federation so the russians have. united states are not ready to meet those conditions now just this morning i've seen several prominent russian foreign policy experts warn that we are in the midst of the worst crisis since the cuban missile standoff some of them suggested that the possibility of a direct military confrontation between russia and the west and by the west i mean primarily the united states and to some extent the united kingdom is now higher than we've seen in the last thirty forty years do you share those concerns or do you think the russians are just being paranoid i don't want to call them paranoid but i simply do not agree or not in the situation leigh in october nine hundred sixty two when the very very close to a new clue war. conventional war between united states and the soviet union we are not there we're not there yet and it's not very likely that he will be there in the coming years you're saying that nowhere close to that crisis and yet if you look at the number of big gun ships in the seas

rights as the native russian population. during the german occupation of crimea in the second world war that status meant the car its were largely spared the persecution that their fellow jews suffered during the holocaust . s.s. mobile killing units murdered almost all of the crimea's other jewish inhabitants. the reemergence of a jewish community in the region is nothing short of remarkable. the fact that crimean jews recently acquired russian citizenship doesn't seem to bother anyone here on the contrary. the only one you look at the studies which are mentally and spiritually we have always remained cringe chon we were never ukrainians nor were we ever russians we have always been crimean jews and i don't wish to say anything bad about ukraine but like others in the crimea it was as if we had been hung out to dry now legislation has been adopted to ensure that money's no longer siphoned off from crimea instead funds will be invested in regional development i get the feeling they are now pulling out all the stops to ensure

federation so the russians have. conditions united states are not ready to meet those conditions now just this morning i've seen several prominent russian foreign policy experts warn that we are in the midst of the worst crisis since the cuban missile standoff some of them suggested that the possibility of a direct military confrontation between russia and the west and by the west i mean primarily the united states and to some extent the united kingdom is now higher than we've seen in the last thirty forty years do you share those concerns or do you think the russians are just being paranoid i don't want to call them paranoid but i simply do not agree we are not in the situation leigh you know over nine hundred sixty two one very very close to a new club war at least conventional war between united states and the soviet union we are not there we're not there yet and it's not very likely that he will be there in the coming years you're saying that nowhere close to that crisis and yet if you look at the number of big g

officials been concerned that russians, the russian espionage agents might be tracking russians who have resettled here in the united states. >> it's probably fair to say this concern has been around for some time. everything changed after the attack in the uk in march where it was the british spy, russian intelligence officer who was an attempt to kill him. nerve agent that was used to try to kill him. everything changed after that. when the fbi and u.s. officials starting seeing what some of the russians here were doing, it changed everything. they grew very concerned that perhaps they were collecting intelligence on the whereabouts of some of these people and so it became a matter of national security for them. look, there's no secret here that the russians would try to pull off something like this here. there's great concern among law enforcecement officials and peoe at the fbi. >> congress has been concerned about this for a while. >> that's right. i think it's no secret there's a long list of suspicious deaths in the united kingdom and europe. the concern among officials over there

eventually with a lot of sign language in my kitchen russian and a kind russian they were and they can tell on the clueless journalist and can't find my way to the pole. they're there to show me an escort man. they want to show me how everybody's ideas being checked. they're offering me coffee and the big thing is there trying to make it a fair carnival atmosphere. it's a fun thing to do putin wants turnout. so they're serving coffee and smoke fish outside i go back and report this on npr. but i thought as a western journalists you have access and people are leaving the polls into a fall most everybody who i stopped and stuck a microphone in the face. and tell me who they voted for and why. you never quite know if they're being monitored as a journalist. >> it is true in the last 15 or 20 years russians are more willing to deal with foreigners now than they ever have been. you're at a time when food was trying to make a point. exactly. one other point is when i was there with protest and watching security guards club protesters and drake them off. i stood there witnessing it looking ar

major russiane cities that are close to europe do not represent reality for most russians. russia is a very poor country. 1.2% of theis only global economy. we have to take that into some context. russia is also the largest country in the world but contributes very little to the global economy. of about the same as italy. if you go for the east, you have better roads, crumbling infrastructure, dying cities and villages because the local authorities do not take care of their people. we saw some of this play out in a tragic way recently. there was a major fire in a small town in siberia. over 60 people, many children, died. it was a shopping mall. they were enjoying the movies, doing a little shopping over the weekend, and the fire could have been prevented. it was some basic safety protocols. the fire doors were not open. the fire alarms did not work. why? this is the question russian people are asking themselves. one answer is that local authorities are constantly skimming money of the top and cut corners when they build new construction and when they build new roads and br

also coming up with a poison daughter of a russian a former russian spy speaks out in a statement via british police paul says that she's recovering well after the nerve agent attack on her and her father i'll ask our correspondents in london and moscow what her testimony could mean for the case that has sparked a diplomatic crisis. in . sierra leone swears in its new president if you will against him but his defeated opponent says he will challenge the election result is. it's good to have you with us it could be the last night in a german prison for former kind of one leader karl is poised to ma he's been in german custody since last month when he was arrested on a warrant issued by spain madrid wants him extradited to face charges including rebellion and corruption for his role in last year's independence referendum in catalonia. and now a german court has ruled wood that he cannot be extradited on rebellion charges the court said that he could be extradited on corruption charges but because the court does not consider him to be a flight risk he will be released on a seventy five t

the russians also the west should make a concession of not including ukraine in nato but the russians need to make concessions to the military solution of eastern ukraine and there we have not seen sufficient thirds by the russian side not assuming that the russian government has full control over the separatists but we don't have not seen enough resolution on the russian side to bring it least about a comprehensive peace plan which will be helpful by the way for the russian interests because in. he had a comprehension honesty's between the two sides it would be in the ball would be in the court of the ukrainians it would need to deliver political reform and they won't do it well professor mounted i think we also have to keep in mind that they cannot make peace with the ukraine. but anyway we have to leave it there thank you for this conversation to reach our viewers can keep going in our social media pages as for me hope to see you again same place same time here on the walls apart. algorithms that guide the product of google also guide the actions of the employees within a google an

ukraine and there we have not seen sufficient by the russian side not assuming that the russian government has full control over the separatists but we don't have not seen enough resolution on the russian side to bring it least about a comprehensive peace plan which will be helpful by the way for the russian interests because if they had a comprehensive honesty's between the two sides it would be in the ball would be in the court of the ukrainians they would need to deliver on political reform and they won't do it well professor mounted i think we also have to keep in mind that he cannot make peace with the ukraine without here but anyway we have to leave it there thank you for this conversation to reach our viewers can keep going in our social media pages as for me same place same time here on the wall the part of. the you on the idea that dropping bombs brings police to the chicken hawks forcing you to fight the battle. to stop for the tell you the celebrity gossip the public life or news. tell on and buy their products. we all. want. u.s. defense secretary admits that his country has no

russian forces being involved. and we used our normal deconfliction channels, those were active this week to work through the airspace issues and so forth. we did not do any coordination with the russians on the strikes, nor did we prenotify them. >> a couple days ago you said you're still assessing the intelligence on the chemicals weapons attack -- suspected attack. so at this point do you know what the chemical was used in that attack? was it sarin? was it chlorine? what was your evidence it was delivered by the syrian regime? >> say the last part again, tom. >> what's your evidence it was delivered by the syrian regime? are you clear it was. >> i am confident the syrian regime conducted a chemical attack on innocent people this last week, yes. absolutely confident of it. and we have the intelligence level of confidence that we needed to conduct the attack. >> as far as the actual chemical used, do you know what it was? was it nerve agent, was it chlorine? do you have a sense of what it was? >> we are very much

diplomats and one hundred diplomats from the countries that expelled russian russian diplomats or russia kicked out for tat one diplomat for every one of its own that was expelled from any odd country but russia blamed britain for this they said there was no evidence there was no proof no discussion it was just a few days after the incident that in all likelihood russia did this and in fact in the media we had this huge from the early days from when we found out that sergei's . i was the victim that he was a my six double agent who was also formally a russian agent from the moment we found out who he was there was an endless ceaseless tirade of accusations against russia. the government has concluded that it is highly likely the weather. in the high confidence assessment that was released this past october the intelligence community made very clear that this was activity directed by the highest levels of the russian government. what russia is doing when it can comes to cyber warfare not only that interference not proven in the american presidential campaign probably in the world referend

or theis iranians. retaliation from the regime, from the russians or theis iraniansli cannot the russians or theis iranians.” cannot speculate what will happen. but i can tell you that this, we took action, and what happens next is in, is the decision of assad. do we expect any retaliation.” is in, is the decision of assad. do we expect any retaliation. i can't speak to that, but i can tell you we're ready for it in the region and globally. we are on the balls of our feet and ready for anything. was this the least extensive of the options that were crafted. how many options that were crafted. how many options were put together and was this the one that would meet the least amount of damage. we can't comment on options we present to the president. that is a choice he makes. i will tell you of all the options carfully looked at ways to minimise damage, you balance minimise damage, you balance minimise collateral damage. these targets seemed to hit the sweet point. i what impact did the public prelude have on this and maybe a 24 century body guard of lies, how impact did it have an launc

russians the russians russian the russia russia russian russian tomorrow i'm afraid the evidence been overwhelming that it is russia and of course are some serious questions too about the claims on german television that this was a russian produced nerve agent porton down then examine it and said all the fight was not true they couldn't say where it came from. my life now to dr tara mccormack is a lecturer in international politics at the university of leicester dr mccormick welcome to r.t. we've got the british military lab saying it can't determine the source of the nerve agent the foreign ministry the foreign office still going the blame squarely at russia one of the british public supposed to make of this. well it's very difficult to tell i mean i do think but this is only what i think i can verify that i do think that many people were more than pathetic to call been initial position of saying that have some evidence that. i say. but certainly yes it appears to be that the government has been caught in the back foot and now with seem to be engaged in some kind of damage limitation

oligarchs, wealthy russians? >> we're told by administration officials that russians in connection to the russian interference of oligarchs and others will likely be sanctioned perhaps maybe today, could happen tomorrow. we were told by week's end, and we were specifically told that these were people connected, obviously, to president vladimir putin and also that had some connection to the 2016 interference by the russians in the election. >> very interesting. i want you to stick around. i want to bring in our panel also to discuss these late-breaking russia developments. we have cnn contributor and former u.s. attorney kim leighton. what do you make of these russian oligarchs stopping people in the u.s., stopping them at an international airport in the u.s., seizing documents and cell phones, other issues like that? >> the tactics make sense because there is something to the element of surprise when people aren't prepared to answer questions, they might be more candid. the idea of an oligarch, and an oligarch is

envoy scolded her russian counterpart. i'm in awe of the silly of how you say what you say with a straight face i really really. britain's envoy rubbish the russian claims as she left the emergency meeting. this is great task it's a blatant lie it's some of the worst piece of fake news we've seen from the russian propaganda machine meanwhile in damascus chemical weapons inspectors were scheduled to start their probe into the attack on saturday and in the wake of saturday's airstrikes diplomatic sources said that security permitting the team would present head with a brief visit. but where does the probe go from here i'm with the aspen institute stars barker mideast expert or weiss logan my. colleague if we could start with you . will the investigation in duma come up with the proof that the assad regime was behind the chemical attack. you're going to the third to be controlled by the q just it's nothing that used interests to to keep any evidence and i mean there was once and this is the nation of damascus i was the and te

joining me now is dr natasha rulyova, lecturer in russian and a specialist in russian media at the university of birmingham. thank you forjoining us, i hope you we re thank you forjoining us, i hope you were able to listen to what some of the ambassador was saying. it was an abject lesson in criticism and ridicule. how will it be portrayed by the russian media? precisely in those words except with more sarcasm and mockery of the british reaction to the case. may i ask you to stay with us one second, we are just going to go back and hearour second, we are just going to go back and hear our representative, the british representative at the united nations. she is responding, let's listen in. they are interviewing more than 500 witnesses. the president, in the uk the police are independent of government. if there are more details we can share with the council as the investigation proceeds, we shall be very happy to do so. we all know why that investigation is under way. it's because the military grade nerve agent was used in an attempt to kill civilians on british soil. it was carried out reckles

russian leadership is not monolithic there are different interests involved in the russian leadership and there are some circles particularly related with the military industrial complex like the ones in the u.k. or those in the united states who profit from confrontation so actually what we need to address is that we have both sides people who are clearly interested not to find a rapprochement not to solve problems but to make things worse now you wrote in one of your recent articles that russia if russia. wants to see any improvement in mutual relations with europe it needs to make concessions do you have anything specific in mind what kind of concessions could russia make in order to try to build bridges into europe well i think for the e.u. russian relations to most pressing problem is ukraine not so much crimea because most western governments simply not the euro but the fact to accept that crimea is part of russia and will be for a very long time if not for ever but the real issue is eastern ukraine is there a chance to find a solution to those territories in the regions of don'

the agencies from russian russian's foreign ministry saying. the attacks happened i'm own. and syria had a chance for a peaceful future i mean clearly russia was very keen to know plays the blame the piece of the u.s. the u.k. and france for any escalation will prolong of the war in syria right exactly and that is something that we saw not just happening after these strikes but of course earlier in the day here in the united states we saw that the united nations where russia was very strong in saying to this is this is essentially amounting to a major misunderstanding you've got your facts wrong but the white house has responded to those latest claims by russia saying in fact that they will not be fooled by the quote russian dissin for mation campaign that russia quote must assume responsibility for its behavior so certainly the white house not buying any of the arguments that are coming out of russia including the one by the russian ambassador to the united states in his statement saying that in fact such actions will not be left without conse

and expelled russian embassy staff. well i mean clearly for the time being these european countries which which did expel diplomats in line with the british are continuing to say to the russians needs to explain what what their position is on all this partly at the meeting in the hague today but the russians are trying to wheedle away again of the diplomatic gaps as well and they're making it clear that they found a lot of countries thirteen or fourteen countries which haven't bought into this argument that the british are trying to put forward simply because these countries say that they haven't got the the necessary proof of facts and the suspicious enough or unconvinced enough not to be able to say to take the british side and so in that sense what the russians are trying to do is to put put put a lever if you like between britain and its allies and everybody else and it looks to me as at the moment unless the british have something else or they haven't said so far the does provide the ultimate burden of proof throug

i they russian government if the uk. . . ? i don't they russian government if the uk...? i don't know they russian government if the uk. . . ? i don't know what would be the second is that, because every country has its reputation, and that's why, i believe that at the end of the day, who gets —— we will get some answers. the fact that the majority of the opc w countries didn't support the version of the us and uk on this story, means that the whole world is waiting for answers. so, this is the answered your question. lama bit i am a bit confused about if you think that you have said. first you said that novichok never existed in russia. are you saying that novichok was probably produced in the us? has it ever existed? if it does,... so does russia re—search novichok antidote if they don't exist? but second of all, you are saying, thereof people, mentioned in a few years ago that certain people got what they deserved. what happened to yulia skripal and is she recovering? why are we hearing on russian television, if not? this is her sister who lives in russia. so, ba

but many russians don't see it. instead they see putin as trying to right a historic wrong, the collapse of the soviet union. coming up, what shaped the russian president's worldview? a look at the making of the new russian czar. booking a flight at the last minute doesn't have to be expensive. just go to priceline. it's the best place to book a flight a few days before my trip and still save up to 40%. just tap and go... for the best savings on flights, go to priceline. now i'm gonna tell my momma♪ ♪that i'm a traveller ♪i'm gonna follow the sun♪ ♪now i'm gonna tell my momma ♪that i'm a traveller transitions™ light under control™ searching for answers may feel overwhelming. so start your search with our teams of specialists at cancer treatment centers of america. the evolution of cancer care is here. learn more at cancercenter.com/experts you won't find relief here. congestion and pressure? go to the pharmacy counter for powerful claritin-d. while the leading allergy spray relieves 6 symptoms... cla

russian government russian actors people with russian names i don't know but these people that we will collectively call the russian. put a tweet and facebook story that did not encourage armed revolt by the american citizens at one of ends of the it merely presented allegedly the point zero zero to whatever percent of this but presented stories that other american actors and politicians and folks in an activist were alleging as well so it just so happened that this horrible russian exile bill of dissent or whatever was a story discord happened to me are exactly the same thoughts and sentiments of actual americans who may have had a different opinion from hillary clinton it's the only story in town and the american public has been so habituated to this mean that they want to hear more of it they believe there is evidence when there is no evidence oh no no i'm sorry to say this isn't stopping i hope it does but i'm afraid it will. it's been fifteen years since one of the darkest chapters of the iraq war funding to massacre in two thousand and three american soldiers opened fire on civil

>> i think the russian dimension is important because there's been a series of russian actions against which the west has pushed back. we talked about the skripal case and i think the russians were surprised that it wasn't just britain that responded but 26 countries as well as the nato headquarters, that it expelled russian intelligence officers and the united states has taken action in response to russian meddling in the u.s. elections with a whole series of sanctions against oligarchs and russian companies and we're now seeing this action in syria. now, this isn't part of a concerted plot against russia. but the russians might see it that way. so one thing we -- that's really important here is clarity about what this is about to the russians. we had that during the cold war. it's decayed a bit, frankly, over the last 20 years. and i think the crisis in ukraine in 2014 was in part a consequence of poor quality communications between above all washington and moscow between the west and moscow generally. >> but what about the fear that russia has basically vetoed what the u.s. and its

enough now to take the expulsion of twenty three russian diplomats from the russian embassy as a proportionate response is is more than corbin would have done and i think many other people who'd also be concerned that we're compromising the rule of law and the concept of innocent until proven guilty in the interests of political expedience obvious is the security services that are doing the talking or at least this channel hasn't been mentioned even by that labor m.p. we heard from who's been on this show should say who's been previously calling for us to be banned probably not help them by cuts austerity cuts in our diplomatic services well there's the debate about whether britain is adequately equipped in diplomatic terms and the suggestion has been particularly from people like corbin that those cuts are causing harm because it's compromising the ability to have the very kind of dialogue that could prevent these kinds of escalating tensions in the first place but then there's another kind of austerity going on the chemical biological rate the radiological or nuclear or c b r n regiment whic

investment fund manager that's important because that is the russian official a russian oligarch apparently who met with an emissary from the trump campaign in the seychelles in a meeting apparently arranged by this george nader and we know that muller has followed up on some of these suggestions that he has pulled a russian oligarch that he's had his his officials pull aside a russian all the guard who was at an airport in new york asked about donald trump in his connections with russia seized that man's electronics which are apparently being examined right now there was also an aussie businessman an australian businessman who was stopped at a washington airport he was questioned about ties to russia so and to the united arab emirates so what we know is that george nader is providing a lot of information on two different lines of the miller inquiry and we know that the mother inquiry has been questioning a number of important things as others have agreed to cooperate with the investigation how much progress is we're going to make. well miller's been very good about masking exactly what he'

russian diplomats in the united kingdom which she as a russian citizen could wish ask to see if she wants so i mean we don't know we don't exactly know her health this point we don't know if the reporting was her what we all know is that she wishes to see russian diplomats she isn't to see them if she doesn't wish to see russian diplomats that match could be an indication that she believes that the russian government was involved. we have heard from u.k. authorities that britain cannot release the details of the intelligence there make up the compelling case that points to russian involvement what could that intelligence be. well i think there's a few things i mean it could be how the poison was placed least in this these are these are very very dangerous materials so we're not quite sure they've been different theories as to how it was actually put in a location where where this the sergeant the subject could be attacked and if they released perhaps the method by which the poison was put into his house or his arms or that might be an indication of who was involved with it so that's the k

everyone seems to love a russian port story shadowy russian troll farm used a number of fake accounts russian bards attempted to use this tragedy to russia when bots are hyping terms like russian linked trolls are at it again trying to sow discord in america votes are apparently to blame for trending hashtags or pro-gun campaigns after shouting look a little closer back when you find this site one source in particular for all that bought information how will ten sixty eight. this not is how milton sixty eight doesn't specialize in trucking quite russian both it's a recent change in say that monitors are around six hundred accounts they simply belief may be linked to russian operations regardless of what even means we don't track bots we've tried to make this point clear in all our published reporting yet most of the third party reporting on the dashboard continues to appear with some variation of the headline russian bots are pushing x. this is inherently inaccurate said the mole hamilton sixty eight and mit they suppose it russian and to count on seoul even based where people might s

and they have decided to close russian consulate general in seattle as well as to expel 60 russian diplomats. that's very interesting. you see that what is protects for such. >> let me ask you, if i may. you say there's no evidence of russian involvement. do you agree that acknowledge that it was a soviet era nerve agent used in this attack on the two russian citizens in great brita britain? >> you see that frankly, i don't know. you say that what we offered and what we have requested from our british colleagues, just only to give us evidence, to give us proof regarding the enrollment of russian site into this accident. we have accident convention on prohibition of chemical weapons. the headquarter of this convention in the hague. let's seek together and in accordance with pa riggss of this convention, let's cooperate and let's try to find out what has happened in london. and, please and please, let's work together. and let's decide what should we do together, not to permit such accidents happen again. >> if you could see the proof and it was this nerve agent and it is a soviet era nerve age

in march when russians -- when it is believed that russians attacked the former british spy and russian intelligence officer. everything changed after that. and then when the fbi started seeing what some of the russians were doing here in this country, including what evan just said, the idea that they may have found people who defected and some of the people -- we have allowed to settle here supposedly safely, we've given them new identity in some cases, the fact that the russians and some cases were able to find the people and perhaps through their own surveillance raised a lot of concern. especially after the march attack in the u.k., because the concern on a lot of law enforcement is well what were the russia yanz here doing and what was the purpose of collecting this information. >> because the concern, evan, correct me if i'm wrong, this could fit into a larger pattern of russians going after defectors or others around the world for assassination. >> right. exactly. there is a trail of suspicious deaths among russians, people critical of vladimir putin in europe and elsewhere and t

has slammed russian's handling of the ongoing investigation into the poisoning of a form of russian spy russian is accuse moscow of being behind the nerve agent attack alexander says that allegation has no basis don't take something for granted. give us the evidence in my message to the to the other countries. the prime minister to present the evidence and then present this evidence publicly . why did you put in secret i'll tell you i don't understand maybe maybe the prime minister. you know so that's why you know my message is make it transparent it's a very serious issue and we have to know the truth well this of course follows that nerve agent attack on a former domination in the u.k. surrogate script and his daughter of a poisoned on the fourth of march has blamed russia for the attack which moscow fiercely denies but earlier today we saw american diplomats leaving the u.s. embassy in moscow last week wash order the diplomats to leave and retaliation for the united states expelling the same number of russians there has been a host of tit for tat expulsions involving other western co

everyone seems to love a good russian story shadowy russian troll farm used a number of fake accounts russian bots attempted to use this tragedy to russia when bots are hyping terms like russian linked trolls are at it again trying to sow discord in america both are apparently to blame for trending hashtags or pro-gun campaigns after shooting the candidate so close to that when you find they cite one source in particular for all that both information how will ten sixty eight. this not is how milton sixty eight doesn't specialize in trucking quite russian both it's a recent change in say that monitors are around six hundred accounts they simply believe may be linked to russian operations regardless of what even means we don't track bots we've tried to make this point clear in all our published reporting yet most of the third party reporting on the dashboard continues to appear with some variation of the headline russian bots are pushing x. this is inherently inaccurate said the mole hamilton sixty eight and myspace oppose it russian into counts on seoul even based where people might se

the russians don't want this. the russians don't want to upset the apple cart. the russians are on the verge of a real victory in syria. they're getting what they want. they propped up the assad regime. they've kept him in power. he's going to survive. everyone knows that. and for bashar al assad to use chemical weapons and risk all of that and risk an attack from the rest of the world is just crazy. and i think the russians are going to be the limiting force on bashar al assad, not this western attack. the western attack was merely the impetus for the russians to put pressure on bashar. i can't imagine that the russians would ever have approved the use of chemicals. this must have been the syrians on their own because they don't need the chemicals. they're going to win anyway. the russians have guaranteed that. so in answer to the question, i think the russians are going to put pressure on bashar not to use chemicals. >> i remember you made that point when i spoke to you earlier this week that the war is essentially won in that regard. just my last question to

sat that russian air defense forces where now in standby mode fighter aircraft is in the air asked to inspect the station but still none of the missiles in the zone of russian defense weapons wasn't included moscow believes that this strike was not an answer to an alleged chemical attack but every action to the successes of the syrian armed forces in this struggle to free their territory from international terrorism with the help of the russian army ok now should the united states and its allies conduct any additional strikes how would russia respond to that. well i think the most important fact brian is that russian air defense systems located in syrian territory have not been used to counter the missile strikes that is what is the russian minister of defense pointed out and this fact particular seems to be very important for moscow as well as difficulties between moscow and washington are still on the rhetoric level moscow has very well listen to what the u.s. president tom passed to say had to say in his televised address mr trump accused russian president vladimir putin personally

one russian hackers are preparing a global attack moscow denies the claims experts say get ready for a new cold war in cyberspace and watch out caffeine addicts a local starbucks might be closing down for an afternoon that is the coffee giant says it will shut eight thousand stalls for racial awareness training. and daniel winter and this is a business update the international monetary fund is predicting a global slowdown in growth in the next few years that's due to aging populations lackluster productivity as well as the threat coming from protectionist trade policies in the short term things look rosy the lending agency predicts a worldwide growth of nearly four percent that's this year and next and that would be the fastest pace since twenty eleven the u.s. economy will benefit from president trumps tax cuts which are likely to boost the country's economy through to twenty twenty growth is predicted to move up to almost three percent however those tax cuts combined with increased spending could be damaging in a few years' time the i.m.f. warns the eurozone is expected to benefit

president trump told the russians, assad's military backers, to get ready by way of a tweet. a spiral of events which began with an alleged chemical weapons attack by the syrian army is heading towards a dangerous confrontation between washington and moscow. my guest may have a feeling of deja vu. philip gordon was the senior adviser on the middle east to barack obama in 2013 when assad's use of chemical weapons came close to prompting the us military‘s response. did hesitation then sow the seeds for the crisis today? philip gordon in washington, dc. welcome to hardtalk. thank you. nice to be here. given your experience in the obama white house at that crucial time ijust referred to, in 2013, does everything that is happening today seem grimly familiar? sure it does. there are differences, but there is one core similarity, which is that the assad regime seems to have used chemical weapons in a way to kill a lot of civilians and the united states, mainly the united states along with its allies has to choose how to respond. as you pointed out at the time, president obama thre

the russian whistle— blower. it tips a guy that knew the russian whistle—blower. it tips over into next week, this story, because the juicy part is the inquest into his deathis juicy part is the inquest into his death is ongoing. we expect to hear from a 22—year—old ukrainian model and fashion designer who shared a hotel room with him in paris before he left and she's going to be giving evidence at the hearing, she's being asked. she's 23 now and this happened six years ago. this comes on the backdrop of the home secretary amber rudd confirming that the government and security services are having another look at the 111 deaths, mysterious death of russians in britain and he's one of them. straight after the poisoning there was talk there might be to ask necessary to find out whether they had been subject to the nerve agent. a very close associate of vladimir putin with another found dead, a p pa re ntly putin with another found dead, apparently hanged, but that is another one they're looking at. what does t

russian government russian actors people with russian names i don't know but these people that we will collectively call their russia. put out a tweet facebook story that did not encourage armed revolt by the american citizens i want to intervene it merely presented allegedly the point zero zero to whatever percent of this but presented stories that other american actors and politicians in folkson and activists were alleging as well so it just so happened that this horrible russian examiner's of dissent or whatever was a story discord happened to me are exactly the same thoughts and sentiments of actual americans who may have had a different opinion from hillary clinton it's the only story in town and the american public has been so had better waited to this mean that they want to hear more of it they believe there is evidence when there is no evidence no no i'm sorry to say this isn't stopping i hope it does but i'm afraid it will. and right after the report was published the new media frenzy took hold because a russian lawyer caused a stir over who caused the story of her meeting wit

action in exposing forty eight russian diplomats from russian embassy and consulates lots in the u.s. and twelve russian diplomats from the russian mission to the united nations was prepared before this group. and in britain also there is evidence that members of the state department crisis center and members of the british department of the state department traveled to russia before this crippled schiphol incident actually happened and to visit the talks with american diplomats in. moscow there is evidence of. premeditation of that this is a clear provocation that was. coordinated digital london and washington now as far as their actions are what drives them so we see that we are in the new cold war effectively we are in the new cold war with the emmet with the united states what are they trying to accomplish with this first of all they want to consolidate the european lesions around them and of course britain as america's. closest ally special. really yes it is. frequently uses to impose its policies on other european states but at the same time you know this i agree i think you kno

russian government russian actors people with russian names i don't know but these people that we will collectively call their russia. put out a tweet facebook stories that did not encourage armed revolt by the american citizens i want to think it merely presented allegedly the point zero zero to whatever percent of this but presented stories that other american actors and politicians in folkson and activists were alleging as well so it just so happened that this horrible russian exile bill of dissent or whatever was a story discord happened to me are exactly the same thoughts and sentiments of actual americans who may have had a different opinion from hillary clinton it's the only story in town and the american public has been so had better waited to this mean that they want to hear more of it they believe there is evidence when there is no evidence oh no no i'm sorry to say this isn't stopping i hope it does but i'm afraid it will and that seems to be the case too because right after the report was published a new media frenzy to code a russian lawyer who calls to stood over her meet

president trump told the russians that assad's military backers um to get ready by way of a tweet. a spiral of events which began with an alleged chemical weapons attack by the syrian army is heading towards a dangerous confrontation between washington and moscow. my guest may have a feeling of deja vu. philip gordon was the senior adviser on the middle east to barack obama in 2013 when assad's use of chemical weapons came close to prompting the us military ‘s response. did hesitation then sow the seeds for the crisis today? philip gordon in washington, dc. welcome to hardtalk. thank you. nice to be here. given your experience in the obama white house at that crucial time i referred to in 2013, does everything that is happening today seem trimly familiar? —— grim and familiar? happening today seem trimly familiar? -- grim and familiar? sure it does. but there is one core similarity, that the asada regime seems to have used chemical weapons asa seems to have used chemical weapons as a way to kill a lot of civilians and the united states, mainly the united states, has to choose

election ongoing debate about russian interference russian meddling those are the two focuses of course of the special counsel investigation under robert muller which we should point out just this week has not been particularly flattering for donald trump especially with the reporting on friday from the former f.b.i. director james comey who was of course fired by donald trump certainly there have been some very unflattering headlines for the president that have only intensified in recent days and certainly there are many who would make the argument that donald trump may have been motivated to take these military strikes as a result of the negative press that he is receiving in a desire to change the headlines i can tell you i certainly remember going back to two thousand and one when george w. bush was certainly having some trouble not of the same magnitude but not the most positive press and then he became almost the hero that led the country following the attacks on the pentagon and in new york city i don't think that there's an exact parallel here certainly i am not in a position to

to shame the russians all u.s. officials think they have to do is say one word kids or russian regime who three arms are all covered in the blood and syrian children i'm not being streamed by pictures of its grip terms. we turned back and you see mrs haley said it out loud there used to telling the world about kids russia's friends killed with the latest chemical attack call like always the american media were there to spread the word these images are so disturbing the children the families in such distress what you see on their mouth has to be flown that's a sign of a chemical attack hundred thick images of syrian children fighting for us accusing russian and syrian president assad ruined children's lives thousands of graves that weren't meant to be dug so early stories from war ravaged parts of the middle east will make you cry and all of them must be told but i can't help asking why for u.s. officials or journalists these agonizing stories from mosul iraq or rocca in syria don't exist. no on some channels you'll

russian roulette is about? is abousaid that help russia ind in a much more sophisticated way can anybody realized at the time and the impact it had itself. >> and a part of the back story that led up to that point. it was to wage information warfare on the western liberal democracies to undermine the democracy in the west. >> you came up with something and said i wish i had just read the book but it was very readable. the start of the book is the pageant in moscow. >> the moment the story comes together you have donald trump in moscow and secondarily, a part of that is to meet vladimir putin for the relationship. >> because you are describing him on a quest at this point. >> he was obsessed with getting a meeting. after the pageant itself he's asking everybody around him have we heard from putin yet and he was obsessed with meeting with putin. why? this is one of the big mysteries throughout the book. he would aspire to the way putin runs the country but in order to get the trump tower bill >> getting it passed

thing that they are meeting at the behest of the russians now the o.p.c. daily doesn't usually say what what the outcome of this meeting is they're supposed to come up with a resolution today to the meeting but i daresay the russians who will no doubt be there will announce what they think the o.p.c. w has come to the whatever conclusions come soon doubtless i'm sure will be the same as porton down the chemical weapons inside here said it was not a shock but we can't say where it came from so the thing is you know now you have a situation to your second point you question whether the russians are now on this concerted diplomatic initiative so you have for example the russian ambassador while and yesterday briefing people in ireland which had come out on the british side saying look the british come prove that it's true and across the piece because the russians are concerned about the european union's more general siding with the british over this that they're going to be part of a much bigger diplomatic initiative now to try to undermine the british case a

envoy scolded her russian counterpart. i'm in awe of the silly of how you say what you say with a straight face i really really. britain's envoy rubbish the russian claims as she left the emergency meeting. a task it's a blatant lie it's some of the worst piece of fake news we've seen from the russian propaganda machine meanwhile in damascus chemical weapons inspectors were scheduled to start their probe into the attack on saturday and in the wake of saturday's airstrikes diplomatic sources said that security permitting the team would person head with a brief visit. but where does that probe go from here i'm with the aspen institute stars barker with his expert or weiss logan. colleague if we could start with you. will the investigation in duma come up with the proof that the assad regime was behind the chemical attack. you're going to the third to be controlled by the q just it's nothing that used interests to to keep any evidence and i mean there was once and this is the nation of damascus i was that and ten minutes of t

it is the russians calling the shots there. if you look at the political process, moscow has made it clear they want to keep bashar al assad in power and keep the military here. so they view this as a long term strong hold for russia for decades to come. >> i'm sure the russians will be happy to see those troops out of syria very soon. thank you. >>> coming up, north korea's brutal dictator tries to soften his image. what is kim jong-un's charm offensive all about? your paycheck. your family depends on it. but if something happened to you... you need life insurance! and chances are selectquote can get it for you for under a dollar a day! selectquote found michael, 38, a $500,000 policy for under $23 a month. selectquote found anna, 37, a $750,000 policy for under $22 a month. selectquote's secret? they comparison shop select group of great companies like these for your best rate. give your family the security they need... at a price you can afford. since 1985, selectquote has saved over a million families millions of dollars on

now we are having the russians coming to the region. iran reaps the benefit of that war, iraq in particular, iran has the upper hand. we had a very serious summit taking place in ankara just a few days ago. russia, turkey and iran are working together and i believe there is a nucleus of a new alliance taking place in that part. the middle east is completely dangerous. there is no stability at all. that is the problem. the people who were behind, and supported, this war in iraq, are they saying, "ok, let us look at this situation, are we going to repeat this experience in the middle east? what will happen in syria?" the west is losing the battle in syria and iraq for the benefit of russia and iran. the president was suggesting he wanted to get troops out as quickly as possible, that is slightly muted now, but that was his initial instinct. you had this confused and conflicting us policy, what trump says doesn't necessarily match his advisers and what his administration is pushing. trump says he wants to get out of the iran nuclear deal,

this is the to be a news live from berlin eastern ghouta retaken the russian military says the syrian government is now in full control of the former rebel stronghold near damascus and that includes the site of an alleged chemical gas attack the u.s. has threatened a military response in syria for that attack also coming up. the number of executions carried out last year around the world fell compared to the year before that's according to a new amnesty report on capital punishment. and a last ditch push today in italy to form a new government after last month's inconclusive elections our reporter went to rome to ask alterations there why it's so hard to come up with a deal. i'm brian thomas thanks so much for being with us russia says the syrian military has now taken complete control of eastern ghouta that's the last rebel stronghold near the capital and that includes the town of doom of the site of an alleged chemical weapons attack over the weekend the trumpet ministration has threatened to respond saying all options are on the table will cost our correspondents for more on the in

., jared kushner met with a whole bunch of russians, ostensibly to receive delivery of russian government dirt on hillary clinton which the russians said they were providing to the trump campaign to help them win the election. now, that meeting of course has remained a real focus in the russia investigation but it's also still kind of a black box. i mean, after concealing for almost a year that that meeting had ever happened in the first place, once it came out everybody involved in that meeting has said yeah, nothing to see here, it was no big deal, it was all one big nothing, we kept it secret, sure, but not for any reason, nothing happened. well, tonight nbc news chief -- tonight nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel has a scoop about one of the participants in that meeting. it is a scoop that may get us a step closer to understanding why that whole thing happened and why that exact cast of characters turned up that day for that meeting. tonight we are going to tallinn, estonia, where our own richard engel is live on assignment. >> good evening tonight from tallinn. we're