programs increased due to economy. with. occupy oakland protesters have had enough with which holiday and corporate corruption this after police used excessive force to try to shut down being can't rent there but these protesters are standing strong out of a place historically known for sticking it to the man and being on the forefront of the apex of american change. and how the world lies and global unrest leaders are meeting in france for the end who will g. twenty summit to so many issues to solve and so little time can anything really be accomplished we'll have a live report on. and from one call for a systematic change to another is it time for the u.s. to drop an age old tradition will debate the relevance of the electoral college

which. was a russian businessman has been found guilty of arms dealing so with critics dubbing good to root the merchant of death then you have a really stand a chance at a fair trial and a live report from new york. it is wednesday november second five pm in washington d.c. i'm christine freeze out there watching our team. we're keeping our eyes on oakland california today where protesters with the occupy oakland movement have organized a general strike it's hard to underscore the importance of this what happened today that has the potential to be a dramatic escalation of the occupy wall street movements around the country now on their forty seventh day so when there's mentally doing is using a tactic that hasn't been used for sixty five years they're hoping to fire you

could call it a warning shot to the one percent so they've been occupying banks they have planned to to occupy foreclosed homes and hope later to shut down the port oakland airport by the way the fifth busiest container port in the united states i want to give this also a little bit of historic perspective a general strike was last used after world war two by workers many of them world war two veterans who wanted more jobs and higher wages according to some historians listen to this it was about working class anger high inflation and outsized corporate profits sounds a little familiar right and ultimately in particular all it took was a few store managers asking for polices help to help good get a liver while retail clerks were striking hundreds of police with tear gas and riot gear showed up to help trucks push through picket lines in response more than one hundred thousand workers walked off their jobs this ended when the city vowed to

stop sending nonunion trucks to cross picket lines but let's get to the scene in oakland today earlier i spoke to our own lucy cavanaugh she's on the ground there and brought me the very latest. iran standing in the what's been renamed us or grab some laws the occupy. wall street occupy oakland movement here in california as you can see behind me look at empty right now and that is. nearly a thousand or so protesters that have gathered this morning are on thing mobilizing for one of their biggest problem marches that it gets dangerous actually holding route to city if you shut down various banks to raise their voice protests on august day of the general strike just significance of today and all of these. mass protests against oakland this is the bill that is he asked for in any country and back again but just deck against a. spokesperson able to successfully shut down the port i'd first

really built a. new lawsuit movements they called. the dark hour of their ability to actually go back to commerce here in the west and i expect this will be copied in other occupations across the country. should notice as we're walking down here. by oakland many businesses weren't. thought of science say we are closed today november second all in sort of a solid area let's call it would be a general strike that's been scheduled for today and i know lucy you went straight from occupy wall street in new york where you i know you spent weeks in zuccotti park and now you're in oakland come to me a little bit about the difference i feel like it's safe to say today all eyes are on oakland but a lot of this movement to hurt this movement still very much in new york talk a little bit about the differences of what you've been seeing. that's true whether

. they're really struck on. austrian. art. law or a lot more care but they're just asking questions but. just. saying it will not happen. that's how it starts here. much much more. radical. stuff. they are not saying. action stirred in her way to be approached. and this is the only we i think it's fair to say they. were having

a little bit of trouble with here with your audio there bill but let me just ask you i know that part of the reason you say people in oakland people in oakland are a little more militant than we've seen i know certainly part of that stems from what we saw that incident last week where police were told to come in and clear protesters out of the where they had been staying that resulted in one of the protesters iraq war veteran scott olsen being severely injured critically injured with a fractured skull all i want to put up really quick a picture that you took this is a photo a memorial for scott olsen who continues to recover in the hospital i believe this was made there in oakland where you are just wanted to put that photo up for viewers to see but talk a little bit about how that incident sort of propelled this movement really much faster and farther in oakland just over the last few days. yes and. she cares very much aware of the incident that went out.

that was r.t. senior producer lucy counter no lucy has been giving up to the minute tweets complete with photos and quotes she is in the thick of things and if you want to know what's going on on the front lines in oakland you can follow her on twitter she is lucy cafe mom now let's take a look at the g twenty meetings that's a kick off tomorrow in france as world leaders gather to discuss the global economy and many people around the world are facing economic hardship and feel their leaders are disconnected perhaps this is the reason ten thousand protesters are there as well i guess what the protesters this year may be the least of the problems at the g twenty summit artie's onanism now is on the ground in cannes and joins me now. i mean all eyes seem to be on greece in the context of what's

going on with the global economy especially in light of this meeting called by french president nicolas sarkozy and german chancellor angela merkel they've summoned a greek prime minister george papa dro to talk about the proposed bailout referendum in greece what was this all about. well basically i think it's fair to say that the euro crisis has pretty much hijacked this summit which like you said mass protests around the world really calling on these leaders to revamp and completely basically remodel the global financial system those cries obviously are going to be heard first of all because protesters are about twenty five miles away in nice all of cannes been closed off but also because of the greek problem shell that he was going to hold a referendum. and ask his people in fact what they thought of what they want to do whether or not they want to be bailed out by the i.m.f. and the european central bank and that's all what this summit is expected to be about right now a meeting taking place between sarkozy merkel and the greek basically summons here

like you said a lot of critics that we spoke to say jokingly and with sarcasm that he was summoned like a schoolboy back in greece the people we've been speaking to in that have been protesting for over a year now is certainly going to be happy that they finally are going to have some say in what happens to their economy and whether or not they stay in the euro zone want to talk about a couple of things you just mentioned first of all that bombshell that was dropped certainly sent a lot of panic through the global economy and the fact that you say people there want to talk about restructuring the entire global economy those are tall orders what is the mood like there i mean is there even a sense that something can be accomplished. but of course depends who you ask i think it's going to be basically a showdown between europe crowds as some people call them and euro skeptics are really one of the points that is going to be made by at least the brics countries

the emerging economies which was made when the g twenty it was created back in two thousand and eight to help us get out of the first financial crisis that many would say the base got us into in the first place the g twenty making the g. eight bigger and not just having the world's richest countries decide what happens is that really changed are we seeing any different obviously not we're seeing protests from the u.s. the occupy movement which is growing there massively europe the arab spring people across the world don't like the balance of things and it's not just about money of course that's a tremendous issue when it comes to the g twenty but people from the emerging economies to the poorer countries to people around the world things to change whether or not the g twenty will do that some analysts that i've been speaking to don't think that's the case especially with greece no matter what we hear tonight from sarkozy or merkel whether or not they will reprimand the greek pm whether or not they will kind of push greece to go through with this referendum and maybe

trying to sway the vote in one way or another many people think that when it comes down to it the g twenty will go if they want in terms of greece certainly interesting another thing that you mentioned about the protesters there being held there protesting area i guess as a native to nice i know that when i covered the g eight conference in savannah the protesters were about thirty miles away so it's more for the media than for some of these world leaders actually coming in to talk a little bit about this as far as people feeling disconnected from their leaders the people actually making decisions about the economy that will affect them. well one analyst that we heard from today actually made an interesting point that these leaders can't anymore hide behind these tremendous steel steel walls as he was calling them or big fences like we saw back in toronto which people were livid about all of this money going into security when there are people protesting around the world about how the whole global financial system is imbalance and then you

have these protesters miles away of course the leaders don't hear them but this time there is a sense that in a way it's getting to the point where they're not going to be able to ignore them for much longer like i said the occupy movement growing tremendously and it's not just an american thing anymore we're seeing it around the world certainly we're hearing about solace about solidarity here in europe with the occupy movement and whether or not in the kind of really concrete result will come out of this meeting whether it's about the euro or about these protests a lot of people are are not reluctant to they don't think there will be any huge decisions made here but how much longer can these leaders especially the g. seven the world's richest countries ignore the cries of these protesters that's the big question just very briefly anything anything else we should keep our eyes out for in terms of what's on the agenda well that's the thing this agenda was supposed to be huge it was supposed to talk about the arab spring all of the changes we've seen in north africa gadhafi are they going to talk about that it looks like really

that the euro is going to take over a lot of countries like those brics countries perhaps not going to be happy that an issue that doesn't directly touch them is pretty much not going to be touched here certainly an interesting time for an economic summit talking about the global economy r t correspondent and he said nally bring us the latest from cannes france . well the verdict is in in the trial of russian businessman victor boot a new york jury has found him guilty of arms smuggling in what became a very high profile case it's a case artie's honest and a has been following from day one she joins us now from our new york studio the very latest. honest guilty verdict handed down and talk to me about the reaction in the court there. well christina definitely the people who have been following this case for a long time or have been dubbing it as are really a hollywood screenplay gone sour even though this key seems to have been lost by

victor boot in the court of public opinion in the united states a very long time ago even before it started three weeks ago the trial here in new york city people were still hopeful himself certainly his family and his defense team that they would be able to convince the jury to decide otherwise but yes we have sought twelve jurors and unanimously find victor good guilty so this is the latest from the courtroom here and we know that to his defense lawyer spoke to the crews outside the courthouse earlier today let's take a listen to what he had to say. he believes that this is not the end but he still has a chance that we have a chance to will again we can appeal to the judge. that the verdict was rendered against the weight of the evidence and then we can also proceed to the united states court of appeals and we are disappointed at this verdict. well christine now dr blitz lawyer also said that the group that the defense team now has thirty days

to appeal this verdict this is exactly what they're planning to do as you just heard meanwhile we do know that the judge is expected to for now announce the sentence for victor boot on february eighth and as of course we know it could be anything from twenty five years to a life sentence behind bars let's talk about the bigger picture here in this case i know we've been saying for several months now between you know the nickname given to victor boot as the merchant of death hollywood getting involved a lot of people say that this case was really decided before it even began to talk a little bit about that. well you're absolutely right about that christine of course the term merchant of death was corned when victor boot was arrested in thailand in two thousand and eight before he was brought to the united states and we've heard the prosecution referred to him as the merchants of death as they were only in the stages of announcing the charges being brought against him and this is something that the judge even during the trial had to ban this term from being used

inside the courtroom in fear that it would influence the decision of the jury which unfortunately it looks like it has of course we also know that nicolas cage played victor goot in the hollywood flick lord of war and the judge had also needs the jury sign a pledge making a promise they will not be searching this man on the internet trying to find information about him because so many different sources mostly inside the united states needs to media channels were very critical of this man dubbing him the merchant of death even before the trial even started because as we know the hunt for viktor booth by u.s. officials who eventually did catch him under cover went on for almost a decade tens of millions of dollars being spent on hunting down this one man one more bigger picture thing on a five that i want to talk about many think this case as one of many in which russian door other foreign citizens are entrapped by u.s. officials in the midst of a pretty high profile or pretty complex thing operation talk

a little bit about that's if this is a trend. but somehow that really seems to be the case at this point christine of course we've been reporting here at r.t. are numerous cases where the f.b.i. would fabricate cases to get people who would otherwise not consider committing a crime to get lured into some of their schemes this was certainly the case with victor boot who continued to allege his innocence throughout the entire trial and even before that even to this moment and he has been saying that when he was dealing with undercover u.s. special agents that fabricated the sting operation to capture this man he knew all along that he was not dealing with the real. members and he has been charged now found guilty of trying to sell arms to. the fork which is considered terrorist in the united states in the meantime we have to remember that who was he he was actually in fact to dealing with u.s. special agents posing as members of fark so certainly something that the united

states has a great practice in and interestingly in this case one of the mean witnesses against which your boot was a man from the drug enforcement agency who is said to be one of the highest paid informants in the united states so us certainly a big operation to try to make sure this man goes to prison here in the u.s. very briefly looking ahead you said we should be keeping our eyes out for both an appeal by the defense attorney for victim and after that and the french and think race is that correct that's absolutely right we'll have to see if in the next thirty days the defense team which they are planning to do will file an appeal although unlikely it looks quite unlikely that this is something that's going to change the outcome of destiny at this point since the verdict did come down rather quickly and it seems like on february eighth we'll find out exactly what kind of term future we will be serving behind bars again from twenty five to a life spent a lifetime behind bars here in the u.s. prison we do appreciate your reporting correspondent on a fathi

a church in our new york studio. and it's judgment day and yet another high profile case wiki leaks founder julian assange will be going back to sweden where he'll face questioning over rape allegations this after a u.k. court denies his extradition plea now the judge in this case rejected all four points of his songes defense including his fear that he won't be able to get a fair trial in sweden and claims that the swedish prosecutor had no authority to issue the european arrest warrant and while julian assigns plans to appeal this decision another question is there a chance that he will be able to avoid extradition r.c. sat down with investigative journalist tony gosling to find out. well rory i think this is a this is going to be the big test for the supremes corps have they got the backbone to stand up here for justice because if they haven't we go a real serious problem i mean this is just the latest in

a sargon isn't it kind of scandinavian viking saga of the barbarity which is being treated is absolutely appalling there's been an eighteen month disruption campaign now against what is actually one of the most important websites in the world what what wiki leaks does is it was among the most powerful tools to address corruption corruption at the highest levels it seems to me than any real basis for this there's not even being charges over in sweden and so yes it's a spear yes attempt to shut down what is one of the most important media outlets in the world right now and it's not to say a disruption campaign but the old fashioned what i was saying about the internet is actually what happens is with now the internet as it is the internet detects censorship as damage and routes around that censorship and that's what julian assigned as able to do with wiki leaks and i think ultimately i really hope that the supreme court although i don't have a fantastic amount of faith in it is going to do the right thing it's going to

deliver justice which is to actually really give a pat on the back maybe he should be awarded a medal because he's a fantastic and very very important guy he's exposing criminal activity at the highest levels in society and i think he should be applauded for that what we've got here though is a kind of already and situation and it seems that all was right but the people who are telling the truth are the ones that are being closed down i find it absolutely appalling that the judges so far in this case haven't really delivered justice that's what we're seeking is that you know people have a real appetite for wiki leaks style material back here in britain in the one nine hundred ninety s. we had a program called the cook report which was pulling ten million listeners a night when that. on that program was paul that was an investigative documentary series rather like the sort of stuff that a solid just coming out with i think is actually appalling it seems that because the mainstream media can't do this kind of stuff now doesn't produce this

investigative work you know that song is absolutely crucial so everybody in this country you britain at least a defendant. and that was investigative journalist tony gosling now julian assange has lawyers have fourteen days to seek permission from the british high court to appeal the decision and this decision isn't wiki leaks only problem these days it's important remember the website is facing crippling financial trouble and they have to shut down. well believe it or not we are just about one year away from the presidential election and there is a growing movement in this country to have a system in which people are elected changed there's a gallup poll from a few weeks ago that shows sixty two percent of people now support a constitutional amendment that would make a presidential race contingent on who won the popular vote but only thirty five percent in favor of keeping the current system with the electoral college so we found this to be pretty interesting so we sent our adriano to talk to regular people here on the streets of washington to hear what they think. as the twenty

twelve campaign season continues full steam ahead it seems sixty two percent of americans are in favor of doing away with one election steeple the electoral college so are the trustee mike hit the streets of d.c. to ask what you think it is a surprise me i think a lot of people also don't know if you work for colleges i think that's which is a bit of a problem that is sort of i think there needs to be change that the popular vote needs to be i think more important than the electoral college i think it should but go by the populace well you like your college causes problems and i'm a believer in the popular vote so it all goes itself makes no sense because electors themselves are. more or less useless electoral college was you know an idea from the eighteenth century very different demographics communication transportation everything has changed so i think it's now a data model for the first time since the two thousand election republicans were in

favor of also that but is that video. well i agree with them because i am a republican so here we go it's great there's bipartisan support for that i'm not sure there's solution if they want to get a popular vote which i don't think is the way to go if the system isn't you know it's not broken so why. was it it worked was the popular vote didn't seem to prevail two thousand is an early indication of the trouble that's might come in future as time goes on there will be several more cases in which it will join with people like the president that won't take office and i think that's problematic and if you know we're a country that brags about being the world's greatest democracy and i don't think that's accurate at all there's no reason to have the electoral college but the people decide i think we have to find out with the loopholes surgically change the things that are not working together then just abolishing everything and starting all over we really need to look at what is the point what is it serving us is it

serving the country is it for the betterment of our electoral process or not well there you have it seems americans can agree on one thing when it comes to getting a government elected they want to make sure their voices are heard reporting from washington and i don't know said. a fellow what should the united states of america become an electoral college dropout earlier i posed that question as a conservative political commentator and strategist others are now as well as executive director for fair vote rob richie that was an interesting discussion and i want to play a little bit of what they felt. the reality is the saudis in different bills that would have done something like that have been considered by congress and i haven't made any any if you and i had read i think you are looking for the word so you know and i think there needs be a lot of education on the history of electoral college and why the founding fathers actually establish it in the first place when you compare direct vote versus like

total college vote with say well that sounds antiquated what you get right down to the nitty gritty details and they're complicated when we have literal college i think a lot it would say it's worth preserving certainly a lot i think it's when a lot of people i don't quite understand and it's that one lesson in history class that a lot of people are confused about rob what about you do you think that the electoral college is necessary or should there be changes those two answers to the question what is the policy of a national popular vote versus having this current state by state system where whoever wins the states gets all of the state's electoral votes which we assume means the electoral college but in fact is just based on current state laws governing electric cars. the voters and i should say that about sixty two percent includes majorities of both major parties this is something that really is a bipartisan issue in congress when it did come up as a customer back in the sixty's it got eighty one percent of the house to vote for it and gerald ford and george herbert walker bush and a lot of. republicans voted for it

a lot of democrats did so today the problem with the current system and we're seeing it in each election is getting more and more severe is that with the sort of the partisan breakdown only a few states are seen as competitive where it's where the have to be the candidates might change who wins the state so all these other states are of states states firmly red and blue in a because of this winner take all rule there's no need to campaign in facing forty out of fifty and i want to talk about that especially as we are if you can believe that just about one year away from the twenty twelve presidential election a lot of other elections going on to. but there is a common perception and that is that many of the early voting states iowa new hampshire. are every election cycle showered with tons of money because of where they fall in primary voting and like you said so many the majority of other states are in their issues as well are kind of ignored that that is one perception out there what do you think about that perception i mean is that accurate i actually

don't think it's accurate i think the whole reason that we had electoral college and how do you keep it is to have this balance of power to have this federalist doctrine presented we don't want you know california and texas in these other big states to have more of a primary because they they definitely would if we have a lot about you know like montana and wyoming and other small states i mean it seems like iowa and their issues are certainly given so much more and i clarify what you know so we have the primary process the nomination process which we're are following right now on the republican side and that's where whichever state gets to go first i went right after it gets a lot more attention at the general election we're talking about a different dynamic or it's not a matter of going first because we are both in every state at the same time it's whether your state is competitive ok and that's where almost every small state is not competitive right so wyoming idaho delaware action twelve of thirteen smaller states get no presidential attention whatsoever in

a popular vote elections and we're quite familiar with them because we use them for everything we know that it's a free market voters and any candidate that ignores potential consumers of the voters is making a mistake right so you go out and get votes wherever you can and that's why the reform proposal of the day that's really moving is actually a state based program and it's one that would establish a popular vote for president through action in the states. that was executive director for fair vote rob richie and conservative political commentator and strategist heather serum and that is going to do it for now but to see my entire interview with others their own rob richie or for more of any of the stories we've covered go to archie dot com slash usa and check out our youtube page it's youtube dot com slash r t america you can also follow me on twitter on friday the i want to show is coming up in a half hour from now and i thank you for watching and.