[000:00:00;00] live live . the u.s. launches a war on government leaks after donald trump's phone transcripts with other leaders and made public threatening to damage american diplomacy. russia's former ambassador to the u.s. to get his fiasco opens up in his first t.v. interview since leaving the post about the scandal over contacts with american diplomats also to come this hour secret documents show that biotech giant monsanto tried to influence media and scientists to improve the reputation of

a controversial weed killer we talked to one of the firm's executives tapped. another miner is rescued from a flooded diamond mine in the far east of russia after spending nearly twenty four hours trapped underground eight people remain missing. but i welcome you watching r.t. international start this hour with breaking news because video of an air strike has emerged from yemen but due to its graphic nature it has been heavily edited and we must warn you it is disturbing it does show the bodies of a family being dragged from the rubble following an alleged saudi led coalition strike nine people were killed including six children after their house collapsed according to local officials the air strike occurred between a battle during a battle between the u.s.

and saudi backed forces in yemen against al qaeda in the city of sad a saudi led coalition denies it was responsible saying they do not target civilians . in other names the white house has announced a crackdown on intelligence and government leaks which have left the trumpet ministration in turmoil the culprits are being mourned to stop now or face legal consequences leaks are incredibly damaging to our intelligence mission and capabilities simply put these leaks hurt our country if you improperly disclose classified information we will find you we will investigate you we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law and you will not be happy with the result is any general says the justice department has been pursuing about

three times more leaks than joining the final years of the administration and it's not only government employees who could face prosecution the media could also be forced to reveal its sources critics though have slammed that as an attack on free speech but there are fears that some leaks could be putting national security at risk. now reports. the white house is leaking like a c. and it simply has to stop so says attorney general. as efforts are stepped up to root out those responsible and one of the vital. even speculated lie detectors can be wheeled into the west wing to sniff out. these comments of the administration's response to the waves of classified information making their way out of the white house at an alarming and some say dangerous rate i am so glad they're telling us what's going on every day the crazy thing. is only you know getting out in the public because of the white house whistle blowers the transcripts of phone calls

between president trump and two world leaders have been published by the washington post i've never seen a white house leak as much against it so the latest and most explosive leak conversation transcripts between trump and the leaders of mexico and seems to have been the final straw provoking outrage even among critics who say a line has been crossed. this proves. in terms of the leaks. on the train well we saw in a leaks like this under the obama administration and we saw only one or two when they were related to the iraq war in the bush administration so clearly the press leaks only what they want to leak because i refuse to believe these are the only times that they've ever had some do gooder and them something that they think should be published so in the sense that the press is selective i think that they

have risen to the level of you being able to demonstrate malice being that they are not others and if they can show malice they should be held responsible absolutely despite the reported risks to national security in this leaking pipe of information continues to drip likely because trump the enemies are not only at the door of the white house they are right inside it too between staff stragglers from the obama era and professional shake ups within his own administration but one thing that is clear is the toxic environment of distrust is likely to cloud the halls of the west wing meaning the president will have a hard time doing his job effectively and the security of the nation remains in question and all leaks are plugged and the damage can finally be mopped up. marty washington d.c. meanwhile former russian ambassador to the u.s. has opened up about his conversations with the ex u.s. national security adviser michael flynn the controversial discussions which took place during the trumpet ministrations transition into power led to flee in having

to leave his post with. following the story for us from joining me from central moscow good afternoon to mood at what did mr kissling have to say then about those interactions and about that claim that the pair discuss the lifting of sanctions. well he says that he's still shocked and indignant over all this attention that's been devoted to his to his meeting with flynn he asks since when a diplomats forbid an from engaging with politicians with members of an administration that is after all their entire job with regards to this to this talk this conversation between himself and mr flynn says that they talked about straightforward things pressing concerns but simple ones such as terrorism for example there were no secrets mentioned he says regards the sanctions and by the way it was sanctions there potential talk of sanctions that really forced mr flynt to resign mystic is that says you had very direct orders from the top not to

mention sanctions. you should know me as much i do not comment on our daily contacts with our colleagues and i had instructions not to discuss sanctions we never discuss sanctions with anybody and i assure you i have honestly followed instructions we don't discuss or bargain about sanctions because we believe they were implemented in an illegal and politically aggressive way to begin with. so. also says that he doesn't take seriously all these allegations of russian meddling during the election and when asked why the russian media focused and covered the elections in such great detail he says because it was fun as good a reason as any. doubt among the allegations that came out was one that said there was actually a russian spy talk us through that. well they called him many things the

politicians and the media especially during the early days of trump's presidency they you know they called him a chief spy they called him a chief recruiter of spies bear in mind this is a respectable person a career diplomat he's been in washington since two thousand and since two thousand and eight and he says that these allegations are offensive and humiliating and not to him but to the people saying them to america itself like a nice. sort of i believe all the talk suggesting that i bust through the russian federation i'm a spy it is shameful for a country like america that has become normal in america to talk about how the russian ambassador is why it's out how books were installed on his phone it's an unhealthy society despite everything mistake it's like says he doesn't believe where in the middle of another cold war things haven't gotten that bad he says but

there are huge problems and many of them stem from the fact that there's a self exceptionalism in american politics there's a belief that the united states can dictate and can tell everyone else what is good and what is bad says mr kiss like and when they need to resistance when they need somebody who is willing to stand up for their own interests that's when they get upset. ok thanks maria that was a. the taliban has been stepping up its attacks in afghanistan mainly in the south a series of assaults over the past four days has seen dozens of people killed both soldiers and also civilians despite efforts to eliminate the taliban lasting a decade the terrorists still have a large presence in the country according to the latest u.s. report for reconstruction there forty percent of afghan territory is currently

controlled or contested by the taliban. but it. was i was looking. for me there was a washington has provided millions of dollars to assist afghanistan in its fight against the terrorists however according to afghanistan's special inspector general the us defense program has cost taxpayers almost half a billion dollars and admitted it's failed to achieve its goals president trump voiced his anger to a with a failed campaign during his latest meeting with generals and progress reports over

the past months haven't been positive we are not winning in afghanistan right now we want an illusion. mr chairman i believe we're in a stalemate going on year sixteen now people are american people are tired of it they're looking for alternatives and i think president trump is voicing that their frustration in trying to come to some kind of resolution on this now i know the russians have an afghan working group i was told by some officials recently that they had actually invited the united states to participate in discussions with with their group and to discuss a resolution for afghanistan but the united states refused. unbelievable but it worked really underscores once again the u.s. needs a strategy it doesn't have one and it's not going to have one if they're going to

rely solely on a military solution. venezuela's need to be elected but controversial legislative body has been you know go right to district violence in the country continues at least in the capital deployed to gas and rubber bullets in clashes with any real position supporters. thank you. well the hip issue here is that now we have two a parliament one parliament to dominate that by the oval fish on our parliamentary that by. the opposition house snobbery now who demonstrations that will to your mind things will work out what they are going to be youthful the most gracious about their resoled. usually by allowing their way in whitehall around people who

three people killed them or three starters in late march i don't see any understanding i fear that if you push on either continuing that fifty. or maybe getting wars i think this will bear that out and in time so on both sides are entrenched wildfire the whole however out of the national guard along. with just. like i would have returned to one of our top stories former russian ambassador to the us history act has opened up about his conversations with ex u.s. national security advisor michael flynn the controversial discussions which took place during the trumpet ministrations transition into power did lead to flynn having to leave his post said that sanctions were not discussed and that the two officials focused on terrorism let's get the thoughts now of his story in russian analyst martin mccauley. martin what do you make of mystic history x.

comments then how significant are they do you think. they're very significant because. of the russian ambassador and he's stating his position. he discussed with general flu. and he's putting it on record. and he says that sanctions were not discussed we have to accept his word so therefore the flies in the face of the problems with the trump establishment. which maintained he was talking about sanctions and perhaps give away secrets and so on and they're blaming the blame vin flew for in fact breaching. united states' security. and now turns out that in fact this was not the case the filibuster those put to use. clearing general flynn's name but. general

blum has come to loot do you think those comments them from mr will actually carry a lot of weight in the current u.s. investigation. the problem is that in washington there's a very very strong and to a russian caucus and from the democrat side sometimes among the republicans and the liberal press and they will literally not accept anything which is positive about russia have a russian say something they don't believe it and they were. president trump say something about positive about russia the say that's treasonous he shouldn't be saying that russia is in fact already and we should be concentrating on that so unfortunately in washington now. you have on the one side president trump who would like and his people they would like to improve relations with russia.

get things going and so on but congress as you know just passed legislation which increases i think sions not only does the do the increase sanctions but russia iran and north korea being put together has pariah states which is very very insulting so therefore the. congress if you like is doing its best to ensure that relations with russia deteriorate and all the efforts of president trumps of all to improve relations failed and all trump can do from now on is to try and improve relations and he will take this statement by the ambassador and say look he said that they can we accept that and of course the opposition will say no we won't accept that because of course we say that and we have our version we have our sources and still and the sources say the other things so it is in fact is a case of one person saying one thing and then the other side not accepting it.

sure i mean mr casey i did actually talk about the attitude towards russia and it being very toxic at the moment i mean no sign of letting up either. you know because i was disappointed by the actions of congress because you would have thought the be more constructive to improve relations because america needs to work with russia in the middle east especially in syria and there's a problem of ukraine as to the that's supposed to result in a settlement in ukraine and all this has been pushed aside. and congress say as well relations with russia are bad and they're going to get bad and they're looking at another ten years of sanctions and bad relations with russia which very very very unfortunate the present climate given the state of the world given the tension in the middle east and given terrorism and russia and america as

opposed to join together to fight isis or islamic state. this does not bode well for that relationship. martin leave it there for now but thanks for that was martin mccauley historian and russian analyst thank you thank you. still to come there are toxic revelations about one of the world's best selling weed killers we'll have the details on that after the break. we told. the world to.

get it out of the you will. according. what do you want your take on the mistress right now just a. tough situation obama but i think the big problem. is that while he pretended everything was great i liked him better. when everything was when the data was phony the statistics on the unemployment rate is much higher don't believe the g.d.p. the stock market is a big fat that's probably going for a truck by god everything is great it's a bull market the economy is great it's all because. secret documents show that the american biotech giant monsanto did try to influence media and science reports on its popular weed killer roundup one of its key ingredients has been linked to cancer. an attorney from the firm that published the

documents describes the revelations. this is a look behind the curtain monsanto has deliberately been stopping studies ghost reading literature and engaging in corporate malfeasance the world health organization labeled roundups main ingredient live pesetas potentially carcinogenic to humans and animals last month health officials in california also said it could cause cancer when santos promos though do you paint a different picture. and what about their main active ingredient. is it harmful regulatory agencies and more than one hundred sixty countries have approved places say based products like the state is applied to pleats plants absorb it travels to their roots blocks a specific enzyme found in plants not animals or humans precise effective and proven. in the newly revealed talk to also show that concerns among staff about the product safety actually goes back many years in fact here are some of them in two thousand and three a monsanto scientist told

a colleague quote you cannot say roundup is not a good synergy and because the necessary tests haven't actually been carried out yet and then two years before that another wrote of serious concerns about testing that we killer of the monsanto e-mails also reveal contact with a science consultancy called into tech about editing research with a monsanto scientist e-mails show or a writer from the business magazine forbes requesting a high quality trough for months before writing an article on roundup and remailer was later fired for ghost writing to downplay the risks associated with the product will new harvey put the revelations to a monsanto executive. an academic ken remailer asked monsanto to draft an article for him did the company draft an article for him or did it given any orders as what he needed to write no we didn't know orders whatsoever as to what he needed to write he asked for assistance with

a draft and we provided assistance with the grafters he requested ok i just want to read out a quote from another research i can't be part of deceptive authorship we call that ghost writing and it is unethical what was he referring to there in terms of ghostwriting it was a completely. in aiden's and it was resolved with appropriate attributes in order ship credit says that there was a monsanto scientist who said he would be seriously concerned if somebody wanted to test the weed killer what was that concern we want to make sure that good science good lab practices people who know what they're doing professionals who are capable of conducting tests are doing those to us we will always have concerns when someone out of the blue tells us that they would like to ask what about the claims scott coming from some people that one of your products round up has actually caused cancer there are question marks over maybe guy for say the self isn't cancer in

juicing but perhaps the actual product how do you respond to that claim well the only other really the roundup is put together with two to two completely round up formulations is what's called a search has been studied extensively neither one of those have to be cancer causing agents. lawyer and author of the upcoming book or inventions mike papantonio believes the u.s. government actually knew about the dangers associated with random. one important thing about these documents it helps paint a very clear picture that monsanto understood the dangers of their product when they were selling it by the ton all over the world the problem is that the government has known about this for quite a while this case has been out there for quite some time and unfortunately the department of justice hasn't taken it on themselves to actually go after a criminal investigation with this but i understand here you have

a company that is actually influencing the very regulatory agency this supposed to be looking out for the safety of the american public and so this has been going on since one thousand nine hundred five the e.p.a. in one thousand nine hundred five determined that glaive to say in roundup was a primary ingredient roundup needed to be classified as a carcinogen now they said that in the eighty's and then all of a sudden with no reason to change they they said day one it will cause cancer in six years later the e.p.a. suddenly changes that classification the opposite way and now what we're seeing is why they changed it. like mine is a still missing i have a twenty four hour for a flood a diamond mine in russia is just full to pull it into an underground shop with one hundred fifty one people inside the rescue operation is currently only getting his a video showing the work being rescued just

a few hours ago. over one hundred emergency services personnel are involved in the rescue operation and they have been joined by volunteers and some of the miners two who were evacuated so here's a look at the disaster unfold. well the company which owns the mine is called these one of the world's biggest diamond

produces the firm mines most of russia's diamonds the region was discovered to be diamond rich back in the one nine hundred fifty s. and in two thousand and nine an undergrad mine was established to extract diamond bearing or producing up to a million tons a year however the facility is constantly being hit by strong underground water. of course we continue to keep. on that rescue operation we'll keep you posted on the fate of the missing miners. things look so far

today here in our back with more often. economic development is all about numbers we're really pleased to report this quarter we are one hundred six point zero. but what do we know about the other figures. when i think about the fact that i see mike do. over twenty million dollars last year more than one thousand times the average wal-mart is says he had. with all due respect i have to say i don't think that's right. is that just how a free market would. people went from pretty simple financial lives pre nine

hundred eighty to the point now where people are. just totally submerged in their financial accounts and they're all in debt and what exactly devoid society from the whatever the government tried to do it was the best leverage. might be making things worse. by saying this is not how capitalism works but lose one goes hopelessly disastrously wrong. welcome to the kaiser ford imax kaiser well we're wrapping things up here at freedom fest in las vegas has been a fantastic journey for us a lot of great guests that we maybe should just take a stroll around talk to some folks out there on the floor get the pulse of what's

happening here let's go. all right so we're prowling the floor freedom fast oh my gosh the can we pump into peter schiff and what's happening i'll work it out by bruce get ready for the bull bear debate oh that was ok here is what i am well it's a bull bear about what was right good question yeah tell me everything i don't know you the u.s. the u.s. house your spring i mean you were very visible in the political arena you ran for it was the senate for coming in it said it said it is part of congress yes the house of the congress and congressman as a senator you're right and you know you're closely associated with that what do you what's your current take on the administration right now just it's. like they're having a tough situation look what they inherited from obama but i think a big problem for trump is that is soon as he won he pretended everything was great i liked him better as a candidate when everything was raided when the data was phony this detention six aren't real the unemployment rate is much higher don't believe the g.d.p. the stock market is a big fat ugly bubble that's