today on our game on the twenty twelve olympics officially began today with the opening ceremonies but that's not the only thing that's red hot in london the debate over performing enhanced in drugs is more heated than ever as the anti-doping agency cracks down on athletes are to ask if doping should just be allowed. plus from the old days of naked athletes to today's a superhuman competitions the olympics has seen its share of changes over the years coming up we'll show you just how far the games have come since the athens arena. and the athletes aren't the only ones competing these days mitt romney is vying for israel's affection and he's willing to do almost anything to prove his loyalty but why is he so eager to win the hearts and minds of the jewish people before he's even sealed the deal with the american public will question more.

it is friday july twenty seventh four pm in washington d.c. i'm christine you're watching our t.v. . well let the games begin earlier this afternoon the opening ceremonies for the two thousand and twelve olympic games took place in london and a few hours from now they will air here in the u.s. for the next two and a half weeks the finest athletes from around the world will compete for gold silver and bronze medals in sports like cycling swimming gymnastics and table tennis and despite long time testing rules and procedures this year more than one hundred athletes have already been banned in the six months before the games athletes who would have likely been qualified to compete under suspicion were tested and told they would not be invited to london but we wanted to imagine for a moment the potential all athletes would have if doping were allowed what athletic abilities of far surpass anything we've seen before and to me ah bioethicist at the

university of the west of scotland recently told nature magazine if the goal is to protect health then medically supervised doping is likely to be a better route better yet the world of sports and complement the world anti-doping agency with the world pro dope being agency the goal of which is to invest in safer forms of enhanced meant. to track down another man julian savulescu chairman and practical and fix at the university of oxford to talk a little bit about this i know julian you seem to agree with this sentiment that it's unrealistic to think that doping is not going to happen so since it does you know let's make sure it happens safely is this your argument. you know this is abundant evidence that the absolute prohibition of doping is finally some of the world's best athletes like lance armstrong carl lewis and barry bonds have all been implicated in doping and it's likely to fire because the substances that athletes are using to die just mimic the natural substances in their body that their body

naturally produces like growth hormone it's been impossible to do things the people who get caught today are the incompetent athletes or those with relatively few resources or do you mean relatively few resources i mean are you suggesting that the ones who get caught thankfully don't have you know the best of drugs the drugs with more invisible ingredients i think you know there is a fair number of people who are trying to do this themselves and get caught i think it was of iraq in athletes it was just recently banned. substances like growth hormone and indeed you can even three transfuse your own blood now now that's virtually impossible to detect if you do this properly you're really not going to pick up the vast number of people you're really seeing the tip of the os that given the huge rewards that are on offer and the relatively low probability of being caught we're probably only seeing you know a small fraction of the number of people being caught but i mean i hear this

argument a lot of for a number of things that it's already going on so we might as well make it legal so it can be regulated i mean is that actually a good reason to make this you know the case in the olympics. well i think you're right just because it's going on in murders going on and we shouldn't legalize that but if we can find good reasons to allow some doping agents then and it will be easier then to to carry on sport and we should so if a test case of this is kathleen this used to be on the bad least it increases the time to exhaustion by ten percent it's now being taken off the bat is because it cites enough and it doesn't say it will ruin the spectacle the sport means you don't have to test for kathleen there will be very dangerous things that we should test for but things like blood doping growth hormone steroids can all be given reasonable medical supervision and reasonable normal physiological importance but i think that the difficult thing here i mean you seem to be arguing that thirteen

things should still be banned so doesn't that totally void the argument that it's already happening that might as well be regulated i mean if athletes just continue to take the stuff that banned to be better than the other competitors one that sort of defeats the purpose of making some things legal you know not really because you know we're living in a world of resources you can only wage a certain number of orders in and out a number of wars on certain people so why not use the relatively limited resources water of all the anti doping agency only has twenty million u.s. dollars that's not that much to patrol the whole of the world sporting population so why not use those resources on enforcing a ban on children and identifying the really unsightly substances that really do jeopardize athletes so blood doping doesn't jeopardize people's health let me ask you this though who would get to decide what would be banned and what wouldn't it seems at least to me kind of a subjective matter here. well you need criteria and i've suggested three criteria

one is psyche another one is that the agent has to be consistent with the spirit of a particular sport so things would reduce your anxiety or tremor in sports like a tree or shooting such as beta blockers should be banned or something that removes theory boxing should be banned but out of all exterior would simply enhance the benefits of of trying and increase the time for recovery don't fundamentally change the activity of the last thing if you want to be fundamentally human endeavor if you go to people robotic or artificial limbs that would change the nature of sport but that's not what we're talking about when we're talking about growth all that and steroids well i think that's a really good point and i know that that particular point has generated a whole lot of argument i know that there are other performance enhancing things that are not drugs the full body swimsuits i know that there's a south african sprinter who actually has a mechanical prosthetic. do you think that this differs from performance enhancing

drugs well i think the suits don't shine too much they just change the amount of friction so i don't i don't see that that's and indeed they have been allowed to an extent but but roger pistorius i think you're referring to this south african athlete with bligh it's at the moment he can't run faster than you same boat but it's only a matter of time before their technology enables a person like that to run faster than someone like you saying bolden i think that should be bad because i think that's not really running and it's substantially the contribution of the technology so i think we can draw lawrence rather than simply having a sort of very blunt indeed absolute ban on all performance enhancing drugs it's impossible to. i know scientists at this year's olympics that they have vowed to make this year the cleanest ever when it comes to doping i want to show you some clips of a story a fan and reporter went inside one of the labs and we just wanted to play a short snippet of that story. during the period of the games this thirty million dollar facility will see one hundred fifty scientists manning the laboratory twenty

four hours a day samples of blood and urine from the athletes will be delivered directs from the island pick park we reckon we can pick up even things you haven't thought of we could do a sort of what is known as data mining approach where we can look for things that. we hadn't thought of so i think we'll soon be away from the days where designer drugs between the i'm less so what about this notion of course there are better and better more undetectable drugs but science is also getting better in the anti doping agencies in terms of being able to find things out shouldn't that be the goal really devoting resources to the anti-doping aspect of this. and it's a good work i mean it would be a great solution but time has shown that it hasn't but still with these claims are true or not i haven't heard any good arguments how they're going to actually detect blood doping now you know if it's true that we can once and for all women i don't

see why not but if course it's a war between the. doping agency and it's unlikely that one party is going to win this war outright it's always a moving target and as with most wars we have races to to build the better weapons and some people have even said in this case there's been an arms race of course the drug companies are already competing to make the best drugs with the least visible and greedy and i'm wondering though if you think you know legalizing certain types of doping would make that exponentially worse and you know competition would simply be about who uses the best drugs as opposed to who's the best affleck. well as a city if that were the case we should ban has asians but it's not of the moment i mean nobody thinks that carl lewis was somehow not one of the best athletes ever but the point is the moment we just have a black market if you introduce a white mark if you introduce legal safe substances you can compete with that

market and of course there's always going to be something that gives you some advantage but you narrow the gap between the cheating and the almost athletes that are concerned about the health you give the honest athletes a weapon if you like to to complete so you're never going to eliminate these problems entirely at the moment you know we're in very poor damage control mode and we should we should we should up that and be more effective in reducing the problem . just let's break it down really simply i mean is it fair to say that what you're calling forward more or less make it mandatory for all athletes to dope in order to remain competitive well and that you have to ask the question is that now more of this matter truth wrestlers to talk about using you know unsupervised doping agents and i suspect that's pretty much the answer you know you one study you number of years ago i asked athletes if you were going to take to heroin you these elite level athletes what how many of you would use adobe gauges agent that would

guarantee to ninety percent believe you get little athletes so they would use these substances so we're going to be caught that's probably the reality. here that this is a really controversial topic but we thought it was one that was worth bringing up because guess what we haven't heard a lot of people talking about it and we appreciate you weighing in it stephanie or unique perspective but one that i think you know deserves at least discussing as a great to have you on the show julian savulescu chairman and practical ethics at oxford university thanks very much. well one thing we do know that doping in the olympics goes back hundreds of years and what is banned has changed immensely so what are the highs and lows in the history of doping and the olympics are to correspondent liz wahl came up with a list so let's give out some of our very own r.t. awards to commemorate. well we'll start our award ceremony with a few honorable mentions these are teams we think at least deserve a shout out the most prominent the german olympic team who could forget those

athletes pumped up bodies in the country's huge olympic medals hall despite having less than twenty million citizens thousands of these german athletes were given steroids and what a german court later called a systematic and overall doping in east german competitive sports these german sports doctors gave athletes anabolic steroids and testosterone when they were as young as thirteen years old the drugs cause side effects like cancer organ damage infertility and more and we want to give an honorable mention to the united states track and field team more than one hundred athletes including nineteen medalist from different sports tested positive for banned substances from one nine hundred eighty eight to two thousand but somehow they were cleared by internal appeals processes and allowed to compete according to a thirty thousand page report from dr wade a former u.s. olympic committee doping chief the scandal brought about the u.s. doping agency anti-doping agency that is and now to the individual medal awards the

bronze this award goes posthumously to nude and mark jensen at the one nine hundred sixty games in rome the danish cyclist took ranya call right before his race a drug meant to increase blood circulation he also took an amphetamine but the drugs didn't have the intended effect jensen collapsed during the race and fractured his skull he was pronounced dead shortly after in a roman hospital his death led to the institution of drug testing at all a limp the games now for the silver this medal goes to canada's ross. he still has his gold from the one nine hundred ninety eight and gone a winter games for the first ever men's giant slalom in snowboarding after winning the gold tested positive for marijuana the international olympic committee stripped him of his gold but the next day the i.o.c. . he gave the gold back to a because it realized it didn't have the power to take it that's because the i.o.c. didn't have an agreement on marijuana he said that the marijuana in his bloodstream

must have been inhaled second hand at a going away party but even if he smoked a big fatty right before the race the i.o.c. couldn't do anything about it and now for the gold sometimes you can't tell the first in one thousand nine hundred eighty gunner legion wall was the first athlete ever disqualified he got his medal strip for drug use but he wasn't a amphetamines or steroids the swedish pens at least drink two beers before the pistol shooting part of the competition and may have calmed his nerves but it certainly made the i.o.c. jittery his bronze was taken from him but we hope this gold is some compensation and as the games of the thirtieth olympiad take over london tonight we also want to take a different look at how the games of changed over the decades what used to be a world wide celebration of competition has now turned into a revealing event on a saucy it you're going to look at how athletes are cashing in using their bodies.

faster higher stronger bodies built like machines and olympic extravaganza of athletes grace magazine covers baring it all it would be nice to hate like to not look at these athletes like you know these are special specimen almost members of a different race but these are people just like us they could they could help us strive to do better their superhuman bodies are on display in a competition for attention and personal exposure the olympic gold is not just the the gold at the age when and where but the good old of all these endorsements and all this this ability you know they want to cash in on it's their moment in the sun unfortunately i think that undermines the olympic goal and ideal. the original idea of medicines and human might scrapped the olympic dream and culture now transformed into glossy images of athletes striking a pose in the nude the original olympics were performed completely naked so you

could make the case this is turning back to the original form of the olympics and while london will see plenty of action and t.v. coverage some people will choose not to watch simply because of its location i don't think london is a fun city to have it in and the brits are boring people so i'm not interested. in an ever expanding entertainment culture surrounding the olympics self p.r. is the new tradition and the fifteen minutes of fame an opportunity not to be missed and you've got hundreds of athletes who come back to nothing and a lot of them really look back and say well what do i get out of the last four years i could have made more money being a manager at mcdonald's the corporation that's one of the biggest sponsors of the olympics is on a journey to send a somewhat confusing message while the athletes are busy promoting their stunning bodies mcdonald sets up the biggest joint in the world outside the olympic stadium a record one hundred fifty thousand condoms are also being distributed at. the

olympic village that's roughly fifteen condoms for each athlete some argue sexing up the olympics is slowly racing the true meaning of these historic games the marathon really became it's a fact and they base it off this is a great story i'm a guy that's a pita coming from wanting you know citizens about basically how the war was ending with the persians and going twenty five miles and just having bleeding feet and how that is by the marathon for what it is today and instead the olympics of today inspired finger pointing and more excuses in the u.s. to blame its nemesis china why are the teams olympic uniforms made in china i think they should take all the uniforms put a man big pile and burn them underlying just a tad more hypocrisy if you look at apple computer they make everything in china most of their actual production virtually all of it is made in china most americans who buy apple computers and there are many they may be the first american who ever touched that computer since no american probably touched it during the assembly. or

surrounding the olympics of today's anything but waste sportsmanship appears to be the last guest joining this party and says you churkin a hearty new york. all right we've been talking a lot about london and the associated press is one of many publications that has really some tips on a limbic etiquette for all those out of towners in london unfamiliar with the culture there include the following when in doubt queue in american english that means get in line and be patient the tips including a warning that all attempts to queue jumping will be met by glares and furious tut tutting also drive on the left stand on the right so on the road be sure you know to drive on the left and on the escalators in london as in washington by the way a walk on the left stand on the right another one to get around in this is one of my favorites if you're with a group in a london pub each member of the group is expected to take a turn buying

a round of drinks for everyone it says buying a drink for yourself is considered exceptionally rude and except slimmed down portions restaurant portion sizes are often smaller in britain than the united states shocking you also may notice the obesity rate there is a little lower. huge production is made out of the olympics but it is it all about putting on a big show or is there you know a genuine majority interest laurie harshness with a resident that asked this question to those she came across on the streets of new york city. do you really care about the olympics this week let's talk about that are you excited about the olympics i know i'm here. but is it crazy back home because of it yeah and we got out what are you excited about well team usa i hope we go all the way to be really great does that mean we're the best country in the world if we win

all the gold medals oh i don't know about that people really aren't that into track and field and. you know then the swimming you know the media build up between. phelps and his rival you know but you don't even know the name of the right man even to give his name on the front just finish tonight. for a minute do you think that the olympics are kind of a way to just distract people from what's really going on might be you know from your problems do you think people remember the names of all the athletes three months after the olympics are done i guess it depends what kind of sponsorships they've got and what advertisements they're doing but yeah if their names are in plays and in lights everywhere yeah they're selling us wheaties yes exactly those athletes yeah they'll be remembered a lot of them probably wouldn't be you know i guess a sort all some bus that did push ups in london for a double decker bus with big push ups that might for the olympics. that's insane so

they're trying to yeah they're getting they're getting people excited in any way that they can what is why do they do that just for the good of sports no idea probably just try to drum up some more money for the country at that right over here tourism you know historically the olympics is something that's always meant to be a unifying action yes so it doesn't that kind of take away from that message of unification when it comes down to just drumming up business you know i think greed is unfortunately taking over the priority of some folks whether or not you care about the olympics the bottom line is that you should be prepared to be bombarded by a lot of media coverage of them in the coming week. and it turns out this weekend isn't all about the olympics the two men fighting to

occupy the white house for the next four years seem to also be fighting to prove their love for a country many lawmakers here in washington refer to as our great and closest alley ally israel today president obama signed the united states israel and hand security cooperation act of two thousand and twelve bolstering the u.s. commitment to the defense of israel also releasing an additional seventy million dollars in military aid for israel this announcement comes on the heels of a visit to israel by republican presidential candidate mitt romney a visit it turns out that is anything but uncommon so why israel but if you substitute israel for the names of other countries while it might look something like this i feel as sheryl shared with you a very special connection to looks and bird care and i have been that looks and bird we bought one of those you know tiles that said pray for the peace of luxembourg strategic in all form under a period ministration will increase to luxembourg all right but seriously as we

mentioned this is in many ways a rite of passage in american politics so we have a deeper look into this tradition and its history. long past the shadow of the sunshine state thank you so much bigger. and the cornfields of iowa oh oh yeah if it is another required campaign stop for any u.s. presidential candidate i can tell you to say that. jerusalem will be the capital of israel here's then candidate obama in israel in two thousand and eight and many others before him mitt romney's visit comes just days after eastland president obama for his lack of loyalty to israel or the people of israel deserve better than what they received from the leader of the free world and the course. and the chorus of accusations and threats and insults at the united nations should never again

include the voice of the president of the united states many say the heart of this matter lies with two important constituencies those two constituencies are. christian fundamentalists particularly those in the republican party and i certain percentage of jewish americans those who are wealthy donors to both parties wealthy donors like to see no moguls sheldon adelson who recently made a ten million dollar donation to romney super pac restore our future the largest gift yet according to forbes magazine adelson has said his top priority is supporting and protecting israel the money also flows generously from the american israel public affairs committee or a pac one of the wealthiest and most influential lobbying groups in washington it has helped keep israel a top priority in the eyes of most lawmakers it's important that mitt romney go to

israel particularly since these are the most very dangerous times as you know the talks with iran predictably have failed iran one of many concerns associated with israel as well as its future borders which the president spoke about last year we believe the borders of israel and palestine should be based on the nine hundred sixty seven lines with mutually agreed swaps and idea criticized heavily by members of both parties common among them just before bibi netanyahu came to united states if you will is the one of the best must try to negotiate for israel typically the jewish american vote has leaned heavily to the left in two thousand and eight obama got seventy nine percent of it mccain twenty one percent it just goes to show that the issue of israel itself is not a partisan one and over time as how to be a place that both sides agree is a mandatory stop on the campaign trail in washington christine freeze out our team

. well coming up next here on our team the capital account let's check in with laura lester to see what's on today's agenda. i was. loren it is friday what you got for us today hi christine it is friday i hate to be the bearer of bad news but the u.s. economy is slowing at least that's what the latest gross domestic product numbers indicate that g.d.p. was one point five percent for the second quarter on an annualized basis christine this is not great this is the u.s. economy just inching along that's of course if you believe the government g.d.p. numbers to begin with which many people do question that assumption but this compares to two percent the prior quarter four point one percent the quarter before that so do you see a trend here trend down absolutely and it is the end of the month so i'm sure next week we'll be getting the numbers in the jobs numbers for this month are people expecting them to bring in the good news you know i don't know about the jobs

numbers i'm not even there yet christine i'm still stuck on this g.d.p. thing because beyond the numbers of people get fixated on maybe to gauge where we are as an economy now i want to talk about really the broader context because our guest doesn't think that the economy is recovery doesn't think the economy is doing well he thinks it's been all downhill since the fifty's and sixty's the last time that americans lived had a decent standard of living without going into massive amounts of debt in order to sustain that living admits stagnant wages so we're really going to talk about the situation with doug casey he's a very well known publisher of casey research's and author of best selling books and he really tells it like it is which is what he's known for we're going to hear it all right you always tend to go pretty deep into these things we do a good job a lawyer and you all stay tuned but for us here that's going to do it for more on the stories we covered go to youtube dot com slash r t america or our website r t dot com slash usa.

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