coming up on r t the sochi winter olympics finally takes front and center the olympics have brought a record eighty eight different countries to sochi with athletes representing their home nations while kicking off the twenty four team global competition a look at the first day of the olympics ahead and you may remember him from his action packed films now steven seagal is focused on topics like u.s. immigration and international relations we'll get his take on those matters and much more in this r.t. exclusive. and our lawmakers overstaying their welcome in congress one politician says they are and he's pushing for a bill that would limit how long congressman can stay in the game we'll take a look at that and more later in the show.

it's friday february seventh eight pm in washington d.c. i'm all right david and you're watching r.t. america and we begin tonight with the commencement of the twenty fourteen sochi winter olympics opening ceremonies just wrapped up not too long ago in addition to the athletes a russian history sequence was on display called welcome to sochi which featured over three thousand performers and recreation of classic russian fairytales but for more on that let's go to our tease paul scott. after a seven year wait the twenty fourteen sochi winter olympics are finally under way they started in style with a spectacular opening ceremony forty thousand people were packed inside the fish stadium in the coastal cluster and they were treated to a high tech pyrotechnic display a condensed journey through russian history there was a nod to russian industry and to russian culture what russia has given the world

over the years in the terms of art and literature for example or not to tolstoy's war and peace and there was also an acknowledgement of peter the great the time that the russian became a great naval power and then it all concluded with the lighting of the olympic gold ring it was the climax of the journey for the olympic torch relay the sixty five thousand kilometers it has traveled and it is finally in the fish stadium meaning the twenty four teams sochi winter olympics are open now for the hundreds of fans who were unlucky enough not to get their hands on a ticket they were able to gather thousands in fact in the various live sites in and around the sochi region watch the event such as the opening ceremony on the large screen leading to a real sense of community and heightened atmosphere in and around sochi now the first events have already got underway for the start of the ceremony for the first medals are actually decided later on saturday medal of events decided up in the mountains and the gold medals the first ones of the twenty fourteen sochi winter

olympics will be handed out later on saturday not in the coastal cluster but up in the mountains and it means long long lost the talking can finally be done by the athletes that was our team of paul forgot reporting it's clear the media attention for this year's olympics has centered on security today one former athlete and u.s. delegate caitlin cahow took the opportunity to respond to the media reports take a look. i'll be representing the new knight in states with pride as an openly gay citizen so while that may lead to a bit of controversy i don't have any questions about my own safety i think that within the boundaries of the big games the spirit is positive and optimistic and open minded and i'm hoping to share that same experience along with the spectators and citizens of russia what i really hope we all see in russia is the dedication devotion not only of the russian people to put on an extraordinary winter olympic games and i have every reason to expect that this olympic games will be exceptional in every way and while the mainstream media focuses on security cyber hacking and

even the toilets in sochi are g.'s on a sausage you're going to ask if something is being missed in the process. hundreds of world class competitions involving thousands of top notch athletes sports fans all over the world rejoice it's time for a live big game fun and get some pretty distressed but why feed the excitement word of a possible new terror threat character a terrorist threat terrorist threat and our world champion and multiple gold medalist for buzz kill the western mainstream media and the olympics is a wonderful time for a country has to get together in order to despise each other and or treat each other like crap it's only happens once every two or four years you know that a lot of time you got to come together and hate each other and not a second has gone to waste from picking any little thing that might be off to face

to toilets but not one that could be flushed to toilets adviser two toilets right next to each other just spells party that doesn't spell bad conditions three million years to be exact one very tiny room left if that paint there trashing things the problems that that come up in every olympic games these were unique to sochi olympic stadium has always been accused of being an overpriced boondoggle that was constructed shoddily not ready until the very last second every single one that i can remember a media war against the saatchi olympics taken to a ridiculous extreme but my impression of fox news is that they're just sitting around the office and they go hey it looks like no one's russian to get to sochi and i write i'm going to go eat lunch. fine there's definitely quirks spinning tiny flaws into viral sensations fact or actual sports reporting be damned.

it's really kind of unpleasant to watch more to the point it's pretty counterfactual as well going so far as to say that the games are being held in. the war zone as opposed to what's really a black sea resort. even though plenty of work went into security hysteria remains the airwaves the threat of something bad happening in sochi well it's increasing by the day taking the fear of yes toothpaste to an extreme toothpaste containing explosive material it is terrifying all right did you hear all the tooth paste is going to explode it was even staging tests on hiding explosives and tubes were c.n.n. commissioned this changed i've stopped brushing my teeth i've stopped flossing i think that might help solve the problem. no matter how much the media act as the doomsayers of the games toothpaste will be toothpaste and nonsense will be nonsense

in the end the olympics will celebrate joy excitement and victory there will be winners and there will be losers hopefully able to move on with at least some snippets of dignity you're not concerned at all no you're not really not really truly can we piece about why and especially if you're going to r.t. new york has one of the most popular action figures in motion picture history but now the martial arts expert steven seagal is front and center in another role that of a law enforcement officer the actor is once again starring in a reality series called steven seagal law man mark hope of county but the action film star also has a lot to say on everything from u.s. border security to sochi is winner a lympics security earlier i spoke with steven seagal and asked him if he thought the concern for safety at the sochi olympics had been overhyped. i mean i think you can never be too careful i think there's close to seventy thousand security

personnel and so it's see between the different branches of police officers face best pets not in office but snacks and international folks are also there you know there are also different. intelligence branches and law enforcement branches from all over the world there so i think search is going to be quite safe but then again there is no such thing as you know one hundred percent guarantee of you know absolute safety anywhere in the world wherever you go but i think it's going to be one of the safest places around and i think that the president of the russian federation is doing an amazing job to make sure it's safe for everyone for the last few years you've been working with law enforcement in arizona on curbing illegal immigration what do you think the obama administration should be doing to really address that issue. in terms of here i think for me the key is to be able

to do proper background on everybody because you have really nice humble wonderful ethical moral people who are just trying to find a better life and then in the mix of that you have you know the most evil rotten murdering raping criminals on earth that they're doing everything from you know kidnapping to. human trafficking sex trafficking they're not just murdering but they are you know. doing all kinds of really terrible things. it's to the people to intimidate other people as you know and so. what we want to do before we just give a blanket amnesty is really set up a situation where we could really take a good look at each individual and see. what category they should fit in you know sir i mean what did you see firsthand while working in arizona that really

sort of the little fied your belief on the. well i work on the border you know and you know i work. intimately with you know organizations who are seeing all of what's going on and when the there is for example or bringing people in when you say bringing them in they can be people who just want to try to come into america to find a better life and you know work for their families but oftentimes they'll be grabbed by you know these are working for the cartels and they're all given you know large sacks of. marijuana or different narcotics and told you know walk with this stuff and. when they arrive wherever they arrive oftentimes they're then told well give us money or we'll kill you and you know oftentimes you know see people who are cut up their heads are cut off their arms are cut off their legs are cut off. you

know they're left tied up and dead and so we know that it's not just a bunch of nice people you know bringing in marijuana. for you know hippies or something it's a different different group of people that are doing a lot of different criminal activity like i said from from murder to rape to narco trafficking to human trafficking to sex trafficking and it's. you know it's billions of dollars that are. you know coming. out of america cross the borders in the mexico usually the cherishes going into mexico on the narcotics or coming out of mexico into america but it's a problematic complicated situation where so many people are making money on both sides indeed i think all the more reason perhaps for some real reform on the issue while actor steven seagal thank you so much for being with us ok i think you meant

. and more fallout from the leaks conversation between two u.s. diplomats on thursday a video was posted on you tube in which victoria nuland the top u.s. diplomat for europe dismissed ego efforts to mediate the ongoing crisis in ukraine in the conversation nuland said the e.u. and today german chancellor merkel called it quote absolutely unacceptable artie's marina port has more what you hear during those four minute conversation is basically two top u.s. officials strategizing about how to form you crane's new government it sounds like they're playing a game of chess with the opposition leaders as the pieces on that chess board they're trying to determine which opposition leader has the best economic and governing experience to work inside ukraine's new government and which opposition leaders should remain on the outside it's a bit shocking to actually hear i had to listen to it up you times to really grasp

the fact that there are strategizing on how to put together the government of another country instead of paraphrasing everything let's let our viewers actually take a listen for themselves. which trip uses obviously the complicated electron here especially now instead of him as deputy prime minister and you've seen some of my notes on the troubles in the marriage right now so we're trying to get a read really start where he is on this stuff i'm glad you sort of put it on the spot on where it fits in the scenario so i don't think leetch should go into the government i don't think it's necessary i don't think it's a good idea in terms of going into the government just let him sort of stay out and do his political homework and stuff i think he says that he's got the economic experience the governing experience he stays the good you know what he needs his creation tony book on the outside he needs to be talking to them four times a week well clearly this is a highly embarrassing situation for the united states particularly because we've

been hearing u.s. officials insist for so long that they're not involving themselves in into ukraine internal search. for or the spokesperson for the u.s. state department she had a pretty difficult day on thursday jen psaki was put in the hot seat by journalists one after another reporters kept asking her why u.s. officials are interfering in ukraine's internal problems at one point of course bonded said point blank that the least conversation. with something to construct a new government in a sovereign country and actually bring officials in from the u.n. to seal the deal one thing u.s. officials cannot spin their way out is the profanity and dismisses tone historia nuland used when referring to the european union and its involvement in ukraine for that an apology was issued she's been in close contact with you high representative ashton also let me convey that she has been in contact with her you counterparts

and and of course has apologized but. for these reported comments of course to you not confirming that the comments are accurate she's i'm just not going to speak. to a private diplomatic conversation arshad but i'm obviously speaking to the content of the report. misaki also tried to make somewhat of a joke when she was in damage control mode when she was referring to the use of profanity when it came to victoria nuland the assistant secretary of state let's take a listen you may know the story of how she lived on a russian boat for about eight months when she was twenty three and she learned how to perfect perhaps certain words in a couple of languages so perhaps that speaks to the more than a pervasive viewpoint you know suggesting that she is a predisposition against russian no i was suggesting that she learned russian curse words and curse words on that even if you should include. i was making

a joke about her learning the first words on a fishing boat there you see a us folks person trying to make a joke out of a situation that is quite scandalous quite embarrassing not sure if any high official officials in ukraine are laughing at this moment after their hearing that this leaked conversation on you tube about you know the united states strategizing on how to build a new government in a sovereign country that was r t correspondent marina poured niamh. and we're just learning that british intelligence has a hacker division that's been using questionable practices for seeking out enemies of the state that's all according to new documents released by former government contractor edward snowden the documents which were obtained by n.b.c. news show that britain's spy agency or the g c h q has been fighting hacktivist groups like anonymous and lulz sec with cyber attacks and now where and the british

agency has been doing this all under the guise of something called the joint threat research and teligent group or the j t r i g e according to the documents the unit has staged distributed denial of service cyber attacks which are better known as. o.-s. attacks they involve implanting malware to disclose the identities of hackers and prevent their communications and most countries a d.d. o. s. attack is a criminal offense for example in the us a person found guilty of a cyber attack would be charged in accordance with the computer fraud and abuse act in another and as a document obtained by n.b.c. it was also revealed that the hacking unit's activities are not just limited to computer network protection but that the unit has used cyber tools to engage in computer and phone jamming breach e-mail accounts and conduct false flag operations . and two new york men have been freed from prison after serving twenty one years behind bars for a crime they did not commit thirty nine year old anthony garbo and thirty seven

year old sheriff wilson were arrested in one thousand nine hundred two for a triple murder but new d.n.a. evidence suggests they did not commit the crimes and twenty thirteen d.n.a. evidence from one of the victims was linked to a rape and murder that happened in new york in one thousand nine hundred nine and wilson were already behind bars when that crime occurred yarbrough was just eighteen and wilson only fifteen when they were accused of murder both claim brooklyn detectives placed them in two separate interview rooms and coerced false confessions from the two teens who were later convicted in separate trials the case was just one of many from the one nine hundred eighty s. and ninety's being reviewed for wrongful conviction in the brooklyn district attorney's office others are being riggs salmon because of possible coerced confessions and witness intimidation. and still ahead here on r t one politician things that lawmakers have outstayed their welcome in congress and now he's pushing

a bill to limit how long lawmakers can remain in office we'll tell you more after the break.

i got a quote for you. it's pretty tough. they way it's not story. it's just like it should be or that john stead of working for the people most issues the beach the preacher the wright brothers even. though they didn't read it well. and congressman mick mulvaney filed a bill this week that would amend the constitution and impose term limits on members of congress the bill calls for a maximum of twenty four years of service for lawmakers but that would break down to a maximum of twelve years in each the house and the senate in a statement wednesday congressman mulvaney wrote this about the new measure believe me twenty four years is more than enough time to serve in washington i actually pushed for much shorter terms but compromised at twelve plus twelve in order to

gain the support of additional co-sponsors lawmakers are up for election every two years in the house and every six years in the senate the introduction of this bill comes on the heels of course of a series of polls that show congress is becoming increasingly unpopular amongst americans and the latest gallup poll put out in january just thirteen percent of americans actually approved of the job congress is doing so could we see this measure get passed to discuss this a little bit more i was joined earlier by christina tobin founder of free and equal i first asked her what she thought of the twenty four year proposal why i think is so relevant i would advocate for most members of congress having not much more time in office because the people are ready for a huge change there's a shift in a america an awareness and the polls are saying very strongly that it's time you know to replace every member of congress and democrats or republicans alike. john f. kennedy wants you know let's not seek the republican answer or the democratic answer

but the right answer and the right answer is a lot of independents are going to be running for office so i want to actually get to that a little bit later but as i understand it in two thousand and twelve then senator jim de mint proposed a similar amendment that would place limits on how long members of congress could serve the senate overwhelmingly rejected demands measure voting seventy five to twenty four against it so is there any reason to believe a term limit bill would pass now in two thousand and fourteen considering the state of congress today. well term limits the way i look at it they don't even really help us because people who run for office if there are term limited out they just run for a higher office or even a lower office so it's another trick and thinking that this is going to help fix things when in fact it's the people in office that are making these a may not good laws and making it just are not steering our world in a good direction right now we have way bigger issues than term limits you know like

election fraud the media lisa simply voter fraud is an issue it's really not selection fraud we have you know the close. close source software and and all these different things to gerrymandering to the electoral college and so on and we the people will rise throughout the united states of america in the world to take our government back so these issues are so really not that i'm. a distraction christine i do want to ask you about something that durbin has said in two thousand and twelve when the senate was voting on this prominent voice in opposition was senator dick durbin and he said about term limits he said for some members of congress two years in office is too long and for some members of congress twenty years in office is not long enough who should make that decision the constitution in its wisdom says the voters of america make that decision let's stand by that constitution and its language and defeat this sense of the senate resolution so do you think he has

a point there and ultimately leaving it up to the people. i think you can trust to girvan aspire as you can throw and i mean he's just a guy that doesn't represent the people he represents the money the elite a few dozen people that use the two party system to the federal reserve to mainstream media and so on to turn to divide us across the world the nation and conquer and so you know we have the wrong people in office whether we have. term limits or not the people that are in office are representing the powers to be and so that being said here are free and equal elections many of you we worked with our t.v. back in two thousand and twelve when we hosted the presidential debate moderated by larry king and myself and or a t.v. and so on many many others and you guys are really amazing and bring about awareness that you know it's time to replace every member of congress and we'll clear scene i want to i want to get to that one just one second because the first i wanted to mention something that you touched on which is that congressional

approval is very low it's standing at thirteen percent of course during the government shutdown it was even lower than that so tell me what you think that says about the frustration of american people right now. well that's a great question and thank you the people are fed up with the people in office and the polls are coming out very strong that independents are rising as well and i do first see a huge movement of independents rising and taking back our government and again you know the people in office whether it's discussing term limits they should be talking about the india a national defense authorization act the patriot act in a say what snowden and assigned to an amazing individuals like that are doing to rise and bring the truth out these are way bigger issues that members of congress should be speaking about and i'll tell you of all there is a really awesome lady named marianne williamson she's running as an independent for congress in california as a spiritual off there are thirty years she's been writing books new york times new

york times best selling author and now she is running for congress so i see her really igniting and stiring the many more people to run for asteroids the us because perhaps term limits will will give some new momentum to some third party candidates unfortunately we've run out of time but christina tobin founder of free and equal thank you so much it seems that the police are always trying to keep an eye on people and catch them in the act of a crime and this in part has led to an increase in public camera surveillance tonight's resident takes a look at pennsylvania increasing the scope of its camera surveillance by having its cops strap on body cameras.

leave our stringing up surveillance cameras at every stop like in every park at private residences shopping plazas gas stations and any other place people who might be. e all over the country but apparently that's not enough to feed their lust for surveillance because now they're going to start stringing them up on them . or at least now they're able to in pennsylvania since their legislature just passed a bill fifty seven which changes the wiretap law there to authorize police to wear cameras on their body. before they could only mount them on to their vehicles like dashboard cam but now with they can strap them onto their bodies to record every single thing they think and since pittsburgh just spent over one hundred forty thousand dollars on a bunch of apps on flexed personal video camera systems already they're pretty much set to hit the streets and hit record the ads on flex cameras that some have little

cameras that mounted on shirtless towels or i wear the law includes language that indicates officers need to tell people they're being recorded quote as soon as reasonably practicable which is a slippery slope break there because that's leaving it up to the cops judgment as to when it's a good time to tell someone they're magically being reported by the cops. the law also says that cops can't record in people's homes for now at least considering how camera happy we've become here it's probably safe to say that more states will follow and police across the land will start strapping the cameras on of course you could say this could be a good thing that a police officer being filmed is less likely to be a jerk but here's the thing about that and about all video footage really the jerk holding the camera is always in control of what gets recorded and what doesn't so i

think it's safe to say that the footage will only ever show a policeman being perfect civil servant. leader does this. with every moment of our lives recorded and filed away with the government. here's the bike we're heading that way and our police are at the prime wind that this movement they're stringing up cameras so much to the point where they've become strong out themselves on their addiction to pressing the record button so night let's talk about that by following me on twitter as the resident. that does it for now for more on the stories we covered go to youtube dot com slash r t america check out our website r t dot com slash usa and follow me on twitter at a mirror david for now have a great night. technology

innovation all the developments around russia we've got the future covered. you know maybe you don't know if you don't think or you're not response to really. everyone in my life that i care about their goal but when it came to skin well. i was a national champion in track and field and also was able to go in qualify for the olympic games. you know nine hundred eighty eight i started to experiment with drugs at last all the final.