thank you. very much lou. coming up on our two rockets fired in afghanistan as defense secretary james mattis arrives for a visit the taliban claims it was targeting medicines plain. and food and water supply is becoming depleted in puerto rico we'll have the latest on how residents are coping. then a lawsuit against the city of st louis a.c.l.u. calls police response to protests in the city unconstitutional but details later in the show.

it's wednesday september twenty seventh four pm in washington d.c. i'm in touch sweets and you're watching r.t. america we begin this hour in afghanistan were able rise of taliban mortars landed near cobbles airport today killing a family's home while the fire started defense secretary james madison's plane touching down for an official visits according to a taliban spokesperson a doctor at one of quibbles hospital said that he received forty injured people from the attack including two children that is landed with the secretary general jens stoltenberg to tour the country where america's longest war is still ongoing the two pledge to continue support to afghan forces combat in what they called terrorism. as nato secretary general stoltenberg said last week at the united nations this is about making sure that afghanistan doesn't want to get to become a safe haven for international terrorists and the best way of doing that is to enable the afghans to have defense security forces which are strong enough to do

just that. both amberg lives in annual billion dollars a year from nato until at least twenty twenty afghan military efforts and for more on these developments in afghanistan we turn now to michael maloof former pentagon official thanks so much for joining us today and so michael what's your initial reaction to this i mean four people injured including two children house damaged i mean have we seen anything like this in the past when the defense secretary has come for a visit we have we've seen some episodes in the past where there have been close attacks but there are a number of issues here that seem to be emerging number one the fact the taliban was able to get in so close there was some issue whether isis was involved but secretary madison self said it was to it was taliban and they generally will target the military sites as opposed to i says which does more civilian although the

the airport it's also used by civilians but they were certainly targeting his his his aircraft or another aircraft the other issue here is in response they did air attacks on predominantly civilian area. and according to the latest breaking news some civilians were accidentally killed or or injured it's no accident i mean you don't do air air assaults on a highly populated residential area now they did apparently uncover the house where the mortars support stored and apparently fired from you can pinpoint if you have the right acoustical quitman where they. shot was coming and you had something like over twenty mortars rocket propelled grenades going off so. if and when you have the afghan forces going in they're going to go in with a big sweep and. they're going to try and make

a show of. determination and but the fact that they even could get in is quite remarkable very telling and what's your reaction to the taliban spokesperson saying that they are responsible for this in a tweet i mean do they just simply not care i mean what's the goal what do they get out of it just more terror well they're showing they're showing that they can can get into kabul that they can launch attacks whenever notwithstanding what security is being provided right now. taliban today controls approximately forty five percent of all the districts in in afghanistan as opposed to what we eat at the end of two thousand and one when we basically had a moen the run so their base there they're coming back they're coming back with a vengeance and then this address is really the greater policy that that. mr secretary medicines over there to tout that is were we're going to be doing more

training and assisting where we're loosening the rules of engagement but it didn't matter it doesn't matter how many troops today the taliban occupies more of afghanistan then when we nish really sent them running in two thousand and one so this is going to be a far more monumental challenge if you will. and not going to do it with just the eight to ten thousand troops additional troops it's going to be sending then over time very disheartening to hear that that we haven't really made progress in that respect as you know this has been one of the longest running war some sixteen years now so what's your take on nato support until two thousand and twenty and then more troops as we said. assisting the afghan forces i will see what kind of support they get i know at one point the germans said they've had enough to they've never been engaged in a they or nato forces for that matter never been engaged outside of the nato area

and afghanistan has been a long tedious war for them their support has been they've had some troops and in much more safe areas. in the past but that seems to be declining because of the rise of isis and taliban converging in some areas now so it's i think the nato commanders the nato leader is now thinking this over and he's come probably meet with resistance from some of the nato countries they may provide equipment etc but in terms of troops and certainly not at the level we have have committed so once again it becomes an american war and do you think afghan units really need the assistance of the u.s. and i was going to ask you about making progress but certainly does it sound like we have made much well they they need they need they need they need to continue to have that kind of support and that kind of training because once it once we receive

from it they turn in they don't have that leadership they need leadership and the question is not only the training on how to use the equipment and tactics but also of leadership i tend to doubt that there's been much training in leadership and even even when general petraeus was over there he was having difficulties after so many years of not only a combat system in a combat role but also in training assist so it's still a challenge to today as it was then and i think it's going to be more so because because of the encroachments now of taliban into. highly congested civilian areas along with isis. and that's that's the that's their strategy they they they don't care any longer how long we stay they've they've taken over half the country already and with the help of isis and hitting those civilians hitting more civilian targets it's going to create more chaos and anything and and the

government there is still a question of whether the government can really. stay strong and hang in there alternately as secretary met a said the solution to ghana stand is going to negotiate a settlement do you get you get it you got to get the other countries in the region russia china iran and even pakistan involved although the afghan taliban is a creature of to pakistan so the question is what role will they have cannae hakani network is still coming in from pakistan and hitting the u.s. targets they've always done that or you have to leave it there unfortunately great insight especially with that the leadership roles that we possibly need to look at they have so much that's former pentagon official michael malone. and today the senate committee on homeland security and governmental affairs lead to discuss ongoing efforts to counter threats to stability in the united states and among the topics discussed were domestic and international terrorism the threat posed by the

increasing the severity of natural disasters and considerable financial allocations requested for the border wall construction senator claire mccaskill of missouri highlighted the threats posed by domestic and international terrorist organizations i don't think many americans understand the level of threat that we have in this country from white supremacists anti-government and other violent extremists we've had sixty two incidents since nine eleven and one hundred six fatalities by the white supremacist and i government and other violent extremists compare that to twenty three acts of violence by islamic violent extremists. the fatalities are almost equal according to the senator this comes at the same time counterterrorism programs nationwide are facing nasa budget cuts for twenty eight. the war of words continues to escalate between the u.s.

and north korea president donald trump has now said the u.s. is fully prepared to explore military options against pyongyang if washington feels it's needed at the same time a state department spokesperson has described the u.s. presidents as being in effect that communicator on the korean crisis artie's carob op then has the story we are totally prepared for the second option not a preferred option but if we take that option it will be devastating i can tell you that devastating for north korea that's called the military option if we have to take it we will the president certainly. is a very effective communicator and the president speaks very clearly in terms of his position coming out of the white house well apparently donald trump is an effective communicator he doesn't want to attack north korea while at the same time he does he has been threatening north korea with military options for quite a while and we've heard kim jong on in the leaders of north korea responding when

there was the recent statement saying little rocket man won't stay much longer we've seen angry responses from north korea heather nauert was asked at the state department about whether she thought it was helpful for donald trump to speak this way on social media i feel that the tweets of the name calling and the statements made over twitter on north korea you feel like that is effective communication i think the pit the president is an effective communicator i think people know exactly where he stands we have had a good deal of success in pushing forward with our diplomacy campaign that hasn't changed that certainly hasn't changed in the president has helped rally the world together rally the world together in the peaceful pressure campaign against kim jong un's regime so apparently she considers threatening a country that has nuclear capabilities with destruction to be a great diplomat. atic success and this doesn't sit well with pyongyang they fired

back with their own responses we've been having this war mongering rhetoric back and forth between the leaders of north korea and the leaders of the united states for months now the escalation of terms has increased the question is when will this rhetoric transform into something more serious hospitals in puerto rico are facing dangerous power outages widespread shortages of food fuel and water on the island are reportedly growing worse it's been one week since hurricane maria slammed into the u.s. territory more than three point four million american citizens on the island remain without electricity and access to communication at least ten deaths have been confirmed as officials warn that number may grow the more we go live to our teasley in miami so marina the widespread loss of power and dangerous conditions in puerto rico have emergency medical care on the island so as far as you know how many hospitals are functioning at the moment. well the majority of puerto rico's nearly

seventy hospitals are without electricity or fuel for generators officials say thirty percent of the island's hospitals are functioning and are out full capacity but they face frequent power outages and one case desperate tweets have been sent by a physician from the san george children's hospital in san juan warning that people will die if more assistance is not received at another hospital in san juan two people reportedly died in an intensive care unit after ran out of diesel now officials say distributing the food water fuel and medicine ship to puerto rico is proving to be a challenge with debris and downed power lines still blocking streets puerto rico's governor says they don't have enough drivers available at this moment to transport goods such as food from the ports to supermarkets now senator marco rubio who visited puerto rico says challenges on the island are extraordinary. some of the

areas outside of san juan where there's still no communication and no powers logic tells you there's probably some very critical medical needs that are met in those areas and assuming we can even identify them how do you deliver medicines and lifesaving supplies across roads that might still not be navigable and so the challenges are extraordinary and it will take a much more aggressive federal reaction than we would traditionally see in order to kind of turn the corner on some of this. according to reports an estimated forty four percent of residents in puerto rico nearly half do not have access to clean drinking water and many are standing in line for up to twelve hours for fuel incredible and as we were reporting yesterday that apartment homeland security has refused to waive shipping restrictions under the jones act to help get gasoline and other supplies from puerto rico senator john mccain is calling on the d.h.s.s. to rethink its decision citing texas and florida as examples so what is the very

latest on this anymore developments well for our viewers who don't know the jones act prohibits foreign flag vessels from picking up and delivering fuel and goods between u.s. ports so this means all shipping to puerto rico is limited to u.s. flagged vessels as a result the people of puerto rico are often forced to pay at least twice as much for food clean drinking water supplies etc now in a letter to d.h. us on tuesday arizona senator john mccain called the department's decision not waiving the own the jones act unacceptable saving the agency's willingness to waive the jones act for relief efforts in texas and florida in the wake of hurricane harvey in irma senator mccain urged us to rethink its decision warning that puerto rico faces a humanitarian crisis as the island's three and a half million people struggle to survive without power communication or clean water officials estimate the island could be without electricity for up to six months following outcry over the move president trump said the white house is considering issue issuing

a waiver for puerto rico but noted the shipping industry has voiced its opposition because of course it hurts their business interests and president says that his administration is doing a very good job aiding with puerto rico insisting that recovery efforts on the u.s. territory are simply more challenging to organize because puerto rico is on an island so what is the general consensus there about his reaction to everything. well puerto rico's governor ricardo seo says he was confident in the president and the administration but many residents feel president trump who hasn't yet visited the island has failed twelve valuate the real level of the damage on the ground take a listen to what they had to say. if you could show his power in puerto rico things would be different very different many people don't trust him. all he knows to do is make money just money for the united states but it doesn't

think about talking to people to see what is better to communicate with the locals to see what we need all the things about is sending money home with them and they haven't evaluated the real level of the damage they're doing what they can however they can but since there is no communication people don't know what to do or how to do it the shelters have collapsed i heard from the federal. president trump will be visiting puerto rico next tuesday that's nearly two weeks after hurricane maria a category four storm slammed into the u.s. territory ok we're in a partner important in miami thank you thank you they feel you of missouri has found a lawsuit against the city of st louis after it says police officers engage in unconstitutional conduct during a protest over the jasons to a plea verdict or earlier this month was acquitted of any wrongdoing in the twenty levin shooting death of twenty four year old anthony lamar smith for several days following the verdict many took to the streets to protest his acquittal as

a result more than one hundred people were arrested by law enforcement during the protest here is our t.v. correspondent ashley banks with more the a.c.l.u. is suing st louis over its police department's use of chemical weapons interference with a video of police activity and for violating protesters due process rights to work in the protest the sale you says the department did not use proper protocol when using chemical weapons against protesters and bystanders the lawsuit claims officers use the chemical weapons without warning and in some cases remove goggles some people were wearing and then proceeded to spray them in the face with pepper spray mostly a model plead to even the a.c.l.u. lawsuit who was pepper sprayed said quote if it hadn't been for my fellow peaceful protesters strangers who came to my aid i don't know how my eyesight would be today i would have been left out in the sun on the ground with my face burning defending the actions of the police a st louis police department spokesman said quote the geographical layout of the

area and not a technique dictated how tactics were deployed during the protest demonstrators were using cameras and phones to film and take photos according to the e.c.l. you officers unlawfully interfered with those recording police activities by asking protesters to delete photos and. videos from their devices the c.l.u. says officers also unlawfully detained people during a tactic called heavily cata ling is when police have blocked off all exits confine a group of demonstrators to a small area and then arrest them the lawsuit says protesters had been ordered to disperse from the location forty five minutes prior some even knocking over trash cans and breaking windows but then police began allowing protesters and others back into the area and without further instruction or warning start at the kettle and process the c.l.u. says the use of this tactic violated protesters due process rights according to

local media reports amongst those arrested were an undercover cop an air force lieutenant and other journalists during their arrest the undercover officer was a beaten by two uniformed cops to the point where his mouth was bloodied later it was revealed to them that they had actually violated one of their own st louis mayor lyda creusa asked the director of public safety to investigate how the undercover cop was arrested and beaten during the protests according to kurson spokesman the mayor hold these allegations disturbing to any rock art legal director of the a.c.l.u. of missouri said quote while long shifts in being the subject of the protests is understandably challenging for police that is no excuse for violating the constitution the executive director of the a.c.l.u. jeffrey mit men believe st louis has a chance to lead the nation and policing saying we stand ready to work with any elected official or police leader who is ready to invoke change and washington

actually banks are t.v. . california has some of the lowest a vacancy rates in the country the high cost of real estate and sky high rents to keep turnover rates low however at landlords in downtown los angeles are facing the opposite problem they can see rates in the newly developed area are the highest in seventeen years as the state's housing crisis worsens of advocacy groups are pushing for the construction of more affordable housing archies but at the santos has a story from los angeles california is in the middle of a housing crisis half of the state's residents are struggling to keep a roof over their heads and homeownership rates are the lowest since world war two the median cost of a house is half a million dollars twice the national average as a result more people are renting but between two thousand and five and two thousand and fifteen only twenty one units of housing were constructed per one hundred new

residents to the state this has resulted in a lack of availability and sky high rent especially in cities like los angeles san diego and san francisco. areas that have seen a boom in new development are still on affordable for example here in downtown los angeles most of the new high rises cater to the wealthy rent is so expensive vacancies have reached the highest rate in seventeen years landlords are now offering perks to incentivize move in but the median price for a one bedroom downtown is twenty five hundred dollars per month and in this building a tiny four hundred eighty seven square foot studio starts at around two thousand dollars per month so six weeks of free rent or free parking for an entire year will not offset the costs income over the past two decades hasn't kept pace with escalating rent what was once considered a low income problem is now everyone's problem cal matters finds that even extremely high incomes aren't enough to blunt the cost of housing in san jose where

the current median income is nearly one hundred thousand dollars renters can still expect to pay forty percent of their monthly income on rent it's no wonder homelessness in the state is on the rise of angeles alone saw a twenty three percent increase over the past year with the heart of the problem just blocks away on skid row it's no wonder homelessness in the state is on the rise los angeles alone cites twenty three percent increase over the past year but the heart of the problem just blocks away on skid row state lawmakers are now cracking down on communities that delay or derail housing construction but with progress so far down the line many californians are leaving the state in downtown los angeles for you to santos. the best is coming up next here on our to america land the friends series for a preview of what's ahead helen z. a there disgraced former c.e.o. of equifax still gets to keep his eighteen million dollars pension after one hundred forty three million americans got their personal data held by the company hacked my guess tells us how consumers can strike back and where their hands may

just be tied also u.s. shale oil could be set up to shake up asia right thing. so much lindsay that does it for now for more on the stories we've covered go to youtube dot com or america also check out our web site r.k. dot com for science america you follow me on twitter at the taj suites question war . for decades the american middle class so it's been railroaded by washington politics. big bloody. nose throw a lot of oil that's how what is the culture in this country. that's where our economy. i would still. argue america i'll make sure you don't get railroaded you'll get the straight talk in the straight. to.

it looks like the golden age of the internet is coming to an end it's been a wild and wacky fun ride for the past few decades where anyone can post anything they want and explore all kinds of unregulated information and media but there is no way that was going to last and now the changes finally have a huge indication is that facebook's founder mark zuckerberg just announced to the world that he's working directly with the u.s. government to combat election meddling zuckerberg said he's actively working with our government briefing and supporting congress to make sure no one meddles in our elections going forward by posting information on facebook that goes against what facebook in the u.s. government deems appropriate so in other words facebook is working with the government on ways to censor information they don't like zuckerberg then goes on to

say that not only is he working with our government but he's working with election commissions around the world to help people register to vote in other current. and to learn about the issues got that facebook's working with our government to censor information here in the u.s. while also working with foreign officials to push out information in other countries that they want other people to see so he's working with election commissions around the world to meddle in other country's elections that's what he said in his speech about combat election interference and then he goes on to talk about all the good meddling facebook did in the twenty six thousand elections from giving candidates direct channels to communicate with people to getting people to register to vote who might not have otherwise voted but that could work also bragged about helping campaigns spend tens of millions of dollars in advertising and somehow he doesn't see that as meddling that to him is just good democracy at work and then he concludes with the bad meddling that happened was much much

smaller in scale than the good meddling which happened on a much larger scale than ever before in history he said that like it's a good thing like his meddling was good and huge at his store while the bad meddling was just an unfortunate blip but don't worry facebook and the government will make sure that never happens again so yeah the golden age of the internet is coming to an end i'm not saying that's a bad or good thing i'm just saying it is and it's bound to produce a whole new era one where people start going outside of facebook to get information not vetted by big brother and i for one look forward to seeing what's next.

for decades the american middle class has been railroaded by washington politics. big money corporate interests that's drowned out a lot of voices that's how it is in the news culture in this country now that's where i come in. i mean it's still fun r.t. america i'll make sure you don't get railroaded if you'll get the straight talk and the straight news. questionable. here's what people have been saying about redacted in night because you know i was actually just full on awesome the only show i go out of my way to lunch you know a lot of the really packs a punch at least yampa is the john oliver of hearty americans do the same we are apparently better than flu vaccines bennett said and see people you never heard of

love redacted tonight my president of the world bank so patzers i'm going to write me seriously send us an e-mail. on larry king you are watching our amount question and more. what politicians do something that. they put themselves on the lawn. to get accepted or rejected. so when you want to be president or injury. or something i want to be honest. it's a right to be for us as a white woman for freedom or can't be good that i'm interested always in the waters of our.