show me the memo eleven u.s. senators are demanding that president obama hand over classified papers dealing with drone strikes last night the obama administration's legal justification for targeting american citizens abroad was leaked to the press the details ahead. and the wheels on new york city buses are not going round and round that's because the drivers are on strike demanding better pay and employee protections will tell you who's being thrown under the bus while the workers continue their walk out. in a good bye for internet prodigy a solemn promise from those left behind to fight for internet freedom hundreds gathered on capitol hill last night to remember the life and legacy of aaron swartz our t. was there and will tell you who also was. it's

tuesday february fifth five pm here in washington d.c. i'm liz wall and you're watching our team. we begin today taking a look at drone strikes targeting american citizens a confidential justice department memo just released reveals the legal justification for the government to conduct these strikes perhaps the most controversial part of the memo is the government does not need clear evidence to justify a deadly attack here's a piece of what what's called the white house papers obtained by n.b.c. it states quote the condition that an operational leader present an imminent threat of violent attack against the united states does not require the united states have clear evidence that had specific attack on u.s. persons and interests will take place in the immediate future all in place of clear evidence a high level government official has the authority to decide who poses

a threat according to this memo made. while a bipartisan group of eleven senators are calling on president obama to dish the details on what exactly the legal justification is for using drones and other means to kill american citizens for more on this i'm joined now by scott a whore in everything at at harper's magazine welcome there scott so what kind of power does this give the president and high level executives well that's part of the catch is high level executive so it seems that the president whether or power he has he's he's prepared to and has delegated them pretty far but this basically is a sabotaging executive assassinations program where the president can designate even american citizens the be killed by drones when the government feels it has good enough information then the kate that they are senior people in

our car or in the société the organization and they present a threat and i think part of the catch here has to do with imminence i think it's been the accepted for a long time that yeah when there's an imminent danger someone's about to be killed or shot or a bomb is about to go off that some sort of measure could be justified on grounds of self-defense but here we see in this memorandum or this summary of a larger memorandum we see that the notion of imminent has been the find in to obey livy and so it doesn't have anything to do with the normal english meaning of that word just that the government feels that there is a threat and that there was some prior involvement in some sort of threat so it sounds like you're worried about this kind of language in this memo that that it's vague. that's exactly right and i think previously we had speeches that were given by eric holder at northwestern university in chicago and then by john brennan at

harvard university which they set a very tight series of guidelines for the use of this power and authority and we see in this memorandum that actually it's far looser that the lawyers have attempted to justify a far more sweeping exercise of this potentially lethal power now speaking of a language we saw occupy wall street protesters that where they were being investigated for a possible terrorist threat cell i mean could that light bill or could it go back far where there is a danger that this law could be used against activists if an activist is accused of being in associated part of this associated for sab associated with terrorists do you fear that it could go that far well we should know right off the bat that the memos very very clear that this doesn't apply inside the united states there are

different rules there but they could apply outside the united states to u.s. citizens i'd say a case that's more true troubling in my mind has to do with whistleblowers and leakers who've disclosed information about government corruption or wrongdoing because the government routinely we acts in these cases by saying you're advancing the interests of the enemy you're helping our enemy against us this is a very serious national security violation when you look at those claims and juxtapose them against this department of justice white paper you really have got to be worried because it looks like they may be sweeping that up into some area where lethal force is being justified and i think the crux here really is a question of why not arrest why not capture these people why kill them and on that point the memo tells us. well in circumstances where capture arrest just isn't feasible or maybe isn't convenient would be

a better word we're entitled to kill that's really the crux of the problem here i guess my next question was going to be what does this memo say about due process but i guess it doesn't really say much about that the very that says that there's a very very little due process and i think most scholars would agree that on the imminent harm side before you kill someone there does have to be a due process test of some sort that's made in fact john brennan when he gave his speech he stressed that the also sort of muddle that so did eric holder and this memo points to real short shrift to being given to the process so there's very little comfort in it for civil libertarians while this drone program of broad has been a very secretive program now we have a group of senators eleven senators that are requesting more information from president obama from the administration to make this information public i want to read a part of this letter is says quote it is vitally important for the congress and the american public to have

a full understanding of how the executive branch interprets the limits and boundaries of this authority so that congress and the public can decide whether this authority has been properly defined and whether the president's power to deliberately kill american citizens is subject to appropriate limitations and safeguards so scott do you think that maybe this could be a turning point in making a very secretive program more transparent. i think yes i think the upcoming confirmation hearing for john brennan to be director of the cia provides another test but you know to me when i read this memo when n.b.c. put it up well the first thing that shocked me was the idea that this was being kept secret i mean this is nothing but plain vanilla legal analysis it's controversial it's even wrong on some points it's potentially embarrassing but there are no national security secrets here and this notion that the law or rather the government's understanding of what the law is is something that can be held

secret from congress and from the american people is really shocking. scott great to have you on appreciate you weighing in on this very important new development that was scott horan contributing editor at harper's magazine great to be with you the use of drones is terribly not exclusive to the u.s. the u.k. is currently working on expanding their own drone program plans to tast a quote supersonic stealth drone named teran s. are being touted as the future of you ladies r t sarah first has more. it can fly faster than the speed of sound it can deploy its own weapons and it can go deep into enemy territory now this is the need british super drain as it's known in the trenches has been under development for many many years now costing hundreds of millions of pounds already but it's thought that this revolutionary new seepage rain is going to be taking is maiden voyage over the next couple of weeks that's

what's expected now military chief has said that the transits will pave the way for a whole new generation of these new drones and it's being billed as the future of the air force but experts have warned that this could open the doors to a whole new type of warfare there's concerns about robo wolf air where machines that are able to launch their own attacks kid attacks humans and of course a lot of control the sea that always surrounds the east of drones as well but let's deal then with the here and now because the controversy surrounding drone warfare has been highlighted recently when the u.n. launched an investigation in to civilian deaths caused by the jones now assisting the u.n. in their research is a team from goldsmiths university of london and i'm joined by one of that team now professor weissman and i thank you very much for joining us today and this new technology a lot of talk about a lot of excitement but

a huge number of unanswered questions that go along with these developments you're taking part in this investigation now we haven't even really got questions answered eight of the legality of these attacks and yet we're seeing technology sort of leapfrogging over the law at this point i think that what. we are seeing a de facto legislation by practice or you demoed of warfare actually creating the law for the problem of the law for war because it always legs behind the technologies are full of course the chronology was much for. aster than the laws of war and if technology changed the way in which we conduct our wars when we speaking about drone warfare we're not really speaking about area bomb being we're speaking about targeted attacks in especially the kind of a new type of attack that we've been seeing in the last decade that is called the extra troops to really cool assassination these really are based on kill

ists and they're compiled by somebody either authorized by the people with a reason or transparency and we do not know how that process was undertaken and of course this is really what your investigations in general is gathering that all important data is that absolutely in the forensic architecture project at goldsmiths what we look at is the nature of war in an urban area and the most stronger are launched on inhabited areas areas with a lot of civilians with civilians and militant are in town gold in the numbers are very difficult to establish because both israel and the united states would consider every man over a certain age sometimes sixteen sometimes eighteen is a militant by definition we know we can is not true the details of that investigation the results expected towards the end of the year will tell you the thank you for joining us today to talk about britain and of course all the other answered questions that go along with that there was r.t.

correspondents there for at the london. and i do a story about protesters abroad fighting for the chance to voice their opinions kuwait is an oil rich country and the gulf and on tuesday three former opposition lawmakers were sentenced to three years of hard labor for insulting kuwait's leader r.t. correspondent lisa cavanagh brings us the latest from kuwait. as you. can see. life in the gulf used to look like this. but the black gold hidden beneath the sands transformed the arabian states from inhospitable deserts came storing structures of glass and steel physical testaments to their wealth and power in a wider region known for its tinderbox tensions the gulf monarchies have stood out for their relative stability and for an oil dependent west eager for a military stronghold to counter iran the gulf became a strategic away says petro dollars have helped to insulate the gulf against

economic hardships plaguing other states but not against popular uprisings now the gulf monarchies as a whole have been struggling to stave off the effects of the arab spring with varying degrees of success as largely seen as the most tolerant of the gulf countries but the worry is that the trend could be reversed activists say that it already has been political gatherings of more than twenty people are banned as are political parties and when the last opposition dominated parliament challenge the ruling authorities it was dismissed voting rules were changed to ensure critics say a more compliant parliament speaking out against the system has landed many activists in jail as for those who took to the streets to protest we were beaten up by. the special forces. and after the march whoever is on the streets is just being detained and thrown into jail it's a struggle activists in bahrain are all too familiar with. three days after egypt's

former president was ousted from power protests began in both frames like the kuwaitis they were demanding an end to the monarchy but more representation at a violent crackdown saw a shift in some of those demands because the new law to stop it is that the different it is against the regime against the. against the situation. one thousand five hundred there's another we have. every day we have a local. security forces surrounding gave us i think the people like taking the houses as in other gulf states the monarchy blames the unrest on a radical minority they are hardliners they want to see regime change they want to implement their own style of government and impose on the rest of the population. a system of government that is unacceptable.

minster style democracy captain head of style democracy. but critics disagree saying the protesters simply want their governments to listen i want to comes to violence crackdowns he says westminster and capitol hill simply turn a blind eye without a victims because we live in their country which have all. the. they don't get aboard the people they don't care about the humanity they don't care about the bahraini blood they care about the. weather in bahrain saudi arabia qatar oman or kuwait seems like this one are becoming increasingly more common but nasa shows a week like this one to show that the gulf oil wealth alone isn't enough to insulate the countries from people taking to the streets and demanding a greater say in their political system and unless the monarchies show themselves willing to listen their stability may prove to be

a mirage you see catherine of r.t.e. kuwait. also out here on our table bus system in new york city is coming to a screeching halt that's because drivers are walking out on strike while they fight for better work conditions young riders are left stranded at this fork in the road next. sis.

let me let me i want to wouldn't let me ask you a question. here my misspent working its way around in the bank we have our name south facing a. bit of this right to say staying there began hearing the phrase be i'd like me to talk about the surveillance. worst if you're going to take. my house to give it to a radio guy and. i want you. to go because you've never seen anything like that i'm telling.

you. the world. put a picture of me when i was like nine years old on the job with true. confession

i am a total get a friend that i love rap and hip hop is like the and pretty. but it was kind of a bit yesterday. i'm very aware of the role that it's played. but getting to school is getting a lot more challenging for thousands of new york city's students a bitter dispute between bus drivers and the city has put the brakes on city school buses bus drivers have been on strike since mid january after new york mayor michael bloomberg rebid the bus contracts for the first time in decades the city is citing worries that it can't afford to cover the skyrocketing cost to operate the buses along with the usual benefits for bus drivers now the companies are. on

a hiring spree but until all the positions are filled the school can't are caught in the middle of the dispute between the city and the unions for more i'm joined now by sarah catalan otto and johnnie stevens with parents to improve school transportation welcome to the both of you so i guess i want to start off by asking how your children have been affected by this dispute. well i would like to start because i just picked kwame my son who is ten years old in the fifth grade i just picked him up from school this afternoon and it starts in the morning a lot earlier now because of the strike and it takes. something to get in the school from where i live and i have to come back and i have to go and pick him up. to thirty and bring him back and it actually could into our recreational time in the afternoon but kwame i understand and me as

a parent and someone who has been working for what is called. the. employment protection provision as parents to improve transportation and i want safety for him so i want to put him on a bus say with people who just take a night in consideration and know how to do it and that's why. the hardship in common is the subject hardship so i want to ask you how your children have fared in this dispute. well as the same child but as organized parents to improve school transportation i'm getting e-mails phone calls from many many parents and grandparents who have to you know change their life around and are very angry and insulted by the fortunately kind of alternatives that authorities are

proposing that are really not say or even realistic chain you talk more about what these what these these options are that you're worried about well you know they gave metro cards to third graders so there's an eight year old take the subway by themselves train and then a bus and then walking as much i would have had to do and. does a child with a wheelchair just get any old cab we know wheelchair. not accessible in new york city i'm sorry the cabs are not wheelchair accessible in new york so it's not realistic then they have online materials that are not differentiated for children with any kind of learning difference there's the same stuff they put up during the hurricane it's really teach your lessons from a lesson book that not everybody can even get to download print and have a go on at home if there's even anyone to stay home with the various children who are home which i think is about twenty percent of the district's seventy five now

this has been going on for a while now since mid january i mean do you see an end in sight how do you hope that this conflict is resolved. well last week the f.t.c. a.t.u. eleven eighty one ten sixty one when to city hall for negotiations and it was proposed by mayor bloomberg but he wasn't at the meeting and the bus contract was there so the union wants the strike to end but mayor bloomberg who's good who's getting these metro card who's paying for these metro card we learned that from m.t.a. metropolitan transit here in last week that the metro card is being paid for by the city to actually put kids in an unsafe situation so the onus is on mayor bloomberg who actually forced this strike to begin with like i said the a.t.p.

which i was alluding to earlier perhaps again school transportation was involved with bus drivers union last year when they had a senate resolution in albany raising the question of p.p. and tried to get it worked out before it got to a crisis situation and mayor bloomberg wrote governor cuomo we have a letter parents to improve school transportation and x. governor cuomo to visual dad so this was a conspiracy and then what we wind up with in the middle of sandy governor cuomo actually suspended the regulation for driver's mean that anybody could drive a school bus as an act of emergency would put out kids in more danger and put them in coach buses we feel that this is the mayor and not the union and we hold the mayor responsible for this and while i hope that this does get resolved than your children and the thousands of other children that have been left stranded are going

to be able to get to school and resume their normal their normal lives i appreciate you both coming on and talking about this that was sara catalan out ellen johnny stevens parents from her school transportation. thank you thank you. now on to a story we've been covering a sense it's out sat there mark remarkable life and shocking death of internet pioneer aaron swartz yesterday on the steps of capitol hill people from all walks of life came together at a vigil to pay their respects to aaron swartz the outspoken internet activist ended his own life a little more than a month ago and as many continue to grieve the loss of the man behind such online innovations as the r.s.s. feed and reddit questions surrounding his death are turning into calls for reform parties justin underhill reports. he was nineteen aaron had already done an extraordinary amount last night members of congress celebrated the life of internet activist aaron swartz in

a memorial on capitol hill where lawmakers family activists and i condemn excess spoke about aaron and called for federal reform of anti hocking laws we have to be able to ask the question are we a country that wants to encourage our best and brightest the rebels in the misfits the ones who see things differently and change our world for the better or do we want a country that crushes them when aaron hacked a poorly written criminal law called him a dangerous criminal common sense and conscience knows better. and we are going to change this unjust law because of baron because of the family. two thousand and eleven prosecutors went after aaron swartz for downloading millions of academic articles from j. store using mit's campus network swartz was charged with violating the computer fraud and abuse act and act that has been criticized for language that is

considered overly broad and vague he faced a potential prison sentence of more than thirty years and up to one million dollars in fines last month representative zoe lofgren introduced a proposal that would amend the computer fraud and abuse act this bill would decriminalize the act of violating terms of service agreements in addition to this the electronic frontier foundation has called for penalties that are proportionate to the gravity and nature of the crime lawmakers i could this call for common sense in these prosecutions but it the crime and the punishment have to fit everyone here and tonight knows that the crime and the punishment did not fit. as our committee investigates it it's going to be to try to find out how it was like. yesterday's memorial on capitol hill with the latest high profile event honoring swartz's life but it's what happens inside the capitol building that will determine his legacy in washington just two hundred r.t. . well coming up at

a half hour is breaking the sound with abby martin here in our town let's check in with abby to see what's on tap for today. so today we're talking about a lot of a lot of heavy handed issues things that we haven't covered on the show we're talking to north korea why the heavy handed rhetoric for so long what is the real history with the country and why is this part of the axis of evil you know the answer is of evil that bush kind of laid out after nine eleven why is north korea on the list what are the real motives that play there also to get into mali a country that we haven't tackled yet on the show either what is the real motive behind this intervention is it really going to be over this week as france claims or are we really in there for the long haul to perhaps again some more in the country we're also talking to a bunch of training stories you know of course these this huge story that came out last night about the justification for the kill list and why and who and how and who these american citizens are there obama's kill list of why he's killing people with drones that just got leaked also he talked about the cia rendition program

that it just came out way more expansive than previously thought how that's impacted today's society is torture really over is this still continuing all that much more coming up next we're going to sit. there a lot of the ground all corners of the globe you're covering over there appreciate that update that's coming up in a half hour but that is going to do it for now for the news but for more on the stories we covered you can head on over to our you tube channel you tube dot com plus our team america follow me on twitter at liz wahl we'll be right back here at eight pm a little worse for the lonely. right out of a day at a radio guy in fort lauderdale a minute. to go because you've never seen anything like this i'm telling.