NBC Nightly News: Economy trumps all in S.C.

NBC News

NBC's Tom Brokaw caught up with voters at Bailey's sports bar in Greenville, S.C. for his second report in the

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By Tom Brokaw
NBC News
Columbia, S.C.

There are only two days left until South Carolina?s Republican presidential primary and a new NBC News/Marist poll shows former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is gaining ground. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has a 10-point lead over Gingrich, but Gingrich now has the support of 24 percent of likely Republican primary voters in the state ? and the support of the latest candidate to drop-out, Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

I spent two?full days in South Carolina, from Greenville-Spartanburg to Columbia and many stops between, including the old mill towns of Laurens and Newberry.?The Palmetto?State has so many parts?--?the coastal areas, the midlands, the western front -- and they're all distinct in?their geography and culture.?But after speaking?with people throughout the region, I found nearly everyone agreed that this year the economy trumps all in South Carolina, a deeply religious state where social issues such as abortion and gay rights have played larger roles in the past.

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NBC's Tom Brokaw interviews Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Ernie Segars,?the county administrator in Laurens, S.C., said although religious issues are ?very important? to voters, ?jobs and the economy are the major issues right now.?

?I think when the economy?s better and things are improved, and certainly the social issues are important and will have a role,? Segars said.

Watch Tom Brokaw tonight on ?Nightly News? as he connects with voters in the political battleground of South Carolina, the second in a series of reports called ?Main Street, USA.?? Click HERE to watch the first report, from Iowa.

Gov. Nikki Haley, a Tea Party darling who has struggled with her ratings her first year in office,?echoed that sentiment.

?We?re looking for a president that understands it?s all about jobs,? said Haley, who has endorsed Romney. ??The hardest part about my job has been the Obama administration ? The people of South Carolina saw that we passed by the will of the people legal immigration reform and the Department of Justice stopped it ? The people have experienced the mandates and the stops of the federal government and they?re frustrated with it. And so they?re looking for someone that can go in day one and say, ?Lay off the states, let them do their jobs and let?s get people back to work.??

South Carolina's unemployment rate has hovered close to?10?percent, even with a new BMW plant and the arrival of some support industries.???

I also spoke with?the state?s U.S.?Sen. Lindsey Graham,?a Republican?who is being criticized by?his?own party and a variety of other party activists for his occasional departure from Republican orthodoxy.

?The question for the Republican party, would we put raising revenue on the table to solve our entitlement problem?? he asked.??Will our Democratic friends put on the table working longer and reducing benefits? And every time you put these ideas on the table, people come at you pretty hard.?

After two days spent talking with dozens of people, I encountered the most passionate opinions at?a Ron Paul debate party at Bailey?s sports bar in Greenville: all working class and mostly young, many of whom had not been involved in politics before.

I asked Sandy Monroe what she found so appealing about Ron Paul.

?He challenged my ideas,? she said. ??He sent me back to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and to the Founding Fathers ? He could win if the people understood what he stood for.? If people like me would actually go study what he says, it makes sense.? And it?s our freedom that he?s talking about.?

But for Robert Whitney, ?it?s a trust issue.?

?Everything that Romney says, he?s flip-flopped too much,? Whitney said. ?When there?s big government people saying that Ron Paul has integrity, that he?s a man that stands by his word, then I mean, I think that?s all the proof you need.?

Tune in to ?Nightly News? tonight for more of Tom Brokaw?s reporting from South Carolina and join the conversation on the ?Nightly News? Facebook page.

Source: http://dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/19/10191957-economy-trumps-all-in-south-carolina

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Real-life James Bonds used fake rock to spy on Russia (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? What would James Bond do without the ingenious Q, who provides him with all sorts of improbable gadgets for his espionage adventures?

It now seems that Britain's real-life secret agents have a Q of their own after it emerged that they used a fake rock concealing a high-tech communications device to spy on Russia.

In a television program aired on Russian state television in 2006, Russia's FSB security service accused Britain of using the gadget for top secret communications in Moscow, but London did not admit to the charge at the time.

Now Jonathan Powell, who was chief of staff to then Prime Minister Tony Blair, has confirmed the Russians were correct.

"They had us bang to rights," Powell says in a BBC documentary to be aired on Thursday.

"Clearly they had known about it for some time and had been saving it up for a political purpose," he says in an excerpt played on BBC radio ahead of the broadcast.

Relations between London and Moscow were tense at the time because of disagreements over the war in Iraq, Chechnya, and a British court's refusal to extradite businessmen and Chechen leaders wanted by Russia.

"There's not much you can say. You can't really call up and say 'terribly sorry about that and it won't happen again'," Powell says.

As well as exposing the dummy rock ploy, the 2006 Russian program said Britain was covertly funding Russian pressure groups that were subject to a state crackdown. Britain said it was open in its support of Russian NGOs active on human rights and civil society issues.

Espionage scandals were a staple of British-Russian relations during the Cold War. Although they are less frequent nowadays, ties between the two countries have been strained in recent years by allegations of covert operations.

In particular, Russia enraged Britain with its refusal to extradite an ex-KGB man who is the main suspect in the 2006 murder of Alexander Litvinenko, a Kremlin critic who was poisoned by radioactive polonium in London.

The Russian television program showed footage of a man struggling to pick up a rock from a snowy roadside in Moscow before walking off with it -- a real-life replay of the "dead letter drop" of spy novel fame.

The man was accused of being a British spy and the rock was described as a fake that contained a device capable of receiving information electronically and beaming it to a hand-held computer.

The FSB said four spies working undercover as diplomats at the British embassy in Moscow had made use of the device.

They would have made Q proud -- if only they hadn't got caught.

(Reporting by Avril Ormsby, writing by Estelle Shirbon)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120119/lf_nm_life/us_britain_russia_spying

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Greece in race against time to avoid default

A security guard opens the shutters of Syntagma metro station during a 24-hour strike in Athens, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012. International debt inspectors visit Athens to review the course of Greece's austerity reforms. Unions call for strikes and work stoppages in some sectors in the Greek capital. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

A security guard opens the shutters of Syntagma metro station during a 24-hour strike in Athens, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012. International debt inspectors visit Athens to review the course of Greece's austerity reforms. Unions call for strikes and work stoppages in some sectors in the Greek capital. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Pedestrians pass a closed metro station during a 24-hour strike in Athens, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012. International debt inspectors visit Athens to review the course of Greece's austerity reforms. Unions call for strikes and work stoppages in some sectors in the Greek capital. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

A woman stands outside a closed metro station during a 24-hour strike in Athens, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012. International debt inspectors visit Athens to review the course of Greece's austerity reforms. Unions call for strikes and work stoppages in some sectors in the Greek capital. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

A young boy stands at a closed metro station during a 24-hour strike in Athens, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012. International debt inspectors visit Athens to review the course of Greece's austerity reforms. Unions call for strikes and work stoppages in some sectors in the Greek capital. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

ATHENS, Greece (AP) ? Greece resumed talks with its international debt inspectors Tuesday, facing a race against the clock to avoid becoming the first country that uses the euro to default on its debts and potentially trigger a chain reaction that could ultimately destroy the European single currency itself.

The debt inspectors ? whose mission chiefs are expected in Athens Friday after technical teams lay the groundwork ? face a massive task. They have to once again find more ways to cut spending and raise revenue in a country that is increasingly seen as immune to fundamental reforms.

Apart from identifying financial shortfalls produced since their last visit in December, they also have to set up a detailed policy and spending program for the next two years if Athens wants to have a chance at securing an extra euro130 billion ($166 billion) in rescue loans. Those loans were promised in October, after it became clear that a first euro110 billion bailout granted in May 2010 was not enough to buffer a Greek economy in freefall.

And the inspectors from the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and European Commission ? known as the 'troika' ? are not the only foreign officials in town this week.

While they go through Greece's books, the government in Athens is also locked in a battle to convince banks and other private bondholders to forgive half of the Greek debt they hold ? an essential part of the second rescue package.

At the same time, the head of the European Union's task force for Greece is also in the capital, looking to streamline the country's sprawling bureaucracy, trying to improve lax tax collection and kickstart stalled infrastructure projects.

For the Greek government, the stakes could not be higher. The country has to repay a euro14.5 billion bond in March ? one that it can't afford to pay. Negotiations with the bondholders on the bond swap ? and ideally the troika ? have to be concluded by Jan. 30, when European leaders meet in Brussels to scrutinize the deal.

The crucial bond swap negotiations with the Institute of International Finance, which represents bondholders, stalled on Friday after a sudden disagreement arose with other eurozone countries and the IMF over the interest rate on the new bonds.

Talks will resume Wednesday, the IIF said, which went on to press the "sense of urgency" over the need for a deal. However, it was not clear whether positions had moved closer together since last week. After Greece's economy shrank almost 6 percent last year, the official lenders are trying to cap the amount of money they have to pump into the country.

Time is running short. Ideally, a final outline of the debt deal should be reached by the end of this week, with a formal public offer at the beginning of February, a senior Greek finance ministry official said last week. Only then will Greece know how many bondholders are actually willing to participate voluntarily.

If the agreement goes ahead, it would both reduce the amount the country has to pay on its debt and extend the maturity date, giving the country much-needed breathing space. If it doesn't, it puts into question the entire second bailout and makes the possibility of a messy default alarmingly likely.

Such is the scene in Athens these days, almost two years after a new government called for international help to plug a budget deficit that was much bigger than expected. Since then, the troika has flown over more or less every three months, checking on progress and often coming back disappointed.

Each time their visits have grown longer, the debate over yet more austerity measures more acrimonious, and invariably, a broad selection of workers go on strike. Yet resignation has set in among many Greeks, who see no particular result arising from labor walkouts and demonstrations that often turn violent.

All this takes place against a backdrop of growing frustrations among Greece's official creditors, the IMF and the other eurozone countries.

"The potential ramifications of a Greek disorderly default are so negative it is still likely that some kind of agreement will be reached," said Gary Jenkins, director of Swordfish Research. But "the fact that such a scenario is possible after all the bailouts and talks will probably continue to be a drag on confidence even if the problems are resolved."

Last Friday, U.S. rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded the credit score of nine of the 17 countries in the eurozone. Nonetheless, Spain, one of the countries hit by the downgrade, successfully auctioned off euro4.9 billion ($6.21 billion) in short-term debt at sharply reduced interest rates Tuesday, an indication that investor sentiment had not been dented. Portugal, another S&P target, also on Tuesday secured an agreement with trades unions and employers on a package of labor reforms aimed at reversing the country's steep economic decline.

Greece also raised euro1.625 billion ($2.06 billion) in short-term debt, with its 13-week treasury bills selling at an interest rate of 4.64 percent, marginally lower than the 4.68 percent in the last such auction in December.

At the Brussels-based Commission, the missions to Greece are seen as one of the most taxing assignments. Officials joke that with the troika trips to Greece, one never knows when they will end, be interrupted, or restarted. Technical experts work in shifts, with a second group flying in once the first batch has reached its limits. Nonetheless, Europe remains determined to reach a solution.

"We have not given up on Greece at all," Marco Buti, the head of the Commission's economic affairs division, which supplies the troika experts, said in Brussels Tuesday. "Actually we are working very very hard to make sure the Greeks embrace the right policies."

____

Gabriele Steinhauser in Brussels and Derek Gatopoulos in Athens contributed to this story.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-17-EU-Greece-Financial-Crisis/id-915131fac06942509182760c867bb6c8

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Martin Luther King Jr. is remembered across the nation (Reuters)

CHICAGO (Reuters) ? Americans honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday with a traditional day of service as well as a new wave of protests by Occupy Wall Street to promote causes of economic justice.

Across the nation, hundreds of formal events were planned for the federal holiday to celebrate the slain leader's birthday and legacy, from prayer services to parades to performances.

But it was the first time the annual King holiday has been held since the Occupy Wall Street movement reignited debate about social inequality and poverty. The protesters have targeted investment banks, noting the government bailed out Wall Street while many Americans still struggle with joblessness and housing foreclosures.

Not long before he was murdered in 1968, King was organizing a Poor People's Campaign as the next phase in the civil rights movement.

"Occupy Wall Street continues Martin Luther King's quest for economic justice through nonviolent action," the protest movement said in a statement.

"Communities of color ... have been hardest hit by predatory lending practices," it said. "Occupy Wall Street is here to pick up where King left off. We are here to reclaim the dream."

This year's King holiday also comes as officials in more than a dozen states implement new laws requiring voters to present photo identification at the polls. Critics say the restriction violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965 -- one of the key accomplishments of the movement King led.

In New York, Occupy Wall Street protesters were starting their march at an African Burial Ground, where hundreds of slaves were buried in the 17th and 18th centuries. The site was uncovered in 1991 during excavation for construction of a federal building and is now part of the National Park Service.

The march was headed to the Federal Reserve Bank where participants planned to rally for economic justice. The march then was headed to Madison Square Garden, where Cablevision workers were set to vote on whether to unionize this month.

Later, a demonstration dubbed Occupation for Jobs was planned in New York City's Union Square.

Occupy the Dream, a coalition of African American church groups affiliated with Occupy Wall Street, called for a national day of action outside offices of the Federal Reserve in 16 cities, including Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Minneapolis and San Francisco.

Because of the federal holiday, post offices, government buildings and most public schools remained closed.

Community and civil rights leaders urged Americans to make Monday a day on, not a day off, and to honor King's crusade for nonviolence and racial brotherhood by doing volunteer work.

One source for such work is a website, http://mlkday.gov/, set up to help would-be volunteers find local projects.

Elsewhere, prayer breakfasts, concerts and even sporting events were set to mark the holiday, which the nation began officially celebrating in 1986.

In Atlanta, where King was born on January 15, 1929, cellist Yo-Yo Ma was to perform at Morehouse College, King's alma mater.

In Washington, where King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963 to more than a quarter million listeners in front of the Lincoln Memorial, a focal point for celebrations was the new memorial dedicated to King last fall.

In Memphis, where King was slain on April 4, 1968, the city's professional basketball team, the Grizzlies, was playing its annual Civil Rights Game against the Chicago Bulls.

In Austin, an annual King Day march was set to start at the University of Texas campus. A "Peace Rally" was set for the Children's Museum in Houston, while a celebration at Dallas Fair Park was host to floats, drill teams and bands.

King, a Baptist pastor who advocated for nonviolence, racial brotherhood and equal rights and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, was assassinated in 1968 as he stood outside his motel room in Memphis, where he had gone to support striking sanitation workers.

The convicted assassin, a segregationist and drifter named James Earl Ray, confessed to the killing but later recanted. He died in prison in 1998.

(Additional reporting by Ellen Wulfhorst and Karen Brooks, editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Barbara Goldberg)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120116/us_nm/us_mlk_holiday

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PM warns violence could destabilize Romania

A man walks by a fire burning in University Square, the scene of the first anti-communist protests in 1989, in Bucharest, Romania, early Monday, Jan. 16, 2012. Romania's government called an emergency meeting late Sunday to discuss violent protests that show no sign of abating after demonstrators angry about austerity measures hurled stones and firebombs at police. At least six people were injured. (AP Photo/Octav Ganea)

A man walks by a fire burning in University Square, the scene of the first anti-communist protests in 1989, in Bucharest, Romania, early Monday, Jan. 16, 2012. Romania's government called an emergency meeting late Sunday to discuss violent protests that show no sign of abating after demonstrators angry about austerity measures hurled stones and firebombs at police. At least six people were injured. (AP Photo/Octav Ganea)

Protesters evacuate an injured person during clashes with Romanian riot police in University Square, the scene of the first anti-communist protest in 1989, in Bucharest, Romania, early Sunday morning, Jan. 15, 2012. Romanian police fired tear gas during an anti-government protest Saturday, the third consecutive day of demonstrations against austerity cuts and falling living standards. More than 1,000 protesters rallied in Bucharest's main University Square, blocking traffic. (AP Photo/Octav Ganea)

Paramedic attends to an injured protester during clashes between riot police and anti-government demonstrators downtown Bucharest, Romania, Saturday night, Jan. 14, 2012. Romanian police fired tear gas during an anti-government protest Saturday, the third consecutive day of demonstrations against austerity cuts and falling living standards. More than 1,000 protesters rallied in Bucharest's main University Square, blocking traffic. (AP Photo/Octav Ganea)

Romanian riot police charge protesters in University Square, the scene of the first anti-communist protest in 1989, in Bucharest, Romania, early Sunday morning, Jan. 15, 2012. Romanian police fired tear gas during an anti-government protest Saturday, the third consecutive day of demonstrations against austerity cuts and falling living standards. More than 1,000 protesters rallied in Bucharest's main University Square, blocking traffic. (AP Photo/Octav Ganea)

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) ? Romania's prime minister warned Monday that violent protests that left 59 injured over the weekend could jeopardize the country's stability and chances for economic growth.

Some of the around 1,000 protesters clashed with police in downtown Bucharest Sunday, after four days of demonstrations against the government's austerity measures turned violent. Police used tear gas and flares to repel demonstrators hurling stones and firebombs.

Emil Boc called the violence "unacceptable," and said it "cannot be tolerated." He promised, however, that a controversial health law that sparked the protests will be redrafted.

He urged Romanians to understand that tough austerity measures were needed to avoid a default.

"We understand the hardships Romanians are facing ... The crisis has been harsher than we imagined," Boc added.

In 2009, Romania took a two-year euro20 billion ($27.5 billion) loan from the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the World Bank as its economy shrank by 7.1 percent. Romania imposed harsh austerity measures under the agreement, reducing public wages by 25 percent and increasing taxes.

A medical official said Monday that 59 people suffered injuries in the disturbances. Alis Grasu of Bucharest's ambulance services said that 23 people were briefly hospitalized and three are still in the hospital.

Bucharest mayor Sorin Oprescu said people smashed the windows of shops, banks and bus stations, and street lights were also vandalized.

Anger has mounted in Romania over public wage cuts, slashed benefits, higher taxes and widespread corruption.

A police official said Monday that about 250 people were fined for their conduct during the protests and 36 will be investigated for violence.

Aurel Moise said that a contingent of the violent protesters were fans of a local football club, suggesting that they had come to cause trouble, rather than take part in the protest.

Authorities urged peaceful protesters to distance themselves from troublemakers at any future marches.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-16-EU-Romania-Protests/id-b07f63c55d8b4b7c8beacd802423c120

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Video: Video from inside cruise ship shows chaos

Video shot by a waiter inside the dining room of the capsized ship Costa Concordia shows scenes of chaos, moments after passengers became aware there was a problem. NBC?s Harry Smith reports.

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