russia because he is new. or does he feel it's a prison he cannot wait to escape. does he still believe his sacrifice was worth the price. now we're talking about edward snowden to the only person that is known to have access to him at the moment and that's his lawyer on the twenty third if i say a budgeting thank you very much for being with us on the program today now we've been waiting a long time to get at least some information about snowden and his life i know he doesn't give interviews and he doesn't talk to the media why is that. well at this point it is his choice pretty much you have to understand that he found himself in a very tough situation. his position may change over time but right now he's adapting to his new circumstances studying russian reading russian classics in english because naturally he hasn't been able to master the language yet. so this

point that's the choice he has made of the right so it's a personal choice it's not like somebody told him not to talk to the media you and yours of course not trust me but it was his own choice just like it was he's choice to open the eyes of the world and reveal the truth about the u.s. intelligence spying on americans and other people around the world i mean. it was his choice it was his conviction that these methods were unacceptable. when i think you probably know that some members of the european parliament have nominated snowden for this kind of prize for freedom of thought and now we're going to talk to one of those members who initiated this no nation christian strong and strong christian it's great to have you with us today so you were one of those who know when a good edward snowden actually for the sack or rove award for freedom of thought how do you explain why. edward snowden is a real hero he's exposed what the n.s.a. and the u.s.

surveillance so it has been doing and what they have been doing some tiredly inappropriate they've been spying on already private individuals and ordinary companies here in the u.s. in russia and everywhere that's not appropriate edward snowden exposed and he's a hero you know some good i would just like to thank you i also consider edward a hero on that he's really a hero because he didn't do to make money he did what you thought was right and when you so that we would understand what's going on and know the real story not just was been told to us about human rights so thank you very much for doing this for snowden. it's going to shift thank you. so we just spoke to kristen armstrong a member of the european problem and one of those who nominated snowden for the prize for freedom of thought but let's go back to russia are you his only friend who does it talk to anyone else here in russia or are you the only person he talks

to at this point. north of well as for his communication with the outside world yes i am his main contact as for friendships of course he has some people he's close with that name in america both in america and here because as i said when we began to discuss where to place him and how to organize his live his american friends were part of the decision making process i mean it just gives you an american friends to live in russia right but it's his location kept secret for the media only or is it not disclosed to anyone it is not disclosed to anyone this was his request because we understand that he's still in danger it is not possible to disclose his location at this point but when you say danger what kind of danger are we talking about well you have to understand here that he is wanted by a major country a superpower but the u.s. government. we also have to understand that the capabilities that

america has can pose a real real threat which very serious threat does he have a security detail now. of course he has security so right now he's safe. but i don't think he would be freely moving around any time soon. it's his decision of course. he got his temporary asylum papers so he's free to go wherever he wants. he has the same rights and freedoms as all russian citizens. so he decides what level of security he wants to maintain. that sounded to me but america will always want this one change so we see going to a security detail in life at an undisclosed location for ever what can change in this respect it's not like this way for a month or two when the u.s.

will say well ok we don't need him anymore so it looks like he will have to remain in hiding for as long as he stays in russia book. of course any person who dares to challenge a superpower has to realize that they will have to look over their shoulder for the rest of their lives. he can't just go to a nightclub or a restaurant like you and i because you can tell the u.s. government very much like to get to him she to see leave the house is old can he do that. of course he does he goes out for a war he one travels learns things about a country. can go to a restaurant but he can't travel. books no what i meant is that he can't go to a restaurant anytime he likes. of course he can go to a restaurant or a coffee shop but he has to assess the risks every time because the threat is still very real. it was real when he was in the airport transit zone and israel now.

we hear and we know that he still wanted by the u.s. government we switched to people recognize him on a street that he doesn't wear a mask when traveling and his pictures have been on the front pages of newspapers and on t.v. for a long time you know nobody has really knows him so far he's careful well good for him the russia claims that edward snowden doesn't cooperate with russian security services. no he doesn't but it is basically these services that protect him today why security services really then. who protects him it's not necessarily security services that protects him but he does it some kind of a private firm there are plenty of private security companies and he has friends who have lived in russia for a long while and know the country well i can go into details on the subject. just

tell me who pays for the services to see pay his bodyguards out of his own pocket i can only say that edward has almost run out of money currently we are working to set up a bank account for donations which. so who pays for his body parts so far he has been paying them himself from the money he had like i said which is almost out of money so i'd like to thank everybody who helped raise the money both in europe and russia his father is coming to russia and his mother may be coming to . speak ill of his father has been saying that snowden would know what to do next right after he is granted temporal asylum and after his father comes to moscow so what is his father still not here is there a problem with the visa. no there is no problem. i have already sent an invitation. he has his own plans we keep in touch almost daily. i

can't give you certain dates but soon he will come to russia and meet with his son . there will be him and was mother and probably one of his grandparents honestly no one really understands what snowden will do next and let's listen to. and what he had to say about it. sometimes i think about him. and he seems weird to me. the young person just over thirty don't know what he's thinking about house going to live the rest of his life basically. pretty difficult life and what will his next. i can't even imagine some snow how does the snow nassar this question himself you see disappointed that the leaks haven't become a sensation with a russian authorities. let's wait a little what does that mean. i think he's going to have an interesting life and

everything is going to be fine. he's a very gifted person which you know he's an extremely fast learner as far as the russian language is concerned for me for example language learning is challenging but he only needs a few hours or days to learn the ropes and start speaking with which. you guys talk in russian to each other but you know we still use it in touch but what exactly is he going to be doing here will he be able to work. and you have at this point we only have a general understanding of the question and of edward's plan so please let's just give it some time let's not discuss now. what. about you technically deceased current status in russia and their right to work here you sure sure he has faced opportunity like i said he has the same rights as russian citizens have

so there is no problem with that but there are a lot of job opportunities for him and we keep receiving job offers by telephone or mail. or they are coming from security services or from different organizations as well. come from different organisations there are even ordinary people who call and offer help as they are concerned about him settling in a new home. and we also have heads of big companies who offer him employment. i'll be doing a little is there any offer in particular that was surprising girl i don't know major laugh. yes we had a woman of about fifty years old who cold offered to adopt mr snowden. oh well that would take care of this predicament. yes but he's thirty eight so this procedure would be complicated but it was funny because we're going to take

a short break here and after the break the details of snowden's stay in a moscow airport terril and what a passport he may end up having to stay with us. the island is so small the burmese it's the center see the center of the universe. on a tiny island the size of a football field in the middle of a lake stands a ruined monastery forty years ago two lovers decided to spend their honeymoon here

. they have no idea but the island would change their lives forever and that they would change the fate of the island. police never seen anything like this before this going to come. in the fortress of ice is grown in just one hour and it's only the beginning. dramas that can't be ignored. stories there is still a few still in the same. places changing rooms. old pictures posts. from around the globe.

the fact that. they were going to do the job that you know the price is the only industry specifically mentioned in the constitution and. that's because a free and open process is critical to our democracy albus. role. in fact the single biggest threat facing our nation today is the corporate takeover of our government and our crowd similar to what we've been a high jinks trying handful of transnational corporations that will profit by destroying what our founding fathers one still just my job market and on this show we reveal the big picture of what's actually going on in the world if we go beyond identifying the problem to try to fix the rational debate and a real discussion of critical issues facing them not to find ready to join the movement then welcome to the big picture.

please. put it on your arm and a lot of these policies i think you know. the. pleasure to have you with us here on our team today i'm researcher. welcome back to the show where trying to get the details of the most wanted person now in the united states edward snowden from his lawyer and. confidant in russia on

the tour which aired on. snowden was granted political asylum on the condition that he stops leaking u.s. related files and doing harm to the u.s. but after he was going to asylum leaks were published by the american british brazilian press wasn't a part of their original ultimatum. i have talked about. the thing is he had leaked those materials to the media before he came to moscow. he transferred some of this information to the media during his stay in hong kong well couldn't he maybe call them and stop them from publishing it that's impossible that's really impossible he did ask me for advice on that but that's really impossible to do. even if he gets some of the files back now they will still keep a copy so there was nothing we could do under such circumstances should we expect

any. i think add a word will work as a human rights activist and as a human rights activist it will be up to him to decide what to do but i can only say that he strongly believes that he is totally unacceptable to use the war on terror as an excuse for massive surveillance intercepting private messages tracking phone and such. so i think. he may voice some concerns about this in the future that uniform that they do so he does have some material that haven't been made public yet certain because i'm i'm sure you've heard a lot of people say snowden doesn't have anything left anymore and no one really cares about him and why didn't russia get involved in this whole thing it got nothing out of it of course but it's important for everyone including your audience to understand that ad would snowden spent quite a few years working for the cia but he was never very high ranking say officer well

this doesn't matter. so he had access to top secret files it's because he's a very professional expert. and you know i'm sure we haven't fully realized yet the importance of his revelations. he's a very courageous person. and few people i think would risk doing something like that. if you would stand up and say. that the us intelligence services around us and people around the world. of course we expected that something like that was going on but he confirmed our suspicions. but it's got less than one hundred you're right in saying that few people at all would have the courage to act like snowden given that in the really expect much i did he actually said that his revelations why not change the world

a lot and let me quote from his interview to the guardian that the snow the greatest fear that i have regarding the outcome for america of this disclosures is that nothing will change people want to be willing to take the risks necessary to stand up and fight to change things to force their representatives to actually take a stand in their interests and we can see the predictions coming true i would disagree though i've been recently talking a lot to human rights activists from other countries and i can say that people won't put up with that. edward has achieved an awful lot. we might not be aware of all the achievements but the cia and others. still until now what has he achieved i mean come on security agencies are even more secretive now and they're just making sure their employees don't blow a whistle on them. well you're right but i believe the funding of special

operations by security agencies should be done publicly i realize of course that outsiders may not be able to understand all the intricate details of their field work but i strongly believe security agencies should be subject to public scrutiny unless that happens the u.s. will continue to spy on everyone that there's something is snowden himself disappointed did he expect. base. of the children no he's not disappointed he believes he did everything right and i agree with him but there can be and should be no disappointment because as i have already said. what the american security agencies do today is a blatant violation of universal and fundamental human rights record. some people

say it's ok for the u.s. government to weigh a tap americans. they also wiretap foreign presidents public figures ordinary people. who have or is responsible for that should be held accountable both those directly involved in surveillance and government officials who authorized it a lot depends on the u.s. president and what snowden did or the u.s. president should have done that a long time ago you know some people actually the current president originally promised to close the program but end up doing quite the opposite pouring given more funds into grading all this intricate wiretapping and information storage devices that yeah of course one thing they're really wonder about is why this airport saga dragged on for such a long time a russia knew snowden was in a transit area at sheremetyevo airport and they had decided they would grant him asylum why couldn't they just do it straight away actually it took some time for

snowden to make up his mind as to how he would go about it because you see initially he didn't have any russians he could talk to because you have to realize the kind of situation he was in one here arrived in moscow from hong kong with this is that was a completely spontaneous decision on his part to go to russia i think he may have had some plans related to late in america but i would like to focus on this part of the story but he came to moscow he was in the transit area and while he was on his way from hong kong the u.s. revoked his passport so upon landing he couldn't even leave the transit area immediately that same day i suppose they did after he left hong kong by the time he reached moscow his passport was no longer valid camp rozental asylum that russia granted him be transformed into citizenship well not automatically according to russian law as an individual can apply for citizenship having resided in russia for

five years. to stay here for five years oh yes he's provisional asylum status is a legible for one year but it can be extended but i'd like to show a scan of snow some progress events permit. yes that's it. he said he's only idea at the moment. yes that's his substitute for a passport. and he can travel around russia with it right. yes but only inside russia but i think only in russia he can use it to buy railway and airline tickets. has he received any offers of citizenship from other countries as a matter of fact going back to your question as to why it took so long edward applied for asylum to twenty one governments but it was legally wrong by law you can't seek asylum in another country from inside. but he wasn't a transit area technically that's still russian territory but he had been through

border control into the country to look at the woman whole in a second the russian government has used that argument all along that i refused to extradite snowden saying he's in a transit area and technically that's not russia. technically yes well. you know we could go into legally but i can tell you that the rules are pretty much the same in most countries so i got to tell me how could it happen that he spent six weeks in a transit area they were told and scores of reporters were employees looking for snowden but never got a hold of him not even a glimpse have you ever been there well not me personally but at least the dozen r.t. reporters stokley area buying tickets for various destinations hoping snowden would be on board besides our network i mean come on there were media people from all over the world. that pretty much all of them they all said they couldn't find him

as. actually the chinese goods where was his staying where he did laundry right there i don't know washing self-aware and the cast to hotel that's a huge airport the media didn't go inside every room that would be against the law . first of all airport isn't that great but there were also reporters who stayed at that capsule hotel for weeks and so while looking out for snowden twenty four seven he would have been six weeks inside his capsule could he sort of but i mean well but there's more than one hotel that he moved between hotels share a massive always a huge huge airport it's really not that huge well it's got terminal. terminal d. . so which one was snowden in where was he put up a plague there one day that's a great idea yeah and i'll be sure to invite the press to capture the ceremony there would certainly be a great idea going back to the extradition issue president putin said during the g

twenty summit that russia can't extradite snowden because it doesn't have an extradition agreement with the united states. mutual legal assistance treaty right right so does that mean that once the two countries sign such a treaty we could actually x. rayed snowden in exchange for i don't know let's say because there would know we can't but why not. russia couldn't extradite snowden even if we've had this treaty with the us. oh so we're just being sly and we don't really mean what we say about the exhibition agreement with the us he hasn't committed any crimes in russia the us government says he has committed crimes in the us to these i respond send us an official request even though there is no treaty send us an official request as required by international law. but we never received one to this day. we got

a statement from the u.s. attorney general saying snowden is suspected of a number of crimes but he won't face death penalty but excuse me but it's not up to the tony general to decide that only the court can decide that. we talk about human rights in the u.s. people admire this country's democracy it is true there are many good democratic institutions in the u.s. but at the same time as we see from this letter the atoning general has this kind of power. he can come to a court and say even if this crime requires capital punishment by law let's not do that this is absent some plummet snowden himself to see hope to ever go back to the u.s. or has he given up any hope. we haven't discussed this yet you haven't discussed it why it's a painful issue for him or it's because he has no hope of ever going back no no well it's not that painful he doesn't miss his parents very much but of course he

was used to such a way of life what is girlfriend here to go for when he flew to hong kong to they break up his girlfriend is in the states is she planning to come here with his parents i don't know yet so far but thanks a lot for this interesting interview for today our guest was i thought it was you know a lawyer for now the world no one very much wanted in the united states n.s.a. leaker edward snowden but i reside in care in russia thanks for watching we'll see you in the next edition of said. language of what i will only react to situations i have read the reports.

of the no i will leave the state department comment on your latter point. is on the job here no. job no more weasel words. when you need a direct question be prepared for a change when you. get ready for a. critical speech. down the freedom to. we speak your language not big. news programs and documentaries and spanish what matters to you breaking news a little tentative angles stories. you hear. the spanish find out more visit.

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russia's foreign minister says moscow is being blackmailed by the u.s. which is trying to force through grounds for military action in syria this in a u. turn to what's already been agreed. on hello merkel wins the general election but not with enough votes for her party to rule on its own while many in europe appear frustrated with germany's choice. and nuclear fodder iran's leader readies for the un general assembly pushing to ease economic sanctions that appear to hit the weakest part of iranian society.