germany are wondering what to expect from angela merkel. albania church frescoes are being destroyed. france, why the famous lavender is at risk. first up, it germany. europeans are watching closely as 62 million germans went to the polls a few days ago. evil across the continent from sweden to spain are well aware that the outcome of the elections in the eu's largest economy is going to have implications on their lives as well. whether they like it or not, angela merkel is keeping her job as german chancellor. >> a triumph. angela merkel has one of -- has won the biggest victory of her political career. congratulations from all over the world. she is a pinnacle of power in germany and europe. a year ago she was the object of harsh criticism. greek newspapers debt of old stereotypes and all over germany old fears of germany emerged. >> suddenly europe is speaking german. >> the chancellor becomes the dominant figure. germany's southern neighbors are wishing they could vote. they would like to see the social democrats in power or at least ju

and president obama has told angela merkel that the u.s. is not tapping her mobile phone. >>> now piracy charge have been dropped against detained greenpeace activists in russia. they will now face lesser charges of hooliganism. their ship was seized when they staged a protest on the russian-owned oil rig. all have been held in custody. gets to the russian capitol in moscow. david, the hooliganism charges can still potentially carry large prison sentences. >> reporter: yes, that's right. there has been a statement here from the green piece spokesman who says th they are no more hooligans than they were pirat pirates. ithey were mounting a simple protest, they would say. hooliganism is the charges brought against th them and that can be a heavy sentence, the max of seven years, but the judge does have discretion to levy a fine instead, to make them do community service or to suspend the sentence or to give them two years, three years, something under the maximum sentence in detention. we'll have to wai wait and see t it exactly means. presid

for us -- i understand why angela merkel has to say something publicly. the fact is the nsa has done more to save german lives than the german army since world war ii. that's the reality. the nsa has provided so much intelligence to save them in terrorist attack. they should be thankful to us, not going through this charade. >> peter king, as a member of the house homeland security committee, the hout intelligence committee as well, the chair of the subcommittee, thanks very much for coming in. >> thank you, wolf. appreciate it. >>> remember, you can always follow what's going on here in "the situation room" on twitter. you can tweet me @wolfblitzer. thanks very much for watches. "crossfire" with special guests ron paul, race mar reese turner, "crossfire" starts right now. >>> tonight diagnosing what's wrong with obama care. even if he isn't worried, should he be? should the president have known more about the problem? on the left brian schweitzer, on the right s.e. kipp. in the crossfire, and grace ma returner, who thinks it's wrong for america. can obam

after claims the nsa tapped into the mobile of german chancellor angela merkel. leaked documents show 35 world leaders may have been under surveillance. >> looking for a solution to the nsa spying row. on thursday, angela merkel asked for an agreement with washington on ground rules for spying among allies. >> the franco german initiative goes far beyond the past. it is about establishing a common set of rules for intelligence relations. this should be done by the end of the year. >> the initiative comes after a series of u.s. snooping revelations. on thursday, "the guardian" reported at least ernie five international leaders -- 35 international leaders had been monitored. the nsa encouraged senior officials to share their contacts. the spy agency added foreign leaders phone numbers to its surveillance list. one official alone was said to have provided 200 numbers. the day before, the german government said it had information angela merkel's private conversations had been monitored. >> i think the most important thing at this juncture is to find a basis for the f

>>> german chancellor angela merkel tells president obama spying on her and her country is fool i up acceptable. staunch u.s. ally is among of numbeagrowing number complainino the u.s. tough questions during a congressional hearing. a new trial for a kennedy cousin a judge gives him another chance at freedom in the case of 1975 murder of his neighbor mar that mockly. new hope in the battle against breast cancer a promising new drug that treats one of the most aggressive forms of the deadly disease. ♪ ♪ >>> welcome to al jazerra america. am stephanie sy. president obama is once again trying to contain diplomatic fallout over the nsa spying program. new allegations have emerged the agency may have tapped the german chancellor's phone and listened in on private conversations. angela merkel told president obama if the allegations are true, it would be a grave breach of trust between the u.s. and germany. ellen fisher has more. >> reporter: the german government has have been pretty sure something went ongoing public with allegations that the american spied on angela merkel's mobile p

the white house refuses that it has monitored angela merkel's cell phone. these men are patrolling egypt's streets. their aim is to stop the number of assaults and harassment of women. >> they are doing the job the authorities should be doing. the police are looking the other way. he captured some of music's greatest stars. a photographer with a front row seat to history. >> welcome to our viewers on public television in america and around the globe. she is one of the most powerful women in the world, and tonight, the wrath of angela merkel is aimed straight at america. the white house will not deny that it has monitored her cell phone calls in the past, and admits that resident obama is now in an awkward situation. the u.s. ambassador to berlin was summoned to explain exactly what is going on. it was perhaps appropriate today that angela merkel's car had a double 07 license plate. >> this is not about me. it's about every citizen. need to have trust in our allies and partners, and this trust now has to be rebuilt. so i say again, spying on friends is unacc

that ore allegations that chancellor angela merkel's cell phone was tapped by the nsa. al jazeera's tim friend has this from brussels. >> angela merkel arrived in this summit at angry mood and hinted at long term damage to u.s. relations not just in germany but across europe. >> translator: with regards to the national security agencies, i have made it clear to the american president that spying between friends is unacceptable. i said that in june when he was in berlin and in july and also yesterday in a phone call. it's not about me. it's about the privacy of all german people. between allies there must be trust and this trust must now be rebuilt. >> other leaders gathering in brussels lined up to express alarm on the latest revelations about the extent of u.s. phone tapping. >> we can't accept this systematic spying whatever it may be. we need to take measures and i don't just mean at a national level we need to take european measures as well. >> there was also this moment of levity from the issue leader. >> -- irish leader. >> french president francois hollande is me

>> is why are you bugging my phone, demands or men chancellor angela merkel. washington facing backlash from key european allies. police officers killed in clashes with militants over the country's transition to democracy. australian firefighters continue their battle amid high temperatures. a military exercise using live ammunition is thought to have caused one of the largest blazes . hello, welcome to "france 24." here are our top stories. the furor on the scale of american mass surveillance has reached a new level. on color merkel has demanded explanations over reports that the nationalist purity of a -- angela merkel has demanded explanations of reports that the national security agency has bumped phones. >> the allegation in just one week. berlin on wednesday said the nsa may have tapped angela merkel's phone. she called resident obama to demand immediate verification. >> she unequivocally disapproves of certain practices and regards them as completely unacceptable. >> washington did not deny the charges. it simply said it was not currently monitoring her

was monitoring the phone conversations of chancellor angela merkel herself piece on a reports now on the potential consequences if the grave breach of trust is proven between the close allies. the statement from the foreign ministry that alerted us that the german the us ambassador to germany had been summoned stress the fact that foreign minister vesta velour would be meeting with him in person now usually a junior diplomat would have taken a meeting like this but the german side wanting to get to the bottom of these allegations is as quickly as possible now this follows up a phone call from angle and merkel directly to barack obama on wednesday after the news broke that perhaps the united states had been listening into the personal phone calls of the german chancellor now a spokesperson for i'm glad merkel said that if this turned out it had happened it would be completely unacceptable and said that angela merkel wanted an immediate and comprehensive response from the united states from the u.s. side well the white house issued a statement saying that the u.s. was not listening int

the white house refuses that it has monitored angela merkel's cell phone. these men are patrolling egypt's streets. their aim is to stop the number of assaults and harassment of women. >> they are doing the job the authorities should be doing. the police are looking the other way. he captured some of music's greatest stars. a photographer with a front row seat to history. >> welcome to our viewers on public television in america and around the globe. she is one of the most powerful women in the world, and tonight, the wrath of angela merkel is aimed straight at america. the white house will not deny that it has monitored her cell phone calls in the past, and admits that resident obama is now in an awkward situation. the u.s. ambassador to berlin was summoned to explain exactly what is going on. it was perhaps appropriate today that angela merkel's car had a double 07 license plate. >> this is not about me. it's about every citizen. need to have trust in our allies and partners, and this trust now has to be rebuilt. so i say again, spying on friends is unacc

merkel's personal telephone had been listened to by the n.s.a. now this information was taken seriously enough by the german security services under by mrs merkel herself to prom to get on the phone to the oval office and speak directly to the president barack obama now the spokesperson for angela merkel said the chiefs wanting an immediate and comprehensive clarification about these allegations and if it turns out that they had been listening into her personal phone calls that would be completely on acceptable now that's been echoed in the front pages of the newspaper newspapers here on thursday in germany they're talking about it being the biggest affront to chancellor merkel and to the german people if they had been if their leader had been being spied on by the by the united states and also talking about it being an attack on her political hearths now in response to these allegations the white house released a statement saying that they were not and would not be spying on the personal communications of german chancellor angela merkel no notab

ambassador on inspections that angela merkel's phone was tapped. president obama told angela merkel that she is not being spied on. the white house didn't rule out that it may have happened in the past. >> thousands took to the streets of the cambodian capital to protest against a stolen election and want an independent investigation into poll results. >> more on the top story, the syria prisoner exchange. joining us from beirut a syrian and lebanon officer at human rights watch. the women were handed over wednesday. no family or friends to welcome them. such a stark contrast to the release and frenzy of celebrations that surrounded the lebanese pilgrims, when they were exchanged on saturday. who are these women? what do we know about them? >> thank you for having me. so we have been following this exchange closely. what we do know is that some of these women are individuals who have been arbitrarily detained by the syrian government. they, like others, have been held because of their peaceful activates m, for their humanitarian work, in defense of

monitored telephone calls of angela merkel. european leaders have been up in arms after showing up in a german magazine. the magazine claimed it received information from ed snowden but the magazine has nottive closed a source. the white house says the u.s. -- and words matter -- the white house says the u.s. is not and will not monitor chancellor merkel's communications. notice that does not address whether the u.s. has in the past kept tabs on her. listen to the answer when a reporter asked that question, point blank. listen. >> i want to ask you, has the united states monitored the chancellor's phone calls in the past. >> we're not going to comment publicly on every specified alleged activity. and it's clear we gathered foreign intelligence of the same matter as other nations. >> chancellor merkel sent out a statement that says spying among friends is not acceptable among anyone and that guess for any citizen of germany. she is not pleased. now other european leaders are lashing out. belgium prime minister says we cannot acc

but other reports say that he knew about the surveillance of angela merkel in 2010. there have been rumbles of how the european governments could be careful because edward snowden may have information about how much cooperation european governments gave to the surveillance. >> as they wrap up meetings on capitol hill, what are they saying after the first meeting emerges. >> reporter: this is part of an european inquiry set up a few months ago. this has been long planned. the first stop at chairman of the house intelligence mike rogers who said he didn't understand what all the fuss was about, that they should be glad europe is spying on them because its keeping them safe. not much there. there is talk of ongoing dialogue but the chairman of european union foreign affairs has said confidence has been damaged. >> has anything been said that their spying headquarters have been linked so they can share the spy information. >> reporter: that's the big question, what we haven't learned from the edward snowden is the amount of cooperation from the european governments and t

chancellor angela merkel was put to defend her government's cooperation with the nsa, saying it prevented terrorist attacks. we can only protect the population if we cooperate with others, her office said. edward snowden describe the cozy relationship between german spies and the nsa. we are in bed together with the germans, the same as with most western countries. they don't ask to justify how we know something and vice versa, to insulate their political leaders from the backlash of knowing how grievously they are violating global privacy. the nsa has an agreement with other countries including canada, u.k., australia, and new zealand. each country's spying agency is directed at a certain region of the world. together the five countries are known as the five eyes. they share intelligence with roughly 30 other nations, including germany. these stations are known as third-party partners. they have their surveillance tools trained on each other, or they have outsourced their spying activities. the report says it appears the principle that foreign intelligence agencies do not monitor the cit

they are saying that president obama was informed about the spying on angela merkel from this summer and then he immediately stopped the spying on angela merkel among others. 35 international leading politicians. so that might actually be the case. that might actually be as well the opportunity of president obama saving his face in front of angela merkel and as well perhaps being a little bit of a cure to the german/united states relation. one thing is clear, they have been spying on angela merkel's phone and as well the relations between germany and washington or the united states are seriously damaged, at least for now. with that, back to you. >> yes. got to run. for now. thanks, annette at that. that's the latest from the german point of view. >>> meanwhile, more bad news. critical obama care websites crashed. the crashed data center determines eligibility for government subsidies. the company is working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. >>> michigan governor rick snyder is expected to testify in detroit's bankruptcy eligibility trial. governor snyder orchestrated the s

the ball is indeed in the field of berlin and angela merkel. we must now wait for the negotiation. there is actually a franco german document that was signed on the 30th of may by francois hollande and angela merkel. france and germany together for a stronger european stability and growth. >> does it include things like lowering the sales tax question mark 22% -- the sales tax? 22% in italy is huge. >> the document is a roadmap that could lead to further steps in completing the economic and monetary policies. steps that are necessary. the tax is that the national level, monitored by the european commission. these decisions take place and there is a so-called european semester, which is budgetary surveillance of the budgets of the member states by the commissioner, the economic and monetary affairs commissioner. these are decisions to be taken at the national level. for making the union function better, they must be taken. how they are taken is the decision of the national level. the european commission will play a larger role now and this is good in order to assure economic and mon

that angela merkel thing was, icing on the cake. ashley: who was listening in to that conversation between merkel and obama? someone was i'm sure. we want to hear from you. tweet us. should marijuana be legal and -@taxed heavily? a "gallup poll" showing for the very first time a majority of americans favor legalizing pot. we'll talk to an advocate ahead. tracy: a billion here, 6 billion there, who knows. jpmorgan chase's ceo jamie dimon closing in on another multibillion-dollar settlement. liz macdonald is ahead with her bottom line on it all. ashley: netflix shares defying all logic and going even higher. dennis kneale will be here with a note of caution. tracy: good news for you or me as the gas pumps, oil moving even lower, even didn't think 2 could go this low. look at it. $97.40 a barrel. down almost 1%. the dow is down 64 points. we'll be right back. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 trading inspires your life. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 life inspires your trading. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 where others see fads... tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 ...you see opp

pater was one of coalition with angela merkel. she represents the parties new strategic, keeping all doors open. to find out more, we are joined from the green party congress. were badlygreens demoralized in september's election. get the the changes party back on track? >> ahead chosen a new leadership with many new faces. of course, they can take the party in new directions. the key thing they have done at this conference is given themselves new coalition options . of course, just in the last week, the greens decided that there was no basis for a coalition with angela merkel and conservatives at this time. future, provided they can find an october lap on policies. they have given themselves more room to maneuver and i could be very useful to them in opposition in the years ahead. >> what about content? what does germany actually stand for these days? >> it is the ecological agenda that has always been protecting you permit and taking the lead from the conservatives who have been leading the move away from nuclear power. they feel

the white house refuses that it has monitored angela merkel's cell phone. these men are patrolling egypt's streets. their aim is to stop the number of assaults and harassment of women. >> they are doing the job the authorities should be doing. the police are looking the other way. he captured some of music's greatest stars. a photographer with a front row seat to history.

gwen: tell that to angela merkel. covering the week, john dickerson of "slate" magazine and cbs news. beth reinhard of "national journal." kimberly dozier of the associated press. and peter baker of "the new york times." >> award-winning reporting and analysis, covering history as it happens. live from our nation's capital, this is "washington week in review" this is "washington week" with gwen ifill. corporate funding for "washington week" is presented by -- >> at northrup grumman, we know in cyberworld, threats are always evolving. at first we were protecting networks, then we were protecting the transfer of data. and today it's evolved into infrastructure. finance. and military missions. we're constantly innovating to advance the front line in the cyberbattle wherever it takes us. that's the value of performance, northrup grumman. >> additional corporate funding for "washington week" is presented by prudential. additional funding is provided by the annenberg foundation, the corporation for public broadcasting, and

>>> the chancellor of germany angela merkel had tough questions to president obama. she made a phone call to the president to ask whether the u.s. had been tapping her cellphone, spying on her private conversations. even though germany is a strong ally to america - she warned spying would constitute a breach of trust. alan fisher has the latest. >> the german government must have been sure something was going on, going public with allegations that the americans spied on angela merkel's phone. the chancellor phoned the white house. >> i can assure you the president assured the chancellor of the germany that the u.s. will not monitor. >> listen again. >> i can tell you the president assured the united states is not monitoring and will not monitoring the communications of the chancellor >> missing are the words "have not" and "did not." when asked whether it happened in the past the official line was repeated. >> beyond that i'm not in position to comment publicly >> it comes days after nsa was accused of hacking diplomats computers, recording data from 70 million calls

. >> there's more embarrassment in the angela merkel affair. a trove of documents leaked by edward snowden produced another bombshell. the controversy is growing and so is the rift with the close ally. german chancellor angela merkel expressing outrage over reports american intelligence listened in on her cell phone calls. >> translation: with regards to the national security agency, i have made it clear to the american president that spying between friends is unanticipatable. i said that in june when he was in berlin, and in july, and yesterday in a phone call. it's not about me, it's about the privacy of all german people. between allies there must be trust, and this trust must be rebuilt. >> at the white house, jay carney didn't deny it had taken place. >> i can't and won't answer every allegation that appears in print about the intelligence activities. >> this as the white house tries to limit the fallout. >> revelations of late caused tensions in our relationship with some countries. we are dealing with that set of issues through diplomati

is more able to tap into the phone of angela merkel and to do other things. i think the most troubling thing for their administration at least insofar as it oversees relationships are concerned, it's been a cooperative. they've been sharing intelligence. this is a new day and age of terrorism. if that comes out, if for instance, germany is seen as well, they gave the u.s. this information about the following six people, that is dangerous because then that turns the spotlight on in a way that certainly merkel would not like. i think the administration is lucky in this way. you hear responses like marco rubio. and the ruth is, there is no pressure on had administration to change this at had point. >> change the policy of eavesdropping, surveilance, even on friendly countries? >> i think it's one thing to say we all sigh on each other and another for merkel to find out her cell phone has been tapped. the reality of that simple fact is different from oh, yeah, everybody spies on everybody. >> they had a conversation, the preds president and angela merkel the othe

angela merkel expressing outrage. >> translator: with regards to the national security agency, i have made it clear to the person president that spying between friends is unacceptable. i said that in june in berlin, july, and yesterday in a phone call. it's about the privatesy among all german people. >> reporter: jay carney did not deny the spying had taken place. >> what i can't and won't do is answer every allegation that appears in press about spying activities. the revelations that have appeared of late have obviously caused tensions in our relationships with some coup tri -- countries and we are dealing with that through diplomatic channels. and we have also engaged in a review of our intelligence gathering depreciations. >> as carney spoke another shoe dropped. the guardian newspaper is out with more from nsa leaker edward snowden. a confidential 2006 memo reveals the nsa has encouraged senior officials to share phone numbers of foreign leaders, so they can be bugged. such information may contain . . . in other words they were bugs. in merkel's case there are unique sensitiviti

german chancellor angela merkel is demanding officers from the u.s. over allegations it tapped her mobile phone. the white house has denied any ongoing spying, but hasn't ruled out that it may have happened in the part. that's of people gathering protesting a stolen election they want an independent investigation in to poll results earlier this year. thousands of tunisians have been demanding the government steps down. prime minister says he will resign, but only after a caretaker government is formed. on wednesday, six national guard members were killed during fighting with armed men. here say report from tunisia. >> reporter: protesters try to enter the office of to true neai can't's prime minister. they are stopped by the police. opposition coalitions behind the demonstrations says the government must go. they say it's not just about politics they are out the work. like half. >> unemployment has increased the and the cost of living has gone, we'll continue to fight until we get rid of this government. long live tunisia we won't give up on it. >> re

geblg thre angela merkel, threes before she became chancellor. it said nothing about whether it had monitored her. the revelations have sparked outrages in ger germany becausef east germany's past, like many germans, mervelg merkel is deman explanation and sending her intelligence chief to get one. >> also spied on the presidents of mexico and brazil and maybe spying on allies in 80 other countries. thousands marched in washington, d.c. yesterday to protest that program and demand a limit to the surveillance. germany and brazil are pushing for resolution from the u.n. general assembly calling for right to privacy on the internet. a draft could be circulated later this week. i talked to al jazeera's national security advisory faisa patel. >> there is embarrassment right now, the socialist government is way, way down in the polls. so the notion that the french government has no control over its destiny that it can't protect itself even against american spying doesn't play well with the elect ral rat. >> faisa do they have a right to be outraged? >>

berlin is furious over reports that the nsa listened in on german chancellor angela merkel's cell phone calls. >> a lot of americans are worried about the scale of government surveillance and marching on the national mall in protest. we're joined now live from washington. rally getting under way in just a few hours. how is it shaping up? >> it starts in an hour and a half. it is starting at union station right outside of the washington bureau here at cnn. we're expecting thousands of people. there are about 100 groups who are organizers of this rally and the big names span really across the political spectrum from a republican congressman, a very conservative congressman at that all of the way to a very liberal democrat, a former congressman dennis kucinich who you may remember from democratic presidential primaries a couple years ago. this rally is more about the personal liberty side of it. the aclu and others are very angry that the nsa is spying on personal communications. so not as much about the foreign aspect of it. much about domestic side and personal freedoms. >> i know hillar

we begin with the reports that barack obama said to angela merkel he had no idea what was going on. richard becker doubts the claim. >> the united states and the united states and their relationship with other countries is based on the notion of american exceptionalism. and there is an american exceptionalism, that no other country in the world spies on everyone else, feeling free to intervene with other countries and the fact that this has come to light shows the real nature of the relationships, and even among the allies they are in competition with each other, not to mention the kind of relationship that is carried out against those countries that the united states considers to be its enemies. >> in america, american international -- american internet service companies are feeling this, cryptoseal has closed down. they were used by edward snowden. they close down after refusing to cooperate with the national security administration. we spoke to chairman ryan lackey about his decision to close down. >> this was after the new lavabit case, wanting to use the id order to try to prov

there is a trend, angela merkel saying this is unacceptable, the french saying this is unacceptable. you are going to be very interested in what is coming out of european authorities at the end of the week. the question i want to put to you is you clearly have, you clearly disagree with what the u.s. is doing in terms of the spying in europe, but officials, observers, they have been saying that european countries do the same thing on their own scale.po the same. >> this is what we are doing right now. just a few weeks ago, we had an inquiry on the attack with an intelligence provider by gchq, which is mostly proven, and i just have to say that with cyber crime, we should look at the intelligence, whether they are one of the biggest cyber criminals in europe, and i am very disapappointed that they he not taken this up and investigated against these cyber attacks. i think we need to bring it into the right track, and we need to look at the activities inside europe. it is not working anymore, and we need european roots. as the parliament, we do not have the competence to regulate, and w

the agency said it did not inform the president of reported monitoring of german chancellor angela merkel but the "l.a. times" said current and foreign officials said the white house and state department signed off on it. foreign ambassadors absolutely

the president has been on the phone with the french president and angela merkel, over the course of the last week trying to explain u.s. policy to them. and then yesterday another shoe drops. the national security agency in a 2006 memo solicited phone numbers. and in response they received 200 phone numbers for some 35 world leaders. one thing the united states and the obama are not doing. they are not apologizing. jay carney said the u.s. is gathering intelligence like is gathered in all nations. >> what mr. snowden has effectively done and what some newspapers are assisting him in doing, and that is going to make it a lot more difficult to keep our countries and our people safe. >> now the spokesman here says the united states is reviewing procedures with its intelligence community to try to address some of these concerns, and in response to the call from angela merkel and other european leaders, they will simply say that the u.s. is committed to engaging bilaterally. dell. >> mike, the government shutdown has everybody outraged. with regards to this latest spy allegation is it the ta

because of the personal nature with angela merkel? >> well, i sdhad a couple people. one person said, look, the outrage would be if we only -- if we're interested in what a leader thinks about a terrorism negotiation we're in or an economic negotiation we're in. the outrage would be if we said we'll only monitor her office phone but not her cell phone. the fact is, world leaders use their cell phones all the time. in fact, one former intelligence official, a very senior one, said one of the hardest things now is that people in the u.s. government are careless about their use of cell phones. it's much more convenient than saying "i have to wait to get to a secure line." information in this country and the world moves so fast that you always see these leaders on their cell phones at summits and when they get the car. people expect answers. you can't say "i'm waiting until i get back to my secure line." and so they recognize -- officials i've talked to say every leader should recognize that this -- cell phones in particular are very vulnerable. >> brown: so luke baker, b

lived in on the private phone of germany's chancellor angela merkel, but in an emotional opening statement where he spoke as he said from the heart general alexander explained his view that n sa counter terror efforts are keeping america safe. >> let me give you thoughts here. i think this is important for our country to think about this. if you look at the trends in the ct arena in 2012 it was the highest globally it has been ever, over 15,000 people killed. in just this last month , 2,336 people were killed, 1510 injured in pakistan, afghanistan, syria, iraq and nigeria, yet there has not been a mass casualty in the u.s. since 2001. that's not by luck. they didn't stop hating us. they didn't say they were going to just forgive this. they continuing to try. it is the great members of the intelligence community, our military, our law enforcement, that have stood up and said this is our job. and we do it with our partners and our allies. and it has been a great partnership. >> while members on both political sides of the house intelligence committee express doubt and outrage some thought to

the german chancellor angela merkel called president obama about complaints that the u.s. was monitoring her cell phone. >> i can tell you that the president assured the chancellor that the united states is not monitoring and will not monitor the chancellor. the u.s. greatly values the relationship with germany on a broad range of issues. >> reporter: what more is the white house saying about all this? >> reporter: well, not much, really. this came as something of a surprise today. you notice the phrasing that jay carney used, there is not and will not monitor the communications of the chancellor angela merkel. when we followed up with a national security spokeswoman said she could not go any further than what jay carney said leaving the possibility that at a kind of surveillance really has raised the hackles of the german government and the chancellor angela merkel has happened in the past. this comes on the heels of a number of allegations. it seems like another day, another ally is upset. today secretary kerry is challenging in rome to talk about any number of issues on

the white house said we are not monitoring angela merkel's calls, and we are not going to. they did not say categorically they have not done so in the past. angela merkel and president obama had a conversation on the germans are pretty annoyed, enablement their case. it is pretty serious when you summon a u.s. ambassador. but what i think the overarching backup of this is the comments by the german defense minister who said we can't return to business as usual, but then he said the americans are and remain our best friends. but this is absolutely not right. they are very annoyed about this. they are going to make their displeasure fell to the american. isthe end of the day, there a lot of sharing between germany and the europeans and the americans, and it has to continue. >> if we were looking for escalation, in a way, the fact that mrs. merkel and the first -- and the french president, if they are going to meet in the margins of the eu summit -- because french has a gripe as well, they see it as a european issue. >> the french has put it on the agenda for the summit that h

was tapping german chancellor angela merkel's cellphone for more than a decade. amanda price has the story. >> when pam a spoke at berlin's brandenburg gate the u.s. was facing questions about the surveillance program. the president tried to use his address to smooth things over with his ally. >> our current programs are bound by the rule of law, focused on the threat to security, not the communication of ordinary persons. >> the u.s. had been focused on the communications of official persons. secret u.s. intelligence documents showed that the nsa used hi-tech antennae to monitor buildings. angela merkel's cell phone was added in 2002, three years before becoming chancellor. there's a second spy agency in frankfurt. the u.s. spy agency says it will not monitor the chancellor. the revelations sparked outrage in germany where surveillance a controversial because of the east germany's communist past. like germans, angela merkel grew up in the east, where the secret police kept records on one-third of the population. angela merkel is demanding an explanation and send

der spigel today reported angela merkel was targeted since 2002 when she was still an opposition leader. this just days after president obama was forced to apologize to merkel over earlier disclosures of snooping and a pledge to investigate reports the nsa hacked into his computer. one world leader did rally to the nsa's defense. british prime minister david cameron. >> what snowden is doing and

spied on german chancellor angela merkel. it spoke to a u.s. intelligence worker involved in the operation. it says that person revealed the head of the national security agency informed the president obama in person about the surveillance in 2010. the paper quoted the source as saying obama did not stop the operation. nearly a week ago, german government officials said u.s. intelligence agency may have monitored merkel's mobile phone. she called the president to demand an explanation. >> translator: i told him that tapping is a clear violation of law. >> reporter: president obama has been denying he knew about the operation. his press secretary is appealing for calm. >> the president assured the chancellor that the united states is not monitoring, and will not monitor the communications of the chancellor. >> reporter: but it did in the past. german weekly magazine "der spiegel" reported the u.s. likely monitored merkel's mobile phone for more than a decade, from 2002 to around june this year. back in 2002, merkel was an opposition leader. fren

onslow angela merkel dass -- ch ancellor angela merkel complained to president obama. >>completely unacceptable -- that is how angela merkel described the latest means at that national security agency might have tapped her phone. outrage is echoed by her peers in government. >>we need aaccord. we do not spy on each other's. -- we do not spy on each other. we need to protect the private indications of those were not terrorist sub sects -- subset -- suspects. >> in the opposition camp, the social democrats had criticism on the nsa. that used to merkel of not doing enough to protect germans from the u.s. program prism. >> the accusations seem to clearly prove just what we had feared. the nsa affair is not yet finished. accusations are not off the table. right now, we are starting to regress quick vacation on the issue. -- request clarification on the issue. >> the espionage is still a vivid memory for many. so far, they have not denied the charges. it has simply said it is not monitoring her phone. >> the president assured the chancellor that the u.s. is not monitoring an

last week, we told you that the german head of government, angela merkel, called president obama to tell him to stop listening to her cell phone. late today, the chairwoman of the senate intelligence committee, dianne feinstein, said she is "totally opposed to spying on allies." well, no eavesdropping was required for u.s. officials to get an earful from european representatives in washington today. here's state department correspondent margaret brennan. >> reporter: members of the european parliament arrived for a closed-door meeting with house intelligence committee chairman mike rogers this morning. but the explanation they got did not satisfy germany's elmar brok who said the wiretapping of angela merkel's phone was a criminal act. >> if we have the feeling that your closest allies are spying on you, it's difficult to talk to such an ally in an open way anymore and i think we have to make a clear distinction between fighting together terrorism but not spying on friends. >> reporter: surveillance is a sensitive subject for germans, particularly for those who grew up in the east german

he was at angela merkel's office on friday. the meeting was the latest chance for merkel's conservatives and the social democrats to sound each other on a range of policies. >> on industry policy, we have traditionally had a lot in common. due to the prominent role the industrial unions have played in the social democratic party. >> polls show that two thirds of german voters prefer a grand coalition made up of conservatives and social democrats. as do 57% of spd srters and 60% of conservative supporters. the greens also have fresh talks planned with the conservatives, but even greens who favor a coalition with merkel are pessimistic a deal can be done. >> there is quite a lot of reservations in the party about a greens-conservative government. we are not ready for it. we have come out of this election weekend -- weakened. >> both the conservatives and the spd did not comment on friday's talks. this week's negotiations have now wrapped up. more are planned for next week and many observers predict merkel will decide on a coaliti

today about claims the nsa monitored chancellor angela merkel's cell phone. the interior minister told a newspaper that if the u.s. intercepted cell phones in germany that breaks german law. and he said confidence in the u.s. is shaken. we have more on the impact these claims are having. >> reporter: both germany and france are so outraged that they are now demanding u.s. sit down for talks by the end of the year. german chancellor angela merkel was particularly upset that reports her own mobile phone was tapped. she wasn't the only one who may have had her phone bug. document leaked by edward snowden to the british newspaper the guardian states the government was following 200 politicians and at least 35 world leaders. interestingly that document also conceded not much useful intelligence had been gathered by monitoring those phones. >> thanks so much. >>> fall out from the nsa's spying controversy is, indeed, intensifying. a new report claims surveillance of angela merkel was much broader than previously believed. we'll have details on that plus a former ci

has been spy okay germany's chancellor angela merkel for more than a decade. after hurricane sandy, a year later, facing issues with assistance. >>> syria has met a crucial deadline for the removal of its chemical weapons stock piles. they filed details of its poison gaps and nerve agent program and an initial plan to destroy them. the declaration was in line with its international agreement led by the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons. the organization hopes to eliminate all of syria's chemical weapons by mid 2014 >> reporter: syria is reportedly meeting an ambitious deadline set by the organization for the w whohibition to destroy lethal stockpiles by next year. syria handed over the details of its poison gas and nerve agent program thursday ahead of its october 27th deadline. opcw is not releasing what their report says but it did say the syrian government disclosed 23 chemical weapons sites. the head of the opcw u.n. team said last week that the country has so far been cooperative. >> we have had very good meetings with the syrian govern