also quote a few months ago in which she stated that her visit to the united states her meeting was in a capacity as a private citizen as a lawyer and in no capacity as a representative of the kremlin in any way shape or form this is what she had to tell us. i had to have that meeting as part of my job as a lawyer for a russian citizen in the us it had nothing to do with politics it didn't have anything to do with russia. i think it's beyond a doubt here that there's a loser certainly a top attorney she's very well connected and she has come into professional contact it's fair to say with russian top prosecutors with russian government bodies as she has in her role as you know as an attorney for the prosecutor's office at the beginning of her career the way this has been presented though was to use some sort of representative. coming on behalf of the kremlin to lobby to influence the election certainly that narrative has come under question of course the other question is why this is coming now on a day or just

a couple of days after the senate has effectively cleared donald trump of collusion with russia for the election certainly that will raise some questions as well sure ok thanks dan that was a dangle hawkins' there for us. all the joy now for the reaction of martin mccauley he's an author and russia analyst to we need to hear now good afternoon to you martin we were just talking there were down you'll remember how significant is the timing of this because it does come hot on the heels of the. the announcement that there was no collusion between trump's campaign and russia. well if you're a democrat you still cannot accept the fact that don't trouble won the election so therefore you have to keep banging away that he did it by cheating in collusion with the russians but others and of course the senate has now said we can't find the evidence there's no evidence there and so and so the democrats and the liberal the liberal press which supports. the democrats and hillary clinton they

will keep banging away and keep. me to destroy told this this agrees ation that the television it's chaos is in fact a criminal agent doesn't stand up because as a lawyer she can give advice to the prosecutor general's office and meet members of the prosecutor general's office as a lawyer that's quite legal there's nothing there's nothing illegal about that and you can go to the united states and represent a client. as a lawyer and that is quite legal so therefore. the democrats and the the liberal press will do all they can to smear her and accuse her of going as an agent and trying to influence the election and so on but i think the average american would have called home by now that there's really nothing to the story

with regard to the murder investigation that's ongoing how significant do you think that meeting is. in trump tower with us when it's guy. well it's just another meeting and tribe junior met her. and he said it only lasted twenty minutes the didn't speak about very much it was about to leave the first run of russian children in america i'm sure which is quite rigid a bit and if the opposition of robert mueller then can find evidence that they were conspiring together they were trying trying to undermine hillary clinton still it's up to them to do that but on the face of it is just just no duty. or will have to prove that it had other. rover objectives in the meeting and you find it very very difficult. to prove ok martin look really good to get your thoughts you've been at

a time leave it there for now but thank you that was martin mccauley author and russia analyst. now on this day fifteen years ago u.s. troops fired on civilian protesters in the iraqi city of fallujah ensuring for battle for fallujah you would see some six hundred civilians killed half of them women and children the operations by the u.s. and its allies in the city saw the deployment of white phosphorus and also depleted uranium a word of warning you might find some the upcoming footage disturbing well according to a report by the u.s. governmental national center for biotechnology information local iraqi doctors source in infant deaths miscarriages and the effects between two thousand and five and two thousand and nine there's also a twelve folding crease in child cancer cases that's higher than among her survivors and years on fallujah residents are still dealing with the consequences. but that's ok so here the story begins with that when the americans attacked at

first i had a few miscarriages and then i had tried to mug. the doctors discovered that it was a result of the phosphorus which was used by the americans. and the process i have conducted a study based on samples and advised them in certified german laps which have nothing to do with any political party they found uranium makary and other pollutants. in the spin the stella she's a very good student despite her disability when she writes on the board or in her notebook and it is very nice she's one of our best students in.

turn from her chair. and then this is. how. it was. sam. she's got a quarter past three here most of you watching ah say will be back until it's. fixed. sure by this i. think he's right to play you number one lives in

a free concert blown away by the huffing and puffing of the big bad feel and then picking countries like india that are like one step back their household sector has all the gold their government asked exactly and then the big bad wolf often popped in the deep of the prosecution but the government was blown away and you got the countries like china russia that have said wow so twenty four karat gold bullion and the big bad wolf. and it didn't blow their house away. but again now america's new secretary of state here has started out with a speech at nato headquarters in brussels and then fielded questions to from the

press do you think germany is doing enough to meet the two thousand target know. what should germany do they should meet the goals that they agreed to. pay their referring to nato use two percent target it specifies that each member state is obliged to spend at least two percent of its g.d.p. on the military germany has been for and behind on this one is apparently playing catch up pumping more and more money into military hardware including craft and trains will speak for all of us spain. with more. this is an exploit is underway in the german capital thousand square meters of all things aviation from the commercial private and military sectors.

but just next to me are some of the joints currently operated by the german military this is the current and if we come over this way this is the current t p that's the one that could be equipped with weapons now then made by an israeli company in a joint partnership with the aerospace giant airbus and over the next nine years germany is set to spend a billion a year zero increasing the current fleet of these many isn't just looking to buy from abroad behind me is apparently the future it's called the european mail now it's a joint collaboration between silly france spain and germany and the developers all of this particular unmanned aircraft told me why those type of drones are the weapon of choice for modern european armies this is now the next step towards the kind of independence in europe and that of course comes them along with

a clear push into. meaning. but also to well when it comes to the real ability you. also on display is this much of the f. thirty five now this is lockheed martin stealth jet that's being touted as a replacement for the tornado fighter bomber that's currently operated by the german military and it's not just the professionals that get to sort through the air using this tactical simulator of a helicopter i can even fly a mission over these small children town albeit rather a bumpy ride with me in charge companies from all over the world showcasing their wares and germany is in the market to buy the country's army chief is already called to defend spending by fifteen billion euro by twenty. twenty one but opposition politicians aren't happy with that direction all the pressure being put

on germany by its nato allies to spend more on the military this is the wrong direction in the moment there is in the consideration of education and the climate solution of the health system in germany for example and. military service and if you look at the german population german population wants peace if i walk around in her room everyone says i want peace so i think the government have to listen listen to the population and we as a little bring forward position and other actors. humanistic just through forward that position us work despite those dissenting voices it does seem that the german military is set for a funding boost and without a load of new hardware peter all of a r.t. berlin. that the world anti-doping agency has released a report on violations and twenty sixteen think string some rather surprising

results because italy france and the u.s. were named as the worst offenders while russia which has been severely punished over doping allegations in the last couple of years is actually at number six we gauge reaction in paris and new york to the revelations. if i was going to say gee what country do you think was the number one thing violated in two thousand and sixteen which country would you name russia russia maybe between america and russia. i would guess russia top the us russia china no russia russia so what would you say then if i told you that russia was not the top violated in terms of anti doping if there were even the second the third the fourth or the fifth but they were actually six in the report what would you say to that as fighting aids wow that's surprising i for one of the top ones to be honest but i guess it's just what the reporters

nowadays focus on this is easy news for them as well as i watch the news but i guess that's all you have about maybe it's just a sort of western take on things trying to tame the enemy and i think there is a long history of us blaming them for it certainly it makes me wonder if if you're going to like trust on the newspaper writing and just a couple of days ago in fact it was revealed that could go to. the main informant in the doping case against russia or appeared to backtrack on some of his previous allegations he was testifying to the court of arbitration for sport and admitted he never saw the drug cocktail he'd concocted being given to athletes sports lawyer lieschen villone thinks that his admission is barry is embarrassing for what. he's told to do so he was not to complete the job and that means he must not be too bad that. was the basis

for all these. all these years i think this is a big defeat for i.o.c. . the who. who. icing is a big big concrete it's really a mess what happened and all these glutes. we keep. all these cases and i think. what you think about birds he used. for having suffered so much. but he does of europe's two main powerhouses france and germany met with president trump in rapid succession this week and high on the leader's agenda is the future of the iran nuclear deal apparently both macron have nagged changed their minds on the issue following their meeting with donald trump. but the isn't the way we believe it's better to have

this agreement even if it's not perfect and you have no agreement. that the iran deal is not sufficient to see that iran's ambitions are curbed and contained it is most important to recognize that you run through its ballistic missile program is trying to exert geopolitical influence in syria and lebanon. so did a solid robust verifiable group that guarantees that iran cannot supply that nuclear weapon to denounce it without proposing anything else would be a serious mistake not respect and it would be irresponsible for us thank you. thank you thank. you and you should have knowledge of the current agreement doesn't allow us to

address goodness use among other things not covered by the iran nuclear deal is iran's activity in the region containing iran's influence in yemen lebanon iraq and syria it would improve the existing deal. we spoke to the middle east expert paul who does think that the iran deal should be set. i would hope that president trump would not try to exert any political influence or you know any type of economic influence trying to get others to abandon you know support for the deal because you know as if you're saying it's a great deal it's working in curbing iran's nuclear ambitions and that was the intention of the deal but for other ambitions that iran might in the region you know the iran deal wasn't intended or designed to curb those emissions. and that's neat and i will be back with morphy at the top of the.

for a world cup twenty eight team coverage we've signed one of the greatest goalkeepers available to us but there was one more question and by the way it's going to be our coach. guys i know you are nervous he's a huge star among us and the huge amount of pressure can remap you have to put me in a the center of the problem here with you and do so with all the great good the great if you are the rock at the back nobody gets past you we need you to get the ball going let's go. a low as i want to you know and i'm really happy to join that today and for the two thousand and three in the world cup in russia meet the special one come on south appreciate me to just say the review beyond the team's latest edition to make up a bigger need to just say look.

this is boom bust broadcasting around the world from washington d c i'm bart chilton and coming up today oil prices are starting to impact companies and consumers in a negative way will ask horner of simpler trading who is getting it the hardest and there are some numbers that really mean something related to unemployment steve malzberg fills us in on how fourteen states are pretty pleased and with an unprecedented meeting between the leaders of north and south korea alex behind with which takes us off on the economics of the two nations getting along plus the media

emerge or mania continues hollande cook host of the big picture here on r t america helps us sort out the latest developments all of that coming up but first some headlines german chancellor angela merkel was here in washington d.c. today to meet with u.s. president donald trump on the heels of french president emanuel mccrone visit to the u.s. but the photo ops with party hugs and weirdly long handshakes that marked the mccrone visit were absent from today's diplomatic scenery in contrast to more crones lengthy itinerary ms merkel and mr trump only held a three hour meeting that the german delegation called a quote unquote working session agenda items included trade most specifically the recent round of u.s. tariffs imposed upon imported metals and tariffs as they relate to automobiles the two also discussed u.s. sanctions against russia chancellor merkel fears that those those tariffs may impact german companies president trump at

a joint press conference with ms merkel criticized nato allies like germany for not contributing enough to their g.d.p. to the mutual defense he also talented what he views as positive reaction to his steel and aluminum tariffs and during the meeting chancellor merkel reportedly pressed mr trump on the six party agreement on nuclear issues with the. a rent to which both germany and france are both parties although ms merkel acknowledged at the presser that the deal was quote anything but perfect on may twelfth president trump is widely expected to reimpose economic sanctions on iran that were lifted as part of that agreement. amazon microsoft has released their q one earnings report posting impressive results with both companies bottom line to boosted by increased revenue from cloud computing amazon sales were up forty three percent versus q one of twenty seventeen to fifty one billion dollars their profits

more than doubled over the same quarter from last year and the figure of one point six billion dollars is in profits have roughly tripled and us analyst estimates amazon also announced that the annual fee for their prime service amazon prime will increase to one hundred one thousand dollars per month that's up from ninety nine dollars the higher fees will hit new members on may eleventh and the renewals for others will start on june sixteenth meanwhile microsoft profits for the first quarter of twenty eight thousand doubled for the q one of twenty seventeen at the six point five billion dollar level on a thirteen percent increase in revenues seven point four billion of that income came from cloud computing supported by a success of cloud platform microsoft you're the company also garnered nearly twenty seven billion dollars of revenue this quarter far more than the twenty seven point seventy seven billion projected. as we've reported here before the witnessing some of the highest oil prices in recent years since twenty fourteen in fact those

higher prices are translating to increased operating expenses for many companies and individuals who have become pretty pleased with local energy costs brant crude prices trading at ice futures europe and london were trading around seventy three dollars per barrel today and in west the west texas intermediate w t i trading in new york at nymex trading just north of sixty eight dollars per barrel regular gasoline in the u.s. was priced at two dollars an eighty cents per gallon nationwide that's actually up a nickel from last week and it's up forty cents from a year ago and here to discuss the impact of higher oil and related prices is rajeev horner of simpler trading so nice of you to join us at the end of the week we sure appreciate it as always with w t i prices above sixty bucks a barrel for a lot of this year we are starting to see impact of higher energy prices playing out with companies yesterday american express reduced their profit forecast for the year and referenced

a twelve percent increase in the average price of jet fuel over the last two weeks alone which are which companies are there out there that are being impacted the most by these higher prices. i've had my eye on the jets for some time now i think the airlines obviously are going to be the ones that in the front of this narrative will be sold off the sharpest but i actually see some opportunity on the weakness so i think you're really out in front of this entire narrative right now where a lot of the conversation is quite negative i think there's a lot of opportunity for investors that realize that in the near term these companies will maybe absorb this very sharp increase in oil but longer term they're just going to pass on the costs whether that be u.p.s. whether that be un p. looking at the jets e.t.f. as i mentioned as well and there are some winners here like caterpillar i'm going to be keeping a very close eye on caterpillar as a potential winner i think that the losers here could be things like three m.

i think also we're going to look at united postal service u.p.s. service as also a potential near term loser but i'm looking for the opportunity to grab a balance and we also need to think about others in the transport sector how about the railroads. railroads are again i think near term they're going to absorb it but longer term i think there's a terrific opportunity to look at where the stocks will sell off and get what will notice is the discounting is going to be probably running out ahead to negative of what has been a sharp increase the market's already priced in seventy dollars for i even think they priced in eighty dollars thanks to the saudis so really when we my experience a bit of that panic will be north of eighty if we actually see it so railroads i think for now after this quick sell off i'm feeling pretty optimistic that the recent union pacific railroad earnings are actually quite positive they're feeling

that they can absorb this near term acceleration in fuel and i think they're actually going to benefit there's just too much in their pipeline right now with all of us doing our shopping online you see what amazon did the other day i think they're going to be just fine and we did get some positive q one earnings from total and i think royal dutch shell so that that bodes well for them i'm going to ask you a little bit of a complicated question you are such an expert on futures and currencies but it surprised me maybe a dozen years ago when i realized that a lot of these large companies that i thought of as sort of oil related companies that they actually make money when prices are lower because they use oil as part of the petrochemical businesses like dupont for example so there are some companies out there they're actually already head to buy what they produce but as a hedging ask expert we know that southwest famously does not hedge their risk in

futures markets but what are hedges going to be doing now you think. i think most of the companies that have been hedging have already been looking where that huge rectory of crude oil was once we passed over fifty dollars that psychological barrier probably already has been part of their hedging strategy i think the reason right now that so many companies are looking at the acceleration and say for example jet fuel is just how quickly we've accelerated from say mid fifty's to knocking on the door of seventy dollars so i don't think the directions been as jarring as the acceleration so i think most of the companies who have been hedging are probably already at levels that they can absorb but if we continue past seventy and past eighty we're going to have i think at that point a lot of companies feeling they have to play catch up and at that point we're going to see the consumer pay for and we're going to see them pass the cost on i think

the airlines have already been very open to it which is why i think that sold off an initially on the higher fuel prices like the jets e.t.f. will ultimately be really great buying opportunities after the markets settle down discount these higher prices and then realize we're still going to fly we're just going to pay more for it rajeev horner you are always so great a wealth of information we're really pleased that you spent time with us rosy horner futures a currency expert at simpler trading had a great weekend. thank. the u.s. commerce department reported that the first quarter growth the g.d.p. came in at two point three percent beating some economists expectations of one point eight percent although it is down from the q four g.d.p. of two point nine percent for a recollection of what happened last year the economy grew at two point three

percent for all of last year twenty seventeen which is actually a big increase over twenty sixteen of one point five percent and related to the commerce department we always report on and discuss those u.s. monthly employment numbers the unemployment numbers which are released by the department's bureau of labor statistics the b.l.s. on the first friday of the month so we'll get to those april numbers next week but something occurred to us which we thought merited more of an in-depth look at unemployment i like to say the numbers matter and they mean something and that's particularly the case in fourteen states which all have established new record low unemployment rates in the last year almost a decade after we saw those high unemployment rates topping ten percent in the wake of the great recession where it put millions of people out of work and here to help us through some of these important numbers and the substance behind them is conservative t.v. and radio host steve malzberg thank you for joining us steve we appreciate it let's

take a look at these fourteen states where are they around the country and one thing that we see is that the economic recovery is occurring in states that voted for president trump and those that did not we go from conservative texas to the more liberal california for example and what else do you see in these numbers what there are some commonality. well you know i've looked and examined and spoken to people there is no real commonality that you could you could point to as you alluded to you know texas and california have very little in common in any respect it's very idiosyncratic care what you have is various factors that affect the availability of jobs and they include natural resources of course of the state if we're talking states government policy of the state's business investment in those particular states so there isn't a common thread it's just kind of an individual basis but what there is in common here and i hate to sound like

a talking point and i hate to be accused that that you would part of delivering talking points but what every one of the fourteen states and the eight of those fourteen which have reached their all time low in the month of march is the policies of the a trumpet ministration the feel good nature of them and the real effect of them whether it's the tax cuts whether it's deregulation whether it's consumer confidence business confidence a booming stock market these all play into it so i think that's the commonality as far as any state by state commonality i just couldn't find any. you may be surprised but i agree with you there is a lot now it may be a sugar high but you know i'm not sure that the sugar highs were are all bad for the economy so i hundred percent agree a lot of this is due to some of the things that are going on the markets and spurred by the tax cuts. who are the best performing states out there steve yeah well hawaii is is that down to two point one person.