you know you have the president who you know put forth has put forward a plan that really deals directly with the middle class and i think mitt romney there's a perception out there that you know his focus is on you know really the top one percent protecting tax breaks for them for the for corporations he had this huge gaffe yesterday where he said he didn't care about the very poor people he has you know history and i'm not casting aspersions here on the private equity world but you know he does have a history there he has accounts in the cayman islands all these things that make him seem a little bit unusual i think to most voters felt aspersions on these people and like that ok feel free to write a lot. i mean along with i think record you know he was forty seventh in job creation in massachusetts so he's going to have a really tough i think a record to explain himself but look the bottom line is we're a very divided country and this campaign is going to play out across you know

eighteen twenty two battleground states and i think it's going to be very close and the president needs to be very prepared i think he is but i do think in the last month or two i think democrats have got you know the the concern about mitt romney has been reduced a bit because we've seen over the course of this primary that you know he's not as he's not as powerful as i think many people thought he would be you know john i get the impression sometimes that obama's not so much worried about someone like me but he's actually more worried about people that he's disillusioned from two thousand and eight to the president a lot of i mean we know that there was a lot of enthusiasm form when it when he was elected during the campaign campaign and i've seen a lot of that enthusiasm dissipate and particularly again i have an international audience here obama's foreign policy looks very different very little difference with the bush foreign policy actually even more neo-con for again outsiders looking in. sure and one of the ironic things about the obama presidency is that people

thought he might be fine on domestic policy and would be an absolute nightmare on foreign policy i think most conservatives in the country and a lot of independents would say it's been quite the reverse that they're not happy with obamacare they're not happy with dodd frank which is the financial regulation bill but they've been very pleased with the way he's continued to keep it mopin for the noncombatant detainees or for the combat detainees he's you know he was the one who called the shot on going and getting osama bin laden so most independents would probably say that he's done better on foreign policy. one of the groups that you talked about that seem like they've been disillusioned or firm just did a survey of hispanic registered voters in florida a couple weeks ago with resurgent republic and they in an obviously very important state florida typically determines the election forty six percent of hispanic voters who voted overwhelmingly for barack obama fifty seven percent of them supported him in two thousand and eight florida forty six percent said it was time

for someone else forty five percent said he deserves reelection and that's a key group that if he doesn't do better with hispanics i don't see much chance for him winning reelection between if i go to use talk about another candidate i could be right his. head in that i want to talk about ron paul i was just going to say. just going to say john john's right hispanics are a key group but you have to also remember. barack obama wasn't matched up against mitt romney there and i think mitt romney you know many of the you know the way in which he has been very hostile i think to the hispanic community perceived hostility towards them you know he has no real immigration reform plan that has that will play a role in the general election the republicans being against the dream act opposing sort of my or you know there are a lot of number of issues that are important to this man a community that when they're pitted when he's pitted against a living breathing human being you know those numbers will i think dissipate he may

not do as well as he did in no way as long as they any republican is going to do to well. john you well as if we look back at two thousand and four george w. bush won forty four percent of hispanics now a lot of change since then but part of the problem for president obama it's not just enough to say well look at me compared to new look at me compared to romney. those people just might stay home and that's a key problem for him if the young people are disillusioned and they stay home and hispanics stay home to any significant degree then that puts him in jeopardy even if he still continues to be relatively well among those who turn out ok when you guys all know it's really at the same to george very very. good point everyone agrees with what happens between if i go back to dallas let's look at ron paul here because i've watched some of the debates on you tube and when he when they introduce him i mean there's a really charged crowd a small but loud ok who's more afraid of ron paul romney or obama.

if he goes only runs on the money a third party you know an independent. right if he does i mean see i don't think he will because then that would hurt rand paul in the senate so i we can probably be very comfortable that ron paul will not run a third party but his supporters could indeed determine who the actual winner of the primary is if it does go down to the convention and that's very important because his people have been waiting on this day for a very long time they've paved the way to put up ron paul or rand paul and ron paul's place when his when his dad finishes and they have delegates they are the ones who are going to those caucus states positioning themselves to be delegates so even though rick santorum might have won iowa my i bet you ron paul has the most delegates out there so i think mitt romney should be really worried about ron paul if he decides to throw his delegates to someone else at the convention when you

think about the. polls play in the in the in the rest of the campaign here. well it's going to be really important i think if mitt romney becomes the presumptive nominee it's going to be very important how he treats ron paul supporters you know there's a i think you know i look at this contest and i look back to two thousand and four where you had a insurgent candidate howard dean who had a lot of support and love from the grassroots and then you had a kind of a you know you had the kind of the candidate of the of the part of the kind of the party bosses in john kerry and it's very important to you know it was very important how john kerry reached out to at that time to bring them into the fold i'm not sure he did a very good job but that's the sort of you know it's an analogy to this time where i think it's going to be very important how mitt romney makes those overtures and there's a chance that they may stay home i mean you know look they clearly have a gender that i don't think really is in line with what mitt romney wants to do and there's not

a they don't necessarily go to obama either i think many of these people or a neighborhood with ron paul his message is a very strong libertarian message and it doesn't really fit with what mitt romney is saying about you know protecting huge tax cuts for you know huge corporations and millionaires and billionaires ok i tend to think that the republicans and democrats. i would like to add to that though. not only that but i think you might see the ron paul people get engaged if mitt romney is the presumptive nominee simply for a couple of reasons the political landscape is very very different and you have had republicans out there campaigning to expand the terrorism the war on terrorism which is strange if the war is over and the troops are coming home they have passed the bill to legally detain a united states citizens indefinitely and mitt romney said he supported that and i don't know they may come out against him ok john i'm going to give you the last word on this program and maybe you can make some history here we had soccer moms in

the past i mean is there a category out there that you are looking at that is coming. deploy you know that you know uncles the drink beer i mean what is there a category out there that you think going to swing things one way or another. that uncles who drink beer is a pretty broad category that this and that is almost like saying men. one of the interesting things that we found in our polling is we you know we've talked a lot in the past about how union workers people who are part of a union support democrats overwhelmingly. what we've seen in the last year especially through the two thousand and ten cycle now into two thousand and eleven in two thousand and twelve there's a very distinct difference between the union workers who work for the government typically teachers oftentimes other government employees versus the private union workers who work for a car company and work in a factory those folks as blue collar folks who are private union employees tend to are more likely to vote republican this year than they have been in the past and

i'd say you know the republican nominee probably does very well among that group if they split up between really the right and up on those loans very interesting discussion we'll keep our eye on the campaign many thanks to my guest today in dallas and in washington thanks to our viewers for watching us here arche see you next time and remember last time. you. want.

closer to a compromise the u.n. negotiate surprise resolution text on syria which russia's insistence is no longer aimed at regime change. after suffering days of intense debate united nations security council members are sending a new element of a possible future resolution on syria to their governments for deliberation all the latest details from new york head of the program. all killings are reported in egypt after two days of clashes there more than seventy. criticised doing in the. past the father of murdered. xander says he regrets accusing the kremlin of

carrying out his son's death. it's twelve noon here in moscow your with r.t. a very warm welcome to you well top story now russia is claiming a diplomatic victory at the u.n. after members of the security council agreed to take a more balanced stance on syria calls for the removal of president assad in the enforcement of arms and bug have been dropped from the revised resolution text which is still pending approval moscow is warning it will oppose any attempts to even hint at targeting the syrian regime. has more. after three days of diplomatic deadlock over this arab and western backed regime change resolution it looks like russia's calls that it would not support such resolutions

have finally been heard and we're seeing somewhat of a game changer take place delegates and diplomats seem to have agreed on new elements that they are considering putting into a new document and we do know that these new elements are being sent over to governments at home for consideration approval and deliberation and for more we know the russians amounts that are to the u.n. has said that this does not mean that anything has been fully decided yet and russia continues to reiterate that even if the hint of a regime change clause continues to be presented in such a resolution it would not be supported now what we what we're hearing and some reports that this clause will actually be nonexistent in this new text being considered whereas earlier the arab league and the west have been seeing that the syrian leader needs to step down if this does not happen within fifteen days further measures could take place another clause that we're hearing is going to be removed from this document is the arms embargo that russia has also been opposing

but from what we understand what will continue or mean in a new text is a support of a facilitation of a political transition now of course i have to again say that some of the details are still largely up in the air some diplomats are saying that a vote could come very shortly as soon as on friday others are saying that it's going to take a little more time monday possibly we will just have to wait and see exactly how events play out of the security council in the days to come. when the u.s. is committed to seeing a change of power in damascus and want to strengthen its position in the middle east politics first magazine editor. western interest in the conflict in syria isn't guided by wanting to advance human rights democracy or the rule of law in the region if it was about that then we'd probably see an american naval flotilla off the coast of saudi arabia which happens to be one of the most

repressive regimes in the world it follows a pro western foreign policy syria is a huge player in middle eastern politics and the west principally america has a very problematic relationship with syria so it would be very much within america's interests for the syrian government for president assad to fall from power and for a more accommodating a more sort of pro western governments culture parallel should that happen that would give. almost full dominance politically in the middle way so instead of western governments the british and the american and the french ones talking about president assad stays being numbered they should be more responsible in their outlook and the main focus should be on bringing pace to syria. but still ahead of you this electrolyzer watching our web cameras will be presiding over the upcoming elections move on to.

two protesters have reportedly been shot dead by police in the egyptian city who is only on friday at the latest killings in what's now a day of violence in the country in cairo protesters are continuing today seems to the interior ministry having surrounded it on thursday more than six hundred were injured in clashes with police tear gas to disperse rioters thousands rallied against the. demonstrators are also calling on the ruling military council to step down a professor of international relations and forces need you want more turmoil. the police are very demoralized they took a beating if you like with the full bar of what they will see defenders of his regime and in the army eventually get rid of him but maybe people who want to use this for their own purposes are the one hand the muslim brotherhood has accused the

government of failing and even some are responsible for the riots they won the elections to parliament they want a quick transfer to them on the other hand quite a few of the people in the streets protesting aren't happy about the muslim brotherhood victory in the elections and they may feel that disorder on the streets might give them more influence than they have actually with the electorate at large feature and then as i say that maybe people who say we need a firm hand in the field marshal can provide it but it either way it's not a happy prospect for a smooth transition to a better egypt. but more news updates and videos are waiting for you on r.t. dot com here's what you can find on our website. but israel says the pressure on iran pressure accusations about the scale of the threat from islamic. and gagged by google its latest wave of upgrades the web jonson's to begin centering this is a lot more about that on our website. plus a russian coffee house is holding

a presidential election of its own customers with portraits of candidates drawn on . get a taste of the latest political from. the father of the murdered f.s.b. office exam the yank up has made a shocking u. turn over claims that russia was behind the assassination of his son he says he regrets the accusations he made in the aftermath of the infamous two thousand and six killing in london by polonium poisoning. went to meet him. but. this is how we found my could lead me and co praying in his tiny italian apartment no electricity no gas no water.

if it wasn't for the help of people i would have died from hunger or frozen to death the last time i was on christmas. we expected more because six years ago after his son former f.s.b. officer alexander litvinenko was poisoned in london he was taken care of by some very powerful patrons like self excel tycoon raised result ski and i have and a tourist former chechen militant both hiding in the u.k. . three of them we brought. yet extremist young dorsett there and he's just give me a you're pretty here doris you would be. the one vital you to and co sent a letter asking to be interviewed by russian television we expected more of the same but instead. we're going to. be made of each if you're watching

this program please forgive me for all the slander the thai said and wrote about you know the hatred i had for you even only i had known my son worked for british intelligence i would not talk about his death he could easily have been shot as a double agent betrayers should be short of story what else can i add to this. the u.-turn vaulters says came when his sons we doe marina bin and co revealed to the british media that her husband had worked for m i six further details followed when a newspaper launched its own investigation alexander litvinenko was receiving a retainer of around two thousand pounds a month from the british security services at the time he was murdered it is understood that sir john scarlett now head of m i six and was based in moscow was involved in recruiting him to the secret intelligence service. at first by turnitin

and co like many others claimed his son had been poisoned with polonium two ten on put in order the former f.s.b. officer and fierce critic of the kremlin alexander litvinenko spent twenty three days in a london clinic slowly dying from a toxic substance possibly consumed through a cup of tea even before police in london started questioning suspects the victim's father was actively kissing the russian government today by their at me it's he was saying only what the west wanted to hear. of course i realize russia's f.s.b. and india you know have to take polonium to london sprinkle it over some heads and leave traces everywhere and they're suspect and a little boy is not a fool either way it was anger and blind hatred speaking inside of me like you're now believes his son fell victim to his own game of double agents now he wants his words to be heard but the media outside russia which once beat down his door for interviews now won't even reply. to his requests. why is that what you mean because

they like it when i scold the regime i was a root treasure for the end of the hall there are very few people who would say as many horrible things about me as i did as well you know living in two thousand and eight was the only thing young called what russia for sanctuary needs healing is settled in the sleeping quiet town of sinegal it offered a new anonymous life the man claimed putin was his number one enemy so hiding in europe he believed was the only safe solution today by the litvinenko is still afraid to open this door not because of putin though but because of his landlord to whom he was a lot of money this miserable life has made him a slave of his sanctuary but surely the namco sold everything he had in russia to come to eataly he opened a small business several years ago but it went bankrupt things got worse after the seventy three year old had buried his wife but are now fears her casket could be

removed because he hasn't paid the cost of a burial plot and it's been months since the electricity was shut off to his flat he was lost forty euros went on a gas canister and that is gone to. this is how i wound my son of a book that i don't have in the door to let the southern wind inside. there is east only as russia you are my homeland for. tourists i want to go home to russia. i don't want to stay here. in the church over r t sinegal eataly. coming your way in the program by learning how to be a community but limbs in belgium others to go with local fundamentalist groups but suppose a radical group was. the german chancellor is in china asking for help

in investment for the euro and it seems she might get it as china's prime minister says the country is now considering contributing to european rescue funds anger merkel is all official visit to beijing where she's been trying to reassure the chinese about the economic situation in europe she also like to see beijing support the western position on iran and syria china gets ten percent of its oil from iran german chancellor has been calling on china not to buy more crude in order to support an e.u. in barga this is influenced by soweto on to abandon any possible nuclear weapon and this analysts say beijing is an important player in the middle east and it's an interesting diplomatic solution to the crisis in iran china is not. sanctions and i believe that china we not reduce its import of oil from iran it

doesn't mean that china is going to increase its import of oil from iran but i think china will use its influence in the middle east a way which is compatible with the principles of china as diplomacy and i believe china easing a very strong body position in the middle east because. to have eve of course china is very good relations israel but china has also good relations we. saw china re your power broker in the middle east. well as the u.s. a presidential campaign hots up we look at who the republicans may end up choosing to challenge barack obama here's a quick look at what's in our cross talk debate. for me to have a debate with the president on the health care reform bill it's going to be laughable because the bill that the president signed into law was based almost entirely on the bill that mitt romney signed into law in massachusetts. you're

right he's not even going to be able to make that argument and the question earlier is is a conservative enough i mean how could anyone call him a conservative when he himself has called himself a moderate the real deal here is the republican party is trying to get the conservative grassroots to support the guy who lost to the guy who lost to obama and so there's this endless cycle of you know it's your turn that's being shoved down the grassroots throat he's been running for five years he already has organization set up in all the states plus the backing of goldman sachs and the republican establishment and the guy still can't break fifty percent i don't think he would do well in the general. it's a question of identity this is integration shari'a is not the group in belgium is

on the five of us which the people say no to extreme which of the few by want to use it to solve city reports. bearded wearing a comma fleisher jacket and constantly surrounded by men fought a belt is hard not to notice he heads the islamic fundamentalist group sharia for belgium in september the group opened the country's first sharia court in antwerp to mediate domestic disputes among muslims with our own system our own belief. of helping things if you want to accept it accept it if you don't that's your problem but there is a judgment if you if you're a muslim you will go to paradise if you are this believe or you will go to hell. any further controversy may have ended there if that was all there is to it that videos such as these. have caused outrage. the freedom of speech and. the hatred incitement to violence starts

we have laws about leadership here for he openly. said that. i should be. i should be killed because i am an enemy of islam in january and work or prosecutor recommended two years in prison and a fine of five hundred fifty euros for about a seven for inciting hatred and violence against muslims that's in addition to fourteen police court convictions and criminal convictions for robbery defamation and violence. just a few people maybe a dozen of people maybe two dozen of people dressed like middle east. middle age. and green flag. come on this is a joke yet it has its repercussions on other muslims.