veteran ralph larsen by his position and it's today's wall tension. well washington's political elites chatter endlessly about memos the u.s. continues to deepen its role in the syrian proxy war of course there is no public debate about this and are the two koreas giving peace

a chance. i played for many clubs over the years so i know the game inside out. football isn't only about what happens on the pitch for the final school it's about the passion from the fans it's the age of the super money just kill the narrowness and spending two to twenty million fly a. book it's an experience like nothing else on earth because i want to share what i think what i know about the beautiful guy my great so we'll all chance for. at least this morning. hey everybody i'm stephen bob taft hollywood guy you know suspect every proud american first of all i'm just george washington and r.v.

i'm going to suggest this is my buddy max famous financial guru well just a little bit different i'm not a. good man i know no one knows up with all the drama happening in our country i'm hitting the road have some fun meet everyday americans come home and hopefully start to bridge the gap this is the great american tell each. book. about your sudden passing i've only just learned you were a south and taken your last to bang turn. caught up to us we all knew it but i tell you i'm sorry. so i write these last words in hopes to put to rest these things that i never got off my chest. i remember when we first met my life turned

on each back. but then my feeling started to change you talked about more like it was a game. still some are fond of you those that didn't like to question are are. they secretly promised to never be like it's one does not leave a funeral the same as one enters the mind it's consumed with death this really like to see the speech because there are no other takers. claimed that mainstream media has met its maker. when almost choked seems wrong. why don't we just don't hold. the world view yet to shape our disdain comes out to. and in again trade because betrayal. when so many find themselves worlds apart we choose to look for common ground.

now we're back with say a bachelor and ralf while what larson former top cia official i led to a decade better and all the agency talking about the spy bureau's role in today's united states internal and external policies are all for michael powell has just recently about how it's over russia's intelligence verus to protect the american people as he put it so hostile rhetoric threatening sanctions aside russia and the u.s. are still programs like enough to work together on some issues right. that's right

sophia it's really important that professionals in the intelligence business not cease cooperation even at the hardest times we have a long history between the u.s. and russia that goes back in the soviet days of setting aside our most grievous complaints against one another to cooperate in areas like counterterrorism and sometimes on counterintelligence and other issues that impact them both on our bilateral relations and i i applaud the recent meeting of the three russian intelligence visits chiefs in washington with director pompei and others i think it's a great move toward to reinforce the idea that we must continue to cooperate in areas of common interest to both countries now obviously congress is up in arms such erosion american intelligence issues meeting while the lawmakers big gains this if it does bring tangible results in a fight against terrorism well i know some people in congress and i i interact

quite a bit with congress too if you will inform and advise specifically on the areas that we need to talk with one another to continue keeping our country safe both of our countries that's in american interest to not see any russians die in terrorist attacks as it is in russian interest to prevent any terrorist attacks in the united states or elsewhere in the world so i don't think there's any dispute on that in congress and i think maybe some of the posturing is frankly political as opposed to substantive i haven't heard anyone say we shouldn't be talking to one another on counterterrorism issues democrats senator chuck schumer has demanded publicly naming everyone who had contact with the russian intelligence delegation and we want that sort of all across the board disclosure being damaging for the nation. yes i think it sends the wrong message if if i were to talk to senator schumer i would i would certainly urge him not to politicize you talked about politicizing

intelligence earlier this would be an example of it if we don't do this cooperation with it but between one another in areas such as. exchanging information and analysis on the terrorist groups and their activity whether it's in syria or around the world in the caucasus in them in the u.s. we should all be fired so we have to have the courage to do that it's in my experience of i was involved in the earliest if you will lays on work between the u.s. and russia at the time of the breakup of the soviet union and i don't recall a time when three intelligence chiefs all came together to washington such as just happen and so i take it as a very positive signal of a desire to do more and i hope both sides can find the strength to do that. this is just a chance for politicians to the louden t.v.

friendly blaming spies right and left because on the other hand surely they must care about the actual issues of national security right yes i hope so and i have i have a deep respect for senator schumer and i i quite i would question this based on what i've seen in the media and i hope behind it all it's not a seriously questioning why we would be doing this at this time i would also add that again this is a somewhat unorthodox view for someone like me i'm not a believer in applying sanctions to people that are doing their jobs we have a long history of of trying to avoid that sort of politicization of intelligence so i think we try to have to try to find out find a way to deescalate the politicization of intelligence activity it would help again if both sides particularly in this case i would have to put more pressure on the russian side to stop interfering in u.s.

domestic affairs with intelligence activity and that would set a better environment to deescalate the rising tensions on a political level that this fact that intelligence committees on capitol hill haven't been briefed about this mean that the administration has no trust in congress. i don't think i would go that far sophia i think it reflects the very sharp political dividing lines right now in our country and not just between the democrats and republicans but between within the parties themselves i think the democrats are struggling to reestablish their identity to decide what hard or wing of the democratic party will move forward into the next election cycles and i think the republican party is there trying to decide how much the president some do some don't it's you know i'm not a true betraying any secrets here so i think there's there are there's conflict and tensions and instabilities within both parties again having watched this for much

of my over sixty years i've seen other times in our country when we've seen just as confused and days and we generally emerge out of it stronger than we enter that so i'm overall confident that we'll get out of this phase that we're in stronger than we were before we entered it so one terror attack has already been prevented thanks to the cia and sharing intelligence with moscow and put in has personally thanked the americans for their help in that how does that work with the intelligence agencies and how do you call parade on some matters when there is general mistrust and hostility i mean how do you know you not think i think that's a great question and i love that question. yeah well i love the question because it gets back to the heart of what we are what what i hope we are and what we strive to be and even on our on the days we don't we don't reach this ethics i would call it of intelligence our basic motto our basic if you will standard is we have a duty to warn we have

a duty to warn anybody anywhere in the world if they might their lives might be threatened by terrorist activity and of course in my time at cia working in counterterrorism i personally instructed my officers to analyze and then provide the russian government with information that i believe prevented attacks on russian citizens during my time so i consider that a high one of our best days any time we help one another prevent attacks where people might be killed obviously and so that's that's a great story and as we've done before this is just fortunately on this occasion there's a little bit of recognition that it happened and i think that's a good thing so getting the recent pentagon military doctrine shift from the war on terror to great power while great with china and russia given higher priority now means that the cia's anti terror effort will fall to her. i don't think so sophia because terrorism is not going away we fact i'm

a little worried right now because every time there's been a relative lull in activity such as we've seen since a little bit of reduction of conflict in syria recently there's been a rebound and then the terrorists every merged in a new form so i'm not in any way believer in the idea that we were past this threat of terrorism i think at the same time the great power rivalry doesn't necessarily imply that we're enemies again or that we're back to a cold war i think in a way whether you're there you know if you apply this idea of rivalry to china or russia it's a recognition that both countries should be taken seriously and that their interests are sometimes a threat to the united states but i would describe it more as competition than adversarial i heard former cia officials lament the fact that the agency has fewer resources now than sure in the cold war but does new technology like the n.s.a.

surveillance mean that fewer people are needed at the agency anyway. i generally i'm not a person that believes that intelligence resources are insufficient i think we have plenty of resources and we have to be smarter in how we go about things as you it as you indicated technology helps leverage we can leverage technology to as afore we call a force multiplier that makes us stronger there are other ways to do it too i don't think numbers is often the way to attack a problem i think we need smart people we need people who have the authorities they need the resources they need to do their jobs but i don't think the numbers indicate whether we have enough coverage in other words i believe or the u.s. intelligence community we have some we have sixteen different intelligence and it is within the what we call our intelligence community we have plenty of capability i think where we need to make more efforts is in it in how we decide what we do and then being more efficient in going about our missions so will the agency have less

need for gathering old fashioned cold war human intelligence like i don't know talking to someone or infiltrating into rayleigh camp control like hacking is dropping on phone conversations intercepting emails spying would. replace the human intelligence component. well you're talking to an old school person so i don't feel i need to reform my thinking at this point my life so i'd have to answer you by saying there's always room there's been room for thousands of years for old old fashioned espionage spies go back to biblical times and you know as long as there are humans on the earth there is a need to know what our if you will competitors and adversaries are thinking and human spies will never be replaced by cyber or hacking or any other key or drones or any other technology in fact in the one nine hundred ninety s. in my view are the us intelligence can community came to an emirate with what i

call national technical means whether that was satellites or other things to replace human intelligence we thought the world had changed after the collapse of the soviet union and it hadn't we're still living in the same world i was born in the one nine hundred fifty four so i believe in answer your question will always going to need understanding of adversaries and even some of our friends plans and intentions because by having that knowledge will make better decisions and i also feel like more technology progresses we're typewriters and old fashioned letters are the safest thing out there still do as well thank you so much i think that if you write as you jack you write thank you so much for this interview this wonderful insight always shoot all the best of luck or talk until ralf mullets larsen two decades cia veteran former moscow station chief about the cia's relationship with the trumpet ministration and its role in today's counting quote that's it for this initiative so can cost you next.

so. join me every thursday on the alex salmond show and i'll be speaking to guest of the world of politics sport that's less i'm show business i'll see that. global blog selling you on the idea that dropping bombs brings police to the chicken hawks forcing you to fight the battle for big stone. to stop spreading tell you the subject gossip the tabloids by files of the most important news today. the

hoth of advertising telling me you are not cool enough to supply their products. all the hawks that we along with our audience will watch. what politicians do something to. put themselves on the line to get accepted or rejected. so when you want to be president or injury. or somehow want to. have to go on to be press it's like the before story in the morning can't be good. i'm interested always in the waters in my house. first sydney. in america a college degree requires a great deal. paying a decade's long debt. studying so hard it requires strong just.

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it's minute. here's what people have been saying about redacting the night was you know i was actually just full on awesome the only show i go out of my way to find you know a lot of the really packed a punch at least yampa is the john oliver of hard to be americans do the same but we are apparently better than blue nothing that says i see anybody who have never heard of love right back to the night i'm president of the world bank though hate to undermine any seriously send us an e-mail.

seventy one people who died in plane crash near moscow a passenger airliner came just minutes after takeoff. on the. part of. trains in syria. conflict against washington's turkey. at the winter olympics in. figure skating but criticize the russians medal winning performance.

this is our to international coming from moscow every hour of the day i'm you know neil welcome to the program russia is mourning this seventy one people killed in a plane crash on sunday the regional passenger jet went down minutes after taking off from moscow but there were no survivors it's been over twenty four hours since the crash and we're learning more about the passengers on board the ill fated plane this was the horror reaction of one grieving mother. who lost her only son in the tragedy was. lost. ah.

close little but. this woman and her daughter were also on board. the youngest victim was just five years old and stuff skee also caught the flight it was his thirty third birthday he was on his way home to celebrate with family here so some of those affected are coming to terms with the tragedy. what if. she still could never see. the document she gets out of new shred of safety here which we would but what. to do with this is.

the truth is. this when you. see when you look normal. you knew that mary was. the flight's final seconds work help. by a security camera thought to be installed on a nearby house the crush is visible at the top of the picture followed by a powerful explosion you can also see black smoke rising investigators have confirmed that the plane exploded in impact not in the year a large scale recovery operation was launched on sunday involving hundreds of

emergency service workers on vehicles but it's been extremely difficult to locate debris jus to the weather conditions right because the if is on the ground for us at the site of the wreckage. the search and recovery operation continuing it is even nearing its conclusion according to the latest statement we've heard from the emergency services they've searched twenty five of the thirty square heck this where the plane and it's a breach believed to have been true about over but as you see one of the biggest problems here is the weather and the snow it's getting colder and colder and they've had to bring in a lot of specialized equipment especially stuff to melt the snow heat cannons as they call them here in russia there are also hundreds and hundreds of rescuers here they're working in shifts through that some can rest while others sift through the snow in the wreckage and deborah but booth black boxes have now been found and

investigators should have everything they need to rebuild point by point that takeoff the short flight and to find out whatever it was exactly that koos this fatal tragedy. two more world news this hour washington has admitted that some of the kurdish forces it trains in syria are shifting to fight against one of america's old allies turkey is currently on the offensive in northern syria against groups are terrorists artie's caleb maupin has more in the tensions currently playing out in syria u.s. secretary of defense james mattis has confirmed that u.s. armed kurdish forces in the ass d.f. have been relocating to the northern parts of syria to protect territory from turkey. the destruction of was going on up enough and right now which is drawing

off some of the syrian democratic forces to see the snuff and under attack so that schools and leads their attention to shift. now the kurds and turkey are both key u.s. allies in the region however there's been tension between all three of them in recent months now we've heard of how the usa has been arming the kurdish forces and providing them with weapons now and carra has been quite upset by this action they consider this to be the arming of terrorists now at this point we do have a statement from james mattis confirming that he believes there are legitimate security concerns on turkey's part about these kurdish forces that have been armed by the united states that we can seem to work with. is of disagreements which is how do we take them on as he was rapidly as possible they have a legitimate security concern and we do not dismiss one bits of them now there has been escalating tension between the united states and turkey especially in the

aftermath of an announcement from the united states that it intended to create a thirty thousand strong border force to protect syria's border with turkey now u.s. leaders backtracked from those comments but that hasn't stopped turkey from being quite upset by these remarks now we've recently seen the beginning of operation olive branch and this is turkish forces moving into syria to fight against the kurds two allies of the united states clashing with each other in syria as the tensions escalate we're even hearing calls to rename the street on which the u.s. embassy in turkey's capital is located there are calls to rename the street olive branch after operation olive branch the turkish operation to go into syria and fight against the kurdish forces armed by the united states there seems to be quite a bit of contradiction in the words and statements of u.s. leaders and there seems. to be rising tension between all three parties the usa

turkey and the kurdish forces. well the rift between turkey and the us could deepen further over another region in northern syria where turkey is targeting in the next part of its military operation currently u.s. troops are stationed there opening up the possibility of direct confrontation we asked our. middle east expert where this could all lead to now the big elephant in the room is members and that's why they invited states is still on the ground they do have troops and in that case if they do not withdraw the troops and advisers from this region then uncle or says that repeatedly the president here threatens that he's going to go ahead with this operation in member in case this happens i think there will be a kind of militaristic and that could lead to more tension if not a military standoff between the united states and korea that could lead to

a major escalation to more. on the ground that would lead to more alinea ating and more isolating of the united states. the foreign minister of the netherlands has admitted that he lied about hearing the other mere putin talking. to reform the software yet union the claims were made about the russian president in twenty sixteen sim your record is across the details for us. when the dutch foreign minister was campaigning two years ago he said that he overheard president putin outlining his plan to unify russia and ukraine belarus the baltic states and cause a son as a single country and this was back in two thousand and six at some sort of business gathering but this has also been a general talking point when it comes to russia that putin is supposedly trying to bring back the soviet union however the foreign minister was working for shell at the time but his story was questioned when it was discovered that despite being

part of the shell delegation he wasn't at the two thousand and six meeting and not only that he wasn't even in russia at the time when he was confronted about this he said he was lying to protect a source but then he also said that he regretted lying obviously this is the first instance of fake news regarding russia there have been rumors floating around that russia influenced the braggs of wrote and then there's also been president micron's various attacks against russia during that crohn's campaign that he claimed that a russia did influence the election however this was later debunked by a french cyber security chief who said that there was no evidence of russian meddling in britain and the british government is still looking for evidence of russian interference however you tube just a few days ago has gone on record saying that there's been no a sort of russian interference so it seems that in looking for news about russia they're actually just creating fake news about russia. u.s. tycoon george soros is pledging.