so the first indochina war. they declared independence in 1945. but declaring independence is one thing. getting it is something completely different. in february of 1946, the french return. they want to reassert control over their former colonies. in december of 1946, the viet men, they staged their first attacks against the french. and this launches an eight-year war. the communists are driven out of hanoi in the initial fighting. and then the communists withdraw into the mountainous region north of hanoi. in october of 1947, the french launched an extremely large operation called "operation lea." and they're trying to clean the communists out of this area. they hammer the communists really hard, but they have bases to fall back on and they have in some respects sanctuaries in china certainly to draw support from. in february of 1950, the head of the vietnamese communist military force, general jiap, he begins converting the guerrilla army they had built into a regular army. they begin mounting a series of successful attacks against bases and so

there's a little bit of historical background about french indochina. the french in 1858, they left the vietnamese emperor in place to control internal affairs. in 1919, the paris peace

meanwhile, heavy thundershowers and strong winds are continuing in indochina and south coast of china. up to 100 millimeters of rain in the next 24 hours. 22 degrees in hong kong. rain continues into tomorrow. 22 in taipei, and cooling to single digits in seoul with 9 degrees. tokyo, cooling down by about 6 degrees. heading to the americas, severe thunderstorms are still pounding across much of the southeastern u.s., including augusta, where the masters golf tournament is taking place. the threat of severe thunderstorms, large hail, damaging winds and tornados will continue overnight. but by friday morning, evening i should say, the system will move out to sea. we're expecting dry conditions over the weekend. out towards the west, there's a slow moving winter storm producing lots of heavy snow across, particularly montana, saskatchew saskatchewan, northern alberta. blizzard warnings posted for much of montana and warnings will be in effect into saturday morning. so until then upwards of 60 centimeters of snow is expected here. but back behind it getting dryer in seattle with a high of

here in the indochina paparazzi as well, skirting across is scattered showers as well as rumbles of thunderd be continuous for the rest of the work week. 34 degrees for a temperature. tokyo reaching up to 19 degrees with lots of sunny spells for us. and seoul at 10 degrees. shanghai up to 24, so warm here in china. let's head over to the americas and talk about this very severe storm system that is passing through the gulf states. really slowly, as of yesterday, well, we had 18 tornado reports. concentrated in this eastern texas region. we have a video coming out from dallas, texas. in lancaster, texas, south of dallas-ft. worth, a powerful tornado brought widespread devastation. you can see here houses are completely destroyed. about 300 buildings, including these houses were destroyed as the tornado tore through the countryside just south of dallas. some buildings welcome back flattened to the foundation while semis were tossed like toys in the sky in the wind storm. now, if we pull back, we can tell you that the severe thunderstorm will be moving across much of this region, towards the o

as for indochina, we see spots of heavier rain here tooshgs, too. you can see the oranges extending into northern myanmar and bangkok at 39 degrees for the high on friday and, in fact many cities across thailand are posting temperatures exceeding the 40 degree mark. into north america, we have a storm out of the west. it's spilling into the southeast and bringing with it widespread rain, mountain snow as well as some severe weather. the wors of th storm today are going to be found here across the northern into the central plains. tornadoes not out of the question. you'll probably see large hail with that as well. now, out towards the northeast, things are still pretty fairly wintry today. a mix of snow and rain for parts of new england, and you can see half a meter of fresh snow in eastern quebec as well. as that system pushes out, it will be drier and clearer behind. the lower temperatures remain. toronto, the high is 8 degrees on friday but your friday into saturday overnight comes down to about minus 4. back down below zero once again. having sai

down towards the indochina peninsula, because of daytime heating and remnants of a tropical storm, thunderstorms are still developing here. as for the americas, we can see this triangle-shaped cloud here indicating very active weather is still going on. as many of you know, lots of tornadoes touched down in texas and hail the size of a baseball have been reported. and on thursday, the threat will slowly shift towards the lower great lakes region, i should say, the lower deep south region, including augusta where the masters golf tournament is taking place. the risks of severe thunderstorms, large hail, damaging wind and even tornadoes will continue here throughout thursday. and now towards the west, there's a -- there are a couple low pressure systems bringing wet and windy conditions across much of the western portion of the u.s. and western canada. as much as 15 centimeters of snow is possible in alberta over the next 24 hours. as for the highs, staying in the single digits in vancouver as well as seattle, but to the south, heat is hanging on. getting up to 29 in houston and 32 degrees in miam

things are starting to get a bit more active across indochina as well. rather than any heavy rain or large systems here, it's a very, very hot period at the moment. and we'll see lots of pop-up thunderstorms. that's accounting for most of this. bangkok today looking for 39 degrees. another scorching day. and many cities are experiencing temperatures past the 40 degree mark. extreme hot to the south. 28 degrees in hong kong. we're seeing the warm spread up to beijing. 24 degrees. however, things are dipping back down just above the freezing point for our high today. 2 degrees. as we head out into north america, we have some severe weather erupting just south of the great lakes through the midwest during your overnight hours wednesday into thursday. so this is where it's going to be around this low. and you can expect strong winds with this as well as large hail and the potential for tornadoes. now, the good news is it's going to be weakening off as it heads towards the east. then gusty showers up through the northeast and into new england, eastern canada

meanwhile, heavy thunderstorms take place across indochina. it's very, very hot here, and that's really helping to cause some instability in the air. for those showers to come down during the heat of the day, up towards the north we have a low pressu system that was producing some snow for mongolia. still, very chilly in much of mongolia. however, towards the northeast rather than snow but some fairly gusty conditions with that small low moving through as well. into north america. things are very split. we have this large system coming out of the west. south of it is going to be pretty warm. in fact, temperatures up above average, but to the north of it quite a different story. a snow will be moving in towards the northern plains, maybe as much as 10 centimeters for north dakota. also we see nasty storms coming out of that system as well through the central plains. out towards the northeast things are generally clearer. however, there is just this slow-moving system continuing to plow through the northeast, and you will still get wintry precip

meanwhile, mostly dry across much of china, but the southern indochina peninsula will continue to see a lot of rain because of the remnants of a tropical storm. the highs, 43 degrees in bangkok with thundershowers and gusty winds. 27 in hong kong and the same goes for taipei. seoul cooling down to 5 degrees which is 10 degrees lower than yesterday. tokyo coming in at 17 degrees because of lots of warm air coming in to the center of the storm system. now, as for the americas, a couple of low-pressure systems are producing heavy snow in central canada, and thundershowers in central u.s. severe weather in much of the plains and the lower mississippi valley will continue overnight. and the threat will likely continue in the southern plains into tomorrow and rain is going to be very intense. so watch out for flooding. and out toward the west, there is another powerful low pressure system moving into the west coast. that's going to produce staggering amounts of coastal rain and mountain snow across parts of british columbia, the pacific northeast and even northern california. as for the hig

down toward the south, mostly dry across the indochina peninsula, getting wetter down toward the malay peninsula. excuse me. it's going it be very hot, though, in bangkok. 39 degrees for the high. you'll definitely be seeing popup thunderstorms during the heat of the day. and that heat is going to be moving through in toward chongqing as well. 28 degrees. another hot day here. even up in toward beijing, 20 for the high. however, ulan bator is still under the influence of cool air. 4 degrees for the high here. much of western mongolia feeling that chill. north america, today, you're going to be seeing wet weather through b.c. again, showers starting to spread. you'll also be seeing popup thunderstorms in the intermountain west. just due to the instability of the air. getting a lot of warmth spreading up through the four corners. denver getting up to 30 degrees for the high today. not much going on in the center of the u.s. or down through much of mexico. however, that slow-moving storm system is impacting the northeast right now. over your overnight hours, still from virginia, west virg

heavy thunder showers are ongoing across much of the peninsula, indochina and the southern coast of china and an additional 100 millimeters is expected in the next 24 hours. it has been raining here over the past several days. the ground is already very well sach rated so the risk of flooding and landslides are very high. eastern china peninsula will stay dry and as for japan, a wintry mix is continuing in northern japan and the west coast of the country and heavy snow will continue in the northwestern portion of the nation into tomorrow. on the other hand, the southern half of japan will stay largely dry. i know many of you in tokyo are planning on cherry blossom screwing over the weekend. how about the weather? sunny with partly cloudy skies. but there's a chance of showers on your saturday afternoon. with a high of 12 degrees. so a little bit chilly on your saturday. but on sunday, it will be warming up to 14 degrees with precipitation-free weather with nice southerly winds. you'll feel much warmer than these actual numbers. moving over to the americas, a powerful storm is now starting

in the indochina peninsula, summer thunderstorms are passing through. the humid air is really enhanced over here. especially northern thailand already has seen 129 millimeters in the past 24 hours. this is likely to continue for the next several days. bangkok, 32 degrees temperaturewise. we're looking at shanghai, 22. taipei, 22. as well as in hong kong. ulan batur, 16 degrees, that's actually going to be warmer than what we see here in tokyo at 15 degrees on our friday. all right, let's head over to the americas. all eyes on georgia. we have the 2012 masters tournament at augusta. looks like on thursday this is round one day, we already have reports of par 3 competition that has been canceled on wednesday. but on thursday, very -- we'll see what happens here, but it is going to be stormy weather. very unfavorable for this tournament. on friday, things will be clearing up and we will see some sunshine. and saturday and sunday will be looking very favorable for this tournament. but as for thursday, still severe activity may be seen. and augusta is in thi

indochina peninsula looking at pop-up thunderstorms here, where we really need the precipitation is here in northern thailand. the temperatures are already up to about 40 degrees or even more in some regions. bangkok, a look at your temperatures, shaping up like this, 36. but tokyo we're looking at just 14 degrees. still cannot get rid of those coats yet on friday. let's head over to europe now. we have a system that will be pushing into finland, the low countries, and this system will be bringing us some few scattered thunderstormic activity which could accompany with hail and gusts. also here, battering the similar areas for over a week now, the italian peninsula and the balkans will be battered with few thunderstormic activity which could accompany with hail gusts and damaging winds and locally heavy rain too. but across much of the west and the central portions, still this system lingers over the british isles, bringing continuous wet and windy, unstable conditions. now, we are very concerned with the -- in and around london especially. london marathon is gaining popularity. 46,000 p

down toward southeast asia, the eastern half of the indochina peninsula will see seasonal showers, again, and similarly wet. but northern half of the philippines will stay dry. highs will be getting up to 35 trees in manila on friday. and 25 degrees in hong kong. moderate rain in taipei, with 27. another warm day for you in seoul with 21 and about 4 degrees lower than average in tokyo with a high of 15 degrees. now, moving over to the americas. a strong low-pressure system is approaching british columbia and the pacific northwest. starting to produce stormy conditions. but as the system pushes on through the east, it will dissipate quite quickly. then we have a larger low-pressure system over the central u.s., producing a mix of rain and snow in the lower great lakes. and severe weather, the threat of severe weather from iowa into northern texas. as the system pushes on through the east, snow is in the cards in southern ontario and quebec and severe weather in southern texas on your friday. the florida peninsula will see leftover showers into friday. the high is expected to be 28 degrees

vietnamese, french troops are fighting the last battle of a long war over what had been called french indochina. it's a strange three-corner struggle. non-communist vietnamese fighting communist vietnamese. and some of both fighting the french. by 1954, the inevitability of french defeat has become clear. hanoi in 1954 reflects the ravages of long and bitter warfare. but for now, the fighting is over. the french are leaving. the red star flies over hanoi, as the communist forces move in. at a conference in geneva, an agreement has been reached. it divides vietnam into north and south. turns over the north to the communists. and marks the end of french colonial rule. the agreement also provides the machinery for bringing true peace to vietnam if the communists act in good faith. this is a bright victory for the communist world and there are smiles. but not on the faces of the more than 1 million vietnamese who desert their homes and flee southward rather than live under a communist regime. in 1954, vietnam is divided at the 17th parallel, as korea was divided at the 38th. she faces the future wi

farther down towards the southeastern half of indochina looking a little unsettled. scattered thunderstorms and periods of heavy rain whereas the western half is looking dry and very hot. now into north america we go. we're still seeing the remnants of this storm. winter storm that moved across the northeast yesterday. in your overnight hours just now. and still seeing a bit of a wintry mix. i'll show you some of the pictures coming out of pennsylvania. to give you an idea of the kind of snow, the amount of snow we were seeing here, certainly enough to cause power outages to thousands of homes and also shut some schools. i'm sure the kids weren't too unhappy about that, but certainly some very significant snowfall this late on in the season. nearly into may now. it also brought very strong winds to ohio. this is lake erie. and you can see the waves just jumping out of the water there. some very impactful scenes altogether. now things are starting to clear up across the northeast today. but still eastern canada, you are dealing with that storm. a lot of it is going to

as for the indochina peninsula, once again, heavy rain showers across much of the peninsula. as for temperatures getting up to 36 degrees in bangkok with gusty winds. many of us should be dry with a high of 34. up towards north yongchang-xi where the launch is expected. sunny weather should return tomorrow. and tokyo getting up to 18 degrees. one degree lower than yesterday. now heang over to the americas, getting wet and windy across the west coast as the low pressure system moves in. heavy snow showers is expected in the mountains. up to 60 centimeters is on the cards in the southern sierras. meanwhile, heavy thundershowers are still going on across much of the southern plains particularly wet in northern texas. the threat of severe weather should continue throughout tuesday night. the reason is we've got warm air coming in from the south and that's going to collide with rm -- cool air from the north. so we have lots of freeze warnings and watches posted across much of the northeastern section of the u.s. highs will be going down to 10 degrees in chicago with the morning lo

and down towards the indochina peninsula, scattered thunderstorms again. as for the highs, getting up to 35 degrees in bangkok with gusty winds. 26 degrees in hong kong. and to the north, 12 degrees in seoul. tokyo looking at seasonal 15 degrees. now moving over to the americas, a couple of low pressure systems are still bringing heavy thundershowers to much of the eastern half of the u.s. severe weather in the lower great lakes region and parts of the south will continue overnight. in fact, several tornadoes were reported in texas on tuesday. as you can see, showers in the lower great lakes region will get clearer in the next 24 hours. however, the risk of severe weather will continue in the lower mississippi valley into wednesday. we are talking about severe thunderstorms. large hail, damaging winds and tornadoes are not out of the question. because the system has been moving very slowly, there is a potential for flooding here. and out towards the west, there is a potential, i should say, a very powerful low pressure system moving further inland over the

down towards the indochina peninsula, widespread scattered showers and rain will intensify across parts of cambodia as well as southern vietnam. moving on to the americas, things are getting wet and windy in the west. as a low pressure system moves in a the system will produce very heavy snow in the upper elevations. up to 60 centimeters of snow is on the cards in the southern sierras from wednesday into friday. meanwhile, active weather is still going on across the southern plains, particularly wet in northern texas. the threat of severe thunderstorms, large hail, damaging winds and even tornadoes will continue throughout tuesday night. the threat will be also spread into colorado and new mexico on your wednesday. meanwhile, the reason for this active weather is warmer air from the south will be colliding with cooler air from the north. so whereas the southern u.s. is experiencing dry -- warm conditions, lots of freeze warnings and watches have been posted for much of the northeastern u.s. highs will be 10 degrees on -- in chicago on your wednesday with morning low of minus 1. toronto,

seasonal thundershowers will develop across indochina and much of the peninsula. temperaturewise, 37 degrees in bangkok, and very dry with a high of 35 degrees and 27 in taip taipei. to the north, cooling with morning snow. now moving over to the americas. remaining very stormy across the southeast coast because of slow-moving low-pressure system which is not necessarily bad news for areas like southern georgia and northern florida because it's been dealing with serious drought conditions. up toward the north, snow in ontario, and showers in the lower great lakes region will move out. however, another system will be moving into that area, producing thundershowers on your thursday. and more active weather will develop from oklahoma into iowa. and out toward the west, another low-pressure system will be moving into british columbia and the pacific northwest. so things will turn wet and gusty once again. and to the south, very dry and actually temperatures are starting to rise. los angeles getting up to 26 degrees on your thursday. and temperatures will become even w

down towards southeast asia seasonal thundershowers developing in indochina and the melee pence-- malayeninsula. gusty winds and 25 in hong kong. seoul reaching the lower 20s and tokyo looking at a seasonal 19 degrees. now moving over to the americas the devastating storm which brought dozens of tornadoes are starting to move out of much of the eastern u.s. and canada. so things are starting to -- things are getti drier he but the exception is going to be the southeastern section of the u.s. although we are not seeing a threat of severe weather anymore. heavy rain and thunderstorms will continue all day wednesday across the eastern section of the deep south. up towards the north, a low pressure system producing a wintry mix will develop and produce snow in the great lakes region. on wednesday, up to 20 centimeters of snow is expected in ontario. and back behind it another low pressure system is moving into the rthwestern u.s. and western canada producing wet and windy day. temperaturewise, getting up to 13 degrees in seattle and 12 in vancouver. and out towards the east a low pressure s

staying very hot in indochina.s we head now into north america, a slow-moving storm system is bringing more snow across the northeast. now we're talking about west virginia up through new york state and into southeastern parts of ontario there. you could see another 30 centimeters of snow in some places into the next 24 hours. towards the east of the system, there's some warmer air coming in. that will turn to a mixture of rain and snow through much of new england. and then heavy rain for the canadian maritimes. accompanied as you can gather from this graphic by some very strong winds. now things are looking very settled across the rest of the continent. there are some showers moving along the u.s./canada border. the system coming in. also pop-up thunderstorms today. partly because of the surge of warmth reaching right up into central canada. the jet streams moving quite far north staying cooler out towards the east. this will change, though, as we head into wednesday. sagging down as the jet stream sags down to al

and lots of thunderstorms popping up across indochina as well. it's so hot here.angkok at about 39 degrees forecast high for today. in fact, many cities reporting temperatures exceeding 40 degrees. so there are warnings and watches for summer thunderstorms posted across thailand. we'll head now into north america. somewhere else that is dealing with severe weather today. severe thunderstorms. the midwest in your overnight hours, it is going to be still pretty severe. we've got the potential for large hail as well as tornadoes. and some very strong gusts. however, this is going to be easing off as it heads toward the east. still some heavy rain to come into the mid-atlantic but gusty showers up towards the northeast and into eastern canada. then another area of severe storms will develop from nebraska down into northern texas. you'll be getting a dose of the same. it's very, very hot here through the southeast. and in towards the northern plains. we've got this dome of high pressure allowing all of the heat to come up from the south. and temperatures are about 9 to

indochina peninsula, we'll see a bulk of very heavy rain moving across these areas. and summer thunderstorms are things to be watching out for the weekend. temperature, excuse me, let's skip the temperatures and move on to the americas. a few thunderstorms may be likely in the carolinas. but let's talk about georgia where the masters tournament is being held. as we speak, we already have seen some sunshine on friday with temperatures rehing 19 degrees. for saturday and for saturday and sunday, reaching up to 2 reaching up to 24, so what a nice golf weekend here in augusta, georgia. elsewhere here in the americas, and canada, all the way up towards saskatchewan, this is where snow could accumulate as much as 20 centimeters over the mountains. mixed precipit mixed precipitation in the north and then some few thunderstorms could be found with the associated cold front. but in behind that, very gusty conditions around colorado and eastern wyoming. and dry fuels, especially the low humidity, a great recipe for the fire risk. toward the great lakes region, a very different

. >> you say that nixon's indochina policy had a few short-term successes, but in the long run, turned into an abject failure. it seems to me that he had some short-term failures and it turned into a long-term success. he got us out of the war. vietnam has embarrassed the chinese, and vietnam has turned into a quasi capitalist country. and it seems to me that you said it backwards. >> hmmm. well, that's an interesting point. where were you when i was writing? i'm not -- i do not see vietnam as quasi capitalist or quasi democratic. they have been hoisted upon their own petard, as they say. they're -- if they reform themselves, a lot will have to do with the fact that they're a granddad -- owe sugar daddy, soviet union has collapsed, and there went a lot of their subsidies. so i'm not so much optimistic on that point. long-term, i tend to give more credit to ronald reagan for spending the soviet union into the ground. a lot of what nixon did depended upon him never getting caught doing little things like wiretapping the

they still want french indochina. but at this point they will back off from the very aggressive phase ii and concentrate more on guerrilla war and try to rebuild their infrastructure, units and lick their wounds for a little while. now, what is important for them to be able to do this, one of the things that makes them able to rebuild after this is the situation in cambodia. now, cambodia is important in this war particularly for the communists grew the longer the war went on. they began using cambodia as a base area in the late '50s and they benefited from the fact that the prince was pretty pliable, didn't have a great grip on the country. he decided he would appease hanoi. this didn't work out very well. the communists basically turned his country into a war zone as a result of it. and they eventually went to supporting the khmer rouge the home grown camera boed fighting against cianouk. yan communist. it becomes critical for communist supply efforts in south vietnam. now, in 1970, a general -- cambodian general ov

estimate in which they eventually went after but they had put in french indochina over 100,000 troops. it's really only one place to go from there and that is to go into thailand. estimate the other thing i know i wanted to ask but i forgot without one was. the other thing is i would strongly recommend any young people, and i'm sure you feel the same way who question the use of the atomic bomb. that the nature of the japanese fighting, the way they fought on hiroshima and okinawa which were both japanese soil. they were the soil of japan. but even in the okinawa, the indigenous people were not particularly loyal to the japanese, but the fighting was incredibly intense and that's how the extrapolate that how we might lose 1 million casualties in the invasion of japan. and was a very, very -- >> there's no doubt about it. estimate it would have been a fight back. >> one question over here. >> you mentioned that he was a scapegoat and you also mentioned that the admiral was the cno in 1941, yet the admiral was for most of the war. were their transitions and leadership that kind of the he

if you let one of these countries go, there will be a ripple effect, indochina first and then indonesia, the philippines. who knows, sometimes it would get positive that we would be fighting if we didn't fight and the philippines would be fighting in san francisco. it was that kind of hysteria. in retrospect, none of it was true but it was at the time. >> on the other side of the world there was a leader named huji men. who was he? >> she's a fascinating figure. and to answer your question briefly isn't possible because he made a point of mystifying people. he was only one of the many names he used, he was the son of a mandarin commander in however who disliked the french and said that it was an insult to the nationalism of the country. he became early on a communist and sometimes during the war antiwar faction in this country i think misguidedly tried to suggest he was in neutralist, a nationalist rather than an economist, but he was a committed communist. he was also very patient. and willing to wait out first the french and then the americans. it was a tragedy to him that he should b

estimate in which they eventually went after but they had put in french indochina over 100,000 troops. it's really only one place to go from there and that is to go into thailand. estimate the other thing i know i wanted to ask but i forgot without one was. the other thing is i would strongly recommend any young people, and i'm sure you feel the same way who question the use of the atomic bomb. that the nature of the japanese fighting, the way they fought on hiroshima and okinawa which were both japanese soil. they were the soil of japan. but even in the okinawa, the indigenous people were not particularly loyal to the japanese, but the fighting was incredibly intense and that's how the extrapolate that how we might lose 1 million casualties in the invasion of japan. and was a very, very -- >> there's no doubt about it. estimate it would have been a fight back. >> one question over here. >> you mentioned that he was a scapegoat and you also mentioned that the admiral was the cno in 1941, yet the admiral was for most of the war. were their transitions and leadership that kind of the he

the japanese had 50,000 troops in saigon vietnam something from french indochina to the philippines or singapore was an easy thing and fdr and general marshall have had the war department warned the bases to go on high alert. the problem is if i had an hour i could go over what happened at pearl harbor. it's a perfect storm of mistakes and everyone there believes they were in command of the win command with the attitude of it doesn't matter any way because we are really not going to be attacked so why bother and that is a very bad way to do it and other commanders had done that but it was 1932 were 34 or 36 and your commander in hawaii, you could have that attitude and you were fine and you could spend two years out in hawaii and not do a whole lot and who cares but in december of 1941, it was a very poor way to run things. i don't think fdr directly knew would be pearl harbor but he knew an attack was coming, and what i blame him for most is pearl harbor because he had given 1900 anti-aircraft guns to other countries and he given away hundreds of fighter planes and i will give the com

the japanese had 50,000 troops in saigon vietnam something from french indochina to the philippines or singapore was an easy thing and fdr and general marshall have had the war department warned the bases to go on high alert. the problem is if i had an hour i could go over what happened at pearl harbor. it's a perfect storm of mistakes and everyone there believes they were in command of the win command with the attitude of it doesn't matter any way because we are really not going to be attacked so why bother and that is a very bad way to do it and other commanders had done that but it was 1932 were 34 or 36 and your commander in hawaii, you could have that attitude and you were fine and you could spend two years out in hawaii and not do a whole lot and who cares but in december of 1941, it was a very poor way to run things. i don't think fdr directly knew would be pearl harbor but he knew an attack was coming, and what i blame him for most is pearl harbor because he had given 1900 anti-aircraft guns to other countries and he given away hundreds of fighter planes and i will give the com