taliban took responsibility claiming that the aid workers were possible proselytizing and trying to spread christianity but something here just doesn't make sense the taliban doesn't normally attack aid workers and these are people that knew the country and the practices and the cultures very well or earlier i caught up with tim lynch from free range international in jalalabad he personally knew one of these victims stan terry so i first asked him to tell us how the mood there have changed since the news of this attack. it hasn't changed anything. tell you what it's cast a very dark cloud over. the entire community. as there was as i think i've said it's a woman who said what night it's interesting that doctors like that would be killed so we. all everybody is just still stunned well that's i think you did also mention in your blog that this is unprecedented this is not the average

practice of the taliban to go around killing aid workers who go out there bravely to help people in need to offer medical assistance so are you skeptical that perhaps the taliban aren't the ones responsible for this. well i was at first and and and dan terry and tom little tom little bit of the off the monitor set was leading the expedition they've been here since one thousand nine hundred seventy s. guys we hear the taliban in the language and known by thousands and thousands and thousands of afghans so the fact that. he and the taliban both claim that they they were all conducted is killing because they were spies the taliban because they were converting people to christianity which is which is nonsense that is the fact that they've even claimed credit for the same is that is what surprised me the other thing is the details that how this went down apparently they were lined up in one person did all the killing and that's consistent with taliban executions they

normally will hold people until the designated killer comes up they have executioners apparently and so the manner in which they were killed is consistent with a taliban attack. so what does that say to you that. do you think that perhaps the taliban are also starting to see if their strategy shift the people that they're choosing to attack and to victimize that mean that the security situation is deteriorating there well there's no question it's charity and there's no question of the taliban are making significant gains as far as in place in shadow governments openly or running checkpoints and whatnot not that ten miles down the road from me right now is a taliban checkpoint the fact that they've come out in the open now when they have not defeated the afghan or american security forces would normally. portend an opportunity for us in other words they've surfaced a lot earlier in the conventional mode i'm sorry the typical insurgent warfare

strategy than a very should only do so and normally you would expect to see them taking horrendous losses but that's just not happen. now i have to ask you something else as i have mentioned the taliban here they claim that some of these aid workers also were proselytizing and they were carrying stacks of bibles you mentioned that your personal friend dan terry who was one of them was a religious man himself how much just christianity come into play here is this become a bigger issue in afghanistan are they trying to to really turn this into a religious war on their own grounds. will be. if you can work for a christian aid agency ever since one thousand nine hundred one so they've always looked that we cannot stand with them because and follow the afghanistan afghanistan in general and it's against the law for them to go out and try to confuse people with christianity so. i want to tell me that on we're all outside of

a big security bubble even if you had five years ago and you would never do that i mean then and then and she would jeopardize the people that he was with. there's no way there's no way that he could have done that. so he'd been here for a long long time nobody who was. all. were term little as far as americans and so i don't believe that for certain yet but my question here is perhaps could this be something that the taliban is is making up in order to convince the population as to why these killings had actually taken place because you and i were talking about this earlier that normally the afghan people wouldn't look too kindly on aid workers being killed so is the christianity the religious part of it something that they could try to throw into you know to add their own spin to the story. and what will and i'm sorry absolutely right and and and it's a straw man and like i said these people have been here for forty years they have

impacted the lives of thousands and thousands and thousands of families and the question is when they swim when both begin to taliban start claiming credit for this kind of thing is how it's going to play on the afghan street because they're not controlling the message it's going to amplify is as afghans tell other afghans tell other afghans and and quite frankly i think that them trying to come out of this as if as if it was some type of a moral or religious obligation is complete it's going to backfire because the afghans know better than terry. and tom will are not the only missionaries over here long term doing this living with the afghans and positively impact in their lives and the afghan people believe me they get news around them so they use a word of mouth like nobody i've ever seen they know that they're not stupid and so i don't think that that that that particular a dog is going to unformed and i'm looking forward to see that that was a kickback from it yeah it definitely will be interesting to see how this plays out

now is there anyone else that you think could be responsible for this. yeah. in the north. throughout the pakistan border you'll get groups of just how to sell them what i call the at the arab jihadi tourist and these guys who come over and want to fight in a jihad or no go back home but they generally don't want to go down south and fight the americans because they tend to get killed so up north up and up in a kernel or whatnot we're all they've got to balance the afghan border police that's where the you know the kind of the slackers are the more willing to do job the torchbearers will go and it wouldn't surprise me quite frankly if when it's all came out it was one of those kind of cats that went and and and shot all these these doctors i i think. i'm no expert i mean i can't tell you what happened here but i find it hard to believe that it's quite sort of very. well said and i want to

thank you very much for joining us and of course giving us your perspective you say you're no expert but you're there in afghanistan you're in jalalabad and you've been there for a while you interact with these people every day and i think that you would know best you know to really comment on whether this was a taliban or attack or not you know why they would do that and how that might resonate with the afghan population and again i'm very sorry to hear about dan terry who i know is your personal friend who was also killed her thanks to thank you. we have to take a break but still to come we'll ask if the u.s. justice system broken especially when politics play such a large role well back to discuss the issue in just a moment. how's the parking. cars appliances is so many years

until they come to visit you. do you think the property bought on credit really belongs to you. on r t. every month we give you the future we'll do you understand how we'll get there and what tomorrow brings best in science and technology from across russia and around the world join knology update on our g. across the country there are only three states which allow the governor to get involved with the citizens of justice and california is one of them despite its overcrowded prisons in mates deemed suitable for parole by a parole board almost always have those decisions reversed by the governor as artie's christine for reports the reason has often held to do with politics. made normal. when i first came here my son wasn't even

a year old and i think that he. kind of sees me and the other women that he's met here at the visiting room he kind of sees like women that have. gone through a lot and ended up you know still standing on our feet now forty years old she's been behind bars since one thousand nine hundred ninety two people convicted of killing her abusive boyfriend during a violent attack one of many in their relationship this is somebody who doesn't belong behind bars somebody who made a terrible mistake and readily admits that she made a terrible mistake by picking up the gun in the first place in two thousand and nine she was found to be suitable for parole by the california parole board that decision was overturned by california governor arnold schwarzenegger's a reality shared by many women here at the california institution for women in los angeles most have long histories of abuse from the person for whom they are convicted of killing a down the road the university of southern california law school has taken up the

cause of many of these women in a program called the post conviction justice project professor michael brennan is one of the founders our clients for the most part have committed a single serious crime in their life and that's a crime that they're serving their sentence for they are represented by law students like andy martin i'm representing maris or garcia who was at the age of thirteen trafficked into the united states and sold to a man who for six years. there's physically emotionally and sexually abused her garcia was forced at gunpoint to help that man drag and bury the body of the man he had shot then convicted of aiding and abetting so far she has served seventeen years in march she too was deemed suitable for parole the prole process is really the beginning of a long legal battle for the convicted it's not the end of the story it turns out it's not even the end of this chapter parole for both garcia and coom b.n.

was just reversed by california governor arnold schwarzenegger of the four thousand cases that go before the board each year just about seventeen percent are found suitable for parole and of those governors force a nigger has overturned more than sixty percent previous governors reversed ninety percent so why why this obsession with incarceration because most governors in california certainly at some point in their career feel that they may have. possibility of running for president they're concerned about granting parole to inmates who might go out and commit a serious crime but many of these women's records show they would not be a danger to society that they were young and scared for their lives or for the lives of their children. that. ok the crime or the number we get away from to be on the on.

the end of the line for many is here. in prison for life despite their sentence you can't turn parole but wife sentences in two. what we call l.-wop sentences life without possibility of parole simply because. victims rights groups or others think that if you've been convicted of murder you should never be paroled a broken system chance is given then taken away and still hope the system will change for campian that she'll be reunited with her son it will work out in the end if if you really truly love somebody like the way that i love him i want him to be the best like even if i have to stay here forever i just want him to be. the best in los angeles christine for south r.t.

. now california is perhaps the worst example but it's only one state one state the highlights the fact that the united states has the largest criminal justice system in the world with more than seven million adults and juveniles in jail in prison or in community custody and those numbers are only crowded so what is it about america why is there in kneejerk reaction by politicians by the people to automatically throw someone in jail well joining me here to discuss it is dr jeffrey ian ross an author and criminologist at the university of baltimore dr ross thanks so much for being here my pleasure as i mentioned the u.s. has the largest criminal justice system in the world how do you get to this point how do they get to be this gigantic bloated machine or monster or whatever going to college well there's no simple answer there's lots of reasons including a desire for law and order the fact that it's a large part of our g.n.p. g.d.p.

we have this criminal justice industrial complex a prison industrial complex and it just feeds on itself and so you have a law enforcement officers who are you know law being for you know better more power you have a correctional officer unions who are a law being for increased numbers of correctional officers more severe penalties more facilities being built and you have a public that is not satisfied when they hear stories of people who are out on parole who really offends who engage in crimes particularly the kind of the gruesome kinds of crime so everything feeds off each other well i want to get to the correctional officer is really the prison guard in europe because everything i've heard these he pushes have an enormous amount of influence and power actually let's just get to them right now when i hear that they are for you know the most part what keeps the system going what keeps incarceration rates so high what keeps

our prisons are overcrowded especially in states like california. but i do want to point the finger only correctional officers and their unions in some states the correctional officers unions are very strong california for example they're one of the largest unions most powerful unions in the state of california they have affected the passage of laws draconian laws in that state correctional officers are paid well and for good reason it's a tough job it's a dangerous job i wouldn't want to do that for any length of time and so they can affect the election of politicians the governor etc so they can sway things in other states the governor as much as possible and the legislatures have managed to sort of keep the question off for officer unions in tow in check but you have you know a victim rights organizations you have politicians who are trying to make a name for themselves who are logging for tougher penalties longer penalties and

that's one of the reasons in a lot of this can be traced back to the war on drugs so it's not just overnight you're right here the war on drugs is a go in as you hear but your eyes of the politicians necessarily want to be seen as these people that are tough on crime why does that get you elected you know there's something about the attitudes in this country where of course every country wants a law and order everyone wants to feel safe in their neighborhood in their home but it almost constant point where you feel like showing mercy to someone or trying to help them trying to rehabilitate them is seen as a weakness in america and why is it that way it's that's a great question and i don't think there's a single answer. i do think that there is we have we live in a very punitive society we live in a society that wants to make sure that if you do the crime you do the time we don't like the fact that or when we hear stories of country club prisons which is a myth we get upset we don't want to tax payers dollars going into facilities to educational opportunities to real billeted of opportunities for people who are

behind bars or who have created. who who who have caused mayhem in our communities we don't like that sort of thing you know the myth of the self-made man is still very prevalent in united states and this all feeds into this whole sort of ethos so so needing of help makes you weak that shows that you have some kind of a problem because i mean if we compare perhaps to other countries in western europe where there is a lot more money there are many more resources that go into these rehabilitation programs and are they working or why why why do we refuse to move forward it's a good question i think we are there are elements in american society that do want to reform the criminal justice system in the prison system in particular and there are a small candle in the wind in other countries particularly european countries the skin and even countries for example the incarceration rates are lower the receipt of is and rates are lower the kinds of programs that they have for people who are

behind bars are better and the ratio of correctional workers to inmates are higher the they pale in comparison to what's here and so the emphasis is having somebody incarcerated for a short term period seeing their criminality which is sometimes because of some sort of drug or a medical or alcohol related. problem in their life get them back in there on to their feet help train them so that they can have a viable means of income and so that they are not in this cycle of being arrested being sentenced going to prison and coming back out and then riff ending well it sounds like they treat them like humans you know as humans we are not perfect beings we all have our faults and i think every person is obviously different and they need to be examined instead of just being given a black mark as a criminal and then thrown into jail and this is a problem that i think we have in the society in your recent book you actually discuss the after effects how it is that one reintegrate into society and we don't

have time to. i guess that right now but i would love to have you back on the show thanks so much for being here tonight a pleasure ari coming up after the break protesters and activists came to quantico this weekend to hail army specialist bradley manning private accused of leaking classified information to the wiki leaks website but will all of this last we're going to sit down with georgetown university professor christopher chambers to find out. for the feel we've got. the biggest issues get invoice face to face with the news

makers. yesterday activists rallied outside the marine corps base a quantico for twenty two year old army private bradley manning is being detained now many are there trying to applaud the young men who military officials suspect of leaks thousands of intelligence documents to the whistle blowing web site wiki leaks i mean i think that he did a courageous thing is much more creative to speak against the huge military machine and at the risk of your career and any future career possibly than it is to just stay a part of it even when you disagree. now military supporters also showed up to the park and there was even some debate between the two groups but the protests remained peaceful if convicted bradley manning could face fifty two years behind bars well all of that attention surrounding him really last that's the question because these protests the attention placed on bradley manning and julian assange

they'll be in the news today but how will all be looked at in the history books could wiki leaks go down as the new pentagon papers will be seen as heat will they be seen as heroes or will the legacy be that of a nation this organization and a young army specialist who both lives at risk well joining me here to discuss it is christopher chambers georgetown university professor and author of the blog turner's revenge chris thanks for coming back and ok let's get personal here you're a little older than me but i think that you probably remember hopefully remember when the pentagon papers yes i do is broke in the new york times so i want your perspective because i wasn't around back then you know how have the reactions changed well i mean even i mean that old but i mean as a kid i remember and what i remember is the public's reaction but did ministrations reaction the next to the administration's reaction and i think that's what sets this apart from what's going on now i mean they wanted to throw daniel ellsberg to

the wolves they wanted to attack the leaks i mean the pentagon papers case gave rise to watergate because with nixon wanted a group of people like liddy you could go around and burglarize and stop this kind of stuff and now you don't have that you know you have work in self supporting manti which is which is ironic the man who leaked the pentagon papers is supporting manning but nobody else is the mainstream media is attacking julian assange on whether the supporting him so everything's just flipped around from from what i remember even as a child well that is. interesting because you know you yourself are a journalism professor and right now there's a huge debate within the journalistic world because you're right a lot of people are attacking manning they're talking assignment they're saying fees people are betraying you know the united states they're putting lives in danger and yet you have daniel as. humming to their defense hailing them how do you teach this to your students how do you put this well i mean there are certain

ethical boundaries that everybody has to meet but i mean julian pretty much did i mean he turned the stuff over he had a whistle blower and he had raw data he turned it over to the new york times to do spiegel and these mainstream media outlets these old line bastions of journalism and they did the vetting of the raw data the pentagon papers ellsberg worked at the new york times they did all that i mean it's not really is as different as people think i think it has to do with julian's personality the fact this is an off shore new media kind of shadow we thing i mean does he have the accountability i don't know and the transparency i don't know whether he's proved that yet that's what we talk about in class he has a very elusive he's right behind our blonde hair yes australian friend here but you know you spoke about how you remember when the pentagon papers first broke the administration's response and i think that the obama administration all the pentagon officials that we've heard from there just as

a very you know they they also want these people to go down they've condemned the release of these documents but if we look at the people's reaction do you feel like people just don't care enough i mean there were massive protests against the war in vietnam and then where all the protests against the war in afghanistan there were about eighty people that you showed up there bradley manning now it's a different it's a different time i mean you know it's is it's a different time but there was something even back then iconic about the war and controversial and the pentagon papers really were just almost like the cherry on top here you know you julian's released all this raw data and it's. very detailed some of it minute and kind of stupid it's not the big ticket stuff that you saw the pentagon papers people already knew the war was bogus in vietnam here it's there seems to be just almost there was you know thirty years ago it's ignorance now and anger is always more powerful than ignorance lie think people are ready know that the war is bogus in afghanistan too but so now the final question

is how is this going to be looked at in the history books you know will this all they be seen as heroes or will they just be completely ignore it i mean in this day and age the information age when there's just no information on the road it's you every day i think i think that i think that there are going to be i think julian is probably i don't know we're going to be hero or manning but i think there's going to be a chapter written on them and are they going to be as heroic as daniel ellsberg no because i think that in the end when you're coming out from the pentagon papers point of view with the big conspiracies or the the little massive nuanced stuff the bottom line is you have a president that you know is going to say i can't win and i can't get out just like lyndon johnson did just how the pentagon papers expose that nixon this is going to expose barack obama having to deal with george bush's mess i can't win but i can't get out that's going to be the bottom line we will have learned nothing absolutely nothing i think that is going to be the legacy not whether julian or p.f.c.

manning are going to be heroes or not. that's unfortunate but you know. if you look at the more more more we give you happier news we can still learn nothing and that's sad and south korea thanks so much for being here are there still much more to come on tonight's show today marks the sixty fifth anniversary of the bombing of not the saki so we're going to show you how this atomic bomb is not a lasting effect on the people of japan and i'll ask why this dark day in history is being ignored by the mainstream media then we're going to highlight the attention around afghan women in this time of war. bloggers are for your use of the media's using the plight of afghan women to spark americans interest and feel guilty about ending this war so we'll speak to one of those bloggers after the break.

thanks for being with us here on our t.v. seven thirty am in the russian capital these are your headlines hundreds of wildfires still burning across central russia the situation stable and contained according to authorities but they warn that could change at any moment fifty two people have died around two thousand of lost their homes several countries are sent equipment and specialists to help deal with the bully. meanwhile the death rate in the russian capital has doubled the season compared to the monthly average according to moscow's health department doctors blame the concentration of harmful particles in the air coming from the forest and peat fires. in japan calls for a nuclear free world on the sixty fifth anniversary of the atomic bomb being dropped on nagasaki representatives from more than thirty nations gathered with survivors to memorialize the more than two hundred thousand died the u.s. did not send a representative to nagasaki as it did earlier for the ceremony at the. back now to

be alone a show with japan marking the sixty five years since the atomic bombs being dropped on hiroshima and nagasaki alone and takes a look at why u.s. media has been silent on the commemoration ceremonies. it's time for tonight's tool time winner and it involves michelle obama i know the first lady is not the winner herself but her trip to spain and the over the top media coverage helped us pick the money winner for a week michelle and daughter sasha vacationed in spain with close family friends to the mainstream media had an absolute field day with this story asking all kinds of questions like who paid for the trip are taxpayers paying for her guests at a five star resort take a listen. joe obama the first lady is wrapping up her vacation in spain today with an official visit to the king and queen there but her trip with daughter sasha has

a bit to raise some questions at home about how much it cost u.s. taxpayers and who will be picking up the tab it doesn't hurt because for them it doesn't hurt to you were to me does hurt and i know you disagree because i read your pre-interview that to show obama vacationing overseas in spain in the way in which he did it i thought this was way over the line especially if you contrast. now last clip was from fox news and you know that they've just been squeezing every single last drop out of this story because how dare the first african-american first lady take a trip during these hard economic times never mind the fact that laura bush and hillary clinton both took vacations but this is michelle obama and she doesn't deserve such a trip she should just stay the white house day and night and never ever leave the grounds for that matter only here's another tidbit while on vacation the first lady did actually have an official visit with the king of spain.