benjamin netanyahu and mahmoud abbas will hold face-to-face talks on thursday. netanyahu will meet obama for preliminary talks on issues such as the status of jerusalem and jewish building of settlements on the west bank's. later, he met a palestinian leader. jordan's king and egypt ruler were also attending. the talks came after hamas gunmen shot dead four jewish settlers. funerals for the victims were held earlier wednesday. >>> the u.s. and israeli leaders condemned the killings but said they would not derail the talks in washington. >> the message should go out to hamas and everybody else who is taking credit for these heinous crimes that this is not going to stop us from not only ensuring that a secure israel but also securing a longer lasting peace in which people throughout the region can take a different course. >> i think that the president's statement as an expression of our desire to fight against this terror, and the talks we had, which werendeed open, oductive, serious in the quest for peace, also centered around the need to have security arrangemen

benjamin netanyahu and mahmoud abbas will hold face-to-face talks on thursday. netanyahu will meet obama for preliminary talks on issues such as the status of jerusalem and jewish building of settlements on the west bank's. later, he met a palestinian leader. jordan's king and egypt ruler were also attending. the talks came after hamas gunmen shot dead four jewish settlers. funerals for the victims were held earlier wednesday. >>> the u.s. and israeli leaders condemned the killings but said they would not derail the talks in washington. >> the message should go out to hamas and everybody else who is taking credit for these heinous crimes that this is not going to stop us from not only ensuring that a secure israel but also securing a longer lasting peace in which people throughout the region can take a different course. >> i think that the president's statement as an expression of our desire to fight against this terror, and the talks we had, which were indeed open, productive, serious in the quest for peace, also centered around the need to have security arrang

that is why prime minister netanyahu called upon mahmoud abbas to continue with these talks. >> ultimately, only their ongoing, and tense, and direct negotiations can we hope to build a better future. >> mahmoud abbas, the palestinian president who is on a visit to paris said he would pull out of peace talks if settlement building resumes. he has not walked away yet, even though he says settlements are incompatible with peace. >> week, the palestinians, will return to our leaders first so we can decide. we will not make any quick reactions and will not say yes or no. we need to study all of the results and consequences with palestinian leaders and also with the arab countries. >> palestinians protesting against the israeli occupation in the west bank over the weekend. many ordinary palestinians say their leaders have already given too much ground while not, at least publicly, getting any concessions from israel. the settlements and the 400,000 people live in them are just the first of several major obstacles that could derail negotiations at any stage. while american negotiators say there

president obama's middle east envoy george mitchell has held critical talks with mahmoud abbas to try to keep at the agreement with israel from collapsing. benjamin netanyahu meese to extend his partial freeze on settlement building. he has been to the west bank settlement. >> israel never froze settlements in occupied east jerusalem. this has gone on since march. construction can begin in the west bank. when israel captured the land in 1967, building settlements was about creating a new reality. the idea was that if issues were settled on the land, it would become politically impossible to return it to arab control. more than 40 years on, it is looking like a pretty successful strategy. history is against the american envoy, george mitchell. the palestinian president mahmoud abbas is deeply unhappy about israel not extending the partial settlement freeze. he is threatening to pull out. >> we are determined to continue. we are continuing our efforts to find common ground. >> on the way to his olive groves, a palestinian farmer said there would be nothing left to talk about if israel c

. >> the israeli prime minister netanyahu talking to president mahmoud abbas of the palestinian authoritymas claimed responsibility for killings in the west bank. abbas says the hamas has no right to represent palestinians back up these talks will be difficult. it is important for the united states to remain engaged. >> it will be important for the united states to recognize the difficult position in which netanyahu finds himself% not just because he has strong opposition to what he is trying to achieve in the peace talks, but because at issue, from my point of view, is that -- is israel's own future, its state. they are still in hostile territory. you have hamas who don't want to engage in peace talks. you have people in the region who would just as soon see israel wiped off the face of the earth. that is the reality. that is the neighborhood in which netanyahu finds himself. the united states has to be very careful that it does not weaken -- this will surprise many people -- they cannot weaken israel's position. israel is a very, very difficult position. >> for home does abbas speak? >>

the headlines -- hillary clinton has held talks with the palestinian leader, mahmoud abbas, in the push for a middle east peace deal. the settlement issue poses a massive challenge. the head of the roman catholic church, pope benedict xvi, has begun a four day visit to britain. we will stay with the pope and the united kingdom. we will bring you live pictures of pope benedict now. i assure you, the vehicle is on its way through the center of edinburgh, headed toward princes street. the pope has been received by clean elizabeth at the royal palace in edinburgh. he has met political leaders. he is now on his way to a lunch with the head of the catholic church in scotland cardinal are scott lind carnal o'brien. there are not huge crowds of people lining the streets. where people have seen the pope, many have been applauding and waving. i think you can see, the pope is ving back. there has been some discussion about the degree of enthusiasm that this visit has generated. we will be following this as the visit unfolds over the coming hours and days. away from pope benedict, it is time for bu

. >> reporter: but the palestinian president, mahmoud abbas demanded israeli government to freeze the settlement expansion and the future palestinian territory. >> reporter: meanwhile, in the series of incidents in the west bank, armed palestinians opened fire on jewish settlers. the attacks prompted israelis to voice their opposition to direct peace talks. the palestinian israeli group hamas has declared that it will continue attacks on jewish settlers in apparent attempt to block the peace process. on the first day of the direct talks, the two sides condemned the violence to civilians. they then agreed to meet every further details. in the past, u.s. administrations have failed in the attempt to mediate a middle east peace process. in addition to the different positions of the two sides, moves to disrupt the peace process have already come to light. the attention is focused on how determined the israelis and the palestinians are to reach a peace deal and how strong the u.s. leadership moving toward that goal. nhk world, washington. >> since taking office, u.s. president barack obama

the palestinian president mahmoud abbas has said an end to the freeze would mean an end to the peace talks now calling for a meeting of arab leaders next week. tara mergerner is in washington with more. good morning to you. >> good morning, terrell. with the freeze over israel's prime minister urging settlors to show restraint and responsibility, as u.s. mediators try to bridge the gap. the obama administration is racing to keep the mid east peace talks alive. >> we're at a pivotal juncture in that region. it's important for israel, it's important for the palestinians and we think it's essential that they keep on moving forward. >> reporter: israeli settlors cheered sunday as a ten-month freeze on settlement construction in the west bank came to an end. crews didn't waste time getting to work pouring the foundation of a new building but palestinian leaders have threatened to walk away from negotiations if construction resumes. president mahmoud abbas hasn't yet carried out that threat but said sunday there is only one choice, either the settlements or peace. over the weekend, secreta

. >> mahmoud abbas, a palestinian president, is on an official visit to paris. previously said he would pull out of peace talks if settlement-building prisons. he has not walked away yet, even though he says settlements are not compatible with peace. >> the palestinians will return to our leaders first so we can decide. we're not going to make any quick reactions. we will not say yes or no, we want or we do not want without studying the results or consequences with the palestinian leaders and the arab countries. >> palestinians are protesting against israeli occupation in the west bank over the weekend. many ordinary palestinians say their leaders have given too much ground while not publicly getting any concessions from israel. the settlements and the 400,000 people who live in them are the first of several major obstacles that could derail negotiations at any stage. while american negotiators say there is still hope for the talks to be saved, and a compromise agreed upon, time is running out. the bbc understands that, in the next couple of days, palestinian le

in a separate talk with palestinian president mahmoud you abbas, obama praised him for condemning the incident. they will resume direct talks on thursday for the first time in 20 months. obama wants an agreement within 12 months. but difference its over on the construction of jewish settlements and other issues are likely to weigh heavily on the upcoming negotiations. >>> three scesse bombs have blasted a shia muslim procession in eastern pakistan, killing at least 20 people and wounding more than 150. the explosions occurred in la hor on wednesday night as thousands of minority shias were marching through the city in memory of their historic leader. security authorities say they suspect suicide bombers in the crowd were to blame. sunni extremists are believed responsible for killing more than 80 people in attacks in may. the target of the attacks was a minority group originating in india. >>> the leaders of jant japan ad the european union should begin negotiations to conclude an economic partnership agreement. japan's prime minister naoto kan met his spanish counterpart in tokyo on

. >>> palestinian president mahmoud abbas said he'll decide on whether to end peace talks with israel after discussing the situation with arab leaders last week. the discussion came after israeli leaders continued construction on the west bank sunday. the palestinian leader said the freeze on settlement building should be extended for at least three or four more months. abbas said he'll bring the matter to a meeting in cairo next week before coming to a decision. the move came despite ongoing peace talks mediated by the united states. sarkozy said he'll invite representatives to help push forward the peace process. >>> a japanese survivor for failure survivors said there was extensive radioactive fallout from the bikini atoll documents from the 1950s. they have conducted tests by the u.s. between march and may 1954. it says the radiation reached a wider area than previously confirmed, including african nations and pacific rim countries such as japan and the united states. after one it test in the atoll, a japanese fishing boat was hit with radiation. a fisherman in the boat died later

. >>> palestinian president mahmoud abbas says he will wait one week before deciding whether or not to quit middle east peace talks with israel. that development comes after the united states, france, england and england all expressed concern over the west bank. meahile, george mitchl has been sent to israel in hopes of breaking the problems in the negotiations. >>> it has literally never been hoert in california than it was yesterday. downtown l.a. hitting 113 deges breaking the all-time record of 112 set back in june 1990. the heat has led to tens of thousands of power outages. in e meantime, the dry conditions have firefighters on alert. today has been forecast to be another hot one, but no records are expected to be broken. now here is a look at other stories making news today in america. in texas, an elderly couple is dead after a fire broke out in an apartment complex. they were forced to retreat when live ammunition started going off. authoritiesre investigating the cause of the fire. >>> in south dakota, the annual roundup of a free roaming buffalo herd in the black hills custe

middle east peace talks with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and palestinianat president mahmoud abbas. although israel would not renew a partial building freeze in the west bank, it would not step up construction, either. >>> the u.s. government says it will not pay the prison bail for american hiker sarah shord. iran says it will release on health grounds in exchange for $500,000. earlier yesterday, shourd's family asked to have the bail reduced saying they couldn't afford it. >>> the cuban government says it's planning to lay off at least 500,000 workers in the next six months to help the country's struggling economy. analysts say it's the biggest private sector shift there since the 1959 revolution. >>> health officials are calling it a new global threat, a so-called super bug, thought to be resistant to every known antibiotic. three people who recently traveled to india. patients in massachusetts, indiana and illinois have been affected. >>> rescue workers in thailand are assessing the damage after a major flood caused roads to collapse. several bystanders were seen run to go safe

. >>> israeli prime minister and the palestinian president mahmoud abbas are still divided on the latest issues after ending their recent round of peace talks yesterday. the leaders met with secretary of state hillarylinton for two hours and agreed to continue negotiations, but there was no word on when they would meet again. >>> form ebay ceo meg whitman, the republican candidate for governor of california, now holds the record for personal spending on an election. earlier this week, she added another $15 million of her own money to her war chest, bricking her own total campaign donations to a saggering $119 million. >>> the nbc family is mourning the loss of edwin newman, a correspondent and host for the network for over 30 years. newman's family says the 91-year-old died o pneumonia in england last month. they delayed the announcement to grief. >>> the chance to fly into space on a commercia rocket that is developing. the spacecraft, which could carry up to seven people, is expected to be ready in five years, although boeing has not named an exact price. experts estimate that one roun

mahmoud abbas, the leader of the palestinians, is a good man. he want peace. he strong enough to deliver the palestinian people who i'm not sure want peace? that's a big issue. he represents a very divided populous that i'm not sure at the end of the day he's going to be strong enough to lead them the way sadat was or jordanian king hussein was, both of whom did make peace. >> larry: james, how do you see it? >> i think the important thing is for the united states to exercise its leadership role in the world and the world expects us to play a unique role in this area. the united states is the only country in the world that has and can exert influence on both the palestinians and the israelis. i think by pursuing and seeking this peace process, you do two things. one, when the leaders are meeting, when the process is ongoing, at least you improve the chances that there won't be a deterioration, another conflict won't result. and number two, we show the world that we're involved. and i think when we do that, when we're not just pursuing our national interest thr

host individual meetings with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and palestinian leader mahmoud abbas. tomorrow negotiations will be formally relaunched at a ceremony at the state department, the first direct talks in nearly two years. >>> and the white house is appealing to both sides to not let yesterday's shooting of four israelis derail the talk. the militant group hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. >>> a senior swedish prosecutor is reopening a rape investigation against wikileaks founder julian assange. a case dropped by a different prosecutor saying there was no evidence suggesting assange had raped a swedish woman who reported him to police. assange has denied any wrongdoing and claims he had been warned by australian intelligence of plans to discredit the whistleblower website. >>> a full week after the alaska prime air, lisa murkowski has conceded to joe miller. murkowski, who was over 1600 votes behind after election officials counted absentee ballots told supporters last night, quote, i don't see a scenario where we could win. miller, a little-known attorney was

mahmoud abbas said of the resumption of building would make talks a waste of time. prime minister netanyahu has refused to put a more -- extend the moratorium on building. >> preparing the ground for new homes in the community in the west bank. israel's moratorium had lasted 10 months and was a crucial element in bringing the palestinians back into negotiations with israelis. all eyes will be on what happens on the ground. shortly before the restrictions on construction ended, inside of the west bank they had ground for a day care center for children. settlers vowed that work would begin on 2000 homes across the west bank. there are around 300,000 settlers from the living there, as well as pro-settler coalition parties. the latest events are a direct challenge to the palestinian leader, who threatened to walk away if the moratorium was not extended. palestinians extended the message to the arab league. >> serious negotiations and settlement activity that should stop immediately. this is the only way to continue fruitful talks. >> the israeli government is urging the

president mahmoud abbas , you are my partner with peace. it is up to us with the help of our friends to conclude the agonizing conflict between our peoples and to afford them with new beginnings. >> we will spare no effort to work diligently to ensure that these negotiations achieve their goals in dealing with all of the issues, jerusalem, settlements, water, as well as the release of all our prisoners. in order to achieve peace, the people of our area are looking for peace that achieves freedom and justice to the palestinian people in their homeland. people have endured long standing and suffering. we want peace that will [unintelligible] one that brings security to our people, and we want peace that will give us peace from the region. our determination stems to a great extent from your willpower and your sweeping drive with which you engulf the entire world from the day you took office to set the party is on the path for peace. >> earlier we spoke to our washington correspondent and i asked him how progressive these talks will be. >> the

israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and mahmoud abbas will be meeting. both the u.s. and the u.n. have urged benjamin netanyahu to extend the stock beyond the deadline. -- extend a stop. >> construction work on new homes is already underway. recent reports suggest benjamin netanyahu has no plans to freeze all settlement building over the long term. local media are anticipating a new construction boma. >> there is no need for a partial freeze. there is no need for a total freeze. there is enough room for everyone to live peacefully. >> but not all israelis agree. some are critical of the inconsistent stance of the government. >> the settlers can do without approval of the government, and this is an issue note -- is an issue. >> the palestinians are ordering a total freeze on construction. >> edd least 13 people and killed in a plane crash in venezuela. -- at least 13 people. it was going to a resort area. there were 51 passengers and crew on board the state-run airline. officials say 43 people survived the crash. fresh classes in kashmir have claimed at least 16 lives

benjamin netanyahu and mahmoud abbas will now meet every two weeks in an effort to broker a mideast peace agreement. >>> dramatic video out of germany shows a hostage situation unfolding outside a gas station this week. police say the suspect threatened several people there before holding a knife to one hostage and trying to make his escape. the officer managed to subdue him with a taser. no one was seriously hurt. the spectacular's motive is still unclear. >>> a washington state woman was recovering after suffering severe burns when a stranger threw acid in her face. the 28-year-old held a press conference yesterday after undergoing the first of what are expected to be several surgeries. last night, police released a picture of a suspect described as an african-american woman with slicked back hair. >>> and a reminder to be careful about what you write on facebook. after posting the defendant was going to be found guilty before the verdict was read in court, a detroit woman was removed from a jury. she was also ordered to a pay a $250 fine and write a five-page essay about the constituti

. >>> palestinian president mahmoud abbas says he will wait at least one week before deciding whether or not to quit middle east peace talks with israel. that development comes after the united states, france, england and the united nations all expressed disappointment over israel's refusal to extend a 10-month building freeze on settlement construction in the west bank. meanwhile, george mitchell was sent to israel in hopes of breaking the stalemate in the peace negotiations. >>> the old saying might be it never rains in southern california, literally never hotter there than yesterday. downtown los angeles hit 113 degrees breaking the all-time record of 112 set in june, 1990. this led to tense of thousands of power outages, and the dry conditions have phi figfirefigh alert for fires. >>> making news "early today" in america, in texas, an elderly couple is dead and one firefighters recovering after a two alarm fire broke out in an apartment complex. forced to retreat when live ammunition started going off. authorities are investigating the cause of the fire. >>> in south dakota, the a

. >>> palestinian president mahmoud abbas says he will wait at least one week before deciding whether or not to quit middle east peace talks with israel. that development comes after the united states, france, england and the united nations all expressed disappointment over israel's refusal to extend a ten-month building freeze on settlement construction in the west bank. meanwhile, george mitchell has been sent to israel in hopes of breaking the stalemate in the peace negotiations. >>> the old saying maybe it never rains in southern california, but it has literally never been hotter there than it was yesterday. check this out. downtown l.a. hitting 113 degrees breaking the all-time record of 112 set back in june 1990. the heat has led to tens of thousands of power outages. in the meantime, the dry conditions have firefighters on alert. today has been forecast to be another hot one, but no records are expected to be broken. >>> now here is a look at other stories making news today in america. in texas, an elderly couple is dead and one firefighter recovering after a two-alarm fire bro

we got condemnation from moscow abbas. -- mark would abbas -- mahmoud abbas. he said there should be no bloodshed in the middle east. in these attacks against arabs, let us say, four israeli soldiers when they are defending themselves, he calls it in the airport attack. it seems like a minor point, but the so-called palestinian mentality does not look at this as an abhorrent act. host: let me give mr. levy is a chance to respond. guest: both president abbas and prime minister and the 10 yahoo! represent their own people, their own narratives -- netanyahu represent their own people, their own narratives. if something happens to palestinian civilians, as has past, the waysthe that he will express those casualties will be sympathetic, will be expressed from an israeli position. the israelis are concerned, number one. likewise, in a courageous condemnation from president abbas, he is still coming at this from a palestinian perspective. of course, a neutral observer can express equal empathy, but one cannot get that from the parties themselves. host: a tweet from a

palestinian president mahmoud abbas put it starkly. "the israelis have a choice, he said. they can have peace or they can have settlements." >> we're at a critical juncture in the region. it's important for israel. it's important for the palestinians. we think it's essential that they keep on moving forward, keep on talking, keep on trying to work through these issues. >> reporter: the israeli government had urged the settlers to show restraint while the desperate last-minute negotiations continued, and in a concession to the palestinians, they hinted there would be limits to any new construction allowed, but restraint is a tough sell on both sides in the west bank. >> palestinians have to choose between sitting down and talking peace with us and turning their backs on us and not having, missing yet another historic opportunity to reach peace. >> reporter: israel's prime minister netanyahu may have called for peace talks to continue, but the palestinians have already said they'll now take the settlement issue to a meeting of arab states. the first serious bump in the road

secretary clinton, benjamin netanyahu and palestinian president, mahmoud abbas, held a second scheduled meeting this afternoon but there's been no word of a breakthrough, abbass insistses that israel agree to extend a moratorium on new settlements that expire at the end of the month. clinton remains optimistic about the talks and says the time is ripe for an agreement on an independent palestinian state. >>> two suspects in the oakland killing of a virginia man here for a job interview have is pleaded not guilty. authorities say george huggins shot and killed 45-year-old gin hong kang after allegedly robbing him of just $17. investigators say the suspect's girlfriend,al thea house -- althea haasly, was not present. >>> this afternoon, the attorneys for the man accused of killing a bay area journalist will be in court to plead their case to move the trial to los angeles. yusef bey iv is accused of ordering a codefendant to gun dawn chancily bailey in oakland -- to gun down chancily bailey in oakland three years ago. they say the publicity prevent them from getting a fair trial. >>> a dra

and neither has mahmoud abbas.inians should have a right to return only to palestine and not flood israel, which i think is a non-starter. >> rose: that was a big hangup for yasser arafat, too. >> i think in a showdown they would accept that premise on restraint on palestinian right of return not to israel but to palestine. >> rose: so what do you think we ought to do about iran? >> well5n i think we need to kp pressure on iranÑi"r we need to open up communication with them in every way possible. we need to quit threatening them with attack because if they are moderate-- quote-- in the leadership of iran, say the religious leaders who are equivocal about whether to go nuclear or not, i think the thing that would make them go nuclear is for us to continue to threaten to attack them even with nuclear weapons either ustor israelis and not communicate with them. so i would communicate with them and stop threatening them. >> rose: i know people-- serious responsible people-- who have said to me over theÑi years jimy ca

and mahmoud abbas told the president of the united states, in fact he gave him a paper that includes the palestinian positions and in a sense he said if settlement activities resume after the 26th, it will be extremely difficult for me, probably impossible, to continue with the negotiations. the president promised him that he will work with the israelis quietly to reach an understanding and in the end they'll probably reach a vig, ambiguous understanding that will be susceptible to more than one interpretation to allow them go back. the interesting thing is that the second meeting after the one in sharm el-sheik in egypt will be at the end of this month which means two or three days after the expiration of that moratorium. >> woodruff: is there language they are working on to get around this moratorium coming to an end, daniel levy? >> we have to put this in context that the existing moratorium is not a moratorium the palestinians asked for, it's a compromise between the israeli side and the american side. east jerusalem has been given a carveout exemption. 3,000 units are already un

israeli prime minister benjamin netanhayu and palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas met facece in sharm el sheik, egypt, and in jerusalem. they were joined by secretary of state hilary clinton and her mideast envoy, george mitchell, who later fanned out for meetings in jordan and syria. the big diplomatic hurdle so far is whether the israelis will extend a temporary freeze on building new settlements. for an update on the talks, we go to glenn kessler of "the washington post," who returned with the secretary to washington early this morning.- elcome. and early means real early. >> yes, very rememberee. >> brown: welcome back. start with the moratorium on settlementsment it comes to an end at the end of the month. what is the situation now and what are the outstanding questions and where do things stand? >> the situation right now is that the moratorium has been in place for ten months. this is something that netanyahu placed under u.s. pressure. and the idea at the time was the talks would begin almost immediately and then after ten months, if they had been succeeding, the u.

israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and palestinian president mahmoud abbas are expected to meet today and tomorrow. topping their agenda will likely be the soon to retire restraints on new construction in the west bank. >>> stocks are mixed in asia, ashley morrison is here in new york with more on that. good morning to you. >> good morning, terrell. well, japan's nikkei index fell nearly a quarter of a percent today while hong kong's hang seng was higher by more than a percent in early trading. this morning, wall street gets the latest on retail sales. on monday stocks jumped with big banks leading the way. the dow gained 81 points while the nasdaq tacked on 43. senate democrats appear to have the votes to pass a bill creating a $30 billion government fund to help small banks open up lending to small businesses. a procedural vote is expected later on today. the fund will be available to community banks with less than $10 billion in assets. >>> well the summer driving season may be over, but gas prices are on the rise. the price for a gallon of regular has jumped four cents in ju

israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and palestinian president mahmoud abbas are set to relaunch direct peace talks at the state department in washington today after a nearly two-year hiatus. following a day of individual meetings with both leaders, president obama said yesterday he was "cautiously hopeful" about achieving a positive outcome. >>> new video out of chile shows improvements in the living quarters for 33 trapped miners a half mile under ground there. in the footage, the men, some of whom are clean-shaven, are seen receiving supplies of bottled water. it may take anywhere from two to four months to get the miners out. >>> and as they do every year, young men in el salvador threw flaming balls of fire at each other this week. does not look fun. it's all part of a festival meant to commemorate a volcanic eruption in 1922. despite the apparent dangers, authorities say few serious injuries have been reported over the years. >>> and now here's an early look at how wall street will open the day. the dow opens at 10,269 after gaining 254 points yesterday. the s&p rose 30 poi

. >>> israeli prime minister benjamin netyanhu and palestinian president mahmoud abbas are still divided on the latest issues after ending their recent round of peace talks in jerusalem yesterday. the leaders met with secretary of state hillary clinton for two hours and agreed to continue negotiations, but there was no word on when they would meet again. >>> former ebay ceo meg whitman, the republican candidate for governor of california, now holds the record for personal spending on an election. earlier this week, she added another $15 million of her own money to her war chest, brining her own total campaign donations to a staggering $119 million. >>> the nbc family is mourning the loss of edwin newman, a celebrated anchor, commentator, correspondent and host for the network for over 30 years. newman's family says the 91-year-old died of pneumonia in england last month. they delayed the announcement to spend time privately grieving. >>> boeing says it's planning to offer private citizens a chance to fly into space on a commercial rocket that is developing. the spacecraft, which can carr

. >>> palestinian leader mahmoud abbas says peace talks will be a, quote, waste of time, unquote, iftlement construction resumes. there was talk of a possible compromise earlier in the week. so joining me now is cnn senior state department producer elise labot in our new york bureau. elise, what are you hearing right now as to what really is happening? >> well, fredericka, there are a lot of intense negotiations going on up till the very last minute. officials from all sides telling us that secretary of state clinton, peace envoy george mitchell and israeli and palestinian negotiating teams really trying to come up with a formula that will allow the israelis to appear not to have caved but to also keep palestinian president mahmoud abbas at those talks. now, there's a tremendous amount of frustration on the point of the u.s., fredericka, because they've really put a lot of political capital into getting these peace talks on, want to see them continue or kind of telling the parties, don't let this opportunity pass you by. but as the clock ticks down, we're waiting to see what israeli