claims of russian meddling are back in the headlines democratic senators are calling on president trump to slap still more sanctions on russia alleging moscow is interfering in the upcoming 2020 election. and historic legal hearing begins in london to determine whether doing a song will be extradited to the us where the wiki leaks founder is wanted on hacking and espionage charges his supporters claim the case against him is extremely weak. but we this morning the oral to say the same thing we've been hearing for 10 years 20. 4. broke the single evidence. and stonie and woman requests asylum in russia after her ex-husband is

acquitted of sexually abusing their daughters she shares her story with r.t. . broadcasting live from our studios in moscow this is our to international and john thomas truly glad to have you with us. all right u.s. democratic senators are urging the trumpet ministration to impose additional sanctions on russia following reports alleging the country is meddling in the 2020 presidential election for more on this we can cross live now to our team from new york so. it certainly is an interesting one tropes that we've heard before can you bring us up to date on the latest. indeed a letter from congressional democrats was presented essentially calling for more sanctions to be imposed on russia in response to allegations of russia trying to

interfere in the 2020 presidential election which will take place in november here's some of what was included in the letter we urge you to immediately draw upon the reported conclusions of the intelligence community to identify and target for sanctions all those determined to be responsible for ongoing elections interference including president putin the government of the russian federation any russian actors determined to be directly responsible and those acting on their behalf or providing material or financial support for their efforts now as you heard the letter even called for directly sanctioning the russian head of state russian president vladimir putin now we know that these new allegations about the upcoming election are can be traced back to shelby pearson now shelby pearson is a an intelligence community figure in the united states who is basically at this point the top election security official and she testified before the u.s.

house of representatives intelligence committee about allegations that russia is somehow planning to meddle in the 2020 vote for the purpose of making sure that donald trump is reelected now donald trump in response to her testimony said he did not buy that this was trump's response to allegations that russia is trying to help him win the white house for another term. did you see that i see these ponies these that do nothing. they said. that cotton wants to be sure that trump gets elected here we go these people are crazy. now much of shelby's claim has been disputed and debunked by other figures in the u.s. intelligence community furthermore in the aftermath of this claim from shelby pearson that russia is meddling for the purpose of reelecting trump we now have allegations that russia is meddling for the purpose of electing us senator bernie

sanders from vermont so russia is at this point being accused of taking 2 different sides in the upcoming vote however russia has been very adamant that this is simply not true the russian government officials have been very adamant that they are not trying to interfere in the u.s. voting process take a listen to what has been said in response to these allegations in the u.s. media and from u.s. officials. these are just the usual paranoid cleanups and fortunately you will be hearing more and. reproach. of course you have nothing to do with the truth. now in 2016 there were widespread allegations of a russian meddling russian collusion in the us election process those allegations continued after the election there was a long investigation and much of what had initially been said was debunked the facts simply didn't add up it wasn't true but regardless of everything the united

states has been through and all the allegations that have been hurled and debunked in the last 4 years it seems like now as the 2020 vote approaches and in november once again the united states will be going to the polls to determine who will be president it seems that allegations about russia will once again be surfacing and that this will be once again part of the election process and determining who will be the president of the united states for the following 4 years. she's came up in there in new york for us we know that as the story develops you'll stay across it and bring us up to speed we are now joined live by a political analyst allison joe bruno thanks for being with us here on arch international as always i want to get your thoughts on some of this stuff. u.s. national security officials have reportedly said that the assessment of russian interference is overstated so why are u.s. democrats sounding the alarm over meddling again. i think the manner of blaming

russia is convenient for both parties because that way they can avoid speaking about real problems and real issues and policy none of the parties are speaking about policy in fact and put any. blame for whatever outcome in the election on russia the way that the democratic convention the democratic primaries are going right now it seems that bernie sanders is headed for a win or at least would lead to a win. if. these machinations around him he himself was forced to admit or at least sorry it was coaxed to admit that the russians were interfering in his campaign in his favor. that's the that's the other absurd. aspect of this story so

i think that's the main that's the only logical reason that i could come up for the story to be. resurfacing again after they failed so flat so badly over the past 3 years of this story. we've had well. there is a wide consensus in the united states bipartisan consensus that russia did do something in the 2016 election there believe that that's where this is all coming from now in 2020 do you think that the trump administration will actually respond by imposing more sanctions on russia or at least be forced to by congress. well so far as trump has reacted to the allegations which i believe these latest allegations surfaced over the weekend and sampras already. showing what he thinks of them. so i doubt that. trump will respond

directly in other words apply sanctions to russian officials including lattimer put in. as the suggestion as the man's request. at least directly in response to these allegations if he does impose more sanctions on russia and there is still room for that. it might be over some other aspect perhaps. syria seems to be like an ongoing problem where the u.s. turkey and russia are. coming to a number of. nerve points so i think might choose to do something over that rather than respond directly to the allegations and. give them the give them respectability i also want to i want to touch on something that you

brought up just a 2nd ago democratic senators say that they want for the very 1st time to sanction the russian president himself let me putin. that's a pretty big move what are the likely repercussions from that. well. it's a very big move and it would certainly fly in the face of what donald trump has been about which is to seek. reconciliation at least leader to leader trumps. foreign policy has been to try to find ways to discuss issues directly from one leader to the next we've seen that with kim jong moon in north korea and we've seen already a summit between trump and putin in helsinki. a year and a half ago i believe so i think that would. clearly sanctions are.

on a leader like putin would be very difficult for trump to do because that would remove the carpet from under his feet that's the his whole a modus operandi i don't think he's even put sanctions on rowhani for example in iran he's left even some room to discuss. to perhaps preserve the reigning dispute you know one day before some kind of october surprise. before the elections. so i think he needs to have the leaders at least sanctions 3 so that he can pursue the wreck talks and i believe i believe he will do something to that effect in the days before the elections that will be his or total surprise . well i'm just saying it's very interesting to hear your thoughts and it'll be also interesting to watch how this all plays out hope you'll come back with us and

help us sort through it when we do muddle through it. my pleasure thank you bruno therefore now monday marks the start of an historic extradition hearing in london which will decide whether the founder of wiki leaks julian assange is handed over to the united states the whistleblower who is currently in belmarsh prison is wanted in the u.s. on espionage and hacking charges and could face a sentence of up to 175 years archie is not your tutor as more the u.k. system starts to decide whether junior will indeed be extradited to the u.s. on their request when i came here this morning there were hues of journalists and protesters here apparently this court has never seen so many people before so they are finding it a little bit hard to handle now didn't assault his father has spoken out he's spoken of his torture and says that it will happen to all journalists if this extradition is a successful. julian. mills

a. threat to. all of. that is. to journal. public and public life if this extradition this political extradition julian the son is successful we've heard from the british point of view the those who are having to speak up and think about allowing this extradition they spoken a lot about the official secrets the 911 and 989 official secrets which isn't generally only used on spies it bans the disclosure of classified information passed to target foreign spies and traitors and it's also used against journalists there have been reports that the government wants to revamp that legislation you can hear from the wiki leaks editor in chief kristinn hrafnsson and he's been

speaking to the media during the breaks of. this process what we have heard this morning are you more of the same the same thing we've been hearing for 10 years we 1st heard it in july 2010 reporting lives at risk and now 10 years later there is no evidence of such but on the contrary to the country and if one official was forced to admit. the mounting trial in 2013 that nobody had been physically harmed because of these server evolutions in 20102011 now 2020 they are in court not able to produce sent a single evidence of that hard still they go off day one of this hearing is going to go on for another week and i'm still will be here to tell you exactly what goes on. it has certainly been a long and taxing legal saga for joining us on taylor looks at now at how the wiki

leaks founder has found himself closer than ever to extradition. hero or enemy number one you decide either way judy in the song has become a name and a face recognized all over the wild and not for the death penalty so if i'm not for the death penalty i want to do it illegally shoot the son of a. bitch song is engaged in terrorism he should be treated as an enemy combatant was her 6 own was wiki leaks walks like a hostile intelligence service and talks like a hostile intelligence service by defending surely i'm not sure we define a dome or sacred rights the 48 year old australian put a target on his back when he leaked a truth of classified u.s. documents lang bad views of how at the very highest levels with the us justice department hot on his heels as some sort of saddam in london's ecuadorian embassy

the 7 nong he is but full suddenly and unceremoniously being dragged out by british police. or fire or a stab in the back and perhaps coincidence that aquittal is bank account had just been credited with a 4200000000 dollar learn from the i.m.f. where the us has huge sway so from the 4 walls of the embassy to the 4 walls of a jail cell as someone who was taken to london's belmarsh prison and handed an exceptional sentence in britain by a violations seldom need to prison sentences they are generally subject only to find a son by contrast was sentenced in summary proceedings to 50 weeks in a maximum security prison clearly a disproportionate penalty that had only a single purpose holding

a century long enough for the us to prepare the espionage case against him he and his lawyer had just 15 minute. the path of the trial which itself also just lost it 15 minutes betrayed by ecuador feeling let down by the legal system a songe now claimed his fundamental human rights were under attack he was put in solitary confinement for up to 23 hours a day the u.n. and rights groups were in disbelief and some feared for more than just his freedom we have real concerns on the evidence currently available that mr a staunch could die in prison the medical situation is there or by urgent there is no time to lose against this backdrop is it surprising that suspicion swaddling around the extradition trial especially given the u.s. u.k. treaty clearly states no citizen can be extradited the political purposes which many tame at the says and while washington says this case is strictly about national security it seems queen elizabeth the 2nd didn't get the memo. i must tell

you however that is a constitutional sovereign majesty acts on the advice of him ministers and remain strictly nonpolitical at all times this is therefore not a message in which the queen would intervene if the u.k. kowtows to its allies request as might be doubt not just a life sentence without parole but even the death penalty if washington to side step out on the charges in the future but if it finds a willing jury which apparently won't be a problem. assigned to receive a trial by jury in alexandria virginia the natori is espionage course where the u.s. tries all national security cases the choice of location is not by coincidence the cases are always tried in front of the same judge behind closed doors and on the strength of classified evidence nobody has ever been acquitted in a case like. that is a prearranged affair

a show trial to make an example of julian a son the point is to intimidate other journalists global outcry human rights the law or the right to a fat trial turns out there all week adversaries in the face of a government who will fight tooth and nail to keep a lid on its secrets are meanwhile the family of harry done a british 1000 year old who was killed in a road accident last august are calling for a songes extradition to be blocked they say the u.s. 1st needs to hand over and coolers the woman suspected of taking her son's life she is the wife of an american diplomat and has admitted she was driving on the wrong side of the road she left the u.k. shortly after the tragic incident claiming diplomatic immunity and despite requests from the british government washington says it will not agree to her extradition the lawyer for the don family has accused in the u.s. of rank hypocrisy. well asked america is. protecting her

harbor the person who's accused of killing her and jun they have no business calling pretty extradition anybody from the united kingdom it is it is it is it was confined to where is this just discussed in congress here the cases are completely different but the over arching principle of the rest of prosody runs all extradition cases if the united states is going to rip up the extradition treaty between the u.s. new case as it's done here then you know the united kingdom needs to stand up it up and both countries need to abide by the extradition treaty so you know we are very clear working you know doing our best work with the u.k. government. to make sure that the decision that the united states has made it's not actually good this is not accepted but we are in the middle of a diplomatic standoff it's one of the darkest moments. in the u.s. u.k.

relationship. in a stunning woman says she's had to flee to russia to protect her daughter as she is claiming asylum after her son husband was acquitted of sexually abusing their children here's a story. it's a bit of my older daughter started scratching her face i would ask her how do you scratching yourself you should hurt yourself and she would reply oh mom i feel guilty about what dad did to us then we went to his psychologist after several sessions she told me the girls are telling the truth about what they want to it's a classic reaction an offense or a sin has taken her 2 daughters to russia to keep them away from their norwegian father she accuses him of molesting the girls something he strongly denies according to her it started back in 2012 in norway when the girls were raised one and 2 but the us was when our younger daughter was born he offered to be their older daughter i need something from the bathroom so iraq turn without knocking i opened the door they were not washing they were not even in the bath they were just

standing there naked and i went on to describe the horrific details of that incident who is from a story nya obtained a story in passports for the girls and took them to her homeland but the husband hired a lawyer filed for custody and won the right to see the children for a week every 2 months and it was legally unable to prevent him from taking the children to norway there were by years after the 1st trips the children would come back and tell me would be naked with dad or where we slept naked with dad in the same bed sometimes the older one would wake up screaming for a long time i could in the to myself what was happening and make 2016 he once again brought the children back from a weeklong stay there i saw a very strange scene when we were saying good bye i asked my daughter whether they played like that when they are in norway and my youngest one said yes. after that on a went to the store and police and a criminal case was opened she says a gynecologist examined the girls and found evidence suggestive of abuse the father was then arrested and charged on

a visit to the psychologist who gave some advice on how to get the truth from her own daughter although that was a soviet of all the psychologists said i needed to talk to her in the home environment and when she started talking it was a nightmare. she told me that her dad tickled there that it was painful but later at the trial the accused me of teaching my children what to tell the investigators and social workers despite the girl's testimony the court said there was insufficient evidence to convict your stain fencer us and so he was acquitted he then sued his wife and in 2018 managed to win custody of the children mr finster us and denies all the allegations against him my father was accused of doing something to a 1314 year old started using it as leverage but my father was like that and i have to be like that i'm a loser the legal appeal and turned to human rights groups for help but she was unable to overturn the ruling in january this year your son finster austin was due to take the girls to norway so ana decides to flee to russia taking the girls with

their now being looked after while on his asylum claim is being processed. the german chancellor's christian democrats have suffered a devastating blow in state elections in hamburg with support for the party plunging into a meager 11.2 percent the city you finished in a distant 3rd place behind the social democrats and the greens leaving its leaders in disarray. i will get straight to the board and not beat around the bush it is a better day for the german c.d.u. it's a historically bad election result for the c.d.u. in hamburg. with popular support for the c.d.u. slipping german media has mockingly dubbed the party the chaotic demoralized union arguing that it is suffering its deepest crisis in 2 decades the union's woes have been compounded further by this month's announcement that its leader on a gret. hour will resign once a replacement is found once seen as

a. successor for the chancellorship the move has raised doubts about the political course being charted by both the party and the country we asked the political commentator steven meissner just how dire the situation is for germany's christian democrats. it's looking pitch black for the c.d.u. . is basically seems to have missed out on their exit time and the whole game is starting to fall apart right before very eyes she's in the process of destroying the city here it's i would place this whole disaster basically firmly on her shoulders she's not left enough time for a successor to really move in and fill her boots and take over the place themselves again so experience in place and so is it a position to be able to fight and win the election in 2021 so she's just not left enough room for people and she's missed her exit point basically she's really missed it. the number of front of virus patients located far from the deadly

epicenter in china has suddenly spiked italy put emergency measures in place over the weekend with 150 reported cases and 4 deaths it is europe's 1st major outbreak while iran has the highest number of deaths outside china china with with officials there raising the number to 12 earlier on monday the authorities in italy cancelled a carnival in venice major sporting events were postponed as well as entire towns and communities were put on lockdown in asia cases of infected patients surged in south korea on monday with another $161.00 people confirmed sick taking the total there to almost $800.00 the government has also temporarily shut down religious movements and a cult whose members make up a sizeable number of the known infections meanwhile the u.s. is accusing russia of spreading alarm and a crown of virus a link to conspiracy theories. by spreading disinformation about coronavirus russia once again choosing to threaten public safety by destruction from the global

response when the us state department alleges that thousands of fake social media accounts are pushing what it calls russian talking points some of the posts apparently claimed for instance that the virus is an american biological weapon and is being used to inflict political and economic damage on china the misinformation is said to be undermining the global response to the epidemic artie's done quarter comments. foreign meddling support for donald trump and sowing discord the saga continues you'd think by now the u.s. state department would have burned through its reasons to blame russia for everything under the sun but with the coronavirus epidemic in full swing it looks like they're just getting started russia's intent is to sow discord and undermine u.s. institutions and alliances from within including through convincing coercive malign influence campaigns moscow says washington is just stirring up trouble and that could be the case but we're not even allowed to investigate the accusations officials are clinging to the details of the classified report kept secret by the

state department's global engagement center it apparently accuses russia of using fake social media accounts to spread conspiracy theories about america's involvement in spreading the coronavirus but if we compare the secret reports charges against russia to what moscow was actually doing we see 2 very different pictures of. if it's conspiracy theories american officials are looking for they might find them closer to home they are the ones publicly casting doubt on the official information coming out of china while some of them were later retracted allegations that the

virus came from a chinese bio weapons lab were quick to emerge stateside just a few miles away from the food market is china's only biosafety level 4 super laboratory research of human infectious diseases you have lied consistently about this virus you give me a senior administration official told me that the united states does not have quote high confidence in the information coming out of china. this point the world health organization has called for all sides to think twice before making accusations and the chinese envoy to the u.s. has warned of the damage inaccurate information can cause the 29000 and covert outbreak and response has been accompanied by a massive info demick an overabundance of information some accurate and some not that makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it so very harmful it's very dangerous to stir up suspicion rumors

and spread them among the people for one thing this will create panic friend. racial discrimination as you know phobia there might be a lot of confusion and mudslinging but at least u.s. officials are trying to look on the bright side of this worldwide epidemic the fact is the does give businesses there yet another thing to consider when they go through their review of their supply chain so i think it will help to accelerate the return of jobs to north america this is a wake up call for an issue that has been latent for many years but is critical to u.s. economic and national security we cannot necessarily depend another country's even close elyse to supply us with needed items from facemasks to vaccines and while washington continues to accuse russia of undermining the country's institutions they seem to be doing a good job of that already russia serves a very important purpose. and american politics these days rather than

analyzing its own problems and trying to figure out how they can know how they arose and how to fix them americans find it much easier to blame someone else and that target is usually russia the us just the us intelligence agencies feel that they they can only benefit if they attack russian accused russia of various malign activities but i believe i don't believe russia has any any desire or any interest in spreading this information about the coronavirus because. if you spread this information that causes that that allows the the disease to spread all the more rapidly and russia is vulnerable as well so why would russia want to burn down its own house. by that as for me i'll be back with more news at the top now this is our international have with us.