downcast and dejected edward snowden rethink his plans in the face of intense u.s. pressure a lawyer involved in the case says the whistleblower could remain in russia. scaring the scots the british government goes on the p.r. offensive telling scottish voters their independence could cost them a heap of problems ranging from lower salaries to larger phone bills. and photos of western weapons in the hands of pro assad militias emerge online sparking fears the us government could not control where its arms may end up.

thanks for joining me this hour we've got life news and analysis for you i'm lucy caffein of and you're watching r.t. well the man who is supposed to america's global surveillance network may be looking to settle in russia at least in the medium term edward snowden has been stuck at a moscow airport for three weeks now trapped by a manhunt the scale of which has even surpassed the whistleblower himself r.t. as andrew farmer has the latest on snowden's plans. we've now learned from the lawyer representing mr snowden that russia could become his permanent you home if he does receive temporary asylum and will allow him to live and work freely in russia for one year and after that we are told he might apply for russian citizenship he told me he told me that he's going to stay in russia and i do not i do not rule out that he made a statement permanently and become a russian i'm a russian citizen the rules and rights and responsibilities while the lawyer added that mr snowden has been down while he's been holed up at sheremetyevo airport over the last three weeks and he was very surprised at the intensity of the manhunt but

he says that his client mr snowden has every chance of getting asylum and says the main reason he has asked for it is because he fears for his own life if he returns back to the u.s. when asked by migration service agent why he chose to prosper titian in russia and why he came here who replied that he fears for his life and well being and also fears that he could face torture or execution and what he says sounds quite convincing as the u.s. still administers both capital punishment and torture now edward snowden has also said that he would not release the documents which could damage u.s. interests while he is on russian territory in his words mr snowden has said that is something he can do it is an important point though because president putin has made this a precondition for asylum and he says that. has been russia's role to take a humanitarian stance and the actions it is taking should not be regarded as

hostile towards the u.s. and he also said that mr snowden's actions were actually in defense of human rights . human rights work usually carries some cost for those involved when this work is done under the auspices of the united states government with its financial and political support it's quite acceptable but when someone criticizes washington the situation becomes much more complicated the incident with the bolivian president's plane illustrated this well in the coming days he should receive these documents that will allow him to go through passport control here at this airport and then come through the exit and on to the russian soil profit because remember at the moment he does not have a valid passport or visa but these documents should arrive with him we understand within the next five days while his application for a temporary asylum is processed which could take up to three months the next thing

is that he would require accommodation is not something he would have to look for effectively he's probably a man feeling much more it sees this afternoon and it could be a new life and a new chapter for him here in russia. snowden's snowden's pardon me asylum request to russia is assumed to be a stopgap measure and if moscow does granted he'll find himself with some breathing room to pursue longer term asylum in south america are to contribute or option to tang's a says that it's been a diplomatic nightmare for all involved. these applying for temporary asylum presumably so we can just go about his business as a normal citizen walk into the venezuelan embassy in moscow walk into the ecuadorian embassy and fill out forms and papers the obama administration was so quick to just say right make him a known citizen and cause him trouble in this way well they didn't just go that route so drabble because most. governments trouble notably the bolivian one with the high jacking drama to place a few weeks ago. good to make lots of allegations in the press and you'll see them

in lots of right wing newspapers that the national security agency is a beacon of freedom and without their ability to surveil your skype account your outlook dot com account and recent revelations about microsoft the forces stationed in iraq and afghanistan would sustain formal casualties what rubbish we know the american government in the surveillance state is desperately seeking around to prove that they need to be able to be through all of our e-mails all of our phone calls for our own security. now we here are closely following the twists and turns in the snowden song both on air and online r.t. dot com also there you can watch the full interview with the russian attorney helping the former n.s.a. contractor with his asylum request. scotland's make or break referendum next year is seeing london feverish lee trying to keep britain together with an anti split campaign that sometimes verges on scaremongering parties probably boyko

reports on exactly what westminster is doing to persuade the scots to vote no. it's just a very yeah and still scots have to answer a simple yes or no question about whether or not they want to break with the united kingdom the scottish national party says there's absolutely no doubt that scotland has the potential to be a successful independent nation with a strong economy but the british government wants scotland to state in the united kingdom. i believe that england scotland wales northern ireland we are stronger together than we would. it is time to speak out whatever the consequences because something very special is in danger but sense of danger is one that the british government has recently been accused of playing on too heavily though in the run up to the referendum westminster has been busy publishing papers on how it believes independence will be bad for scotland the latest and most bizarre caution is about

mobile phone bills a new government paper suggests that if scotland breaks away then scots visiting the u.k. and using their phones will need to pay extortionate very ming charges the scottish government has already debunked that myth saying that all roaming charges in the european union will be abolished in twenty sixteen but according to whitehall scotland might have to reapply to join the european union as well the british government has also been keen to remind that the royal mail and the post office will no longer be for scotland should they choose independence nor will the two hundred or so public bodies that deal with bureaucratic procedures such as issuing driving licenses managing roads and even broadcasting such as the b.b.c. if well that hasn't put off for any of those considering voting yes in the referendum next year well a recent think tank report has cautioned that an independent scottish army would

struggle to defend itself and what about money well the scots say they'd like to keep the pound something the u.k. chancellor george osborne has been quick to dismiss so if the scots choose independence it could be no pound no easy you know army high phone bills and not even any royal mail to use as an alternative their piece of cautions have led to accusations that the anti independence campaign is engaging in scurrilous scaremongering what we're getting now is the kind of fear factor managing you can't be part of a single currency union a sterling union if you have independent you can't have this you can't have got no these are big. substantial debating point but it should be used as a gun to the heads of scores if you want this is going to be a punishment scotland's first minister has already said that the british government's so-called project fear isn't going to work as we go through that to be every. month.

how more horror film the release of caution zone obscures subjects' has reportedly angered senior figures in the u.k. government by dwelling on petty issues such as these many say that only giving credence to the scottish nationalists. see london well earlier my colleague rory sushi and listen to both sides outline the key pros and cons of a great british break up some say scotland is the richest part of the u.k. outside of london so perhaps scotland actually could go it alone. i agree with that i think scotland could go i think it would be economically viable and i think that's still it's still a big risk it would create a lot of economic uncertainty for instance what currency would scotland use that examined consistently given different answers on that what would its boring rate credit rating be we need much greater detail on this but i think scotland.

countries of similar size which do you wish do well on their own but i just think that scotland is better for being part of the u.k. the u.k. is better for having scotland as part of it the truth of. if we are breaking with where we want no truck with illegal wars which cause security problems we want no truck with the standard to which cause great deal of issues for people that are facing not just job losses but actions from their own homes and we have the opportunity here to build a society which is in fact did advance of everything that waste most is doing just no should we want to oppose war we want to we want to oppose the states and in their place we want to see scotland taking a peaceful role in the world but we also want to see scotland it's actually building an alternative to the market into new liberalism which let's be honest is one rump in which minister. there's been a fourth day of protests across the united states over

a controversial court ruling thousands are angered by the acquittal of the killer of an unarmed black teenager and even the country's attorney general wants a deeper debate on gun control and racism stories coming up ahead also for you the world student games conclude in russia we sum up the event and the criticism it's had ahead of the closing ceremony stay with us that's coming up in just a bit. zacky what happened there i don't know. here's a. as for ever arrested for. for a crime i did not do. we have numerous cases where police officers lie about polygraph results. people to confess the police officers don't beat people anymore i mean it just doesn't happen really. in the course of interrogation why because there's been this is like meant no because the psychological techniques are more

effective in obtaining confessions than physical abuse and they were taking they could do what they wanted they can say what they wanted and there was no evidence of what they did or what they set. us laws on self defense gun control and racism need revamping this as according to the country's attorney general thousands of americans have crowley to cross the country in the past few days ever since the acquittal of george zimmerman

a florida neighborhood watch volunteer who had killed a black teenager by the name of trayvon martin last year now it was ruled to be self-defense even though trayvon was on armed let's discuss the verdict now with florida attorney randy reaps are welcome to the program as an attorney in your view on the verdicts here was a justified. us jurisprudence that we don't want we're the jury comes back with that verdict the jury must be right because they're the ones he's charged with determining. and so i mean i'm i'm curious of course this is an emotional case that has as we mentioned rallies all across the country what is the role of race with in this case from your point of view. plays a role in the public and you view will be i'm a criminal defense practitioner sure in that regard and i watched the case closely and i don't think it played out at all now is it a legitimate discussion about race relations in the united states here in two thousand and thirteen i think that's equally valid well at the same time i mean

look if you look at the system granted perhaps this case wasn't necessarily the proper forum where to have this discussion but still if you look at the legal system in the u.s. overall you have more men from young black men from the ages of eighteen and twenty it's going to prison than college what does that say from your perspective about the legal system in the u.s. well you know i'm a i'm an offshoot of the court and i have a lot of faith in a lot of pride of the criminal justice system but you're absolutely right the statistics bear out exactly what you're saying. unit of of minority races go to prison it's also true if you look at that from an economic standpoint the poor are just portion we represented in our prisons. and i do apologize for our viewers i think we're having some sound difficulties here but i do also want to ask we did hear that the justice department may be pursuing civil rights charges against mr zimmerman on one of the grounds and how likely in your view are those to succeed. i

think it is very unlikely that they would bring four federal civil rights charges against mr zimmerman because what that would potentially essentially me is that it would be a hate crime they haven't been able to prove yet that it was a crime against mr zimmerman to add in the additional element that it was race initiated would make that case almost impossible to prove and i'm also curious the u.s. attorney general had mentioned they want and he wants a deeper debate as you had said on self-defense gun control and racism laws do you believe that any change in federal or state laws could follow as a as a fall out from this case i actually think candidly as a father who that debate it happens and that we have rational gun control laws follow this isn't the only case that involves firearms it is a tragedy in modern u.s. history unfortunately there are far too many of them so if we could have an additional oh debate about that that's good for everybody certainly more debate in

order thank you so much florida attorney randy for that. america and europe may be squarely behind syria's rebels but large numbers of high caliber u.s. and european weapons are circulating among the other side internet images of shiite militia men fighting alongside president assad's troops with western arms have emerged feeling concerned that washington won't be able to control where its weapons and up is r t is going to reports. weapons don't discriminate us made arms are now showing up in the hands of iranian

backed militias fighting in syria analyst philip smyth points to photos with hezbollah fighters coating us made m. sixteen s and m. force fitted with laser and holographic sights as well as an two or three grenade launchers how do they go in there and if there's a will there's a way and if you want to get let's say and i'm two or three grenade launcher on an m. four car being we'll find a way to get it so long as you have the right amount of money and the right amount of for connections it's not clear whether the weapons were captured stolen or bought on the black market this weapon might be. in the hands of hezbollah from. military me of course illegal but i don't believe that is and. could be the source of this weapon iraq similar us designed weapons appear in the hands of syrian rebels including fighters with

a front and al qaeda affiliate the us has designated a terrorist group it shows the alarming tendency for the weapons to change hands in unexpected ways but despite this the obama administration has decided to directly arm the rebels in syria a move supported by washington's hawks we can give them the heavy weapons that they need who's there who's them i know them i've met them there they're unfortunately presented him with carrying some of the rebels he met in syria were kidnappers and his office had to issue a statement saying the. did you did not know that when he agreed to do a photo op with them but not everyone in washington thinks flooding syria with more arms is the solution a group of congressmen have introduced the legislation to block an unauthorized u.s. military aid to syrian rebels or given that the law prohibits any military assistance to syrian opposition forces unless congress issues a formal declaration of war since our nation's security interests in syria are unclear risk giving money and military assistance to our enemies there's great

ironies supporting the syrian rebels one will be supporting forces that are associated with al-qaeda the two thousand and one use of authorization of force said specifically that we could go after the taliban al qaeda and associated forces we will now be one of those associated forces because we will be allied with al qaeda against assad the voice of caution comes not only from the president's opposition in congress but also from former administration officials for us to think we can influence or determine the outcome of that i think is a mistake i thought it was a mistake in libya. and i think it is a mistake in syria we overestimate our ability to determine outcomes you may think that the u.s. has learned the hard way that by forming friends you may be arming your enemies but it seems that with leaders yet again are ready to take that risk in washington i'm going to take on. well with us now to discuss the issue of weapons and the syrian

conflict as former cia officer ray mcgovern sir thank you for joining us i'm curious of course we've heard from the obama administration they announced about a month ago that they would arm the syrian weapon the syrian rebels with weapons those weapons have not started flowing yet the pros and cons of this decision in your view. well the list of pros is very short i can't think of any pros right now but the cons are immense even israel and israel's mouthpieces in the u.s. congress have come out against supplying arms now i don't know what obama was thinking a month ago before he made that declaration and the washington post to one of the pro israeli newspapers here has wept bitterly that not one bullet not one bullet has gotten there after obama pledged it all right now seventy percent of the americans are against giving military aid to anyone in syria and even the chief

israeli spokesman spokeswoman in our congress he honestly didn't and has said this would be folly she's against it too so this is incredibly ironic that there is an interest that israel has and some of the nato concert in our government to keep the pot boiling to keep sunni and shia at each other's throats not only within syria but it was in the whole area and but there are enough weapons now to blow around even rowsley and recognizes that she can't prevent us weaponry from hanoi going into the hands of people who might try to vegas in the longer run and sarah i mean let's keep as israel out of this we are looking at the situation in syria but i'm curious i mean you've been in the cia been in washington for a long time can you think of any historical examples where the introduction of weapons by a third party country into an internal conflict has had some sort of a positive outcome. unless you go back to world war two

but i have to tell you that leaving israel out of this conversation is a great mistake because israel is one of the major players and i don't see how you can discuss it without mentioning israel well certainly there are many major players in this conflict it's not unfortunately it's not really an internal civil war at the moment there are so many regional players with stakes involved and i'm also curious about the spillover effect and we've had for example on the news today that a pro assad a media commentator had been shot dead in lebanon the united nations has now warned that the conflict the escalating violence in iraq cannot be separated from what's going on in syria what has been the fallout so far on the regional on the country is surrounding syria and how do you see that unfolding what bothers me most is people talk about great power politics here political maneuvering please please one

point eight million syrians so refugees ninety three thousand syrians are dead now is it beyond is it beyond the capability of the great powers and i'm talking about the united states so we have so you know russia and china and the other interested states in the area of the middle east is beyond their capabilities sit down at a negotiating table and use their influence and their weight and their ability to provide or deny arms to to force a sensible solution where i think the list figure is. six thousand six thousand syrians are leaving syria every day over the last month this has got to stop this is humanitarian crisis approaching what happened to wonder and for people who are talking about great power politics well that really seems irrelevant we don't think about human need to go to think about people being killed

unnecessarily and the united states should play a facilitator role in stopping it and they can't get these rebels whom they are arming who greeted come to the conference table that is a scandal well certainly a massive humanitarian crisis on an unprecedented scale it does deserve more international attention former cia employee ray mcgovern thank you for that analysis which of them. well the world student games are coming to a close in the russian city of cazan the host country is overwhelming lead in the medals count has been somewhat marred by criticism that moscow has been politicizing the games more now from our teams paul scott who is at the games venue . well for the last twelve days because has played host to more than thirteen thousand student athletes from over one hundred sixty countries now these games boasted more sports than ever before and there were more gold medals on offer than even at the london olympics last summer three hundred and fifty one gold in total

that is a record breaking number tens of millions of people have watched these games worldwide and russian estimates say that seven hundred thousand spectators have descended on over the last fortnight well russia topped the medals table by some margin as well they only have one hundred fifty one gold medals to their name. in second place who have just twenty four and it has led to some people suggesting that russia politicizing the games in their intent to enhance the nation's sporting reputation added what is going to be a massive decade of sport for the country now this criticism stems from the fact that russia do have a number of professional athletes competing in their ranks up against the amateurs . who are the games governing body the committee that oversees the games they check every athlete for eligibility and their credentials and the rules are the same for anyone and for russia's part they say that less than ten percent of their entire

squad is actually made up by professional athletes now the other criticism of being a indication the organizers is the cost of the games at the start of the games russian estimates said that the games cost four point five billion u s dollars now that's not just a one off payment organizes jesting it's not a one off payment for a twelve day party it's a long term investment not just in the future of russian sport in the next generation of sporting athletes but also in the city which has undergone a huge renovation in the last five years there's a new transport network new hotels a new student university campus and of course thirty new sporting venues have all been built from scratch as for now well all attention turns to the stadium behind me where tonight's closing ceremony is set to take place. i'll be back with more news in about half an hour but before then a continuing look at the powerful interests behind the genetic genetically modified food industry to stay with us.

i would rather ask questions for people in positions of power instead of speaking on their behalf and that's why you can find my show larry king now right here on r.t. question more. news if she could leverage or meet him mccurry was able to build a new most sophisticated robot which on fortunately doesn't give a darn about anything tombs mission to teach me the creation of life should care about humans in. this is why you should care watch only on the algae dot com

primarily it's to allow the crops to drink poison. herbicides. eighty five percent of all the g.m. crops are sold with the herbicide that it's designed not to die from. so roundup ready soil is designed not to die from around the purpose of genetic engineering is on the coat tail of conventional and culture that is characterized by the proliferation of chemicals fertilizers pesticides herbicides fungicides all of these chemicals have. costs in on energy production they have cost in environmental cleanup this is self-propagating genetic pollution we have no technology today to fully clean up the damaged gene pool maybe we will in the future. but we're not feeding the products of a good food science to the entire population and release even to be viable where

they can never be recall. any scientists who tells you they know that g m o's are safe and not to worry about it is either ignorant of the history of science or is deliberately lying nobody knows what the long term effects will be geneticists dr david suzuki genetically engineered foods go through a rigorous review before they are approved the review includes analysis of the trams sharing plant versus its parent and there's a standard that you have to meet called substantial equivalence they have to be equivalent in terms of nutrients have to be equivalent in terms of processing they really have to be basically indistinguishable except for the transgenic trait the concept of g m o's being substantially equivalent to comes from the first bush administration when under heavy industry lobbying.