but can they load a show or look at the real headlines with none of the mercy or can we live in washington d.c. now tonight we'll bring you the latest from japan now a look at the politics surrounding nuclear energy every kind of energy why don't we have better options then it's finally come to an end the u.s. and pakistan have reached a deal on the raymond davis case which involves giving blood money to the families of the victims we'll give you details on the case and will find out of this is what justice really looks like these days and violence increases in bahrain and the

world is weighing in except for the u.s. so what can we expect next from this foreign policy game that never seems to and then it's an emergency and defund n.p.r. or really i think there are some more important things going on in the world is this just the latest example of the right wing trying to take down anything the democrats might consider important and happy sunshine week it's a time where we can congratulate the obama administration for all of their efforts to practice transparency but this this government is anything but transparent so why is this president being awarded we're going to get to the bottom all of that and much more it's nice show but first let's move on to our top story. tonight the world waits and watches the scene to pan can avert a nuclear catastrophe thousands of people living near the troubled nuclear power plant have been told to leave as radiation levels continue to rise but getting out of japan is nearly impossible as the country tries to recover from the devastating

earthquake and tsunami artie's ivor bennett is in japan tonight report. this queue of people is a kilometer long trying to stockpile what food is left in sendai most shelves are empty now the people here are getting ready to hide fearing an invisible killer radiation explosions at the fukushima daiichi power plant the country on the cusp of nuclear meltdown one damaged reactors outer casing and the final two reactors have now lost cooling capability to radiation levels peaks near the plant at four hundred times the amount normally absorbed in a year there are fears it will spread across the country for months unless you come out it's the same information and footage being broadcast on every channel you have just to guess many things for them and other places you can get them in the japanese sources there's some very strict censorship which doesn't let us understand the true picture and that's not helping. residents prepared to go to

ground for news crews of fleeing this team from the zealand is heading for the airport but flights from there it's a sucker in tokyo are already fully booked for the next two days the exodus has begun here on the west coast. has already closed. a town already turning up trying to get on the next flight out of the country desperation to escape. we have to wait until morning to get the next one to her bar of what we have to wait outside but we will because we want to escape the radiation sun though have nowhere to run to it this was once a village those who lived here are returning to find there's simply nothing left the devastation just goes on and on. more than half a million people have been left homeless their belongings swallowed up and spat out from the tsunami relief workers are searching for survivors all along japan's

ravaged coast what's now a sea of the every fifteen thousand have already been rescued but over seven thousand the still missing and some parts haven't even been reached yet over two and a half thousand relief centers are still packed and will be for several weeks it's cold and uncomfortable but this is one of the few places these people can get food and shelter huge parts of the country have been completely wiped out of the threat of nuclear meltdown means they could still be more to come. off advantage. those in japan are fleeing from the crisis that they're now living in but around the world here in the u.s. crisis mode is already set in a reaction against nuclear energy and the nuclear industry lobbyists have turned on their full defense but perhaps everyone needs to slow down a little bit perhaps we need to help japan deal with the crisis at hand and leave other policy decisions and reactions until later so that we can really get to the

bottom of this issue and ask why we don't have more options safer options when it comes to energy here discussing with me is patrick on guard on bargain managing director at quinn gillespie and associates where he also provides for teacher counsel to a variety of energy clients potter thanks so much for joining us today now like i said you know the media has been covering this story nonstop and we have the on the ground reports but at the same time you have pundits you have energy lobbyists from every side telling you what's bad what's right and you have lawmakers now also reacting saying that we need to put a stop to all of our projects but should we not be making policy decisions in this mode of hysteria when there's so much going on absolutely i think your opening remarks are right on point we do not know the exact cause of what went wrong and crucially more right now and what we need to do is get to a point where we can really articulate the lessons we should be learning from that disaster and see how we apply in the united states with our current nuclear fleet

and we're not going to know about for some time become sort of jump to conclusions but do we really learn our lessons you know there's some people out there that have been critical of that or say well you know after chernobyl how many years of we had and yet we still haven't learned our lessons because there's just too much corruption there's too much money involved too you know for to have anyone actually follow regulations try to learn from it well i actually i think the policy making structure right now we have pretty good place the nuclear regulatory commission member has shown. a responsible record of over many years of dealing with these kinds of issues and and in the senate for example senator bingaman is chairman of the energy committee i think he's taken a very sober view of this at this point and basically has said we're going to look into this much more closely and carefully going forward and the president has said nuclear power is part of our mix and we need to really take our time and get this get the lessons correct so i think we have a good shot what about globally though what if we look at even i you know that i say is this a body that's completely unbiased that's completely independent. you know i haven't

had that much experience with i but. i am confident that in the in the u.s. we the nuclear regulatory commission has been a non politicized entity and really is responsible for these issues and i think the policy makers around. like the congress has really taken care over the years to make sure that they were they were given the freedom to do what they needed to do on the timeframe that they set and i think we keep hearing right now of course is that you know the dangers for seeing the dangers in action that come along with nuclear energy that again natural gas isn't necessarily safe coal isn't safe but a lot of people are just saying well we don't have any better options all energy poses risks but why does it have to be that way why don't we have better options why isn't there more investments and more progress going on right that's a very good question to ask and i and i think the direction that we're going in

a policy framework here is to focus a lot more on renewables than we have in the past and and as yet we don't have major disasters coming from solar wind or or other renewables but when you look at the energy needs of the united states and the world it turns out you're going to have to have all these elements in your inner energy mix so you need to address the safety issues for each one but renewables offer a lot of promise both on the safety side and in the clean energy generate. so unfortunately does it sometimes take a catastrophe or a disaster like this for people to really put all the pieces together to start paying attention and asking questions i think that's the dynamic of republican policy is you know what does the public focused on what are they concerned about no doubt this disaster is going to focus the american public on ok what is our energy mix how does nuclear fit into that and how do we go forward now you know i'm just wondering who you think people should really be trusting right now because there's

a lot of mistrust even in japan that people feel like the media might not be giving them the full story they feel like the japanese government might not be giving them the full story because there's a need to calm this sense of panic and then who do you look to who do you go to well i think you have to. we need to look to leaders who say let's soberly and carefully examine the lessons from this disaster by doing it soberly and carefully when as every governments instinct to automatically not put all the information out there well that's always a danger you know what what the information is the japanese government is putting out and i can't i can't really judge but i think what you will see of the united states is that there will be an effort to bring in experts from japan as well as the united states to really assess what happened why did it happen what are the lessons that we have here and then what changes that we need to make if any to our nuclear fleet in order to ensure that it doesn't happen in the united states i

patrick thank you very much for joining us and of course we'll continue to watch this horrible situation as it keeps unfolding in japan thank my pleasure thank you now tonight thousands of japanese residents and visitors are trying to get away from the focus shima nuclear power plant those living outside the evacuation zone have now been told that there is no danger but there are many questions about the accuracy of those reports and the safety record of the nuclear plants at the center of this possible meltdown so who can the public trust our genes in the delusional reports from two. with reactors at the fukushima nuclear power plant having gone up in smoke fears about a possible meltdown loom large japanese authorities give assurances there is no in the threats of tokyo residents but past evidence suggests they are not to be trusted completely over many years the new congress tree and the regulators in japan but also in every society every country will preach nuclear power you find

consistently that there's a lack of transparency a lack of will. maybe just think i think we can but that's too much information why should we provide the information so i think the situation in japan is absolutely critical in fact just five years ago the plant operator tokyo electric power company or tepco it's mr tipple supplying temperature readings for cooling materials at fukushima as early as in one nine hundred eighty five and with the country now facing a major disaster the government will be careful in choosing its words. i don't want things going to happen here goes the job is government is not only accountable for what they're trying to take care of but also their example to other countries and other nations. in two thousand and two the government disclosed that at least twenty nine pieces of damage to the reactor had been swept under the carpet that incident led help because presidents and some senior officials to quit in scandal

in two thousand and three seventeen ted cooperated plants ordered to be shut down again because the operator lied about what was happening at these sites so when the japanese officials put on a somber face but give assurances everything's fine not everyone's convinced particularly when the country's already got enough other problems to deal with if you don't have the emergency room. if your input structure has been destroyed and the further you go away from the reactor the more difficult the more diverse the population settlements are the more difficult it is to about what you don't want to panic or probably to get them to sew for vacuum wait i'm maybe on with unli put themselves in harm's way put one thousands of lives on the line such a close sea can easily be counterproductive there's a growing distrust among people in japan that the information that we're receiving is now our warning us to the extent that we would like it to when it doesn't reduce

panic it just makes people are more uncertain when they believe they can't trust only the information they're being given as it stands to parent appears to be balancing on the brink of a nuclear meltdown and though the official version of the events implores everyone to stay calm history shows not all their words could be taken at face value in tokyo it goes r.t. . coming up next the latest on the raymond davis case information on the deal that was made between the u.s. and pakistan and we're asked is this still really considered just it's and the violence is on the rise and where does the u.s. stand on this issue of the hash out with christopher slip of the. drives the world the fear mongering used by politicians who makes decisions considered breakthrough it's already been made who can you trust no one who is your own view and with the global machinery see where are we cutting state controlled

capitalism is called sessions when nobody dares to ask me do i r t question more. leg. lifts. the way. the cuts.

hey guys welcome to the show and tell me i'm going to show it hard largesse stop the sandwich shop and now i want to hear you just go out you tube the video on for the twitter part of a question that we post on you tube every monday and on thursday the show longer sponsored. playboy. the case of raymond davis the cia contractor held in pakistan after killing two pakistani men seems to be over it was reported today that davis was released after the families of the two men who were killed were given blood money and then the case was dropped now under pakistani practices and accordance with islamic law or

what you may better know is shari'a that's fully acceptable and so far it's hard to get a clear confirmation the reports say that some of anywhere from one point four to two point three million dollars was settled on so already macdavis is on his way home safely and a crisis seems true but averted is this what we really call justice and who now has the upper hand joining me for a studio in new york to discuss it is contributing editor on legal and national security matters for harper's magazine scott thanks so much for joining us tonight i want to get your take on this solutions that perhaps it was the best case scenario how did scott horton actually been convicted and perhaps executed then relations between the u.s. and pakistan would have deteriorated completely but at the same time how does this look to pakistanis although taking blood money is within their practice is that really count as justice. well i think the first thing i'd note is that the matter is not over for raymond davis one of the points that was evidently agreed in the

background here was that he would return to the united states and the american justice department would open its own criminal investigation into this case with the possibility of some action so he's still in some jeopardy evidently but as you note in pakistan this sort of arrangement is common in fact in punjab province it seems roughly half of all homicides in the blood money payments of this sort so it's usual but whether it's really just us that's a subjective issue when no doubt a lot of people in pakistan are very upset about what happened suggesting that the americans bought his way out here and that that's that's an improper solution so it's going to have ramifications for the political situation domestically in pakistan now you mentioned that his travels aren't over when he gets to the u.s. but what they really do you know that this is definitely

a lurking area when it comes to you know legally do they have jurisdiction the u.s. courts over what a cia contractor did in pakistan. very unclear in fact if he were a cia agent they would have jurisdiction that's clear there's a special statute that covers that with respect to contractors the statute gives jurisdiction in certain cases when events occur on american installations or they occur in that connection with a war of some sort it's not clear whether this is covered so i think it very few people expected that the justice department's going to wind up bringing charges of any kind now let's talk about the amount of money as i mentioned way it's kind of hard to get a clear exact number as to how much was given out but it's somewhere from one point four to two point four million that's not chump change that sounds like a lot of money and you know how does that compare to some other dealings that the u.s. has made around the world that civilians in afghanistan are killed and then those

families are paid off are the same thing that we've seen in iraq as well. well that's right in the rock in afghanistan there's a department of defense program for ex-gratia payments that tops out at eight thousand dollars which is a very small sum of money actually it isn't really compensatory so this is a special settlement that's been worked out in pakistan that is intended to make the families whole it's a very very substantial amount of money by pakistani charms and i think there may be more to this deal than this come out so far certainly those suggestions being floated in pakistan that that the families of the two victims received visas that they are being given the opportunity to resettle in the united states if they wish and the report running in the car to study media this evening that the total cost to the united states is probably more in the range of ten million now that we don't know what goes into that now you know when they when they sweeten out these deals

by adding in something like your family gets to move to the u.s. will help facilitate that what's what's the logic behind it. i think in this case the logic was very simple it was do whatever it takes to get the person who was viewed as a key cia asset out of the country i don't think there was a lot of consideration given to the president value of this whole arrangement and indeed i know talking to people in the state department are all of them are quite concerned in fact about the efforts to throw up diplomatic immunity around ray davis and uses justification to get him out because in the end this undermines the validity of diplomatic immunity that thousands of diplomats around the world depend on their for their safety and security now scott i'm just wondering hillary clinton said today in a statement there that we did not actually paid blood money to these families that someone else did it for us so i'm assuming that means that there's a third party involved but then you know is it still us my is is in your own eyes

tax dollars that are paying off you know scott there excuse me raymond davis his actions well in fact a source at the at the consulate general miller who are told me we didn't pay out anything yet but we expect to get a bill so i'm not quite certain what's what's meant there although i'll tell you their stories that have been circulating for almost a week now that saudi arabia was actively involved in brokering this entire deal and that the saudis were prepared to put out money to make it work to demonstrate their friendship and support to the united states so that could be a piece of the picture now scott very quickly came out on top seems to me like the pakistanis kind of got what they wanted right now the cia can't necessarily have spies in there under their nose and they have to come to terms. well i think it's very clear that pakistan's i.s.i. gained ground through this entire process that sources close to the cia today were

disclosing that they have of the i.s.i. general pasha had to greg dealings with the cia director leon panetta to work all this out that there was a new modus vivendi worked out between the i.s.i. and cia the very clear that cia gave ground to green to give them information about the identity of its personnel working in pakistan and at least general information about the scope of cia operations there those were the need give give ups that the i.s.i. was looking for so certainly they certainly got something both counts and it's valid thank you very much for joining us and you know if this story is not over as you say raymond davis when he gets back here to the us. thanks. after weeks of protests in bahrain the violence is now picking up soldiers and riot police expelled hundreds of protesters from pearl square and bahrain's capital on

wednesday using tear gas and armored vehicles at least six people have been reported dead as well as three police officers and the majority shia population is calling for an end to the two hundred year old monarchy of sunni leaders for political reforms for equal rights but this conflict like those we've seen sweep across other countries in the middle east and northern africa could have implications for u.s. foreign policy and geopolitical dominance of the region on monday a saudi arabia led force of more than one thousand soldiers entered the country iran has condemned both the crackdown and the presence of the saudis and as for america well the u.s. navy has already begun evacuating their base in bahrain and u.s. officials have called for restraint but not chosen a side or made any mention of the saudis troops so how long can this political game pro on here to discuss it with me is christopher swift fellow at the university of virginia center for national security law professor thanks so much for joining us tonight pleasure to be back now today hillary clinton is in cairo she's touring

toher square and she is talking about how wonderful this is how great the sea has come to egypt is it a little odd the ball she's touring tahrir square they're completely ignoring what's going on in pearl square or would you say she's completely ignoring what's going on and where in fact the secretary of state was interviewed about the situation in bahrain and she used the words wrong track now the words wrong track in diplomatic speak mean oh my god what are you thinking right and the concern here is that what was a domestic dispute in bahrain between the majority shia community and majority sunni lead has now become a regionalized dispute has become regionalized dispute with the intervention of the g.c.c. primarily led by the saudis and with the. predictable i should say it raining in response to that intervention the difficulty here is that not only is there the brain is on the wrong track and the saudis on the wrong track but if this is

allowed to continue in its current form we could see the iranians on the wrong track as well and that bodes well for nobody at all but the saudis are one of our key allies right so you have to question how the u.s. really feels about the fact that they either you're lacking a bag i think he allies but come on let's admit it we are very friendly with these people so how does it play out for us that the saudis are now intervening. that they think we aren't going to say anything or some of said quite the opposite it's a slap in the face because robert gates was just there last weekend talking about the need for this to calm down and the day he leaves or the day after he leaves the saudis rushing with troops you know one of the difficult things that a relationship is even if you have a good relationship you have disagreements and sometimes there are disagreements are about fundamental things and sometimes those disagreements are about tactics and strategy or the preferred approach or the timing of a particular initiative so i wouldn't say that our alliance with the saudis strain

of saudi arabia is strained by virtue of this particular incident but i would say there's a pretty serious discontinuity here between the scripts that the saudi leadership is running when they're looking at the situation in bahrain and the scripts that the u.s. government leadership is running when they look at the situation in bahrain and let me let me give you a sense of how that worked out work breaks out in one thousand year one there was an attempted coup by iranian backed. militia in bahrain right that came two years after the iranian revolution of one nine hundred seventy nine if you are a hereditary sunny monarch in this part of the world you cut your teeth right on the iranian revolution and everything that flowed from that so the script you are running is a script that's thirty years old the script the white house is running as a script it looks at what's happened in egypt what's how. and in tunisia there's hope for a more pluralistic hopefully democratic hopefully economically vibrant stable and just middle east and when they are looking at the situation in bahrain they're

seeing this inherent tension between this monarchy and the legitimate interests i might say of the majority of the bahraini population is there any reason why seventy percent of the population shouldn't be able to elect their own prime minister or should be able to engage in multi-party politics all they've asked for is a constitutional monarchy japan has one the united kingdom has one i believe the netherlands and denmark have one all of those countries have done pretty well now do you think that we should completely stay out of this let's compare this to the situation that we're seeing in libya the rhetoric that we're hearing surrounding libya right i mean many would say that libya is going through a civil war the same way that we're seeing in bahrain right now even though iran and c.d.c. has inserted themselves into it but we don't hear any talk of a no fly zone we don't necessarily hear a condemnation. of civilians people being killed but let's take a look whenever we're looking at a situation in the middle eastern country we have to look at the facts as we understand them on the ground in that country rather than making generalizations

about u.s. posture or dominance whatever else in the region as a whole the situation in libya is for lack of a better word a domestic insurrection right you have two armed factions that are going at it one faction one week seems to be dominant the next week the other faction seems to be dominant in bahrain up until thirty six hours ago we had a largely peaceful protest right you have citizens in the streets not rebels it's a completely different situation legally it's a completely different situation politically it's a different situation you look at the security the security situation the security nexus right so we can't clearly compare one thing to the next because we don't have a full on insurrection in bahrain but the appropriate tools to use are going to be . more political and diplomatic right because we don't want to tip the balance into something that's going to look like that with you so it doesn't surprise me that we're seeing a sort of more cautious approach outwardly from the administration but let's not

forget president barack hussein obama called hearings in the middle east today one in bahrain and one in saudi arabia and told me to stand down christopher i want to thank you very much for joining us and you know will continue to watch this but i think there probably is a little bit of caution too because we've spoken out so loudly against let's say khadafi doesn't look like it's going down what if what if we choose the wrong site somewhere else thanks so much pleasure to see you now still to come tonight one senator thinks that the reason our times to spread democracy to other countries is failed is because they don't believe in the bible he tells on this really shocking statement right through all time and it looks like putting the word emergency on legislation that's starting to become an easy way for politicians to push their own agenda as well discuss why the issue of do you funding n.p.r. is suddenly a top priority for the g.o.p. .