coming up, angela merkel, more popular than ever going into sunday's general election. could she have the spine to reform? depends on how the other parties fare, what conoco volition they have, energy prices, and reforming europe. we will be also asking our panel how i got to be the unveiling of a videogame to works the release of any tv show. how grand theft auto in its likes stole the show of the world entertainment industry. we'll also be checking with james creedon in his media watch segment. but start with the newsroom and say hello to karen. >> damascus has handed over details of its chemical weapons to the hague-based chemicals regulator. the president of america and iran may meet next week for the first time. this as a rain is on course to develop a nuclear bomb. and tropical storm and well and hurricane -- and tropical storm manuel and hurricane ingrid continued to plague mexico. hello, live from paris, i am karen roberts. a short while ago, damascus handed over the chemical weapons details to the hague-based chemical weapons regulator. syria is believed to have 100 metric tons of the chemical toxins and has agreed to destroy them. the organization of prohibition of chemical weapons expects more information in the coming days. al qaeda-linked fighters and a rival syrian rebel group declared a truce friday after two days of clashes in which the militant islamists were fighting. joining me in the studio is douglas herbert of international affairs editor to talk more about the political infighting. this must be everyone's worst fear. >> and it is not political infighting, they are just fighting. the west has been looking at this conflict, and the worst feared scenario has been the reason they have not been stepping up support to the rebels in the form of lethal arms, heavier weapons. this fear that whatever they would give to the moderate opposition fighters would end up in the hands of more extremist hard-line islamists, the jihadists. this fear seems to be panning out on the battlefield. what we had was taken the first time, the syrian national coalition, the umbrella opposition group pointing the finger directly at extremists, saying they are condemning them, denouncing them, the al qaeda linked groups on the battlefield that are preventing the opposition fighters from being able to unify around a shared vision of serious future. we have shaping up, not really shaping up, this has been happening the past weeks and months as more and more foreign fighters have poured into syria, but you have mainstream fighters, mainstream rebel fighters, and yes, there are quite a few. the people the west's label the moderates up against differing agendas, much more extremist groups. you have some nationalist's, syrian-based groups that want to overthrow assad regime, perhaps impose sharia law within syria. then you have the global groups. the al qaeda linked groups, the hard-line jihadist's who want an islamic caliphate across a broader region. you have the clashing agendas over how to topple assad, whether to topple assad, and in many cases the regime is chuckling on the side because there is a view among a lot of the people within the circle they only benefit from this because this sort of bears out what their official line has been all along, that these are not rebel fighters, these are "terrorists." >> and a smorgasbord of different groups really does play into russia's and assad's hands, doesn't it? >> pressure all along has basically been a staunch ally of assad regime -- russia all along has basically been a staunch ally of the arres assad regime echoing the line out of damascus that these rebels are nothing more than terrorists. security officials in damascus basically are saying all of this infighting that they are seeing among groups of they call the terrorists is really going to diminish their numbers. some people have speculated the regime itself is actually using, co-opting a lot of the extreme rebel groups. it is very confusing who was fighting whom and where. what we can say with certainty today and what is probably playing into russia's hands and assad's hands, it is not just the rebel groups facing off against the regime, they are facing off against each other, and the more they do that, the more that it plays into the hands of assad regime. >> thank you, douglas herbert, on the political infighting in syria. the presidents of america and every and may meet briefly next week for the first time. it would mark a symbolic but significant step towards easing their country's tense relationship. at the heart of the u.s.-iran impasse is the year-long dispute over the nuclear program. iran is on course to develop a nuclear bomb within six months and time as run out for further negotiations, according to a senior israeli minister. our correspondent in jerusalem explains. >> the new irani and presidents charm official -- charm offensive is falling on deaf ears, the israelis reacting following the interview that he granted an american network in which the new irani and president said his country is not seeking a nuclear bomb, but his people have arrived to nuclear energy for civilian purposes. the israeli premier calls those words sugarcoated, deceptive, calling on the international community not to release its pressure over tehran. he says they are just words and he wants to see action, accusing iran as being a wolf posing as a sheep. the israeli prime minister wants to see for things happen. he wants the cessation of all the uranium and it's funny him -- the uranium and plutonium enrichment, he wants the closure of the nuclear facility, and he wants all uranium to be taken out of iran. before those things happen, he will keep calling on the international community to intensify its pressure over you ran -- over iran. >> there has been a spat between venezuela and the u.s. over airspace. venezuela has explained that washington barred their president from flying through u.s. airspace and stopped a general from a company him to the united nations. the foreign minister said prohibiting the flight schedule to pass over puerto rico friday amounted to aggression. the united states said today it has granted access to its airspace, so venezuela's president can make it we can trip to china. caracas insist that permission was denied. mexico continues to be plagued with floods as tropical storm manuel gain strength and hit land. coupled with hurricane ingrid, the weather has killed 97 people, 15 bodies recovered after a landslide hit near the pacific coast. almost 70 residents are still missing. joining us from mexico city is our correspondent. can you update us on the casualty figures there? >> the federal government has still cap the figure of 97 confirmed dead. this is almost certainly going to rise, unfortunately. as you mentioned, 70 people disappeared, mostly in this community, a village that has been almost completely buried by landslides. houses completely covered in debris and rubble. it is a very difficult for the residents living in those houses. another thing is many communities have been really cut off during the whole week. we don't have much information about what has happened in many villages in the mountains, many villagers who we have almost no news. more bad news almost certain to come, with difficult weather conditions that could be causing more landslides and floods. >> with the difficult weather conditions, the communities cut off, how was the rescue operation handling the capacity of both the storm and hurricane? >> it has been very difficult. there have been various rescue missions, helicopters going to these mountains and ferrying people out. we had news last night that a black hawk helicopter has gone missing in a rescue effort. we still have no contact with them. concern there. very difficult conditions, the roads flooded, the airport flooded. about 10,000 people were airlifted out of the city. within the last half-hour hour, they just reopen the road with repairs. fingers crossed the repairs will hold and people will be up to get out of the city and to safety. >> ok, thank you very much for that. that was a report from mexico city. that is it for me. now we will hand it over to francois, who is standing by. >> it is time for the world this week. vivian of time magazine, how are you? >> very good. >> also with us, craig. a french 24-hour news channel, thank you for being with us. >> my pleasure. >> and a freelance reporter. join the conversation on facebook and twitter, #twtw. i just heard you speak german. we have a cartoon that we want to show and we need some help translating it. there is angela merkel. has she hypnotized the germans? her popularity is 70%. >> people like her, and it is understandable from the inside. from the outside, there is the thought that it is madame austerity, but from the inside she is called "mommy." people feel that she defends the interests of germany. >> we have heard the slogan, "mommy gets it done." at a rally this friday in berlin, she is now in munich, the run-up to sunday's general election. angela merkel, who in her third run for chancellor, begins hammering home the message she is a safe pair of hands. >> i want to continue to serve the german people. the more that you vote for me, the stronger i will be to defend our policies on the european stage and even on the world stage. please vote with both your ballots on sunday so that we can put good policies in place for your families and friends. >> you have been following angela merkel. his kind of steady, safe pair of hands, is that which he is like up close? >> well, yes. she does seem the ultimate manager, if you like, but like a lot of managers, and may be you will have thoughts about this, she has very little definable program that you can latch onto. it is not like obama. she will not come out and say yes we can and try some rallying impassioned slogan. she has been more of somebody in germany, as they put it, she has been like the captain of a ship trying not to crash against the rocks. this has been heard through the years through the euro crisis. it does not make for a very interesting leader, and in terms of hypnotizing, they might feel complacently sleepwalking to the polls, perhaps. >> my sense is she is a scientist, a trained scientist. that makes her approach scientific. if she has a big problem, she cuts it into smaller problems and she does step i step, step- by-step. it is a policy of smaller steps. it takes a long time for her to make a quick decision. for only quick decision is when she changed her mind about germany and look their power -- and nuclear power after fukushima. people call her optimistic because she is not ideological. she knows when the public opinion changes and she knows how to adapt, and that is why she is still in power after eight years and does not have to fear to be thrown out by anybody. >> she does not like surprises. last weekend's local elections in bavaria point to with the polls have consistently shown, as she may have one sunday, not because of her own party, they are doing fine, but the collapse of angela merkel's current coalition, the ftp. below five percent. that is because in germany you vote twice, once for your local candidate, the second ballot for a party. terry, what are the french rooting for? what is in france's interests, the same coalition or a different one? >> angela merkel will be back. the question they are asking, which angela merkel will be back and what does that tell us about what kind of partner we will have? they are very hesitant as to which combination will be best for them. they tend to think it does not really matter that much. what matters most is she will have the election behind her and she will not be running anymore. that has made some european discussions difficult. it has made discussions with her about syria difficult. never the combination in the next few weeks, they expect these discussions will become easier because the election will be behind. she will have some time on her hands, she will have more room for maneuver. >> i don't think she will change about syria because germany in general is very reluctant in terms of foreign policy, especially talking about military intervention. even after the elections, that will change. >> let me give an example. don't expect come monday morning angela merkel will go on television and say we are going to war. they know that is not going to happen. what for example, she gave france and the united states a hard time back in st. petersburg. at that time, the united states was pushing for, the g 20 was pushing for as many countries as possible to sign the declaration that basically was supporting what they were doing, if not calling for military action. she did not sign that piece of paper. she tried to convince other countries, other european countries not to sign. they expect next week or in the coming weeks she won't be as adamant. >> she will be more low-profile, but we know with the campaign and the social democrats, there may be a grand coalition with christian democrats and the social democrats. you are saying she does not care whether or not that happens? >> not saying she does not care, it is that it won't make much of a difference. >> the best thing about the german election is it is going to deplete the ranks of the unicorn party, which i think is a win-win for all of europe. merkel is the de facto leader of europe. she is going to win. she has the percentages behind her, the voters behind her. but the issue that nobody wants to seem to talk about that is going to come up is the cost of german energy. there is a crisis in germany right now. it is a very big crisis. it is called energy poverty. if you look at germany's own numbers, to keep the unicorn party happy, they will have to spend close to $ 740 billion, more than the european bailout, to make the unicorn party dreams come true. their coal plants are still burning overtime because the wind power and all all of the other green projects are not connected to the electricity grid. you have many major german corporations getting subsidies from the government says he have to pay energy taxes. we see photographs in the newspaper and on german television of german pensioners huddling around 25 watt lightbulbs to keep warm. >> i think that is a little exaggerated. yes, there is a big problem, and yes the power network needs to be expanded. >> most expensive in europe? >> but it is good. >> because they try to make the switch to solar and wind. >> exactly, and in france you pay so little for energy, but it is not the true price. nobody is paying the true cost of energy in france. i think germany is still a step ahead compared to france because -- >> where are you going to get the $ 750 ilya and to connect all of those systems to the grade? >> this is the front-page story of the wall street journal this friday. merkel urged to act faster if reelected. that is what it says in its european edition. merkel, safe pair of hands that is a little to say. the time to fix the problems come energy costs, gas and education around -- among them, is now calls for the business community while the economy is healthy. now is the time to be making tough choices, especially on this issue of the high cost of energy. >> merkel has achieved little to nothing of what she promised. there was no big reform. she is just now benefiting from the labor market refund that was launched. this is true, she is always calling for reforms in other countries, and also in germany there is a definite need for reform. >> merkel really benefited from the luck of timing, as many leaders do. she came in right at the time that the reforms from 10 years ago began to show their benefits. also, with the euro crisis really allowed her to emerge as a kind of leader, really, with greater stature than she intrinsically has, yet there are underlying problems. i am surprised the journal did not lad -- did not add to the list of woes the incredible population shrinkage, which is way worse than any other country in europe. >> getting back to the energy issue, this friday the french president will unveil measures including a little increase of two percent at the pump, a carbon tax. when you see the daunting challenge being faced by germany, what are people in france saying to this? >> people in france are looking at their bills, and to the extent they were saying about not paying the true trice -- true price of energy, that is right, but that will be more difficult for them because, as you know, the program, the platform that was run on promised to bring their share of electricity made by nuclear energy from 75%, which is more or less what it is today, to 50% in about 10 years time. that is what the plan still is today. the president has confirmed the first nuclear facility was going to close in 2016. now the question is the impact on the prices and what do you replace it with? >> closing nuclear power plants. >> exactly. my point is it was easy to make the speech today, but when they get down to the nitty-gritty in the next few months to draft the bill, it is going to be more complicated. >> if you look at the speeches, it was full of promises, and i think empty promises with the carbon tax. sarkozy, it became the same thing, never happened. he was under pressure, he had to do something to satisfy the demands of the greens. >> the greens are not so much an issue anymore. i think they lost a lot of credibility. >> but they were waiting for something to be gained. >> i think the issue for him was he wanted to appear as taking, sticking to his commitments. that was more born to him. >> nobody cares about anything the two of you have just said. not a soul. >> thank you. >> they do not. what you -- what they care about is something you mentioned in passing, the cost of energy. what is the proper cost of energy? the cost of energy is defined in u.s. dollars in oil because the u.s. dollar is the reserve currency that is used. anytime that you start cutting back, whether it is nuclear power, natural gas, or coal power, obviously things that need to be done, you are going to have an energy deficit. it will cut production. it will cut growth. and these are issues that neither the german government nor the french government has spent any time tackling. >> another issue we have not talked about is how germany is a hegemon in europe right now. there was an op ed piece in the financial times this week, ignore the doomsayers, europe is being fixed. that was the headline. it was penned by merkel's finance minister. he wrote systems at that, down terms -- downturns bottom out. in other words, what is working can be repaired. europe today is the proof. vivian? >> what else is he going to say, now that the chancellor is about to face reelection? i mean, yes, we hope that he is right, but haven't we said these things before? >> for some, this was kind of bordering on poor taste, when you look at the situation in southern europe. >> absolutely. one only has to look at what is being said this week, actually, about greece and cyprus. >> they brokered a move. actually, greece needs more money. it is true, the crisis is not solved yet. the costs much more money than the germans think because nobody told them how much they might pay at the end. >> some people suspect the statement was the result of a brain-eating amoeba, but we are not really certain of that. >> a little bit of bitterness among your greek friends. the weeks all fresh austerity measures, and the death of any teeth -- just hip-hop artist. the far right has made big inroads, a 45-year-old suspect is in custody. he is a supporter of the golden dome party. greece's antiterrorism unit has been put on the case. we're going to have european elections in the spring and we will see across the continent a more polarized europe. >> your sing a more polarized greece, bash you are seeing a more polarized greece, which i think is essential to look at. it is going five percent, six percent, seven percent up. this goes back to something. this is what people do when they have no future, when they have nothing. a lot of europeans, we're sitting here fat in france, fat in germany despite the problems, fat in italy, we don't really understand that greece is a third world country right now with flush toilets and motorcars. it has been ravaged. this is a fertile ground for these kind of people to start operating. when you see right wing groups getting 15%, 20% of the vote -- and this is no french national front. these guys are real thugs. they are amateur thugs here in france. these are real thugs to kill more people. >> the impact around europe, a major turning point we will continue to bring you with the election night coverage sunday of the german election sunday. speaking of angel merkel, the most powerful woman in europe, speaking of powerful women, the week began with the man tipped be the next chair of the u.s. federal reserve throwing in the towel. seems as though bill clinton's former treasury secretary larry summers has made some enemies over the years. in stead, they came up with janet yell h, who will be the world's first woman boss of the most powerful central bank. you're the female chancellor of germany, but there is not a single woman on the executive committee of the european central bank nor of the bank of england. >> i think it is a very good news if there is a female boss in charge. there are just not enough women around. good news. >> and it is also a choice by default. everybody knows larry summers was the first choice of the president. it is also one more demonstration of his inability to push the people he wants for the jobs that he wants. there have been precedents, and this is the latest example. >> when we come back, we will be talking about barack obama, whether he can draw lines in the sand when it comes to iran. a moment of conciliation. stay with us. you are watching the world this week. >> a sample of the stories we're following at the top of the hour. syria since the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons "an initial declaration" outlining its weapons program. france confirms the president will meet at the u.n. in new york, a first between the two nations amid the growing likelihood the iranian president will meet barack obama's woelfel stop the authorities reopen the road to evacuate "-- barack obama. the authorities and the road to evacuate acapulco. and angela merkel in berlin and munich, the social democrat leader. polls placed her at going coalition neck and neck with the left. we will have the stories and much more at the top of the hour. welcome back, or welcome if you are just joining us. we are with vivian from time magazine, craig, theirry, and a german freelance reporter. it happened wednesday evening, the italian senate opening proceedings to our long-time prime -- to bar long-time permanents are still leo berlusconi -- silvio berlusconi. he took to the airwaves where he showed no sign of slowing down. >> i will always be with you, next to you, even if i am removed from the senate. one can always practice politics outside parliament. it is not the seat that makes the leader. it is popular support. >> vivian? he said he is going to restart his old party. he can make good on his promise? >> let's hope he is able to stay in politics, because he is fantastic television and fascinating to watch. i think we will all miss him if he goes. but more seriously, quite extraordinarily tenacious about his lyrical career. this hit -- about his political career. this has been years of sex scandals and his recent conviction, yet he hangs in there. i think in some ways it is a reflection of the kind of disarray of italian politics, beyond simply berlusconi. but just completely years and years of unstable coalitions that just have not been able to rule for any length of time. >> i think it was a bit shocking. he looks so unofficial -- he looked so artificial, like he was packaged. the good news is he is not going to go towards government. there were some fear he might put it in danger. if he is just dreaming about re- creating the party and promoting christian values, well, let him do it. >> he has turned into a character in a stephen king horror novel. "i will always be with you," like in the sequel to "the shining." >> more seriously, is there something different between latin politics and politics in northern europe? in britain, what you have been prime minister, you go away and don't come back. in france, for years, the president was voted out in 1981, try to make a comeback. and of course, the friends of nicolas sarkozy committee is up and running, even though he is investigation over his 2007 campaign. why is it in southern europe, politicians hang around a little longer it seems? >> i think there is an increasing gap between italy and france. france while was president for 14 years. he had political carriers spanning over 3, 4 decades. he was prime minister for the first time in his early 40s, i think, and then he retired in his late 70s. that is not going to happen anymore. and that respect, we are changing. there is a view of generations that has increased. as far as italy is concerned, you look at him and you think he is still alive and he could still speak in 20 years, he will be back on television, making the same kind of statement. the real question is why he decides at this point not to go to the government, which he could have done. what is the next move for him? that is the interesting question. >> he obviously has an idea behind his head. silvio berlusconi, unexpected talking point at a conference in russia, where vladimir putin was drawn on the anti-gay measures there. >> berlusconi is on trial just because he lives with women. if you were homosexual, nobody would dare touch him. >> it's -- >> it is a vladimir putin joke. >> he is a funny guy. >> but when it comes to homosexuals in russia. >> did you hear what comrade putin said? he is not condemning them. he wants to change them and send women out to try to convert them. this is the russian way. he will be sending in the moscow women, which was in the revolution. >> before that happens, there is the u.n. general assembly in new york next week. it is official, the french president will be sitting down with his iranian counterpart for the assemblies. first between the two nations since 2005. peres said the sitdown is at the request of the iranians. the white houe has upgraded broccoli obama's chances from meeting the iranian president from probably not to possibly yes. certainly they are making the rightnoises. >> we don't want nuclear weapons. because of pressure from the u.s. or others but because of our belief that no one should have nuclear weapons. when we say no one should have nuclear weapons, that means not for them and not for us either. >> and a wednesday interview with nbc television, he called for the 11 nation of all weapons of mass destruction in the entire region -- called for the elimination of all weapons of mass destruction and the entire region, saying the sides must move beyond the impasse. vivian, what does your crystal ball say about next week? >> i think this is dramatic. this is such a shakeup in the whole diplomatic scene. iran and the u.s., iran and the eu, but you also have iran and syria. in some ways, the ground has been cut from under obama's feet. >> but has it been cut from under his feet, or was the threat of force in syria what forced the issue, first with the russians and now the iranians. >> i guess that is the way the u.s. would play it, but to the outside world, iran has, was under president bush, and very much under president obama, part of the axis of evil. it was sort of a useful enemy in many ways in order to protect the u.s. power. suddenly, you have the u.s. scrambling to together some kind of arrangement on syria which is, in many ways, an arrangement on iran. >> is this a good or bad thing? >> i think ultimately, a very good thing. it may leave the u.s. without being the ultimate superpower diplomatically, but surely it has to be a good thing if it means that iran begins to have a dialogue with the west. >> in their attempt to have a dialogue, i think three things. first, they understood the previous approach under president ahmadinejad was not working, so why not try something else. number two, it is clear the sanctions, particularly as far as the banks are concerned, are really starting to light quite hard -- are really starting to bite quite hard. i think the liquid syria is interesting. part of the thinking is probably that the west is wesker. that barack obama is weaker. >> i think when they were discussing the letter that obama had sent to iran, there was some different implications. iran was saying, he sort of offered us a way to do something about the sanctions when we get into dialogue. the american official said, no, that was not really in the letter. it stands at the point where they don't really know what they are talking about. they're under pressure. they have to do something. there are positive signs, small signs, but it does not cost much. >> i was at a gathering of wiseman this summer, alleged wise men, and the comparison was made that obama was a new age woodrow wilson. the topic was on the table, with some robust discussion, if it would reach a point, theoretically at that point in july, if, as nixon was the only one who could go to china, was obama the only one who could go to iran? my little crystal ball is telling me that we are getting a little bit closer to that. all of this lovey-dovey stuff going on right now between iran and washington i think is very significant. the joker in this deck, and it was not really a joker in the deck with nixon and china, is the israelis. >> i was going to say, there is another player who is speaking at the united nations. here is 12 months ago. >> the red line should be drawn right here. >> last year, benjamin netanyahu played show and tell with a looney tunes style bomb to prove his point about iran's nuclear ambitions. there is pressure on obama not to have that sit down. >> of course, and the israelis are absolutely skeptical about iran's motivations. maybe i should have said that this cuts the ground from under the feet of benjamin netanyahu. obviously, this would mean a great sort of loss of face and, in some ways, a great feat diplomatically for israel. >> in the irans themselves. compromise can often be boring, the window of opportunity short for both obama and the iranian president, but in the new yorker, they say, in a society as pull arise -- is iran's, tacking to the center may be a heroic course. having a handshake -- there is a lot to lose, and it is not as flamboyant. >> and you mentioned the opinion piece in the washington post. there was another message in it that iran was willing to facilitate the dialogue in syria between the government. >> the use of chemical weapons. >> this could be an interesting approach. this is another door which opens , and it might be something where iran could get a new road to play on the international scene. >> they say, out, they come right out in front and say they are looking for let's disarm the nukes, nuke-free mideast. the next question is, mr. netanyahu, are those nukes that you don't have what we all know that you do have, are they part of this negotiation? is the nuclear deterrent in israel? i believe that is what is scaring the be jesus out of the israelis right now. >> that is one of the reasons why the meeting is not going to come anytime soon. there are plenty of ways to sit down and start the conversation without the two presidents get involved. i think that is what is going to happen in the next few weeks. >> you don't think there will be a meeting as such? >> i don't think there will be in the next few days. there could be some diplomacy between obama and the iranian president, where they shake hands. >> he has to go. over the next year, there has to be some sort of coming together of iran and the united states to prevent further disasters in the middle east that will lead to war. i mean, this has to happen. >> also, obama is such a circumspect resident and diplomat -- circumspect president and diplomat, he has enough trouble as it is and this is something to get out of it. >> thank god that woodrow wilson did not have cable television. >> the news cycles were longer back then. it was five years in the making with a budget of at least $265 million, more than most hollywood blockbusters, the videogame "grand theft auto 5" made it back on opening day with sales of $800 million. >> it is like you are part of a big action blockbuster. i get really involved with the story and the characters. >> you can drive and shoot. everything you can do in the real world and more, because you don't get arrested. >> parents think it is mindless violence, but the script is more intelligent than most hollywood or british films. it is a very intelligent script, very good story. >> how old are you? >> 54. >> a script that is more intelligent than most hollywood movies? >> it is like a novel. i heard it is like a novel of charles dickens, but to be honest, i prefer reading him than playing this kind of game. >> what is your review? >> we had this argument about my sons spending too much time doing these things, playing these games, but that is what he tells me, dad, they are a little violent, they may look uninteresting, they may look very one level, if you like, but there are various layers and strategies, which i cannot attest to, but that is his argument. >> that issue, by the way, has already cropped up with the deputy prime minister of britain saying that it can have a detrimental effect, but in some cases a corrosive effect on someone's behavior. on twitter, instead of a brainless, passive mankind because of video games, we have a brainless active mankind. anna says, how many shootings will there be till we stop the same stupid debate about videogames versus guns? a bit of an analogy, perhaps, to the shooting that took place at the washington navy yard earlier this week. a lot of people make the connection every time there is one of the shooting sprees to videogames. >> there were shooting sprees back in the 1960s and the 1970s. manson, some people may remember that, that was because of the beatles. i actually remember when the beatles came out. my mother and father said their parents told them to keep away from frank sinatra when he came out because he was dangerous. these things are cyclical. is there some connection between this and people going out and shooting people? probably so, but it is going to happen. first, it was frank sinatra, then it was rock 'n roll. bobby sox, that was the same thing,, oaks supposedly destroyed america. -- comic books supposedly destroyed america, now they say it is videogames. they are here. accept it and move on. >> i suppose these tweets are not written by people who play grand theft auto. >> they have a dirigible that you can fly around. i can see why the kids like it, but it is the same thing. you cannot listen to "herbal haze" -- purple haze" by jimi hendrix and come out same. it is the same thing with the game. play it for half an hour, then go read a book and you will learn a lot more. that is the kind of rule in our house. >> all right, that is the recipe from craig. >> talk to my son, we'll make an appointment. >> helen to fit it -- defended viewer figures for cult tv series are dwarfed by videogame purchases. she says they are this decades cutting-edge artform. many people bemoan the loss of mass viewing when a watercooler series could win an audience of tens of millions, but overlook the fact this is the era of mass playing. such show somebody -- show somebody in their 30s a picture of a man with a mustache in overalls and they will identify him as mario. is this the era of globalization, is this the common denominator for culture? >> i think it is a common line which. here you have a game that is going to make billions. it has made several millions in its first week, i believe. the finest -- of course, the finest artists, the finest animators will be in this industry from around the world. >> well, i am still skeptical because there may be so many layers and it can be very complicated and very intelligent, but you are still in front of a screen. that does not change. >> it makes one wonder. last weekend, i was walking through the galleries, looking at the francos, the great masters of the 20th century, wondering if they would have made it today. would they have become the superstars of our generation? probably not. it is a different -- it is a different way of seeing the world. >> in many ways. >> they might be making videogames, exactly. >> that would be amazing. can you imagine if when she made a videogame, what would be on it -- can you imagine what leonardo da vinci would make as a videogame? >> something to think about. before we go, let's go over and see somebody else who has been checking out gta 5. james? >> good evening. online con instagram, social media, people literally every second making a comment about this game, gta v -- for 5. >> so they know roman numeral's? >> only because it is part of the game. they point out that it is a very modern game. you can take selfies, do all sorts of things. it is also quite violent. if you want to terrorize people, it is a good game to play. abc news is pointing at grand theft auto, making it shareholders very rich. it has been records, $800 million just in the u.s., beating the previous record held by "grand theft auto iv." in many cases, the associated press reporting on a man who was stabbed and robbed of his copy of grand theft auto v, and three men were arrested for impersonating police officers to get ahead in their line to buy a copy. in france earlier this week, somewhere in paris, a video store, to create some buzz around the release of the sales, they dressed up as characters from gtz 5, scaring the wits out of a passing lady who called the police, and a massive number of police officers broke into the store. one fired a flash bang -- not familiar with the police materials. there was a warning given because one of them was carrying a fake gun and this could have led to a shootout. they say it is a case of virtual reality inspiring real events. sure if that is what they meant, but it could have led to the police firing on the people in the store. there you go, it is quite a phenomenon. >> the image of the woman in the bikini. there is another aspect of it. i will put this to you -- >> i think it is important to mention, i never played this, but i read that it is very misogynistic and it is also a message -- do you really want kids to play with this and have the same image of women? i don't know. i see this woman in a bikini, and she does not look very intelligent to me, but i don't think there are many intelligent women in this game. >> craig? >> you have a choice, shooting people, shooting prostitutes. there is a character, tommy guns. there were a lot of rock 'n roll songs that were just as bad and nobody seem to -- and there were's the same complaints. i see this as more of the same, just on a different platform. >> my perspective is if you go out and live life and live these experiences, perhaps not as a stream is that, but to interact with the real world, it is kind of a 3-d impression of it. that is my personal opinion. all things in good measure, i suppose. just one other story, should obama meet iran's president, one of the big headlines has been about that. editorial editors are terming them as penpals, which i think is reducing the famous exchange of letters. the new york times said that obama finds a penpal in iran. front page mag, talking about president obama's new penpal. and karl marks talked about with the exchange of letters might have been like, how they became penpals. i will read it little extract. " i have never talked with anyone from iran before. i have a nice big house with a garden. please tell me more about yourself." " dear barack, i noticed that your middle name is hussein. are you muslim?" and he goes on like that. i think it ends up with obama asking caps on to be a friend on facebook. >> this could be a new game, grand theft ayatollah. >> will put a copyright on that. thank you to the panel, thank you, james, and thank you for being here for the world this week. 

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