if mina i'm not in the position to defend all of their of their policies remember that he accepts the experience accorded the cost lives including a very close brother of mine who was killed in that coup attempt i think mcu attempt has been condemned all around the world but human rights groups point out the earlier ones crackdown on his critics since the coup locking up tens of thousands of soldiers and government official sacking thousands of judges and teachers shutting down news organizations restricting free speech that these are abuses of power these are human rights abuses you don't condemn any of these crackdowns on the free press on human rights groups like amnesty this is clearly you ignoring the hypocrisy in some of the foreign policy position taken even by united states immediately after that call everybody knows no i'm not about us i mean that in many of us officials i don't think anyone could accuse yeah going softly saying to us i'm not like that i say no no no we'll let you into me because

then my study is not only the u.s. id i'm talking about the crimes against humanity committed by many of the other muslim countries were largely ignored because they were timid and complicit with the some of the american policies now. where your question is whether he that after the call i would say yes but i think given time he should eat and that's what my i am a person of you expressed to him but then to ignore the fact that there were hundreds of people killed this is to me unacceptable one last question on why bream you said you forgiveness for what he did to you you've obviously forgiven my hearties who you are now working alongside there's not many people there's not many politicians who being in the position you're in now would be talking forgiveness they'd be looking for revenge or for justice at least how hard was it for you to forgive these people who helped lock you up and where does that forgiveness come from. was

a very painful process is not was an easy but finally we talk about. the country we talk about justice yes we talk about compression and from my religious believes what is their relevance of religion if you do not promote compassion in and willing to forgive me as children had to suffer all these years two decades is a long time and we did suffer but then between these sufferings and the. country which is a stake i choose the country and i choose a country because i believe we can all effect change with this new attitude towards peace towards compassion toward justice by willingness to forgive. annoying brame thanks for joining me on up front.

everyone in journalism knows the name of seymour hersh when it comes to investigative reporting the pulitzer prize winning hersh is a legend over a career spanning more than five decades he's broken story after story the me during the vietnam war the abu ghraib torture scandal during the iraq war and in recent years he's done some pretty controversial reporting on syria too he's now written his memoir called reporter. seymour hersh thanks for joining me up front your new book reporter a memoir is the story of one of the world's most impressive careers in investigative journalism you're writing i think it's fair to say it's helped change history it sent people to prison it's one new lots of awards it's generated a lot of controversy so which story that you broke over the past fifty years do you believe was the most important story the most consequential story or i love all my children i can't make this. stand out well that one when you are going to see the one that put me on the map with me like i was i've been in the business for eight or nine years i've been

a police reporter in chicago and yet you write you say that it didn't really change things you acknowledge that at the time of i had hopes you know but did i think that the war and everybody we're not going to do this anymore we're not going to go in that we're not on the face of even no matter how big the story you've been in journalism for over fifty years you've now written this memoir does it frustrate you at all that you seem to be winding down your career at a time when the news has never been more controversial and perhaps there's never been a greater need for investigative journalism especially in the united states our i think it's going to hell now what you have is if you don't like trump you read the new york times the washington post and what certain cable shows c.n.n. if you like trump you watch fox news in your reader the people that are equal or you that's buying into a trump narrative fox news is not the same as in the times you know some still does good journalism blah the way that fox news doesn't but the credibility that new york. times because it's so hostile to him maybe legitimately but over the top i think they've gone way over the top in terms of like running an anonymous letter do

you believe that trump is so hated and so controversial now that he makes us forget about a lot of the controversial stuff that his predecessors did to you one of those journalists who did cover many of the crimes in the cover ups of george w. bush and barack obama especially on national security issues is all in danger of being forgotten now in this age of hash tag resistance and being of course but i have to say what i believe doesn't matter much i mean what the facts are is that. we have walked away from some of the some of the problems you know the nine eleven and the response to nine eleven was completely insane the idea that you could fight an idea by declaring a war on terror and immediately moving from bin from bin laden looking for him immediately moving into we're going to stop saddam hussein because we think he may have bombs and by the way one of the things i learned in my eight hundred years of doing this stuff is when the cia starts saying we have high confidence high

confidence that there are these remember weapons of mass destruction in iraq high confidence and so when they say again as the democrats go out saying we have high confidence the russians actually won the war won the election you know they intervened and that's why hillary lost not because she ran a terrible complainer or she was a very likable. we lost because the russians fixed the election somehow some magical way i'm troubled by all that so i want i want more facts the allegations that russia intervened to sway the twenty sixteen u.s. presidential election and trump and his campaign colluded with the russians during the election you all skeptical of both those claims why i'm skeptical of the russia because i have i've been doing this for years i say hundreds of years i have sources inside who are i can get into who know the world of signals intelligence and other things and they're hard. they're far from persuaded your sources are great over the years we've known you've done broken some great stories with your sources but the new york times the wall street journal the washington post the new

yorker are some great correspondents i think you would admit to doing this work and their sources are telling them differently the intelligence agencies themselves are saying differently even the bipartisan republican led senate intelligence committee says russia intervened in the election so why should we believe you when you all sources versus all the other evidence and says this happened are you asking me for an opinion and give me an opinion i know you are skeptical of my intelligence agency high holy mother investigation an indictment of the e-mails from dunn from junior all of that you just start by. taking me way too far i'm not saying that i was saying that was my experience with with a community that says we have high confidence is high confidence to me sometimes means we really don't know jack which is fair enough so you could say that are you saying you said you said in the past that it's preposterous the idea that the russians got involved and i've got a fair use the word. it's one thing to be skeptical some might say and people admire your skeptical journalism we need skeptical journalism but let's talk about syria which you've been writing about in recent years and taking

a very different line to a lot of other reporters who've been writing about syria reporters on the ground chemical weapons experts human rights experts u.n. investigators they are in agreement the syrian regime has used chemical weapons against its own people including in april of twenty seventeen at hama shakun you on multiple occasions have argued against its conclusion the june twenty seventh when you wrote in the german newspaper veldt sontag that there was no sarin attack that was a conventional bombing raid that had a cinder block building controlled by rebel groups the basement of which contained quote fertilizers disinfectants and other goods a lot of chemical weapons experts and others dispute that they say you're wrong they say you're basically pushing a conspiracy theory what's your response to them i wrote what i wrote and i'm not backing off a minute there's just nothing in the last year of change your mind that's come out no organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons produced a big report basically saying the opposite of everything you say i haven't written anything so i wrote the first story but i was intrigued by. fact that the o.p.c. w. . put out two or three reports within a month which is totally against their it was if almost they were they were there

within two weeks they put out a report saying we suspect that certain was involved which is totally out of line for all of the procedures i know people who worked in that agency i know people who disenchanted by that because the o.p.c. debbie violated its rules and usually takes a couple months ago just to be clear you think p.c. w. wrong about this no human rights watch amnesty international the french experts who studied it hans blix is not exactly a cia stooge you says it was probably an attack by gas by the syrian government daryl you've got it right it's just you know new intelligence or something as one source i had a transcript of the conversation of conversations between somebody very deeply involved in that operation and higher headquarters i got it it was shown to the london review it's one of the things that made them convinced that this was a big story above the fact that the sources i use the sources that i've been using for a long time that i've gone through fact checking from the new yorker for twenty years hold on it's not as if i'm just inventing

a new source i have people i worked with for many years and there's a lot of more cooperation with the russians on intelligence and there was there was going to be a meeting a high level meeting that was targeted i mean fortunately it's very secret the fact that we in the russians still work closely together is taking a step back from that from the details of this attack a lot of people were taken about with the general approach of you all to go even the london review of books which published the earliest stuff didn't publish the serious stuff. i'll be editor adam shops who you know has done a conversation with you praised you in the past said and i quote so depressing to see a reporter who exposed war crimes in vietnam and iraq become an apologist for war crimes by the assad regime and even of those are you. doing i could say about syria is that we keep on talking about rebels the rebels are pretty hardcore. very tough people there's real law if they ever take the shard. stance that if he loses this war. he's going to be like most of the evening with this sort of coat hanging from

a lamp pole in damascus with his wife and two children next to him he understand that his father's regime his regime is gone i says there's another couple of other groups that are just as bad in terms of no tolerance for even the muslims will take over which will probably trigger trouble from from iran and the israelis so he's in a war to the end and he's fighting a war against and number of casualties on both sides are pretty even according to most people not a case according to most wanted to live but i can tell you there's a lot of studies i've seen that show maybe. he certainly lost an awful lot of people turn. to the civilian casualties according to most of the studies there are studies that are in the thirty five fifty five also see that well let me guess still a lot on that subject you said to the independent this summer that he's fighting quote as close to a just war as possible no i just showed you that that's the quote going in you that should also. giving a people just that you agree that it's not a just war by any means i'm like ok to be just good i'm. not what i read it but i

think many would argue that assad is the cause of the conflict and committed going to disagree but let me ask why if civil war starts is he a cause if the dictator is the person opens fire on protesters arab spring twenty eleven i mean this is the problem with you you do come across as a side sympathizer that's not a cause you said you've met and you said you liked him you said you thought he was going in the right direction do you worry that that may have given a slow peace in syria are you kidding i've been a reporter for fifty years and i can separate what i think for what happens and all i'm saying is in the very beginning from the very beginning. you know many of the initial groups who were actually the free syrian army was real there were a lot of people who couldn't stand them he had failed terribly on human rights he didn't do enough on human rights they had. drought in the farm areas he didn't do enough he didn't deliver on education. think about all of this there was nothing wonderful he was not popular among many people particularly intellectuals people

were still afraid of him and he was a despot are you kidding i just don't think he's particularly any worse than what goes on any day in saudi arabia when it comes and they're all sort of in that same ballpark and i never saw him as any more of a monster they were all in this group of people that will kill kill kill to survive ok just before we finish you've become over the decades one of the most famous one of the most respected one of most successful investigative reporters in the world you are an inspiration to a lot of journalists myself included we you surprised at how big a figure you became over the years did you set out to become famous when you were a copy boy at the city news bureau of chicago in one nine hundred fifty nine did you think this is where my career will end up you kidding of course not but but i did understand after me lied that i was in a different position and i didn't stand that what i said. off the top extemporaneously had more impact and i did do that i happen to believe i happen to

believe in truth so my truth about what's going on in syria may be different than a lot of people's true war is the ugliest miserable thing in the world and i don't think we have a claim to fight anybody anybody else that's all seymour hersh will have to leave it there thank you for joining me a lot from it was fun. travel often. by tranquil waters and polk or forests near prague longboards talks of falling. cities. on sun trendsetters. in the middle of everything. is there so. i comes landmarks valleys and scotland's. maple is a glass. on top of the two. it's the places you've trained off and which

dreams come true. when you live for adventure. and discover the hidden chops when you're warm inside when it's warm on the outside because moments make memories of foreign places closer than anything. going this is together with cattle i always. i really felt liberated as a journalist while. getting to the truth as an eyewitness that's what this jobs. plan. this is a moment before this is a moment of history celebrations in the maldives as an opposition leader wins the presidential election.

and i'm has i'm sick of this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up. accused of being a threat to national security hong kong's pro independence party is banned. new allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced against us in pre-court nominee brett kavanaugh plus. a granddaughter looking for a bit of a sweet victory for tiger woods as he clenches his first tournament win in five years. or the president of the maldives has conceded defeat in sunday's election of the let you mean acknowledge the opposition surprise when hours after provisional results were on veiled abraham how much sonny took fifty eight percent of the vote charlotte bellus as war. authorization supposes on the streets of

mali is the leader abraham mohammed so lay claim to victory and deeds presidential elections. for five years president i believe you mean has been in power they say he has been dethroned and wanted to conceive this is a moment of happiness this is a moment of hope this is a moment of history for many of us this has been a difficult journey. a journey that has led to a prism so. excited politics in the daves has been tumultuous since mohammed in the shade became its first democratically elected president ten years ago he was ousted in occur in a spend most of his time in exile intra lanka he watched as his friend and ally soulé rallied off position leaders into a coalition to take power back i like to let.

the president elect. dream the hard and it's jeems a little bit on the last four. specially with the rest of the motives has been in political turmoil and do you mean during his five year tenure two former presidents the prosecutor general and a number of opposition politicians have been jailed in controversial trials. on the eve of the vote soleus campaign office was raided by police but no evidence of electoral fraud was uncovered this was a big affair shocking what he was hoping and he was aiming was to consolidate power . and with the way that prior to be elections the way that he had as i would call it manipulated the institutions i think it's a move from the back fire. judge to you means ten you know with a pen and paper and extraordinary numbers turnout was over eighty five percent despite. i came to vote eight in the morning and i was waiting in the queue for all

this time until five o'clock pm so the nine hours before voting. president you mean stayed silent as the votes were counted he had been expected to cement his grip on power but in public view the ballots piled up against him the electoral commission will announce the official results and seven days challenge ballasts al jazeera. the hong kong government has banned a pro independence political party citing national security this means anyone who runs or supports the hong kong national party could be fined or jailed the group is banned under new era lord it was previously used to target organized crime sarah clarke has the latest from hong kong. police made the initial proposal in july to have the hong kong national party banned they stated that it was an imminent threat to national security and the party was taking concrete steps to realize independence now andy chan who's the head of the hong kong national party he had

months to put together his response to try and rule out his party being outlawed he submitted that. and today the security bureau issued its final decision which is banning the hong kong national party now this is a first in the city's history it's a first since the city was handed back from the u.k. from the from great britain to china in one thousand nine hundred seven a chance high profile speech back at the foreign correspondents club in august it drew criticism from the place and was deemed further evidence for the case where he stated at this event that his party was not advocating violence the security ministry of the agreed with the place today and has issued this ban now as for reaction from anti chan the hong kong national party that stated that they would be no comment if he or one of his party's members do speak they could attract a penalty of up to twelve thousand dollars now the proposal when it was initially used to have this party outlawed it drew criticism from pro-democracy groups and the british foreign press that hong kong people should have freedom of speech and

their rights should be respected joseph chang is a professor of political science at city university of hong kong he says this ban sets a dangerous precedent for other political parties in the territory. vast majority of hong kong people do not believe that independence is a realistic option but are among the young people there is certainly a coming india identification. with china and a stronger and stronger identification with hong kong as an independent political entity i think even time you saw officials do have knowledge. about hong kong let's return to china the hearts of hong kong people have not returned. still anyone attending retains all given political donations to the group

so you did vigils bill also his prosecutor and this is quite dangerous and frightening to the hong kong people who feel that their core values and their lifestyles have been flattened a second woman has come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against the u.s. supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh these allegations go back to cavanaugh's time at yale university it comes as the senate judiciary committee is preparing to hold a hearing on thursday for cavanagh and christine for the first woman who said he sexually assaulted her as a teenager cavanagh has denied both accusations john hendren has more from washington. in an article in the new yorker magazine a woman says that in college in gaelic from the one nine hundred eighty three to one nine hundred eighty four there she attended university with kavanagh at a drunken party she says he exposed himself belligerently to her and she says she

did not talk about this previously because she was embarrassed by the incident in feeling guilty because she had been drinking kavanagh outright denies that is ever happened issuing a statement saying this alleged events from thirty five years ago did not happen the people who knew me then know that this did not happen and have said so this is a smear plain and simple and the white house issued a statement saying it stands behind kavanagh saying this thirty five year old uncorroborated claim is the latest in a coordinated smear campaign by the democrats to tear down a good man well as that was happening there was also a disclosure of a possible third allegation of sexual misconduct by brett kavanaugh and that one came from michael evan adi who he is the lawyer for stormy daniels that is the porn star who has alleged she had an affair with president donald trump and in a tweet evan oddie said quote i represent a woman with credible information regarding judge kavanaugh and mark judge mark judge is also the one who was allegedly in the room when the original accuser

christine blousy forward says she was assaulted by kavanagh valley has put this whole process in turmoil and now the ranking democrat on that committee senator dianne feinstein has asked the committee to postpone any action until it can investigate further on these allegations. of stuff in the u.n. agency for palestinian refugees a striking in gaza over the united states decision to pull its funding. run schools hospitals camps and social services for millions of palestinians in the middle east how to force it is lifeless from the headquarters in gaza so how just to what extent is this going to affect people that. well it's certainly a big effect on the more than a million palestinian refugees who live here in gaza more than half the population and they are the people for whom i was set up to serve so it talking about two

hundred seventy four schools serving two hundred eighty thousand peoples i was talking about twenty two medical centers sixteen sued distribution centers all of those are closed because the thirteen thousand locally employed staff are striking all of this traceable back to the us decision to end funding for enron it withheld some three hundred million dollars in funding this year and then said they would not be funding annorah at all in the future and so that has brought a huge amount of budgetary pressure on the organization they've been looking for funding elsewhere but also looking for savings and so more than a hundred people have been fired or being put on early retirement so far six hundred have been threatened with that happening by the end of this year i'm joined by one employee followers. you've been working for the organization for thirteen years now you're being told you can be put on a part time basis what does that mean for you and your family. does this does that mean for me that we are not to good to survive me and by family of four sixteen i

have a financial commitment and i have five kids in addition to my parents all of these people given highly completely depends on my salary and my work with you know what i saw in iraq decision come without any leave of the fishing and they are told one the likely that in the. letter that come with that will you know run for mission board that when you open your letter you are separated just click your stuff and go home saw they are told us they are. to see did they are decided that we are with the sick you with the lie that this it is like a mother who had to survive by me and with my family i have a. commitment to the banks and if i would have dime a fifty percent whole salary you will be when you go to the bank and i will build things to survive beyond by family. this is unavoidable if they've been hit with

such huge budget three cuts as a result of the us decision they have to find savings i think this is enough of a problem i think a medical or trauma but bill just ration. completely while until in very few g. day of fiji a problem and want to endure not because they want to do lead. in right for the palestinian people and the. budget or they say the shortfall in the budget just one hundred on day to anyone. and this is not the amount of money to would. do with the do not want to take such decisions you know relies on humanity and didn't do neutral organization and should decree it in its employees in more dignity and more respect not that the dudes in blue either in such a way just kill them that you ought to but it is you wouldn't want to cause a lot of time.