greetings and salutations while much of the world has been focused on u.s. president donald trump's reason recent decision to remove u.s. military forces from syria we shouldn't in the course of all that debate grandstanding in the hoopla forget about the hundred forty nine some odd other countries around the world that currently have u.s. troops operating inside their borders take africa for example where the united states currently has an estimated thirty four bases spread across the continent lily pad style deployment strategy that according to modern middle eastern history ph d. eric shu not only permits the maximum projection of military power with the least commitment it also allows military commanders to publicly depict all such deployments as temporary and to conceal their existence from the public well just last week buried in the headlines was the announcement the president drum did find

the time during our illustrious government shutdown here in the u.s. to inform congress that he is sending u.s. troops into central into central africa over supposedly fears of violence erupting in the democratic republic of the congo. according to n.b.c. news the eighty eight combat equipped troops sent to the bone would be tasked with securing u.s. citizens and diplomatic facilities in neighboring congo in the event of violent demonstrations breaking out in the wake of a vote in the wake of the presidential vote recently but no sooner out our troops arrived in the bone than a violent chua attempt actually erupted inside that country not the congo i'm not making this up my friends yes according to stars and stripes on monday members of the bones military launched a coup attempt and seize control of a state radio in the country later in the big bones government said four of five new need ringleaders had been arrested. so while the u.s.

leave syria could our next military adventure and bring death and destruction in the world pop off in the great comment about africa to find out let's do what the others will not and start watching the hawks. good looks like the real thing it's like. as you leave the plot of. the day like you that i got. with that we. would. be. pleased to. welcome him on the watch of the hawks i am tyrrel been through and on top of the law and i think that what i find most. surprising about this whole story going on and africa which shouldn't be a surprise that we're in there doing this i mean all through the obama

administration and especially you know when when hillary clinton was secretary of state africa was this major major place and they sort of set up this idea that they could figure out what was going on there by handing bags of cash to war lords and this is what we're seeing now we saw with the take down a good libya you know we've had a major presence in africa quite a long time and it's interesting when you talk about him sending these forces to the bone and congo. but if you talk to africa surprise surprise surprise they denied they were united states africa command. their spokesman john manley actually told the media monday morning that at this time there is no change in the status of our forces then added that no u.s. troops and the bone were diverted to secure secure diplomatic buildings yes the

people there but they were we were we had nothing to do with that and we're just here because of this other thing but i find it unsettling that if this is about keeping democracy alive and protecting democracy if there are demonstrations by the public that. protests. you know why is that not allowed why why would we be and that's what. congo is their election and all the backlash because you know this guy i think has been in power for x. amount of tons of years and the vote was definitely all over the place and people you know one side you know you stole the ball the. there were cases of a bola happening. right at the time now as well so you had demonstrators believing the bullet breakout was fake right there to disrupt. yeah and i was also there but at the end of the the day. it has to be us that no one ever asks is why is the us there involved what one of us have to do with ok we are an ally but

we don't why do we send troops there and so the excuse is well we need people there to get our embassadors out or secure our embassies or whatever may be but what's interesting is that many people are kind of questioning the timing of the arrival of u.s. troops with the timing of this coup because they've been a military ally with us for a long time and we had to have known that this crew or something like it was about to take place if we're military allies a military coup how did we not know about it zach lee and we're wondering now. there you know with the troops up there under the cover of going to congo and potentially helping congo if there's like uprisings there but really they were there to help. the government and. that's where all these kind of questions are coming but it's interesting when you look at the history. long relationship that goes on partnership between. us and that's one of the other

things stars and stripes actually said the country plays host to one of afrikaans cooperative security locations which functioned as bare bones launching pads for quick reaction troops called upon to secure u.s. diplomatic facilities in the broader region so. they have a very they have a very strong military alliance to us because we like to have the lily pads we like to have these places where we can set up a. could. and let's be frank you know you have to believe that in some part of that part of the bases like this being there are one hundred percent causing some of the. i'm sorry but if there were any other countries suddenly have this sort of a military base but not a military base but we could use it. but we're just using it as a parking lot if any other country has that somewhere in the united states that

would make me uncomfortable that it would move from with them. in the late evening hours of friday december twenty first twenty eighteen the federal motor carrier safety administration announced that trucking companies in california did not have to follow california state law requiring breast and meal breaks anymore the american trucking association praised transportation secretary elaine chao for allowing them to legally ignore what they called quote confusing and duplicative state rest break rules asserting the federal government's critical role in regulating interstate commerce and while the federal motor carrier safety administration claims that safety is their first priority their administrator raymond martinez is statements on these rule changes expose another reason for the changes. california's extra rules reduce productivity and are a drag on the economy. every bit of lost productivity increases cost to consumers

and hurts hardworking american families different rules in different states and it's needless burdens on drivers many of whom or small businesses fighting to make ends meet in a very competitive market. in addition asked pointed out by the international brotherhood of teamsters and their predisposition to the ninth circuit court of appeals to reverse the decision saying quote this is simply a giveaway to the trucking industry at the expense of driver safety and to do it late on a friday before a holiday smacks of political cronyism at its worst so how do you think it's smart to cut safety regulations meant to protect drivers from fifteen in an industry where they number one reason for a fatal accidents is driver fatigue yes it's totally smart because we need money many money at the end of the day is the only thing that these companies these corporations care about it the better of the driver gets you know

a little drowsy on the road and causes a ton car pile up when they know it's the doesn't matter at the end of the day the only thing that matters is getting you know getting that truck from point a to point b. you know that's the only thing that ultimately matters to those that are in care about the truck as long as it's in the truck somehow goes from point yes yes and the answer and so disturbing because when you really look at the statistics of driver driver issues for that for this safety administration administrator to be saying that is just mind boggling because the people that look like saying you care about safety and then the next minute going but it's costing us money that's a little weird and to use that as oh well individual truckers well that's because you don't pay them by the hour you pay them by the mile because that was decided unregulated because a bunch of people went to washington and big trucking company and that's why the corporate cronyism in this into so sharp is thick it because then each one of those truckers is an independent contractor working in in concert. with these with these larger corporations but they're the ones that lobby congress but when you look at

the national the national transportation safety board as they made thirty to forty percent of all semi truck accidents involving some kind of driver fatigue. the n.t.s.b. estimates that the driver fatigue contributes to as much as forty percent of all semi truck accidents and according to the insurance institute for highway safety in two thousand and sixteen nearly four thousand people were killed in large truck related accidents in the u.s. eighty two percent of those were killed were passenger car occupants or pedestrians so not the truck drivers you're killing people aren't even truck drivers because of that but it is the responsibility and it's the responsibility by the way of the trucking companies to enforce these rules because there is no regulator body that actually enforce this and see that's ok for the trucking companies because hey you know it's not their truck and their driver getting killed but it's ok. we're not there get out of their arms with nobody driving around on the highway i mean that's

the kind of when you when you see things like. that the mental i doubt is when they're sitting there maybe it is. i mean when you look at it like look at the profits private trucking companies saw their sales expand an average of fourteen point nine percent with profit margins increasing to six percent with overall sales going up over seventeen percent does a lot of money so the question a begs this question. why is the administration for the safety board worried about the profit margins of drivers going through california but not to twenty other states that have similar rules that i feel like somebody in california. who has a little come action road a big enough that's the only explanation if it really is so horrible then you would you would say you know what from now on that any state that has that will know the truth is they started really looking at the safety concerns there maybe the companies are making more profit the drivers themselves are not but that is how the

corporation would like it and here is my it shows the corporation if you're so concerned about expediting these these halls these long holes that they're doing whether in california across the country or whatever maybe they're so important that why not hire two drivers why not have one guy riding shotgun than the moment that way they can switch up they don't even have to worry about the truck ever stopping to move except to get gas or whatever with i'll tell you why because we actually have a truck driver shortage not enough people want to do the job and this is one of those reasons why. we need food we need things to go from one place to the other they need to start treating those truck drivers and those truck owners not the big corporations talking to those guys and treating them better most of the writers are going to break court watchers don't forget to let us know when you've heard the topics we've covered on facebook twitter and you to see our full story of r t v dot com coming up we look at a new and important breakthrough in the famous case of movie abouta ball with writer professor and filmmaker joy i don't remember. freedom my friends finally be

ringing me up state to watch. thank you. thank you you. thank . it's seemed wrong. to me to get to shape out just because educated and engaged with equals betrayal. when so many find themselves worlds apart we choose to look for common ground.

that's bred for a single purpose. they have a superman. they start training very young. eight months of intensive schooling. rats. and they save lives. i've been saying the numbers mean something they matter to us is over one trillion dollars in debt more than ten white collar crime stamped each day. eighty five percent of global wealth you long for the old rich eight point six percent market saw a thirty percent rise last year some with four hundred to five hundred three per second per second and bitcoin rose to twenty thousand dollars. china's building two point

one billion dollars a i industrial park but don't let the numbers overwhelm. the only numbers you need remembering what one does not show you can't afford to miss the one and only boom but. while we often talk about the many many problems running rampant throughout our legal system here in the united states it is also important to point out those moments in instances when true justice is finally able to break through the many injustices like this week's breaking news that outgoing tennessee governor bill has won has created granted clemency to some toy brown the thirty year old sex trafficking victim who was brutally and unjustly given a life sentence at the age of sixteen for murder the overturning of the unjust. this our legal system committed to ms brown should be celebrated and in another

instance of the system finally hopefully writing one of its many wrongs we have the recent news of what has got to be one of the biggest breakthroughs and the u.s. criminal justice history the reinstatement of movie a abu jamal appeal writes yes just before the new year and a huge win for the free money a campaign a philadelphia judge ordered the reinstatement of a jamal's appeal rights giving the former black panther a new plant path to the retrial he's been seeking since being convicted of killing a philadelphia police officer back in one thousand nine hundred one but me as maintained his innocence throughout his almost forty years spent behind bars joining us today from new york city to discuss this incredible new development money as case is the coordinator of the campaign to bring lumia home writer professor and filmmaker chohan a friend and thank you so much for joining us johanna. thank you very much for having me john a for those not familiar with the story that he's been in jail every tragedy but in jail for close to forty years for those people who were born you

know while he's been in jail for those not familiar with his story could you briefly outline. you know what once had what happened to him and what many argue is this very tenuous case that the government used against him. well i think that a new generation of activists definitely need to be educated about this case i think it's important to say that mumia is the nelson mandela of the united states he was a former black panther he's an imprisoned radio journalist today and political prisoner who was framed by the philadelphia police department for the killing of a white police officer in that city in one nine hundred eighty one. there are many violations in the case. amnesty international wrote

a thirty one page report in two thousand and one titled a life in the balance that essentially outlines judicial bias judicial racism systemic repression of exculpatory evidence at trial prosecutorial misconduct i'll just say that around the time that mia was in prison and the department of justice conducted an investigation of the philadelphia police office the philadelphia police department the first of its kind and that. report essentially concluded that the level of repression in philadelphia the homicidal behavior on the part of the police department in philadelphia and the corruption. in and tampering with evidence to obtain a conviction in that force quote shocks the conscience so that is the police

department that frame which i'm all grown up of some really incredible stories you just brought up and want to know we have this this new decision by a judge and i want you to explain a little bit about what what that. judgment meant and how it why it's so important the philadelphia common pleas judge tucker's ruling how that now reinstates mommy is right to appeal a sentence and how does it open a potential doorway to his freedom and what you know what will that pathway be what's important about this decision is that for the first time the courts in philadelphia have essentially allowed the opportunity for me is conviction to be challenged that is unprecedented has not previously happened in part because all of the judges who purred meus case during the trial at

sentencing and in the appellate process have been funded by the fraternal order of police because judges in pennsylvania have to run for office judge leon tucker is the only judge that has heard this case who is not funded by the fraternal order of police and what he concluded after two years of arduous deliberations was that the judge involved in hearing and reviewing them is appellate requests and hearing. was biased he had a conflict of interest and of course he voted against me as. requests for a hearing and that and the issues he presented during one of those hearings essentially ronak a steel had been named man of the year by the fraternal order of police his

campaign to become judge of the pennsylvania supreme court was funded by the fraternal order of police he had also been previously the elected d.a. of philadelphia and while he was da of philadelphia he is quoted as saying to the then governor of philadelphia that he the governor should send a clear and dramatic message to cop killers that the death sentence actually means something now let me give you a sense of what that means there were only two or three quote unquote cop killers in philadelphia we don't know the names of the two other quote unquote cop killers but we do know the name of mumia abu jamal who's the world famous political prisoner so the good da at the time was essentially referring to mia and he continued to make improper statements in public

suggesting that he could not refuse to move meus case impartially and for that reason for the reason that his comments violated the pennsylvania judicial rules. the pennsylvania rules of judicial conduct because of that move mia was granted relief but i want to ask you though for those of your close to him and his cases family friends legal teams you faced a lot of ups and downs. in this ongoing battle of this thirty seven long year long ordeal fighting the system to get this man released very least give him a neutral get him a new trial what are you expecting next from those people you were just kind of referring to those people in forces that would seek to keep him in jail how how how have they responded to this ruling and how do you expect they're going to respond

moving forward to try to keep him in jail. well maureen faulkner the widow of the fallen officer daniel faulkner has essentially been used as a prop for the last thirty seven years by the fraternal order of police and she was seen on fox television just this weekend saying that lumia killed the officer and that he needed to spend the rest of his days in prison she also said that she was going to meet with the elected d.a. of philadelphia who is a progressive larry krasner the only thing that will stop the move media from getting justice from getting these. appeals heard is if larry kraus in there the progressive d.a. of philadelphia challenges leon tucker's appeal. so we need to send a clear and dramatic message to larry krasner that the people of philadelphia elected him to essentially right the wrongs of his of previous administrations and he

himself was quoted saying that the d.a.'s office shouldn't only be about prosecution but it should be about the project of upholding justice so we're asking supporters and people around the world to call on larry kraus in there to do the right thing. in part because he's undergoing an enormous amount of pressure from the fraternal order of police but he should remember that he was the first d.a. elected in the history of philadelphia who was not supported by the fraternal order of police. does that tells you a lot about about what's going on now we have about a minute left and i wanted to ask you real quick what does this case mean if he is able to get his new trial what does that mean for other people who are in his similar situation how could that help me get justice. well all of the

violations in the meus case are the violations that are responsible for the hyper incarceration of african-american and latino people in the united states this ruling essentially opens the door for other defendants in pennsylvania to essentially ask the courts to grant them relief on the issue of judicial bias and i'll ask your your audience a question and this is something that an attorney in philadelphia all often asks if you had to go before a court today would you rather go in as a black or latino person or as a white person. the answer to that essentially tells us that the criminal justice system in this country it's not about justice is about continuing to control people of color and continuing to keep people at the bottom of society. in their place

it's essentially a new form of races of racism and and slavery in twentieth century and twenty first century america you know i got to say i think we can all agree that our criminal justice system needs massively drastic reforms and thanks to a lot of good people out there like yourself who are fighting for the rights of people behind bars unjustly i want to thank you for all the hard work that you're doing out there and please keep us informed in the future on this case joanna fernandez thank you so much for coming on today. thank you for your work you. look of because a big one is headed right for our home here in the milky way and bring in some friends research done by astrophysicist at durham university in the u.k. found that a catastrophic collision between the milky way and our neighboring galaxy andromeda could happen much sooner than expected this would all be caused by our satellite

galaxy the large magellanic cloud known as and the whole mc around one hundred sixty three thousand light years in the milky way the l.m.c. only moved into the neighborhood about one point five billion years ago scientists now know that the l m c has twice as much dark a matter as previously thought and if the cloud collides with the milky way and is destroyed it louve wake up black holes in our galaxy in turn turning our galaxy into an active galactic nucleus also known as a quasar not exactly human friendly but it may not mean that the earth and our descendants could end up destroyed in fact they might end up seeing one of the universe's most beautiful light shows while the skies rearranged themselves. in about two billion years or so no rush or let's you know i feel about this two billion years you know what i'm back i don't go so far that they remember

a vote in this world we are not told real love the outside tell you all i love you i am tyrrel been turfed and have the watch of the hawks ever great day and night everybody. us veterans who come back from war often tell the same stories. were going after the people who were killing civilians they were not interested in the wellbeing of their own soldiers either there are already several generations of them so i just got this memo from the circulating ventured off that says we're going to attack and destroy the government and seven countries in five years americans pay for the wars

with them money others with their lives if we were willing to go into harm's way and willing to risk being killed for a war surely we can risk some discomfort or easiness for. their.

over the. election in alabama democrats are accused of false. campaign. women in paris holding demonstration ending in another week of clashes with police . the government's contingency plans for a. truck drivers a brand traffic jam near the port of dover. time. will be here in about an hour's time. but.