>> right spent is there a lot of trade between lebanon -- how would you describe lebanon's economy? >> it's going to take up to saturday because the lebanese economy is really very difficult to describe the nominally it's an open capitalist economy, but the kinds of networks and crony network, that exist in lebanon, turned this kind of seemingly open economy into peacetime and created the situation where is there difficult to move up, hence, many lebanese, many young men and women end up leaving the country to find jobs elsewhere. you see them in various places in the country is very small. so lebanese, the lebanese economy actually provided syria with the gate to the world in the 1980s. that ted was a two-way gate. so you will get those who are not actually sold to the market officials are lebanon in the 1980s, then provide these goods to certain layer of the population, the upper layer. then in the 1990s when the trade routes were more open, lebanon continued to be one of the ways that this took place. but in the '80s lebanon, turkey where the two places where the legal trade -- t

creating the shiite crescent iran iraq the syrian government under side which is shaky and hezbollah in lebanon and that a lion's is the united states is hoping to bring it down and wants regime change in syria and iran and wants to get rid of his mullah so it has politicized to a large extent a sunni shiite struggle with saudi arabia and turkey being the two pillars that increasingly egypt the pillars of a sunni arab world against against increasingly iran and iraq move it what do you think about that and is it a good strategy is it going to work. well no it's not going to work because by alienating iran from this equation they're making a lot of problems for themselves precisely in iraq because as renal. previously was much more willing to compromise with the americans than he is now so no this strategy by the you was continuing to alienate the shiites in the middle east which was one of the main policies of the of the bush administration and this policy of alienating the shiites in the middle east has effectively led to a sort of the goal is ation of the shiites in iraq. he was to a certain

is weighing down the neighboring countries and lebanon is fragile jordan we've seen demonstrate. it's fragile iraq is still unsettled with a war going on between sunnis and shiites in iraq so and it has it has increased sectarian tensions in turkey shiites particularly amongst the heterodox communities the isle of eason the alawite to different shiite inflected groups are very distressed where they are of this policy of supporting the muslim brotherhood in syria so it has increased tensions but i don't think the middle east is going to collapse although syria the future of syria looks very bleak today that is for sure and it's going to be a constant engine stoking this religion this religious tensions only if i go back here in washington all of the borders were designed by western powers after the first world war are we seeing a redrawing of borders in a way i mean maybe not officially but i mean because of populations and sectarian beliefs and some ways we're seeing the system being undermined not necessarily by the united states or the west but by the realities on the ground fo

what happened in lebanon -- if left to themselves, lebanon -- which is another sad story -- they might have been able to compromise and come together as they did on a number of occasion before re '7s and '80s, and work things out somehow. find some sort of system and muddle through this. but as they say in real estate, location is everything. and lebanon being between syria and israel, and of course syria itself being on the border of israel, lebanon, iraq, south of turkey, you're not going to be -- you cannot be the switzerland over the middle east. are going to have outside influences which usually exacerbate the situation and lengthen the time of the civil war. >> and so let's talk a little bit now, shifting the perspective, to the personal connections that you have to the house of assad. i would love for you to give us a good feel for, who is this man who is the president and how did he change over the time that you've known him? seems like there was a definitive time around 2005-2006 that you say he shifted. please walk us through that. >> again, i first started meeting with presi

we all know the hit of lebanon. what a tragic troubled history the last 30 to 23 years.st now have had a period of quiet. they could be destabilized again, so it means really it is in the interests of the united states and of other countries to see as quick an end to the civil war as possible. that would, a for the united states recognizing the syrian opposition, the national council and argue for the united states doing more to try to help the rebel alliance, it would argue for us working with turkey as nato decided to do today, led by the united states to say we will put patriot missile batteries into turkey and i don't know if we seeing the end of the syrian war but we could be entering a phase of dynamic change and i don't think assad can hold on too much longer. >>trace: are you saying that lebanon, really, is versus sentible to being sucked into this whole thing? >>guest: well, it is. syria has played a major role, almost always unhelpful, always unhelpful, the last 30 years, and syria occupied lebanon for self decades and, of course, some of the sectarian problems

the south of the country this museum in the south of lebanon is designed to display has been claimed military prowess captured israeli tanks and weapons are meant to be a reminder of the danger has blown. this is the only hezbollah tunnel now open to visitors but a network of secret passageways just like this one stretches across lebanon they're used to move fighters and weapons across the country ensuring that hezbollah stands ready to strike at a moment's notice lucy caffein of r t southern lebanon and that was one my stories from a reporting trip to lebanon well in britain those unlucky enough to be spending christmas in hospital have some worrying facts to contend with on line world court on the revelations of years of neglect as well as mistreatment of the u.k. patients some of them even reportedly starving to death. last looks like there's trouble or to whom we explain why tourists won't be able to pay a personal tribute to lennon for quite some time. the final result in egypt's divisive constitutional referendum is expected to be announced on tuesday but the country's oppositi

thousands of families have escaped across the border to lebanon. the united nations estimates more than 126,000 registered syria refugees there. but getting away from the fighting can be a terrifying experience. >> at a time millions of children are playing with new toys but these children do not. but they do have the natural creativity. she would like to join in the games but she was paralyzed when the syrian army attacked her house. the shrapnel that pierced her spine also took away her ability to speak. her mother was killed. she is now being looked after by her aunt. machine've got to this to try to stimulate her leg and back. doctors say it is too early for surgery on her spine but they believe she may have a chance to be cured. >> there are hundreds of families here with a harrowing stories of the ski. her mother and father were terrified of being caught by the syrian army. the fear was so profound they made the decision no parent should ever have to live with. >> we were 1400 men, women, and children fleeing by night on ford. you're the bord

the south of the country this museum in the south of lebanon is designed to display has been proclaimed military prowess captured israeli tanks and weapons are meant to be a reminder of the danger has blocked compose. this is the only has the tunnel now open to visitors but a network of secret passageways just like this one stretches across lebanon they're used to move fighters and weapons across the country and showing that hezbollah stands ready to strike at a moment's notice lucy caffein of r t southern lebanon. all right well as promised artie's full interview with russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov starts in just a couple of minutes stay with us. flying north with me in this old soviet work course of the holocaust is dr vladimir brodsky and his team from the region's medical aviation service we head across ever more barren tundra higher and higher into russia's arctic far north until eventually we see our landing spot with arrive at this tiny village after crossing hundreds of kilometers of snow we will do this as a boy here suffering from fever and the doctors are going to se

the south of the country this museum in the south of lebanon is designed to display has been proclaimed military prowess captured israeli tanks and weapons are meant to be a reminder of the danger has a lot can pose provoke. the tunnel and open to visitors but a network of secret passageways just like this one stretches across lebanon they're used to move fighters and weapons across the country and showing that hezbollah stands ready to strike at a moment's notice lucy caffein of our southern lebanon. underworld update now an afghan police woman has shot dead a us security advisor at police headquarters in kabul the afghan officer was the man before shooting him this according to a senior police official it's not to be the first time that a female officer has killed about nato forces the type of incident raises questions about the state of afghan security when troops finally withdraw at the end of two thousand and fourteen. is the most fighters have destroyed the last muslims in the ancient city of timbuktu in the north of mali the answer d n a group who claims responsibility say that t

i fought in the lebanon war. i was quite involved in the lebanon war. i served in the israeli paratroopers. i was in the israeli special forces. >> what year? >> june 1982. wars in the middle east occurred in june, almost to the day. it's probably a good war- fighting weather. i was among the first forces to -- of israeli forces to enter the city of beirut in june 1982. my actual unit was decimated in an ambush and we ended up being attached to all sorts of other units for the duration of the war. later on, i became one of the few israelis to be a veteran of the gulf war. in a period just before the outbreak of the gulf war, i was assigned as a strategic liaison between the army and the u.s. fleet. in the book, i went out that israel had repeatedly requested in 1967, precisely such a liaison with the sixth fleet. the u.s. denied the request. in subsequent years, the united states gave to the request and i was the liaison. it was an interesting job. i went out and partied a lot with american pilots on leave in israel. we had a few maneuvers on the ground

catherine off went to lebanon discover what the militant group hezbollah got up and sleeve a red line should be drawn right here the line beyond which lies war with iran that in yahoo would like to be able to communicate to the world that the israelis are ready which he has to attack and that it will be done with the full support of the united states threat or bluff whatever the case and the tap it all but guarantee our rapid response from another nemesis of the jewish state has moema . the lebanese shia paramilitary group has evolved from a ragtag militia to a military and political heavyweight it's part of the so-called axis of resistance against israel referring to the as lions between hezbollah hamas syria and iran and according to has been was leader hassan nasrallah both israel and the united states would suffer a retaliation to any strike against tehran but. the response would not be limited to the israeli entity u.s. military bases in the entire region will serve as targets. so if israel targets in iran even by itself that. america will be held accountable for this death. isra

the south of the country this museum in the south of lebanon is designed to display has been proclaimed military prowess captured israeli tanks and weapons are meant to be a reminder of the danger has block impose. this is the only has the tunnel now open to visitors but a network of secret passageways just like this one stretches across lebanon they're used to move fighters and weapons across the country and showing that hezbollah stands ready to strike at a moment's notice lucy caffein of r t southern lebanon. time for a world update now an afghan police woman has shot dead a us security advisor at the police headquarters in kabul the female officer had walked up to the victim as he left her shop in the heavily guarded compound firing at him with a pistol she's now in custody is thought to be the first time that a woman had carried out what are called green on blue insider attacks hours earlier a policeman shot five of those colleagues in the northern part of the country such killings have left more than sixty people dead this year alone. is the most fighters claim to be to have destr

the south of the country this museum in the south of lebanon is designed to display has been proclaimed military prowess captured israeli tanks and weapons are meant to be a reminder of the danger has blown compose. this is the only hezbollah tunnel now open to visitors but a network of secret passageways just like this one stretches across lebanon they're used to move fighters and weapons across the country and showing that hezbollah stands ready to strike at a moment's notice lucy caffein of r t southern lebanon. well moving on we might have made it through the mayan end of the world and one piece but there's a lot more people out there who are nervous about the next day twenty everything to come to an end but are to dot com details of how and when of the world could turn to dust. also for you monkey business the future of this patsy and loping around the toronto carpark doesn't look so rosy if you can find out what happened to him online again that web site for you r t v dot com. egypt is set to announce the final results of the referendum on a new constitution after early tallies su

the south of the country this museum in the south of lebanon is designed to display has been proclaimed military prowess captured israeli tanks and weapons are meant to be a reminder of the danger has been composed. this is the only has the tunnel now open to visitors but our network of secret passageways just like this one stretches across lebanon they're used to move fighters and weapons across the country ensuring that has a blast and ready to strike at a moment's notice lucy caffein of r t southern lebanon more world news tonight afghan police woman shot dead a u.s. security advisor at the police headquarters in kabul the female officer walked up to the very same as he left the shop in a heavily guarded compound firing out with a pistol she is now in custody it's thought to be the first time a woman is carried out what are called green on blue insider attacks so it was earlier a policeman shot five of his colleagues in northern afghanistan such killings have left more than sixty people dead this year alone. two volunteer firefighters have been shot dead and two others wounded were t

southern lebanon. well time for a world update we begin of ghana stand where an afghan police woman has shot dead a u.s. security adviser at the police headquarters in kabul the female officer had walked up to the victim as he left a shop in the heavily guarded compound firing at him with a pistol she is now considered to be in custody now this is thought to be the first time that a woman had carried out what are called blue insider attacks hours earlier a police man had shot five of us colleagues in the north and afghanistan such killings have left more than sixty people dead this year alone. the most fighters claim to have destroyed the remaining muslims in the ancient city of to two in northern mali the rebels say that they are defending the purity of their faith against the people worshipping idols locals believe that is in retaliation to the un back military operation to take back the islamist controlled north. so. meanwhile a red alerts been issued in chile made fears of a volcano on the border w

over but what you have inside lebanon is hezbollah.tentially, potentially for some of our enemies to get involved in this situation. tell me what that might look like. >> well, harris what we know is that hezbollah has already had training camps inside syria. and has been receiving its help from iran through syria. so there is a nexus and an easy pathway between lebanon, hezbollah, syria, the regime in syria and iran. now, it's our understanding that even the iranians are not in favor of the assad regime using these chemical weapons. so this is something that is really almost unthinkable that a regime would weapon nice saran gas and would appear to be making preparations to use those weapons that is what has people concerned in washington tonight. it is a red line as you said but there is very little that the u.s. can do to stop the assad regime because if, as we mentioned, this saran gas urengs, once it is mixed it has to be used within a certain number of days. within 60 days. this puts the obama administration in a very difficult po

the south of the country this museum in the south of lebanon is designed to display has been cleaned military prowess captured israeli tanks and weapons are meant to be a reminder of the danger has blocked and. this is the only has tunnel now open to visitors but a network of secret passageways just like this one stretches across lebanon they're used to move fighters and weapons across the country ensuring that has been lost and ready to strike at a moment's notice lucy catherine of r t southern lebanon. position cries fraud after a referendum on egypt's draft constitution early results suggest they have islam as charter has been approved but many claim that could only be possible with massive voter a game. plan but the question is it's love the guns as the chorus for tougher weapons control gets louder in the wake of the connecticut school massacre. that's later but now for many at this time of year it seems is the size of your wallet that dictates how much festive fun you'll enjoy but while shops are reaping the benefits of a commercial boost elderly people in the u.k. surviving on

the south of the country this museum in the south of lebanon is designed to display has been proclaimed military prowess captured israeli tanks and weapons are meant to be a reminder of the danger has block imposed. this is the only has tunnel now open to visitors but a network of secret passageways just like this one stretches across lebanon they're used to move fighters and weapons across the country and sharing that has been lost and ready to strike at a moment's notice lucy caffein of r t southern lebanon for many at this time of year it seems it's the size of your wallet that dictates how much festive fun you'll enjoy but while shops are reaping the benefits of a commercial boost elderly people in the u.k. surviving on their pensions are left priced out of christmas spirit oh she's going to walk out takes up the story. you better watch. better not santa claus is coming to town and the shops are ready for that annual customer onslaught eighty two year old lady isn't in the festive spirit she's worried that she can't afford to be anything other than a scrooge this christmas. and let

ensuring that hezbollah stands ready to strike at a moment's notice lucy caffein of r t southern lebanon opposition cries for want after referendum in egypt's draft constitution the results of having its limits charter has been approved but many claim that could only be possible with massive vote rigging. the market question as it's love the chorus for tougher weapons control gets louder in the wake of the connecticut school massacre. for many of this time of year is the size of your wallet that dictates how much festive funny you will enjoy it while the shops are reaping the benefits of a commercial boost today people in the u.k. surviving on their pensions on their priced out of christmas spirit. takes up the story. better watch your brother not santa claus is coming to town and the shops are ready for the annual customer onslaught but eighty two year old lady isn't in the festive spirit she's worried that she can't afford to be anything other than a scrooge this christmas. the only under the family is enough to live on which it isn't but we bail. there's a water right that. that order

southern lebanon for many of this time of year it seems as the size of your wallet dictates how much rest of fun you'll enjoy but while shops are reaping the benefits of a commercial boost elderly people in the u.k. surviving on their pensions are left priced out of christmas spirit all things point to point out of the story. better not santa claus is coming to town and the shops are ready for that annual customer onslaught eighty two year old lady isn't in the festive spirit she's worried that she can't afford to be anything other than a scrooge this christmas. and the family is enough. now. as the water why that. take out that order things are now. be a pension person here inside of you bob then and after most energy firms hiked prices as the winter months set in liddy and people like her face a colder darker festive season according to our new boiler don't play on in the bedroom still in the evening to wilna bedroom. so now there are no if there's a big bill now that sounds like with a rose or something and it had there been enough money to cover it. that is a while right yeah yea

at israel from within lebanon. hezbollah is a force against the syrian people. s if long past time for the e.u. and other and its members to join the u.s. and others in condemning hezbollah. i would like the e.u. as resip yevents of the noble peace prize to wake up. the u.s. designated hezbollah as a terrorist organization in the 1990's. canada and the netherlands and australia also list them as a terrorist organization. failure to recognize and designating hezbollah acow lous it to continue to evade law enforcement and it endangers the people of europe. hezbollah cannot claim to be a legitimate political party or provider of social services when it refuses to abandon its terrorist agenda. the united states and e.u. must be united in our fight against hezbollah. h.res. 834 urges the e.u. member states to designate hezbollah as a terrorist organization and preventing them from using europe for funding or training, and asking the e.u. to impose sanctions on the his -- on hezbollah. and it urges our president to suppo

several thousands are estimated to live crossed into lebanon since the start of the conflict.amilies brought their children to attend christmas carnival's. christian churches have arranged gift for all and have started to give aid to the families. >> we have received 420 families that came here suddenly. it is tough, but god making things easy. >> it is clear that the amount of aid is not enough, and it is a challenge to reach everyone. iman is a mother of five. she came from aleppo with her husband and children, and they live in a cramped space for 2000 dollars a month. >> yesterday, we started talking, and they said this was not like what we know. things are tough over here. >> as christmas celebrations go on, and others try to enjoy it to the fullest, she tried to keep putting smiles on faces. >> two firefighters in new york have been killed and two others injured after being ambushed by a convicted killer. they were lured by a fire started by the attacker, who committed suicide. >> firemen rushed to the scene to put out flames, but they are shot, with two dead and two seri

he went to lebanon, celebrated a mass just 80 kilometers from where the fighting was. it has been a very busy year. and he published the third volume of his study in jesus christ. >> last night on christmas eve, the pope made one, that caught a lot of people's eyes, which was about technology, quite critical comments about technology, which seemed quite a bit odd, given that he has only just started using twitter. >> he is not opposed to technology, as such. he is actually quite charming in his use of it -- for example, twitter. i think he is drawing attention to something that concerns a lot of people, not just catholics or christians, and that is that in the revolution, the information revolution that we are living through, the past 30 years or so, we are all of us experiencing the increasing pace of that revolution that is putting people in distress. we experience it has individuals with the phenomenon is burned -- phenomenon of burnout, which is virtually epidemic in the western world. of course, for society, it has a very serious repercussion, mainly that a societ

lebanon was in the midst of a bloody civil war. iran and iraq fought a gruesome war with over one million casualties. hezbollah attacked u.s. armed forces directly forcing a h humiliating withdrawal from lebanon. u.s. secrets were compromised. that was just in one decade. consider those days from israel's point of view. during the 1980s, jerusalem faced well arms regimes. no arab regime would speak openly about peace with israel. his chief tactic was terrorism. today the soviet union has collapsed, hussein is gone. israel has grown to become a regional military super power. it's defense budget is larger now than that of all its neighbors put together. it's advantages put it in another league. the palestinian authority confirms israel's existence and works with it regularly. it faces the combined opposition of the secular arab states. there's a broader contest for regional power. turkey has economic and military power but it also has growing regional clout. egypt is the natural leader of the arab world but it's not in a position to

we've seen fighting between the shiah and sunni in lebanon. jordan is terrified.hey have 1 0,000 refugees and not the infrastructure to take care of them. gwen: a story which seems to be getting worse. thank you, everyone. the conversation has to end on air, but well continue online, where well talk some more about another problem spot for the u.s. -- egypt. and while youre on line be sure to see what else our panelists are reporting on, including todays supreme court decision to hear a challenge to californias gay marriage law. you can find that in our essential reads section at pbs.org/washingtonweek. keep up with daily developments with me over at the pbs newshour, and well see you again next week on washington week. good night. and happy hanukkah, everybody. >> funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> this rock has never stood still. since 1875 we've been there for our clients through good times and bad. when their needs changed we were there to meet them. through the years from insurance to investment management from real estate to retirement soluti

countries in the region and it's likely to take on more sectarian more ideological confrontation lebanon is a very fragile country a country of money. groups jordan is another candidate turkey is also vulnerable because it faces tensions with itself and its likely to take more sectarian more ideological confrontation and this is on top of that we are likely to see more and more of the regional powers drawn into this conflict as we are seeing international powers have been drawn into it as well. the you as a brave the chinese style inmate a neighbor on its soil with one of the spending tens of millions of dollars in law being tricked along here. you can tell an ordinary russian siberian in the blink of an. anthropologist. those days siberians were different clothes different food. different animals but what about. my journey began into men but the big city was all shiny all funded skyscrapers and shopping malls much like any other prosperous russian. so i decided to. a small town just outside. dumplings came from here to dominate the russian cuisine but only in siberia. with cabbage and j

. >>> but first, lebanon levy is the newest tough guy in town. this story is wild. inside the "amish mafia." yeah, amish mafia. you're watching "world news now." >>> "world news now" weather brought to you by colonel penn life insurance. 3q lysol believes no toilet is complete, until it's completely clean. lysol toilet bowl cleaner gives you maximum coverage from the rim down to the water line to kill 99.9% of germs. and removes stains better than clorox toilet bowl cleaner with bleach. so if you want to do the whole job, lysol's got you covered. lysol. mission for health. and for an incredibly clean and fresh bowl with every flush, try the no mess automatic toilet bowl cleaner. ♪ ♪ i woke up this morning, got myself a gun ♪ >>> man, i miss that show. >>> man, i miss that show. one of my favorites. >> you wouldn't think that tony sparano had much in common with an amish farmer, but a reality tv show claims they're not so different after all. >> "amish mafia" follows a group of men who impose law and order on an amish community in lancaster, pennsylvania. yeah, i jus

lebanon was in the midst of a bloody civil war. that engulfed itself and the palestinians and israel. iran and iraq fought a gruesome war with over one million casualties. hezbollah attacked u.s. armed forces directly forcing a humiliating withdrawal from lebanon. a cia station chief was tortured and killed, and u.s. secrets and interests compromised, and that was just in one decade. or consider those days from israel's point of view. during the 1980s, jerusalem faced well arms regimes. leading members of the rejectionist camp that launched permanent hostilities. no arab regime would speak openly about peace with israel. the official charter of the palestinian liberation organization called for replacement with a palestinian state. his chief tactic was terrorism. against israelis, europeans and americans. today the soviet union has collapsed, hussein is gone. syrian regime is teetering. israel has grown to become a regional military super power. it's defense budget is larger now than that of all its neighbors put together. its tech

a need for the lands of the virus forces out to be in syria and in the neighboring countries like lebanon the one. quoting the turkish the position his position which is. dictated also by the need to offer up financial support for the gulf region especially saudi arabia and its allies in the region for the public and that this explains why that is the activity of turkey to syria even the biggest of these parts of the silence from the top goes into this direction most probably these will look to come to in the hands of the quagmire in the cd with a sort of human intervention in their position force may be led by the u.s. a sort that would be peacekeeping operation upon boyd's so that if you do you think turkey is trying to emerge as a new powerhouse in the region and they've already approached nato as you say for more supporting clearing a patriot missiles even definitely yes this is the. aspiration of iran he wants to place turkey is a key. regional. tree but these can be achieved without a compromise between the interests of the u.s. and russia to be solicitor for today he is very import

syria continues to spread further afield the fighting between those and against assad killing six and lebanon middle east expert dr adam and really the whole region is now in the gulf in the center and. the danger of what's happening in syria is that we are seeing increased emphasis. identity's sectarian war. and this is likely to spread this is the danger of the syrian equation that we are likely to see an escalation of the tensions and we are likely to see brad this confrontation to other countries in the region and it's going likely to take on more sectarian more ideological confrontation lebanon is a very fragile country a country of money. groups jordan is another candidate turkey is also vulnerable because it faces tensions with itself and it's growing likely to take more sectarian more ideological confrontation and this is on top of that we are likely to see more and more of the regional powers drawn into this conflict as we are seeing international powers have been drawn into it as well. as bree's a chinese style inmate labor scheme on its own soil will tell you about going to prison

after lebanon there the north was bombarded and we went to see the places they had struck those peoplehad gone to jerusalem or somewhere else. their living in the shelter for a month. people say it is a slice of new jersey. everybody has a relative. not like america. this is everybody's problem. the phone starts ringing and recently we have sirens in jerusalem for the first time in 30 years. you find yourself to say should i take a shower or not? [laughter] do i sleep in my normal pajamas? i'll have to be with my neighbors in the us -- bomb shelter. but that is the consciousness. the status of war is the ongoing threat and a state of consciousness but also a way no matter what. they don't just sit around and worry but they have dinner. what it sums up. >> with the misconceptions of what life is like with a city in the north of israel standing in the rubble of city hall. >> guest: those ever in shelters were upset. they wanted it finished. they said we will live there for three months if that is the end of it. but they burn the trees and we plan to 100 trees. we prepare. it will be the

some some cases with the exception of jordan, either cool pieces or hostile in the case of syria and lebanon. but they were controlled by basically nonreligious dictators. now we have dictators as you're seeing more doing in egypt, dictating a new constitution. but now you have sharia law and radical islamists who have a thee logical reason to go after the state of israel. this is a much more dangerous world and barack obama is responsible for it. because he engendered this movement by throwing mubarak under the bus -- >> perhaps you're overstating how much influence he had over being able to keep the previous pharaoh in power in egypt. what would you do about syria at this point that looks to be a regime on the brink of something and not a lot of great options? >> that's the problem. you asked me the question because of the policies of this administration we have two horrible options. which horrible option do you want to take? do you want a dictator alied with iran bg

and i expect fighting in lebanon, just across the border is also going to break out. and you may have a situation where you have sunni/shiaa conflict in syria and lebanon and iraq, stretching from baghdad to beirut. and if you have these many sectarian groups fighting, in pockets, various places it will be very dangerous to cover. >> richard engel, you are so >>> at 9:30 eastern, americans stopped to remember the women and children lost a week ago to a mass murderer's bullets. not long after that, the man who made sure that the shooter was equipped with the tools of mass murder, made a speech in washington that did not include a single word of apology. there is no chance, no chance, that wayne lapierre will choose to say what is best for the country or our children. >> since when did the gun become a bad word? >> the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun. >> is a good guy with the gun. >> it is the good guys against the bad guys and everyone should have a gun. >> the nra embarrassed itself. >> very haunting and disturbing. >> basically we are all targets. >> and

. -- city of lebanon. sunni muslims car the prevalent population and prevalent rebel group. there's been periodic combat there between sunni gunmen and people who are part of the sect. the resident, a think, 14 or 15 people killed. -- there has been, i think, 14 or 15 people killed. the has been battles up there. it feels like a mirror image of syria right now. host: are u.s. intelligence officials or military leaders talking to these circassian rebel groups? is there a line of communication-- syrian rebel groups? is there a line of communication with these potential leaders? caller: it is a little bit unclear who is a moderate. the range of fighters goes from very conservative islamic to groups that are like al qaeda. it is not clear who exactly the americans are trying to deal with. they want to deal with defectors. there are defectors coming from the secular military. once you're in the country, it feels clear these defectors do not have much power, and the rebels are largely fragmented and respond to local commanders who tend to be from their towns and neighborhoods. i t

others say like invading lebanon wasn't the smartest move in the world.here would you put hagel on that one? >> i think where chuck hagel got in trouble was one remark where he referred to the jewish lobby

and i expect fighting in lebanon, just across the border is also going to break out. and you may have a swears where you have sunni/shiaa conflict in syria and lebanon and iraq, stretching from baghdad to beirut. and if you have these many sectarian groups fighting, in pockets, various places it will be very dangerous to cover. >> richard engel, you are so capable of covering this, more than almost anybody, it makes me worry about the prospect of covering these things close up. but more than anything, i'm grateful you're back. >> thanks. >> now you have to stay here and become a dentist, a doctor. all right, that will do it for us tonight. now it is time for "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell. >>> at 9:30 eastern, americans stopped to remember the women and children lost a week ago to a mass murderer's bullets. not long after that, the man who made sure that the shooter was equipped with the tools of mass murder, made a speech in washington that did not include a single word of apology. there is no chance, no chance, that wayne lapierre will choose to say what is

to say the kingdom is like a cedar of lebanon, everyone would yawn, say, "of course." "it's like a mustard seed." "what's going on here?" >> either people will tend to focus on jesus as some sort of social reformer, or as an apocalyptic firebrand preaching a coming kingdom of god on earth. and yet, it must be recognized that those are very different images, very different kinds of individuals, and yet both are reflected within the gospel's tradition. >> narrator: he may have preached social change. he may have preached a new kingdom on earth. either way, jesus was bound to find himself in conflict with the roman authorities. >> the core of jesus' preaching is the kingdomf god. and the difficulty for us is to hear that term as 100% political and 100% religious. not one, not the other. in the first century, those were inextricably intertwined. the kingdom, if you used that expression in the first century, would... meant the roman kingdom. it meant the roman empire. when you talked about the kingdom of god and were somehow setting it up in some tension with the roman empi

one of the problems in syria was a problem in lebanon.er parts of the middle east, is that these conflicts are extended and continued by outside actions, in effect proxy wars being fought by neighbors who pour arms and money into the region. right now iran is pouring millions of dollars in a lot of people and arms into syria to prop up assad's regime. governments are doing it on the other side. i think that the regime will fall. i think there's going to be a very long and difficult internal struggle for governance after that occurs, and we should be preparing the ground, as i think the administration is trying to do, for a unified opposition force that will bring about change peacefully after assad's regime falls, but i repeat, direct american military intervention in my judgment will not solve the problem and will entangle us yet further in conflicts in far-flung countries where it's very difficult to sustain support in this country. >> and from what i understand, you've actually met with president assad in the past. what is your sense o

the new cardinals came from colombia, india, lebanon, nigeria, the philippines and the u.s. the full college of cardinals remains heavily european. >>> charities, including several religious groups, reportedly raised at least $10 million online in one day this week, as part of an effort called giving tuesday. organizers encouraged people to donate or volunteer on that day as an antidote to the consumerism of so-called "black friday" and "cyber monday." according to the center on philanthropy at indiana university, charitable giving in the u.s. overall was up in 2011 by nearly 4%. giving had fallen off because of the recession, but it began coming back in 2010. gifts to religious groups in 2011 remained the largest single category, but religious giving d decline a little. at the same time, giving to the arts, culture and the humanities last year was estimated to be have gone up slightly. >>> it's said that the disabled in this country can often have a hard time finding and then feeling welcome in a typical house of worship. but lucky severson reports on congregations that are