russia's president puts the world out of its suspense revealing n.s.a. whistleblower edward snowden is still hiding out in the transit zone of a moscow airport. moscow rejects watching his demands that snowden be extradited saying he has even crossed the country's border. and travels presidential palace rocked by blasts and gunfire as taliban fighters attack only a week after the u.s. hands over security to afghanistan's government announces peace talks. seven pm in moscow i'm mattress a good to have you with us here on r t our top story this hour russia's president

vladimir putin has revealed n.s.a. whistleblower edward snowden remains in transit at a moscow airport that means he has never officially crossed russia's borders this follows a mad chase by the media who ended up flying all the way to cuba even though the man wanted by the u.s. on espionage charges wasn't even aboard let's get the latest from artie's to say standing by live at sheremetyevo airport t.v. give us the latest please. right mad at this spy story keeps becoming intriguing as the day unfolds now according to president putin who was that taking questions from journalists. at a together with his counterpart the president was what is the will is snowden and of course the u.s. relations and all the hospital rhetoric we've been hearing in the past couple of hours now mr putin said wait snowden did comment to moscow it was an absolute surprise the other but however he was eighty one. passenger and he's still in the

transit zone he has never left the airport and never been on russian so therefore we don't know where air where his whereabouts odd besides the fact that he was in that transit zone now of course in terms of crossing into russia you would need of these up to get into russia president putin said he's happy that at least snowden did not break any laws when he comes or to russia that he did stay in that transit zone where you would continue to a towards a wherever you was going to to the next journey now because there's been a lot of rhetoric between the u.s. saying that to those who are seeking to help us should snowden get to us they pay the same that they need to send him back to the u.s. he's wanted for those charges against espionage now and that the president also went on to actually say mr snowden is the one like one other whistleblower that we all know julian a son who's wanted for extradition and is holed up at the ecuadorian embassy he

went on to say i also accuse do you think such people need to be extradited to be put in jail people who want to trust and up before they human rights and people who want to spread freedom of speech going on further the reactions from the us away you know a he's also said that wherever possible he does not want to deal with these issues particularly where he made a comment about taking a pig to the barbershop and trying to get him to sit still while you're trying to cut their hair off the pig and said that he does not want to get involved with that those issues are issues that will continue and i don't say that still so he does not want to involve himself with that he also went on to say that entails obvious commitment and the rhetoric that's coming from the u.s. he said that he hopes that his counterparts in the u.s. can calm down a little bit and just listen to what russia is saying thing that we have no contact with this man we have we are not. helping snowden we know he's been in the country

into the transit zone of a moscow airport hence he has not broken any laws and in terms of actual dighton him we know that russia has a presence said has no treaties or with the us to extradite anyone as yet and that request has not been formally requested by the us had to to moscow i mean the story in the logs of forty eight hours the u.s. has been very very strong in terms of their rhetoric saying that edward snowden needs to be brought back no one should be allowing him to travel anywhere else but to the u.s. early on we heard from the foreign minister of all russia saying that they did not know where snowden was and the fact that everybody keeps saying that russia is hiding him is not true as are they are just like us here by the airport saying where is snowden the search continues for snowden and we hope that the next couple hours to be able to share with you some of those reactions from the president russian from russian president putin mattis all right art his top on my sorry life

for us outside german to where port thanks very much for that update. well the very fact of snowden managing to get a jet of journalism off to cuba without him has some people shaking their heads where others are coming up with all sorts of their own full blown conspiracy theories as to what's really going on here let's take a look at some of the ones that have been floated in the headlines for now so when the new york times for one is published an article alleging it was all a show put on by russian security services the k.g.b. style operation intended to cover snowden's tracks plus there's the comedy value of setting dozens of foreign journalists to the caribbean on a flight that doesn't serve any alcohol twitter also joining in on the discussion here are some of the tweets that we found entertaining what have snowden never existed at all i would certainly explain why he's nowhere to be found saying one or he may indeed be off to cuba but not to have an onboard aeroflot but maybe to another part of

a certain bay in the caribbean country and then some of the theories being more sinister suggesting he may already have met his end where no one will ever hear from him that coming from the twitter verse there also we heard from best selling author and activist nomi wolf who lays out why she thinks snowden may actually be a u.s. government double agent with his leaks an escape plan being far too neat and perfect saying his it all looks to spectacular besides she thinks he also has an improbably good looking girlfriend for a guy like him to be for it not to be an attention grabbing a hoax of all this she thinks illustrates how the u.s. intelligence was behind this whole story to let everybody deliberately know that they are being spied on but we spoke with daniel ellsberg another prominent u.s. whistleblower who exposed the so-called pentagon papers back in one thousand nine hundred seventy one and detail washington's controversial decision making during the vietnam war he thinks very few people have matched snowden sacrifice. i think he would be in much the same cell as bradley manning if not in the same cell or

quantico any could be under the national defense authorization act he could be in military detention but even if not he would be in a jail cell somewhere as incommunicado as bradley manning is for the last three years so i think he was very wise to make as voters outside of this country and i think that we should be listening to what he has to say because what so far i've heard him say is very eloquently put in shows much better judgment than those of his colleagues who went along with it is clearly unconstitutional but that they were all participating in i would say the charm carries calling him a traitor is just trusting and he's no more a traitor than i am and i am not all that words used above me by a president and a vice president both of whom by the way to lost their office for criminality nixon and new i think he is in the tradition of me can hail the first american to

be convicted of tried in fact for giving secrets to americans he said i regret that i have but one life to give for my country because his country was america and he was hanged by the british it was a spy for george washington i think that edward snowden has shown a willingness to give his life for this country and there is no american i believe more deserves to be honored at this moment. washington's anger reaction to snowden's departure from hong kong has caused resentment in china the foreign ministry said accusations and criticism were baseless but as our he's got h.q. on reports the u.s. isn't happy with the explanations. the white house says hong kong officials had received washington's request to arrest no then and still made quote a deliberate choice to let him go so washington clearly takes it as a snub from china here's the president's press secretary we are just not buying that this was a technical decision by a hong kong immigration official this was

a deliberate choice by the government to release a fugitive despite a valid arrest warrant and that decision unquestionably has a negative impact on the u.s. china relationship we were never there in response to the u.s. request to arrest noted in the government of hong kong issued a statement saying that the documents the u.s. provided did not fully comply with the legal requirements on the hong kong law but also in that same statement the government of hong kong said they wanted more information from the u.s. government about the hacking of computer systems in hong kong by u.s. government agencies and that was one of edward snowden's revelations snowden gave china a great political counterargument to u.s. constant accusations against china now the u.s. can't accuse china of cyber attacks without being accused of hypocrisy so there is an interesting dynamic behind all this the u.s. one and china where the semi autonomy is a government of hong kong to give them the man who had leaked u.s. secrets but one of those secrets is about activities of the u.s. government against china so it's possible that china's dilemma was to either think

edward snowden or to arrest him hong kong says they've done everything in accordance with their own laws now as far as russia edward snowden has been in transit in russia and russian authorities say they have no legal authority to arrest him but u.s. politicians and pundits on television use what seems like a cold war rhetoric to present washington as the enemies that snowden is helping and the imagination of some german is running. wild as they joke about how edward snowden is being briefed by the russian president in one form of social also on one of the news channels that russia and china are going to use this to embarrass the u.s. one should argue it's known as revelation. that embarrass the u.s. not russia or china but that's exactly what's happening now u.s. policymakers are doing everything possible to divert attention away from snowden's revelations and certainly one of the one way of doing this is to present it as a cold war style cat and mouse chase that way you have us media now almost cheering

for edward snowden's capture although just a little while ago some of the same journalists were grateful for great for a greater public awareness of the fact that the u.s. government is spying on millions of people who have done nothing wrong and of course has no illusions as to what lengths the u.s. government will go to catch him edward snowden also said it's not government persecution that he fears most he said the greatest fear that i have about the outcome of these disclosures is that nothing will change from how it's developing it doesn't look like things will change for americans anytime soon but for the wall be occasions of his revelations could be significant for example the fact that the u.s. now can't accuse china of cyber attacks without being accused of hypocrisy. i mean supernational said the u.s. shouldn't hunt down edward snowden and other whistleblowers who disclose human rights violations director of law and policy for the group michael behind tells me that the treatment snowden may get in the u.s. alone is grounds enough for refusing to extradite. we know from from other cases

that that for example in the case of bradley manning that individuals have been subjected to what not just we but also u.n. officials have called cruel inhuman and degrading treatment and that's that's yet another potential violation of human rights law to which somebody shouldn't be subjected it's a reason not to extradite with regard to the crimes we've noted that because he's being charged among other things under the espionage act under nineteen seventeen law in the united states there's no possibility of appears to say look the reason that i did this is because the information is in the public interest my disclosure may have been unauthorized but the public interest outweighs that that the state's interest in keeping that information secret. or whistleblowers heroes or criminals or both should their motives be questioned or not artie's abby martin so it's down with our t's a new host larry king to exchange tricky questions in breaking this set later this

hour take a look. that's question mr snowden poses a motive. but that's taking away from the ashcroft that what was you know more than that for him but he had a motive didn't he now if his motive was outre wish to widely flee. because i don't want to face the same fate as bradley manning he doesn't want to face fate therefore he wouldn't stand up for what he stood for right yes she in other words we could go on like this a little what i draw to do in asking questions is i do the best i can over my career and ask you the best questions i could those in the best answer and hopefully the audience make up their own mind how do you see this kind of attack on journalism ever before or do you see that this is the worse it's been terms of crackdown of whistleblowers of the obama administration etc i mean whistle blows or the miers i never cried on never heard of a court dollars for right now. why would the normal is what i he's already charged

the surgeons' the eighth person in charge of the f.b.i. . jack the world war one piece of what if the nature of the war but isn't the government breaking the law i don't know so do you think that and are they now do you think obama's bringing along absolutely anyone on the beach absolutely so then you're not you're a journalist with an opinion. of course. if it were up to do you ever seen anything like that. stay with us after this short break coming up we switch gears a little bit for some live analysis of the taliban's brazen raid in afghanistan's presidential palace stay with us.

speak to language. programs and documentaries in arabic it's all here on the. scene from the will talks of the ip interview intriguing story for you. to find out more visit. it's called.

sixty minutes past the hour now taliban fighters have attacked security forces near the presidential palace in kabul hours before president how many cars i was to hold a news conference there this comes as the u.s. helps afghanistan pursue peace talks with the insurgent group which is refusing to remain ounce violence journalist courtney body has more from the afghan capital. the scene lasted just over an hour and while no civilian casualties have been reported in the afghan forces did manage to get the attack under control relatively quickly the fact that it did happen at the presidential palace they used id cards and vehicle id cards. or was. made when i saw forces use reportedly and the fact that they were even able to breach that gate what i saw from the outside of the gate it's more of a blast wall around the green zone area as they were dry and holes in the concrete

walls and in the entire gate was destroyed apparently one vehicle was able to get inside and then one was stopped at the gate and then that's when the attack began it would seem as especially considering this attack happened right when the peace talks are being negotiated with the taliban and then the attack happened on the presidential palace it would not seem possible that the afghan side could continue forward with the peace talks when they're being attacked not even just on their own soil but right in there in their presidential palace. u.s. efforts to bring the taliban to the negotiating table have led to yet more violence artie's losing friends who joined me here in the studio with more on this so it is you who's got the upper hand in afghanistan right. oh man it's it's really confusing for a lot of people right now one thing is for sure the taliban appears to be seizing on these seismic changes happening in afghanistan seeking out power vacuums where

they wherever they appear it's now crossing the divide between legitimate political force and violent insurgent group the taliban now has an office in katter giving it a base for its political ambitions that may include a run for the presidency next year when karzai steps down it's also been given a boost by america's readiness to open peace talks with an enemy it's been fighting for more than a decade but the withdrawal of u.s. troops and the handover of security to afghan forces has also opened up a window of opportunity taliban fighters have launched a wave of attacks across the country aiming to destabilize and undermine the weak security forces and authorities nineteen people have been killed since the handover of security their latest target today at the very heart of the government was the presidential palace in kabul. still tons of oil a political analyst and former afghan m.p. told us it's the exit of u.s.

led forces that allows the taliban to launch assaults like this this was probably one of the most strategic penetration. to send a signal to the afghan government that while they're opening an office in qatar they are also continuing their military assault on a very important targets i think. this is the result of. war fatigue by foreign forces as that would draw gets closer you will see more aggressive behavior from the olive oil and so this is this is going to escalate not decline in my opinion. so many are left wondering what the point was for america to fight for over a decade then negotiate with an enemy that seems as willing and able as ever to use violence and as likely as anyone to possibly regain the presidency. or i will have

to see how this all shakes out thanks very much artie lindsey friends for that update. will stay with us here on our t.v. we've got plenty more for you and there's plenty more online a click away at our team including a big bank scam being uncovered we were poor and how ireland financial institutions pushed politicians into handing out billions of euros to avoid bank meltdown in two thousand and eight and there's no hint of it any being paid back war on that including leaked tapes of private conversations between bank tycoons. plus when the past catches up germany opens that investigation into a nazi s.s. commander who's been living in the us for more than six decades after reportedly sneaking into the country claiming he never fought in the second world war all that and more a click away at our teeth dot com. water

becoming a rare commodity for many palestinians taps in the homes of arab villagers in the west bank run dry in much of the time and not only is israel not apparently listening but it's blaming the palestinians themselves according to artie's poll smear. the taps in hum of mohammed's home are there more as a sign of hope there's been no water through them for five long months but. the municipality does not give us water as these should water our pipes twice a year early minimum guiltily an hour's drive north and or did he start another day in the office the mayor of the fact settlement has lots on his mind but not a lack of water we have one big water tank with supplies water also to both the arab villages which are on the other side of the security fence where basically they get their water supply from the water tank off the front more than three

hundred thousand palestinians across the west bank are not connected to water network according to palestinian human rights groups israeli officials say the number is less than half that since the one nine hundred sixty seven occupation all water resources are exclusively in his radio better joint group established back in one thousand nine hundred three to ensure supplies has left the palestinians short changed here israel has repeatedly made as a condition for its approval of palestinian projects that the palestinian authority approve new wells and pipelines for israeli settlements the palestinian authority mainly because it's desperate for water for its population has approved virtually every one of the israeli settlement projects palestinians were left behind. the european community wanted to invest their money that the palestinian authority will have such systems like we have in

a fraud like we have in the whole of israel unfortunately what happened their money was taken all misused and basically found itself in private bank accounts by the leaders of the palestinian authority despite repeated requests these rady water authority declined to talk to r.t. its website says israel has not only fulfilled its obligations to provide water to palestinians but exceeded them it accuses palestinians of breaching the agreement by drilling and authorized wells failing to eat a sewage and of not developing any leaking into liesel since. the fact of the matter is that a shortage of water is not a problem for israelis whereas it's a daily struggle for tens of thousands of palestinians something that's a little difficult to swallow. especially for the hundred thousand people living here in the west bank's biggest understatement fifty nine on this man it's his job to direct what little she does to a different neighborhood each day we believe he may be two thousand cubic me that

a bit of the. it means that. we we need seven thousand to give people. the police have been given them and twenty people might come in to these wife have the water pipes to the home open and the rest of the time they use a well bringing up what this will do so they can do and i'm clean wash. and surviving polluted theocracy in the waistband. turning now to some other stories making global headlines this hour brazil's president proposed a referendum about widespread political reform and pledged to spend twenty three billion on public transport he was trying to placate those involved in massive protests across the country despite her efforts to free transit activists group has launched more demonstrations pledging to continue until all their demands are met. french police have detained six people suspected of planning assassinations across

the country they're believed to be a part of a radical islamist terrorist cell according to authorities the group consisting of four french nationals and men from by name and commerce may have also been involved in an armed bank robbery france is on high alert for potential terror attacks since his operation in mali against al qaeda linked militants. the lebanese army seized a complex in the southern part of the country controlled by hardline sunni militants around sixteen soldiers killed in two days of clashes with the followers of a maverick cleric who also supports anti-government rebels in syria fighting seen as a test of the weak government's ability to contain anger unleashed by the syrian civil war. a jailed kurdish militant leader launching new peace efforts to end three decades of conflict with turkey these negotiations come amid massive protest against the country's prime minister the kurdish leadership wants to give more rights to the kurdish minority which makes up twenty percent of the country's population kurdistan workers party guerrillas are currently withdrawing from

turkish territory with some reports saying almost half of them have already left. and updating our breaking news this hour russia's president vladimir putin says fugitive n.s.a. whistleblower edward snowden not only landed in russia but is still in the transit zone at sheremetyevo airport that means he hasn't crossed the russian border officially and doesn't need to go through passport control putin responded to demands from the u.s. saying russia can't extradite anyone to a country with whom it has no extradition treaty he also compared snowden's case without julian a songe and stressed the futility of hunting down whistleblowers. if you do it with snowden's cases similar to another one that of julian assange both called themselves defenders of human rights and fight for freedom of the nation you have to ask yourself do such people need to be hunted down and put in prison by personally i would like to avoid kids like this one so it's like sharing it big it takes a lot of effort but produces little it was. just

a few minutes latest edition of breaking the set with abby martin stay with us here on r.t. . anyone who lives in the us knows that the i.r.s. does not play around one honest or dishonest mistake could get you in a lot of trouble even a longtime friend of mine got his entire life savings destroyed due to some simple honest error you think that workers in an organization that could punish you for your financial failings would be very sharp with their own money but that's sadly not the case according to an audit report from the treasury inspector general for tax administration at the very least one thousand iris employees have abused the charge cards they were issued to cover their official travel expenses some of these

people are very high on the ladder including an executive level official a criminal investigator and multiple ploys with security clearances much of the abuses related to employees writing checks for big purchases which later bounced due to accounts being empty yeah the people who could ruin your life for what little financial folly seem to have no problem over drawing while they are living it up on taxpayer funded travel to keep things in perspective the iris is a huge organization so one thousand abusers is a minority but in the spirit of fairness i think these card abusers should be punished just as harshly as normal people who run afoul of the i.r.s. but that's just. a pain.

to live on one hundred thirty three bucks a month for food i should try it because you know how fabulous bad luck i got so many i mean i have way and sat down i believe that i'm seeing the same thing really messed up. in the very soul of sleep the. worst we're going to fly down superman to the radio guy in fort lauderdale minestrone. i want to quote did you never seen anything like this i'm so. happy monday guys i'm not going to break in to said there's a lot going on this weekend simply not enough time to cover all in thirty minutes let's get started and let's break the sets.