it's no secret the u.s. is getting fat and fatter but as americans continue to put their health on the line we have to ask should the government have a say in what you eat or how you eat it all debate catherine manga ward from reason magazine on the subject then will shed light on limitless political spending by major corporations one very well known corporation has given a generous amount of money to one minnesota politician only to face threats of a boycott against the company so is this just the beginning thanks to citizens united i'll ask radio host tom hartman also gay marriage is back in the headlines as a federal judge in california rules prop eight unconstitutional but we're going to approach this issue from a different angle will host a debate asking if marriage is a civil right that's later in the show but first today's top story. are we headed towards a world war three scenario well some analysts think that's what would happen if the

u.s. went to war with iran and a group of u.s. veteran intelligence professionals for sanity as they call themselves this is predicting one of the us is closest allies israel will attack iran they believe this would likely lead to a wider war scenario where the u.s. would be brought into the fray in support of israel now they wrote a letter to u.s. president barack obama giving him this warning saying there is a likelihood israel will attack iran as early as this month urging him to take action now this group vip includes intelligence professionals professionals rather who have each logged decades most twenty to thirty years as officials and agencies such as the cia and the special forces now one of the mcgovern was in the cia for thirty years joins us now to talk about this letter mr mcgovern thanks so much for being here now this letter it cites a lot of. comments from from u.s.

officials comments from israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu but where is the smoking gun that is leading you guys to believe that israel could actually attack iran as early as this month. the analysis is the kind of thing that we used to do the analysis part of this. there's no there's no spy in that you know who's government that is telling us that we have to look at all the circumstances first and foremost it's not you know who's assessment of our president. ok fair enough but don't you think that maybe intelligence officials on the inside would have better information and if israel was in fact going to bomb iran or attack iran they may but it's so unusual in our experience for them to have a spy that's you know who's president you know what we have here is a good idea of our president as being rather supine his performance when that's you

know who was here three weeks ago is really quite quite remarkable he didn't mention any of the contentious issues between our countries not the settlements in the west bank not the fact that there are no hoes folks who just killed an american citizen nothing like that it was all very charming and people take away an oppression from that and i'm sure that when netanyahu went back to his folks he repeated his assessment of nine years ago when he was caught on t.v. and caught on videotape saying the americans you know it's really it's bizarre eighty percent of them support us no matter what we do and that goes in spades for the president and your group mentions an interview from nine years ago with that in yahoo in that letter but what does that have to do with israel bombing iran today what about any of these details would make you think that this is actually going to happen and happen soon ok number one they're convinced netanyahu doesn't have the option of doing anything about it because it's of like sr and because of what that

means terms of the lobby's influence actions of political figures in this country number two. congress is said so explicitly lindsey graham in tel aviv exactly four weeks ago said congress has got israel's back but what is different about that that's one thing your group cites as you know that that israel thinks that has just the complete support of congress and has the benefit of their very pro israel media what is different about that so many would argue that has always been the case and i want to make that's a really good those are really good questions it has already always been the case but the degree is different right now everything is very explicit besides there is a national intelligence estimate produced in two thousand and seven which said iran ceased production of ceased to work on nuclear weapons in the fall of two

thousand and three ok four years before that is being updated now it's about to conclude according to by informants no change they still have not started working restarted working to clear a weapon now that's going to be poison for the israelis who want to strike iran just as it was when the original estimate came out two thousand and seven so they want to preempt that and they also will also want to preempt the negotiations that are going to start in september on this agreement whereby he ron has already agreed to ship out either two thirds or would have if it's low enrich uranium the bottom line here is that israel is not a free not motivated by a fear of nuclear weapons in iran what they want is regime change ok i want to get to that issue of the quote unquote nuclear threat in iran but first i want to touch upon what would happen if israel did attack iran you argue that the u.s. would have to get involved the u.s.

is already involved in two conflicts to resources are spread then the economy at home is a very difficult situation in the us what would happen if israel bombed. iraq would there be a world war three scenario would the u.s. even have the resources to get involved they wouldn't and that's where barack obama whispered to nixon yahoo please don't do that that's what admiral mullen goes over to his opposite numbers in total of even says this would be bad bad bad please don't do it. but they think they think that their rhetoric has persuaded mr yarrow and his cohorts not to do it that's never been the case the u.s. is really relations there have always been surprises and to head off what they consider to be a less than favorable situation right now the congressional support to the hilt it's an election year they want to head off the issue was of this estimate they don't want iran to actually conclude negotiation we're bar here for their.

really quickly though you congress may support israel but there are several examples where congress has really differed with what the obama administration and the stance that obama has taken on israel for example when abbas visited and obama pledged money and talk with them and many members of congress voice outrage over that and the when the obama administration spoke up about the west bank settlements and members of congress that oh no don't do that so there are plenty of examples where the obama administration and congress are taking different points of view on israel except obama has moved towards a congressional view on each one of those issues sure there are differences put congress is always more pro israeli than anybody goes and the president has shown in him so willing to sort of bow and kowtow to that and really quickly we don't have a lot of time but i do want to touch upon this point what do you think the mainstream media is missing here with the threat of a nuclear iran because of something that you point out and your letter and i don't want to find out why well you know over a year from the mainstream media what the judgment of sixteen intelligence agencies

was in november two thousand and seven and so i'm going to i'm going to read that to you quote we. with high confidence that in the fall of two thousand and three to run a halt to its nuclear weapons program why is everybody saying iran is just about is hellbent as our defense secretary says don't get a nuclear weapon if they stop their program and really quickly want to ask you can you leave israel out of the discussion when you talk about nuclear weapons because it's something that in the middle east is a sticking point because it's believe that israel has hundreds of nuclear weapons you know but just as a token of how afraid our president is of the israelis whenever he's asked about that he says well i'm not going to comment on the israeli program but even that any change by any other from any other administration. it well it's. the issue is the join the explicitly he's going to have more times recently than

other presidents and his reactions have been very and you're calling for a public condemnation from him we're going to have to see if you get that if your letter makes any headway ray mcgovern i want to thank you for filling us in on what your group thank you were urging and warning of just ahead on the show a free medical clinic attracted thousands here in washington d.c. today we'll look at why free health care is needed in the capital of the largest economy in the world and should the government be limiting what goes in your food it's an issue that sparks heated debate on the role of government and the role of personal responsibility we'll discuss it in just a moment. every month we give you the future we'll do you understand how we'll get there and what to make. the best in science and technology from across russia and around the world. join us . on our g.

welcome back it seems like the u.s. forces aren't the only ones revising their codes of conduct in the war to win the hearts and minds of the afghan people the a.p. has reported that it found a copy of an updated code for members of the taliban the new rules state that militant fighters must protect civilians it's a long as they don't side with the afghan government or nato forces the code also lays out orders for a reduction in suicide bombings and denies the militant the ability to torture a prisoner without consent of a ranking officer but let me just clear up any confusion here this still mean civilians who are helping the afghan government or backing foreign troops are fair

game because they're supporting infidels now those who are considered civil servants or anyone who is attempting to find a job through the afghan government is also still considered a target for the taliban so now we know the new rules but we have to ask why the change of heart usually the taliban is known for its no nonsense collateral damage approach to taking down the enemy but with the militants they want to follow the standards of the islamic standards which would boost morale amongst current members and hopefully would help the group gain approval with the afghan people. it sounds a little familiar in some regards now nato and the afghan government say that most taliban members don't actually follow these rules of conduct and deaths are still on the rise but it's an issue that we will continue to follow and we will have an interview on the changing codes of conduct involving both sides in the conflict in afghanistan for you tomorrow. now people in d.c.

came out in large numbers for a free health clinic taking place at the convention center it's an opportunity for those facing financial troubles a chance to get a health screening all thanks to some generous volunteers but as our correspondent to head office learns many doctors and patients or that obamacare won't fix all the problems plaguing the system. uninsured and out of luck these people are waiting in line for something us president barack obama promised during his two thousand and eight campaign trail health care. the national association for free clinics a non-government organization came to washington to provide free health care services to the fifty seven thousand unsure people in the district and the tens of thousands of others in the region. here you won't find health insurance cards piles of paperwork or grueling waiting lines just volunteers concerned doctors and

frustrated patients a mysterious please tell us about why you're here why should i be here is my question to you why should i be after forty six years of support in this country. in my name to kill but in my name my twenty five cents doesn't go to support people like myself who have no insurance because the choose not to because they can't afford while knowing. what you're looking at is a national project built by communities from all over the country where the work force of volunteers this is what president obama's health care bill does not provide in fact the show here is run solely on donations not government spending. the doctors like ronnie whitfield are not here for money he came from baton rouge louisiana to lend a hand there is nothing currently my whole career builder supports the safety of what i call these free play for the sake of their cause rickets and everything to

him. sure bill i don't know if there's any plans for president obama to include the free clinics in that process so that's an unfortunate thing because we're actually saving lives and preventing illness in these clinics and shows a small example of what a truly from free health care system can seem like meanwhile even though the president is trying nothing's going to take place regarding health care and so two thousand and fourteen people could die today or tomorrow i lost my brother to cancer i lost my great grandmother to cancer and my green. that's all i have to say an employee uninsured and another statistic seeking medical help for an organization many of these patients insist they can rely on more than the government's proposed reforms for the washington establishment that pressed for the health care bill what it lacked. the on the ground vultures and we're here without insurance i want to have them come you free clinic and let them feel what it's like

to be without insurance. our chief washington d.c. . here with more on her story is to hand off this hand i want to touch on something that wasn't in the report but it's something that i've heard from people that put on these kind of clinics i remember speaking with someone who put on dentistry clinics that they said they used to focus on going to other countries where dentistry was so desperately needed but with the recession and they focused all of their efforts in the u.s. because that was how much the demand for this kind of care when people could not afford health care anymore and it totally changed their entire strategy can you talk more about that is that is that a larger trend where people are focusing their efforts here because of how bad the situation has gotten in the u.s. definitely now we just have some doctors who had gone escapades like that with other organizations but this one was not and also they've been focusing their efforts here in the united states for a while but there were some doctors from connecticut from missouri lots from missouri who had actually been on trips to haiti on trips to guatemala as you

mentioned to explore our resources our health care ability or health care services to other countries whereas now not only the recession but also unemployment contributed a lot of uninsured americans under insured americans and they have to bring all of their resources that efforts back home and so you just have a lot of that play out but a lot of americans are also disturbed that they're not getting the proper health care that they should be getting in a developed country where we have the ability to go to other countries developing countries and give them our resources so that was a lot of the frustration there too right i want to get you i heard some of that frustration in your report where people were frustrated with the way the u.s. is spending their money they're frustrated over health care in this country. were they not enthused about you know quote obamacare i mean to be fair it's not supposed to kick in for a few years are they expected they want something more immediate are they not happy with health care what is there something more immediate means something like these free clinics i mean think about a warrant that was all volunteers so imagine if you if you put something like this

in a lot of states where the unemployment numbers are somewhere in the twenty's this could tremendously help a lot of these people and so that's why their first visit as you mentioned is not going in for a couple years in the meantime they're going to keep suffering health problems are going to continue and we're going to turn to more health free health clinics and they're not not really that many going around the country conventions like this for the most part and on top of that this is because this is donation and it has nothing to do with government spending they can spend the money as they please the problem a lot of the volunteers and the doctors said they have a regular basis is the pharmaceutical companies the insurance companies the money the benefits that's involved in people's health which is a scary but honest factors for us health care and i don't know if you talk to any of them about this but you mentioned that they are a nonprofit so they're working on donations has have their revenue has gone down in the recession in the downturn with people not having as much to give to charity interestingly enough they've actually increased really going to talk to you saw dr dietz was in the package and i talked to him like this must be hard for you must

you guys are probably going to conventions there are no absolutes the complete opposite because americans you know in the recession are actually more sympathetic to those who do not have so he said a lot of their clients or a lot of the doctors here who were volunteering their practices were donating a lot of money from what they'd taken from their home states so for the most part they're actually picking up it's really interesting that people stepping up where they feel the government is not jan hospice bringing us that report now a new study this week reveals americans are getting fatter health officials found thirty percent or more of people were obese last year and at least nine states that's compared to only three in two thousand and seven now the report also estimates. the medical cost of obesity costing as much as a whopping one hundred and forty seven billion dollars a year meanwhile another study this week found through those causes cancer cells to grow fruit in the high fructose corn syrup that americans consume a large amounts of in their food found in everything from soft drinks to bread so

basically our food and eating habits are making us that they're leading to health problems such as diabetes heart disease and cancer they're costing billions of dollars and ultimately killing us but what's the solution assault ban like it's been proposed in new york happy meal toy ban as has been proposed in one california county or since it's a free country is it everyone's right to eat whatever they want and whatever quantity well here to discuss this with me is catherine maine who ward with reason magazine catherine thanks for being here now one hundred forty seven billion dollars a year is what this obesity is causing is costing us it's a lot of money people are dying people are fat people are disease clearly it's not working on their own it is it the government's role to step in and do something whether it's taxing soda or limiting salt you know obesity is a disease of the rich this is a really rich country and in fact we're so rich that even poor people don't have to work hard physically during the day and they can afford food you know fatty food

food that might be luxury foods or cheap. to this very strange circumstance where we are spending money on being rich or needing too much. that said i think that that true because the cheapest food are the fattiest foods because the ingredients like high fructose corn syrup coming from corn are the commodities that are subsidized by the u.s. subsidized by taxpayers in the farm bill so they become the cheapest certainly and i you know i think getting rid of some of those distortions would be a great first step instead of talking about banning salt instead of talking about soda taxes that are a couple pennies on the can and i think we should be talking about the real money the big money and that's. stuff like the subsidies that go to corn farmers that make high fructose corn syrup so that's one place to start so would you be for eliminating subsidies for those kind of commodities and instead incentivizing farmers in agriculture to produce fresh produce to kind of change the dynamic where the worst for you food is the cheapest and best for you food is the most expensive

you know i'm with you half way i don't live in a the subsidies but i think we fall into the exact same trap if we put the government in the position of choosing what are the good foods and what are the bad foods instead we should let people make those choices and i think that one form of that takes could be education but more importantly it's. taking some of these distortions that already exist out of the market this is also true of course for the cost of meat which is subsidized both by corn subsidies and by direct subsidies to talk about this though ok agriculture you know these industries are big business monsanto i mean these companies transnational companies that wield a lot of influence with the u.s. government so how practical is it really to think that these large changes could be made you know reason magazine we always say we're just as against the combination of big business and big government as somebody on the left it's just that we think it's the big government that's the central problem here monsanto can sell all the junk that it wants they can sell whatever wants i actually think wanted to is kind

of cool company for a lot of reasons but. they can't force people to buy that is they can't force taxpayers to pay for it without the help of a lot of money to the government that then will subsidize but there are problems which is creating this whole problem that we're talking about so i mean what about i just want to talk about reality because an imperfect world big government wouldn't be influenced by a corporation like that but in reality it is so what we do is the only way to then react and tax soda react and you know it is these are people taking measures into their own hands cities saying hey we're sick of this food being disgusting and making our kids fat so let's do something about it let's ban toys and happy meals well with that when we get into the nitty gritty we discover the government is terrible at this kind of thing so we take for instance candy texas right lot of states of candy texas illinois colorado but they wind up with these stupid little circumstances where for instance or hershey bars tax because it's all chocolate put

it to expire isn't because there's flour and it this kind of thing and again you know so to taxes i think when we're talking about a few cents on a can we're not talking about discouraging people from drinking soda we're not talking about discouraging people from eating candy we're talking about drumming up money for the government and every. but he is out of money right now the federal government is out of money state governments are out of money so they're looking under the couch cushions for change and they're finding it in so it's access to the government ok here's another issue there is not the same access to produce to healthy food in poor communities in inner cities for example a study showed that in california the number of grocery stores was three point six per one hundred thousand residents and east in south l.a. compared with twelve point four per one hundred thousand people in west los angeles there are just fewer options what if the government helps to incentivize grocery stores fresh food farmers' markets areas where people don't have access to them yet for education. it's kind of along those lines although i'm not necessarily for

government paying for that education again i think what we should look at is a way to do this without bringing in an army of bureaucrats to take care of it so what if we said this ok a lot of those places right now in the inner cities with without the grocery stores they have to kill a flea complicated zoning laws and they have high taxes let's say just give a tax break you know don't incentive don't create a big division i'm just saying well as an incentive yeah but i think it's a better incentive i think it's one of the doesn't distort as much and i think it's one that lets people both the owners of companies and the individuals that live in those communities make more of their own choices and i think that's important because how can we build a country for people that make good food choices if we're just having the government choose against corn syrup and for it's still the government choosing what about the people choosing to take matters into their own hands let's talk let's talk about that with some of some of those things like in one county in california in santa clara where they want to eliminate the toys in happy meals

what's wrong with that. again people versus government the county in santa clara it was i think there are seven guys on the city council or whatever it is the vote one four three i don't remember the numbers but it's it's a small number of crusaders who wake up one morning and say not there is this is a huge complex problem that involves a number of moving parts let's just take those little plastic pieces of junk out of the happy meal and if it doesn't set of eyes as kids to buy them and then get fat and then cost to the state tons of money i mean the average person on medicare obviously that's not children but just to give a sense the medicare costs for the normal weight person is about forty seven hundred dollars a year all for an obese person it's about sixty four hundred dollars two things here one you know what's great about this country kids can drive cars their parents have to take them to meet obviously we can't trust parents to make the right decisions here i think we have to in the end i mean i think we have to trust parents to make their existence or at least we have to let a myth about it when it's costing the state money in term and taxpayers' money and

terms of medical costs all this of course is where i get into more radical territory and i would say maybe we should rethink the fact that the state is covering those costs if you want to choose to eat a hamburger every day maybe we should let you do that but maybe you need to sign a waiver that says when i get enormously fat katherine doesn't have to pay you know what fair enough we're going to leave it at that i want to thank you for coming in and talking about this issue that just goes so much further than a simple hamburger or happy meal it goes to the very subsidies and the corporations that have pushed for them that our country and the taxpayers ultimately support coming up happy birthday president obama he's forty nine years young today but we're going to look at how the rest of the media world is celebrating i'll give you a hint it's not all balloons and ice cream cake and also corporations giving big money to candidates the supreme court today says or excuse me the supreme court has said it's legal and now target finds itself in the middle of a national firestorm over the decision to donate to an anti-gay candidate i'll

speak with tom heart. read about the issue when we come back. which brightened if you want to bounce sound from funds to impression. for a start on t.v. dot com. fifty. five.

hello again this is all see which i called the head of. the death tolls on russian wildfires reaches forty eight with people advised to stay indoors as a blanket of choking small. temperatures are expected to rise even more as a record breaking heat wave shows no sign of a. five hundred fires have been registered across the country while all this have been coming in from countries to help launch a bounce from the crisis meanwhile president medvedev has fired five high ranking russian really trip fishbowls a lot of preventive action. and another news the u.s. imposes more new sanctions on iran severing ties with people to suspected of terrorist links has a group of intelligence experts write to president obama saying that israel may strike against iran within weeks based on the public has also denied reports let's

us a nation attempt on president obama the presidential. because of the headlines now let's go back to the. our tool time winner tonight involves president obama he's not the winner but the fact that it's obama's forty ninth birthday today has the media in quite a frenzy you see while the president is celebrating the first lady and their daughter saussure are in spain their other daughter malia is that camp so the president is spending his birthday working in attending a fundraiser back in chicago but the media is spinning this story as if he's all alone on his special day take a look president obama celebrates his forty ninth birthday today but his wife and his daughters will not be around to help him blow up the candles on his birthday cake and he says norah o'donnell can explain why nora good morning to you good morning meredith what you can say that for.