which was not. improved. the. headline stories this hour trump takes credit for defeating islamic state terrorists in syria on this now considering a total troop withdrawal we pull through the coming also ahead on the program.

john a bunch of. a feisty exchange in the british parliament may face is all wrong how still it seems over her contingency plans for a no deal bragg since. the sentencing of donald trump's former national security adviser for lying to an f.b.i. investigation into alleged russian collusion is delayed once i can tell you how his case is tainted by words like treason. live from our international news center and. r.t. wherever. you are tuning in from

a very warm welcome to the program our top story the u.s. president has announced the defeat of islam extent in syria donald trump took to twitter giving the u.s. and himself much of the credit for the victory over the terrorists we have defeated isis in syria my only reason for being there during the trump presidency. let's go live to washington d.c. and to our team. we've become quite accustomed to bold statements from the u.s. leader this it appears to be another of. well we now have official confirmation from the white house that u.s. troops will indeed and are leaving syria now trump's tweet contradicts everything we've been hearing from the pentagon and from the state department over the last several months it was just about

a week ago that the head of the coalition to defeat isis made a statement saying we want to see a resolution to the syrian war through the un security council resolution process and we also want to see the removal of foreign forces from syria particularly the iranian commanded and proxy forces from syria he said quote i think it's fair to say americans will remain on the ground after the physical defeat of the caliphate until we have the pieces in place to ensure that the defeat is enduring now there are at least two thousand u.s. troops in syria and removing them would be a fulfillment of one of trump's campaign promises a vice president mike pence and secretary of defense jim mattis are meeting at this very moment in the pentagon white house press secretary seris huckabee sanders released a statement just a few moments ago saying the process of returning troops back to the u.s. has actually already begun the statement also says that it doesn't signal the end

of the global coalition to defeat isis or that campaign now isis has been defeated in the sense it holds no actual territory so perhaps president trump by taking credit for the defeat is overstating the u.s. role in that effort it was largely defined isis was largely defeated by the syrian and russian militaries along with the the lebanese group hezbollah now the timing of trump's tweet in this announcement is very curious turkey is threatening an offensive on u.s. backed kurdish forces in northern syria. the president. has demanded that these forces withdraw and that an operation could start at any moment now turkey is unlikely to attack u.s. forces so this could factor into president trump's apparent into disconfirm decision to remove u.s.

forces. ok artie's cohen live from washington bringing us right up to date thank you for. let's bring in igor who's been listening who's been following developments as well in this igor so there you go donald trump has taken credit for defeating i thought give us a sense if you would almost the timeline of the u.s. military involvement in the what i'd like to start here is that this plenty of irony i should say in this one hundred or so characters donald trump has just used to make this announcement starting that he's done it on twitter and continuing with the fact that it is far from the first time that he's doing it and probably most importantly is the fact that he's boasting about this at all because you know nobody really invited the u.s. troops into syria certainly not the u.n. recognized president and official leader of syria bashar assad but as far as the

united states are concerned well are they deal with whatever problems with the face with the one tool the with the one method they know best and that is just blunt force just stupid blunt force so they just came they saw and they well they wrecked the place pretty much and you don't have to go too far for any examples like take rocket for example this is something of a pinnacle of the u.s. fight against isis what they did they left no stone unturned in this once flourishing city and it was a defacto capital of it was a self-proclaimed capital of the caliphate and so but they just they just bought the hell out of the place there was very very loud. cried coming from human rights groups and i mean in terms of when the talked about destruction the scale of destruction civilian casualties i mean speaking about those killed in iraq or during the bombings well one facts for you bodies are still being found the battle

and didn't twenty seven see so like more than a year since the bodies are still being discovered have a look. we're still a third here and we were forced to leave our homes because weisel when we returned we found everything which used to rubble look at all the devastation rock is a ghost city. we're living in the midst of destruction we feel completely abandoned everything around has been destroyed. this is in rubble that we have to be to remove the debris with all money there's no running water so we have to. use the u.s. coalition cause the destruction of records and has a responsibility to rebuild the city we need to help with restoring the water

supply in clearing the rubble. i found a man on the streets near my house my friend and i tried to detonate it from a distance but it didn't go off we thought the mine didn't work and walked towards it it's exploded my friend was killed i survived. your one of the big aspects of today's announcement is that the us said that the white house confer leading on from the tweet by dollar trump that they have started to a draw trips from syria but surely it's not just as easy as saying it's happening and then that's what's going to happen here there's there are so many. i used to be dotted t.'s to be crossed surely well exactly because again this is not the first time we're hearing from the donald donald trump that he's about to withdraw troops from syria like he had already with funfair you know he had already announced that he saying something like we will be leaving syria very very soon and he said that

only to backtrack and to make a u. turn sometime later on that so right now when there is saying that they're withdrawing troops doesn't really i mean unless they have started with the withdrawal already and they are really pulling out men out of syria then again it kind of raises the question how big of the scale of the withdrawal is going to be like is it going to be a complete withdrawal are they going to leave some contingency behind. the party are saying they've started pulling out exactly what does that mean there is there is what is there isn't room for maneuver there isn't there all yeah how many people how many troops have the already and how many of them are the planning to withdraw is it going to be an iraq situation or in afghanistan situation right when troops stay there years past the you know breaking some of the deadlines withdrawal deadline set by the american government itself and i mean with this with the situation in syria and with the trumpet ministration the sort i have been changing

the rules of the game as this game was on go in like first they entered syria saying we need to defeat i saw and they say we've defeated eisel but we also need to counter the iranian influence on the ground where did that come from now also they were saying that like even after they've defeated eyes all they don't want that the risk falls to reappear i have a list. basically we can go after isis and with air to take them out but that doesn't mean we just walk away and let isis two point zero pop back around. how was not in a sense how did they target eyes the lies they say they did were you know what what was the actual methods put in place here because they are taking the credit for it so right yeah well actually it started with the united states training the so-called moderate rebels it's like this is a cia program of training aiding sending weapons to moderate rebels hoping that

they would fight i saw here's how that played out. can you tell us what the total number of trained fighters remains. it's a small number and. the ones that are in the fight. is is we're talking four or five. so yeah that's right out of thousands of rebels that they were giving assistance to giving aid and the ordinary starless i mean he did not he did not make a mistake no scale you know in decimals and what i know it's literally another four or five literally literally like as literally as it can get but then of course again when that failed they mostly relied on airstrikes like with rocket and on their proxy force on the ground that the kurdish forces in the east in the north of syria has been they have been the major the only under on the ground foolish the

united states have the only boots on the ground so to speak apart from smaller numbers of like trainers and that's what they call them who help the united help the kurds in their fight so this is this has been pretty much the involvement of the united states in syria and bombing i still ok appreciate you talking us through the news today of dollars from saying he and the u.s. have defeated i saw in syria there they will start withdrawing troops from the country thank you very much or. moving on now with one hundred days left until the u.k. parts ways with the e.u. trees a maze government is ramping up no deal that brags that preparations that is the prime minister's divorce continues the face serious opposition with m.p.'s due to have a final vote on the deal in mid january may has been making her case in parliament this wednesday triggering a heated exchange with opposition leader jeremy called. until the deal has

a day or has been russia five it is the responsible position of government and it is it would be the responsible position of any government to put in place contingency arrangements for no deal no dear old wood bridge disaster for our country and no responsible government would ever allow each yes i know it's christmas i know it's not to miss talking down the chimney under the christmas tree things still hasn't found that rather it's the prime minister who is supposed to be undertaking a negotiation thank you should prime minister the trial to bring an acceptable deal but why didn't the prime minister stop the pretense and stop wasting full billion pounds in a cynical attempt to drive good deeply damaging deal through there's house you know who is the right honorable gentleman doesn't want to see money being spent on no deal he's governed easy answer for this day to get thank you the stakes are

getting higher and higher and the debate is getting harder and harder it is in fact one hundred days to go before bracks it turns from being this vague concept that everybody in the u.k. seems to be arguing about into something very real and it's been now two years of attempted negotiations and it's absolutely clear at this point that the situation is more uncertain than ever and certainly passions are flying high on advice for the i john a bunch of other think you know this guy in syria that ought to go there. it appears that the opposition party leader jeremy corbyn apparently had called the british prime minister a stupid woman while his spokesperson has said that he actually did not call to receive may a stupid woman so there are no grounds for an apology the spokesperson said. that

the opposition party leader has in fact reference to stupid people so we can certainly leave this lip reading to the experts in terms of who said what the key is that once again attention has shifted from the substance of bracks it to now this scandal and alleged namecalling making up the headlines moving forward for at least for today and while it's clear that the problem has gone nowhere and specifically the european commission this wednesday has officially started preparing for a new deal bracks it's contingency action plan so things are getting quiet real the debate is hard but where all of this is going to lead remains a massive question. additionally more than three thousand troops will be put on standby as part of the new deal contingency plan other measures include securing medical and food supplies over the coming weeks families and businesses will also be receiving official guidance on how to better prepare but independent british

m.e.p. germans are concerned believes that fears over a chaotic exit from the e.u. may be misplaced. they're actually playing out. the letters going out to households and businesses project fear with nuclear nuclear warheads on at the moment so they're ramping up the fear of this. brussels is an option that's on the table and under government legislation if we don't have a deal in the next few weeks that we just leave under world trade organization rules and there is no problem without the problem is in westminster is that we have too many pace and to me pay standing behind cameras going on radio just just all can monks themselves not listening to what the voters want we've got to remain prime minister that are in the main opposition and we've got remain m.p.'s in the house of westminster they wish they were given a clear mandate by the people to leave and we knew it. what we were facing full of

that is leaving without a tail if that comes down to it but i mean brussels now. they really don't get it's an understand the brussels brinkmanship that takes place here of course it goes to the wall and we should hold their feet to the water as well we've got one hundred days to what they sell because they will cave in because they need us more than we need. sentencing donald trump's former national security adviser has been delayed yet again live reaction after this. you know world's big partners. and conspiracy it's time to wake up to dig deeper to hit the stories that mainstream media refuses to tell more than ever we need to be smart we need to stop slamming the door on the shouting past

each other it's time for critical thinking it's time to fight for the middle for the truth the time is now for watching closely watching the hawks. manufacture consent to public wealth. when the right wing plus a some protect themselves. in the final. deficit be the one percent. we can all middle of the room sick.

hello again the sentencing of the first white house official over alleged russian meddling in the twenty sixteen u.s. presidential campaign is being delayed once again donald trump's former national security advisor michael flynn pleaded guilty to a single count of lying to the f.b.i. but it's been explains buzz words like treason and meddling this guy is what flynn is really guilty. general michael flynn the only senior member of the trumpet ministration to be charged with a crime by the special prosecutor it was supposed to be a smoking gun the judge didn't mince any words when describing it i'm not hiding my disgust my disdain for this criminal offense all along you were and registered agent of a foreign country serving as a national security adviser arguably that undermines everything that this flack over here stands for arguably you sold your country out however the judge took it back i feel terrible about that the government has no reason to believe that the

defendant committed treason is an actual crime with telling a lie to the feds but that's not what the media has been feeding us. it's it's funny because history is a witness tampering not only is possibly treason but mike flynn is what people thought about when they're thinking when he's talking to people who might have gone long a treasonous that's how many trips did michael flynn take his place anthony bourdain of treason no treason no sinister connection to foreign adversaries what happened is this in december of two thousand and sixteen as the f.b.i. was preparing to wrap up and conclude its collusion investigation at that point michael flynn had a conversation with russian ambassador. now you'll recall that as far as the media was concerned he wasn't simply an ambassador but a super spy master remember. identified by c.n.n. as a top intelligence gatherer spy or master in washington d.c. and who we know is the chief spy novel actually lead so course the f.b.i.

had no choice but to talk to flynn about that conversation but the way their interview with him was conducted was rather strange no lawyers were present the white house counsel was not informed when just sat down with the f.b.i. and at no point did they tell him that what he said could later be used against him in court as investigation of a guy who pled guilty to lying to the f.b.i. he should have been warned you shouldn't should have told you. have a lawyer think of the state of affairs we've ended up in that's nonsense i'm very proud of the way the f.b.i. conducted itself in actual flexible thoughtful pursuit believes where you'd want to steer the f.b.i. broke standard protocol in the way that they came in and ambush plan the only reason that they did it was the terms of ministration and they thought they could get away with it at the time the f.b.i. did not see any wrongdoing general flynn pleaded guilty to making a false statement to the federal bureau of investigation even though the federal bureau of investigation agents did not detect any deception jude influence of you

what michael flynn apparently said is that international tensions shouldn't ask following obama's sanction and sacking of the diplomats however michael flynn told the f.b.i. that he couldn't recall the details of the conversation they were tired general admitted to lying to the f.b.i. michael flynn lied to the f.b.i. general michael landon oh the horror he sat at a table with russian president vladimir putin and he's supposedly met with a group alleged to be nazi sympathizers and he supposedly kidnapped someone on behalf of turkish president and while we're at it let's mention that his son is apparently part of the investigation plans name has been dragged through the mud at the end of the day however the f.b.i. only found one thing to hold onto a lie table r.t. new york. i'm happy to say we can get insight from international relations gilberto doctorow you're very welcome to the program sir

a special consul robert muller recommended lenient treatment for flynn for cooperating but the language from the judge wasn't quite the same why do you think he got such short shrift in the courtroom. worley the judge's opinion his own the if it comes in the context of subversion of american democracy and link what happened to flynn with the proceeding feature article on your program that is the treatment of three some may in both cases you have the american political system in the british political system first past the post and whoever wins wins in the united states today whoever wins loses and that is what we're seeing the opposition the democrats and certain members of his own party haven't are doing everything possible to frustrate the will of the people and to subvert the pope or to prevent the implementation of the public policies for which donald trump was elected flynn was within the administration the most visible supporter of

improved relations with russia a your your introduction a moment ago mentioned the flynns sitting at the table with bloody murder putin that was in december two thousand and fifteen at the tenth anniversary celebration of r.t. i happened also to be in the room and i know that that putin's presence at the table was for a few minutes only it was a it was a courtesy to the to the leading guests of the of the event i also want to say that . the full flynn case is a patent case of entrapment having said that and having appreciated the key role of general flynn in the. the short lived role of national security advisor as the person who was most advocating a reasonable approach to relations with russia having said that it also remains

that the fact that mr flynn had very poor judgment on the minimum number of important political issues ok they came to the dinner having been paid a substantial multi. most are thousand dollar. on rarity him by his hosts was already a very poor start the. good men ship that you were at that you were ten celebration twenty fifteen and mr flynn president putin once you mention both president did you be remiss of me not to question did you spot anything suspicious up out of it. well orderly there was nothing whatever on toward a metal vent the only thing that was peculiar if not to say in bad taste and possibly as i say impaired judgment was that flynn was paid to be there that was inappropriate at the same time we know that his pleading of his case and his knowledge of guilt is probably predicated on his rather rather weak personal

finances and he's did what he could to curtail the investigation he can to curtail the the legal proceedings against himself. that is why they got him on one count it was a kind of plea deal the treatment that he got his sentencing yesterday was entirely shabby. it had been understood that his cooperation in more than one thousand interviews with the f.b.i. in the last year was to buy him. a release without imprisonment ok and then the judge came down on him as he did in the harshest way i wish with more time to delve further this time is a cancer this international ations unless gilbert dr a friend of the program thank you us always. thanks for. the european union italy have agreed to a truce to end months of a bitter row over the country's much disputed budget for next year extensive

reforms and tax breaks planned by its euro skeptic government would have put italy on course to bric euro zone fiscal rules know that drew the threat of sanctions from brussels even though several other countries are also in the red currently all nineteen countries which use the euro currency must observe a deficit ceiling of three percent of five but known as g.d.p. spain belgium portugal and slovenia are among the nations which have also had a telling off for breaching the deficit rules but it is france's big spending plans for next year that's got to tell you and politicians are all part of this is projecting a three point two percent deficit for twenty ninth dean while rome was threatened with sanctions the e.u. has signaled france won't be punished it's not perceived discrepancy but seeing that selling leaders tried to force through their budget since day one this is the first time in budget leave you doesn't like no surprise this is the first italian

budget written in rome and not in brussels. the italian economy is healthy and this is an economic move that will give italy distributing needs we want change one comma in this document. the plan b. you know to go to. the both the on. the future. ok let's get reaction from a tele an e.p.a. coder rio from the five star movement welcome to the program why is the government in italy capitulated over the budget is it an admission that they got its numbers wrong. no not really actually we over steam ate our major when we first percent of the. draft of the first involved and afterward so

we ask our meanest or inside the offices in the ministers to check again if that number so were correct and well there were some somebody you know to got to because we overestimate the manger scene the first draft so there was but actually the budget that was approved because we had an agreement today is a budget to change the change of the idea of of our country or about the measures of the this is a complete. different budget compare that with the lot of the last ones that the budget presented by the last governments and it's a budget where things are about that it's people think about two groups think about people who have suffered that they you call this is during the last year or so we are very very satisfied about it but are your voters satisfied by that

because with some of them some of the public not be looking upon this as the government not making good on its promises. well actually all the promises that we have gone during the lake turkana bank i'm talking about of the five star movement we are go running week another political farce there is a leg up but all the main fall into the two we will be of our electoral campaign each are inside this budget so we are actually beta very satisfied there are things that are completely removed surely for our country i think the during last year during all last year or so the main manager saw we balanced budget two were decided here in brussels and now now there is a completely different broad's where the italian direly on the prey your this are inside and probably its are different it's a different

a point and a pro.