america are the ne'er do wells it's all very well that's over we got to go back to basics. co-founder of social media john linked in apologizes for funding a pro-democrat operation that created more than a thousand fake russian language twitter accounts designed to do what they backed a republican rival. washington expressed concern over russia's new hypersonic weapon saying that there are no effective counter measures never got missiles final test was successfully carried out wednesday. as french to drop a two decade long probe into the deadly attack on the former wonder the president's plane a case that's long been a thorn in relations. for

joining us you're watching r.t. and. co-founder social media linked in is apologize for funding a pro democratic party operation which created more than a thousand fake russian language twitter accounts they were designed to look like they had backed a republican rival last year republican candidate roy moore and you don't know really you're losing the alabama state election due to the operation by a group called how milton sixty eight it was tasked in the us with tracking fake russian accounts but it turned out to be the one actually creating them instead i guess the explain. well that was embarrassing to say the least and here i thought you could get away with blaming russia for anything nowadays apparently not but it does set a new low for democrats making think russian bullets to win elections

is the irony i find the tactics that have been recently reported highly disturbing for that reason i'm embarrassed by my failure to track the organization i did support more diligently as it made its own decisions to perhaps fund projects that i would reject the recap reid hoffman co-founder of linked in contributed wittingly or unwittingly money one hundred thousand dollars to a pro democrat cyber security company called new knowledge which it seems specialized in fraud and fake news lies and this information the company created fake facebook pages to confuse republican voters they created fake russian boats who were tweeted and followed through him all of the republican candidate in alabama's two thousand and seventeen special election they then

publicly declared that that was proof he had ties to russia because i think russian bullets were retreating him. very very dirty it's no surprise that office apart and more they both have a deep love of country the country's russia but still good question is for you it's pretty alarming when a guy has slipped in a fluent russian or speaks fluent russian russian it everywhere year later it's moving closer to the oval office interestingly enough the democrats love to mock through him or when he accused them of setting him up last year but here's an interesting take. bit new knowledge she jonathan morgan was also seemingly one of the must the minds behind hamilton sixty eight which claimed to track russian online influence operations russian bots real russian bots.

ironic again that outlets including new york times washington post c.n.n. all use the hamilton sixty eight its data to accuse russian boats of sowing discord and conspiracies online wonder how much of that was fake but food for

thought was more by luck than not that we found out about this quote the sea of n.y.t. yet how many more incidents like this could there have been that we don't and never will know anything about food for thought. if you can list charles a little shared his view on the issue. lots of like minded thinkers believe that the ends justify the means and whatever you need to do to destroy a potential threat to civilization is existence like dollar drop is fair game and republicans that they would believe that they could go this far or they could solicit money from somebody use a parrot violation of the many types of laws it's not just campaign finance violations you hear deceptively claim you. make claims about somebody their man or first not true in this magnitude and think that you're going to suffer no

consequences of their real damages you're more lost the election and i had to give credit to doug jones who won for actually calling for an investigation that's that's a one good thing that i've seen. russia has access fully tested a new hypersonic strategic missile named on guard president vladimir putin called it a big event for the armed forces and the country as a whole earlier in the program michael agree sushi spoke to a chorus for that he has done off to find out more. this launch did certainly become a top news story all over the world those analytical pieces that have had a chance to come out there were more along the lines of why the united states should fear this missile and i should say it kind of does carry the same message that we've been a world that we've been seeing for months really because this evan god missile was one out of five vance two weapons unveiled by vladimir putin back this march and that's when the world just everybody went bonkers and everybody should feel scared

even though it has been since the message of the russian government that it is purely defensive that these weapons they are meant to defend russia not to attack any other country obviously a very important launch show certainly for the security of russia or and as is said by the russian president vladimir putin he was talking about this system by. in march the first of this year but what exactly is wrong well first i would like to stop as to why exactly this new inch is important it is important because it is the final test before this missile goes into service and now let's just have a look let's enjoy how it unveiled. as for what exactly happened god is well it's just one of the most advanced weapons

and missiles in the world is a quick preview of what it's capable of. so it's incredibly it's incredibly precise and also it is classified as sort of a glider missile what it means is that it doesn't go beyond the earth's atmosphere it travels through it and this is what allows it to go really low like a prone sort of thing and to maneuver very unpredictably that's why everybody is so concerned that's why even the united states is saying that it apparently doesn't have any means of intercepting it but as putin has been saying since day one with the other god system this is to act as a deterrent this is a defensive system was was he involved in any way with the actual final test while

he is the commander in chief so he watched this final launch and also it was a bladder putin who announced that this mess the russian military will get the first units of this missile as soon as next year talk to me about the balance of power. here how does this new apple guard missile system affect global security well sure it's a missile so by definition it is designed to destroy things to obliterate them to do damage but so does pose a threat but there are two different sorts of how you can pose a threat one thing is saying look we have this new found seem so we're just going to attack you all now and destroy your countries and then another thing is saying look we have this new advanced weapon so we are ready to defend ourselves but only if we're faced with any aggression and this has really been the case with this message. is now leaving the i.n.f. treaty what's going to happen it's hard to imagine what is the rockets are located

in europe what should we do which is of course we will have to ensure our security with some concrete steps not say later that we are trying to get an advantage we're not trying to get an advantage but merely to seek your balance to ensure our security and this is about the russian military as a whole because the country has been pushing forward its military capability all year it has been sort of the flavor of the twenty teens so to speak but it hasn't been in the offensive sort of way russia has been maintaining that it is a measure of deterrence and not of aggression. we discussed how the new weapon could affect the balance of power with investigative journalist externally. it's in the interests of the russian people the american people in the whole world to not see an increase in a new arms race the danger here is that the u.s. military establishment is going to react to this by saying well we need to poorer ever more money into developing our own hypersonic missile systems and we have

a new new escalated arms race of course right now the united states is spending seven hundred billion dollars a year on its military which is more than the next nine countries combined so we know who's leading the way in the in the military arms race but i think russia i would assume they're hoping that this can be a reality check and bring and promote more negotiations and less military development. and play more he's dead cats to some of the consequences of hundreds of thousands of u.s. workers not being paid to during the festive period now six days into the current government shutdown and i'm opening splits. but we're just shy of a week into the government shutdown and already all over social media we're seeing heart wrenching stories from federal employees in the united states describing their hardships there's even been comparisons of u.s.

president donald trump to the grinch that stole christmas whenever i talk about my air traffic control husband working without pay on twitter all i get is hateful remarks about how he will and won't lose and die i know that but were we supposed to do about christmas and bills in the meantime fruiting so sad for you no not really you destroyed christmas but eight hundred thousand employees no one cares about you well if my husband who works for this day doesn't get paid we won't have money to give our elderly cat his insulin shots so would have to put him down and there's no end in sight us president donald trump is saying that he will keep the government shut down until he gets the money for his border wall i can tell you it's not going to be over until. then what are they going to put it with the hysteria is spreading well beyond government workers we now see m s n b c

describing and showing an old clip of film to describe what they're calling brutality and heartlessness on the part of the trumpet ministration everyone in the trump administration has done everything they possibly can to make the trip more dangerous more deadly they destroy water supplies that are left in the desert by samaritans who are doing what donald trump's bible tells them to do essentially we've got a video here of members of the u.s. border patrol destroying water that's been left for those crossing the border they're pouring out water they're kicking over water jugs just destroying the water well if you look at the time stamp on that. video the video was recorded in two thousand and eleven it's well over seventy years old however that hasn't stopped m s n b c from running it and showing it on television somehow as an example of the brutality of the trumpet ministration some border patrol dumping water that was

meant for desperate migrants being dumped out on the ground this is sort of extravagant cruelty is unusual for any administration but for this administration they seem to think it's affective for their base and severe dehydration which is cannot be dealt with food just water. and yet they are out there destroying the water supplies that good samaritans put out there for people who find themselves in the situation now at this point of the government remains shutdown this is day number six of the shutdown of the u.s. federal government and the buzz word on capitol hill is division. french judges a cooled off a two decade long probe into the deadly attack on the former president's plane to me led to the genocide in one nine hundred ninety four investigation was a stumbling block between the countries that was looking into several rwandan and officials close to the current president in connection with the death of the

country's former leader the decision comes after reports that fronts also rejected a bid by human rights groups to reopen a separate probe into whether the french military shed any blame for the deaths of hundreds of people that they promise to rescue. today we're being asked to leave with the people who killed families where. told they're sorry they will do it again some people believe that i'm not one of them. the fighting was triggered by the downing of a plane carrying the french backed president in one thousand nine hundred ninety

four hutu extremists blamed the rebels and the rebels denied involvement for the past twenty years paris has pursued those responsible for the assassination but not anymore the inquiry has reportedly been dropped over insufficient evidence. we have to interpret this decision by friend judges as a form of resignation faced with a political context which prosecutors did not know how to fight over the years france suggested the tutsi rebels headed by the current president paul kagame they were behind the attack they even charged seven people close to the leader for pul could be the physical elimination of rwanda's then president was seen as the only means to achieve his political ends a total victory and this at the price of the massacre of the tutsis from the so-called interior the rwandan government flatly denied the allegations and cut diplomatic ties with france fast forward and roh wanda has some nice words for the french i think the president. has. put

it takes. different people. but. i think. has an open mind to. how times have changed the world bank considers rwanda to be more business friendly than much of the developed world and france seems to have an interest macron even back to rwanda's pick for the head of francophonie a group of french speaking countries. if there were to be an african candidate to head the francophonie that would make a lot of sense i think that the rwandan foreign minister has all the expertise for that role. sure france and rwanda have had their differences and twenty five years since the genocide justice has never been fully served but for the present it looks like that doesn't have to stand in the way of a little money making donald quarter our team. turn in colonel jacques oh god was

a commander of the french foreign legion in rwanda at the time he says my choice of adviser on the issue says it all. but we should work on look at it but if he does not know africa or its history he was a teenager during the tragic events in rwanda in nineteen ninety four he aligned with sarkozy's stunts to befriend me is rwanda and there sarkozy is micron's advisor there. in i to the united arab emirates as for this reopening its embassy in damascus closed in twenty twelve and recalled the ambassador is syria sank into civil war paula looks at the move which some think marks a victory and a boost for president assad's government. the united arab emirates is reopening its embassy in damascus now this is a diplomatic boost for the syrian president bashar al assad not least of all because the u.a.e. was one of those countries that supported opposition slash rebel fighters against

his syrian soldiers over the past few years of conflict it was back in two thousand and twelve that the u.a.e. closed its office in damascus and at that time all gulf countries closed their missions as well with the exception of a month in potest against the ensuing violence. certainly the fact that the u.a.e. is now opening and embassy does suggest that this is an opportunity for improved

relations between syria and the arab league and many are suggesting that really this is the first step that we'll see syria being really involved and we united as part of the arab league community. lawmakers from germany's ruling coalition are considering a mosque tax tax to end foreign control of the country's islamic places of worship . be the islam emancipates itself in germany from the influence of foreign states the strong group the mystical reinsertion. the taxes are collected from practicing catholics and protestants by the states and then transferred to christian authorities will make us want to adopt the same model for mosques currently relying on foreign donors we summon peace fear have a radical influence by far the biggest funder of mosques in germany is the turkish islamic union for religious affairs financed by the turkish government that funds

half of all islamic places of worship in the country. clean geo political analyst and consultant dr rana wrote. wrote first will this mosque task tax do you think stop islamic radicalization is claimed. no i don't think so because it will just create a framework for institutionalizing and more deeply rooting islam in germany but it will not in any way stop the influence of radical elements because they can always. sent their finances to german mosques or to german groups which are interested in the radical islam through foundations there are other ways so the financing through a mosque tax will not exclude these ways of funding do you think the tax coming in

as anything to do with the tense relations with turkey are the main funder of these mosques. this is a possibility because turkish government has a strong interest in influencing the turkish muslims in germany even though they have sometimes a german passport. and his government believes that they still represent turkish society also in germany and therefore they try to keep a very close touch on them through d.t. for example they do this they finance. them to germany and after a few a few years they call them back to turkey so it's a part of their government institution turkey's president himself just a few months ago opened a new mosque in cologne would you anticipate a reaction from ankara. well i think there will be a reaction and we see not only this opening of

a mosque but also the offer for example of saudi arabia to finance an additional two hundred fifty mosques in germany after the influx of one point five million muslims into germany in the last three years we see that there is a certain islamization agenda as it is also put clearly in the oh i see agenda and saudi arabia for example finances the islamist islamization around the world so perfectly fits their agenda if we establish now in germany an official must tax our crackdowns on mosques popular region and that is it in light of the ruling coalition sliding popularity. well i think the german population believes that such moves are a further step away from our governing elite from the population because they see totally different. problems that are to be solved in germany at the moment but what

is true is that this step would perfectly fit what says what it calls the global agenda for migrants and the global compact form are refugees which have been adopted only reasonably will the german parliament get a vote on this tax. you know as it would need to be voted on in german parliament and of course there would be a very controversial debate on it in the parliament that's what i expect but the ruling parties could even count with the support of the left party and of the green party so i think such a mosque tax would easily be approved and i even expect that german. churches that benefit now from a church tax would agree with such a must pass a tax because they would fear that population could then call for skipping church mosque taxes altogether and create clearly state and church

minister set up to run a vote for the stupid little analyst and consultant thank you. you're welcome. donald trump and his wife have paid a surprise christmas visit to u.s. troops in iraq commentators called it a rock star entrance a stamp signed up to graphs and soldiers took selfies with the president. the visit did not go to plan though also on the agenda was a meeting with the iraqi leadership but the two sides couldn't agree on the format

of the meeting which then ended up being replaced by a phone conversation the head of one of the two main blocs in iraq's parliament was not at all amused by trump surprise visit branding is a blatant violation of sovereignty. and it appears that trump agrees u.s. leadership to stop interfering in other countries affairs america should be doing the fighting. for every nation on earth not being reimbursed in many cases. if they want us to do the fighting they also have to pay a price and sometimes that's also a monetary price. the pentagon has active military personnel in thirty eight countries the biggest contingent is that german base ramstein more than one thousand people are reported to be stationed that young oberg director of the trans national foundation for peace and future research explains how the us my users basis to stay involved in syria. look at syria where everybody on cross now thinks

that he's going to or that the u.s. is going to leave syria just as an example now what about the ten to twenty basis facilities big and small in syria northern syria are they going to be dismantled the special operation forces those who trained the rebels slash terrorists still in out down are they going to be withdrawn to he's just a few years old years he see again one day he says we're going to withdraw from syria and everybody's a law that's terrible even the left somewhere says this is terrible i mean i don't understand anything anymore but then he goes on the helter skelter tonally on plan and surprise visit to a u.s. base in iraq where the american should never have gone and not never set up bases and then he says we're not going to leave iraq because it's still useful from this space we could do things in syria now you know what does that mean to withdraw from syria if you actually think that you can just from a neighboring country

a country you can do whatever you please and do thing was in that country where you have lost. that with a vase and half an hour. thank . my son in this doing drugs my nephews was still in drugs my sister just with doing drugs it was like an epidemic of drug abuse america's public enemy number one in the united states is drug abuse he started going after the users in a prison populations who are we started treating sick people people who are

addicted to these drugs like criminals while i was on the hill i increasingly became convinced that the war on drugs was a mistake there are countless numbers of people who are in prison for. a long sentence in this for whom minor minor offenders in the drug trade it's a lot watching your children grow up and miss you in waves and say by daddy as you're walking out of a business it's just it doesn't get easier. i am merrick's kaiser this is the kaiser report the big year for curved a lot of hopes a lot of downs also downs oh let's get the updates from so you are just a warning i do have the giggles for some reason so just in case you know i had

a very good christmas i had still the giggles from it but as we pointed in previous episodes december has been the worst month of december since one thousand thirty one for stock markets it's also been the worst december for big coincidence back in what twenty thirteen twenty fourteen so we've had a pretty bad year twenty eighteen in bitcoin and i'm going to look at some of the data that has come out in the second half are going to be talking to tony going to go deeper deeper deeper into between and the whole outlook for it but this is an interesting story that happened right before christmas just in coin base moved five billion dollars in crypto as part of an upgrade it was worried would take a toll on the market quote the five billion dollar number represents five percent of all.