joining me from paris is huch schofield -- hugh schofield. is there any surprise? many people thought that he would get away with this. >> the trial was a bit odd because the prosecution effectively said, but the state lawyers said, in no, terrible things happen but we do not think jacques chirac should be found guilty. but in the french system, it does not come. there was another in the dossier and the judge in the and said, no, he was responsible in all of this. that created a bit of a surprise but i think anyone who follows french politics and new about the inner machinations about how paris city hall operated in the 1980's and early 1990's cannot be surprised at all. it was an open secret it was going on and certainly the revelations have since come to light have made it quite clear he knew about what was going on. >> this is quite an end in what was otherwise a quite glittery career. the type of presidency he had on the european stage. >> history may well have a rather ambiguous view of jacques chirac's presidency. he is certainly a well liked president of the

at the scene, schofield walks to where the ied is buried. we aren't allowed to follow. so, we filmed it from inside the truck. he finds a 40-pound bomb. so, how do you stay safe out here? >> distance. stay away from it. >> reporter: to keep that distance, they use a robot, armed with the highly explosive c-4 to detonate the ied. the robot takes the risk so the men don't have to. inside the truck, they navigate the robot using a screen and a joy stick. then, after the robot drops the c-4 on top of the ied, after everyone is ready -- >> fire in the hole! >> reporter: that bomb could have killed four soldiers in an armored vehicle. >> ied, single jug, 40, 45 pounds. splattered everywhere, road is safe. >> reporter: after packing up, they head home to the afghan version of "csi." >> this might be the most important part of what we do. >> reporter: every bomb carries a signature of its creator. so, they try to find a finger print or a piece of dna. >> goes into the system. and next time these people -- they get arrested, their dna is collected, we can trace it back to the ie

to business for these soldiers, but the good news is that in march, they will be heading home to schofieldracks in hawaii so just a few more months to go. melissa ward, cbs news, afghanistan. >>> by the way, this is the first day of kwanzaa. kwanzaa ceremonies including light a candle holder with seven candles and there is music, drumming and dancing and a feast, and a feast. and plenty of gift giving. on a beach in india, a santa made of sand. it's huge, too, by the way. good gracious! maybe even a world record. did kriss kringle like this? 35 feet high and using 800 tons of stand and 16 sculptures worked for three days to make the work. the artist said he did it to send a message of world peace. >>> this morning, on "the early show," advice on how to make the christmas gift returns hassle-free. good stuff. i'm terrell brown. and this is the "cbs morning news." ♪ [ female announcer ] introducing kleenex cool touch tissues. the only tissue that actively releases a cool sensation to soothe a sore nose on contact. kleenex cool touch tissues. a cool new way to soothe. i love it. not wash. pow

joining me now is our correspondent, naomi grimley, who's at westminster, and hugh schofield in paris. is this a credible line? is it a popular line? how many people in france are happy with the deal that sarkozy has done? >> i think we should be careful what he's saying has got nothing to do with the british argument. he's coming from a different perspective altogether, the leader of the socialists. he's saying that what's happened is tying france's ability to sort of spend its way out of the crisis, like many on the left, he believes in the solution to all of this, and he thinks that the austerity that's being dug into european institutions by friday's deal will tie the hands of future government and basically it will be impossible to be left wing from now on. so he's saying that he will negotiate, renegotiate. how credible is it? well, i mean,ive to say, i think few people would say it's going to be easy, that's for sure. i mean, there's such a consensus built around this deal and how it is the last chance and how it requires countries to make sacrifices and so on, that, you know,

. >> hugh schofield. hamid karzai has arrived back in pakistan, the day after the deadliest bomb attack in three years. at least 55 people were killed in the blast. mr. karzai has been in germany for the bonn conference on afghanistan, but this blast was aimed at members of the country's shia minority, taking part in the commemoration of the holy day ashura. a taliban spokesman condemned the attack. suspicion is now falling on militant groups based in neighboring pakistan for this incident. our correspondent in kabul, quentin somerville, says the nature of the attack does set it attack from earlier violence in the country. >> there were two things that distinguished these attacks. this is a country that is used to violence, appalling violence on a daily basis, much of it directed at civilians. if this attack was two different ways, one, the scale of it, we haven't seen an attack that big for many years. but also because the very nature of it, the fact that it was the shia community who generally rub along

in paris, hugh schofield. >> welcome back. pressure mounts on european leaders to prevent the financial contagion rumbled the u.s. treasury secretary is heading for europe on tuesday. timothy geithner is going to meets top european members in the central bank. the u.s. treasury says he will off third bison ideas the europeans as they refined their own plans. the u.s. markets are watching the europeans worried that a european crisis could hurt the still fragile economic recovery. for more let's go to new york and we can talk to our reporter on wall street. what are investors think? will kind of message are they expecting timothy geithner to send to the europeans? >> well basically that geithner is trying to tell everybody to really give it all to get this crisis under control and if you look at those travel plans it's quite a trip that timothy geithner is planning here. a visit in franklin berlin paris marseilles and the lawn so those are the doers just within the next two or three days but what is also at stake is growth in th

the good news in march they will be heading home to schofield barracks in hawaii so just a few monthsture required 1,800 tons of sands and 16 people worked on it for days. the artist said it's a message for peace around the world. looked like a big old cookie to >>> our next guest include some of the best of the best. nicholas sparks is the best selling author of 17 books, six have been turned into movies with three more on the way. his latest novel is "the best of me." bra meltzer specializes in political flilers including "the inner circle" and host of the history's channel series "decoded." and jennifer egan, "a visit from the goon squad. >> they are here to talk about what inspires them as we move into the next year. guys, good morning. >> good morning. >> i don't have to tell any of you that writing can be a challenging process. jennifer, what inspires you to write? >> well, i decided i wanted to become a write when i was 18 and traveling in europe. i took a year off between high school and college and i didn't speak the languages of the countries where i was and i felt like i di

. >> correspondent hugh schofield is watching events for us in paris.k to me about the german french plan. the eurozone had a series of rules about that before. what is so different about this plan? >> you're absolutely right. there was a european which came in with a single currency and which was really ignored. by france and germany. that led us to this crunch. the difference now is that apparently they needed and they say that countries will be punished if they breach of the various limits. there will be changes to the treaty for just the eurozone numbers. there will be, in addition, this what we call the golden rule idea where into each country's budget is written a constitutional requirement not to breach the european figures, limits. and if they do then brush it kick in. it is system much more disciplined than rigorous smear, statement that countries will not be allowed to get away with anymore. and to that extent the hope is markets will be convinced. >> how likely is it that all of these states will agree to this new plan to back. >> well, i mea