will this summit be remembered as the last step before still another disastrous western intervention in the arab world. coming up on r t washington is becoming a political battleground congress is still debating u.s. military intervention in syria we'll tell you more next and in war torn syria the violence has reached a small town near the nation's capital it's a village that holds one of the oldest christian minorities in the world the growing concerns of this community coming up and don't forget to put your best face forward the department of homeland security is putting together a huge database for facial recognition but does this really help law enforcement more on that and today show. it's friday september sixth five pm in washington d.c. i'm lynn neary david and you're watching r t we begin today with syria as the

debate for and against a military strike continues in congress president obama cleared a major hurdle this week by gaining approval from the senate foreign relations committee as they voted ten to seven on their own version of military authorization however it hasn't exactly been easy for the administration to continue that momentum giving a full breakdown on the numbers behind this fight is r t political commentator sam sax i've long believed that our power is rooted not just in our military might but in origin as a government of the people by the people and for the people and that's why i've made a second decision. i will seek authorization for the use of force from the american people's representatives in congress and with that president obama dispatched his top secretaries to congress to make the case for military intervention in syria but

today after a week of hearings both opening classified in the house and in the senate the president's plans to get congress on board are falling apart yes on wednesday the senate foreign relations committee move forward an authorization for force in syria and a vote before the full senate is scheduled next week but the senate is not where the president's problems a lot it's in the house republicans and democrats are lining up together to oppose any military intervention in syria our he's been on the hill all week and here were some of the responses we received from skeptical lawmakers unintended consequences for the result of the united states getting involved in this civil war is my concern is a member of congress i came here today with a very open mind. to hear the argument of why we need to strike syria and still today this administration has failed to show me the direct threat to the united states of america the question is what's best for us what's best for americans we

are not under attack none of our allies are under attack there is a reason why we call the department of defense the department of defense it's meant to it's have to defend us and our allies against attacks that hasn't happened yet we have absolutely no guarantee it won't expand no guarantee of peace in the region a lot of american money spent some american blood maybe american lives and i'm very concerned we have no guarantees that we'll be successful now based on what you heard right there it's not too much of a surprise that early whip count from the house to the president's authorization for force going down in a resoundingly feet here the numbers coming out of the house so far there are one hundred seventy three lawmakers still undecided but of those who have made up their mind. anzor close to it only twenty six support strikes and eighteen are leaning toward a yes vote on strikes now on the flip side eighty five members plan to vote no and another hundred thirty two are leaning no you add that together that equals two

hundred seventeen votes the resolution is defeated the president stymied sensing this debate is slipping away president obama announced that he would address the american people on tuesday to make his case and he's got his work cut out there too as a reuters poll this week showed fifty six percent of the american people opposed strikes only nineteen percent support strikes so what is going to happen what will the president do if he can't get congress on board well this morning his deputy national security adviser tony blinken told n.p.r. that strikes are off the table without the go ahead from congress he said quote the president of course has the authority to strike but it's neither his desire nor his intention to use that authority absent congress backing him but when asked specifically whether this was the case the president today refused to limit his options i did not put this before congress.

just as a political force or a symbol of deputy national security advisor said it is not your intention to attack if congress doesn't approve it is he right i don't think that's exactly what he said but. i think i've answered i've answered the question so the president refuses to rule out going alone in striking syria that under his own admission he was elected to stop wars not start them and now as he's reversing this position in light of what he believes is a moral imperative to act he's losing international support he's losing congress and he's losing the support of the american people so is this war really worth it in washington same sex are to. and while top administration officials try and convince congress here at home but a military strike is necessary president obama is seeking out support from the international community abroad at the g.

twenty summit meanwhile on the ground in syria the battle for control has continued with fervor just yesterday government troops along with a legit al qaeda linked rebels fought for control of one syrian christian town north of damascus called ma lula there have been a series of strikes and attacks on the village which holds one of the oldest minority syrian populations the residents of speak the ancient language of aramaic which scholars believe was the language of jesus the attack highlights fears among syrian christians and other minorities that an alternative to assad's regime would not tolerate religious minorities earlier today i spoke with archbishop from karim of the syrian orthodox church i first asked him to give me a sense of how mali fits into the demographics of syria. very ancient town ne of the mask is and it is on the list of the heritage.

center is the us coalesced. is made of mainly christian and some muslim families who have lived together for many centuries peacefully. is one of the very few towns and cities in syria where make is still spoken. of course the habitants of my rule originally come from the aramaic people of syria which was the dominant race in syria before islam now many are around malula. are biased through language and through other things but my really kept its make. identity in addition to the syria population of the north east of syria in the jazeera has. and the two villages around it but. the only places where i make in different dialects it's just that it's a rarity in a south that i wanted to move on and ask you how you would describe the experience

so far for syrian christians in particular even pre-sell been targeted there throughout this conflict malula is no different than other christian and claves and population of christians in the large cities they have always felt that what's happening in syria right now is against their own interest as citizens of syria especially as christians as it's well known and documented christians and the as a rule. have lived relatively very peaceful. conditions and the government and the syrian population have been really nice to the christians because the christian after all these inhabitants of syria the original inhabitants of syria therefore keeping the christian prison in the middle east especially in syria is a richness and is. enriching the syrian society therefore they always stood

with. the country i cannot say with the government because they love the country and that's why they think the current regime is good for christians it's a secular regime and they are very much afraid of what comes after if this regime is so let me ask you how would christians be affected by u.s. military intervention in syria they'll be affected quite badly and let me just give you of some examples so far we have lost quite a few priests we have two oz bishops prominent church leaders the two reasons of aleppo you're one and. since april twenty second we have no word about their bows we don't know where they are we don't know what happened to them we are hoping and praying they're still alive and they will come back but they have been kidnapped by by elements who are affiliated with al qaida so what happens if syria god forbid is ruled by groups affiliated with al qaida are we going to have

another afghanistan the year let's just look at iraq although the government there is not affiliated with any muslim. muslim but the christians being driven out of iraq in their hundreds of thousands sticking of iraq you know i wanted to ask you if syria does border iraq and of course they're seeing a lot of sectarian violence right now do you think that what's going on in iraq is instigating what's going on in syria i don't believe so i don't believe it's instigating but i do believe the elements in iraq are making things things much worse for the syrians there are of course as we hear from the news there are people coming through iraq through turkey through jordan and through lebanon there are elements of extremists who come from all the way from of guidance then and and those pics that and other countries such as saudi arabia and qatar they are fighting in syria they are doing their jihad in syria yes. they are making things

more difficult for christians because these people who come outside of syria do not understand. this syrian society they do not know how syrians live together peacefully side by side for many centuries christian and muslims they come there blinded by their hatred and by the convictions they want they want to implement sharia. extreme norms in syria my at my feet my feel is that one day will come if god forbid this government is stopped with that we christians have to make a choice either to leave our country or homeland or to be converted or otherwise be killed there to be martyred and i know they your fear is shared by many many syrians particularly christians in syria will keep our eyes peeled and we're hoping for the best to thank you so much archbishop archbishop from kareem from the syrian

church for joining us we appreciate it thank you thank you for having me just this year we commemorated the tenth anniversary of the u.s. led invasion of iraq and we mark the twelfth year of u.s. occupation in afghanistan and while president obama was once a critic of the officials who led us into these wars his rhetoric on syria is starting to sound awfully familiar artie's perry and boring has more nobel peace prize recipient president obama is calling for military action in syria this is the same former senator who spoke out against the war in iraq now obama is pursuing military intervention in the sovereign country that borders iraq do you think that we have to act because if we don't we are effectively saying that even though we may condemn it and issue resolutions and so forth and so on. somebody who is not shamed by resolutions can continue to act with

impunity for writing about how president george w. bush went to the un security council to coalesce the international community to evade iraq at the assumption they had weapons of mass destruction we now know there were no weapons of mass destruction today obama is calling on the global allies to intervene in syria because of the alleged use of chemical weapons by syrian president bashar assad and obama's calls are so very similar to his predecessor homie heavily criticized and was awarded the peace prize the iraqi regime possesses biological and chemical weapons today we've released an classified assessment detailing with high confidence that the syrian regime carried out a chemical weapons attack the states like these and their terrorist allies constitute an axis of evil arming to threaten the peace of the world this kind of

attack threaten our national security interests by violating well established international norms their military approach in the middle east is in lock step and again we can hear president obama and the bush using the same tactics to win over the public using language that would pull on the coldest person hard to trigger an emotional response and moral obligation to capitulate and to their support of military efforts this is a regime that has already used poison gas to murders thousands of its own citizens a government chose to deploy these deadly weapons on civilian populations leaving the bodies of mothers huddled over their dead children when those videos first broke and you saw images of over four hundred children subjected to gas. obama's efforts to gain international support have not been asked

successful as president bush however only nine percent of americans surveyed by reuters think president obama should intervene in syria's civil war today military intervention is harder to sell because the public is not behind it and maybe that's because they've heard the same story before and washington i'm parian boring r.t. president obama is on day two of the g twenty summit taking place in st petersburg russia today eleven countries including the united states have issued a joint statement on the syrian crisis in response to the use of chemical weapons it says we call for a strong international response to this grave violation of the world's rules and conscience that will send a clear message that this kind of atrocity can never be repeated those who perpetrated these crimes must be held accountable our correspondent and lisa now only brings us the latest report from st petersburg. i was elected to end wars not

start a u.s. military intervention in syria dominated talks at the g twenty but if obama was looking to gather overwhelming support at the summit he didn't get it in st petersburg no military solution to see if. there is no military surge. we will not participate in military action aside from france turkey and saudi arabia a few countries expressed outright support for obama's proposal of a military strike in a joint statement they condemned the use of chemical weapons blaming the office of government and called for some kind of response but they stopped short of backing a u.s. attack on syria summit hosted president putin accused of being behind a chemical weapons attack near damascus. that he says was carried out to discredit the syrian authorities. just as the way. i view

everything that happened with the so-called use of chemical weapons in syria was a provocation by the rebels who count on help from abroad from those countries that originally supported them that's the reason for this provocation i also want to remind you that the use of force against a sovereign state is acceptable only if it's done for self-defense and we know that syria hasn't attacked the u.s. and only if the un security council approves such action as one of the participants of our discussions on the issue put it yesterday those who do otherwise put themselves above the law. obama continues to insist also it was behind the attack and he was wait for the u.s. response assad's regime brazen use of chemical weapons isn't just a syrian tragedy it's a threat to global peace and security the u.s. president is due to address the american public on tuesday and try to make his best argument for an attack on syria one that failed. you convinced global partners at

the g twenty just to give you a better idea of who exactly is opposed to military action in syria along with russia you have china india indonesia argentina brazil south africa and other countries' economies of the g twenty did six signed a joint statement condemning the attacks back in august they do believe that also it was behind it and the joint communique goes as far to really hand that they also support these countries five passing the u.n. vote russia and many other partners here think that's a very dangerous precedent that's going to be set up and what will happen then to smaller countries what will happen with north korea how will they see this kind of late a brazen overstepping of international law what kind of precedent will that set up in terms of trying to convince north korea per se to get rid of their nuclear program so very hot debate here over the past two days but it should be said that

leaders are leaving st petersburg with no kind of solution on how to move forward with syria that was artie's a niece and now we still ahead on our t.v. if you thought their online encrypted was locked down again the n.s.a. is able to crack most codes that and more after the break. dramas the truth be ignored to the. story others will say you know to. put strange worlds right. to picture the states. for us to. look.

well. i think. i'm. i think i think. everybody feels that you know the price is the only industry specifically mentioned in the constitution and. that's because a free and open press is critical to our democracy right albus. role. in fact the single biggest threat facing our nation today is the corporate takeover of our government and our press cynical we've been a hydrogen lying handful of transnational corporations that will profit by destroying what our founding fathers once will just i'm tom are going to get on this show we reveal the big picture of what's actually going on in the world we go beyond identifying the problem to try and rational debate and

a real discussion critical issues facing america if i ever feel ready to join the movement then walk a little bit there. one of the only ways to shield against government surveillance is to use online and christian tools that help users communicate securely but the national security agency has seen to crack the code and have been doing so at least since the year two thousand this according to the latest secret documents leaked by former n.s.a. contractor edward snowden we now know that both the n.s.a. and its british counterpart the g c h q have made millions of attempts to gain access to encipher data sent over the internet according to the reports n.s.a. made a huge breakthrough back in two thousand and ten when it found a way to monitor large amounts of data flowing through the world's fiber optic cables these spy agencies found ways to gain access to data sent through virtual

private networks which are frequently used by businesses and privacy conscious users to conceal ip addresses that means that the digital scrambling used to protect trade secrets medical records and more have all been unscrambled by the n.s.a. in addition the spying organization has been covertly working with technology companies to get access to user data according to budget documents quote the n.s.a. spends more than two hundred fifty million dollars a year on its side guy and enabling project which actively engages the u.s. and foreign i t industries to covertly influence and overtly leverage their commercial products designs to make them exploitable it is unclear which technology companies are working with the n.s.a. however back in june in a guardian q. and a edward snowden said that quote encrypted works but that users would have to use strong crypto systems and make sure that software is properly implemented.

if you thought the license plate readers were invasive just wait until you hear about the latest scan around the block it's called the biometric optical surveillance system and the government. newest advent in facial recognition software according to recently released boyer documents from the electronic privacy information center we now know that the department of homeland security is making considerable progress on a face scanning tool the system works by using video cameras to scan people in public and then identify them based on the characteristics of their face the technology operates by cross referencing state and federal databases of driver's license photos and mug shots and one of technology will certainly aid long foresman agencies privacy and civil liberty advocates are now heavily cautioning the ways in which the system can be in abused to discuss this more i was joined earlier by our t.v. producer adriana who said oh i first asked her about the system the f.b.i.

is separately developing called the next generation identification program and what the differences between that system and the homeland security tool. honestly the short answer is not much because you know official recognition it actually works around the same way which is you know you take a picture it scans of your face usually head it scans and then cross references with a database usually an existing database at this point that actually goes and measures different points in your face in order to make an i.d. right the only difference in this case is that the department of homeland security has a much bigger area in order to be able to call this data and be able to cross-reference it from as you pointed out earlier the us has driving records has different places for being able to come in here and going to ask us to pretty much everything absolutely well thirty seven states already have their own sort of state system and they are all incorporating features of facial recognition software

so how exactly what's the plan here how are they going to be working independently or is there some plan for the states to be working well heed to any of these programs being able to succeed or the key to success is really cooperation. none of these states are an island in of itself so in order to be able to get that data and for data to be valuable in any way they have to be able to identify. different red flags that are in different areas in order to better safeguard from you know any criminal activity any acts of terror so on and so forth so the different faces of law enforcement have to work together in order to just be able to identify these things before tragedies or crimes are committed so this has to exist before hand and of course law enforcement agencies claim that this is going to better help their operations help them catch criminals but why is this going to be such a threat to our privacy well what's interesting is you know it all boils down to

how this information is being used because it's only it's only we would only expect this to happen that technology would modernize and heard a catchy. with the way that the world works today right but the problem always lies in how it is being used and how it's being gathered and how at the end of the day how is it going to affect our daily lives right so that's when that problem comes into play it's when we don't know exactly what how and why and when this is going to be used and of course defenders will say well i mean we have no reasonable expectation of privacy when we're in the public well that's interesting right because we live in a you know in a society right now are things posted everything's uploaded right like you dislike you do all these things right but in that situation there is an actual relationship where the user or the poster itself is actually sharing that information right there actually choosing to share that information and posted it move it forward in this case however that sort of you know that sort of agreement doesn't exist so in

other words you are not willingly giving up any information you're not willingly giving your consent in order for this to be gathered in order for this to be used so that's again where you know privacy advocates sort of you know come in and say hey we don't know the extent of this so that's why we're worried right now. and what about legal oversight is there any are there any regulations or does the government sort of have free reign on that i mean with all the disclosures that we've seen so far things two. things to the latest from edward snowden and so on and so forth that continue to just roll out every couple of weeks almost we see that essentially there isn't any oversight right that's the big problem or the oversight that exists is secret so we don't know exactly how things are being you know take into account how things are actually being monitored if they're being monitored in which way what are they what violations are occurring so we don't know

because that information is not available to the public so that's also a big part of this conversation right is to be able to create said mechanisms in order for this to exist in order for all of this to coexist in the state should i finally i want to ask you you know in the case that we willingly do give up our information we post our pictures all the time of our family of ourselves is that all just you know fueling the fire in the fire especially well what's interesting is you see like in the case of facebook for example we also know do you know disclosures that these companies are working together with the government in order to have to obviously work with the government in order to share information right so it would make sense that the information that you would see would be used in some way shape or form in order to correlate in order to just you know paint a picture a bigger picture of what is happening right so it only it only makes sense i wish we had more time to talk about it america is all you have thank you agent and i was there all for joining me appreciate it thank you. little girls around britain are

throwing away their barbies and grabbing poles strip down poles that is in the u.k. now several hundred youngsters are estimated to attend classes in pole dancing or pole fitness as it's called and those numbers are certainly growing to critics who say it will encourage young girls to use their bodies in a sexual manner well one mother claims that simply not the case she said it's just gymnastics on a pole were nothing to do with sexy strip clubs it's not about sexual moves so perhaps it's all just part of a new pole dance craze after all there is a highly coveted competition in the u.k. now called miss pole dance u.k. is it just me or do you think this could be the pageant of the future and that does it for now for more on the stories we cover go to youtube dot com forward slash r t america and check out our website r t dot com ford slash usa you can follow me on twitter adam you're a david and i'll see you right back here at eight. more

news today violence is once again flared up. these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada. chile corporations are on. course there was a new alert innovation scripts scare me a little bit. the reason breaking news tonight and we are continuing to follow the breaking news.