lehrer writes about that issue in "tension city." so the need for debates in the today's media world and the 1992 watch incident. >> guest: i think they're separate and apart. i think the needs for debates is as strong as it's ever been because of so much information out there. the debates are the only time you have a comparative situation. you actually have whether it's in a primary debate or a general election debate, you have the candidates on the same stage talking, moving, talking about issues, reacting to questions, all of that sort of stuff. and it works on two levels. it's the body language, but it's also the spoken language. and i think the comparative situation is real, and i think it's important in the process. and it is, yes, there's all kinds of information. in fact, in some ways because there's so much information, the debates become even more important because then you kind of take that final measure of the individuals, and you say, hey, can i imagine this person sitting at a table in the oval office deciding -- reacti

you call the book "tension city" because, of course, it is. these kids have to make people like them essentially. and you spoke with bush 41 : george h. w. bush to said that the debates are ugly. why? >> he felt, he feels very strongly that -- in other words, one debate, ross perot, when he looked at his watch, okay. i looked at my watch. they're all over me. it doesn't have anything to do with issues. whenever. but then he said in an interview with me, well, i said, why were you looking at your watch? and he said, well, i looked at my watch because this thing is boring me coming out. i was looking to see when this thing was going to be over. those kinds of things to the audience, it leaves an impression. it's a language, language impression, but it's a body language rather than a spoken word impression. so from george is w. bush, heat to six is ridiculous to have so much riding on this 390 minute exchanges in a presidential debate. >> his son as you point out in the book, feels effective the opposite. >> she thinks it's great. he thinks that

he release the a book called "tension city" highlighting his having moderated 11 presidential and vicetes. he's a quality journalist. it's no wonder he'd be asked to repeat that role so often. today it was announced donald trump will moderate the upcoming debate. it's illustrative of what this process has become. it's a reality show. the stakes for the country could not be higher. we're at war in two countries, the debt at $14 million and rising. the divide between rich and poor has never been so large. unemployment dropped but remains too high at 8.6%. the gop race has been fluid. romney and paul's numbers have been steady, the others see great shifts in their popularity. is that because of policy differences on issues like war and taxes? heck know. frankly the race thus far has not been defined by substance. it's been notable for sound bites. there have been plenty of those. praying away the gay, tiffany bills, a hunting camp named for a slur. an economic proposal dumbed down to sound like the price of a pizza. there's been a record number of debates, but with answers to complex prob

tension city by jim lehrer, my view from the middle seat. you should have said middle hot seat. [laughter] thanks a lot, jim. >> guest: thank you, gloria. >> that was "after words," booktv's signature program in which authors of the latest nonfiction books are interviewed by journalists, public policymakers, legislators and others familiar with their material. "after words" airs every weekend on booktv at 10 p.m. on saturday, 12 and 9 p.m. on sunday and 12 a.m. on monday. you can also watch "after words" online. go to booktv.org and click on after words in the booktv series and topics list on the upper right side of the page. >> up next, from the 2011 harlem book fair, a panel on african-american economic history. this is about an hour, 20 minutes. >> good afternoon, everyone. >> good afternoon. >> it is, indeed, a pleasure and an honor to present these dynamic, i was going to say young lady, but dynamic young ladies, and i mean that in that sense. these are two terrific sisters, theyng are authors, and they're hard workers, they're advocates for our communityings, and they're -

there have long been tensions between afghan cities and that she is, but this kind of sectarian violence is unprecedented. >> tension in moscow -- demonstrators called for vladimir putin to go. 70 years after the u.s. was attacked at pearl harbor, we look back on that fateful day with some of the veterans who were there. >> welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. is this iraq all over again? that's the question being raised in afghanistan after a day of unprecedented sectarian violence. at least 56 people were killed and hundreds injured when a suicide bomber targeted a crowd of shi'ite worshipers. the country have not seen a tax like this since the fall of the taliban. from the afghan capital, we have this report. >> afghan's a beat themselves and a traditional mourning ritual. then this. [explosion] a massive explosion and the suicide bomber peers through the crowd. it chaos. hundreds are injured. at a city hospital, they struggle to cope with wave after wave of victims. on the pavement outside, a mother mourns for lost a son. my heart is broken, she cries. despe

city. there are tensions in other cities, certainly in damascus there are, in aleppo there are. nothing like what we are seeing in homs. syrians will tell you both inside the country and out that they don't see the country sliding into a civil war. they say that's not what this is about. this is a fight between regime supporters and anti-regime forces. and it is just a different dynamic on the street. homs is bad, no doubt about that. and we are sliding towards an armed rebellion phenomenon homs but it's not the case in the rest of the country. >> brown: and what are you seeing or what can you tell about the impact of economic and other sanctions and pressures from outside. does it seem to be having an impact in syria? >> you know, i have not been inside the country since october. i am calling in and i think these latest rounds of sanctions from the arab league has shocked syria. syria has always seen itself as the beating hard of arab nationalism. to have sanctions put on by other arab states was... put people into a tail spin in syria. the way you can see the sanctions taking

would create a lot of pressure in city politics and in city finances because a lot of these people were african-americans there was a lot of racial tension building in the cities and the cities were also financially stressed but the cities were also very important. blocs in the national democratic coalition so national democratic party politicians would want to do something to relieve the political conflicts and the fiscal stresses in the city and what would they do well they could reform welfare they could make it a national program instead of a grant in aid program that put large fiscal burdens and ultimately political burdens on the cities and on the state governments in industrial states well we weren't so wrong about that because. in. after when even nixon after he won the presidency in one nine hundred sixty eight proposed a guaranteed income program of a sort of fab program and ultimately he did take the initiative in federalizing some of the welfare programs the programs that aided the aged the blind and the disabled a.f.d.c. was a little bit too tarnished for nixon to take on. but even without federalizing the big welfare progra

winning has made it easier for misrata's rebels to play down any tensions with sirte. >> the city of sirte -- >> back in sirte, graffiti tells a different story. misrata, brother, never. the vast majority of libya's believe that the country is a better place. in a new libya, will fill the losers have a better say? >> now to a discovery that is out of this world. economists say they have found two planets in orbit outside of our solar system. >> planets orbit many of the stars that we see in the night sky. the big question is could one of them support life? scientists believe that they found one that once was. this is the first planet that scientists have discovered that is almost exactly the same size as our earth. it is too close to the sun and too hot to support life now but in the distant past, conditions were very different. in the past, if it was further from the sun, it might have been cooler, perhaps oceans of water, possibly suitable for life. we really don't know but perhaps over the next few years we will find out more about planets like this. >> scientists have strutted a

. >> reporter: the dispute was separate from the search, but proof of growing tension in a city stuck with multiple investigations involving political leaders. all right, we were just getting a live picture. thomas' attorney fred cook emerged from the household and has been in there all day. he's approaching the cameras and is about to talk to the media. we're going to listen to what he has to say and we'll make sure we bring that to you in the 6:00 hour if not before. back to you. >> do we know if he's expected to be charged with anything, harry thomas? >> i can tell you that is probably going to be the first question we ask of his attorney. when we spoke to the fbi and the u.s. attorney's office earlier today, they were clear this was a search warrant and that there was not an arrest warrant involved, but that has been the lead question today and we'll find out more about that and i'll bring you the latest just as soon as we have it. >> all right, go ahead and join the press conference. thank you. >> meantime, the fbi raid caught many of thomas' d.c. council colleagues by surprise.

city. as tensions rise between sunni and shiite leaders in the country.o group has stanl taken responsibility for the attack yet. >>> this morning, a payroll tax cut is another day closer to expiring and there appears to be little movement on efforts to pass an extension to that cut. if no deal is reached by new year's, you can expect to see about $40 taken out of your paycheck every two weeks. nbc news aups brian mooar is live on capitol hill right now with more on this political stalemate. brian. >> the first family enjoying the fun and the sun in hawaii. president obama, not so much. he's staying right here in the nation's capital to do battle with house republicans over that payroll tax cut. the president is taking to twitter today and he's going to be holing an event where he gathers americans and talks about what they can do with an extra $40 in their paycheck. of course, if taxes do go up on january 1st, 160 million americans will be paying the bill. house republicans say they are not going to go along with a two-month extension that was passed in

winning has made it easier for misrata's rebels to play down any tensions with sirte. >> the city ofe, graffiti tells a different story. misrata, brother, never. the vast majority of libya's believe that the country is a better place. in a new libya, will fill the losers have a better say? >> now to a discovery that is out of this world. economists say they have found two planets in orbit outside of our solar system. >> planets orbit many of the stars that we see in the night sky. the big question is could one of them support life? scientists believe that they found one that once was. this is the first planet that scientists have discovered that is almost exactly the same size as our earth. it is too close to the sun and too hot to support life now but in the distant past, conditions were very different. in the past, if it was further from the sun, it might have been cooler, perhaps oceans of water, possibly suitable for life. we really don't know but perhaps over the next few years we will find out more about planets like this. >> scientists have strutted a second planet around the

that is an inherent tension in our great neighbor kids in the city. and what you have said about your desire to integrate and work through those issues. that is so important and especially our technology background, it is very fascinating for me personally. i will indicate where i am thinking right now and i will let my colleagues talk. amie, i will have difficulty considering her today given that she is not here. this may seem not fair. it has been consistent with what i've done all year. when we have all lot of -- even though your recently moved out, when we have a residency waiver requirements, i have a difficult time and i have been this way all year with people i like. it is something i have done all year and it is a principal thing i would feel difficulty sticking with. with that, that being said, if you come back, please let me know. i would be happy to work with you and push you through on that. that is purely my reasoning. i would be happy to support mr. eichman, mr. lippman, and would leave it to my colleagues to discuss. supervisor mar:supe

we landed in the capital, damascus in the early morning and found this ancient city largely quiet, no overt signs of tension or heightened security. as the stores opened, we found food stalls well stocked and busy. same with the old damascus market. only at the high end stores and hotels is the punishment starting to hurt. >> it dropped to zero right now. >> reporter: meanwhile, the protests rage on. bashar al assad was never meant to be president. his father had ruled his nation with an iron fist for 30 years and had groomed another son to lead. but after that son was killed in a car crash, the president summoned bashar, then an eye doctor in london. told him, come back to damascus. do you sometimes wish that you were still an opt moll gist? >> you cannot look back to see yourself as a doctor. it's an important position. >> reporter: and indeed he does. just last month, an independent united nations commission who interviewed more than 220 syrians, issued a report, stating that the syrian government committed, quote, crimes against humanity, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence against proteste

more bicyclists are in the city, it's a great green thing, good for the environment and our health. we are finding that here in d.c. as well. there's a little bit of tension between the four wheels and the two wheelers. any lessons other cities can learn from this? >> it is palpable but the thing we realize is more and more people are moving into the urban areas. the fact is, there's got to be room for both. what they are trying to do in new york is set an example to say in an old fashioned city where change is hard to swallow, sometimes, this kind of change can be very positive and very people friendly. as more and more people pour in, at the end of the day, the city has to be people friendly, if nothing else. >> great topic. >> yeah. we are looking forward to that. >> you can see the full report on "rock center" with brian williams tonight on nbc 4. >>> still ahead, a daughter is speaking out. police are trying to figure out the reason her mother was murdered. >> bring back our baby. >> an international custody battle involving a local woma to make a commitment is to see things through. confident that no matter what the obstacles we can build something

city. but the kabul attack was much a year. the people here are extremely angry. there are tensions between afghanistan sunni and shias.ut this kind of sectarian violence on this scale is unprecedented. >> which is the first time on such an important religious day that and afghanistan terrorism that horrible is taken place. have patience to the families of those who have lost their dear ones. >> as the injured were treated, the taliban issued a statement, saying they had not carried out the attack. the government says they are lying. these attacks turned this moslem day of mourning into a day of terrible loss, bringing a new kind of suffering into this already fractured country. >> there has been a tense standoff in the russian capital moscow with opposition demonstrators. police have arrested two hundred 50 people during the second day 250 peoples -- to 5 during the second day of protests. >> driving through the crowds of the main shopping street, there is the intimidating right. more than 1000 people are protesting once more against what they say is a fixed election and against the prime minister vladimir putin. "rus

city of mazar-e-sharif. analysts say the attacks may have been aimed at stirring up ethic tensions and sabotage efforts to achieve peace. >>> in the week following hillary clinton's visit, myanmar made another stride towards opening up to the outside world and promoting trade. on monday, this he reopened a checkpoint on a bridge at the border with thailand. the crossing had been closed for nearly a year and a half. we have the details. >> reporter: after one year and five months, myanmar and thai border bridge just opened today. on monday, representatives from both countries celebrated the opening of the crossing thanking them in myanmar and thailand. home appliances and dairy supplies streamed over the bridge into myanmar. myanmar unilaterally closed the checkpoint last year in protest against the thai government to reinforce bans concerning myanmar. the closure caused a serious shortage of goods in myanmar's largest city. after thailand suspended the project, myanmar decided to reopen the checkpoint last week. >> translator: i am glad that we can reassume active business operations with the thai people. >> it's

just half an hour ago, city crews removed the portable bathrooms that once lined the perimeter here. but tensions are starting to run high here. protesters have been shouting cops go home, and free speech. this is a public park. but for now, it is a wait and see situation here as to what happens next. live in san francisco, patty lee, ktvu, channel 2 news. >>> san francisco city leaders are defending the action by police early this morning to break up the occupy camp at justin herman plaza. police say about 85 people were arrested. david stevenson has a closer look at what happened and the cost to taxpayers. >> reporter: san francisco police today put on a show of force aimed at keeping occupy s.f. protesters from reclaiming space on justin herman plaza. city officials say the raid on the camp came after deteriorating safety and health conditions, and after talks broke down over moving the protests to an abandoned school site. >> two officers were assaulted. one was hit with a metal chair in the face. arrests were made in those two instances. >> reporter: some claim police used excessive force. c

. >>> top story tension escalates at the occupy san francisco encampment, a day after the city's final deadline for protesters to leave. last night a shouting and shoving match erupted when police moved in to put up barricades. terry mcsweeney is live at justin herman plaza what is happening now? >> reporter: right now we seem to have a disagreement between some members of occupy san francisco and some of the street artists, they set up tables, sell their jewelry, sell whatever they've got. they pay a fee to be down here. a few minutes ago the artists started setting up and some people from occupy san francisco came over and said it is time for to you get out of here you are not part of the 99%. there was some argument, police moved over one of the people arguing with the street artists just heard her saying that in fact she was being threatened with being arrested for disturbing peace. she is going to be quiet. things have calmed somewhat. police still on scene. let's bring in one of the street artists who has been selling down here for 13 years. hasn't been here for the past three mo

city. >> in july, 1981, eight days of fighting saw more than 17 buildings burned down in liverpool as tensions boiled over between the black community and the police. the prime minister at the time was advised that regenerating the area afterwards was a waste of money. it is a revelation that is of little surprise to many who live in the area and remember the trouble. >> the government had to deal with militancy and the strikes. in their eyes, they were losing ground. that cannot get folks in liverpool anyway. for them, there was nothing to lose. >> the government documents refer to advice given to the prime minister. he warned mrs. thatcher not to overcommit scarce economic resources to liverpool. the option of managed decline is one that should not be forgotten. the chancellor at the time said economically abandoning liverpool was never seriously considered. >> i was not advocating managed decline. there was a misunderstanding of specific objectives. >> following the riots, the conservative leader did visit liverpool and support regeneration. what the cabinet documents to reveal is financial

second simultaneousuous blast struck a northern city killing at least four and analysts say the attacks may have been aimed at stirring up ethnic tensions and sabotage efforts to achieve peace. in the week following hillary clinton's historic visit, myanmar made a stride towards opening up to the outside world and promoting trade. on monday they reopened a check point on a bridge at the border with thailand. it had been closed for nearly a year and a half and nhk world has the details. >> after one year, myanmar on the border bridge, they just opened today. >> on monday, representatives from both countries separated by gathering at the crossing linking in myanmar. home appliances and various splice stream over the bridge into myanmar. myanmar closed the check point last year. it was a protest to reinforce the ban. the closure caused the serious shortage of goods in the largest city. after thailand suspended the project, they decided to reopen the check point last week. . >> translator: i'm glad that we can reassume active business operations with the thai people. >> translator: it's good for both countries. no one benefited from closing

east side of the city deals with a montage of issues, dealing from quality of life, dealing from its legacy of the 1960's, and dealing with and trying to reconcile the natural tension between people that like to hang out in haight street versus people who like to shop and reside around haight street. those are the challenges. i see that because we're very centered in the city. i want to make sure district five is successful. quality mass transit, bicycle and pedestrian friendly too. one of our comeback kid stories in the latter years of my time as a supervisor is dizzderio. it is our comeback kid. if you look at divisadero, it's seen a complete renaissance. i set out when i set out in elected office we will reclaim divisadero from the neglect that had been chronic by making sure we will turn divisadero into a culture destination. it's become that to the point hipsters are complaining. and in the lower haight, lower haight is batter up. we're going to do the same thing for lower haight. fillmore is in transition period because a lot of people don't understand that in the fillmore and japan town, for 45 years, this area of our city known as redevelopment e-2 project

city began layoffs. now thanks to a new $10 million federal grant they will complete their training and hit the straits. one recruit hopes to diffuse tensionsn police and the community. >> i thought i could make a difference, change that. make people think -- you know, the police in the city are good people. and they will start their oak in the most violent areas. 25 new officers will be assigned to the 100 blocks where 90% of the crime occurs. part of the officer's jobs will get to know the children and make sure they get to school safely. one said even though they are being sent to high crime areas they will find plenty of support in the community. >> the number of crimmals you come in contact with is a small fraction of the number of good people. >> in addition to the 10 trainees the grant will be used to hire 15 new officers. four are former officers. that leaves 11 people to be hired. so far there are 60 applicants. >>> no word if any change in the condition of hiram lawrence who was shot in the head one week ago in oakland. we was among 7 people hit with gunfire. the shooting was recorded. police did detain some people but haven't ann

tensions through its tastebuds. >>> after brutal bird killings in the bay area the breakthrough and how one bay area city is giving drivers a break. >>> a 30-pound projectile blasted through their bay area neighborhood. today community members confronted television producers and law enforcement officials about the incident. anne makovec reports. >> i'm still amazed that the cannonball did what it did. >> reporter: that's the executive producer of the show "mythbusters" at a community meeting about the wayward cannonball that shot through this dublin neighborhood on december 6. >> it was a accident. >> reporter: explain that to these people. >> we could have been talking about something very different, the death of children. >> reporter: this was some of the damage left from the 30- pound softball-sized cannonball. the "mythbusters" team was doing an experiment at the alameda county bomb range intending to shoot it through water and a wall and then into a hillside. >>> it skipped off the hill which they didn't anticipate and not only once, it skipped twice and that caused it to project into the air. >> reporter: an

. >>> tensions appear to be running high around the occupy san francisco encampments as protesters wait to see if and when the city will enforce the deadline for them to move out of justin herman plaza. >>> in one case a protester confronted street artists trying to figure out where to set up their booths. she accused them of circulating a petition against the occupy protesters. >> the steve ring for sure. i mean everyone is more cautious with their things and won't leave their booths, and i mean they are noisy and they make rants and they want to know why we are not happy that they are not here. >> i don't know anybody is stealing. i know we don't have any money to buy anything from them and we don't have to apologize for that. >> police are still in the area and have been keeping an eye on them. >>> the nation's unemployment rate fell last month to its lowest level in more than 2 and a half year, down to 8.6 down from 9% in october, private employers added 140,000 jobs last month. the president touted the numbers and said the u.s. is on the right track. >> despite strong head winds this year the american economy

cities could have been allowed to go into decline. margaret thatcher considered letting liverpool run down. >> in 1980, 8 days of rioting as tensions built between the black community. it is being revealed that margaret thatcher was advised that regenerating the area was an advantage. it is a surprise to those who live in the area and remember the trouble. >> the government was trying to deal with militancy. in their eyes, they were losing ground no matter what they did in liverpool. there was nothing to lose. >> government documents referred to advice given to the prime minister. she was warned not to overcommit and send economic resources to liverpool. the option of decline here is one that should not be forgotten. the chancellor at the time said economically abandoning liverpool was never seriously considered. >> i was not advocating managed decline. it was a misunderstanding of specific objectives. >> following the riots, the conservative leader this is in liverpool and supported degeneration. what the documents do we feel is that financially abandoning a bridges city over a time was discussed at the highest levels. >> this is bbc wo

israeli airstrikes on gaza and ever increasing tensions in the region drive palestinians to seek opportunities in war torn libya. news live from moscow city center this is with me. but i thousands of people gathered in central moscow protesting the results of sunday's parliamentary vote it's estimated at least fifteen thousand people are taking part right now as we speak and the opposition claims the results of the election were fraudulent to a correspondent in central moscow and he said no way to give us the latest and he said good to see you you are at the side of the demonstrations we can see the crowds are amassing behind you that tell us what is the scene what can you tell us what's going. well numbers are conflicting we're hearing some very bad numbers certainly thousands of people here they go from fifteen to twenty five thousand i just want to give you a closer view of what's happening you can see a stage has been set up a rainbow of flags you have the solidarity organization which is not. i see communist flags ya book which is a party they didn't get into the dumas and then you have a group of people as you see on this bridge her

least fourteen devices went off throughout the city ranging from car bombs to hidden explosives while no one's taking responsibility the bombings come as tensionsbetween shia and sunni muslims is reaching a boiling point it's also been less than a week since u.s. forces withdrew from the country behind an air of uncertainty middle east water coral shohreh thinks dirty politics and broken promises could be the root of iraq's predicament. although we've been told in the past few years that american success in restoring security establishment a stable political order and started issuing a statement for the chicken or dearth of very before the last american soldier has actually left there are. in the process of completely. so what we see now is due to kind of course of the prospects either a short bout of violence that hopefully common sense would prevail and there would be a return for a political solution or a complete breakdown which are the moment. sounds more and more plausible in which those who don't have the political power and authority left to them by the kind of previous american average went in there by people who played the sectarian c

that is a source of tension between what is happening in the countryside, cities, and how you deal with this. i will say the third issue has to do with what i will call the social protection programs in china. are they going to be strong enough if we have a collapse and social protection in china are not as strong as they should be. if you have a collapse just ask what is going to increase the tension over resources, access to resource. and the answer is it will because revenue to everyone, and income and a buddy, incomes collapse you'll have some problems, everyone. any quality will increase or not? not? it on who will be hit most by the. will can't have social programs that can do with this? i think the programs are in a state of development and there are some vulnerabilities there. >> thank you. pieter? >> specifically on the question of social unrest becoming more politically endangered, in response to a hard landing, i think that was your question. it's important to realize that there's a lot of social unrest in china today, how much of that social unrest is politically in nature i

leaving a nation in despair tensions are running high in iraq is the government plunges deeper into crisis after a bombing in trust city claims more than seventy lives just days after the pullout of u.s. troops leave privacy matters every breath you take every move you make now be recorded human rights activists in britain fighting a surge of surveillance cameras now to be installed in every taxi in the city of oxford.

as tensions rise, we'll report on fox report tonight congratulations. congratulations. congralations. today, the cityarlotte can use verizon technology to inspire binesses to conserve energy and monitor costs. making communities greener... congratulations. ... and buildings as valuable to the bottom line... whoa ! ... as the people inside them. congratulations. because when you add verizon to your company, you don't just add, you multiply. ♪ discover something new... verizon. >> shep: the bloody uprising in syria has now escalated into full civil war. that's the assessment today from the united nations. the u.n.'s top human rights official estimates at least 4,000 people have died in the conflict. but says that number could be much higher and probably is. there is fear the violence could spread to neighboring countries. world leaders have tried economic sanctions to pressure syria's president to end the crackdown on the protesters. but it appears the conflict has instead intensified with recent reports that members of the military are defecting and along with armed civilians, have entered the fight a