and that's sort of what kurt did.but more than that, i came across hundreds of letters that kurt didn't know existed. he told me he didn't have any letters, that he had lost them at a fire in his studies and everything he had were at indiana university. those weren't personal letters. letters that i found were letters that he'd written to friends and friends had kept them for years because they were long, chatty letters. and i think kurt used to fall into his authorial voice by typing to friends, writing a letter to friends. my wife and i found letters that were written on the same day, two single-spaced pages of chat about how things were going at home and how difficult this book was and how broke he was, a common complaint. but in one of those letters in 1975 he says writing to jane, he says i have a recurring premonition, and it's that i'm going to be killed by a dog. so it was an odd end to a life, but strangely appropriate for a post-modernist who inserted himself into the literature, who took chances with the na

kurt was very bright and he had an appetite for science. i saw his high school report card he had a high iq and got an a-plus in physics, said he had the mental horsepower to go into science but he didn't want to go into science. when his parents forced him to go to cornell and to declare himself a science major, he did everything he could to pull against the trees is. the college newspaper became known as a mischief maker and a columnist. meanwhile his grades went south. when he realized he was way to be kicked out of cornell, he dropped out and enlisted in the army in 1944. as a private parents or heartbroken. they couldn't believe the police refuse to be one day country club in the family used to take dancing lessons on wednesday night and had gone to an ivy league college is now a private in the army carrying his pack and rifle. his mother left and his father said well at least i hope they teach you to be neat. they went off to the army and in 1944 he was about to shed overseas when he came home on mother's day to suppress his mother. h

i'm kurt kronke. now back to tony pann. >> thank you. good morning. temperatures are in the lower end of the teens this morning. the wind chills have dropped into the single digits. 19 in annapolis. 10 in frederick. 11 in taneytown. the wind is not like they were yesterday appeared there still a breeze coming out of the west. 14 at the airport. the wind is gusting up to eight or 9 miles per hour. that could drop the temperature down to 0. six in hagerstown. five in edgewood. that is what you want to dress for this morning. especially for the kids that have to stand out of the bus stop. we will see sunshine to start the day appeared there is a storm system moving in from the ohio valley. it doesn't have a lot of moisture. you can see the clouds moving to the east. it will turn mostly cloudy. there could be some snow flurries as it goes by tonight. we will start with sunshine. it will be cold with a high temperature between 30 and 35. most partly cloudy skies tonight and a chance for a few snow flurries

i'm kurt kronke. now back to ava marie. >> good morning. a much different flavor to today's forecast. yesterday we spent the day in the 30's. we're starting off with some fog. 34 at the airport. 35 in annapolis. it is warm for january. this is 10 to 15 degrees above normal for this time of year. we see fog. we have some snow on the ground. that helps to produce some fog. we have concern of dense fog up into about 9:00 a.m. visibility to be down to half a mile. watch out for that. we see sunshine into the afternoon and we have a mild start. helped by the westerly wind, looking for highs into the low 50's. normal highs for this time of year or in the 40's. a few clouds start to push back in. light northwest wind. those clouds will be coming in with the next storm. you can see the satellite is picking up the low clouds and fog. high pressure pushes in. our next storm system is moving into louisiana with heavy rain. a second piece of the storm that will have to keep our eye on. the seven-day forecast when we come back. we do expect the rain to

i am kurt kronke. now back to tony pann. >> good morning. we're off to a chilly start but it will be a warm day today. first we say good morning to ava marie. persius had enough of television news and is going into show business -- she has had enough. >> i'm channeling ava gabor. we're in a glen burnie. they are responsible for creating costumes for the traveling productions that comes through baltimore, including "fiddler on the roof." this is beautiful. this is from "42nd straight." i cannot imagine how many hours goes into these costumes. >> that constant would take between 60 and 80 hours -- that costume. >> you go to the entire concept. >> very neat. give us an idea of some of the productions you helped produce costumes for. >> "cats," "evita," "grease." we have some upcoming productions that are exciting. it is wonderful to get to see our work on stage here in baltimore. >> very exciting. people can rent these costumes. >> absolutely. we have full packages of shows with produced like "jesus christ superstar," "evita," "42nd street." so

i'm kurt kronke. now back to ava marie. >> thank you. good morning. we have a storm system over the area and that will bring some heavy rain showers to the next hour or so. right now the halfies of the rate is 4 anne arundel county and into baltimore county and lifting up towards cecil county -- right now the heaviest of the rain is in anne arundel county. the rain is tapering off from west to east as this moisture lives up to the east. showers will be ending early this morning. it will be a beautiful day. we're in the upper 40's right now. temperatures will be into the mid 50's. it looks like the last mile day we will see for quite some time. -- the last mild day. there is a front to our west. this cold front has brought the first significant snow to parts of the midwest. chicago has hardly seen any snow. very odd for this late in the season. some heavy gusty winds. the cold front will push in. 40's and 50's in the mid atlantic. that front passes by tonight. friday morning could be a bit slippery. temperatures fall into the weekend. light snow shower

i am kurt kronke. now back to tony pann. >> good morning.will check the seven-day forecast going into the weekend. first we say good morning to ava marie. she is helping us get our cars winterized. >> we know that winter has arrived in technically but we have not seen the worst of the weather. now is a good time to get your car ready. we're talking about winterizing your car. the cold weather takes such an effect on your car. how does it impact your car? >> the cold weather affects all the metals and oils and it will not move until warms up. the batteries are the main problem that we have. a battery could be good yesterday and gone tomorrow. a here's a comparison between good battery and a bad battery. >> this battery came in yesterday. it was leaking and other was acid coming out of it. this is a sample of a brand new battery. clean terminals and fresh. there was corrosion on the old battery. >> that is the last thing you want in the cold weather, to not be able to start your car. >> this is a serpentine belt. if people neglect their belts,

i know that kurt actually likes to be in this room alone, but he likes all of us in other rooms, lily in the next room, me downstairs running around. in fact, very often over the years i know that if i'm out, or before lily was born or if she's out, when i come home, when he's been alone all day, he'll be sitting in the kitchen dining room reading or watching television and as i return, he very often will go up and write, because i think it's easier for him with someone in the house. i think newspaper people are like that. they like the sounds of the sitting room and everything going on around them. i think there are people who can write in an airport. i know you think of me totally as a photographer, but the writing i do, i too prefer to be in an environment where there's leiffer around me and not in a totally empty house because then i think it's totally empty. >> there's a picture of your husband in what appears to be like postcards. what is this? >> well, i've always had pictures published as postcards, usually single postcards that have been published over the years by photo foli

for that we go to kurt kronke of the mta system. good morning. >> good morning. a few delays on the buses this morning. 36 bus not stopping at washington boulevard because of construction. no delays on the penn, camden, and brunswick lines. light rail on schedule. the metro subway on time. a commuter bus in service near you. let the mta do the daily driving. call them at 410-500-4444. also on the internet at www.mta.maryland.gov. now back to tony pann. >> a chilly start for us. it will feel mild compared to yesterday. we head wind chills in the single digits yesterday. we are in the upper 20's and low 30's. 27 in jarrettsville. the wind is almost calm. we had some cloud cover move through last night. we saw some snow flurries. you can see the first one go by and now there's a weaker one following that up. it is trying to produce some snow flurries in a few areas. do not be surprised if you see a few snow flurries. you can see this system better. there goes the first one and here comes the second one. behind this one, the skies will

for that we go to kurt kronke of the mta system.ope you had a great weekend. >> thank you. we have a few delays. light rail has a 15-minute delay north and southbound. metro subway is on schedule. the 36 bus not stopping at washington boulevard and mine wrote because of construction. looking very good on the marc trains. no delays on the penn, camden, and brunswick lines. i'm kurt kronke. now back to ava marie. >> thank you. good morning. what a change in the weather patterns. we sought 60's on friday and saturday. friday and0's on saturday. into the 40's today. this is the moisture coming in ahead of our next series of storms. this will bring our rain chances today and later into the work week. a large area of high pressure in place including over the mid- atlantic. we have a series of storms along a stationary front. the first low passing into north carolina. these are going to march along the stationary boundary and continued to increase our chances for rain. dry. starting off the date dry. here's a look at the temperatures. seas

kurt was sitting with me in my office when his introduction came in. i read it and i just started to cry. i was so moved by his introduction. and he actually had noticed some of the things in the photographs that i hadn't. he himself has three desks. one where he answers his mail, a second where he actually writes his books, a third where he does his work for "the new yorker", which is very high tech with a computer and printer, and then he has a fourth office where he has a big cozy chair and he just sits in there reading books and reviewing them for "the new yorker" and the new york review of books. >> here is the picture. i guess this would be the computer picture. >> yes. it's been very satisfying to me to over the years, to have gone back revisiting authors, and really documenting their lives, documenting their children as they grow up. with updike, i just loved going to visit his mother on her birthday. i knew his mother was alive, that she had been a writer for "the new yorker" and she had published a novel, and i knew that john's son david was

nd kurt... to kkep the charactees around following their t-v graduation....urt... toll reporters last night... that won't happen. happen.now for theegood news... the show's creator ryan murphh says theee is a plan to ápotentiallyá bring those characters back to áálee.áso far it has been &pcomfirmed that rachel... played by lea michele... and colfer... will be back for season 4. brad pitt and an angelina jolii look-a-like are also making entertainment news this mornnng. brad pitt was spotted with a cane at weekend awards ceremony.according to people magazine... pitt says he hurt his a-c-l when he fell carrying his daughter down a hill.the 48-year old does not expect to need surgery but it could be a while before he can walk without the cane. ((:06 my name is lina sands... and ou look like?... i look like angelina jolie :13)) :13))and have you seen this? this video is taking the iiternet by storm... the girl in the video is spanish actress lina sands... who bears a huge resemblance to angelina jolie.ssnds says she would like to get work as jolie's double. get t

state department announced on thursday that assistant secretary of state kurt campbell and special representative glyn davies will co-host the meeting next tuesday in washington. japanese foreign ministry director general shiksuke sugiyama and south korea's top envoy lim sung-nam will attend the talks. diplomats are likely to confirm they will continue to seek cooperation from china, the north's closest ally. participants are also expected to discuss the resumption of the six-party talks on pyongyang's nuclear program. they're likely to consider how to pressure the north's new government to stop uranium enrichment immediately and they'll push the regime to accept inspectors from the international atomic energy agency. >>> a japanese government official held talks with pro democracy leader aung san suu kyi and expressed his government's interest to cooperate in myanmar's development projects. yukio edano expressed japan's policy for development in myanmar during a meeting in yangon on thursday. >> translator: japan plans to help stabilize your country's economy and improve the standard of living.

kurt anderson, thank you very much.ank you, amy. for a different angle, let's check in with j.b. smoove, j.b.? >> as you know, occupy wall street is the 99% versus the 1%, which is the rich, right? get out here and find out what percent rich person out there to borrow money. you rich, you rich? you rich? how about you, what do you do, what do you do? what do you do? >> cut sweets. >> what do you do? >> private banking. >> she does private banking, i need to borrow $100,000 and carson daly will pay you back. pay this lady back. >> he found the banker, of all people, he found the banker. thank you, j.b. let's pause our countdown and turn it over to jimmy fallon who put his own twist on a holiday countdown classic, jimmy? ♪ ♪ one thing that happened in 2011 was charlie sheen lost his freaking mind ♪ ♪ the second thing that happened in 2011, republicans running for president and charlie sheen lost his freaking mind ♪ ♪ another thing that happened in 2011, royal wedding fever ♪ ♪ republicans running for president ♪ ♪ and cha

analyst for time magazine, kurt andersen and author and host of 260 and service employees national union, now at columbia university brett stevens from washington my political partner al hunt of bloomberg news, i am pleased to have all of them here, an interesting group of people to talk about, this may be the first big speech for the president for the coming political year as they thinks what the country is and where it ought to go. al hunt, your assessment? >> charlie as you know i have seen a lot of these, usually a state of union speech is about 70 percent political in a reelection year it is about 90 percent this was 99.5 percent political. i thought it was way too long, i don't think he is -- he is more inspirational speaker than bill clinton but not as entertaining a speaker as bill clinton, clinton can get away with a longer speech better than obama could, however i think he set smart predicates for the election and i think interestably the tax issue which has favored republicans in almost every election for the last 30 plus years, ihink this time the republican party has moved s

for that we go to kurt kronke of the mta system. good morning. >> we have on the light rail 15 to 20 minute delay. on time service on the penn, camden, and brunswick lines. the 27 and 50's is diverting at roland park way. the 36 bus not stopping at washington and monroe. now back to ava marie. >> good morning. a new storm system on the way. we will see some changes after this moves through. the storm system is down to the south. you can see showers in arkansas and missouri and up into west virginia. lots of shades of green, yellow, and orange. that is rain. this is a mild storm and mostly a rain event. we could be mentioning the s- word as we get into the seven- day forecast. 23 in frederick. 34 in gaithersburg. a few areas could start below the freezing mark. you may have to allow some extra time to defrost your car. it is a mild morning for january. we will have a hard time warming up this afternoon as clouds increase. rain arriving after 1:00 p.m., and it could be heavy at times to the evening hours. temperatures will get into th

for that we go to kurt kronke of the mta system. >> moving along nicely on the marc trains. metro subway on schedule. the 58 bus diverting at northern parkway. a diversion at lawrence. now back to john collins. good morning. >> looking at the doppler right now. circle the city and the beltway and you can see some rain shower activity. temperatures drop into the 30's north and west of the city. some sleet action is mixed in. this is the extent of it. wind and temperatures will be the big weather feature. yesterday was wonderful. 61 at the inner harbor. we're a bit colder at this stage of the game. 42 in annapolis. the cold front is on the delmarva peninsula. we're beginning to see the temperatures fall back. here's the satellite image. this is the last batch of rain. some snow mixed in. we could see a flurry mixed in. a lot of cold air is moving in. we will see some snow off to the northwest. strong wind bring in that cold air. some afternoon flurries. gusting to 40. temperatures will be fairly steady. it will feel like the 20's at t

for that we go to kurt kronke of the mta system. good morning. >> good morning.ng good so far on the mta systems. on time service on the penn, camden, and brunswick lines. light rail on schedule. metro subway on time. the 36 bus is not stopping at washington boulevard because of construction. now back to ava marie. >> good morning. smooth sailing as we head into the weekend. know whether issues out there. it will get very warm -- no w eather issues out there. we should be -- we will see a mixture of clouds and sunshine today. that will help those temperatures. not a bad starts to the day. temperatures across the state -- 29 at the airport. 36 at the inner harbor. 30 in college park. in western maryland, not bad in open, 36. any sunshine we do get will continue to warm those temperatures. the wind is coming out of the southwest. a little breezy. hancock.ght in hong ta the wind will not be a big factor this morning. what you see on the thermometer is basically what it will feel like. 58 degrees is the high temperature in baltimore. 68 in southern maryland. it will

look for kurt -- look for on air and on line. >> rick perry is taking another getting on in virginia primary ballots. appealing a federal to idea andsal three other candidates. rick perry, rick santorum, jon it gingrich of enough signatures to on the ballot. law, absentee ballots have to ready by this weekend. >> we have new video from bad outside therobbery walmart. video. surveillance you can see a masked gunman up and grabbing a bad of from a security guard. police say two suspects fled in about $90,000.th the ban was later found at a farm. the suspects are still at large. >> honoring the legacy of dr. martin mr. king jr.. from days of services to of remembrance, people are around the country are remembering the civil-rights icon. president obama painted by dr.ons made famous king. nationalve at the memorialther king jr. more. >> the events at the new already dropped out. the people. taking part inn projects all day long in honor of dr. king. the personal attributes are touching ofmost all. >> it is the first time i have gotten into this whole experience. >> this woman says the em

(kurt) 15:18:27 we will take responsiblity if it is ours but we want to find out what's going on and... their... water bill.../ goes... unpaid...// for... at.../ least.../ 9--months...//// ááandáá is... over .../ 350 dollars. crews suspend the search for survivors on a cruise ship that wrecked off the italian coast last week... leaving 111 dead and two dozen missing. missing. the search was stopped because the ship moved... making it too dangerous for divers.experts worry it could slip under water even more. the costa concordia slammed into a reef after veering dangerously close to shore. ...and now... there are worries about getting half a million gallons of fuel off the ship clini says: "now we are working in order to plan the start of the operations ii the next 12 hours and to continue to work in 10 days - two weeks." weeks." this might not be the first time it 3 happened... satellite records show it deviated from its course last year. that time it was just 250 yards off the coast... that's even closer than last week's crash. the captain gave an excuse today for abandoning ship wh

that tracey watson and kirk franklin did, kurt's strikes were within departmental policy. where they were supposed to be. they did not number more than he needed to do in order to gain compliance. >> but lawyers for the immigrants say the video clearly shows they offered no resistance. >> we're talking about a five foot woman who weighed about 95 pounds and a man who was 5'5", 5'6", weighed 150 pounds, had already been subdued. the officers who beat and apprehended these two persons, not only acted excessively with great cruelty but were totally unrestrained in what they had done. >> as a result of the beating and the videotape, the two deputies are suspended. but after an internal investigation, franklin is reinstated, though watson is fired. the victims file a $10 million lawsuit against riverside county, california. but the case never gets to a jury. the two sides decide to settle and each of the victims receives $370,000. all because the actions of two policemen were caught on tape. >> i think without this videotape, it would have been very, very difficult to convince

. >> ah, old kurt. kurt is a good brother, man. he's a gentle giant.brought a lot of balance into my life. we've been cellies for almost two years. >> straud never imagined he'd have a cell matte. he used to be housed on indian's death row, living alone in his cell, awaiting execution. >> i'm in prison for three counts of murder, three counts of robbery, and two counts of dealing in cocaine. i spent three years on death row. >> went on a robbery. a $500,000 score. it was a residence, a safe. three people, three innocent people ended up losing their life when they didn't have to. they didn't deserve to. >> stroud's victims were contractors, working at the home stroud and his accomplices robbed. stroud ordered the men tied up, then shot each in the head with a pistol. >> when i first walked on death row, the thing that hit me first was the silence, the absolutely silence. walking on there was like the type of silence that takes you in. the type of silence that's listening to you, watching your every move to see how you're going to respond to it. i came o

. >> kurt needs work. bring back growing pains. >> he is the real hero. the movement spread to other cities like washington, d.c. an actual city. >> there is a proposal to take the streets versus to keep it on the sidewalk. i think this is a question -- >> explain the legalitys. >> we don't have the numbers to table the streets. >> we do have the numbers. i have been in protests which have taken the streets with far less people. start on the streets and if you don't feel comfortable we can go back on the sidewalk. there is no reason not to take the streets. >> christian glover. communication was is key. >> there are seven basic hand signals. the first of which is twinkles and this is to show agreance with something. the second is down twinkles which is to show that you disagree with something that was said. >> you know he is a pet sit. >>> and all along helping us make sense of it, spidercat. >> spiter cat always had the right idea. p.a.b., the big story is how the media in my opinion soft peddled the story. they ridiculed the tee tea party for being cran

he holds the kurt world record for eating hot dogs. 69 of them in ten minutes. >> we need to send himcids. >>> for some of you, your local news is next. -one. -two. -three. -one. two. three. one. -two. -three. -one. -two. -three. [ male announcer ] with the bankamericard cash rewards credit card, earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time. 2% back on groceries. and 3% back on gas. automatically. no hoops to jump through. -it's as easy as...1. -two. -three. [ male announcer ] 1, 2, 3 percent cash back for the things you buy most. the bankamericard cash rewards card. apply online or at a bank of america near you. but not your wrinkles? neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair. its retinol formula visibly reduces wrinkles in just one week. why wait if you don't have to. neutrogena®. why hershey's air delight. to. experience light and airy, melty bubbles. made from pure, delicious hershey's milk chocolate. hershey's air delight. >>> welcome back to "america this morning." your top stories overnight. we learned how much mitt romney earned in 2010. nearly $22 million. donating about $3 million to cha

kurt gregory, nbc news. >>> elsewhere, the death toll is now 11 from that grounded luxury liner off theoast of italy. it could go higher. in a dramatic audiotape, the captain, who is facing criminal charges, was ordered to go back to the ship he abandoned friday night. two dozen people are still missing. yet, this morning the search has been suspended due to movement of the ship. michelle kosinski followed the course of yesterday's dramatic events. >> reporter: a loud blast mid-day was not an accident. but the fastest way inside the concordia's hull. this video was shot by divers urgently making their way through holes they punched. then deep inside, the murky silence that friday night was the start of a vacation. they hammered their way through the dim maze of rooms under 30 feet of water at times, searching for victims. as the search continued, the ship's captain was in court charged with manslaughter, causing the wreck, abandoning ship, which an audio recording now reveals. in a heated phone conversation from off the ship friday night a few hours after the accident with furious port

kurt is here. shannon is with farm table. that is another great new entity that is coming on market street. coerce, mohammed as -- of course mohammed as i mentioned earlier. zandesky is here as well. all of the arts organizations, whoer going to spend hours not only in the mornings, but in the evenings activating our market street. one of the things i did when i had our campaign office here, we did pop-up art. we did these things that occurred in the evening. i would like this place to be not only safe -- to be so safe that evening activities would be a freight welcome. i want to thank our chief. he has been a great partner. i want to thank our academy for training our ambassadors. now without adieu, we are going to start walking down our great corridor, introducing all of our wonderful ambassadors to the existing, new businesses, and forthcoming businesses that they need to know by first name . thank you very much.>> the righs to vote for candidates or party and it is a significant way to have our voice heard. exactly 100 ye

. >> thank you again for the opportunity to speak today, my name is kurte singa, -- krute singa, andarket indicate the the community advisory committee. -- market and octavia community advisory committee. i am interested in involving and prioritizing community involvement projects. and in particular, multi-modal access projects. creating housing stock that is affordable, and funding strategies for community improvement. what i bring to the community is over 10 years' professional experience in urban planning and multi-modal transportation. establishing projects that improve pedestrian, bicycle, and transit access closely tied to land use and economic development. i am currently a working for the san francisco department of the environment where i manage to commute transportation programs and outreach. my experience isn't limited to transportation -- including access to basic amenities, services, schools, and open spaces. on a personal level, i grew up in san francisco and lived in the neighborhood for the past seven years. i am committed to providing improvement to san francisco and

>> kurt landgraf: no, i don't believe it is. >> stewart: kurt landgraf is president of the educational testing service, which administers the test for the college board and is responsible for s.a.t. test security. >> landgraf: this is not a common occurrence. >> stewart: how many impersonations did e.t.s. discover last year? >> landgraf: about 150. >> stewart: but in reality, that's the 150 you know about. that doesn't mean there were only 150 impersonations. >> landgraf: absolutely. >> stewart: landgraf says, according to their data, of the three million students who take the s.a.t. every year, more than 99% do so honestly. his organization spends $11 million on s.a.t. test security annually. do you know how many times sam eshaghoff took the s.a.t.? >> landgraf: actually, i don't. >> stewart: 16 times. does that surprise you? >> landgraf: no. >> stewart: that he was able to get by your proctors 16 times? >> landgraf: well, if he had an i.d. with his picture on it and a name-- and the registration document had that name on it-- he could get in, sure. no, unfortunately, it doesn't surpr

i am here to speak to k on behalfrute -- on behalf of kurte rute singa. she has taken the lead on getting information out to 22 of our schools which has involved a ton of stakeholder meetings, she has managed that out -- and to manage a team of adult helpers of god and helped people sign up for that. she is also a transportation planner and understands the issues around making our communities safer. what she has done for the school program i would love to see her do for the market area which is not only her home, but my home as well. supervisor kim: i heard that you just got appointed to something. >> i am a board member for the san francisco bicycle coalition. supervisor kim: congratulations. it is there any other public comment at this time? mr. eicher? >> my name is tim eicher.. i wanted to say a few words in report -- in support of dennis richards. the thing i have been really impressed with the best is that he is very passionate about land use issues, but he brings a very balanced approach to that. he is not an obstructionist. his approach is to work

assistant secretary of state kurt campbell met thursday in seoul with the top south korean envoy and other senior officials. campbell spoke after the meeting and referred to talks he had wednesday in beijing with members of the chinese government. >> we also urge china to make clear the importance of restraint by the new north korean leadership. we stressed that north korea should take steps to improve relations with the r.o.k. and to abide by its international obligations and commitments. >> campbell said that he and his south korean counterpart have confirmed the countries will remain tightly aligned. he noted secretary of state hillary clinton will meet in washington in the near future with foreign minister king song kwon. he added he hopes senior officials from japan, south korea and the united states can continue to meet to maintain a united stance on north korea. >> south korean government making modifications to the way it deals with this northern neighbor. unification minister says his country will take a flexible stance in attempts to foster a dialogue and keep the korean pe

assistant secretary of state kurt campbell is the highest level u.s.l to visit the region since the death of north korean leader kim jong-il campbell met separately with china's vice foreign ministers in beijing on wednesday. campbell spoke with reporters after the meetings. >> north korea, i think the united states and china share strong determination to maintain peace and stability. >> campbell told the ministers that the u.s. wants to continue to exchange views with china about north korea. another u.s. official said that china wants to monitor the progress of the new north korean leader, kim jong-un. nhk's correspondent in beijing says that china is exercising caution to avoid provoking north korea. >>> pro-democracy activists in myanmar are saying the number of political prisoners released by the government so far falls short of what western countries had expected. the pro-democracy activists say at least 33 short-term prisoners have been freed, far fewer than the more than 1,000 prisoners the united states and european nations have set as a condi

assistance secretary of state kurt campbell is the highest level u.s. official to visit the region since the death of a north korean leader kim jong-il. campbell met separately with chinese vice foreign minister zhang zhijun and cui tiankai in beijing on wednesday. campbell spoke with reporters after the meetings. >> on north korea, i think the united states and china share strong determination to maintain peace and stability. >> campbell told the ministers at the u.s. wants to continue to exchange views with china about north korea. another u.s. official said that china wants to monitor the progress of the new north korean leader, kim jong-un. nhk's correspondent in beijing says that china is exercising caution to avoid provoking north korea. >>> mitt romney is a step closer to becoming the leader of the u.s. republican party. and he got there thanks to eight votes. the former massachusetts governor came out on top in the gop's first contest to pick their candidate for november's presidential elections, squeaking past former senator rick santorum to wi

kurt is here. shannon is with farm table. that is another great new entity that is coming on market street. coerce, mohammed as -- of course mohammed as i mentioned earlier. zandesky is here as well. all of the arts organizations, whoer going to spend hours not only in the mornings, but

assistant secretary of state, kurt campbell, will be the first senior american to visit since the death of kim jong il. campbell will meet with counterparts in china, south korea and japan. he's in charge of u.s./east asian and pacific affairs. and he's expected to urge china to use its influence with north korea to prevent possible confusion under new leader, kim jong un. campbell will then head to south korea and japan to discuss a range of issues with senior officials. he will meet with senior japanese officials on friday, to discuss north korea's nuclear program. and its abductions of japanese nationals. >>> north korean agents abducted japanese citizens more than 30 years ago. the whereabouts of at least 12 people remain unknown. their families hoped the transfer of power following kim jong il's death would bring about a resolution. but a new report by the korean central news agency says the north no longer recognizes the issue. it's the first time state-run media have commented on japan since kim jong il's son, kim jong un, took charge of the reclusive nation. the report also says