>> the international community works at a deal to dispose of syrian chemical opens in the fight in syria rages on. opposition forces have captured a christian village near damascus. it has been five years since the financial meltdown that started the recession create the top richest one percent continue to flourish all the rest flounder. we will take a deep look at that. the director of "inequality for all" next. and a proposal to ban people

from wearing overt religious symbols. we will tell you about that later in the show. it is friday, september 20, 5 p.m. in washington, d.c.. you're watching rt. the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons said it had received an initial declaration from syria outlining the chemical weapons program. a spokesman for the organization said the declaration is being reviewed by the verification division. the organization has not released details of what is in the declaration though they have made it clear they're looking for ways to expedite the process of removing and destroying the chemical weapons stockpile. members of the un security council have in discussing the framework of a resolution aimed at detailing the way in which syria would transfer those

weapons to the international control. there are -- they are negotiating what disciplinary measures if any the regime will face if they fail to abide by those terms. yesterday john kerry reiterated the belief that assad was behind the chemical weapons attack that took place august 21. >> the facts in syria only grew clearer and the case only grew more compelling. every single data point, the types of munitions, and launchers that where -- that were used, their origins, their trajectory, their market, and the confirmation of sarah and, every single bit of it confirmed what we already knew and what we were told -- we told america and the world. >> the syrian government contains the chemical warfare was employed by the opposition. on the ground in syria the battle for control continues. it

specifically is playing out in one small christian village north of damascus. the town is considered a symbol of christianity and is one of few places where the ancient language of aramaic is still spoken. our correspondent has more from syria. >> the syrian villages where the aramaic language is in daily use. after jihadist attack this village two weeks ago, local residents work forced to flee the battlefield that was once there native land. many of them took refuge with christian families and old mask is. -- an old damascus. we tried to meet them. many refuse to talk because there -- villagers remain

missing. they fear they will be in more danger. these people know well that injured. three members of antoinette poss family were killed in >> -- antoinette's family were killed. >> they pointed their guns and started shooting. one of them offered [inaudible] another said, "let them die." >> hundreds gathered for the funerals of the three men they call martyrs. the attack was an attack on their country, syrian say and its way of life. >> both muslims and christians live here but it is surrounded

by muslim villages. maybe they see this [inaudible] >> her father-in-law is 88 years old. he said nothing like that has ever happened in his lifetime. >> we were living in peace and now it seems they want to throw all the christians of the country. we pray to god that we will defeat them and kick them out. >> and other relatives said it is to see how many people were killed because militants held in the village often keep bodies for ransom and to instill fear. >> their idea is to establish and islamic emirate -- an islamic emirate in the middle east. >> special sweet sanctified bread is served in the family to commemorate the dead. in church they held special ceremonies for several days.

together for their dead. the ancient language united people for thousands of years. the hope now is that it can sustain them for longer and all of the country, the two and a half year long conflict has taken lives, language, and shattering people's hope. >> this week marked five years since the collapse of women brothers investment bank, triggering the largest financial crisis since the great depression. this week also marked the second anniversary of occupied wall street. while the protests in the street have subsided the message behind occupy has not. particularly as we learn about the growing economic inequality in this country. while the u.s. income inequality has been growing for three decades last year the cap

between the richest one percent and the rest of america reach the widest point since the 1920's. this according to global economists who analyzed iris data going back to 1913. the top one percent of u.s. earners collected about 20% of household income. the staggering numbers are exactly what is explored in new documentary documentary called "inequality for all." featuring former labor secretary robert reich. >> the u.s. has the most unequaled this division of income. we are surging to word -- toward even greater inequality. 1928 and 2007 become the peak years for income concentration. it looks like a suspension bridge. we made 36,000. >> we will probably make 50,000 year making -- working. >> i asked him why all americans should care about the growing

economic inequality gap. >> when the economy so out of balance, when the structural foundation is so out of whack, this is not just a moral question. it is not just not fair that the rich have so much of the income. it affects our economy overall. our economy is stagnant now at the same time the incomes are disproportionately divided.pthae inequality and it also affects our democracy. our economy and our democracy are both in shambles because partially as a result of this income inequality we're seeing. >> this week marks two years since the rise of occupy wall street, a movement that tried to tell the story of inequality for all. the criticism was that occupy was not able to elicit real local change. how do you channel this important dialogue into action? >> i think occupy did a lot of

wonderful things. it put this issue of income inequality on the national radar in a way it was not before. i think we did not get past the headlines. the 99% and the 1%. to get a deeper understanding of what this means for us when all of us are worried that our economy is stagnant, that we cannot get ahead in our jobs, that we have such economic insecurity and we are worried that our politics are too partisan and it feels like we might have another government shutdown next month. if we understand that income inequality is one of the root causes of these major problems that we are concerned about that i think that is a different understanding that may be the occupy movement brought us to as far as what all the stuff means. >> for a lot of people the subject of economics is not the easiest to understand. ironically it is one of the most important subjects as it crosses paths with nearly every decision that is made. how challenging was it for you to tell a story about the

economy in a way that was compelling, that could engage a lot of people? x i have no economic background and i am not legitimately political. when i started making this film. it was important that the film be not only true but also entertaining. she hates politics and economics and she loves this movie. that -- not just because her husband made it. she said it is for the first time she really gets it. it not only talks about income equality -- inequality but it connects the dots in a way that i think -- it does sort of have an aha. past the headlines of the rich have this and the poor have that or the democrats think this than republicans think that. this is a study of why incoming -- inequality affects us all. >> this is not the first collaboration.

can you talk about how you got connected and how it translated into a documentary film? >> sure. i grew up poor. my family raising a family of four between nine and $15,000 year. i have always had a keen interest in who gets what but i never had any way to voice that interest. and then i got really frustrated after 2008 and decided i wanted to make these short videos. these explainers that could explain to people like me who do not have an economics background some of these issues. i felt sort of trapped in the 24 hour news cycle when i was not -- i was hearing this news but not getting any understanding of the issues that were facing me and these videos answer that. hundreds of thousands started seeing them. i asked him questions i wanted to know and people got some information they needed. they gave me the confidence that making a film like this would have an audience as well.

>> of robert rice was the former labor secretary for bill clinton and served in the administrations of carter and ford. were you worried that his political background would make the message of the film politicized question mar? >> any time you make a film like this and you put robert rei ch in it, the way we approach this feature was to take a -- this issue was to take a big picture view. we try to look at the last 40 years, even the last 100 years and look at the ship of the economy. what you see then is something that republicans have had issues and democrats and liberals and conservatives. an economy gets this unstructured as it did in 1928 and 2007, and both of those two years, those were the peak years of income inequality and the economy had the two biggest crashes of the last century after both of those years.

this is something that concerns republicans and democrat and when used about -- when you step out of the day to day 24 hour news cycle into a does not feel partisan. the film challenges the assumptions of people on the left and the right. >> we only have 30 seconds. i wanted to ask you about kickstart her -- kickstarter. you made it beyond your stated goal of $75,000. how instrumental was kickstarter and other services at leveling the playing field? rex we were sitting in the edit room and we would see it tick up 10 bucks a time. people who do not have a lot of money can have something to say about the types of movies that get made and get out there. these things are wonderful opportunities for film makers like me. >> that was jacob kornbluth.

thank you for joining me. >> thank you. and now to québec. they announced plans for wide- ranging legislation aimed at keeping religion out of the workplace. it is called they québec charter of values. if this measure is passed it would include a ban on state employees from wearing over religious symbols. that can be anything from muslim headscarves and jewish orcas to christian necklaces with the signs of the cross. it has ignited fierce debate about religious freedom. critics argue the laws are an attack of freedom of worship. supporters say the bill will help stop everyone equally. by adding special treatment for the religious at work and enforcing secularism. i was joined by jacob reams. to discuss this proposal and the

chances of becoming law. i asked him to talk about québec and its history of rejecting religious interference. pre-k's québec famously was for a long time a very religious province. it was roughly run by a combination of politicians and the catholic church for most of the 20th century but in the 1960's it was something called the quiet revolution. quebecers turned away from the church and became a very secular society. much more on the lines of what we think of as republican france. now, québec very much defined itself as a secular society but one with a long catholic tradition. >> what is interesting is that supporters say that this would and special treatment of the religious at work. what kinds of special treatment are they referring to here question mark -- referring to here? >> i'm rarely referring to bring

-- i'm rarely presenting themselves as individuals in a way that civil servants often do not. one of the ministers said recently that they could not say things politically, they could not lay loud music while they were at work so why should religion be one special place where civil servants could express themselves, could try to tell other people their personal views? but what is being regulated here is dress, is wearing a headscarf, wearing a veil, wearing a yarmulke, a turban. wearing a large cross. if that is special treatment because you can do that but not where political pin, that is special treatment.

the argument is coming from a tradition that québec except that comes from france. the government should be a 100% neutral space. that civil servants, bureaucrats should be simply organs of the state. if someone is wearing a headscarf or wearing a yarmulke, that is imposing a view from another as to tuition. someone who is secular or of a different religion might feel uncomfortable working with that civil servant or might -- especially if they are in a position of power. one of the key questions is the should teachers allowed to wear religious symbols, would should prison guards the allowed to

wear religious symbols question mark rex critics argue that the bill allows for a lot of christian traditions, allowing for christmas trees in public places. also there are crosses on the québec flag and a crucifix in the voting chambers. can you explain how this fits into the mindset that went into producing this charter? rex the argument that the government makes is that these are historical symbols. the crucifix that is in the national assembly is a recognition of québec's historical catholic roots. that the flag which has a cross in the middle and four fleur-de-lis representing the trinity and the virgin mary, those are representations f rom québec's history. they are understood in a secular way now.

i think it is hard to imagine how a crucifix would be understood by anyone other than a christian as a purely secular symbol. most jews or muslims or sikhs or hindus would see that as a pretty religious symbol but that is the argument. >> very interesting. talk about how difficult this is actually going to be. will it pass? do you think something like this will pass? >> if i had to guess i would say that something will pass. the ruling party is a minority government right now. what is between them and -- the difference between them and the majority is another party, the coalition for québec's future. they have said they think this charter as proposed is going too far. but they want something, they

want rules against teachers and prison guards and other people of authority from wearing religious symbols. but there is room for compromise. maybe daycare workers and hospital workers should be allowed to wear religious symbols or that certain institutions like certain municipalities or particular schools could exempt themselves. i would suspect that there is going to be some sort of compromise position and that i would suspect there is going to be a long, drawnout court battle. >> we will keep our eyes field to see what happens with this. thank you so much for joining me. >> my pleasure. take care. >> yesterday a texas appeals court overturned the 2010 conviction of former house of representatives majority leader tom delay. he was originally charged and convicted for money-

laundering and conspiracy but the courts lame there was insufficient evidence for those charges. in an opinion released yesterday the court said that the evidence shows that the defendants were attempting to comply with the regular and son contributions but the county attorney's district office said they will appeal this decision. they released a statement that said we are concerned and disappointed that two judges substituted their assessment of the facts for that of 12 jurors who personally heard the testimony of over 40 witnesses over the course of several weeks and found the evidence was sufficient and proved tom delay's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. i was joined earlier by mark levine to discuss the overturned conviction and what it says about the judicial process. now that the appeals court is saying he did nothing wrong i asked mark what he was doing in the first place and what justification the court had to

overturn his conviction. >> the texas law has for a long time band corporations from giving directly to texas state candidates. dumb -- tom delay wanted to do that. he allowed the money to go to a branch of the republican national committee. he got corporations to give $190,000 and told them it was going to individual candidates which is illegal. they wrote checks totaling $190,000. the court said but he technically was ok because even though the corporations said they were giving to individuals they could have given the money for other purposes. just for access to talk to tom delay which raises its own questions whether politician should be selling access but it could have gone for something else. therefore there was not sufficient evidence. they said as long as you follow all the technicalities right you

can basically ignore this law. >> he pretty much got off on a technicality. you worked on the hill when tom delay was rising to power in the republican party. can you talk about the kind of influence he wielded? >> probably one of the most powerful members of congress in the last nerdy years. he was called the hammer and he was called that because he knew how to hammer his way into authority. he was second in charge of the house at the time. everyone knew the real power lay in tom delay. he could corral all republicans to do whatever he wanted them to do. it was supporting president bush on something, all republicans who went to hate spending voted for massive spending. he made sure that candidates who supported his agenda would give lots of money -- get lots of money. robin hayes, he was a congress meant for the eastern part of north carolina. it was a textile bill and tom

delay did not have all the votes so he started twisting his arm politically until robin hayes was crying on the house for and change his vote going against his constituents to satisfy tom delay. >> it sounds like an episode of "house of cards." it opened the floodgates to corporate donations giving rise to the super pack. do you think that the leniency we are seeing has any bearing on this overturn question mark rex this goes farther than citizens united. it said corporations could spend whatever amount they want on free speech to influence an election campaign. this allows rick donations so it goes one further. corporations are not people and do not have the free speech rights under the constitution which i carry with me. that is something we will have to wait for a change in the

supreme court to overturn. >> that was mock levine come a former congressional attorney -- mark levine, a former congressional attorney. the drug is pentobarbital. the state switched to this lethal single-dose sedative after the substances that made up the drug execution cocktail became difficult to obtain but switching the drug was not enough. now their supply is also running out. other death penalty states have encountered similar problems because many drug suppliers are barring the use and executions under pressure from death penalty opponents. the state will not say how it plans to replace it supply after it expires this month. it seems no executions will be delayed as a result of the shortage. so far 11 texas inmaes have been executed in 2013 with six

more scheduled for execution before the end of the year. the 2013 liberty political action congress is in full swing. the conference organized by ron paul's campaign for liberty kicked off last night with a speech from senator rand paul. he talked about how republicans had been winning recent washington battles and they should use those battles to engage more voters. i'm married of speakers took the stage. >> we are here at day two. it has been a jampacked day of week out sessions, activist training sessions and the kurds teachers -- featured speakers. it was a place for like-minded people to relax. meeting people who are united on this message of liberty and either want to see the republican party morph into a liberty party or who want to see a third-party system emerge.

people here are very optimistic this is not only possible but is gaining traction. there was a panel discussion this morning titled women in the liberty movement. how women across the spectrum are starting to come together on this notion of liberty. there is another discussion called why republicans cannot be trusted. we also heard from more jet black welcome the president and founder of the leadership institute which is an organization that that trains people who are running for office. it is the same institution that senator rand paul is involved with and he took some jabs at our two-party system. let's take a listen. >> to persuade the people that they ought to do what you want them to do, another one is to frighten them into understanding there will be adverse political consequences if they do not do what you want them to do. the third way is to defeat them. >> the event has not happened yet tonight that everyone is

waiting for and that is when congress men tom massey talks and the rock star himself, dr. ron paul. >> late at night old houses creak and make strange noises. you can trick yourself into thinking your home is haunted. it is usually not the case but for a group students living off- campus at ohio state university, the haunting in their basement was real. here is what the students told their university newspaper. < b >> what they found shocked everyone. a bedroom that someone else had been living in. >> you got a be kidding me. -- got to be kidding me. he was another student at the university looking for cheap rent.

he got a key to the house from his cousin who lived there the year before and with the bathroom and sink in the basement, he had access to everything he needed. the secret resident was less frightening that of poltergeist. the students were pretty freaked out that it took a month to find out about the stranger living in the basement. they're considering a lawsuit against leasing company. that does it for now. for more on the stories we covered, though to youtube.com/r tamerica. you can also follow me on twitter. see you back here at 8 p.m. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--