both the republicans and democrats claim victory in the wake of the midterm elections but it seems the election settled little if anything now there is a dueling investigation warfare gridlock on steroids is this what the voters voted for. police in the u.s. identify the gunman who killed twelve people in a busy california bar on wednesday twenty eight year old former marine he is believed to have committed suicide following the atrocity. in the u.s. against donald trump's decision to fire attorney general jeff sessions. medaling investigation is now under threat. and the u.k. government continues to face a backlash of the. it is accused of placing gag orders on experts

investigating the tragedy which left seventy two people dead. direct from our studio this is our national certainly glad to have you with us right now police in the u.s. say they have identified the gunman who killed twelve people in a crowded bar in the small california city of thousand oaks on wednesday now they have named the suspect as twenty eight year old local resident david long he had served in the marines and reportedly suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder police say he was known to them for minor offenses and had been referred to mental health experts back in april long's motive for the shooting is not known here is how witnesses described the events i was on the dance floor dancing i do anyway.

you know and then all my friends are at the table right by the door and then they turn your i heard the gunshot i turned around and i'm sorry for him shoot a couple more times and in a split second everyone yelled get down so i ran to the left of the dance floor where the back door is and everyone pretty much dog probably on top of each other they were very very loud gunshot they were very clear what they were the shots kept going and going and going we just heard people say right and we looked at as fast as we cut. calls to the police started coming in at around eleven fifteen in the evening terrified customers hid under tables and in bathrooms during the shooting the bar had been holding a country music night for local university students hundreds of people were there at the time. the president has ordered the national flag lowered to half mast at the white house to commemorate to the victims. a number of people who were in the bar at the time of the incident had also reportedly survived the las vegas music

festival shooting back in two thousand and seventeen that attack was the deadliest mass shooting by an individual or history a gunman opened fire from a thirty second floor hotel room into a crowd of twenty two thousand concert goers killing fifty eight people on the perpetrator stephen paddick was later found dead in his hotel room surrounded by his weapons here's some testimony from people who are now living through the nightmare for a second time. is the second time in about a year in a month this is happened is a big thing for us big family and unfortunately this family got hit twice throughout the whole lifetime. and then there are people that have seen it twice. my friends survived drove ninety one then they will through this. right to discuss this further we're now joined by former marine an anti-war activist sergio. thank you very much for being with us here on r t international.

thank you for having me so. on a lot of levels i mean i kind of feel deflated because it's like here we go again but given what is known so far does it seem as there could have been any way of preventing this attack the suspect is reportedly used to visit this bar quite often . what are we looking at here. well what can i say i think i'd is that he's a veteran so. in order in terms of trying to prevent something like this in minutes i think it's a very murky waters to go in because we can't really predict in the way i mean in certain situations we can predict human behavior but not all the time we have to be very careful treading on that line however since he was a veteran and since we do have a veterans administration in place what we need we actually need more funding for the veterans administration. to prevent that kind of stuff so there is more to

create more clinics where the veterans can come back and actually have access to have more doctors so the health care system is actually be a health care system is actually really great i've been in that system for past twelve years the issue is that we don't have enough clinics that can be placed in each community to assist those veterans that might be dealing with that issue but i think the bigger concern here is that we live in a culture of violence so you obviously aware that you know we're a country where we start with the genocide of indigenous people then once you institutionalize slavery then once a different exclusion acts will have jim crow and i did some of the ongoing war through the military industrial complex and. well i you come from a very unique perspective in terms of having that veteran background you are both marines when i say both you and the alleged perpetrator of this recent attack

p.t.s.d. is a real thing that veterans have to deal with was it the right decision for law enforcement not to continue monitoring the suspect if he was suspected to have been suffering from p.t.s.d. or other forms of emotional trauma. well here's the thing i mean i can actually give you an example or a case that happened to one of our friends that we served with he start sending a couple really strange messages to our friends saying that he was going to do something crazy so they called the police the police stormed his place in michigan and they basically arrested him they put him in the mental well psychiatric facility i'm not sure whether it was the b.a. or not but after that they just let him go and nothing happened so the question is what do you mean what does that mont monitoring means. and can we really monitor majority of veterans who come back with beat is the

instead of actually creating the culture not only the culture bar also creating conditions where a veteran that he does need help he can go straight he doesn't have to drive an hour and a half to a clinic the a clinic so my closest point b.a.a. is literally an hour away and very familiar with that area actually crown point michigan city so that's kind of a very urban area people do have more access to health care there about that do you think that veterans always get the psychological help that they need what if anything needs to change on that front. well to be honest with you we just need more more funding through the to the v.a. and that help i mean i've been using i've been using v.a. healthcare system for past twelve years and i'm going to tell you that i in the in the beginning when i got out in two thousand and six he was a little bit shaky because i assume that the institution was not prepared for all coming for all the veterans coming back from iraq afghanistan and obviously other

conflicts whether and africa or south central america but after a couple years or so they improved their service and to be honest with you i've had really really positive experience both with psychiatric help as well as regular medical help so how do you think this mass shooting will impact the gun control debate i mean we've been talking about it for years now and nothing seems to be getting done do you think this will finally be the trigger even given the fact that we now have a new congress who might be able to move some action there. i don't really think so man i really think that we'll live in the front year of society are our idea of expansion in our idea of military is deeply ingrained in our society and our psyche and i feel that people are going to be you can implement certain things like checking i.d.'s maybe improve raising the age at which you can purchase the weapons

however i don't i'm more pessimistic on that and i would say that i don't really see much taking place in terms of doing something like we have done so. very interesting to hear your thoughts you have a unique perspective on this thanks for helping us wrap our minds around it former marine and anti-war activist sergio churkin thanks for being with us on our to international very much. right switching gears now thousands of people across the u.s. have been protesting against the president's decision to fire the country's top law enforcement official jeff sessions they now fear that the move could endanger the moeller investigation into possible collusion between trump's campaign team and russia but it's not he's killed him up and found out the demonstrators don't really care much for the former attorney general himself jeff sessions the u.s. attorney general who just stepped down has got some new friends liberals and progressives across the country are taking to the streets to protest his removal

it's over nine hundred cities that are having protests a major mobilization but was jeff sessions a friend of progressives hardly jeff sessions that i was a zero rating for the human rights campaign on gay rights a guy who asked the department of the national council of nannies why they were buying so many books on islam the zero tolerance policy means zero humanity and it makes zero sense for his politically motivated voting fraud prosecutions to his indifference toward criminal violations of civil rights laws back in two thousand and sixteen when jeff sessions was for. nominated the liberal organization known as move on dot org issued a petition opposing him they accused him of making racist comments opposing equal pay for women immigration and opposing hate crimes legislation this is how jeff sessions confirmation hearings went there and error. her hair. but

now the very same organizations that protested against his nomination are now protesting his departure they fear that the removal of sessions could pave the way for an end to the bob muller investigation into alleged ties between trump and russia the recent nothing i like about most of the people they found with trump appointed. i mean but you're protesting his departure right well actually now that he keep on uli's physician and investigating until he finishes it it takes a month or it takes two years so this isn't really about jeff sessions about a mole or. knowing snow in supposed to look that's what i'm here for what did you protest when he was appointed. i protested the immigration policy on the families that gather day and are you protesting now. because i'm mad as hell and

we're not going to take it anymore and move on very very definitely protested and had a petition going which i signed with regard to the appointment of jeff sessions as attorney general given his track record as a racist but the point is at this stage of the game i'm not but and i don't think move on is think his removal of raul there who would use who is being forced in outside of the constitutional provisions to be his replacement very deep board this thing. back in two thousand and sixteen jeff sessions was public enemy number one as far as lots of liberals were concerned but now that he's been removed it seems that jeff sessions has joined an elite group of people who've been fired by donald trump it seems like in twenty eighteen in the united states politics isn't so much about principles but rather about who is your friend and who is your enemy

. r.t. new york. in the wake of the u.s. midterm elections which saw the democrats take control of the house donald trump has launched a series of scathing attacks on journalists at a press conference the day after the pivotal vote of the president accused to the media of being divisive and hostile and again called c.n.n. an enemy of the people. it isn't good what the media is doing and that i do have the right to fight back on the campaign trail you called yourself a nationalist some people saw the as emboldening white nationalist racist a question i would never do that and i don't use race and. it's people like this that cause division one of the statements that you made in the killing of the campaign there we go. i think you should let me run the country you run c.n.n. and if you didn't well. let's ask the other folks that remember this person that's enough for this president the other folks that. you are

a rude terrible person. mr president. in jim's defense i traveled with a visit to. see them so either step could be. meanwhile the left wing movement has targeted a fox news anchor activists of from the group surrounded tucker carlson's home chanting insults. while the t.v. host was not home at the time however his wife was she managed to lock herself in and call the police the couple have four children activists rang his doorbell and broke his door we were joined earlier by social commentator anthony bryan logan to talk about trump's worsening relationship with the media following the midterms and he is a trump supporter. you got

a late show that's where he's going here as well as got him here so far he's not been the conventional president how somebody is able to think for themselves that for themselves rather than being told what to do for now say which up is doing is the right thing to do when you put in false information misleading information to confuse people to discourage people from going out and voting that could be considered voter intimidation voters' oppression so what do you say here about being an enemy to people is pretty accurate as a description initially it be misconstrued with inciting violence the left they are attacking everywhere it is now on a list even those that are kind of his center i think it may come from fear that they're losing their power to lose in new grip and they are afraid of what trump is going to do so it's not really a you know a two party thing it's not bipartisan valley's it usually comes from the other side has to defend. more than five thousand victims of war have been

treated so far this year in hospitals run by a u.n. back to humanitarian organization in afghanistan a third were children the organization called emergency has been active in the country since one thousand nine hundred nine and says the violence there is relentless. and moscow is preparing to get warring parties together for negotiations playing host to afghan peace talks on friday a dozen countries are invited and the taliban is also sending a delegation it is the first time the militant group will take part in this kind of high level meeting after almost two decades of war in afghanistan but as you have comments not everyone has welcomed the talks. by any measure the afghan war has dragged on for too long too many people the dead too little achieved too much hatred bred why don't try something new this is a very good opportunity and we would like to participate and raise our genuine

issues we would urge these world powers to help resolve the afghan issue as per international laws and principles the afghan high peace council will send four delegates the taliban five reportedly representatives of a dozen nations have also been invited and it couldn't have happened sooner enough . on just one day the twentieth of october journeying elections three hundred and eighty eight civilians were. plethora of attacks so no wonder that even nato is calling for peace the tal a bomb must understand the continuing to fight this pointless there must sit down on the negotiating table the potential for peace is great in our own interest being in many years unless of course peace is made in moscow in which case the us

won't support it america is skipping the moscow peace summit saying washington only supports afghan led efforts but it will send an observer the united states believes that all countries should support direct dialogue between the government of afghanistan and the taliban to reach it and to the war. and. we've been clear that no government clued in russia can be a substitute for the afghan government interact negotiations with the taliban wave which never stopped the u.s. special envoy from meeting taliban officials in cata last month for direct negotiations i think the more countries that approach the afghan government and the taleban and all the warring parties and say let's talk let's have peace rather than

war that's a very logical thing for most people and for most countries i just don't think in the united states the united states at this particular time wants to see it also the military industrial complex in the united states is a very very big part of the u.s. economy the guns and the planes and the ships and the bombs that they use and sell all around the world support a lot of jobs in the united states i don't think that the war is in general or going to end if they can do some maneuver to make a better situation for the united states in afghanistan they are probably talking about that and would like to see that seventeen years of war and terror is neat-o. sold that countless thousands dead on each every side generations fed and misery and violence drunken hatred and the heroine finally the taliban

agrees to open talks it's a huge deal ed the u.s. possum's war it seems is preferable to peace that comes with russian help the. british government is facing a wave of criticism for its handling of the aftermath of the grand fell tower fire seventy two people died a year ago in that blaze that and golfed a block of flats in london and westminster has been accused of placing gagging orders on experts investigating the tragedy artie's on associate turkana brings us to tales. well love critics of the british government have dubbed it shameful in light of information that has emerged about a company that was hired just days following the grand fell fire tragedy to analyze and investigate u.k. government state building safety and that company was reportedly told not to criticize to rescind may and her government this was revealed as part of

a comprehensive investigation carried out by the times newspaper which disclosed that among hundreds of other contracts a specific one hundred thousand pound contract with an engineering company called w s p had instructed that particular company not to quote create. adverse publicity for the cabinet or other crown bodies when looking at the situation involving other buildings around the country following the grunfeld fire and of course reactions to such a gag order on clotting experts was was not met with open arms this shows. if you respect to do so. would. follow the truth wherever it led. rather than gagging experts and purred ties in reputed damage this conservative government should be doing everything in its power to ensure they never happens

again coming just a few weeks after the prime minister promised to get tough on gagging closes these shocking revelations show the government to be deeply hyper critical as well as paranoid and this is how the government had to respond to all of this standard contracts in the public and the private sector contain provisions to protect the commercial interests of government and its suppliers in a reasonable way these contracts do not prevent individuals from campaigning on specific issues acting as whistleblowers or even concerns about policy while over the grenfell tower of course took place on june fourteenth last year it was a fire that killed seventy two people it lasted many many hours and really brought lots and lots of criticism in terms of the initial reaction of theresa may and her government and as well as the days that followed.

well the grandfather united campaign group reacted to these latest revelations with a statement saying quote the focus at every level of government must be to get to the truth about how and why grand fell happened no one should be deterred from speaking out and quote. ukrainian neo nazi. militias are suspected of training white supremacist groups which have been arrested for inciting violent attacks during protests in the u.s. back in two thousand and seventeen that is according to an unsealed criminal

complaint by the f.b.i. . the azoff battalion is a paramilitary units of the ukrainian national guards which is known for his association with neo nazi ideology and use of nazi symbolism and which is beliefs have participated in training and radicalizing united states based white supremacist organizations this was a quote from a criminal complaint and the man who wrote it was behind investigating terrorist groups in america for the f.b.i. and right here you will be able to see the photos posted by the defendants he was trying to bring to justice they are members of the white supremacy rise above movement just recently a number of charges have been brought against them and clued in conspiracy to start riots the men were involved in the deadly twenty seventeen charlottesville riots it

was. it was. it was it was. the. uk. so the f.b.i. agent found that the rise above movement members toward europe and went to countries like germany italy and ukraine and there they met with the members of the local extremist neo nazi groups besides this according to the f.b.i. operative the defendants were seen on a photo with. one of the leaders of the ukrainian far right party which was founded out of a regiment of the absolve paramilitary but tally and that is the battalion that was

mentioned and the quote that i showed you earlier now as of was seen on the front lines of the conflict in east ukraine which broke out when a number of the regions there refused to accept the results of a bloody coup in kiev which led to the government being over thrown in there now you don't have to be an f.b.i. agent to prove that absolve is actively using neo nazi symbols you can just look at their insignia their emblems and neo nazi salutes or even just slogans are a common thing now i just want to show you what rather frequent marches of members of such organizations and their supporters look like and ukraine. i i. i. i i i. i i

i i i i i i i i i so this criminal complaint could be important because it appears to be the first instance of f.b.i. actually looking into claims that ukrainian neo nazis could have been involved in the training of extremists across the atlantic. the annual g. seven meeting could eventually be a thing of the past european commission president jiang called younger thinks none of that use member states will be part of the group by mid century saying the writing is on the wall for europe's economic might. we are losing economic weight in the next coming decades roll on more or less twenty two twenty three percent to

do you to be fifteen sixteen seventeen percent after twenty years in thirty years and a single member of the european union will be a member of the g. seven and form of demography point of view we are losing which to put it frankly the g seven is composed of the seven most industrial a advanced countries which meet annually to discuss global economic policy the first summit was held back in one nine hundred seventy five combined the group's members represent approximately half of the world's wealth. journalist luger of a told us that he thinks younger is correct about the e.u.'s economic decline. yes the incur as always being very provocative it's his way and i'll and frankly ease right on the obviously we will lose weight that's right and you know i mean in the sky i mean india and china have more than one billion five hundred million people

and qualify people and technology that techniques fair are just at the same level as ours here in europe so maybe mr young says it just to justify a united europe but in thirty years time he's right it will be maybe still germany but the others italy france etc will have gone from the g seven that would have been replaced by china or india russia needs to be back in the g seven that's for sure because it's one of the giants in the world so we need we need to start making using politics in the economy if you are that doesn't for me i'll be back with headlines and lots and say thirty minutes you're watching art international's.

greetings and salutations as well knock me over with the other watchers u.s. president donald trump and c.n.n. reporter jim acosta as love affair is back making headlines again and what has become a now familiar dance routine at a news conference on wednesday the following waltz of dunces took place between acosta and trump. by me as one of the question as president i think that's an ask one of the other folks that set out for me ma'am on this wednesday that's enough for the president i'd want to be down there.