the board. was through. calling and the rain forest meant the occupy d.c. protesters are getting some much needed support after the occupy wall street protesters marched over two hundred miles all to deliver a message to lawmakers they aren't backing down. when there's something wrong with the u.s. financial system if we're going to call off the super committee so now that the three ring circus is over the american financial system headed toward calamity. whether. it is right with you and i can still keep you.

impressing the wrong of but an american journalist is kicked out of the national press club for asking tough questions but isn't that a journalist's job or is the american media used to being subservient to the people with power. and it's one step forward two steps back this after another day of chaos on the streets of cairo so the death toll rises in the military violently crackdown on protesters of the revolution worth that. it's tuesday november twenty second eight pm in washington d.c. i'm liz wahl and you're watching artsy. well a group of occupiers have gone to great lengths to get their message out about two

dozen protesters wrapped up their journey of more than two hundred miles today they started out because of parking the big apple and arrived this afternoon at the occupy d.c. town and experience square. for us. here they are celebrating their arrival after the to read journey they plan their date of arrival today to coincide with the day before the super committee doesn't mind now that they're here protesters say they plan to spread their message throughout the nation's capital. but of course by now the super committee already announced their failure to compromise on a plan wants a negotiated one point two trillion dollars in spending cuts failed both sides not budging understand does one want to cut spending the other wants to raise taxes so it seems congress can rise above their political agendas for the greater good of the country now the bigger point being begin let's take a look at some of the no deal the bipartisan panel failed to come up with

a plan to cut one point two trillion dollars from the federal deficit the whole she super committee was due misconceived there are still too many republicans in congress who refuse to listen to the voices of reason so who is going to take the blame when you're a lot of people who do not just blame one side. now while lawmakers and the media like play the blame game what are the consequences of all of this jennifer is a paul staff writer for the fiscal times live here to talk more about it i asked her if this was a case of politics before country because she had to say i would say so but at the end of the same time you know the super committee was set up and it almost seemed doomed from the start when they first started out they had the super power they were five maybe they can move past these ideological differences taxes and entitlements but that just wasn't the case and a lot of people were meant to do sort of a missed opportunity again. we saw this missed opportunity in the debt ceiling debate where they couldn't forge a grand bargain so. i think both parties are to blame but they did put the politics

ahead of the country here. and you know why is it so hard to compromise could it be that they're it's to their political benefit not to compromise well we do have the election coming out in twenty twelve and a lot of people are saying that at the end of the day no deal is better than a bad deal filled with some unpopular mandates and a good while from their constituents so. that that's what we're dealing with ok and you said before that some say that it was due from the beginning so why even have this super committee in the first place while they have to give someone the duty to find deficit savings again this was created out of the august debt ceiling deal to find an additional one point two trillion dollars in deficit savings and. the other part of it is even though they did feel there will be consequence is potential in the economy that we have these automatic trigger set in place that are such go in

place in twenty thirteen ok. that is supposed to be the consequence of this scale negotiations these across the board cuts but now they are talking about removing that punishment punishment that was imposed on themselves and now they're like well we didn't do it so now let's just get rid of the punishment so i mean it seems like a waste of time well it's not clear that they will be removed i know president barack obama had said yesterday that he would veto any efforts to water down those cuts i know that senator mccain and buck mckeon on the house armed services had said you know there are working to stave off the defense cuts but you know right now the congress is looking towards a couple of things so besides those cuts that go into place in two thousand and thirteen there's the jobless benefits the extension of that there's a payroll tax cut this also has to be extended by the end of december so. i guess we're going to put those sequester cuts on on hold for a minute and then look towards the next month and see if we can extend these tax

cuts and i know the president had been calling on congress today to get a vote going on the payroll tax cut ok let's say these across the board cuts do happen as a result of these failed negotiations what kind of an impact of what the american people see as a result of these cuts well specifically for defense because about half would go to defense and spent six hundred billion dollars and defense secretary leon panetta has already said it would be catastrophic and the other would come from. domestic programs so i'm sure you know there would be some belt tightening and people would feel the effects but. ok jennifer thank you so much for your thoughts on all of this that was jennifer de paul south writer for the time. well the u.s. has slapped iran with more sanctions that these sanctions really work or is this the latest in washington and tehran.

the least. nobody seems to know. i never have persuaded the face of the argument that they're being overly dramatic.

well you ron is facing fresh thing sions today but you'll have the u.k. and canada have announced new financial and energy sanctions against the country

its all of the time to stop iran from developing its nuclear weapons program this comes after a controversial report came out from the un's watchdog which supposedly shows evidence that iran is pursuing nuclear ambitions meanwhile syria now being eyed has the next country to faithing sions this is the un puts pressure on syria to hold military operations against civilians and advocates human rights in the country the un human rights committee today passed a resolution condemning syria's crackdown on protesters now with each new country to face sanctions the what is the point of them and what do they really accomplish jamal and do you policy director for the national iranian american council it was here in studio to help sort things out here is his state's. you know sanctions going to be a part of it all the u.s. is going out of things to sanction inside of iran and it's really an exercise in projecting toughness not really pursuing real solutions and you know this is not

the first time that iran has faced sanctions how successful and have the a sanctions been in the past well iran has been under thirty years of sanctions so the entire structure of the iranian economy is based around sanctions being in place and so the same things that you saw put in place yesterday there a very short step from total sanctions on the iranian central bank and what we're finding now is that we've run out of other things a sanction and so we may actually end up sanctioning iranian oil exports and for the first time actually saying shooting something that could impact us here in the u.s. economies in europe economies around the world so we're going to find out that sanctions actually come with a cost not just to ordinary people inside of the country that are being sanctioned who certainly do suffer under these measures more so than the government does but they're also going to start impacting ordinary people around the world and in

addition to iran syria is now in line to face sanctions similar to what we saw in libya. the theory and ambassador is calling the u.n. resolution an act of war. aims to affect the independence of their political decision making and it's stopping them from moving ahead in their national political agenda as. what are the implications of applying sanctions to syria now. i think when a country or in this case the un is applying sanctions there has to be a referee a recognition of the limitations of the leverage that sanctions can provide here in this case i'm not sure if there are levers that can be pulled with regard to syria that could actually affect the decision making of the syrian government i think that we have to recognize once we've sanctioned ourselves out of having leverage and figure out ways to either get leverage or pursue negotiated

agreements in the case of syria i think that a lot of people are watching this situation scratching their heads trying to figure out what what can be done to resolve this standoff to end the human rights abuses that are happening. in the case of iran i think it is it is a different situation but this reliance on sanctions that is sort of the end all be all can really put policies into a sort of sleep work right and you know lifting its role. there are meant to put pressure on iran is it possible that putting these sanctions on countries can make matters worse than increased tension between countries in the case in this case what you see is sort of a self-perpetuating cycle a vicious cycle in which one side ratchets up pressure and then the other side ratchet up pressure. you know the i.a.e.a. report reveals you know or doesn't reveal. certain problems with

iran's nuclear investigations some of its research that it's doing that's met by u.s. sanctions the whole point of this back and forth is supposed to be for one side side to get leverage and get a deal get a diplomatic deal so if it's this doesn't escalate out of control and ended war what you see is that the type of sanctions that are being put in place don't encourage anybody to come to table iran going to be able to withstand the sanctions the u.s. political system is going to to continue. to reward policy makers who put sanctions in place and so we just continue to see a cycle that really has no end in sight until something something bad happens and we end up in a military confrontation ok so if not sanctioned then what is the answer well i think that there have been a number of hotels that are put forward that we need to pursue aggressively the unit the u.s. internationally needs to pursue aggressively we need to come to the recognition

that negotiations are a gift to iran because haitians are in the interests necessarily of iran there in the interest of the u.s. and the international community we have a lot to lose and a lot if the status quo remains and a lot again if we can figure out a way out so i think that some of the proposals that input place there's been talks of some sort of swap for. you ronny in which uranium that they've enriched up to a certain level of the twenty percent and sort of getting getting the ball rolling on negotiations through that mechanism there's also been a proposal put forward that would involve you know reducing sanctions in exchange for so certain iranian concessions related to its nuclear program we need to be aggressively pursuing those in our national interest and unfortunately the political system just isn't rewarding people who are doing that but if we really want to resolve this that's what we have to do general thank you so much for your thoughts on this that was the jim all of the the policy director for the national

iranian american council. and a former u.s. senator is quite outspoken on this issue and many other issues microbes out of the last of the driving of war with iran is dangerous not only to the region but world security danielle but shell sat down with the former senator take a listen. after he got elected president the united states a lot of progressive felt that an obama campaign that he was going to be transparent and we're going to have a new level of democracy he was asked the question as to whether or not they would be a possibility that we would begin an best occasion of the invasion of iraq iraq by george bush which was a crime it was a it absolute crime and what was puracal plan of response well we don't book by that means we don't want to use the american citizens to see what happened because

you may turn around and accuse us of doing the same thing well it's even worse than not it's not an accusation he has been doing exactly the same thing as george bush did here most people are aware of the fact that last year the obama administration chased out of the united states expulse them over five hundred dollars and paid expulse from the united states i mean if if we had a media it was at all honest this would have been a front page this is a been hotly discussed here obama is raising a billion dollars for his reelection campaign and he's made a statement which woods demonstrates what louis speck he has for the people he's made a statement we're not going to take any money from special interest well i'll tell you the billion dollars is coming from special interest. and and so he can tell you looking right at you with gearing up to attack iran how serious is that the

irresponsibility of newton ya and the lies not i don't have to i'm not telling you anything new circles he says he's a liar so in my humble status as a private citizen what i tell you the netanyahu is a liar is not nothing new but he is a liar because he's made statements about iran that are absolutely ridiculous and an all it is is to create the fear for the people within israel he is part of the george who are syndrome and that is create a bunker mentality in create fear because with fear you can make people do almost anything in a representative society and that's what they're doing and israel israel has the finest group of peace advocates right within whenever i speak about israel i always quote israeli citizens i don't quote knowledge that i pick up anywhere because they

are the best critics read koretz and you'll see what they think of the government and so this this whole ginning up over a war with iran very dangerous because iran is not syria not lebanon iran is a proud nation and they have missile capabilities they won't have nuclear capabilities but they have missile capabilities that they can rain down on television now i can tell you if they are attacked they will attack back then and israel is so vulnerable and so small that they will retaliate billions of nukes to retaliate if they can't suffer to be destroyed they'll use the n. solution so they nuke iran what do you think pakistan is going to do with its nukes . what do you think china is going to do what do you think the united states is going to do in retaliation i mean you could start

a third world nuclear war but you're responsibly attacking iran the best way to solve the problem with iran is leave them alone they eventually build a democracy that we americans destroyed with the british leave alone and the people will develop a democracy and do the ocracy will the ocracy these are of the past. and that was former u.s. senator like a rebel and if you would like to see that interview in its entirety that's our theater home. and cracking down on countries in the middle east are cracking down on the media here in d.c. the u.s. prides itself on its freedom of speech. but until someone asks a tough question that is it's even worse when that person is not part of the mainstream media the saudi prince recently spoke at the national press club here in

the nation's capital and journalist who was the opportunity to ask him some tough questions take a look. at michigan's regina. well that is. one of them but it is what we do and i can from here if. we do like to come and speak here give a speech. so later that they had seen it got a letter in birmingham that he has banned from the press club so if there is a silence or invoices and certain viewpoints in the media earlier i spoke to the man himself communications director of the institute for public accuracy sam husseini and he set the scene for me. so i tried to ask a question about the role of the saudi regime. invaded the frain there at the center of kind of revolutions in the middle east and it's a massage in a strict regime obviously suppressing its own people so people are asking questions

about the legitimacy of the syrian regime i thought it was only fair to ask about the legitimacy of the saudi regime and then so and then you were and then what happened after that would be executive director got into my face because the prince as he likes to call themselves. asked me if i've been to saudi arabia and i felt that this was a typical politician and. i said what's your legitimacy i'm doesn't matter if i've been to saudi arabia about your legitimacy and that's it again i said what's your widget in this and they said driver got into my face trying to get me to shut up at that point i had some words with him outside as i left he grabbed my arm at one point and then i got a letter saying that i was suspended from the press club for two weeks and told us the reason you were given for the way sandra's behavior i was guilty of boisterous and unseemly behavior as best as i can determine and the so-called ethics committee is not telling me about other cases everything is confidential to the press club

which is supposed to be this monument to the first amendment conducting all of its ethics probes in secret apparently and i've just been speaking but to other members it's apparently stuff that people who swear at the bar have been charged with occasionally and it's never as far as i can tell when applied to a journalistic situation so boisterous behavior do you think as a justified reason what you call your behavior boisterous that read what i what i was guilty i was asking tough questions of a autocrat a political official who's allied with the united states. that's my crime practicing journalism against somebody who is wedded to the establishment and you know i am. stand that you've asked tough questions before our national press club one of the last times i was with. iranian leader mahmoud othman then a jihad i didn't actually get any questions in there because there were so many other people who were tripping over themselves to ask him so many tough questions

would you say that they're equally as tough as the questions you're asking the saudi press that's my memory i haven't actually reviewed but that's my memory i mean i certainly have been there have been other occasions where i've asked tough questions of somebody like the neo nazi. or from the palestra he was at the press club he died a while ago but before that obviously he was at the press club and i asked him and they let me have like four follow ups because he's not somebody who is part of the establishment so they were fine with me asking him a bunch of tough questions without any constraints and they actually can gradually moderator who is the same moderator here came up and congratulating afterwards for my good work so it's it depends on who the target is so do you think there's unspoken rules about who gets the tough questions and who doesn't i think it's people who are allied with the establishment get soft treatment because the president wants to make sure that they keep coming up they want access and they can think of a more creative way of getting access rather than asking easy questions and i think

all politicians all leaders. and indeed all the leaders of movements and so on should be subject to the tough questions you know what do you think this has to say about the media and the freedom of speech and the rats today i think the journalism needs to be reinvented i mean one of my main projects is with the institute for public accuracy and i put out critical material and i ask tough questions at the press club and other projects i have been called washington state dot com where i go on sunday morning to all of the sunday morning talk shows where they call officials go and they get asked but now questions and they give deceitful answers and they step outside and there are. more cameras there and they are from the same but no questions and i go there with a camera man and so when i was tough questions and i think that we need to come to a new journalism where tough questions are asked and where i would say something

others are held accountable for their words i mean is anybody held accountable for their lies about iraq e w m d's and you know twenty other issues no it's just more of the same and it just keeps rolling along and we need to set up structures where people are accountable where their words no longer matter if they need so many times about so many things we hope you keep those tough questions coming thank you so much for sharing your story with us that was communications director of the institute for public accuracy and. we've turned out you just declare a revolution is brewing thirty four people confirmed dead at least fifteen injured fifteen hundred injured that's hole is expected to rise as police start firing live ammunition at protesters artie's policy clear as the me i have the harder storm. the cold is just wailing people have been arriving since the early hours of this morning and at the same time they shall send a cries of getting louder and louder all you hear behind me is essentially people

saying even they calling on mama time trial week who is the head of the army here that has been looting this country since every step down now i have just returned from ahmed ahmed street is just a short distance away from here and that is will the clashes continue between the security personnel and the protesters behind me you'll hear the ambulances they feel very nonstop the injured and the dying because we're hearing that the number of those who have been filled continues to mount speaking to medics they say that they've lost count of how many people they facing now while i was on the streets it was a makeshift clinic to the mine site indeed a nation can explore our stuff is where behind me there are people literally dragging out is over the shoulders tweedy's clinics most of the people are suffering from smoke inhalation as i'm speaking to you there's a strong smell of tear gas in the air the police have been firing tear gas they've been firing rubber bullets and the the these guys here have been with this

deafening sound of gunfire now a short time ago mohammad khatami caves and liable trace in which he tried to meet some of the protesters to months among the points he made is that it would be a presidential election the full sheet and next year he also said that he had accepted the resignation of his interim government but that they would remain in power until such time that a new government was out and running he also said that all military trials would be stopped with the exception of a few he also said that the military council was ready to quit and to go back to its original role which is essentially that up to saving the country if that was something that the people here decided so when listening to protesters is something that they want and they want it immediately time talking also made the point that he was highly offended. by the christmas isn't that the army was cheating and watching the souls of the egyptian people he said that this was simply untrue they believe that the army is coming to the party much too late all this talk about an

interim government they say detract attention from the fact that the army that they actually want to step down and interim government is pretty meaningless in that context now mohamed el baradei who heads up the political party here and who's also the former head of the international atomic energy agency has indicated that he would be prepared to become the next prime minister and be tossed with forming the next government but he says that this is only on condition that he is given absolute control over any decisions he has to make it seems as if this is the way the country's going to move forward but i think it's worth pointing out that all baradei is a much more popular figure on the international stage and happy fulfilled receive a nation most people have actually not even heard of him already also has the support of the waist of the international community and that's something that most people here will take heed of because of course mubarak was criticized for his close ties with the united states so people here are saying that any kind of

discourse any kind of discussion any kind of solutions being offered from the military ought to be taken with suspicion because really it will at the end of the day still be the same people pulling the strings at the same time the military council has been holding for all the course of the day and this evening crisis talks with a cross victim of political parties to try and get out of the situation they calling it a government of national waste you that's what they said they want to set up a call going again to protesters here on the street to return home and she way to help build an egypt that would be free of violence that that's exactly the course that protesters here are saying and they say the only way for to be achieved is for the army to step down. that was our received policy here with the latest on the ground in egypt well that's a live for now for more on the stories we covered go to our at the dot com slash usa and check out our youtube page of youtube dot com slash our team america you can also see and follow me on twitter out there.