. >> coming up after the break, it is a place that is both beautiful and perilous. we report on the search for hostages in the remote borderlands between ethiopia and eritrea. >> all right. we will be right back. stay with us. dw on the internet with a new address and a completely revamped online presence. journalistic quality in 30 languages -- insightful, diverse, and in multimedia format. visit us at dw.de. >> welcome back, everyone. last month, a german working on a construction site in nigeria was kidnapped. days before that, there were separate reports that two german tourists had been kidnapped in ethiopia. >> but germany is prepared to deal with these kinds of incidents. the country has a specially trained crisis team standing by to handle negotiations and any rescue operations. the team is part of the german foreign office. we have a behind-the-scenes look now at how they operate. >> whether it is a ship wreck like the costa concordia off the italian coast or hostage situation, the government's crisis response center team gathers in the basement of the fore

. >> all of us were shocked to see just how many people were in peril. >> flipped upside down on the runway. >> i was terrified there was going to be fuel out there, and fire. >> sent flying by a truck. >> it knocked me out of the street into the curb. >> thrown from a moped. >> i just hit the ground before i knew it. >> plummeting down a rocky canyon. >> i thought that i was going to die, for sure. >> but a miracle or a lifeline, or a good samaritan appears -- >> i just yelled out help me, help me out. >> and they make it out alive. >>> "caught on camera, cheating death." hello. i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." we all fear it, that one deadly moment of inattention, the simple but potentially fatal miscalculation, the sudden bolt from the blue we are helpless to avoid. in an instant, everything changes. but in the stories you will see this hour, situations that look like certain death end with a miraculous escape, or amazing rescue. in our first story, a rock climber nervously begins his first 300 foot rappel while his friend videotapes the achievement. then someth

some claim that if musab falls, their future would be perilous. the opposition denies all accusations of sectarianism. here is the report. >> it in the language jesus spoke in the country where st. paul saw the light, syrian christians celebrate their faith. as they have for nearly two millennia. but there is a sudden sense of danger. among the worst tippers, refugees from neighboring iraq. much of its christian minority has fled from islamist violence and intolerance. now, beyond the walls of this monastery, a haven of calm on the road to damascus. syria has always had it averse society where religious minorities have felt comparatively said. now, many of those religious minorities are worried about what will happen to them if the regime falls. in these uncertain times, in the country where christians make up nearly 10% of the population, the archbishop of damascus knows better than to back a government whose days may be numbered. but nor will he backed a resolution morally encouraged by the west is consequences could be perilous. >> the western

corporate personhood and the supreme court decisions like citizens united our democracy frankly is in peril and jeff is someone who can help us is the author of the new book corporations are not people and he joins us now welcome thank you tom good to be here great to have you with us before we get into the end of the book what what got you into the law and into the massachusetts a.g.'s office well it's a long story i'll give you the short version and i was actually out of college a canvas there with greenpeace. and i was going door to door in places rural virginia to suburban washington d.c. and other places like that talking about environmental protection and the balance of people and and corporate power even then that's really what the environmental movement is about how we make it a more just better society for all of us and i went to law school because i saw that's where the battles were taken the we could talk about it but in the meantime the courts and the law were actually creating the results we all lived with and i wanted to have a more tools frankly to be involved in that and tha

i think you act at your peril if you think that's the truth. >> well, certainly we would say that the release of information from our testimony of ken ti nelson, ate pears to have been leaked to your people also is inappropriate. but we'll get to that at another time. we recognize the gentle lady from new york for five minutes. >> thank you. i'd like to respond to my good friend and colleague mr. mchenry's statement that the a.g. had not responded to agent terry's death. he responded immediately. and has expressed his concern for the other agents that are being killed at a higher rate than ever in our history. >> if the gentle lady will yield. i will not yield. i will not yield. and not only did he do that, he immediately took swift action to stop gun walking which did not happen in the prior administration. and establish reforms to prevent this type of flawed operation from ever happening again. he further called for and we can all help him do this, particularly the republican majority, to confirm a permanent atf director. that would help moranhe also ca fire arms trafficking statute

so it would be at their peril i believe that they try to un-do this. and this somehow this notion of a war on religion, you know, women want to exercise their own right of conscience, and their own religious freedom in making those kinds of decisions, and these institutions that accept public dollars, that conduct business in a public space should not be making that decision for them. >> could you i.d. yourself? >> this is congresswoman jan schakowsky. >> this is lois capps, and i want to underscore that as the speaker boehner decides to bring legislation to the floor, which is very well his prerogative, bawl but all of the time that we are spending with that topic on the floor of the house of representatives we are not dealing with the issues that people are concerned about which is unemployment and jobs and job security, and so as he does this, i will underscore what my colleague jan schakowsky just said, to give more women an opportunity to say, wait a minute, you are talking about my right, my freedom and my desire to exercise and we will begin to

proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilousight o'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly str eaming and the rockets red glare the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there o say does that star-spangled banner yet wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ♪ [applause] >> and up in coming -- an up- and-coming singer-songwriter. thank you for the beautiful rendition of the national anthem. please be seated now. >> cameras, cameras. >> and if you are a sponsor and are looking for your seat, we have them all down here, all reserved for you. come on down we are here to observe the seventh annual asian pacific american heritage awards in the city and county of san francisco. this year's theme -- celebrate the heritage, celebrated community voices. and to recognize the many contributions of our city's the reverse asian communities and their -- diverse asian communities and their efforts to promote tolerance and understanding between communities of color. 20 years ago, presiden

. >> it was shocking to see the peril that these people were in. >> california's kearn river is a scenic popular play ground. >> one of the steepest rivers in the united states and it flows really fast. >> but the river has a dark side as well. one that keeps the rescue team at the kearn county sheriff's office busy. >> people go in and swim or fall in and they get tired fighting the current, and they drown. >> the boulders that are just under water level, they're the size of a volkswagen. that's usually what people smash into. we've had over 250 actual drownings in the kearn river since they started keeping stats. >> the river's nickname is the killer kearn. >> on a warm june day in 2010, two friends, mike mccave and ed flickimer, decided to try rafting for the first time. with a group of friends, two rafts and two guides, they head for the river. when they get there, mike wonders if they have made a mistake. >> the river was flowing at a high rate of speed. it was at a very high level but i didn't really know what to compare it with. >> despite the boiling current, the group launches t

this was in response to an arizona court ruling, a case periled a trigger that allows for more public financing dollars ticket to a candidate in response to a third-party independent expenditures was now considered unconstitutional under the first amendment freedom of speech. while many of us on the board disagree with a final ruling the supreme court had decided, it does impact the public financing program we have put together in this city and county of san francisco. i want to acknowledge that a supervisor farrell and supervisor elsbernd where the first to bring this to the attention of the board. i do want to make sure we spend some time working with community groups and those who work together to put together the first city public financing program and our ethics commission to put together something that was a little more comprehensive. the second item is an initiative ordinance to get the balance -- to the ballot on june of 2008. both measures are similar and i can go over the brief differences between the two, but in case we are not able to pass this through the board, because t

we are going to go beyond mid- market and change the peril tax and eliminate it, so we can find a way to support this growing industry. in addition, we got rid of something the city wanted, stock options taxes. with those two things, which allow you to -- [applause] we open up the door so you can converse with us. we are taking a few more steps further. as you know, i am one mayor in a country of mayors. but guess what? the cities are where things are happening? -- are worse things are happening. in my first u.s. conference of mayors, held in d.c. a few weeks ago, i had a chance to do a couple of things, with your advice and support. we announced the city of san francisco, the first city to oppose pipa and sopa. [applause] thank you. we started a dialogue with other cities who had blindly signed on to those things, not knowing what they were about. now we have a conversation going that we cannot use the excuse that just because we are trying to end piracy that we curtail innovation. coming from san francisco, it means a lot to the city. i took advantage of our staff. i went to the pre

maybe she wants her to avoid the perils.ng is a tough industry. >> great job. >> thank you. >> we'll be right back with our "news nation gut check" on whitney houston and the flags being lowered in new jersey. chr . are you still sleeping? just wanted to check and make sure that we were on schedule. the first technology of its kind... mom and dad, i have great news. is now providing answers families need. siemens. answers. i'm going to own my own restaurant. i want to be a volunteer firefighter. when i grow up, i want to write a novel. i want to go on a road trip. when i grow up, i'm going to go there. i want to fix up old houses. [ female announcer ] at aarp we believe you're never done growing. i want to fall in love again. [ female announcer ] discover what's next in your life. get this free travel bag when you join at aarp.org/jointoday. the new spark card from capital one. spark miles gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. the spark card earns double miles... so we really had to up our game. with s

. >> meryle in peril. in the iron lady she may get a streak of on broke en treems.rvey weinstein beats the drum on her behalf. la davis is the choice for "the help." >> and gallantly stepping in after host eddie murphy untimed departure. billy crystal has been keeping his plans on the download so far. he is working with uggy has been a curse. what billy does unleash is likely to be memorable. >> i'm back. >> silent but deadly, artist a clear favorite. hollywood has moved on to the bigger question. >> blockbuster and mega bang, bang, what does a silent movie victory say. >> at that time when they are being bombarded by technology, this reminds the world. >> carolyn: and so the academy awards is right here on abc7 one week from today. oscar sunday, february 26th, but you can predict the winners and get the latest buzz right at oscar.com. you can download the exclusive app for iphones and ipads. it will give you live video from all important red carpet and backstage on oscar sunday. lisa and you are busy trying to wade through all the movies. >> may be good day to do t

♪ ♪ whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight ♪ ♪ o'er the ramparts we watched streaming? ♪ ♪ and the rockets' red glare the bombs bursting in air ♪ ♪ gave proof through the night that our flag was still there ♪ ♪ oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave ♪ ♪ o'er the land of the free ♪ ♪ and the home of the brave? ♪ [ applause ] >> please join me in welcoming from the everson church in harlem, the everson baptist chump in harlem, the reverend, calvin butz iii. [ applause ] >> i'm delighted to have been given this opportunity to say a word of inspiration concerning the national museum of african-american history and culture. african-american, what is africa to me, copper son or scarlet seed, jungle track, strong, bronze men. women from whose loins i sprang when the birds of eden sang. one or three centuries removed from the land your father loved. spicy groves and cinnamon trees. what is africa to me? i too sing america. i'm the darker brother. when company would come they would send me to the kitchen. but that's all right. i'd fast go to the kitchen, i'd

telling him it's perilous, i want to know what the trades were. neel -- or steve?d i think the bailout is going to be a big part of this election. i want to know how you feel personally when you hear the t.a.r.p. criticize the way it is, and it's coming from both parties, but i'd say particularly from the republican party. >> look i understand the criticisms, i understand the anger. no one wanted to use taxpayer dollars to bail out the banks or the auto companies. this violated all of our american beliefs in free markets and fairness. but bernanke had a great analogy, he said if somebody smokes in bed you'd like to let their house burn down to teach them a lesson but if their house burns down, if it burns down the whole neighborhood everybody's affected so you have to put the fire out. i understand the anger. i hated that we had to do it but we had to do it and thankfully it was effective. >> has there been a problem in communicating that stuff or one of the things that people will never believe, that it was necessary, and it actually ended up helping the system? >

that's made things very perilous for you. that was completely dumb. because it got you -- got you crossways with some gang members. that's going to be our problem now. how are we going to try to keep you safe? and i'm guessing you've got a few years yet to do. >> trying to get me over to fremont. >> well, we'll put you wherever we can. but you just have to realize, you know, how much trouble you've got yourself into. you don't need that. okay? >> yes, sir. >> all right. >> while laudone might appear to be the victim of a prison gang, lieutenant fox suspects he might be running a hustle of his own. >> i've heard out in the yard that laudone is a room master is what they call him. so he was apparently helping them guys or showing them the best way to do this. my guess is still that they found out friday night about his crime and he's been hiding it for about two years. and i don't know how it come to life, but it did. that's why he ended up checking in the way he did. >> fox also thinks laudone might have created his problem with holloman as a way to ge

the perilous month -- "world in the balance: the perilous months of june-october 1940".was going on in great britain june through october of 1940? >> the nazis had overrun nearly all of europe. they controlled from the atlantic circle of northern norway through the southern part of europe and the lot of people want that collapse or cave in in a matter of weeks. france has been overrun, several weeks, many people thought that britain would follow. it didn't happen. this is the story about why that didn't happen. churchill's leadership was a big part of it. the british people rallied to winston churchill. the germans couldn't come across the channel on account of the royal navy but they did send thousands of airplanes to bomb britain in hopes of invading britain eventually. they couldn't overcome the royal air force. eventually october came along. bad weather began. the germans couldn't invade britain and they had to put off any invasion plan until spring. this is the story about those months. they were critical months. >> after the bombing ended did the bombing end in oct

afghanistan and, now the war drums for iran -- is it too much to ask that before we send americans into peril and combat and death, that we have a debate in the cars of the united states and a vote -in the congress of the united states in a vote, up or down -- >> we had that. what you talking about? >> the issue we need to worry about is thinking about foreign and will- iran, a there be a strike on iran by israel? ifhat happens, we are all going into it. that is why we need a full-scale debate in the united states. >> the constitution of the united states requires a declaration of war. we have not had that. don't talk about the debate on the eve of the 20102 election. opposition was cowed. >> see you next week.

although he was an official observer, this man watched perilously as the results of his polling station where changed. -- this man watched helplessly as the results of his police station were change. >> i was so upset, i could not go to bed. i took time from writing a report that was posted on the internet. >> it was these examples of blatant fraud that brought tens of thousands of protesters out into the streets of moscow december and will again this weekend. some estimates suggest that that rare putin's party stole 10% of the vote. -- some estimates suggest that vladimir putin's party stole 10% of the vote. there is little chance that he will not return to the kremlin. >> you can find more on the stories on the bbc website. >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding was made possible by -- the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu newman's own foundation and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to understand the industry you operate in, working to nurture new ventures and provide capital for key strategic decisio

we hailed as the twilight's last gleaming ♪ ♪ whose bright stripes and bright stars through the periloushe ramparts we fought were so gallantly streaming ♪ ♪ and the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air ♪ ♪ gave proof through the night that our flag was still there ♪ ♪ oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave ♪ ♪ for the land free and the home of the brave ♪ >> right. [ drums ] ♪ ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, please remain standing as the chaplain of the united states house of representatives, the reverend patrick conroy gives the invocation. >> let us pray. god of the universe, we give you thanks for the wonder of your creation. a long time ago in a place far, far away, you called forth a common ancestor of faith to leave his home to travel to a place you would show him. by that call and by his obedience to and trust in you, we continued to be challenged to move beyond the limits of our own imagination. on this day, we gather to give you thanks that we are wondrously made and gifted with the spirit and the will to move beyond the horizon. all of our ancestors at some point l

but the ship was left adrift off the most perilou waters on earth, where roams of pirates roam the seassearching for ships to seize. >> this cruise ship, had armed guards to respond if they were attacked. >> reporter: the first boat to respond to the distress signal, a french fishing ship. it began towing the ship to safer waters, slowly. "the allegra" is now making its way here to port victoria, on the main island of the seychell seychelles. it was to go on to inam and then on. who says disaster can't strike twice. disaster has struck the costa cruise line twice in one month. in the chaos that followed, thousands had to abandon the ship in darkness, while the captain and many crew abandoned them. all is too close to home for jane thomas, from birmingham, england. her son was on the "costa concordia." part of a human chain. and her daughter is working on "the costa allegra." jane just wants to get her daughter safely home. two children, working on two ill-fated ships, too much. >> all of the ships that are sailing in the ocean, and the two that my two have been on. >> reporter: as for j

♪ ♪ whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight ♪

a three-hour spine-cracking jeep ride, and then this perilous ride in a leaky canoe. you need to eat sleep and bathe is carried in on your blistered back. >> oh, boy, that's heavy. >> 3, 2, 1! go! >> reporter: the first two days are comparative cakewalk. even though the swamps are impenetrable and the climbs endless. >> this is tough. >> reporter: it was just the start. she is already bushed. she's emotionally fried. her body is too. >> what does this mean for tomorrow? >> i got to try to eat more. >> reporter: you got to run tomorrow? >> yeah, oh, yeah. >> reporter: it's not going to stop you? >> no, no way. no way. >> reporter: but by day three, runners are already exhausted and they're not even halfway done. we had to get a closer look. >> yeah, just one. >> reporter: that's front-runner dan dylan. >> 3, 2, 1, go. >> reporter: a scot who spent a year of training for this. >> ahh! >> reporter: the heat is searing. and in the terrain and the constant damp, runners feet begin to disintegrate. >> that is nasty. >> reporter: by now, the majority of athletes have lost to

. >> i'll tell you, once the sting operation gets you, if you continue, you continue at your own peril. because they are back and they don't stop. >> reporter: the town area market brought convenience to the neighborhood through the sale of wine, beer and other items. but an investigation revealed it was too convenient for minors to buy liquor here. the store will lose its liquor license. >>> montgomery count thank you police have been watching town scare market as well. -- square market as well. >>> we are learning more about the body pulled from the canal in georgetown over the weekend. it is the body of an elderly woman. she had a hospital band on her wrist, it was dated friday, the same day people reported seeing someone in the canal behind fletcher's boat house. an initial search turned up nothing. police have found no signs of foul play. the body is at the dc medical examiner's office to determine the cause of death. >>> rescuers in holland, maryland, found one person inside a car in the water and the vehicle nearly submerged. a male victim was pulled out alive. he was transporte

whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight, o'er the ramparts we watch'd, were soallantly streaming? and the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there. o say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? ♪ ♪ >> [speaking foreign language] ♪ [singing in foreign language] ♪ >> please welcome the general of the republic of the philippines. >> honored guests, friends, ladies and gentlemen, it is an honor for us to be here to celebrate the philippine- american history month. we're honored to have the honorable city mayor of san francisco, the president of the board of supervisors, former mayor brown, and other city officials, friends. in celebrating -- this is the second year that we celebrate the filipino-american history month. it is also quite appropriate to announce perhaps that the u.s. senate has passed a senator solution proclaiming october 2011 as philippine-american history month as well. i think it is also appropriate to announce that govern merck -- g

. >> it shows how perilous the situation for homeless is coming as unemployment soars to almost 20%, there's now a growing humanitarian crisis in greece as well as an economic one. >> even those not accustomed to homeless life are finding it hard to cope. >> 82-year-old man stays last few days have dropped below freezing and it's an intense cold and it's hard sleeping outside but where can i go? my leg is too good move. as nightfalls, this red cross team is on special shift for the cold snap. handing out supplies. winter is marching on and so is greece's economic crisis. it is a toxic mix for those left to suffer. >> demonstrations taking place outside the industry of be when nose air rizz as tensions rise around 50 people marched to the diplomatic compound shouting slogans, burning union flags. tensions have been rising as britain announced it was send sending a warship to the islands and prince william is -- the anniversary coinciding with the release of a film "the iron lady" about margaret thatcher, in argentine cinemas tells of mrs. thatcher including a scene of her handling of

panel concludes can atrocities are being committed at the highest level as civilians live life in a perilous state. today we of a special report from inside syria. our panelists that time in the northern part of the country -- spent time in the northern parts of the country. ♪ >> huddled in a safe house in northern syria like the armed rebel fighters. they are led by a military defectors. many of the men who come to pay their respects are ordinary citizen soldiers. laborers, farmers, even a graduate in english literature. hot sweet tea. >> i will carry a gun to protect my people, my children. to make the life better for our children and family. what i want? i want freedom. social freedom. freedom in all of its concepts. all freedom. >> for the last few days, we have went from town to village. and the area is highly dangerous. government soldiers and spies are never far away. the grips of the opposition free syrian army feels wheat. -- feels weak. >> 24 hours a day you feel danger from the regime. it is deadly. it kills people. the president is supposed to protect us, but he just protect hims

netanyahu to figure out how they're going to address in the next few months, we had a politically perilous time, the iran nuclear question. chris: our big question goes right to that coming up. >> we have a parliamentary election in iran next month. and in true arraign -- iranian fashion we already know who the loser is. mahmoud ahmadinejad. because the supreme leader and his allies have wiped all of ahmadinejad's allies off the election list. they haven't been allowed to run. and the big question after that is, will the new parliament impeach ahmadinejad? chris: when we come back, the big question of the week, will barack obama back israel if it decides to strike iran this year? this is panel that knows a lot about that. chris: welcome back. this week's big question, it's a big win. will barack obama back israel if it decides to strike iran this year? >> publicly or privately? i think that he's publicly going to have to do it but i think that there's tremendous pressure from the administration right now on the israelis not to do it and by the way, i don't think that the israelis are going

afghanistan and, now the war drums for iran -- is it too much to ask that before we send americans into peril and combat of the united statesve a and a vote -- in the congress of the united states in a vote, up or down -- >> we had that. what you talking about? >> the issue we need to worry about is thinking about foreign and will- iran, a there be a strike on iran by israel? if that happens, we are all going into it. that is why we need a full-scale debate in the united states. >> the constitution of the united states requires a declaration of war. we have not had that. don't talk about the debate on the eve of the 20102 election. opposition was cowed. >> see you next week. garrison keillor: born in augusta, maine, dorianne laux worked as a cook, a gas station manager, a maid and a doughnut holer before receiving a b.a. in english. the author of four books of poems, she now lives with her husband, poet joseph millar, in raleigh, north carolina, where she teaches at north carolina state university. her book facts about the moon was a finalist for the national book critics circle award. "dust.

what so proudly we've hailed at the twilight gleaming ♪ ♪ whose broad stripes and bright stars and perilousd were so gallantly streaming ♪ ♪ over the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming ♪ >> he repeats like an italian open ra, you'll take a word and repeat it for emphasis, but it's got the -- ♪ -- this would not be a glee in a gentleman's drinking club. it's a new melody inspired by francis scott keye and it is an interesting thing. another question or shall i briefly address how it became our national anthem? okay. arguably the most popular patriotic song in america in the 19th century was not "the star spangled banner" it was "hail columbia" a resetting, i love it, a parody of a march written by a heshen captured by george washington. they are all the great musical connections to american history. anyway "hail columbia" was really the president's march for george washington. that's how it was composed and it served as the president's march until 1818 or 1820 or so when this unusual song "hail to the chief" became popular from a setting of sir walter scott "lady of the lake" po