said to be missing from the list of eligible competitors including five prominent russian short track speed skaters three biathlon champions ahmed two time world champion cross-country skier none have ever tested positive for doping a number of russian ice hockey players bobsledders figure skaters who didn't even participate in the sortie twenty fourteen olympic games are also missing from the list of those eligible to go some sport unions and federations i've already demanded that the i.o.c. clarify its position the i.o.c. head has claimed it wants to give way to a quote new clean generation. the wanted to give clean russian athletes the opportunity to participate and give a young and new generation of clean russian athletes the opportunity to be at the olympic games and be ambassadors for a new clean russian sport. well we asked former sweden ice hockey star carlson

canadian coach scott macpherson for their views on the exclusion of clean russian updates i think it's awful i think russia should go with the best team because they have the best hockey players outside the cho and it's going to be sad for the tournament but the best russian is not tom i think the have to be able to do it a little older so they don't defect just like three four weeks before the olympics so it's a big. might think it's somewhat misguided in that i think most of the players on the russian olympic team or the athletes from russia team that are going to be in korea they weren't even in the last olympics everybody knows who really a cultural joke is everybody knows who you know the great figure skaters are so at the end of the day you know if the russians win in hockey or if an individual figure skater or somebody wins they know who they are and everyone knows who they are and the appreciate them as athletes and you know all the hard work and

sacrifice that they've made to be able to compete at the olympic level the players that are on the russian team are guys that we played against from the time we were little kids we know that their clean lead. and unfortunately politics seems to be slipping into athletics and that's really not that. we also got the thoughts of alice kushner who are a sociology professor to us than university in the u.k. who says' mysteria is ongoing and time is running for the athletes to. b. a limb picked tournament itself is an invitation only event and that means that the organizers have the power to exclude nations or individuals willy nilly they can do it as they please there is some kind of attempt to ostracize russia russia is the bad guy of sport at the moment has been for the past twelve eighteen months we know that it isn't getting a fair shake we haven't seen evidence to support these allegations that there is

state sponsored doping but the world or most of the world at least seems to have accepted that there is some kind of systematic doping going on in russia because of that reason i think that anyone who is associated with russia is automatically lumped together with a nation that is collectively guilty of doping which is not to say of course that the rest of the world isn't taking dope. to enhance their performances in sport because i think every other country is participating in some kind of doping but the point is that russia has been stuck with that label and that stigma is going to be awfully difficult to erase in the years to come closer it gets to the the start day with a couple of weeks away now of course the more difficult it is to appeal this decision it's going to be too late to go to the court of arbitration for sport it's unlikely to get a favorable decision from that court so in other words they've excluded them in the full knowledge that they won't be there in in korea to compete. the u.s.

government's aid chief sees the scale of destruction in the syrian city of a car is almost beyond description or ever so far washington seems reluctant to pay for the rebuilding of the city which was left in ruins by the u.s. bombing campaign with the details right guess the. the end justifies the means they say some things no matter how horrible just have to be done because they're hard core finances they have to be rooted out this is an ugly business but it is necessary business it's only after when the dust settles and you see what you've done the to start having second thoughts this is when you say damn what did i just do the devastation goes back as far as you can see it is almost beyond description how deep the damage is as many as a thousand strikes a month on record alone just strikes not including. tanks and all that

more than eighty percent of the city was deemed unfit to even by the un at city hall but raised so let's start with the obvious incredible work has to be done just to get people back into their homes except we won't pay here is the disclaimer stabilisation not reconstruction the us will help fix the pipes but someone else is going to have to sort out the rest of this mess no sir the coalition freed you you do the rest we humanity ariens including the un did not have access to iraq a city because of the presence of explosive hazard and time a nation which is endangering people trying to return to iraq a city and it's also endangering humanitarian access over two hundred people have died while trying to return to their homes and hundreds more have been injured from

our understanding of the reports that we have only a limited number of neighborhoods in iraq a city have been cleared for returns and that's mainly in the outskirts. so who is going to pay to rebuild an entire city the guys who helped the straw it say they won't the civilians returning from tents in refugee camps the syrian government which doesn't even control raca who. are u.s. democrats are claiming russia is behind an online campaign to release a classified republican memo the document is believed to discredit the f.b.i. probe into alleged russian meddling digging deeper for a skill of my pin this hour. well according to the democrats there is yet another russian conspiracy against the american way of life now this is all regarding the hashtag release the memo there is

a memo that has been seen by top republican leaders that purportedly had allegedly shows that misconduct by the f.b.i. in their investigation of trump in russia and possibly spying on donald trump now there has been a huge call on social media for this memo to be released and now the democrats say that this is a kremlin plot and they are calling on facebook and twitter to reveal the role of russian boxer in allegedly promoting this hash tag release the memo we are witnessing and doing it by the russian government through kremlin linked social media actress directly acting to intervene and influence our democratic process we urge your companies to need to take necessary steps to expose india to counts involved in this influence operation now how do they know that it's russia that's to blame for this social media upsurge well all of the citations in their letter is simply media reports that are rather unsubstantiated now what's particularly

interesting is that this cast tag release the memo it was started by top republican leaders who saw the memo called it job dropping were outraged by its content and demanded that the american people be aware of how the f.b.i. was conducting its work and i had that same shock feeling i was like wait a minute this actually happened from our justice department and this f.b.i. that's how serious this is there has been a real attempt to undermine this president that is the type of information that we need all americans to see immediately the american people deserve. they must say they want to know what's in this document sadly much of the mainstream media will not be covering this today but in this house on this day let us know that indeed we are. still one nation under god and willing to protect life now they hash tag release the memo originated with top republican leaders concerned about the

activities of the f.b.i. and now it's been taken up by millions of americans however it looks like the democratic party which seems to be quite concerned about the calls to release the memo is falling back on their old canard russia did it. if somebody asks where are you from would you be offended the very question has stirred debates about racism after a social media campaign was launched in sweden nisha city explains. well from sounds like an innocent enough question doesn't it but it could land you in trouble here's what i actually had to explain that i first need to tell you about an online campaign launched in sweden to help expose racism hash tag no stranger we hope to raise awareness regarding the extensive issue of racism that actually does exist in sweden although many want to believe that we live in the world's most tolerant country they are dearest shakespearean says of being subjected to racism

and tens out asking why me from rob some people up the wrong way even though i was born here people always ask me where i'm from i hate it when they do that nobody put ari decide where my home is where i come from doesn't concern you and it shouldn't matter i say shouldn't we ever ask people about their country of origin to be on the safe side. well here's some advice from a man behind the hashtag no stranger campaign you can also question just make sure you do it right it's ok to wonder about someone's country of origin but it should

not be the very first thing to ask a stranger about because the reaction that follows is usually very stereotypical and racist like oh you're from viet nam i think it's quite terrible that you guys eat dogs. so it's name first originated and no follow up questions got it. at least two people have been killed in a dozen more injured in the afghan city of jalalabad a suicide attacker detonated a car bomb and the office of the humanitarian group save the children reportedly up to fifty people were in the building of the time save the children has now in nine states temporarily shutting down work in afghanistan according to afghan media claimed responsibility for the attack this is how witnesses described the assault. and the sound of gunfire then a very big explosion took place i think it was a car bomb there were several other explosions and more gunfire. i'm sure people

here first i heard gunfire when a car bomb exploded and suicide attackers came. in this area several residents were brutally killed the situation is very bad. you know with the security situation worsening in afghanistan the u.s. is increasing the number of combat aircraft it has in the size of the country according to nato press release washington wants to step up efforts to cripple taliban control infrastructure and cut off the fundamentalists movements revenue streams it is estimated quite the figure that the taliban effectively controls around forty percent of afghanistan on sunday we saw this again an attack on a luxury hotel in kabul that left twenty two dead at least political analyst a muslim sure believes that there will be no stability in the country until the u.s. actually withdraws. present cares out of the hand of his government as a valve you criticize you think you are doing it in seminar in afghanistan at all

and there is no chance ideas new hope to be a stable afghanistan under the don't insaaf united states the big question is why it day by day the situation is going to do really good day by day the afghan people has become hopeless if the united states is couldn't defeat i is all taliban in the country so they should confess that. a design for a sculpture to commemorate the twenty fifteen porus massacre is drawing heavy criticism in france it would appear the giant hermann holding a bouquet of shaped balloons the monument was designed by an american artist and is due to be installed next to the tokyo modern art museum in paris in response artists and activists have written an open letter demanding the project be scrapped the final look of the piece for me has nothing to do with what happened to that but that clown for me it's going to be used only that people there may selfies in front

of it and i don't i don't see the visually for me when i look at it they all think oh this was. picked and then i'll feel there are it's not even in the area of the. r.t. sharla dubin ski has been gauging public reaction to the plan memorial in the french capital. this is where the sculpture would be installed there would be a huge hand for truth out of the ground grasping at twelve to lips with this view of the eiffel tower behind it which some say will be ruined as a result and while it's clear that some in paris do not appreciate this gesture what's the view on the street so colorful it's nice to be different really stand out i don't like it so it's a modern horrid europe london jr to see showing his vision why not it's a good thing cheerful and full of color it's better than the stuff you memorial day

when the gesture is very very kind but if it's a weather not about schoolteachers it for the people that lost their lives it's a little bit weird also to be donated by in america an architect maybe maybe it should be a french one remembering those people is. a really good idea but probably with something a little bit different if you saw a major what would it make you think of distant land i think this battle where he's our family member and people have died and then terrible attacks and that's not the scope i would say for controversial reasons it's a nice culture but when you want to associate it with that day and what happened then. yeah i probably wouldn't leave no bones of the artwork include the u.s. ambassador to france who's been spearheading this gift idea and the mayor of paris however so far it seems that the french on scene and many people on the streets of

paris just don't appreciate this piece of american more than aunt charlotte even ski r.t. harris. more than two hundred high profile saudi arabians are at the forefront of the gulf states corruption crackdown dozens are being detained at the ritz carlton hotel in riyadh however all criminal proceedings may be dropped if they agree to pay a hefty sum for their freedom. well

talks with those suspected of corruption were expected to end this month with the detainees already agreeing to do their bit and pick up the check well local media there reporting that almost one hundred of those who didn't pay up will soon be referred to the public prosecution for trial it's a story with keeping a close eye all right that is the news for a never ending conflicts are in the cross talk spotlight next sean thomas will have all the stories that matter as well off the top of the hour keep it here on our

team. i would imagine they'll be another tax reform bill next year just simplified bringing a flat tax before is all over the top will bring in a fifty percent tax rate across the board once again the best possible solution to the next you know question in the u.s. . as you read the stand in here from us and. move from what. i know that are on mars rover and our brother you know the prophet of the fourth down because of that. i'm going to let him but i don't catch him then you cut him and kick and nail what

i had seen as a child with a trifle that it. was then our modeling on the show little subtle it does show that they owned model. number set up around the hay from the innocent to it. and get the whole food place choice i knew where you're from and theosophy chime in syria says. these she ought to have a. model for them after the couple fucked around with mr hates it for jim and then oil for food are from him and of course. the money. with gold make this manufacture consent to public wealth. when the ruling classes protect themselves. with the famous

merry go round be the one. we can all middle of the room stick. to the. low and welcome the cross talk we're all things are considered i'm peter lavelle days ago the u.s. secretary of defense james mattis updated in revives america's global defense strategy it is a dark vision of the world and calls for a massive defense spending what he calls a defense strategy critics say is a blueprint for wars without it.

cross talking endless wars i'm joined by my guest michael in washington he is a professor of strategy at the johns hopkins university also in washington we have chris over he is a former army police sergeant iraq war veteran and contributor to the hill newspaper and in personal we crossed to philip giraldi he is a former cia counterterrorism specialist who is now executive director of the council for the national interest or a generally in effect that means you can jump in anytime you wanted i always appreciated philip let me go to you first and percival i read the report and i and i will repeat what i said in my introduction i thought it. be rather dark vision of the world is less about defense strategy then preserving or advancing had gemini around the world and i find it remarkably lacking in any kind of discussion of international law go ahead philip well yes i mean international law did not enter

into it. it is not a as it describes itself a defense strategy it's an often strategy and essentially what it does it takes away any genuine threats against the united states and against the american people like isis and its shifts the defense burden onto being competitive with other countries in the world most specifically russia and china and the centrally it creates a. case if you want to call it that for spending vast amounts of more money on defense basically to promote american interests which have nothing whatsoever to do with defending the country ok well that was my reading as well michael weigh in on that ok of course and i think we would all agree that the united states has a an adversarial relationship with russia and china i can accept that they all have

their own national interests and they will pursue them however the way shifting away from terrorism taking away even talk of the climate i got this feeling reading of what we're going back into the nineteenth century of great power struggles here but difference is these powers have nuclear weapons go ahead michael . well this is primarily an exercise in strategic rhetoric and as such it lays out a kind of highly aggressive ceremonial strategy what you might call a fierce face strategy and that is simply because the u.s. has entered a historical period where its leadership is declining and will eventually find itself say like spain did in the early seventeenth century in a position where it can no longer orchestrate the kind of hedge i'm on expand this that hit had come to define itself on and so my sense is the u.s.

is staking out highly aggressive histrionics and theater in order to maintain others fear and in order to cloak the increasing insecurity that we feel because as as you said peter although we are pursuing a kind of endless war strategy as spain found out in the seventeenth century endless war feeds on itself and at the very end of that you're kind of used up and that's where we are now we're entering into a kind of twilight period that may last as long as it did for spain as long as forty years before we finally give up and say well we can't do this anymore ok chris or let me read some of the words from james mattis when he was introducing the report here but i found quite bewildering here to those who threaten america's

experiment in democracy if you challenges you it will be your longest and worst day so what does this have to do with national security i mean who is attacking america's democracy other than the democratic party cheating bernie sanders and possibly the d.o.j. trying to undermine in a legally elected president of united states i find it really quite galling that the defense secretary is talking about democracy when one can make the supposition that it's very challenge in the u.s. itself go ahead chris. sure i think that you know secretary madison is a marine he understands war i understand war and i think that taking this position he's asserting himself he's establishing a tenner on the on the global stage and we're just sort of stating the obvious that these are global powers on the on the end of a long history i mean post world war two the main power players have in some ways stayed the same but the u.s.

role has expanded i actually look at this a little bit differently in reverse and i think we want to the u.s. is focusing on nucular deterrence and the idea of this strategy is focused back on deterring nuclear powers namely north korea from continuing to be aggressive while reducing endless war i think we've seen i think russia and the united states as both seeing the experience of endless combat with forces that are sort of magic things like isis you know we there's ways to control those without having those endless conflicts so it's a recalibration focused on principled security networks in asia and preventing those kinds of conflicts and yes china and russia are powerful nation states they're sovereign and and those who are the traditional you know sort of power players and so we're just focused on the basics ok you know philip can i read to you some more own words from the from the secretary quote we will develop it during coalitions to consolidate gains we have made gains i repeat gains we've made in afghanistan iraq syria and elsewhere to support the lasting defeat of tears as we

sever their sources of strength and counter bear about iran i mean gains i don't know what he's talking about whatsoever the candidate trump said that he didn't want to go down the path of nation building well the united states now is involved in nation building in part of syria ok that it path is being continued here i can't see any gains in the countries that i just mentioned i don't know what he's talking about. you know i don't either i think that he's completely delusional if there's another comment in the report or by mattis where he said the report basically says and confusion by the russians chinese and iranians between civic issues and military issues now what country in the world has has confused civic and military issues more than the united states so i really don't get this i think that there certainly have been no gains nothing but there's asters in those countries that he cited and there's other stuff in this report i'm sorry it's not

a conventional allaying gallup of american strategy moving forward. it's this is more so a a a ticket for mischief on the part of the. administration and there's a if we go to the issue of nuclear weapons obviously nuclear weapons should be a major issue and there's a common here that basically says that the in the report that the united states when confronted with with the issues of national importance like the standard of living of americans will be able to use nuclear weapons in a first strike capacity and this is quite incredible stuff and that's a good in that kit includes countries that do not have those kinds of weapons i would like to point out is well ok you know michael you know i'm really kind of confused here is that and i want to ask the same question of christopher is it is

this donald trump's foreign policy because it's very it's stark contrast to what he ran on ok everything that's going on right now from from yemen to syria again. in being targeted here i mean it seems to be such a continuation there doesn't seem to matter who's the president of the united states it's the deep state the decides who our enemies are and how that they will be dealt with ok because i do i can't the contrast is so great that i've never seen it from a candidate to a president in my lifetime go ahead michael. well candidates get captured when they move from the campaign and from their own voice however authentic or inauthentic it is and then they get a subservient into the imperial worldview of the imperial city and the courtiers or the deep state if you want to call it that instead reshape their worldview and in many ways the over arching sensibility in washington today in terms of

strategy is one of tremendous anxiety and insecurity now and so a grandstanding strategy a grandstanding strategy that looks like it's doing things that looks aggressive like the war on isis it's all a wonderful kind of demonstration and display the u.s. is not going to risk a big war with either china or russia but it will grandstand hence the ten thousand or so barrett fifty caliber sniper rifles to ukraine yeah that is grandstanding the same with rocket man in north korea it's a way of the u.s. boasting forcefully but what i would bring home i think is the contrast between forceful boasting of trump and the very much more successful forceful boasting of teddy roosevelt and the difference is that teddy row.