lebanon it has confirmed intensive israeli over strikes in recent days, but officials insist that no attack took place in their territory. israel has only intervene once before, in november, shelling a target in the golan heights. just a few days before the airstrike into syria, israel moved some of its missile defense batteries to the north. it has reflected rising concern that if the syrian regime is collapsing, they could transfer missiles and even chemical weapons to its hezbollah allies in lebanon. >> syria is disintegrating. nobody knows what will happen next. they have a huge mass of unconventional weapons. it is happening right on our borders. we are taking action on a daily basis to reduce the immediate threat and increase our ability to win future wars when the app and. -- when they happen. >> the rising tension has prompted many israelis to equip themselves with gas masks just in case. if the regime's grip is slipping, the fear is that anything could happen. bbc news, beirut. >> let's join our correspondent in jerusalem. as we heard in that report, there is still plenty of

country israel has not commented neither confirming nor denying these reports the syrian ambassador to lebanon did say that it was not clear where ever telling a three act would happen and that it was up to the powers that be to decide on such decisive action but he did say that it was an option and that it was and would be a surprise now the iranian foreign minister has also stated that this israeli attack has serious implications for the israeli city of tel aviv and those are indeed quite harsh warnings what we understand from syria from syria and sources is that the israelis hit a research center not far from the capital city of damascus and that at least two unsigned workers were killed there are also reports that the strike hit a convoy of weapons that was making its way from syria to lebanon and now washington reportedly was warned by israel obvious intention to strike inside syria this kind of comment coming from a high ranking american official who has spoken on condition that he not be named

israeli warplanes attacked a convoy of trucks traveling across the border of lebanon. nicole johnson is live in jerusalem. the reaction is coming in from this incident. >> that is right. we have had a response from hezbollah. it has condemned the attack inside syria, saying it is a dangerous act. we also heard from russia, which said it will be taking urgent action to clarify what has happened. there is still a great deal of uncertainty. the u.s. navy is reports in israeli officials spoke to u.s. a administration officials and informs them they are planning and carrying out an attack on an arms shipments said to be carrying russian missiles destined for hezbollah. if those missiles were surface- to-air missiles, that would be a game changer. it would make it difficult to carry out air operations in northern israel as well as southern lebanon. the israelis are concerned about this. they are concerned about the transfer of chemical weapons from syria to hezbollah and to other groups inside syria and lebanon. they have been making statements about that in the last couple

the conflict has affected one particular group of people in lebanon especially hard. these people of lebanon -- lebanese descent were born in syria but under the law they do not have the right to citizenship. >> we have farms and houses but it was lost and destroyed and looted. we have nothing. no work, no aid. >> the town has received 325 similar families fleeing their homes. because they're considered lebanese nationals, the un and other agencies do not recognize them as refugees. they will not receive any help from those organizations. syrians are provided food and shelter but they are not. >> no one in the government has taken responsibility of caring for these displaced lebanese. there are in the same situation as refugees are receive nothing from no one. >> the house can see behind me is a typical example of the kind of age discrimination -- you can see behind me is a typical example of the kind of age discrimination. most of the families have to live in on finished homes and they can opt and roll their -- unfinished homes and they can't enroll their children in

lebanon. lebanon not only has a big board were israel, lebanon also has a big border with syria. and syria, of course, is embroiled in a raging and brutal civil war. look where the capital city of syria is relative to this map. look how close it is to lebanon and to israel, this ravaged capital city in this horrible ongoing war. and it is that geography that explains why there was an international gasp and shock today when this headline crossed, that israel had sent planes to bomb inside syria. or maybe it was on the border between syria and lebanon, depending on which headline you read and who they had asked for information on the ground. but if israel is sending bombers now deep into syria, or just over the border, does that mean this war inside syria, this two-year-old awful civil war has just gone international? specifically, has it become a war that involves israel too? and at least iranian interests, if not iran itself? did a much bigger war just start? joining us now from cairo is ayman

says warned syria not to transfer weapons to lebanon's militant group hezbollah that says american officials earlier claim that israeli jets bombed the weapons convoy inside syria meanwhile the first video footage apparently showing israeli planes bombing the research facility has appeared on the internet it was uploaded to the web by activists who are thought to be from the districts close to the target and shows bright flashes in the night sky. has the details now from tel aviv . now we are hearing from syria that israel did not want a military strike inside that country israel has not commented neither confirming nor denying these reports the syrian ambassador to lebanon did say that it was not clear when ever tell you what happened and that it was up to the powers that be to decide on such decisive action but he did say that it was an option and that it was and would be a surprise now the iranian diplomat foreign minister has also said that this israeli attack has serious implications for the israeli city of tel aviv and those are indeed quite harsh warnings what we understand from syria

but any expert you talk to, shep, will tell you this is about hezbollah in lebanon. and they are saying they won't allow the transfer of any dangerous weapons to hezbollah in lebro lebanon. this is the beginning, and if hezbollah launches any counter strike, then the israelis will go in hard indeed. >> i was going to ask you if the state department and beyond is saying if syria might be in the position to do this? >> syria seems to want to transfer weapons, and there's a lot of feeling that president hasad is allowing them to come into syria and take caches of weapons and take them back, and this is what everybody is feeling here. that this is all evolving into complete chaos. and as hezbollah wants to protect their interests, israel wants to protect there's. >> we're watching more news in the south, tornadoes pushing their way across the country, in the mid south and all the way up to the great lakes, and now it's moving east. the danger is not over. and we'll go for the update. and we're following three breaking stories. this is the one in alabama where apparently

against a city in lebanon or a community in lebanon when it may be a criminal act? in other situations where the government has more control, there is a responsibility i think of countries to approach that country and say, there is a threat emanating within your borders. you have a responsibility to that. as we become more interconnected and more interdependent in terms of our cyber economy, all of these things, all of these countries all have an interest in ensuring that the cyber system works. i think that we need to continually reach out to countries and individual -- and hold individual countries responsible. the lebanon or yemen situation is different from afghanistan where the central government does not have full control. i would suggest that in areas where the central government is fully in control, there is an internal responsibility for that country to act. that is simply a criminal action that needs to be addressed by the domestic government. >> we are focusing on technology, but there is a human factor. look at the middle east. we are talking about radic

suggest a weapons convoy believe to be carrying russian-made anti-aircraft missiles from syria into lebanon. >> we will speak to an expert on the region later. first, this report. >> the israeli government has not issued any statement, but national papers are full of the news. u.s. officials say the raid targeted a weapons convoy headed for members of hezbollah, an ally of the syrian president. but the syrian government denied the existence of the vehicles, saying the israeli planes bombed a research center near damascus. russia says the facts are not yet clear but adds that any air strike would be completely unacceptable. >> we are analyzing the information as we receive it. if the allegations are confirmed, then it is our position this is a serious breach of the united nations charter. this would be an unacceptable action against a sovereign government. >> the syrian media say two people were killed when israeli jets bombed the research center near damascus and five more injured. israel has not commented on the allegations, but the israeli government had warned syria this week that it wou

the situation in lebanon where lebanon may not actually control aspects. i mean, how fair would it be then to retaliate against a city in lebanon or a community in lebanon when it may be a criminal act, but in another situation where the central government has a more fulsome control, there is a responsibility, i think, of countries to approach that country and say there is a threat emanating from within your borders. you have a responsibility to determine that, and i think as we become more interconnected, as we become more interdependent in terms of our cyber economy, all of these things, all of these countries, whether you're a debtor nation or creditor nation, all have an interest in ensuring that the cyber system works, and so i think that we need to continually reach out to countries, and i think hold individual countries responsible. clearly, the lebanon situation or the yemen situation is a different situation, and afghanistan is different where the central government does not have full control, but i would suggest that in areas where the central go

there are also reports that the strike hit a convoy of weapons that was making its way from syria to lebanon and now washington reportedly was warned by israel obvious intention to strike inside syria this kind of comment coming from a high ranking american official who has spoken on condition that he not be named it is important to mention that a couple of months ago iran's revolutionary guard did say that assad had friends in the region who had not yet entered the fray the quote was that these friends were poised to strike out in case there was an intervention in syria earlier this month is well deployed if i am going to defense missile system to its border with syria and that this of a growing concern that they could be some kind of use of chemical weapons as. i mentioned earlier we have no comment yet from tel aviv there also has been no comment from washington moscow has said if indeed these reports are accurate that the israelis did strike inside syrian territory it is a gross violation of the united nations charter the arab league for its side has slammed his role for these alleged st

there are also reports that the strike hit a convoy of weapons that was making its way from syria to lebanon now washington reportedly was warned by israel obvious intention to strike inside syria this kind of comment coming from a high ranking american official who has spoken on condition that he not be named it is important to mention that a couple of months ago iran's revolutionary guard did say that assad had friends in the region who had not yet entered the fray the quote was that these frames were poised to strike out in case there was an intervention in syria earlier this month israel deployed its i am going defense missile system to its border with syria and that this of a growing concern that they could be some kind of use of chemical weapon. as i mentioned earlier we have no comment yet from tel aviv there also has been no comment from washington moscow has said if indeed these reports are accurate that the israelis did strike inside syrian territory it is a gross violation of the united nations charter the arab league for its side has slammed israel for these alleged strikes sayin

.-17 antimissile components or the missiles themselves headed toward lebanon lebanon. the official i talked to said it actually occurred fairly near damascus but that the missiles or missile parts were already in hezbollah's hands. in other words that this was not a syrian army convoy taking the weapons to hezbollah, the militant shiite group in lebanon, but hezbollah already had possession of them. if that turns out to be the case, it says a lot about hezbollah's actions and activities in syria right now. >> ifill: so a u.s. official has confirmed this to you. the syrian state television has said this happened. but israel's been awfully mum on this. what is -- why are they being so quiet about it? >> well gwen, there's no percentage in it for israel to confirm this. first of all the confirm that they violated syrian airspace. secondly they don't want to become the issue. in other words, they wanted to prevent these weapons from getting into hezbollah's hands in lebanon. but they certainly didn't want to do it in the a way or crow in a way that either syria feels it ha

, not to mention the crises unfolding in the other syrian countries. >> live for us in neighboring lebanon. you've done incredible work inside and outside of syria. our thanks go to you for highlighting the story oop. i want to yand the united nations says since the syrian broke out two years now, more than 60,000 have been killed. >>> so we brought you a story earlier on in dan bury, connecticut, a march on a local walmart there, a walmart that does not sell assault weapons, and there was a petition that was delivered to that store. i asked our reporter, deb feyerick, in fact, in walmart had a response and she had not been given one yet. but a producer with newsroom was able to get the statement just in the last few minutes. i want to read it in part to you. it says this, during the past few weeks we've been very engaged on this issue. we've been speaking with the administration, with congress, sports groups, mayor bloomberg's office, and others, and we recognize there are a lot of views on this topic and many ideas being considered. this is an issue we take seriously. and have taken a nu

lebanon, many connections to syria. the longer this crisis goes on, the more people that it affects, the greater the danger. >> in syria, the victims of the latest massacre at aleppo have been buried. syria is breaking up before everyone's eyes according to the u.s. peace envoy. with 60,000 dead already, there are renewed fears about what could happen to the regime's advance arsenal, which includes chemical weapons, and how that would affect the whole middle east. >> breaking up before everyone's eyes. i spoke a short time ago with the washington bureau chief al arabia. how serious are these threats from iran and syria? >> i think it is mostly buster. bashar al-assad is not in a position to retaliate. his resources are focused toward the domestic rebellion. >> how about iran? >> iran is in no position to retaliate without dragging the whole region into war. they have serious economic problems. they have a crisis in side of the country. they would not be in a position to attack israel. this is bluster. >> how do you read

reagan also, after lebanon, was far, far more careful about using force globally. and most, really most of his success in foreign policy didn't come in any hot wars. it automobile came in the cold wars, what he did at reykjavik, what he did at peace talks. did you find that reagan learned from the terrible mistakes of lebanon and it made him far less likely to use force moving forward. >> i think we explore that to some extent and find he was generally opposed to using force. it was a rel livety, you know, in terms of military intervention a fairly peaceful period. the cold war is a whole other story. he used a lot of economic warfare in that. mcfarland in the film gets into sdi and how that was used to try and break the back of the soviet economy so. >> can we talk about that quickly? sdi, which democrats dismissed, ted kennedy famously in the early '80s called it star wars. reagan was roundly mocked for years. what a great irony it ended up being this program that may not have even been able to be used successfully. but brought gorbachev back to the table after a

it is a very dangerous game because israel has made it clear that whether it comes from lebanon or syria, it will retaliate with the full force that has and it does have a lot of force. >> the regional implications of this. thank you. inside of syria, conditions are worsening and opposition fighters are going to dangers links to win the war. that includes building weapons. they have seen evidence on how the syrian forces have made their weapons. >> somewhere near the border, the free syrian army is trying to get its chemistry exactly right. with the help of the a bit old- fashioned force. here, they mix the are the stages of nitroglycerin, using ingredients they have made themselves. the rebels insist that we not reveal exactly where they are. their main expert has already been arrested three times. homemade explosives are an important weapon in the fight against the syrian government. these bomb makers live in the workshop. they assemble bombs here and take the explosives across the border into syria. they wanted to show us exactly how they're explosive work. they gave us these pictures

refugees while lebanon has become home to 126,000. now to the refugee camp in southern turkey. tell us something of what you have seen there. at about -- and about what refugees are telling you. >> this is one of the first camps which were built to cope with the rising tide of refugees which streamed into the country after the government unleashed its campaign against pro- democracy movement 21 months ago. the people i have been talking to are the people who arrived then. they're still the find saying that, despite the hardship, despite being away from home, they are confident that 2013 will, but with dramatic change. and they will go back home and that they favor of assad will be sealed. they are quite lucky compared to refugees in other countries. turkey has been very well equipped with contingency plans. but at the end of the day, these are people who were forced to flee their homes and villages. they say that they would like to go back home after spending almost two years here. >> we talked about nearly 150,000 people who are now

many goods pouring in from neighboring lebanon -- neighboring lebanon and iraq. the syrians are the people they do pay the price. >> what options does assad have right now? >> he can leave the country. he has made it clear he will not do that. he can continue to fight to the bitter end, as did more market off the in libya gosh -- will market off he -- muammar gaddafi in libaya. >> a contingent of german soldiers will accompany the missiles. and kara wants greater protection from possible syrian missiles -- ankara wants greater protection from possible syrian missiles. philipp rosler has called on party members to go all out in the campaign. the coalition is suffering from poor rates in the polls. the pressure is going with important regional elections in two weeks. , support for ftp leader philipp rosler appears to be fading fast. before the party faithful in guard, he emphasized the f dp -- in stuttgart, he emphasized the fdp principles. >> having credibility means being able to take a stand. being able to stick to your position. but credibility is also a matter

.-17 antimissile components or the missiles themselves headed toward leban lebanon. the official i talked to said it actually occurred fairly near damascus but that the missiles or missile parts were already in hezbollah's hands. in other words, that this was not a syrian army convoy taking the weapons to hezbollah, the militant shiite group in lebanon, but hezbollah already had possession of them. if that turns out to be the case, it says a lot about hezbollah's actions and activities in syria right now. >> ifill: so a u.s. official has confirmed this to you. the syrian state television has said this happened. but israel's been awfully mum on this. what is -- why are they being so quiet about it? >> well, gwen, there's no percentage in it for israel to confirm this. first of all, the confirm that they violated syrian airspace. secondly they don't want to become the issue. in other words, they wanted to prevent these weapons from getting into hezbollah's hands in lebanon. but they certainly didn't want to do it in the a way or crow in a way that either syria feels it

one is that they move it to lebanon and to hezbollah and syria and then to lebanon. >> warner: the militant group hezbollah syria's proxy in neighboring lebanon fought israel to a surprising draw in 2006. it is now believed to have missiles including some supplied by syria that could strike tel aviv. that city has come under such fire before. and israelis are prepared. every apartment and every house in this middle class neighborhood contains a safe room where the family can take refuge in the case of attack. that's been required of every dwelling built here in the last 20 years, ever since saddam hussein aimed missiles at israel during the first gulf war. this man owns a company called i am protected. he installs, upgrades and retrofits residential safe rooms that serve as shelters in the case of attack. so what makes this a safe room? >> first of all, the walls are thicken and they're made of concrete. you have a special door for the blast. and when it's locked like this it's also being sealed. >> warner: what do your customers tell you? i mean, do they think they'll really ever have to u

and that those missiles were on their way to lebanon. they were going to be handed over to hezbollah. hezbollah is very powerful in lebanon, israel's sworn enemy. israel did not want hezbollah to have these weapons. what does it mean? hezbollah and israel could be heading up for another round. it also means israel is willing to reach inside syria and stop weapons from leaking out, maybe even chemical weapons. >> an escalation in a dangerous neighborhood. richard engel, thank you, as always. >>> still ahead for us tonight, a dramatic turn of events for a man who was once a heartbeat from a presidency. and what about those reports he's suddenly $100 million richer. >>> and later, perhaps the only two folks in america who wish the super bowl could end up in a tie. >>> former senator, vice president and presidential nominee, al gore, is out with a new book, entitled "the future." and while he's getting credit for being out ahead on the issue of climate change for years, he is also facing some criticism for selling the tv network he owned to

one is that they move it to lebanon and to hezbollah and syria and then to lebanon. >> warner: the militant group hezbollah syria's proxy in neighboring lebanon fought israel to a surprising draw in 2006. it is now believed to have missiles including some supplied by syria that could strike tel aviv. that city has come under such fire before. and israelis are prepared. every apartment and every house in this middle class neighborhood contains a safe room where the family can take refuge in the case of attack. that's been required of every dwelling built here in the last 20 years, ever since saddam hussein aimed missiles at israel during the first gulf war. this man owns a company called i am protected. he installs, upgrades and retrofits residential safe rooms that serve as shelters in the case of attack. so what makes this a safe room? >> first of all, the walls are thicken and they're made of concrete. you have a special door for the blast. and when it's locked like this, it's also being sealed. >> warner: what do your customers tell you? i mean, do they think they'll really ever have to

the incident western diplomats and syrian rebels claim israeli forces targeted an arms convoy near lebanon's border our disposal here has been following the developments. the syrian army has said that israeli jets crossed into syria below the radar level at dawn on wednesday and hit a military research center near the capital city of damascus now according to the military they carried out and i'm quoting an act of aggression bombarding the sites causing large scale material damage as what is destroying the building and that was a statement that was quoted on syrian state television the military also added that two site workers were killed in the strike now earlier there were reports that israeli planes had struck a convoy carrying weapons from syria to lebanon the information actually came from the united states as well as regional officials but these reports would later denied by syria. as a q. and a tour of pan-african newswire says the alleged israeli air strike in syria is all part of a plan to bring down the assad government. it's quite interesting that the israeli government as well as

the incident western diplomats and syrian rebels claim israeli forces targeted an arms convoy near lebanon's border our disposal here has been following the developments. the syrian army has said that israeli jets crossed into syria below the radar level at dawn on wednesday and hit a military research center near the capital city of damascus now according to the military they carried out an i'm quoting an act of aggression bombarding the sites causing large scale material damage as what is destroying the building and that was a statement that was quoted on syrian state television the military also added that two site workers were killed in the strike now earlier there were reports that israeli planes had struck a convoy carrying weapons from syria to lebanon the information actually came from the united states as well as regional officials but these reports would later denied by syria. are you me as a q. attitude or of pan-african newswire says the alleged israeli air strike in syria is all part of a plan to bring down the assad government. it's quite interesting that the israeli government

hezbollah fighters in lebanon. the syrian regime claims israel attacked a military facility in damascus. iran syria both support hezbollah, which calls the attack israeli aggression. they warned the syrian regime might be transferring weapons to hezbollah, and warned them not to. we were talking yesterday about what kind of retaliation might come. at least now they're talking. >> nobody seriously thinks the syrian military is going to strike israel. nobody thinks mr. i sat is insane enough to engage israel in a war, nor is iran. the question here is whether iran and syria might use their proxies, hezbollah in lebanon to carry out some sort of attack, and the key in at that that syrn statement is surprise attack. that sounds all sorts of alarm bells. >> andrew taylor was talking to me earlier, shep, from the washington institute, and he said everybody is very wary of here is a terrorist attack against some sort of israeli interest on the globe, and iran and syria have proven they're capable of that. >> shepard: he's