valuable it is very 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 and as a lawyer that's quite legal there's nothing there's nothing illegal about it and you can go to the united states and represent a client it's just another meeting and tribunal met her. and he said it only lasted twenty minutes they didn't speak about very much if the opposition of robert miller then can find evidence that they were conspiring together they were trying trying to undermine hillary clinton so it's up to them to do that but on the face of it just not me bt. will have to prove that it had other. rover objectives in the meeting and it find it very very difficult to do to prove. it's fifteen years since one of the darkest chapters of the iraq war the luge

a massacre that was when u.s. soldiers opened fire on civilian protesters killing scores of people at the time the u.s. military claimed the protesters opened fire at soldiers first but human rights watch never found any trace of bullets in the building the offices the been in the new year the u.s. alone snore loudly military assault on the city known as the first battle for fallujah which resulted in around six hundred deaths many civilians including women and children were among those casualties washington is white phosphorus and depleted uranium at the time which according to doctors led to a surge in infant deaths miscarriages and birth defects there's also a twelve fold increase in child cancer cases that's higher than among hiroshima survivors the years on locals and foliage are still dealing with the consequences. the doctor i hear this story begins with that talk and followed when the americans attacked at first i had a few miscarriages and then i had tried to my. doctors

discovered that it was a result of the phosphorus which was used by the americans. and that i said i have conducted a study based on samples analyzed in certified german lapps which have nothing to do with any political party they found here a new mercury and other pollutants. in this business tell us how 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.

her chair. and this summer. it was really. all there's been little relief for civilians in a matter of years islamic state would start to take a foothold in fallujah bringing with it the turmoil of civil war and even after i saw was driven out of the country local so that life in the city is still far from normal. and although we came back from the camp to fallujah they told us that the city and its suburbs are clear of these so we came back as we were cleaning the house an i.e.d. went off and killed my sis. and sister that will go on at this neighborhood went through a lot this house lost two women i lost a son and the other was crippled and i haven't seen any official pass by here about

it so often i don't see. what the bay area is destroyed is not a place anyone would want to come to we stay in our house go to the house in front of us use this road to come in and out of it that's what we don't go anywhere else the area is full of bombs or additional fire look at these flags all over the place which we can't work here the area is dangerous soldiers have come here set off two or three bombs and left this area behind me is closed off from the flanks only trying to come home but they can't. make a sector stay by pompei was kicked off his new role with a speech at nato headquarters in brussels think took aim at germany's failure to meet the alliance's military spending target of two percent of gross domestic product do you think germany is doing enough to meet the two target now. what germany do they should meet the goals that they

agreed to. spy compose attack on germany for not enough military spending the country seems to be changing as he starts allocating more on military drones and wrapped up his peter all over went to the berlin now show to see what's new on display. this year is an export is underway in the german capital poland thousand square meters of all things aviation from the commercial private and military sectors. that 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 they're made by an israeli

company and 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 in drones from abroad behind me is apparently the future it's called the european mail now it's a joint collaboration between italy 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 several. meaning data serenity but also to well when it comes to the real ability and so on also on display is 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 they get to sort through the air using this tactical simulator of a helicopter i can even fly a mission over the small german town albeit it's rather a bumpy ride with me in charge companies from all over the world to 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 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 very. often education and this time it's not the system in germany for example. in the military.

and if you look at the german population german population wants peace so i walk around and. everyone i want peace so i think the government have to listen to the population. and other actors. humanistic just truthful with that position as well despite those dissenting voices it does seem that the german military set for a funding boost and without a load of new hardware peter all of a r.t. berlin. there's no way to round will accept the latest demands by washington to rethink the nuclear deal so says iran's foreign minister will bring you live reaction to that story after the break.

as i remind all the success we don't think he's right about you number one was in a free country our staff was blown away by the huffing and puffing of the big bad p.r. wolf and then taking a number two you got countries like india that are like one. sector household sector has all the gold their government asked exactly and then the big bad wolf after the bottom the deeper problems are to survive the government blown away and you've got the countries like china russia that have said wow so twenty four karat gold bullion and the big bad. part and it didn't belong there elsewhere.

welcome back iran's foreign minister has spoken out against recent calls by the u.s. and other countries to strike a new deal on terrans nuclear program as well as to curb the nation's actions in the middle east she goes in but the situation in syria and the other middle eastern countries has nothing to do with the iran nuclear deal the u.s. is making to moons that are on acceptable looks only for the people over room but also for the other countries who signed the nuclear deal for the world community as well. the potential new agreement which is being discussed by global powers is thought to be aimed at containing around in the middle east and also address arounds ballistic missile tests which are still being conducted by tehran in violation of a u.n. resolution and as proposed by the french president any agreement should also regulate iran's nuclear program after the come one expires both among your micron

and anglo-american lipitor change their stance on the iran deal after meeting with the us president. the isn't there may we believe it's better to have this agreement even if it's not perfect and have no agreement. thank you. 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 your political influence in syria and lebanon. the solid or blockbuster verifiable agreement that guarantees that iran will not acquire nuclear weapons to denounce it without proposing anything else would be a serious mistake not respecting it would be irresponsible longly france thank you . and we should have knowledge of the current agreement doesn't allow us to address all of the issues among the things not covered by the iran nuclear deal is iran's activity in the region are.

joined now by side mohammad marandi his politics professor from the university of tehran and a very good evening to. the world leaders seem to be trying to link the nuclear deal with iran's actions in the middle east why. oh western leaders from the beginning. their problem with iran really wasn't the nuclear program it was iran's independent foreign policy just recently pompei o when he was the head of the cia before he became the head of the state department he admitted that before that j c p o a the iranians were not moving towards a nuclear weapon he was using this argument to say that if the united states exits the agreement iran won't go and try to create a nuclear weapon so this was an admission by the head of the cia that the whole narrative that the americans and their allies have been promoting for over

a decade was all dishonest and that iran was telling the truth all along and now the reason why these countries are. trying to. limit iran with regards to its regional role or with regard to its. missile defense capability is more to do again with iran's political independence the iranians know for example that in the case of syria if they had not supported the syrian government or the iraqi government along with the russians and hezbollah that these two countries would have collapsed and that we would have black flags over the cities of damascus and baghdad and of course this would be completely unacceptable for iran because it would not only be immoral to allow that to happen but it would also be a major national security threat for iran but the iranians believe that since western european countries and the united states their central objective is to

weaken president assad for the sake of for the syrian government for the sake of the israeli regime. there they're willing to do that sort of thing but. your honest policy simply will not change no matter how much pressure they put on iran it is vital for iran to prevent the extremists from. gaining the upper hand in syria or iraq. seemed to be some resistance to changing the nuclear deal at first from europe to german leader the french they did have a problem with it then they met with donald trump and their positions of change what you think he said to get them to alter. well it's difficult to say what he may have said but i think probably what happened was that they were trying to appease him as you point out correctly before they went in each of them they were saying one thing and when they came out they said another but i think he did more damage to themselves then to anyone else because iranians

are looking at the actions of the same in some of these european leaders and when they see that they flip flop so easily and they try to go to the u.s. president. so readily then in future i don't think that the iranians will ever take the germans or the french seriously again they'll know that in future they simply are used to negotiate with because they have no influence and they are willing to bow down to the u.s. president if he demands them them to do so so more than anything else they damage themselves because iran is not going to allow any changes to take place in the nuclear agreement when when the nuclear agreement was a was being discussed many in iran were critical of it they were saying that iran is giving too many concessions but ultimately when the iranians decided to sign those critics and those who supported the agreement they all agreed that iran must abide by its commitments over the last couple of years more than two years the

iranians have been abiding by their side of the ball bargain can the americans haven't both under a obama trump and now after this period of time the americans how how could they expect the iranians to add anything to this agreement when they haven't even abided by the current agreement so. for the iranians it's quite obvious that either the americans are going to commit themselves to this agreement and stay within the agreement or the agreement is dead and i think that if the americans exit the agreement the international community will recognize that from the very beginning the iranians were were on this just as pompei admitted that the iranians will work . within the framework of international law despite the misinformation and propaganda and now it's the americans who are unwilling to commit themselves to agreements that they signed up two sides interesting to get your take on the story appreciate your time side mohammad marandi my guest his politics professor from the

university of tehran think you. the conversation is revealed the us democratic party leadership pressured a candidate for a house seat in colorado to drop out of the rice he would like to get. i know you're wondering. you guys are selling money. to. someone and then i read primary.

that. the vitamins had been focusing his campaign on clean elections combating climate change and improving the health care system in the u.s. he was endorsed by the state senator last may that would lead us to drop out of the race the house minority leader has defended the move i don't see anything inappropriate like. mr hoyer engage in the conversation about the realities of life in a race as to who can win in the general election. this is not the first time leaks have pointed to terms by the us democratic party to influence elections e-mails revealed by wiki leaks show parties officials tried to use bernie sanders religion against him in favor of hillary clinton both were representing the democrats in the twenty sixteen base for the white house it's also showed the then vice chair of the democratic national committee secretly gay plans and debate questions in advance that was during the democratic primary but the current d.n.c.

chair says that incidents like this are a thing of the past but we're moving forward we have to make sure that everything is fair and open and everybody has a fair shake and that's what we're going to do. we discussed issue with journalist and author daniel lazard who believes that the democrats are becoming less democratic there's a split in the party between the base and the higher echelons the elected officials it's totally undemocratic. it's smoke and mirrors the base thinks they're getting a choice but they really aren't because the if the real candidates are decide are chosen behind closed doors but the democratic party is in the danger of self destructing it's it's trying to think that will win in two thousand and eighteen if it passes itself off the republican lite party. but that's a very risky tactic because the risk the danger is all wind up needing its base of support which will either stay at home or vote for green candidates or others who

are challenging the democrats from the left so they're trying to try to walk a very thin line and i don't think they'll be they'll be able to do it. and also for this hour but back at the top of it with the latest headlines see that. 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 all of which makes us soft on the economics of the two nations getting along plus the media and merger mania continues falling clucked 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 pacifically 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 iran 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 nineteen 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 hundred 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 seven 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 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 and 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 e.t.f. 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. i'm 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 percent think 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 headed by 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 the trajectory of crude oil was once we passed over fifty dollars so 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 raji horner you are always so great a wealth of information we're really pleased that you spent time with us rosie horner futures and currency expert at simpler trading had a great weekend. thank you. 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 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.