coming up on r t congress is working on the reauthorization of the national defense authorization act we know about some of the controversial items this act allows including indefinite detention but what else have lawmakers tucked into this legislation details coming up. support for whistleblower bradley manning reaches a new chapter famous faces have created the video i am bradley manning to highlight his arrest and treatment by the u.s. government we'll talk with some of his supporters just ahead. and maine passed legislation to force companies to label genetically modified foods but what are the details of this bill and how far does it really go more on that in the other states pushing for g.m.o. labeling.

it's thursday june thirteenth four pm in washington d.c. i'm meghan lopez and you are watching r t well president obama has threatened to veto the reauthorization of the national defense authorization act better known as the n.d.a. over a number of concerns those concerns clear include limitations on health benefits for retirees transferring detainees out of guantanamo bay the new start treaty military pay alternative fuels purple hearts for victims of the fort hood and little rock shootings funding for afghan forces and much war in total the administration raised thirty one concerns over the revamped da but while the president talks tough house republicans are sticking to schedule with the bill's markup and more than a few interesting amendments are sneaking their way into the sect political commentator sam sack shows of some of the curious add ons lawmakers are trying to slip into the n.d.a. to the house. representatives finishes up their task of programming the american

war machine members are currently slogging through one hundred seventy two amendments to the national defense authorization act a bill that sets the guidelines for how our military functions now some of these amendments that are under consideration are very important they work to address serious problems with our current war footing all around the world for example a team of democrats have put forward an amendment to completely close the detention facility at guantanamo bay by the end of two thousand and fourteen and there are two amendments brought by republicans to weaken the power of our military to indefinitely detain american citizens and there's even one amendment that ends indefinite detention for any individual currently in custody under the authorization for use of military force and there's also an amendment by congressman keith ellison to prohibit the transfer of tear gas and other riot control items to nations in the middle east and north africa that are currently undergoing democratic uprisings plus there are provisions to keep the president

committed to the withdrawal timeline in afghanistan provisions to post the true costs of our wars online and a provision to allow undocumented immigrants to enlist in the military and have access to permanent residency within the united states thereafter so these are all relevant they address real world concerns there are serious amendments. but remember where dealing with a congress that has an approval rating hovering around the fifteen percent mark that's about on par with b.p.'s approval rating during their two thousand and ten oil spill fiasco so naturally there are a few bizarro amendments to be considered today as well for the war machine and here are the top three first brought to us by congressman dennis ross amendment number sixty two prohibits the department of defense from using taxpayer funds to provide additional or upgraded recreational facilities for individuals detained at guantanamo bay detention facility congressman ross has been out of shape about plans to build

a soccer field and get no saying back in two thousand and twelve quote get motion not be a place of comfort it should how is the worst of the worst of the world's terrorists not be a training ground for the world cup congressman ross is also against closing the facility and giving prisoners there a fair trial so when asked can we at least improve the conditions there for the more than one hundred prisoners who are on a hunger strike many of whom have done absolutely nothing wrong in are cleared for release congressman ross well you'd rather not. and then there's congresswoman michele bachmann's amendment number one twenty seven which requires the p.o.w.'s be flown three hundred sixty five days a year on certain federal buildings because you know it's just much easier to fly a flag for prisoners of war than actually do something about our continuous military operations around the world that produce p o w's and produce missing soldiers and finally there's a moment number one fifteenth street from the cold war era brought to us by

representative cynthia loomis as well as congressman steve days in kevin kramer requires the department of defense to preserve currently active intercontinental ballistic missile silos in warm status warm status meaning fully staffed and functional just in case we need to deploy our entire nuclear arsenal at a moment's notice an act that would quite literally kill every living thing on the planet so great idea guys so yeah that's what congress is working on and if you think there's no way that there's no way that any of these bizarre amendments will pass out of the house today just remember this is an institution that's less popular than cockroaches in washington same sex are to well ladies and gentlemen the king has entered the building all month we've been promoting the newest show to head r t america's airwaves there has been so much speculation and anticipation and yes even criticism about what the show will be now

the wait is over politicking with larry king will make a state be one r.t. america tonight at nine pm eastern and it will really air at eleven pm mr king's journalism career has spanned fifty six years he's conducted more than fifty thousand interviews and this award winning journalist is ready for more here's a sneak peek at what viewers can expect to see tonight. on politics we're tackling the latest with the headline. the n.s.a. leak immigration reform our guest republican congressman aaron schock democratic. political managing editor rachel spoke that's today on. security versus privacy. where you stand look i think what's difficult is it's not black and white in nineteen thirty six hitler made a speech once in germany and said when he did away with the warrants he said if you

have nothing to fear why should you be afraid if we search your house and they had a very low crime rate in germany and the people bought that well we have nothing to fear let them search his house there is a day that was a different time now but don't fear that danger absolutely no more to studios in the way thanks for joining us. so once again here's when you can catch the first episode of politicking with larry king tonight and you won't want to miss it. well you can't patent something that nature created on its own that's a ruling the supreme court handed down today in the case of the association for maneka molecular pathology versus myriad genetics this ruling said quote we hold a naturally occurring d.n.a. segment is a product of nature and not a patent eligible merely because it has been isolated but that seed d.n.a. is patent eligible because it is not naturally occurring we therefore affirm in

part and reverse in part the decision of the united states court of appeals for the federal circuit are to correspondent liz wahl tells us more about the background of this case and the significance of the court's ruling it was a dream court today ruled against the patenting of human genes the nine to zero ruling is a victory for patients doctors and medical researchers the ruling says quote a naturally occurring d.n.a. segment is a product of nature and not eligible merely because it has been isolated but cdn i know this is a strand of d.n.a. that has been synthesised is eligible because it is not naturally occurring now essentially this means if somebody is born with a gene if it's found naturally that a company cannot patent it but if they manipulate. or created that in that case they would have rights to it that this comes after a biotech company myriad genetics discovered an isolated to do called b.r.c.a.

one and b.r.c.a. two the company says it pumped billions of dollars into researching and eventually identifying and isolating these two genes this gene sequence patients that carry this gene are at significantly higher risk of developing breast cancer a recent high profile example would be angelina jolie she tested positive for the breast cancer gene which led to her decision to get a mystery to me a myriad said that since they found this gene that they had rights and this led to it this twenty year monopoly over researching and testing and patients complained that myriad charged unreasonably high prices for this and other companies could not do their own research because of this monopoly and develop their own testing but today the supreme court says that naturally occurring genes are part of the human body and the company found but did not create the gene and therefore does not have exclusive rights to it and this decision is expected to have far reaching consequences for the science and medical community here in front of the supreme

court liz wall r.t. well protest your little heart out that's the ruling coming down from a federal district judge when it comes to organizing demonstrations in front of the marble plaza in front of the supreme court judge carol how will describe the nine hundred forty nine legislation banning protests in that area as an reasonable substantially overbroad and a violation of the first amendment here's what else the judge said first the court does not find that an interest in allowing unimpeded ingress and egress of visitors to the court is sufficiently significant interest to justify the absolute prohibition on xpress of activity on the plaza enshrined in the two clauses of the statute and the court's objection with the no protest rule doesn't end there george howell also wrote. second the court is not convinced is also not convinced that the statute further is the second significant government interest pro offered by the defendants namely preserving the appearance of the court as

a body not swayed by external influence harold hodge jr brought this lawsuit to court after being arrested back in two thousand and eleven when he wore a sign around his neck in the supreme court plaza the protest of the abuse of african-americans and hispanics demonstrators in d.c. can still be forcibly removed if they block the entrance to any building in the city. well the second week of the bradley manning trial wrapped up with testimonies from pentagon officials talking about the damage of private first class caused by leaking military secrets the court is now in recess until monday but while the defense and the prosecution regroup the i am bradley manning campaign is out recruiting war supporters even some hollywood a listers have joined in on the cause like maggie gyllenhaal and russell brand and bradley manning supporters say you ain't seen nothing yet so let's take a look back at how this unknown whistleblower transformed into a household name. he was the unknown army private first class who brought this

video to the world is now on. because of this video and the hundreds of thousands of classified military documents he leaked he has been branded as an american traitor and is currently being court martialed for aiding and abetting the enemy among other charges. but now another video is making its way through the digital world only this one is in support of bradley manning if you sign medical things. things that belong to the public not some servers stored in a dark room in washington d.c. what would you would you do what would you do what would you do want. him privately for over one thousand and one hundred days the now twenty five year old was locked up in awaiting trial almost no one had access to him so for three years the government narrative was the only story the public and the media her. but

little by little one protest with a handful of people turned into the bradley manning support network and that turned into an entire movement we've seen the traffic on our website pick up a lot. jim the first day of bradley's trial we had forty thousand unique visitors to our website and we're seeing more in mel's more people contacting about how they can donate and how they can attend the trial the support for this week the leader has taken many forms from signs and stickers to t. shirts and petitions and we've organized hundreds of events around the world and we've had tens of thousands of people sign petitions and we've also gained a number of celebrities supporting he was nominated for a nobel peace prize by icelandic impede their gaeta jones doty or for shedding light on american military wrongdoings in iraq there has even been a graphic novel created detailing the events of the trial cartoonist claire. stokley has been sitting in the courtroom every day since the trial began using his

pen to capture the emotions of the people documenting history with his sketches the story needs to be told. because. you know after the stroke is over all will have stories on in the newspapers but we won't have the truly compiled comprehensive publishing has agreed to print the book when it is completed and already people are preordering it online explain to the people who bradley manning is what he did for julian assange even comedian stephen called where it's catching the with the leaks wavin spreading the word he's not the only celebrity drawing attention to the issue and for bradley manning supporters the celebrity power has been the key to getting the american public to pay attention in america we live in a culture where a lot of our news focuses on celebrity. where people are less focused on intellectual issues and more focused and sensationalism and celebrity so yes i

think this is an effective way to communicate to a wider public so nearly three years after the private first class committed the biggest document drop in american history and two weeks into what could be a very long and drawn out trial it seems all eyes are finally on fort meade and bradley manning for more on the i am bradley manning campaign video as one of the people who actually was involved in that video is production activist and independent producer logan price hi there logan thank you so much for joining us so talk to me about the inspiration for it for this new cap campaign this video campaign and why were so many people willing to get involved in it. well it's actually not thank you megan it's actually not a brand new campaign a couple years ago we started the i am bradley manning photo petition which you can find online and that's basically involves a thousands of people holding signs saying i am bradley manning and sort of a way of showing kind of global support and very visual support for him the video

that we just produced the video that we just produced and we'll be releasing the full version on monday and hopefully more extended content later is sort of a way of trying to bring more attention back to that campaign and to be able to make a little more visible the voices of thousands of people we were lucky to have a lot of notable folks celebrities journalists and people in iraq war veterans that cetera volunteer for the video but i think it's important to highlight the fact that it's a it's a much broader movement than just that so you use the word volunteer did you have to convince any of these celebrities are anyone to join the campaign or did most of them approach you. we approached a lot of people and mostly we just put the word out we put the word out about it as much as we could mostly we spent a lot of e-mails which i'm sure the n.s.a. could probably tell you about at this point but we we we did the best we could we didn't have much time and it was an all volunteer project so we had producers and probably five different cities helping us out and just trying to catch people where they were and where we could now i noticed that in this video you consciously chose

not to put the names of any of the celebrities anywhere on the video itself everyone was just holding up a sign that said i am bradley manning why what was the significance of this. well the video that you saw is just that is that basically we released that as a teaser because we wanted to have something to provide right as the court martial was starting and we also want to leave people guessing a little bit who might be in the next one and who a lot of those people are some of the folks in the video are journalists that are not as recognizable by face in other activists and people like that so there will definitely be a full list of everybody who is either volunteered for the video or who we've taken photos of in the in the final version so what effect does this celebrities and activists on the journalist what effect do they have on the popularity or the influence of this campaign. i think mostly what we're trying to do is make it obvious that anybody can support bradley manning i think we've also been trying to

provide as much sunlight as possible in as much attention on the aiding the enemy charge which is the treason charge that he's facing it's a capital offense and we can we do certainly didn't anticipate it but i think with the with the edward snowden the n.s.a. leaks that's become even more important so we're we're pretty glad to be able to be doing this and i think that it's just the absurdity of that charge i don't think could really withstand a public debate where wondered to truly happened so that was one of our goals with a lot of legal legal scholars and human rights organizations that are have commented on how destructive that charge could be to future whistleblowers and even freedom of the press but that debate has not been happening i think enough in the public sphere partly because the mainstream press is barely even has barely even stepped out on it even though they ought to be screaming and hollering about it right now and we know that the defense. some notable steps forward at this past week in the trial but it finally does argue whether it's a video or a graphic novel like what we saw in clark stokley is actually creating convey the

story of bradley manning better than articles or reporters can what is the point of this type of work what are you trying to accomplish. well i think you know definitely part of the story an important part of it is the breaking news that's coming out about it and you know books have been written about wiki leaks and bradley manning you know movies have been made now it's cetera and so for that story will become more well known i think it's especially important story for our generation though perhaps maybe one of the most important one of the things we tried to highlight with the video was bradley bradley manning's own words was sort of the question which i think is maybe one of the most important questions for our time which is what would you do if you had access to information that you believe belong in the public domain and that was necessary forward for people to make informed decisions within a democracy and i think that's the same question that edward snowden answered recently and then they asked the other question is then what do we do with that information and i think that for people like manning and snowden it's it's

important not just that we act on the information that we but that we protect them and so that people in the future are willing to give us that information i think that's the cost for living in a free society and i think if we don't support them if we don't protect them we will no longer be you know deserve to call ourselves a free society really very interesting well we are all excited to see what comes next from your bradley manning campaign and the full video activists an independent producer logan price. thank you. to maine now where state legislators have overwhelmingly passed a new measure requiring food producers to label all genetically modified foods yesterday the state senate unanimously passed a bill that would mandate this labeling that g.m.o. labeling mandate is almost a duplicate of the bill connecticut governor dan malloy just signed into law and like connecticut this measure will not go into effect unless five other states move in that direction including one that borders that state now because maine only has

one border state its labeling law relies entirely on new hampshire state legislature so let's look at the line up connecticut has passed the law maine is waiting for procedural votes and the governor signature a similar law is in vermont has passed the house but won't be revisited until january and massachusetts had a hearing with testimony about labeling yesterday though it hasn't held a vote so are we seeing a domino effect with these states who want labeling to discuss this i'm joined now by jim gerritsen he and his wife are the co-owners of wood prairie farm in bridgewater maine thank you so much for joining me jim now you were in augusta maine over the past few days watching these votes take place what were your impressions well i think what we are seeing here in maine is reflective of the momentum that is going on nationwide there's a vast popular uprising we are no longer going to take action from the federal

government promoted by the corporation money denying people their right to know about whether food's genetically engineer or not so something that i pointed out earlier was that all of these states are passing a bill that requires other states to pass similar measures in order to take effect why do they need the other states i mean is it small states banding together is it more about logistics or is it a way for them to kick the g.m.o. labeling can down the road. i think the reality is that maine is a small state connecticut is a small state remonde also is. working on g.m.o. labeling legislation and we're all small states the idea has been if we're able to band together and compact it's going to make it more practical for us to create enough of a critical mass to make this so that we're not going to be penalized by manufacturers from out of state that are using g.m.o.

products and are absolutely opposed to having to tell the consumers the truth about that now on the other hand will g.m.o. labeling hurt that businesses in that region in the states is it an all or nothing kind of thing where either the entire country signs on to this g.m.o. labeling or the individual states will suffer. no i don't think so at all in fact i think that we're going to see a benefit to states like maine and connecticut and vermont and then this fall in washington state there's an initiative called five twenty two and the citizens of washington will vote on that to determine who are themselves whether they want to have a g.m.o. labeling in the state of washington i think that this all is actually going to be of benefit to agriculture you know we're farmers we sell direct to work customers and what we've found is that people want to know more and more about their food it's the simple basic right to know where their food has been jeems flights through

technology which has never in the history of the world been applied to the food except in the last thirty years and the fact that this technology has been hidden by consumers consumers are angry they're frustrated that the federal government will not act in their interest and so the states are taking this into their own hands supporting the desires of their own people to get transparency in labeling and i think while manufacturers of g.m.o. products are not taking this lying down the kind of act journal reports that quote monsanto has threatened to sue states that pass some are labeling laws which is one reason why would lawmakers in several states are passing labeling legislation dependent on other states doing the same the state contacts could help defray the costs of a lawsuit so is this a major reason why all these a lot of states are depending on others. well monsanto can boldly as much as they

want this is a democracy that we live in that people only as country. corporations need to be good citizens and not try to hoodwink the american people as has been done because of what really amounts to collusion between corporations like monsanto and the federal government that have denied american citizens this basic understanding basic transparency of the food that we're eating and if monsanto wants to bully and threaten to reverse the will of the people through some constitutional challenge we're prepared to fight them in court these laws are constitutional and sound we've had constitutional lawyers go over the language in our bills before they were presented to the legislature we are confident that when we are if we are engaged in a fight in court we are going to come out on top and i'm sad i was going to have.

they're going to have to live with the the will of the people that's how a democracy works jim gerritsen carringer of the word of what a prairie farm in bridgewater maine thank you so much thank you. well this is no monkey business earlier this week the u.s. fish and wildlife service made a push to put all chimpanzees on the endangered species list right now only while chimpanzees are considered endangered while those raised in captivity are merely considered threatened the split classification has allowed the national institute of health to fund medical experiments using captive chimps for the past twenty three years now the wildlife service is throwing a monkey wrench in that rule the group says this inconsistency needs to be corrected conservationist groups such as the humane society and the jane goodall institute argue that this action will phase out testing on chimpanzees for research on human diseases and make it illegal for exotic animal traders to transport chimps across state lines currently we have about one thousand one hundred fifty

chimpanzees in the united states that are used for medical research and entertainment and are being breeding or are being housed in accredited facilities according to chimp care now according to estimates by the international union on the conservation of nature more than one million chimps have disappeared from the wild since the start of the twentieth century and fewer than three hundred thousand remain in the wild around the world and that's going to do it for now for more on the stories we covered go to youtube dot com slash r.t. america and for the latest and greatest information on all of the stories that we cover today and a few that we just did not have time to get to check out our website r t dot com slash usa and don't forget to follow me on twitter at meghan underscore lopez be sure to tune in for prime interests that's coming up right after me and also be sure to tune in for the five pm show i've got a wonderful tech top coming up for you it's thursday so we're going to be talking all things technical including the cloud and what the n.s.a.

phone records scandal means for people using the cloud. well. science technology innovation all the latest developments from around russia we've got the future covered. you know how sometimes you see a story and it seems so poorly you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realize that everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm target market is a big picture. goal or. decision to leave.

the worst your goal is the only white house to give it to the radio guy and for a minute. they want. to give you never seen anything like that i'm told.

good afternoon and welcome the prime interests i'm hereon boring in washington d.c. let's get to today's headlines so what. does goldman a gary gensler is on the way out as tammy. of the derivatives industry regulator the commodity futures trading commission this is after spending three years implementing dodd frank recently suffering a losing battle with fellow commissioners and also after the office of inspector general released a damning report in may on his performance or lack there of them in the m.f. global did walk call a front runner for his replacement is yet another goldman sachs employee amanda and tara though she spends most of her young career as a senate staff.