i was am the. president obama is set to deliver a speech on the n.s.a. as a surveillance of methods has many question whether the government is ready to limit the agency's spying reach. russia spearheads a final diplomatic push to shore at next week's international peace conference on syria. and the u.k. foreign secretary william hague heads north are to try and convince scotland no to go it alone with an independence referendum eight months away.

it's just gone a little after nine am here in the russian capital you live with us on r.t. international with me to along with a thank you for tuning in. millions of those who are concerned over the extent to which they've been watched by america's national security agency and are waiting to hear from the country's president he's expected to announce much anticipated changes to the way the agency works but it's unclear how far the reforms will go r.t. some sex reports from washington d.c. . today president obama heads to the department of justice just a few blocks from here and he'll deliver a speech on n.s.a. reforms specifically what he supports from the forty six recommendations his own review panel put forward a few weeks ago the president is expected to devote a large portion of his speech to the privacy concerns of non-u.s. citizens and businesses basically trying to assure foreign consumers that their privacy will be protected when they communicate using american tech companies like google and yahoo now you might remember when it was disclosed that allied world

leaders like brazilian president dilma rousseff were spied on by the n.s.a. the president was quick to order a review of that program but the president has not shown the same concern for tens of millions of non u.s. citizens in germany and brazil and france who are also being spied on so there's a high likelihood that he will finally tackle that issue today now the big question is what happens to the most controversial n.s.a. program revealed by edward snowden and that's the n.s.a.'s bulk telephone metadata collection program the president could order an end to that program right now we could do it today if you wanted to and he wouldn't need congress's approval instead the president is expected to introduce some limited reforms to the bulk collection program and then kick it to congress to have the final say on whether or not it should continue the president's speech they will set up a fight on capitol hill between lawmakers cozy with the surveillance state and lawmakers pushing to substantially reform it ultimately though a lot of what happens to the n.s.a.

moving forward is out of the president's hands the courts are weighing in on the constitutionality of these programs and in congress the patriot act which underpins many of the n.s.a. surveillance programs expires on june first of next year and it's unlikely the votes are there anymore to extend the more controversial parts of it so you can think of the president's speech today as him reaching out to congress to save at least some of these spy programs that he is spy chiefs have been defending before those same programs are completely. ronald or the courts or congress next year in washington d.c. . are to. restrain an american lawyer who specializes in constitutional and international law doubts the reforms will bring any actual change i think it'll be largely cosmetic i think the president will. throw the football to congress and say if you now are fully informed of what the scope of the dragnet surveillance

program venis a year's eve believe it's not worthy go ahead and shut it down there may be as a few minor things but in terms of a substantial change i don't expect anything i think it's also important that he apparently shifted the venue from the intelligence community to the part of justice to try to give in or out we'll see this is rule of law department of justice which is sort of a fig leaf and coming up with virtually nothing the spine of the whole world doesn't come cheap but the actual figure is as with much else in the world of intelligence the top secret leaked information however has we feel that the so-called black budget amounted to fifteen point six billion dollars for the twenty third in fiscal year out of that pie over ten a billion went to the n.s.a. its funding has grown by a staggering fifty three percent since two thousand and four yet sources say terrorist attacks and methods only involve n.s.a.

surveillance seven point five percent of the time i t's vantages you can look into the agency's effectiveness. for years the u.s. government had been hiding its dragnet surveillance of entire nations under the national security rug in fear of another nine eleven americans had no idea of just how pervasive the government spying program became but following edward snowden's revelations lice came to the surface does the n.s.a. collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of americans. no sir. we know of at least. fifty threats that have been averted because of this information. there is only one case where this was useful somebody somebody thought eighty five hundred dollars to somalia to an al qaeda affiliate you know not to be encouraged but even in that case the government wait of two months to investigate this case so you know the

idea that this is kind of critical to stopping terrorism is overblown public policy group the new america foundation has analyzed hundreds of terrorism related cases and says traditional investigative methods such as the use of informants in tips work best. the n.s.a. sweeping surveillance did nothing to prevent the bombings in boston last year even despite multiple tips from abroad concerning one of the perpetrators the president's own surveillance policy review board has concluded the n.s.a. bulk data collection was quote not essential to preventing attacks the head of the n.s.a. was eventually pressed to admit that the government had exaggerated the effectiveness of the program would you grant that fifty four cases you keep getting cited by the administration were not all plots how the verge of war my thirteen had some nexus to us do you agree with that yes or no. yes the obama administration found

itself in hot water when edward snowden revealed that the n.s.a. was busy spying on allies and trading partners not just terrorists the n.s.a. has built a vast new center in to talk to store people's private data and much of it will have nothing to do with terrorists what we're doing is catering to tell a tarion procedures which is gathering information about all the individuals in the world. thousands have been taking to the streets to protest against what they see is their government becoming big brother when in the wake of nine eleven the patriot act or for an end to privacy many americans thought at least they'd be safe but with recent revelations even that tradeoff is under question in washington i'm going to check out our take. my head to our web site to learn more about america's surveillance efforts and get expert analysis on what you was spying means for the

rest of the world and of course we'll bring you more on president obama's upcoming speech later today here on r.t. . last ditch diplomatic efforts are in for all swing to bring all key power players to the upcoming international peace conference on syria some major issues remain to be ironed out with less than a week left before the summit kicks off in switzerland argues arena has the latest . one of the major hurdles of course is the presence of the syrian opposition to the geneva two talks for example the syrian national council is yet to vote just on friday it's going to do that whether or not it will actually even take part in the talks in fact the faction is so much split over this decision is that some members already resigning by the dozen moreover it's not quite clear just how much gravity has the s.n.c. carries over there is syrian opposition factions for example the jihadism the syrian free syrian national army and the free syrian army have already said that

they do not recognize the authority of the syrian national council for its part of the syrian government has already said that they for sure will attend the geneva two conference. rated during the meeting between the ministers of the draw on syria and russia which moscow was hosting and it's important to say here that iran is all willing to participate in the conference the united states however wants to see it to be just a member observer from the sidelines of our moscow believes that iran is should be present at the geneva two conference as a fully fledged member as the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov has retreated and his statement. like the syrian people and the people of iran we want to eliminate the hardships of terrorism on serious territory this is our unified position while it is hoped that the with just days literally days left before the syria the geneva two conference which is to take place in switzerland on january

twenty second at least some of these issues will be ironed out over at this point it's not even clear who exactly will attend and whether or not they hopes that for the first time the warring sides in the syrian conflict will sit down and try to take a step forward to peaceful resolution of the conflict that has been raging on for three years almost and has claimed by some estimates more than one hundred thirty thousand lives where that step will even be taken in geneva in the coming days. washington is also urging the syrian opposition to attend the geneva two summit but the two top u.s. diplomat has come out with a sub condemn nation of extremist activity in syria secretary of state john kerry says the country has become a hotbed for terrorist groups seeking to capitalize on the strive of the syrian people the world needs no reminder that syria has become the magnet for jihadists and extremists it is the strongest magnet for terror of anyplace

today so it defies logic to imagine that those who bruges whose brutality created this magnet how they could ever lead syria away from extremism and towards a better future is beyond any kind of logic or common sense. france is among the countries that will be attending the geneva two conference the country has voiced concerns over hundreds of its nationals fighting alongside the rebels in syria amid fears all return home radicalized a former french prime minister told us that the talks in switzerland must take place without preconditions. i believe we have two problems one is we need of caused the opposition to take part in this discussion because how can we have any settlement without having everybody around the table but also we have within the opposition a very strong. very strong fights between the two parts of the political opposition

and the jihadists are fighting very strongly on the ground i think we should take away the jihadist all the people that are behind al qaeda and we should not focus on the problem of assad we should not have any preview condition. before starting this political discussion the i really believe that iran should be as much as possible part of the talks because you wanted the very regional players and if we can have iran on board in discussing the credit crisis of the region we of course we will be much more efficient the light haired for you at this hour the farmers are living under constant fear of violence. they sickened us with our lives and that they will write the family to go to war for the door to our

correspondent he has promised one. day about the countries all races fall from equal treatment when it comes to security we'll have more on the. wealthy british soil some time to explore the fine. markets why not. come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike stronger for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into kinds a report. and.

see if you leave the. economic ups and downs in the final months day belong to the deal sang i and the rest because it's going to be taking will be every week on. the media leave us so we leave that maybe. by the same motion securely play your party there's a goal to wear shoes that no one is asking with to get that you deserve answers from the it's all politics only on our teeth pulled.

please. old. technology innovation all the least envelopment from around russia. the future covered there is so little self reflection on the part of both the american public and the american decision makers i wonder why is that we are. country of three hundred fifteen million people very self-absorbed we are. slated from the world by two large oceans. we're trying to think of foreign policy is something we do to other people rather than that that's something we participate in.

those large international if you just joined us a very warm welcome to you. the people of scotland have eight months left to decide whether to split from the u.k. and london is making its concerns clear with britain's minister for europe warning that an independent scotland would not get an easy pass into the european union foreign secretary william hague is also determined to keep the scots in the fold details now from paula boyko. u.k. foreign secretary william hague is in glasgow today to outline the case for why scotland should stay within the united kingdom. unveiling the latest scotland

analysis papers which are a response to scotland's white paper which came out last november and propagated voting yes in the referendum in september now the analysis today is doing the direct opposite and it's focusing on the breadth of the u.k.'s diplomatic network and just how much scotland currently benefits from it so take for example business based in scotland they say that it benefits directly from efforts to protect the u.k.'s economic interests like defending the world famous squad whiskey against counterfeits against excessive taxation and against trade barriers but the battle from both the yes and the no camps is really heating up in the run up to the referendum in september and we've had accusations of propaganda wars being waged from both sides of the barricades certainly critics of westminster have accused the british government of fear mongering in order to secure a no vote to come september but let's take

a listen to what the minister for europe said about scotland's independence bid just yesterday first of all of scotland quits walks it leaves behind all that it gets as part of the united kingdom not just about membership of the e.u. the un security council the commonwealth the g eight the g twenty but in very concrete terms we've got this very large international network of embassies and high commissions around the world to promote scottish business including things like scotch whiskey scottish egg recall to produce beef and so on. the analysis on veiled today goes as far as reminding scots about the relatively modern day in pleasures that they currently enjoy as british citizens such as consular services when they travel abroad but we know that westminster is better together campaign is really stepping up the fight for the union and sort of love bombing the scots with pleas to stay in the united kingdom from english celebrities prominent business

figures and sports stars but in reality scottish independence is quite a remote possibility according to the latest polls just twenty six percent of scots plan on voting yes come september so the war of words on both sides is certainly horsing up and we're going to be watching as it progresses in the run up to the historic vote on the eighteenth of september. a quick look at what's in store over on our website to building a home from scratch in under a day california scientists say that very soon is this will be no challenge for a new generation of join three d. printers to get to the bottom of the technology at r.t. dot com. slam dunk for big corn and n.b.a. club becomes the first professional sports organization to accept the digital currency to find out which team gave its bitcoin user plenty to cheer about online

. right to see it. through the street. and i would think to try it. on our reporters were. some of the girls government has vowed to tackle violent crime a problem that is poses an equal threat for all races living in the country many white pharmacy things differently there and say they're living under constant fear of attack last years here's this side of the story. is fixing his friends last night burglars again trying to break into his farm two weeks ago they stole equipment after killing six of his horses they threatened us

with their lives and that they were all right the family got a wife and a daughter. told this to the police and they've done nothing about it for thirteen years when he has lived here in south africa the successful farmer grew and sold horse feed but three months ago he gave it up the constant harassment that he's convinced is coming from some of his former black farm laborers had simply become too much in fact last week. there raped a woman not far from here as you see today in well if you want to use a condom and they boil the kettle of. water on her back because i think the they saw that she was not afraid farm killings in south africa have hit a record highs according to genocide watch in the last twenty years since nelson mandela's african national congress has been in power more than four thousand white farmers have been killed but ten times that number of white south africans have

been brutally murdered in what many claim of racially motivated attacks an hour's drive from where he's from and cornelius mill has been farming cattle and maize for maybe forty years he's convinced the killings are part of a systematic bird to drive white south africans and in particular farmers out of the country he's paid the ultimate price his daughter vanessa was shot dead on his farm. that's for sure. and it took me to used to short the thirty three year old was killed in front of her two small children from the years maybe they think the farmers are the these really the old farmers was good of the way i mean the government are saying that. they're going to take the forms because we stole the ruling a.n.c. has dismissed such claims pointing out that south africans of all colors suffer

violent crime i don't. belong to all who live image. both black and white and there's never been an intention to victimize wides and the vision and mission of the south african police service is to protect everybody any citizen but the recent passing of nelson mandela who devoted his life to be consigning the races has seen white nerves shoot up personally i think it's going to get worse. because they were skewed for you if true it's a sad legacy for a man who devoted his life to building a rainbow nation the unfortunate reality is that south africa is still a very racially divided country there's a huge discrepancy between the haves who tend to be white citizens and the have nots who tend to be blacks who live in townships like this one paulus lee r.t. south africa. now the news around the world of this hour an explosion at

a crowded as lawmakers seminary in north west and east on this killed at least eight people and injured sixty others the blast occurred as samples were gathering at the religious school for traditional five prayers new groups have admitted to carrying out the attack the country is a battle a divided along sectarian lines with intense rivalries between sunni and shia muslims. israeli prime minister has hit out at international critics of jurists a settlement expansion branding them hypocrites he also dismissed claims that further construction in the occupied territories poses an obstacle to peace meanwhile state media says netanyahu has drawn up a list of jewish enclaves in the west bank that will remain in place regardless of any deal with the palestinians over half a million israelis and live in settlements that are considered illegal under international law. at least one person has been killed and

dozens more injured in an explosion in western colombia a motorcycle packed with explosives blew up outside a police station is suspected the attack was carried out by the rebel group far announced an end to their month long cease fire on wednesday the colombian government has been in peace talks with the rebel forces for over a year now but is now willing to reach a truce. the mexican government is stepping up efforts to restore order in a troubled us. if western states local vigilante groups have been fighting with a powerful drug cartel and have now occupied much of the gang's hogland this week the state had to increase police numbers after self-defense groups rejected a federal order to lay down their arms vowing to drug lawless out of the region. but i'll be back with more news of for you in about half an hour to stay with us next up is larry king and when it's

a king. millions around the globe struggle with hunger. what if someone offers a lifetime food supply no charge. they can they're very strong. and we think that. the. priest. there is no. evidence to this any problem with genetic engineering when you make a deal. or is free cheese oh. i don't. see. this profit. for. golden rice.

but. the really. good 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 correct albus. role. in fact the single biggest threat facing our nation today is the corporate takeover of our government and across several we've been hijacked why a handful of transnational corporations will profit by destroying what our founding fathers one little class i'm talking mark and on this show we reveal the big picture of what's actually going on in the world we go beyond identifying the problem. rational debate and a real discussion critical issues facing up to find her ready to join the movement then walk in the big picture.

put it under control marginalized cities polish face i think you're right you know . pleasure to have you with us here on t.v. today i'm researcher. on the politicking with larry king one of my favorite people a legendary newsman dan rather what is expected the president and the president's political opponents in the years ahead as you see parallels between the bridge controversy surrounding new jersey governor chris christie and the watergate scandal that brought down richard nixon plus how far would he go to get

a story it's all. next on politicking with larry king. on the politicking he's a bestselling author he was one hell of a white house correspondent one of the best anchors ever the long time ago the c.b.s. evening news he currently is the host and managing editor of dan rather reports on access t.v. and i'm honored to have the legendary newsman and my friend then join me he's been with us many times in fact this man while anchoring to c.b.s. news would cover hurricanes for us on larry king live the loner member standing are very very warm over tree dan rather with the man or let's get right to it what do you make of the bridge gate.