george thomas is on assignment. congress is looking into the international persecution of religious believers, and they heard from the wife of saeed abedini about his imprisonment in iran. john jessup has that story

hello, everyone, i'm george thomas. tens of thousands gathered in the papel square on the eve of his historic resignation this week. the 85-year-old pontiff used his last message to remind catholics around the world to stay faithful to god's word. mark martin has the story. >> reporter: he was surrendered by tens of thousands of the faithful. many pressing in to catch a glimpse of their spiritual leader as he drove by on his popemobile. >> it is such a monumental time. no pope has resigned the way he has done, and it is something we have to see. >> reporter: and then he took the stage, smiling, taking it all in. the crowds responding with long-standing ovations. it was, in many ways, pope benedict xvi's moment to reminisce one last time. >> translator: on april 19, almost eight years ago, i had the certainty which has always stayed with me, of the life of the church coming from god's word. >> reporter: 50,000 plus people came from around the world, waving flags and carrying banners saying thank you. he resigns as leader

george thomas is on assignment. congress is looking into the international persecution of religious believers, and they heard from the wife of saeed abedini about his imprisonment in iran. john jessup has that story from capito capitol. >> i family nightmare began in 2010. >> reporter: he receives hopes and prayers that she will be reunited with her husband, pastor saeed abedini. her husband received an eight-year prison sentence in his native iran. and the real reason is because he is a christian. he was taken into custody last july while in iran building an orphanage. she told the crowded room to explain how difficult was when he suddenly lost contact with her and their two children. jacob and rebecca. >> they kept coming to the computer and saying, mommy, can we see daddy. can we hear his voice? and i kept saying, no, we can't. i couldn't explain to them why, that he was physically finish to prison. and finally they kept saying, does daddy not love us anymore? does daddy not want to hear our voice anymore? and i

george thomas and wendy griffith are on assignment. now that the shock is over, there is a feeling pope francis will put his unique stamp on the roman catholic church. chris mitchell has our report from rome >> reporter: ceremony was simple and brief when pope francis met the thousands gathered in st. peter's square and the rest of the world. most of the people have left st. peter's square. for the many who rushed here after seeing the white smoke coming from the sistine chapel, it was unforgetable. >> it was fantastic. people flocked to the piazza. it was amazing. >> i was absolutely thrilled, excited. jumping for joy. at the end of the day, for me, i am here for the moment. to live in the moment. there were people from all over the world. something i couldn't miss. >> reporter: it was the choice of the name francis that struck many catholics. ashley mcguire with the catholic association. >> it couldn't send a more clear signal, france is known for reforming the church and a simple man of humility. two immediate clear signals about wh

george thomas is on assignment. it seems like a story from a movie. iranian pastor saeed abedini is sentenced to eight years in one of the worst prisons in iran. his only crime, spreading the gospel of jesus christ. but the story is all too real for his wife and family, who are suffering along with him and desperately fighting for his freedom. their love story began in iran. nagma, an american citizen since early childhood, believed god was leading her to return to her homeland in 2001 to minister to muslim women. that's where she first saw saeed abedini, the young preacher was leading worship at one of the underground house churches he helped form. what made you fall in love with him? >> his passion. i think as a young woman, i always prayed, i said, lord, i can't marry someone who is mediocre. i wantnt to marry someone who is passionate for you. but i had no idea how he would answer my prayer. i had no idea it would be so radical. >> wendy: not long afterwards, the two married in iran. their wedding drew hundreds of well-wishers, and aroused the sus

cenk: you were talking about the national flower, given that george washington and thomas jefferson had hemp falser, is it possible that we swing things so much that our national flower becomes hemp. >> it could happen. cenk: let me give you the facts on that. is it bad for you to smoke these things they asked the young? 78 high school enjoyers, bad to smoke cigarettes, but for marijuana, 44%. growing up, i couldn't have imagined a poll like that. there's no question that it's swinging that direction. let me give you some more stats on damage it's done to the country. i want your reaction. in the past 40 years in this terrible war on drugs it's cost us $1 trillion. 45 million arrests and then we had just in 2009, 1.7 million arrests, over 50% for just pot possession, that's it and the prison population has grown 705 percent. is it possible that he is stats are leading people like rand paul hey, you know what, i want to stop wasting our money. >> yeah, it's public opinion. when public opinion shifts, you know. what they were doing back then was the perfect way to eliminate the opposition

sixteen hundreds and in fact even our founding fathers acknowledged enormous benefits george washington john adams and thomas jefferson all grew them on their private farms and jefferson was even quoted once as saying hemp is one of the greatest important substances of our nation the declaration of independence itself was even drafted on paper derived from ham so what happened how did one of the most versatile and adaptable species of crops in the world also become one of the most politically polarizing agricultural resources on the early twentieth century the plant became labeled a threat to so dangerous that it should be wiped out it wasn't dangerous to anyone or anything except the industries that it could phase out of existence so what did the establishment do to ensure their allegiance to the very industries they serve well they did what they do best they lied and smeared hemp to a propaganda campaign that associated the plant with marijuana and in one thousand thirty seven the marijuana tacks. act redefined hemp as in our katic which required farmers to obtain a special tax stamp to grow the crop by ni

george? >> that's right, thomas. >> did you go to st. mary's? >> st.i know very well. which one are you referring to th? >> that one. that's where my mom went. she'll probably be able to follow along in latin. >> very good. >> well, we're looking now again at these beautiful shots that are coming to us out of vatican city right now as we wait for the official start, the swearing in, the secret oath that these 115 cardinals will take before they start to vote on the next pope. chris, i know you said. but based on history and based on what we know happens, this afternoon, east coast time, which would be sometime between 2:00 and 3:00, we expect that they will, they will do a first ballot and i think george has described in the past, just sort of kind of getting the lay of the land and some of it is just a pat on the back where you give a vote to a friend of yours. it's a little time for them to kind of settle down and settle in. and then probably the more seriousness, the forming of, of allegiances will start more clearly tomorrow. but i don't know anyon

george w. bush, said, on thomas jefferson's birthday, i'm happy and proud to welcome both sides of the jefferson family. the republicans couldn't get away with that today -- >> i disagree. it was a gracious moment. >> i totally agree. >> but we're starting to see a change this week. something happened this week that suggested an opening up to 71% of latinos. you saw rand paul. really break down on immigration. a lot of people saw the speech that he gave, this could be the signal that immigration reform passes this year. >> we're not going to deport 12 million illegal immigrants. if you wish to live and work in america, then we'll find a place for you. in order to bring conservatives to this cause, those must understand that a real solution must ensure that our borders are secure. >> karl, you didn't hear that during the republican primary debate. >> let's be clear. before we assign the republican party to the dust pin of history, the republicans have elected in 2010 the largest number of state legislators since 1920. the u.s. house is republican. the senate would have been republican had it not

are you really comparing hugo chavez to george washington, thomas jefferson, james madison?t i was hearing. but i want you to explain. >> well, democracy has evolved. my point is that our first 15 presidents owned slaves and called it democracy for 204 years. we've come a mighty long way. the democracy in south africa is just, what, 25 years old or thereabouts. i was just there eight years ago, white people couldn't vote, couldn't vote on campuses, democracy has evolved and if we're engaged, we can help it evolve in the right direction. >> what about some of the others who attended? were you comfortable that ahmadinejad, for example, of iran was there. i know bashar al assad of syria was not there. i know he would have liked to have been there. raul castro. how does that make you feel? >> when we goen oh the offensive, we make things happen. i remember getting americans freed, i went to syria with a delegation and president reagan said, you shouldn't go. do you foe what you're doing? you might jeopardize a soldier's life. president reagan said, if you get him, bring him back

besides george washington, some of the famous people who dined here included john adams, thomas jefferson, james madison and james monroe. thomas jefferson had his inaugural dinner here. john gadsby had a terrific reputation for his hospitality. he was known for the really great dinners that he would serve. so he was well known all over the area. and that's why the presidents of the united states would come here, because it was probably the best place to eat in this entire area. he left here to establish restaurants in baltimore and then in washington city. when you think about george washington, you always think about him as winning the revolutionary war and being the president and being this real stiff character on your dollar bill. but here at gadsby's tavern, you see him as a human being. you see him dining and drinking, having a glass, dancing -- he loved to dance -- telling stories, meeting his friends here, having conversations. you see him as a real person here at gadsby's tavern and not as a statue. we're in right now the ballroom of gadsby's tavern, and george washington loved t

george, go ahead. >> thank you, thomas, what i was going to say is that the two-thirds rule has always been the norm. john paul ii changed that so that after 34 failed attempts to get to two-thirds, there could be a runoff among the top two and a majority vote would suffice. there can still be a runoff after a week and a half of failed ballots. but even in the runoff, thanks to benedict xvi, the successful candidate has to get two-thirds. what they're saying here as you see, thomas, is that they each individually agree to the oath they have just communally sworn and they do this with their hand on the holy gospels. >> and again we're watching each one of the 115 cardinals come up and take their individual oeths. right now before going behind locked doors to cast their secret ballots, to elect the new pope. i want to thank chris jansing. george weigel and father mark haydu, we'll hand it over to alex wagner who is standing by with our continuing coverage of electing a new pope from vatican city. alex? >> we are continuing coverage of the election of the next pope. all 115 cardinals are entering the si

and various american administrations, starting with george washington, continuing with john adams, thomas jefferson and ultimately james madison all rejected this as something of a violation of america's sovereign right. and the way that impressment worked was that the british navy essentially needed more sailors than were available at the time. sailors in the british empire worked on merchant ships and on naval ships and this was fine in peace, but in times of war, essentially more need than the one supplied. and so what the british navy did is they used a forcible conscription system impressment, in which it was actually legal to violently apprehend man and put them on ships. because the american colonies were members of the british empire, that meant that american sailors also could be impressed. and once the show was impressed on a ship, he was essentially on that vessel until that particular war ended, and philly.com until he escaped. those are really the only three ways out of the situation. impressment was often compared to slavery in its own time. the systems were different but th

of america's sovereignty and various american administration starting with george washington, continued as john adams, thomasferson and am ultimately james madison all rejected this is a violation of american sovereign rights. the way that impress network is the british navy essentially needed more sailors that were available at the time. sailors in the british empire worked on merchant ships and naval ships and this was fine in peace, but in times of war, there is essentially more need than supply. but the british navy did enforceable description system that was actually legal to buy what they apprehend man and put them on ships because the american colonies were members of the british empire, that meant american sailors could be impressed. once the sailor was impressed on a ship, he was essentially on the vessel until the particular were ended, so he died or escaped. those were the only three ways out of the situation. impressment was often compared to slavery in its own time. the systems were different, but they had some similarities. when a sailor was impressed, we have some first-hand accounts they ofte

thomas, great to see you. >> reporter: hi, karen. >> also with us from washington, george washington university law professor jon thi turly. thanks for joining us. thomas, i want to start with you. you were there at the court. seems like the tone from folks coming out a little bit different than yesterday. feeling a little bit more optimistic today than maybe we heard yesterday. what's your take? >> reporter: well, it's a lot quieter. i wasn't here yesterday. but i was asking around today the difference between the two types of crowds. yesterday was a little more crowded and a little more contentious to the people i had a chance to talk to. it is very tame today. obviously it's hours later. things have died down. a lot more people are still just walking by taking pictures now. more of the media than anything else. but as we -- as we learned from inside today, karen, the fact that the justices seem very concerned with state rights. and with yesterday being the concern of overstepping california's state rights and getting involved with proposition 8, to now doma, and the fact that doma itself, it goes ahead an

and they -- various american ministrations starting with george russ and in continuing with john adams, thomas jefferson, ultimately james madison, they all rejected this, something as in violation of america sovereign rights. the british navy essentially needed more sailors than were available at the time. sailors in the british empire worked on merchant ships and naval ships. this was fine in peace, but in times of war there was essentially more need than there was a time. so with the british navy did, they used a forceful conscription system of impressment which was actually legal to violently apprehend man , put them on ships because the american colonies were members of the british empire, that meant that american sailors also could be impressed. and once a sailor was impressed on a ship, he was essentially on that vessel until the war ended, until he died, or until he escaped. those were the only roads out of the situation. often compared to slavery in its own time. the systems are different, but to have some similarities. when a sailor was impressed we have some first hand accounts. the

. >> cardinal george from chicago cited saint thomas aquinos today and said they hope they will be quicksion. martha: how does the conclave actually work, amy. >> the meeting now, the kapbg tkpwaeugs i congregation is a chance for people to say what is on your mind. people over 80 can give their insight. it is appraiser full, martha they have to take an oath before they cast each vote each time. i believe that is in latin. what is understanding about this is they have to disguise their handwriting as best they can when they cast the secret ballots because they want this to be completely confidential. martha: so understanding, amy it will be fascinating to watch this process. there are so much high hopes i think in terms of the selection. we will be watching you all the time, amy. thanks so much from the vatican. bill: they call in the sweet sistine, the sweet sixteen, the top 16 candidates, who might be the next pope. the conclave date not set but expected to be decided once all the cardinals ae arrive in rome. benedict the 16 r- xvi will not take part in it. martha: bigger numbers of am

critics reeling at the hearing so i do want to play a quick clip from thomas blanton he's the executive director of national security at george washington university and he said that this cold war mentality is just not helping out so if we can go ahead and play that. we don't need this pervasive national security secrecy that we used to have in fact this studies of the nine eleven terrorism the tragedy all showed that one of the reasons that the government was going to wasn't effective in dealing with al qaeda was the excessive secrecy compartment of it for compartmentation of information the lack of sharing the reality is that to be more secure we actually need more openness not less so was that something completely different than what we're hearing from others you know they say that in order to protect our security we need to keep our secrets he's saying that in order to protect our security we need to open up we need to be more transparent that's something we're not seeing from from a lot of these agencies interesting ladies appreciate you keeping us updated on what was going on on these two very important issues on the hi

george bush's in 2009. the president has fence mening to do with israelis if he hopes to restore the middle east peace process. >>> thomas perez will meet with the press secretary. he was in charge of the justice department and he will be the first latino to be nominated for his cabinet. >>> today they plan to take up the issue to require i.d. and they will hear arguments on the issue of whether or not they must proof their sit is sent ship to vote. they will try keep illegal immigrants from voting. >> -- sal, let's look at the traffic, hey, sal. >>> good morning, traffic is look well around the bay area and we are off to a decent start and it looks good heading out to the mcarthur maze, also the morning commute is looking good on the westbound bay bridge coming to the bay area pay gates and there are no major problems, northbound 280 getting to highway 17, that traffic is moving well, steve? >> yes. >> yesterday my dad figured out he watches us online and he said he sees our tweets, pam, you me dave... . thank you sal, good to know. >>> we have a transition day and there is rain back here and today will be the day we se

george bush's in 2009. the president has fence mening to do with israelis if he hopes to restore the middle east peace process. >>> thomas perez will meet with the press secretary. he was in charge of the justice department and he will be the first latino to be nominated for his cabinet. >>> today they plan to take up the issue to require i.d. and they will hear arguments on the issue of whether or not they must proof their sit is sent ship to vote. they will try keep illegal immigrants from voting. >> -- sal, let's look at the traffic, hey, sal. >>> good morning, traffic is look well around the bay area and we are off to a decent start and it looks good heading out to the mcarthur maze, also the morning commute is looking good on the westbound bay bridge coming to the bay area pay gates and there are no major problems, northbound 280 getting to highway 17, that traffic is moving well, steve? >> yes. >> yesterday my dad figured out he watches us online and he said he sees our tweets, pam, you me dave... . thank you sal, good to know. >>> we have a transition day and there is rain back here and today will be the day we se

thomas, abc news, washington. >> thank you, pierre. >>> now we want to bring you more from george's interview, because the presidentweighed in on the budget battle, heating up today. >> paul ryan today put forward his budget and said he's challenging you to put forward a budget that reaches balance. are you going to do that? >> no. my goal is not to chase a balanced budget just for the sake of balance. my goal is how do we grow the economy, put people back to work, and if we do that, we're going to be bringing in more revenue. if we've controlled spending and we've got a smart entitlement package, then potentially what you have is balance, but it's not balance on the backs of the poor, the elderly, students who need student loans, families with disabled kids. that's not the right way to balance our budget. >> a reminder that you can see more of george's interview with president obama tomorrow morning on "gma." >>> today james holmes, the man charged with the movie theater massacre in aurora, colorado, last summer, was in court to enter a plea. here he was, the fiery orange hair gone, as he sat stone-faced. he did n

thomas jefferson. >> he committed suicide? >> george washington adams, who i suspect just the pressure of that name would probably drive anyone up the wall. george washington adams almost definitely committed suicide. >> just around the time his father was losing the election. >> yes, stepped off a boat. >> it was may 1829 so the power had already shifted to andrew jackson, they had asked george to come back to washington to escort family to quincy and it was on that trip that he either ll or jumped off the boat, really, again, devastating family, it was a personal tragedy. >> two years brother, his brother john died of alcoholism. >> 1834, so it was a little bit later. >> so only one child survived and what about their grandchildren and their heirs? >> there are a number of grandchildren. john adams ii, the second of the children, he had had two, e had married his cousin and had two children. john quincy and louisa became the guardians to those children. the younger one, fanny, actually dies in 1839. another tragedy upon tragedy. john

unprofessional conduct in the department's voting section that erupted during the george bush administration -- speaking of thomas progress, but president's popular at -- possible selection for labor secretary, there's a picture of him standing by attorney general eric holder. that's the wall street journal. dan in detroit michigan, independent line. caller: hello. these two parties have both been derelict in their duties, something going on a long time. host: what do you think about yesterday? caller: i'm watching paul ryan now. he sounds pretty good on tv, but i think a lot of it is grandstanding. they knew this problem was going on a long time. i say bring our troops home. these two parts will destroy this great nation. host: next, we learn, pennsylvania, a democrat. caller: representative ryan's spending budget is terrible, because social security as a medic to do with the deficit, so why mess with social security? we learned that money. i'm 34 years old and wonder if it will be there. host: there are papers talking about this today. caller: they should not do anything to entitlements. every time you cash you

george washington, did you take my truck out last night? 'tis tasty. ♪ into the suuuun.... ♪ >>> good morning, i'm eric thomas.ighters looking into the cause of a four-alarm blaze in the bayview that left 20 people homeless this morning. it broke out shortly before 1:00 a.m. giant flames erupted from the two-story building on mckinnon avenue and spread over to two adjacent buildings on third street. the red cross is working to find temporary housing for the displaced residents. >>> we welcome a new member to the team this morning. here's leila in the traffic center. >> thanks, eric. we're starting off in fremont where we had an earlier accident southbound 880 right as you approach mission boulevard. we do have some damage due to that wreck and plenty of slowing to show for it. also want to take a peek out in berkeley. here's 80 westbound, headlights coming toward the maze. everything looking clear out >>> good morning. look at all the haze out there. it is 52 degrees, though, downtown, 51 across the bay in oakland and we're looking at about 50 in san jose. so with the clouds and mild temperatures and also come

began the veteran sends a letter to george bush and dick cheney bashing them for the needless war vet is dying in a hospice right now coming up we'll speak with thomas young about his letter that has gone viral. big brother is keeping an eye on you while drones are used most often by the u.s. for warfare overseas more and more police departments here at home are using them to spy on citizens this week lawmakers heard about concerns of this growing practice we'll tell you about that hearing in just a bit. and over five million people have been stopped and frisked by n.y.p.d. police officers and the vast majority of those people were minorities innocent to say the least but thanks to several whistleblowers we are now learning more about this controversial program in the ways that police officers are implementing it will take a look at stop and frisk in just a bit. it's friday march twenty second five pm in washington d.c. i'm meghan lopez and you are watching r.t. . well we've spent a lot of time this week taking a critical look at the war in iraq the misconceptions that lead us into conflict the ensuing years of strife the lives that were affected an

began a veteran sends a letter to george bush and dick cheney bashing them for what he calls a needless war this vet is in a hospice and dying coming up we'll speak with thomas young about his letter that has gone viral. and big brother is keeping an eye on you while drones are most often used for the by the u.s. for warfare overseas more and more police departments here at home are using them to spy on u.s. citizens this week lawmakers heard concerns about this growing practice we'll tell you about that hearing in just a bit. and over five million people have been stopped and frisked by the n.y.p.d. officers and the vast majority of those people were minorities but thanks to several whistleblowers we are now learning more about this controversial program and the ways police officers are implementing it all look at stop and frisk just ahead. it's friday march twenty second four pm in washington d.c. i'm megan lopez and you're watching. well we spent a lot of time this week taking a critical look at the iraq war the misconceptions that led us into the conflict the ensuing years of strife the lives that were affected the thousands who were killed and now ten y

all their fox news from thomas jefferson to john kennedy we have always as a nation held high the ideal of a quality education for everybody as jefferson wrote in a letter george with his mentor and seven hundred eighty six i think by far the most important bill in our whole code is that for the diffusion of knowledge among the people no other sure foundation committee of eyes for the preservation of freedom and happiness preach my dear sir a crusade against ignorance establish and improve the law for educating the common people j.f.k. championed the importance of education as well. the american people all of us review one hundred. one or two thirds of every new hospital the national government we pay fifty five percent of all the research done we help young men become doctors . we are concerned with the progress of this country this is the only way we can secure action to keep this country moving ahead to have places to educate our children to have decent housing to do something about the millions of young children who leave our schools before they graduate. today america faces a choice we could have our country over to the new taliban and watch as the plutoc

george h.w. bush and ed rendell. what were they thinking? >> boy, thomaslife for that kind of dialogue. he's a smart guy, been a super successful neurosurgeon and star in the party but he's got to choose his words carefully and use the same kind of precision with his dialogue as he uses with his scalpel. as for don young, that word shouldn't exist in his vocabulary and he waited too long to apologize. there's no excuse for that kind of talk or words. you don't hurt people and you treat people the way you would want to be treated. >> why do we care with dr. carson says. he doesn't have ambition for a political career, at least the last time i saw him talk about a political career, he says he doesn't want one, more interested in a tv show. is he just a black sarah palin basically, a fire thrower? >> i think he's somebody who has indicated that he could be a candidate for the presidency and certainly that's why people are watching. he took time to go to cpac, an important indicator whether you're serious, to deliver a major speech. he's someone people are lis

the man you see there thomas young was paralyzed in satyrs city in two thousand and four he's dying and what he believes to be his final days he has written a letter a letter to george bush and dick cheney he says it's on behalf of the thousands still living in pain and grief here is part of his letter to the former leaders he says quote on every level moral strategic military and economic iraq was a failure and it was you mr bush and mr cheney who started this war and it was you who should pay the consequences as the ten year anniversary of the iraq war passes to remember the ultimate price the country has paid throughout the conflict. meanwhile violence still grips iraq today islamist extremists took responsibility for a slew of bombings resulting in over sixty deaths it's a deadly reminder that the country remains unstable after ten years of war hard to correspondent is. loosely caffein up is on the ground in iraq to bring us this report. at this hour american and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm iraq to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger. this was the freedom they brought shock and bombs over baghda

the man you see there thomas young was paralyzed and satyrs city in two thousand and four when he was dying and what he believes to be his final days he has written a letter to george bush and dick cheney he says it's on behalf of the thousands still living in pain and grief here's a part of his letter to the former leader he says quote on every level moral strategic military and economic iraq was a failure and it was you mr bush and mr cheney who started this war it is you who should pay the consequences well as the ten year anniversary of the iraq war passes and remember the ultimate price the company a country has paid throughout the conflicts. the tenth anniversary of the war in iraq has many wondering if the country is better off today than it was a decade ago can you walk down the street of iraq and feel safe or is there the threat of a car bomb exploding around you our teams or national correspondent lisa casanova's on the ground in erbil iraq to tell us what she's seeing hi lucy so can you give us a said of what life is like on a day to day basis in iraq. well one of the things that strikes you first driving through iraq we spent most of the day in the nort

thomas roberts. i guess hbo did something with george bush's head on the spike. >> i think people have too much timen their hands. could we start with the markets? are you kidding me? >> there is george bush. >> what is going on here? alex! put that down! >> they had to apologize for that. >> do you want people to watch this show? seriously. stupid. >> that's not juiceesus, it's s. people were into that in the bar. >> i'm going to move on. >> they were the only ones like in high school cheering for the devil. >> i'm going to try to move on and save you all from yourself. we begin with the markets. big repercussions this morning to a controversial plan by european leaders to partially fund a bailout of cyprus. today, cyprus parliament will hold an emergency vote to review the terms of a rescue package that targets individual savings accounts in exchange for billions of dollars of emergency crash and creditors impose onetime tax of 3% on all bank deposits under $130,000. >> going deep here. >> the tax could be closer to 10% on people who have over $640,000 in the bank. that's according to the "the wal

perhaps it has to do with the anger that jefferson and george washington and so many felt with the exception of one of the early americans, thomas spoke out against what the u.s. was doing to haiti. because haiti had the temerity to strike out on its own and to stand up and to remain african. haiti is the most african country in the caribbean. its idea of its religion is when you die, you will return to guinea because they still remember africa. its art is inspired by africa. haiti is a country of a thousand proverbs when the african proverbs have been forgotten throughout the african diaspora x. be haiti is a country that knows its history, that invites almost the anger of the western society and particularly in france. they remember jean jacques -- [inaudible] and they remember tucent. sadly, i went to a school in jamaica to speak to high school students in jamaica not far from haiti, and i asked a group of 15-year-olds if they knew who tiew santa lieu v.a. cure went up, and not a hand went up. i asked if they knew who snoop dogg was, and all hands shot up. they knew nothing of the story or of people who whom we owe so much. b

george, we'll get to those breaking new developments on the growing mass of hacking of so many high-profile people their allegedly private information posted online. now new names are emerging this morning. pierre thomas the latest on the investigation. good morning, pierre. >> reporter: good morning, robin. if some of these high-profile people really have been hacked we all should be very concerned. this morning, the sinister looking website has the full attention of the secret service and the fbi. after the hackers behind it claimed to have michelle obama's social security number and credit report. in an exclusive interview president obama would not say whether the posted information is authentic. but told george authorities are trying to find out what happened. >> we should not be surprised that if you've got hackers who want to dig in and devote a lot of resources, that they can access people's private information. it is a big problem. >> right into the white house? >> again, i am not confirming that that's what happened. you've got websites out there that sell people's credit cards. >> reporter: private security analysts say the theft of such information can create havoc. >> if they have your cre

thomas collins of toronto will be the next man to swear the oath. there's also real concern that the vatican machinery needs to be fixed. >> george, we're just going toave about to start on nbc. >> lester holt in rome. you're watching nbc live coverage of the election of the pope. these are the 115 voting cardinals who are inside the sistine chapel now each taking the oath, putting their hand on the bible, and taking the oath before they begin the process of electing the next leader of the roman catholic church, the next pope. and we're waiting for -- this is cardinal dolan of new york. >> jovial, charismatic, some of the words used to describe cardinal dolan. we noted earlier, kind of discounted himself, his own candidacy. let's quickly go to anne thompson on saint peter square. anne? >> lester, i'm sorry. i can't hear you. >> what kind of reaction was -- >> you know, we've been -- lester, there was actually a cheer that went up here in the square when cardinal dolan took his oath. i guess if there was a popular vote here in st. peter's square, you have to give it to timothy dolan, the archbishop of new york. there are actually several groups of ame