coming up on our t.v. in afghanistan the u.s. has announced plans to hold peace talks with the taliban and the international coalition and u.s. forces for starting to withdraw from the country what's the future for afghanistan to try to answer that question and more straight ahead turns out the f.b.i. is also watching u.s. citizens from the sky that admission came today from the head of the f.b.i. will testifying before congress we'll have a look at this program and the lack of transparency as well as strict guidelines. another day in the mass protest of priscilla one of the reasons most people are taking to the streets they're upset over in the sports stadium being built with taxpayer dollars the same thing is happening here in the u.s. so why are there no protocol to look at that issue later in the show.

it's wednesday june nineteenth five pm in washington d.c. i'm margaret how well you're watching artsy. we start off in afghanistan where nearly twelve years of a war in the country the u.s. and the taliban say that they will begin talks now about ending this war afghan president hamid karzai is not so keen on the peace talks though and announced today that he will not participate unless the process is afghan led the u.s. and taliban meetings are planned for this week at the taliban's new office in doha qatar which saw a lavish opening this week the news came just hours after tuesday's ceremony in kabul that celebrated the handover of afghanistan's security control from the u.s. and allied forces the afghan army and police well this marks the final stage of the international coalition troop withdrawal planned to be completed in two thousand and fourteen televen spokesperson spokesperson mohammad name so that they would use

all legal means to end what they call the occupation of afghanistan but not say when they would immediately cease finding the jihad continues to end the occupation at establish an islamic emirates to achieve this goal they will follow every legitimate means the emirate of the taliban with its military effort has a strategic goal related to the future of afghanistan the movement is not intended to harm any other parties and will not allow anybody to use afghan territory to threaten other countries but the fighting continues defense officials say that for u.s. troops were killed in a deadly ambush tuesday out or nearby air base in afghanistan so when the fighting going to end what's next we're afghanistan i was joined earlier by michael o'brien author of america's failure in iraq he discussed the murder of the four troops and what this says about the current state of security and stability in afghanistan.

well you know the thing is that if troops are being killed you know it's all it's all relative you know what it what is what is peace what is what is with troll. if troops our troops are being killed while these announcements are going on and all the ceremonies are going on that we were just talking about as you said there's still oil of there's still still violence going on in afghanistan and the sad thing about it is is i i have to hearken back to the to the past you know the beginning of this segment what is it thirteen years now that we've been there and things were going so well all all those years ago before the bush administration went into iraq so it all it all comes back it goes starts the earth it comes back to the president all the stuff that's going on right now and here we are entering talks with the taliban the the very entity that we had up against the ropes they were down for the count they were gone we had overthrown the

taliban regime everything was going great and then we just dropped the ball when we went into iraq and here we are all these years later. going into new to peace talks with the men in doha per you know which is where the u.s. used to have its have its base so it's it's just very ironic certainly interesting to say the ways michael so i want to talk you know about defense contractors and there were all they played a very controversial role in both iraq and afghanistan what's their role going to be a coming up when the troops leave afghanistan well my contention is and i talked about this at length in my book and i've mentioned it in many interviews since is the fact that we are employing mercenaries there are about one hundred eighty thousand contractors in iraq right in afghanistan right now about fifty or sixty thousand.

military forces mostly us. yes there are which are going to be drawn down and it's really kind of interesting because he can almost equate it to the u.s. government here in the states you know we we lower the number of federal employees and we replace them with two or three contractors and all we talk about is the government the size of the government is shrinking but the cost is going through the roof but we never talk about that same thing is happening with the u.s. military all anybody talks about media or anybody talks about is soldiers in uniform but under the radar are contractors wearing civilian clothes you know the baseball caps you know the goatee like i got on the and the and the sideburns and the tats ole over in the cargo pants and they're all they're all former military or former policeman here in the states they're most an aries and we're employing a d o d n state and everybody is employing civilian mercenaries ok michael so if we

if we go on what you're saying are we really withdrawing if we leave these contractors them place depends on who yes the yes i'm asking you are we are we withdrawing american citizens no way they're going up through the roof it is it is it is a contractors market and i was a contractor in iraq for fourteen months companies that are employing contractors of every stripe mercenaries truck drivers cooks whatever the companies are making a killing because if you pay a mercenary one hundred grand you're paying the company that employs the mercenary three fifty ok you know so if americans soldiers going down americans going up is two different things i want to take you know it's you that's how about it's my understanding that the u.s. met with the taliban secretly in two thousand and eleven and now we're meeting with them formally openly letting the world see it what do you make of this and how do you think these talks are going to play out well let's just leave it. as drugs

you're in america it's the same time i mean you know they're legalizing pot in colorado it's the same thing if you can't beat them hold hands with them we can't beat the taliban because we just like vietnam we're making a conscious decision not to win so we might as we'll you know sing kumbaya with them and that's what we're doing with the taliban there right now we're running out of time michael i want to get to this next question quickly if the attacks can ten year and they go she actions with these islamic radicals from the taliban take place can you say that the campaign in afghanistan was a victory no just no way forward no no the can because what did we go there for we went there after nine eleven that's where al qaida was at the as the welcome guest of the taliban we were going to take out al qaida out of afghanistan and take out the taliban regime out of afghanistan that was our goal with going near where are we today taliban still in power and if they're in power al qaida is probably

waiting to come through the back door so of course it's a failure if it would be of success if the taliban regime didn't exist anymore and if cow al qaida was not in afghanistan and was all for all practical purposes did and neither of them has occurred so it's a failure i'm telling great to see you michael we have to leave it there that was michael o'brien the author of america's failure in iraq president obama spoke at berlin's brandenburg gate earlier today calling for quote more efforts to limit the spread of nuclear weapons the president has said he is confident that the american strategic nuclear weapons could be our duce by one third while still maintaining u.s. security in mr obama also said that he would seek to renew negotiations with russia to end what he referred to as cold war nuclear posture r.t.s. peter all over has more on obama's speech and berlin. one of the major points

though that was made by the u.s. president this keynote speech in front of the historic brandenburg gate was that he wants to see a third one third reduction in u.s. nuclear weapons now he said he would be contacting the leaders leaders in russia to try and coordinate some for the plan and there he did praise the the work that's being done with the new start treaty saying that that would limit the amount of nuclear weapons in the world to two nine hundred fifty s. levels however he said he wanted to make that go further and wanted to try and push it on a little bit more by one third and be speaking to the russian leadership about that now fred thank you very much for talking to us just what type of reaction has. received from people here in berlin i think people were disappointed as you already mentioned five years ago there were two hundred thousand people listening to a bomb and this time they were like four thousand handpicked people most likely to

be american that's just like two percent of what he could gather as a senator people are disappointed with obama being a president a lot of people from the left because obama will clean up the. presidencies of george bush jr. bring in more transparency into government actually the opposite happened were consumed with the n.s.a. prison scandal. probably one of the biggest intrusions of people's privacy not only in the u.s. but also in europe between demonstrators here on the streets of berlin claiming at the n.s.a. our stance the two point zero i mean feelings pretty strong isn't it oh it's very strong especially in berlin it's the come it's the fifty's anniversary of j.f.k. speech in a. divided balloon and it's just now accompanied by the scandal actually freaking out that the n.s.a. is much more effective from spying than the starving stars you could ever dream to fredrick road from european students to liberty thanks very much for talking to me

that's all we've got time for that was our peter oliver. well the head of the f.b.i. was back before congress today and made a surprising admission robert mueller told congress that his agency has in fact used domestic drones for surveillance on u.s. citizens this latest admission comes amid a month of scandals for the intelligence community including that revelation that the n.s.a. has been snooping through e-mails and phone records. explains take a moment today and look up at the sky above chances are that you will see birds and planes and clouds but something else is flying high above that likely won't catch your eye drones and those unmanned vehicles are being used to spy on u.s. citizens outgoing f.b.i. director robert mueller acknowledged as much at a senate judiciary hearing today with this explanation does the f.b.i. are use drones for surveillance on the u.s. sure yes. i want to go on to a question that

a well let me just put it in context there are very very minimal way and very seldom so there you have it it was the first time an f.b.i. official has gone on the record to acknowledge the use of you a.v.'s in american airspace but it didn't come out of the clear blue with respect to them using drones not so much it was reported that they used drones in the hostage situation here in alabama from the n.s.a. surveillance scandal to robert mueller as testimony on capitol hill today we now know that the government not only can monitor americans using cyberspace but also using american airspace now the f.b.i. claims that it only has a few obviously way views and its possession but given the advancements in drone technology these machines can fly at very high speeds to cover huge distances and then hover for hours so what few drones might be all it takes to keep an eye on an entire nation but something surprising did come out of the hearing today the facts

that the f.b.i. has not yet set up a way to regulate you a.v.'s so instead of asking a question i think i can assume since you do use drones that the f.b.i. has developed a set of policies procedures and operational limits on the use of drones. and whether or not any privacy impact on american citizens will we are in the initial stages of doing that and i will tell you that our foot foot footprint is very small so the f.b.i. and other government agencies are using drones without having a policy to protect the public and that has the electronic frontier foundation and other privacy advocates very concerned it's a very kind of learning technology to use particularly first the balance because her stand that we also understand that there are potential goodhue says for this the hearing was likely the last time robert mueller will testify in front of the senate his term is set to expire in september and. president obama is expected to

nominate former bush administration official james komi to take over but don't expect a new face to embrace the drone program as the technology progresses as they become cheaper as different technology can be added they'll be used more so the next time you look up in the sky smile big brother just might be watching in washington meghan lopez artie associated press had gary pruitt spoke today about the department of justice and their seizure of the news organizations phone records parties liz wahl was on hand to hear mr pruitt's take on that investigation and its effect on journalism take a listen now the administration has come under fire lately for its secrecy and lack of transparency from revelations of the n.s.a. is widespread surveillance program to snooping on journalists we have seen scandal after scandal today associated press gary pruitt spoke at the national press club about the chilling effect all of this has had on the media some of our longtime

trusted sources have become nervous and anxious about talking to us even on stories that aren't about national security and in some cases government employees that we once checked in with regularly will no longer speak to us by phone and some are reluctant to meet in person now the government may love this i suspect they do . but be where the government didn't love secrecy too much as the justice department violated its own rules in obtaining some pain does according to the justice department's own rules are supposed to make these searches narrowly drawn and they're supposed to notify news organizations before obtaining or seizing their records pruitt says neither of these things happened in this case so this was an unprecedented intrusion into a piece of news gathering records we had never seen anything like this before and

it was an intrusion by government officials that was so broad so overreaching so secretive that it violated the protective zone that the first amendment provides journalists in the united states of the justice department has described the leak in this case as very serious and possibly pose a threat to national security this is among if not the most serious in the top two or three most serious leaks that have ever see it put the american people at risk and that is not hyperbole the a.p. maintains that they did not or they held up on publishing this story until they were sure it did not pose a threat and the a.p. is not alone the justice department tracked in obtaining e-mails from fox news reporter james rosen a c.b.s. reporter recently came out saying that there was proof that her computer was compromised now the obama administration is giving attorney general eric holder until july twelfth to come up with improvements on this process of obtaining

information from the press in washington liz wall r t. one year ago today wiki leaks founder julian assange sought refuge in the ecuadorian embassy in london he's been granted asylum in ecuador but u.k. officials will not allow him safe passage out of their country the standoff between a songe and you care for days could leave him trapped inside that embassy for years to come and it's costing the british taxpayer millions. more from london but this being one. since julian the son's first walked up those steps of the ecuadorian embassy here in knightsbridge in london now the wiki leaks founder had sought asylum after the u.k. supreme court refused to really pin his appeal against extradition to sweden where he's wanted for questioning over allegations by two women of sexual offenses allegations which he denies it's been one year but if the end any nearer in sight and does do you live in a cell and still is being worth it we very rarely get

a glimpse actually what goes on behind and we've been able to speak to two minutes on himself to find out how he's feeling when you're out. every day that we principles we truly. consider this when i was in solitary confinement in prison here in london for about half an hour and my conclusion was of. course it is worth it one mustn't of course. throw away your ability to act it's very important to keep your ability to act in various ways and i have kept my ability to at the organization preserve its ability to act. after these struggles but i'm very comfortable and happy with what we have accomplished and i'm sure history . and just to many very very well and. all the other day and healing of the sonship

window by the balcony behind me with those foreign minister he's been visiting with him ahead of this meeting with his you take counterpart william hague you know it's a well that's the press conference held by acquittals foreign minister immediately also with the ecuadorian government will continue to ensure that julian assange keeps receiving the protection we're giving him under asylum in our country protecting his life his personal integrity and particularly his freedom of expression has come from. iman continues but the wiki leaks founder hasn't still he's made numerous appearances throughout the world's media and of course continue to make sure that his message to support the whistle blows continue to be heard in fats even providing inspiration for some of the most recent high profile whistleblower is in fact speaking recently about the n.s.a. whistleblower edward snowden today in a song's cool. indeed many to describe it in

a song since though. it was our two sarah firth reporting. thousands of brazilians took to the streets for a second day in a row in what's been dubbed a brazilian spring to demonstrate outside the national stadium in the capital capital brasilia many are outraged the country is spending millions on a new stadium for the world cup and the olympics take a look. there are. you ok. cross the country police have used tear gas pepper spray rubber bullets to break up demonstrators the crowds are voicing their concerns about how brazil is spending money on stadiums and instead of much needed social programs well here in the

states taxpayer funding is doled out in support of stadiums too but where's the outrage here in the u.s. political commentator sam sacks takes a look at that issue. it is sponsibility to organize the thoughts though the cup in two thousand and fourteen do it in continent receive that was six years ago an announcement that the world's biggest soccer tournament would be coming home to brazil for the first time since one thousand nine hundred fifty but with one year to go until the tournament kicks off this is what's happening in brazil this week. at least two hundred thousand brazilians have taken to the streets all around the country with massive demonstrations in major cities like sell paolo and rio de janeiro cities which are also currently spending huge amounts of public money on sports stadiums and security in preparation for the global soccer tournament next year and then the olympics in two thousand and sixteen and demonstrators want to know why billions of dollars in public money is being

funneled to build extravagant sports stadiums while schools hospitals roads and water facilities around the country are crumbling a sentiment summed up in this now viral you tube video so world cup is going to add up to about thirty eight billions of dollars that's more than the last three world cups at a together they added up to about twenty five billions now tell me in a country where illiteracy can reach twenty one percent on average than herself a country that ranks eighty five in the human development in the x. a country where thirteen million of people are under sat every day and where many many other people died waiting for medical treatment is that country need more stadiums to make matters worse to raise even more revenue the public services in brazil have been cut and bus fares have been increased a move that sparked the demonstrations around the country last week and the nation's poorest have suffered the most as favelas are bulldozed to make room for

new tours destinations as many as one point five million families are expected to be forced out of their homes before the world cup kicks off meanwhile private real . state developers construction companies and multinational sponsors are doing very well securing huge contracts and preparing for a profit bonanza when the world flocks to brazil next summer but what happens to the broader brazilian economy after the games are over in two thousand and ten south africa host of the world cup and the country was only able to recruit a tenth of the nearly five billion dollars spent to prepare for the games meanwhile fifi the international soccer governing body made its money off south africa's hospitality collecting billions in television and marketing rights so it's no wonder why brazilian taxpayers feel like they're getting a raw deal but this is a debate that should also be very familiar to americans since every single year a new cash strapped city decides to divert public funds away from essential

services and toward corporate sports owners who want to build a new stadium in detroit the n.h.l. is red wings are seeking millions from the state to build a new arena meanwhile the city itself is under the control of a financial manager who's desperately slashing spending on public services like education in atlanta the falcons want to construct a new billion dollar stadium and they want taxpayers to put up two hundred million dollars for construction and then even more than that over the next forty years to maintain the stadium and in chicago where fifty public schools will be closed mayor rahm emanuel wants hundreds of millions of dollars to be diverted to a new sports stadium for de paul university a private school so crony capitalism and corporate welfare for sports owners isn't just taking place in the developing world it's a booming industry right here in the united states too only there aren't hundreds of thousands of people protesting in the streets of detroit or chicago demanding

better use of public funding and more accountability and while government officials in corporate sponsors in brazil and the united states think that building mega. state of the art sports complex is a sign of progress that will benefit the economy you have to wonder what good are these stadiums if they're building cities that can educate their kids but can't provide health care to their sick and where the citizens don't even seem to want him in washington same sex are two it hasn't exactly been the easiest political season for canadian politicians who've been mired in scandal after scandal after scandal first up toronto mayor rob ford has been accused of smoking crack on camera this alleged video has yet to be released but he's still in office next up montreal interim and mayor michael applebum who resigned yesterday after being arrested and charged with fourteen counts of fraud and conspiracy among other charges and applebaum took office for the last mayor of montreal gerald tremblay who left

office in november after evidence surfaced that his staff allegedly took bribes his corruption probe is still ongoing and finally london ontario joe fund tanna who is currently under indictment for misusing public money for his son's wedding he plans to seek reelection that is if he doesn't make a pitstop to the slammer first to discuss these scandals around canada i was joined earlier by were non levine a political science lecturer at the university of toronto i started off by asking him what he made of these scandals going on just north of the border. i think there must be something in the water that corruption just seems to be an infectious disease where you actually described was actually not even the full story the mayor of the city i was in mississauga which is a suburb trying to put by itself i think it's the fifth largest city in canada she's been facing conflict of interest accusations and on friday this country the

case against her was tossed out on a technicality so there is a rod and rod for the mayor of toronto that you mention in the cocaine this alleged cocaine smoking scandal his case may be heard by the supreme court of canada no one else tomorrow so there's conflict of interest or corruption allegations going on the left and right and there's a lot of canadians going what is going on. you kidding aside it's actually appears to be a whole bunch of unrelated issues of course greed is greed and politicians are politicians and in these cases each one of them it's a matter of either votes that were taken in office where they didn't clear that they had a personal interest in what was going on bribes they were seeing from developers and it all points to what although a lot of canadians are quite attentive to politics but local politics and cans are not party politics and where is the federal and provincial level here in canada

they tend to deal with parties that enforce themselves and keep people out of the party who are not playing along at the record level there does seem to be a bit of a lack of oversight into what some of these local politicians were able to get away with or were able to get away with until now and with two mayors now out in montreal the mayor in toronto under a serious cloud and mirrors in mississauga in london ontario under suspicion or under accusations people are looking and wondering whether or not this is a big problem that needs to be addressed what seems to me professor levine scandals up there even they're. classified as up the skirt or hand in the till as canadians would say so even prior to this may oral scandals canada has some very questionable players i want to talk to you about that political system is it in itself the problem. why don't you you know i did american who's living in canada and

one of things my point out to people about welcome politics in canada is that it's a lot like the united states that make a way out of all our city governments which are nonpartisan so they're not away going to far which member are you proud of they're not allowed to have recall we're . going to think that these candidates need to build independent political bases are things that we as americans understand this is normal for us that was for non living in a political science lecturer at the university of toronto scarborough. finally tonight some sad news from the world of journalism award winning reporter michael hastings has passed away we learned last night that hastings was killed on tuesday in a car accident in los angeles history was a reporter a buzz feed and a contributing editor at rolling stone he had appeared on r.t. numerous times the discuss the war reporting hastings is probably best known for his two thousand and ten rolling stone article on general stanley mcchrystal in the

article mcchrystal and his top aides were critical of president obama and his handling of the afghanistan war after that was published mcchrystal step down journalist michael hastings was thirty three years old. we'll look at. sunny's technology innovation called the least of elements from around russia we've gone to the future covered. you know how sometimes you see a story and it seems so for lengthly you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realize everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom harpur welcome to the big picture.