workers and residents seeking sanctuary in the back of a truck. food and water from a plastic bag. this family told us they had to leave in a hurry. >> they guaranteed it that this district was safe but it flooded. i was so

after the agreement was announced, george papandreou said it would give his country more time to rebuild. his comments are just over five minutes. >> my fellow citizens. it the agreement we just achieved opens up a new process for our country. it gives as the opportunity to determine our own future. the effort of the good people is producing results. step-by-step, the result did not come by chance. this is not only for the dead and funding but also for our very future. yesterday's decision gives us time. it gives us the opportunity to plot out and follow our own course. i want to assure you that this decision in no way is the problem for our banking system or the pensions. there are opportunities for the real economy, to the organization of our system. it gives us also the courage to move forward, forward into a better position. we negotiated and managed to write off a substantial amount of our debt. tens of billions of euros were lifted from the backs of the greek people. the banks and not the citizens will pay these costs. and more fair allocation of the debt. additionally, we managed