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in india she's available in hotels. resort and spa. remote have been turned on. sunday a beach hotel the western result. the. ground many as you call it a full seasons hotel. a key committee on capitol hill approves of the start treaty to cut nuclear arms clearing the way for the final hurdle in the u.s.

a full senate vote on ratification. is a coyote wanted by russia on terror charges is said to have arrived in poland despite a warning he could face arrest if he sets foot in the country. the u.n. is to decide on a russian canadian territorial dispute in the arctic with ownership of the area's rich resources at stake. for the alyona show which looks at the chances for ratification in the u.s. congress of the start arms reduction treaty between russia and the u.s. that's from our washington studios next right here on r.t. . angry. we've got to. the biggest issues get invoice sales to face with the news makers.

welcome to the lower show we'll get the real headlines with none of the mersey are coming live out of washington d.c. now today the start treaty was approved by the senate foreign relations committee and is heading to the senate next for full confirmation but the treaty is far from a done deal one can't help but wonder how a stalled effort could affect obama's attempts at restarting the relationship between the u.s. and russia then will shed light on a disturbing trend of military soldiers wrongfully being discharged for personality disorders and some argue that these discharges are just a way for the pentagon to save billions of dollars by stripping soldiers of their health care benefits and even parts of their signing bonuses so we'll speak with the nation's investigative reporter joshua kors next story visit the problems of fracking the method used to drill for natural gas see this process is destructing people's lives and putting their health at stake so we'll speak with a filmmaker who's brought this issue to the foreground in his new documentary gas

land and the mayor of new york city is proposing that there be a smoking ban for many public outdoor spaces yet they want to stop smoking in parks beaches golf courses even times square so we'll have a debate and ask the question of when does protecting the public health start infringing on your freedoms and also just as we thought the news about poverty couldn't get any worse it has a new study from the census bureau shows that the poverty rate has surged to over fourteen percent last year the highest in the past sixteen years so we'll speak with our team financial correspondent lauren lyster about the study and the effects that poverty will have on a shrinking middle class but now. move on to today's top story. here in washington d.c. congress finally began the process of trying to ratify the start treaty agreement between the u.s. and russia would reduce both countries' stockpiles of nuclear weapons now after being approved by senate foreign relations committee today the treaty now heads to

the full senate but getting it approved could be a difficult task for president obama r.t. correspondent guy n.h. again has more. the start treaty got the green light from the senate foreign affairs committee and is heading for the senate floor this treaty will make america more secure it will assist us in moving towards the goal of less nuclear threats and for that reason we're probably actually took today it's been a bumpy ride this five months of hearings and the resolution that the senators passed reflects that they put all their concerns in one package among them. the tie between offensive and defensive weapons senators clarify the treaty in no way is an obstacle for the u.s. plans to deploy defense systems american officials see it the same way it commits us to continue to develop the ability to be able to protect our people and to have a robust missile defense system but russians do take the time mentioned in the

treaty quite seriously they see the new start as an agreement based on equality and balance and if that balance is shifted or disturbed they say they can pull out but some in washington say there are hurdles related to the ratification are not so much about the details of the treaty but about republicans trying to make a point to the democrats one of the problems is good old fashioned red meat politics the republicans don't they just can't resist this opportunity to say well you know the democrats are weak on national security and that's one of the real barriers that the that the obama administration faces here i have no. whatsoever if we had a republican administration this treaty would be already ready the paradox is that the number of republicans who have testified for the treaty outnumbers democrats on top of that the u.s. military officials are unanimous in their support of the deal something that many

experts are pointing out here senators to express their concerns but they can't really change the treaty they can either ratify it or not and judging by what senators were saying this thursday they surely will the question is when i'm going to strike out on our reporting from washington d.c. . now again a fourteen to four vote in the senate foreign relations committee does not guarantee that the treaty will be approved by the senate as a whole so if it doesn't go through what could the replications be what will it mean for obama's agenda and his foreign policy priorities and for the reset of relations between the u.s. and russia as a whole well joining me to discuss that is tom collina research director at arms control association tom thanks so much for being here so you know finally we at least has to pass the senate foreign relations committee here fourteen to four and this was after they had to write a resolution trying to calm down some of the republicans so what are the chances of

now when it goes to the senate as a whole of this being passed i think they're very good because we now have clear proven bipartisan support for this treaty we have momentum going into a floor vote and i think the chances are quite good that it will get passed by the end of the year by a broad bipartisan you sure you have clear bipartisan support i mean only three republicans on this committee even voted for it well that's three more than we had the other day so i mean it's if you look at the committee better than a flat out no three letter committee it was seventy five percent of the committee approved this treaty and that's margin enough on the senate floor so we're feeling pretty good ok ok you know what i want to ask you is you know some of the concerns of the republicans of course have to do with the fact that they felt. like there wasn't enough money allocated to make sure that we can update our nuclear arsenal which was included in this resolution they're afraid that that this treaty is going to hinder our ability to use our missile defense systems around the world but i mean were these even valid concerns in the original language even robert gates the

secretary of defense said that this does not limit us at all so how do we start justify these are a valid concerns to me but they were valid to them and i think we have to take that at face value and that at least three of the senators republican senators were convinced today that those issues have been addressed in the resolution of ratification that was passed as you said fourteen to four in the committee today so for those senators these issues have been resolved and we can move on to the full senate where i think most senators will also be reassured by the resolution that this treaty does not infringe on the u.s. ability to deploy missile defenses will make an amends where enough money will be available to modernize the weapons complex and keep nuclear weapons safe and secure and will deal with some other issues for example move on to deal in the future with tactical weapons which some senators have raised concerns about so i think this resolution should put concerns to rest that this treaty is safe and we can move ahead with it and it'll it'll improve the security for all americans but iraq's

treaty isn't say i mean let's just speak hypothetically here and we really we have no idea whether it will pass the full senate out there a lot of people that are skeptical you yourself are looking at this in a very positive light if it doesn't pass how is that going to look not only for obama and his political agenda but for this country internationally how is russia going to look at their parliament also has to approve the treaty and if we start wanting to make changes are they also going to start looking at what they can do to change certain language right i mean i think above and beyond politics would be disaster for u.s. and russian security for this treaty to fail because this is the building of a new u.s. russian relationship the u.s. and russia. ninety percent of the world's nuclear weapons if we can't get our act together to reduce them we can hardly expect anyone else to reduce their and this is what this is really all about is reducing u.s. and russian nuclear weapons to send a message to the world that we're serious about this and we want to do our part to

reduce nuclear stockpiles in other countries stop the spread of nuclear weapons to unstable nations and to prevent the nuclear weapons to terrorist regimes so those are the threats we're dealing with today and we have to get this treaty right but is that message if you send the message are they really going to listen to that i mean you have to question whether leading by example always means that everyone else is going to follow suit what would make you know nations like iran or north korea look at this you know the signing of a new start treaty and want to hop on board and say you know what you're right nuclear weapons are best not really about that again it's about having the u.s. and russia work together so take the example of a wrong it was very important to have russian support for for sanctions on iran that were motivated by the united states russia has to be part of that effort and part of this new relationship with russia that this new start treaty is part of helps bring russia along to get the pressure we need on iran take the case of nuclear terrorism if

a terrorist were to get nuclear weapons they were probably get that material from russia which is one of the greatest security concerns here so the united states needs russia's help to control nuclear material in russia and again so the u.s. russian relationship is key to start is is this treaty is really at the nexus of that so it is russia the only place where nuclear materials where there's really a fear because i mean these days you know you can say that the fear is no longer all out nuclear war between one nation and another quite the opposite it's now these smaller figures these the terrorist networks perhaps those are the people we have to be scared of getting their hands on it is this really going to stop that treaty between these two big. sure they can they still go all over the world and find this stuff. it helps it helps because russia is my major help it helps a lot because russia is the main source of concern yeah there are other nations but even in the context of other nations we need their cooperation i mean again these materials and materials that go to make nuclear weapons are in states and those

states have to take the full responsibility to control that material so they need to cooperate with us and again we need to send the message that we're doing our part to control this stuff worldwide we've got to get our house in order and that helps us make the case to others to get their house in order to so you don't think there's any chance the republicans. you know big before the midterm november elections will just continue on with their path of just saying no to everything obama wants well in this case they haven't said no i mean fourteen senators today did the right thing and three of them were republicans so that's a good start now will they put prove this treaty before the election i don't know will it be in the lame duck session i don't know all i know is it should be done as soon as possible and now we have the momentum to make that happen and it's up to the senators to come together and make that happen and the longer they wait you know the more time goes by since the old treaty expired last december and the two countries are not able to even examine each other's nuclear stockpiles thank you so much for your time thank you very much my pleasure there's still

a lot much more to come on the show has the u.s. military in discharging thousands of soldiers on bogus medical claims i speak with an investigative journalist from the nation who's being digging deep into this issue for three years and his results are disturbing. for the. we've got. the biggest issues get the invoice face to face with the news makers. for three years the nation has been investigating a disturbing trend in the military since two thousand and one more than twenty two

thousand soldiers have been discharged from the military with personality disorder now the reason that these figures are so disturbing is that the consequences of these discharges are severe personality disorder is considered a preexisting condition so those just aren't just charged are no longer eligible for medical care and in fact they're even forced to give back a piece of their signing bonus and the question is whether these shoes discharges are valid or just a way for the pentagon to say billions of dollars during the bush administration the president signed a law requiring the pentagon to study p d discharges after which they concluded that not a single soldier had been wrongfully diagnosed or wrongfully discharged so many lawmakers and veterans back to differ in the battle continues as yesterday a hearing was held to once again look into these accounts of wrongful personality disorder just charges joining me to discuss that is josh of course and that's a good reporter for the nation who's been following this story for years now joshua

thanks so much for being here i want to start with one very basic thing here you know a personality disorder is treated as something that's considered a preexisting condition but when you are applying when you're enlisting in the army you have to go through a number of screening so when they catch these preexisting conditions that's exactly it anyone who had a severe mental illness like a personality disorder would be screened out to begin with the soldiers don't make it into the military i have looked at dozens and dozens of cases in the three and a half years i've been reporting on this all these soldiers pass that screening. perfectly healthy they're perfectly healthy again before they're headed to iraq and afghanistan it's only half their physically wounded and did nothing and seek benefits that this preexisting condition is discovered sergeant chuck luthor of the soldier who testified yesterday at the hearing his case brings to

a climax exactly what's happening with these tens of thousands of soldiers he was physically wounded by a mortar fire in iraq struck his head against concrete and develop severe headaches so severe that his vision would black out they tried to tell him that his blindness was caused by preexisting personality disorder. as he testified yesterday when he refused to sign the paper saying that blindness was caused by a personality disorder they tortured him until he signed the papers that's right you said that they placed him into confinement that he was forced to deal with sleep deprivation had to listen to heavy metal music i mean these are this is very disturbing thing if you think that the u.s. military is torturing confining one of their own who is out on the field and was wounded so yesterday when you are out this hearing and he was testifying what were

the reactions i mean how do lawmakers respond to a story like this the reactions were incredible he described in graphic detail how he was placed inside a quasi it and held there for over a month with armed guards in forcing sleep deprivation keeping the lights on all night a lasting heavy metal music at him all night he tried to escape the closet they pinned him down injected him with sleeping medication and dragged him back to the closet finally after a month he was willing to sign anything and he did he signed his name to this personality disorder discharge they whisked him back to fort hood and they told them here are the consequences. no disability pay for the rest your life no long term medical care and one of the small print down if you allow us money yes you us money they gave him a bill for fifteen hundred dollars and said if you don't pay it will start garnishing your wages and assessing interest this has been an incredible savior of

money for the pentagon since two thousand and one over twenty five thousand soldiers have been discharged with these fraudulent personality disorder discharges that's my question though is you know this specific case is really difficult to listen to him it's very gruesome but twenty five thousand other soldiers do we know you know have you spoken to others are their experiences just as horrible just as traumatizing i've spoken to dozens and dozens of soldiers and so many of them have the exact same story they go there physically wounded some of them even receiving the purple heart then after receiving that purple heart told they were wounded all that their shrapnel wounds that they're broken pelvis that their deaths from this was all caused by a preexisting problem with their personality how is it the pentagon after doing an investigation decided that not a single soldier not even one was wrongfully just charged or wrongfully i mean what was the evidence that they used well i think again money is

a clear motivating factor there saving twelve point five billion dollars in disability and medical care by denying these wounded soldiers these benefits with that study i did a touch more reporting i found out in the five months that they did this quote thoughtful and thorough review they didn't interview anybody not even the soldiers whose cases they were feeling and to chairman bob filner who led the house veterans affairs hearing yesterday that infuriated him he yelled at the army official said this is a review but you didn't call a single person. they studied and stumbled i have to say those in the audience at the hearing yes they were actually laughing at the military and their smile it's really despicable you know if you think about the fact like you said that they've made twelve point five billion dollars they've saved all this money by denying the soldiers who risk their lives for this country their benefits and by making them

pay back you know these days we hear a lot of talk about wanting to cut down on defense spending if this is the way that they're planning on doing that then what does that tell you about about our military it's extraordinary and they're doing it on the backs of these soldiers i think about specialist bonnie moore she developed an inflamed uterus during her time serving they told her that her profuse bleeding was caused by a personality disorder she thought it was something a little more serious she went to the hospital they removed her uterus and appendix but when they sent her back to the states and denied her medical care and benefits she and her teenage daughter became homeless she called me just because she was afraid that if they went to the homeless shelter her daughter would be raped i would i mean i'm speechless by these stories really it's it's just absolutely horrible so what are you going to do you've been investigating this for three years finally it's been brought back up to the congress president obama when he was still a senator you know trying to push a bill forward to halt these discharges that didn't has now he says he's concerned

i mean is that enough how are you going to keep trying to get people to pay attention he's concerned it's amazing obama's really been a blessing and a disappointment to so many of these military families a blessing because he was one of the first to recognize this scandal he put forward the bill to holds all personality disorder discharges but a disappointment because during his run for the presidency and even now from the white house he never spoke about it not once and so the issue died a quiet death it got changed into a watered down bill for this i'm sorry josh that's all the time we have but it really is it's a horrible horrible story and it's a good thing that you're reporting on it and we'll definitely have you back thanks so much josh thank you. ari coming up next we're going to revisit an issue we first told you about a few months ago the dangers of fracking more and more people are protesting this method of harnessing energy one that is used his camera to show the serious problems involved we'll speak with the filmmaker of the new were released

documentary gas land after the break. every month we give you the future we help you understand how we'll get there and what tomorrow brings the best in science and technology from across russia and around the world join your knowledge and update on our g cultures that so much really made a lot of people here you know the politics of he said moscow p.c. in washington and the rise of the multilateral world. a couple of months ago archies christine friends out brought us a story about fracking to make pennsylvania now as a refresher hydraulic fracturing which is known as fracking for short is

a process in which thousands of gallons of chemical waste water and sand are injected into natural gas wells which then crack the shale rock and allow the gas to flow out of technology has helped usher in one of the biggest energy booms in u.s. history it's seen as a way to provide domestic energy to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and cut down greenhouse gas emissions caused by the use of coal but all is not well with this technology a new documentary called gas land looks at how communities are fracking takes place have noticed of their drinking water since contaminated one household even had water that caught on fire. hydraulic fracturing is spreading across the globe it's amazing what took mother nature millions of years to build to be destroyed in a few hours. we're doing is searching for a problem that is not exist. now there is

a heated debate that's picking up over the use of fracking so earlier i caught up with joshua fox he's the director of this movie gas land and he first was a customer was introduced to the story when he got a letter asking for his land to be leased for the use of fracking so i first asked him why it is that he didn't just take the money but instead decided to investigate and look into this story and other would take him on a journey which would lead to a documentary. well. what i heard i heard a lot of conflicting reports i mean there was one story that was coming from the natural gas industry which was that this process was mightily invasive and wouldn't damage anything in that we make a lot of money and then on the other side of things there were environmental groups that were starting to talk about this and say that there were these toxic chemicals that injected into the ground and there were enormous land scarring i'd seen some pictures from wyoming where they were doing the process and it didn't match up. so

i looked online and i didn't find a lot of research and find a lot to go on i certainly didn't find in the video or film. initially and so i decided to kind of look into it for myself and do a little investigating i went to a neighboring town called dimmick which is about fifty miles from me and in pennsylvania away from in pennsylvania where they had already started drilling and when i got to that town it was really it was a snowy it was in snow it was in february one of the residents water wells had spontaneously exploded on new year's day so the just you know the in the middle of the day their water well exploded into the air and through the concrete casing of their well all over their front yard. and then they noticed that there were problems and citizens were comparing water and they had ground water cloudy water their kids were getting sick drinking the water there was this incredible atmosphere of fear and and deception and this feeling of being betrayed and then they noticed that they could lead their water on fire yeah that's what i said but

that definitely scary you know not everybody i think is like yourself and decides to go out and actually do research and investigated but i want to know your thoughts on this new investigation that the e.p.a. is launching i mean they have set a time line for themselves they only have two years to do it and as far as i'm concerned they're really only focusing on the drinking water but not even the entire big picture of what other effects might be of fracking so what do you think this investigation is going to be enough. well right now the e.p.a. is doing scoping on their investigation and i think that they've heard enough comments about air pollution regarding the drilling that they're probably going to look in the air as well i mean they're asking citizens. what they think they should focus on and they are getting an enormous amount of input let me tell you what i've been traveling around with gasland and we opened at sundance in january we had a run on h.b.o. over the summer which is now ended we're going into theaters now we've been doing community screenings there's hundreds of thousands of people out there who are

affected by this this is the largest drilling campaign in u.s. history onshore for natural gas and it's in thirty four states and so that i think they're getting a lot of input and i don't know i think that they they should really be doing the study as fast as possible there's so much out there everywhere that i went there was water contamination there were air pollution pollution there was health problems but on a normal scale i mean this is an inherently contaminating industrializing process that's happening in people's backyards and in watershed areas in places where where you know people get water for i mean a civil war supplies for their water wells and it. is polluting the groundwater i mean that's that's very clear so he wants to look at that i think because that's the toughest thing to prove the process injects. you know millions of gallons of toxic chemicals with water under the ground to break apart the rock and release the gas and that's.