coming up on r.t.e. in geneva diplomatic talks between john kerry and sergey lavrov continue over the fate of syria the word world waits to see if a deal is made to avoid u.s. military intervention the latest on the tox up ahead. and in new york a judge has ruled in favor of strippers against rick's cabaret and then had a night club was sued for denying workers a minimum wage pay more on this victory for workers' rights coming up and in a lawsuit to remove in god we trust from u.s. money was does mitt dismissed the atheist groups behind the lawsuit claim that having the phrase on u.s. cash violates the separation of church and state we'll tell you more about this case of god and green later in the show.

it's friday september thirteenth five pm in washington d.c. i'm lynn neary david and you're watching our t.v. we begin today with continuing diplomatic negotiations over the syrian crisis the head of the united nations chemical weapons inspection team announced today that the report on syria was complete and will be sent to u.n. secretary ban ki-moon this weekend this report will determine whether or not chemical weapons were used in syria on august twenty first but it will not determine who may be responsible for their use meanwhile the international envoy for syria lock darpa he need today held a three way meeting with u.s. secretary of state john kerry and russian foreign minister sergei lavrov as key talks in geneva and toward the second day artie's polly boyko is in geneva and have more. a lot of people holding their breath in geneva and indeed around the world at

the moment while russia is on the u.s.a.'s top diplomats meet to try to come to a diplomatic solution for a way of disarming syria of its chemical weapons a u.s. military strike against syria is currently own course while john kerry and sergey lavrov meet in trying to rush out a viable diplomatic solution to the crisis now some progress has already been made we've received confirmation that you're going to make united nations but they've already received various treaty papers so why not just use the u.n. chemical weapons convention this morning for a meeting between john kerry said a labral of and the international envoy to syria lakhdar brahimi where the leaders all expressed cautious optimism about the prospects of coming to a viable resolution a diplomatic solution to the crisis let's take a listen now that the assad government. joined the chemical weapons convention

we have to engage over professional so that the guys that was the chemical weapons for a few should have been ization is very grave but the united nations. designed a road which would make sure that this issue is resolved quickly professionally as soon as practical countries our presidents are deeply concerned about the death toll and destruction. the actual on both sides all sides and we are committed to try to work together beginning with this initiative on the chemical weapons in hopes that those efforts could pay off despite full of walking towards a diplomatic solution seems that there are a number of fifteen points that remain between all the sides now one major issue could be the question of timing in a nation if you bashar al assad. he said that damascus will start to provide

information on its chemical weapons stockpiles thirty days after signing up to the u.n. chemical weapons convention this is something that john kerry has already rejected he's rejected this thirty day timeframe he says that he said last week that bashar al assad should be able to give up all of his chemical weapons within a week and he doesn't think that that's very viable that damascus will be able to do that that's already led a number of international observers to question how constructive such a strict timeframe in the usa is whether or not it's even viable considering that the process of chemical disarmament is extremely tricky and to be dangerous now the u.s. military remains a cat and poised to strike syria if a deal is not come up with here in geneva and that is what is at stake care goshi ations and russia has already said that this very strict conditions is unacceptable that they are not going to be able to come to

a diplomatic solution if the usa is threatening to use force against syria this is something that was echoed by bashar al assad in a place with t.v. and he was well. this won't be about syria sawing a protocol and delivering it with no positive feedback has to be a me to process the bubble the united states has to give up its policy of threatening to syria the other third was once we see the united states truly want to billets in the middle east and once we see restrain from threatening us and pursuing intervention once we see them supplying weapons to terrorist groups then we'll consider this process is truly acceptable to syria and to finalize it as you want it russia should play a major role in the disarmament process but we don't trust washington and don't talk to them moscow is the only party that can fulfill this role now. so many tough . sions and sticking points that need to be reconciled here in geneva before the

end of the day and many now say that it's all rushed here in this role of not to help us come up with a realistic plan for reaching syria of its chemical weapons and then implementing it as well so we're expecting a press conference at the end of the day where we are going to see if all these major differences have been ironed out and if the two sides have been able to come together and issue a realistic plan and ultimately narrowly avoid a u.s. military strike on syria. that was our tease polly waco. is the foreign intelligence surveillance court starting a new trend of transparency well it might be too early to tell but according to an opinion issued today by u.s. spy court judge dennis saylor more disclosures are now justified to explain his opinion the judge referenced the unauthorized disclosures in june by former n.s.a. contractor edward snowden and said that it has quote engendered considerable public

interest and debate about section two fifteen section two fifteen is a provision of the patriot act that vastly expanded the government's power to spy on ordinary people through what was called a sensitive collection program this news comes just three days after the n.s.a. declassified eighteen hundred pages of documents that shed light on its bulk collection of american phone records that release was a result of a foil request from the a.c.l.u. and the electronic frontier foundation but now judge sailors' says that any opinions not already subject to litigation under the freedom of information act should be reviewed for declassification it's undetermined however when that information will be released. well succession fever seems to be sweeping the nation and in fact we're seeing the largest wave in these kind of movements since the south tried to break apart from the union right now the state of texas is seeking

to become its own country not to mention that parts of california and colorado are trying to break off into separate states and the latest movement just launched in maryland where five counties are fed up with the liberal majority and say they want a quote amicable divorce artie's lives while went to what some activists are hoping will be the fifty first state and brings us this report. maryland is mostly known for its city of baltimore ritzy d.c. suburbs and high end coastal areas it's where the bulk of the state's pop. elation lives a population made up of mostly democrats. but take a drive out west and you'll find a different side of maryland well it's a different way of life and western maryland the counties around here remain rural farming and agriculture remain a major part of day to day life we are a very small community and i feel like sometimes we can be over

a lot of. that out here past places like liberty town bassed corn fields and farmhouses you're clearly in red territory and carroll county folks find little in common with the rest of maryland so different in fact that many people no longer want to be part of the state we no longer wish to give our concert we were like we think our differences are irreconcilable and we would like that. because having the western maryland. to make five western maryland county is break off and form a new state the biggest issue for me is the gerrymandered districts the state delegate senate and congressional districts are so gerrymandered in such a way to ensure single party dominance in this state and i don't feel that we can be properly represented that way says he has a lot of support in the few weeks since he launched a facebook fan page it's garnered more than thirty six hundred likes they say

they're tired of being ignored by political leaders until tax season comes around but just how many western marylanders really want to be left on their own not everyone here wants to be the fifty first star on the flag we don't need two separate like saying the eastern shore should be their own in the western shore should be there and it's stupid what revenue do we really bring in to suborder ourselves you know even as mail and as always trouble very proud to be a lot of the state says he won't move forward with the initiative unless the people really want it and if that happens there's a number of steps that need to occur before a new state is board we have to then go to the maryland legislature get their approval and then we have to go to congress and get their approval so i'm a real long shot for western maryland to see it but one resident has an idea for the time being and i just feel you know if we could come together as

a state somehow we could really benefit each other you know send some business down here into you know roll nowhere take a trip separate state or not at least some people here in western maryland feel like for once they're being heard in carroll county maryland liz wahl r.t. . and still ahead here on our team in new york a group of strippers won a victory for workers' rights a judge supported their suit against a manhattan nightclub that wasn't offering them wages more on a court decision after the break. dramas that can't be ignored to the. stories others will use to notice. the faces change the world writes no. girl. killed the picture of his days you know.

from around the globe. brokenly. led. to such. subsists. as a discipline it was a compliment very hard to take. the plunge against. a plumber that never had sex with separate their lives in a split. lip

leg lifts above. the. the fact that. they would like to do is show that you know the price is the only industry specifically mention in the constitution and. that's because a free and open press is critical to our democracy trek albus. role. in fact the single biggest threat facing our nation today is the corporate takeover of our government and across several that we've been a hydrogen right hand full of transnational corporations that will profit by destroying what our founding fathers once built on my job market and 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 to fix rational debate and real discussion critical issues facing america if i ever feel ready to join the movement then welcome to the big picture. i think. i would rather as questions to 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 our t.v. question. well

exotic dancers are now getting the rights they were once stripped out this week a judge ruled that rick's cabaret an adult entertainment business in new york city had been wrongly denying minimum wages to nearly two thousand strippers the manhattanite club had argued that the dancers were independent contractors not in-house employees. and therefore they didn't merit a standard hourly wage but after a three year lawsuit debating the issue a federal court judge determined that the dancers were indeed employees citing a number of written club guidelines that the female dancers were expected to add here to as employees would here to discuss the outcome of this lawsuit and the implications this will have on the adult entertainment industry going forward i'm joined by michelle drake an attorney who is representing the dancers in this case michelle thank you so much for joining me so the night club in this case trying to

argue that these women were independent contractors but what were the factors that really indicated these women were being treated like in-house employees. well a lot of the factors that you identified you know the club exercise a lot of control over the manner in which the entertainer is to conduct their profession that was controlled everything from the height of the heels what they can wear to the length of the dresses they wore to a in what order they just wrote to which song but the other thing that the court really focused on that so central to this industry and not just the club in particular is the fact that it really is all the entertainers don't own their own businesses the way that independent contractors do these are people who sort of ply their trade to a variety of different customers the way that the house painter might or that

others bring to consummate independent contractors might here be entertainers are really the penance on the club to determine how much they'll earn or how much they won't earn the reality that the ricks doesn't get what it takes to get out somewhere else to come to the club in the first place our clients are not going to make any money and it's that lack of economic control that really drives the court's decision that's an excellent point now the loss of also claimed that the nightclub had been requiring them to pay a variety of fees to the to the club for every shift that they worked and pay fines for breaking the rules whatever that means you can you talk about you know what that entailed and are were women actually in some cases winning money. yes the adult entertainment industry and far as adults entertainers are concerned it is very frequently a pays to work industry where you pay what's called a house or

a bar for you when you show up at nights and if you don't make it back to bad for you and if you have violated the club's rules then those get added on some the roster of money that you're going to clubs and you know many of the results go back to this issue of control showing up late not vamping on stage when your name is called chewing gone patting yourself on the floor you said something else for the let's listen to ron bathroom because the need to be find in this industry and most or all the time thing that sort of eliminated the tween issues that i was controlling what it is that our viewers can do and the lack of control that our viewers ultimately have over how much money they're made it's incredible how how strict those rules actually are ricks did release a statement this this week in which they said quote it's hard to imagine how these entertainers should be paid at the minimum wage which would amount to

a fraction of the one thousand dollars or more that some of them acknowledge they earned in a single night what is your response to that. you know i think the crisis really it's have to take a couple of special occurrences as we're at a caught latinos may have had really big earnings let me get out of that and create the public impression that that's the norm. and retainers were routinely earning thousands of dollars and i think that a lot more people would be interested in going into that industry and see people with you know ivy league degrees flocking to rx for jobs post-graduation and we're not seeing that so it's frankly just not viable on its face by this from a legal perspective it kind of at its roots attitude and that's going to be a problem with where it is the case goes forward which is you know the earned enough so so what about the minimum wage laws and the truth is that you can't rely

on the fact that you are entertainers or your employee is getting big tips in order to avoid the minimum wage if a waiter in a restaurant has a night where he gets a big hit the restaurant doesn't get to saying well sorry we're not paying you we asked so really you make a lot of very good points unfortunately we run out of time but i do appreciate you coming on michel drake attorney at nicholas castor and one of the representatives of the women in this case thank you so much. a federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit demanding the removal of the words in god we trust from all u.s. currency a lawsuit was brought against the treasury department by the freedom from religion foundation in the initial complaint filed back in february the group along with a dozen more plaintiffs argued that having a phrase like in god we trust on line is quote proselytizing discriminatory and the per se establishment of monotheism the group argued that the use of the motto does

not exhibit a separation of church and state however the judge presiding over the case was not persuaded by these arguments and in the court order he wrote that the phrase was not a violation because the supreme supreme court has repeatedly assumed the motto secular purpose and effect i was joined earlier by michael newdow who identifies as an atheist and was the lead counsel in the case i first asked him why he thinks having the phrase in god we trust is problematic but i don't see how anyone could think it's anything but he says in god we trust it's a religious leave it and it doesn't reflect the views of all americans and governments not supposed to be breaking religious statements. well the plaintiffs on the case have argued that this violates the constitution but technically the constitution doesn't mandate that church and state be separate that wording comes from a thomas jefferson letter so how does this violate the right to practice your religion

. well i mean that argument that the constitution doesn't say separation of church and state the constitution doesn't say a lot of things we use phrases all the time doesn't say separation of powers but we certainly have liver or tripartite government with a separation of powers we have all sorts of things people use short hand phrases the idea is that well i can the exact wording is congress shall make no law respecting which means having anything to do with an establishment of religion and if you look at what the framers were talking about they were talking about exactly things like this where the government takes a view and advocates for that you and excludes other people. and of course the motto in god we trust is not just on currency it's also written prominently in the chambers of the house of representatives so why focused just on currency here well i mean do you need standing to bring a case we don't have standing to challenge the what or congress doesn't constitutionally unless it personally affects us personally affects us to be

carrying around money that says something completely contrary to our religious views and you know what would you what would the people the christians in our nation do if we said you know you know we trust in god we don't trust or would you say in jesus we trust in you know what would catholics say if in protestant christianity we trust which was what our nation was founded on all those people were protestant christians you know everybody would be upset at that and i can understand why people don't recognize that this is the exact same thing only it excludes fewer people and unpopular people when they're unpopular largely because the government keeps saying they should be unpopular in god we trust well it seems like we have a culture in the united states of using religious phrasing even if we're not necessarily religious i know that many people often say thank god or for heaven's sake so how do you begin to address how you know language has permeated our culture is there anything that you and people who are are working to do the same worth intern doing it i mean is there anything you're doing to tackle this. well i mean

there's nothing wrong with that you're missing the key point here which is that we have nothing against people individuals groups in you know people who are not the government doing what they choose in terms of religion if they want to worship god they have every right and i would sit there and protect their right what were you against this is them using the government the government of us all to do their religious bidding that's what's being permissible and so when government speaks in terms of religion if government said there is no god which is what we believe it would be just as wrong government should stay out of this business is very simple. and michael what other battles are are you and other atheists organizations fighting at this at this point to to separate church and state i just want to get an idea of what other types of initiatives that you have. well it's just any time the government is getting involved as it is right now in massachusetts where they're trying to get on to the pledge of allegiance i mean you know we take a little children's they put your hand over your heart and say there's

a god you know that's a pure religious statement and when the government does that that's impermissible again remember it's the government not individuals and the visuals can do that all they want of kids who want to meet before school and pledge allegiance to jesus christ get on their knees they have every right to do that and they're protected doing that you just can't get the government to do it so there's that one we have our port passport it's all filled with god stuff we have if you want to be a. naturalized citizen you have to say so help me god we have this permeating our society it's unnecessary and it's wrong and it's unconstitutional more more importantly and are you coming up against any roadblocks if so what kind of. you know we're coming up against judges who who choose not to apply uphold the constitution to principles and would rather you know protect their careers or avoid the controversy that on undoubtedly will result from a case like this that's the roadblock you know we need to find judges who think. i'm sorry as i understand it you are planning to appeal this case are there any new

strategies that you're hoping to employ the second time around. not just hoping for food but the same strategy it's getting the judge to acknowledge i mean i don't i don't think anybody honestly believes that this is not a violation of the constitution i mean it says in god we trust that you know government is not i mean that the judge in this case there's the what's called the proper sprog of the lemon test which says government cannot have a religious purpose the purpose as stated by the sekret that the director of the mint when this was first put on the on the coins and currency said this is in the official mint directors report and he says we claim to be a christian nation our national coinage the clay are our trust in god in him who is king of kings and lord of lords that's jesus christ. now if you're nuts if you're going to argue that that wasn't done for a religious purpose. when the director of the mint tells you that's what it's done for i mean do you know if that's the sort of judicial opinion you're going to get is not that much i can do strategically hopefully i can find two judges in the

court of appeals who are going to say this is ridiculous i did it of course craig certain we're going to uphold the constitution and the supreme court's never ruled on this and give the supreme court a chance to see if they're going to uphold the rights of old americans including eight years while michael edwards definitely going to follow the appeal i really appreciate you coming on and sharing your insight on this case and we wish you all the luck that you very much michael newdow our lead counsel in this case well the cheese capital of the nation may be putting their cheese curd leftovers to good use this week milwaukee department of public works announced they'd be trying something a little different this one are using cheese brine to de ice those famously icy streets cheese brian is in an expensive byproduct of the cheese making process the city says the brian will not replace rock salt but instead add to it making the salt much more effective and the city says they already know it will work case in point tiny polk county it's in the northwest part of the state and has been using

cheese brine since two thousand and nine according to the city report the county saved approximately forty thousand dollars as a result in addition to saving the cheesehead money officials say using brine will lessen the possible long term environmental impact of using only rock salt but there is a downside she's brine is known to have shall we say a distinctive odor will have to wait and see if the city is up for the finale challenge and that does it for now for more on the stories we've covered today go to youtube dot com slash r t america and check out our website r t dot com slash usa you can also follow me on twitter at amir a david z. right back here at eight.

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 quote for excellent work of our government and our press difficult we've been a hydrangea lying handful of transnational corporations that will profit by destroying what our founding fathers one school's out my job market and on this show we were to feel the big picture of what's actually going on in the world we go beyond identifying the problem to try and rational debate in a real discussion of critical issues facing america by ever feel ready to join the movement then welcome to the big party.

hello and welcome to cross talk where all things considered i'm peter lavelle putin speech russia has formally presented a proposal for the disarmament of syria's chemical arsenal flatter me or putin has personally appealed to the american public and political establishment to give negotiations a chance in war torn syria though tough questions remain primarily whether washington can refrain from its habit of using brute force.