i think it was. the latest u.s. defense bill but it's not because of its. seemingly sets of settling scores we've got live analysis in moments. for u.s. military contractors who were jailed for their involvement in the massacre of iraqi civilians in 2007 are given presidential pardons. clemency list which notably excludes. the french government bucks a controversial bill on so-called green passports allowing travel and other

activities to be allowed for people against critics say the move will turn everyone else said to the 2nd. broadcasting live from the russian capital this is your r.t. international good to have your company you know me. a little trump conducted one of his final acts of the finance us president he's vetoed the $740000000000.00 defense bill the spot it's wide bipartisan support in congress but it's not the hefty cost that the outgoing u.s. leaders got a problem with his concern is the on raveling of some of his previous moves like withdrawing troops from afghanistan for more analysis all this let's go to our. political commentator ben swan ben good to see you. vito is likely to get

overturned i believe by the senate anyway as both republicans and democrats pass this with a must have majority so what's with the move. president trump has essentially said that he was going to veto this defense bill if it came to him in the shape that well it came to him and essentially the bill which is $740000000000.00 is also known as the national defense authorization act it is an act passed every year for the last almost 60 years by congress to fund the u.s. military and every year it seems like the amount of funding for the military grows but it's also usually packed with items that are not necessarily specific to funding the military in this case there are a couple of different items that are listed within the bill the president has a problem with one is the renaming of certain forts and military installations in the united states that have the names of confederate soldiers one of those is fort benning in georgia the president does not want to rename those military

installations but the bigger issue the one the media here doesn't really want to talk about is the issue of the fact that this bill actually prevents president trump from being able to withdraw troops from afghanistan as he has said repeatedly that he desires to do and that he will do here's some of what president trump said about it the act fails to include critical national security measures include provisions that failed to respect our veterans and our military's history and contradicts efforts by my administration to put america 1st in our national security and foreign policy actions it is a gift to china and russia. now it's not very clear exactly how this bill would be a gift to china and russia but there is a very important issue here nancy pelosi the speaker of the house spoke out about this saying that this is the wrong move by the president that it puts our men and women in the military in harm's way she didn't explain how that happens he's not talking about defunding the military obviously it has

a massive budget it's the largest budget in the entire u.s. government but it what she also mentioned is that this bill undermines she says the will of congress in a bipartisan way you know what's fascinating about that is congress in the united states can agree on anything certainly they have difficulty green on any issue except for military spending and the expansion of wars around the world and that's what this bill does it takes an extraordinary step that actually prevents a u.s. president from being able to withdraw troops without congressional approval that's the cabbie in this bill congress would have to approve the removal of troops which is not constitutional only the commander in chief has that authority however under the u.s. constitution interesting only congress does have the authority the sole authority to declare war something they don't want to do so to summarize under this bill congress would not declare wars they would simply prevent presidents from india.

looks like a busy christmas ahead ben thanks for breaking all done for us all to america spence wall thank you both on trump sparked outrage with his latest list of presidential pardons as well it includes military contractors jail for killing civilians in iraq but no whistleblowers despite calls from rights activists picking up that story artie's killam up and. well it is the holiday season and the outgoing presidential administration seems to be in a mood for clemency at this point we have 15 pardons that have been issued as well as 5 commute and there has been a wave of anger and criticism of who it is that the president of united states has decided to show mercy to now one of the people involved is george papadopoulos this is an associate of trumps who was caught up in the russia collusion investigation and charged with lying to the f.b.i. the white house made the decision to grant him a pardon. at the time that mr papadopoulos allegedly made the false statements he

was not represented by counsel and after he was arrested mr papadopoulos gave additional information on his prior statements to the special counsel today's pardon helps correct the wrongs that mueller seem inflicted on so many people now in addition to george papadopoulos there has been widespread outrage about the trump administration's decision to grant clemency to some members of the blackwater military contracting company these were guards who were employed by blackwater who killed civilians in iraq or the north american authorities or. they were dead bodies everywhere in the syrian government going to be on the only 2 people in authority among the dead body of the ministry but those who are chosen

the movement 7 years old. paul slow evan liberty and dustin herd were convicted for involuntary manslaughter and the individual nicholas slotting who opened fire and 1st started shooting into the crowd of iraqi civilians he was convicted of 1st degree murder but now the white house is letting all of them off they will no longer be in prison serving their sentences they have been pardoned and this is the feeling of the white house about why they made this decision when the convoy attempted to establish a blockade outside the green zone the situation turned violent which resulted in the unfortunate deaths and injuries of iraqi civilians further prosecutors recently disclosed most. in 10 years i have to the incidents that the lead iraq investigates

who prosecutors relied heavily on so very far that there were no exigent victims and to collect evidence may have helped tunnies to insurgent groups himself now at this point there is widespread outrage this seems like the trump administration is almost approving of the killing of iraqi civilians 2 children were among the 14 people in the crowd who died as a result of their gunfire but at this point people are also looking at the fact that trumps education secretary betsy to vos is the sister of the founder of blackwater erik prince now there's also been a lot of outrage about who is not on the list of trump's pardons among the 15 people pardon and 5 sentence commuted it's the names that were missing that many were optimistic and hopeful about were julian a son john edward snowden these prominent whistleblowers had many people calling for the trump white house to grant them clemency among those who called for them

were not just activists and advocates of civil liberties and for the protection of whistleblowers but also representatives of the united nations take a listen on hoping that he will julian a son it's the right thing to do donald trump since you're given pardons to people please consider pardoning those who at great personal sacrifice expose the deception and criminality of those in the deep state if president trump is true as well you don't think the police today could do is to end the suffering of duty response to pardon him this man has for be enough for the interest of the public will and will now trump still has time to grant a pardon to edward snowden and to julian a son she can grant clemency up until the moment he leaves office he could do it at the very very last minute however the number of people that were pardoned today and the information about who they are seems to have many pessimistic many of the activists supporting the whistleblowers feel like the. indicates the trumpet

ministration is moving in a very different direction with its clemency. another story garnering a lot of interest the french government is pushing for the introduction of so-called green passports allowing greater freedom of movement to covert immune people critics say those who decide against getting vaccinated will be essentially treated as lesser citizens as the latest polls suggest some 6 in 10 people in france don't want the job party's policy or report. france is preparing to end its health emergency by april the so says the french prime minister john kass takes he's presented a bill in the national assembly and establishing a so-called long term health emergency management regime simply to it is vaccination and those opposed to it might just find themselves in trouble even if they just planning a trip around the city. the prime minister made on to the plan measures make the

movement of people and their access to transport subject to presenting test results showing that the person is not infected is falling vaccination or remedial treatment to some politicians the may still believe i'm vaccinated people feeling as though they 2nd class citizens if this bill has really been tabled it must be forged but all elected officials and citizens committed to democracy and freedom in the face of this senseless deviation it is up to us to bring the government back to a semblance of reason this is the bill establishing a long term health emergency management regime which has just been introduced by cast x read the following in this law the prime minister can make you a 2nd class citizen if you refuse the vaccine we must wake up it flies in the face of a promise made by french president emanuel not quantities government they should skeptics their feet and covered vaccination which begins on sunday would be purely voluntary . i want to be clear i will not make the vaccination mandatory

but the idea of a stick to certain freedoms for vaccinated people has been mentioned several times in public debates since this presidential announcement for example a member of the union of democrats and independent party valerie 6 has proposed the issuing of green pos folds to people who have been immunized with we could take the example of israel which grants each vaccinated person a green passport allowing them to get to places of culture and to restaurants and to get back to normal living the french inoculation program will target the most vulnerable members of society 1st such as the elderly and only oscar and medical examination and come since he has given it's a great start but it's what comes next that has people here worried policia out see paris. earlier we spoke to

a member of the french national party who believes the government has gone 'd a step too far you know a manual marker on the prime minister and the health minister of iran promised us there would be no compulsory vaccination and that they would leave the freedom to choose to the french in fact thanks in particular to marie le pen we see that the draft law speaks of a measure completely veiled aimed at limiting subjecting the french people that certain rules in their public lives there by deciding for them whether they will be vaccinated or not i think that it is shameful in fact it is a restriction of freedom which moreover contradicts the constitution this is a manifestation of dictatorship it seems to me that the government does not understand that today the patience of the french has run out they agreed to strict discipline for many months they said yes to the introduction of quarantine said yes to the imposition of a curfew said yes to the imposition of sanitary rules they agreed to everything

that was imposed on them the next day the government came up with nothing better than to further could tail their personal freedom this is called segregation if the government wants the french to get vaccinated they must restore an atmosphere of trust that's the voice of wisdom of spain is ready to start vaccinating people with the pfizer buy on tech vaccine after it was given the green light by regulators the country's health ministry is saying a record though will be kept of any will returns done that or it is considered important to record cases of rejection of the vaccination in the vaccination registry in order to understand the possible reasons for locked in sin different population groups according to the latest poll is just around 40 percent or so of spanish citizens are ready to be inoculated against covert 1916 percent said they'd need more proof that it's actually effective and almost a 3rd are going to refuse the job or together. you know where i'm going to

bed i'm not going to get vaccinated i don't support it i don't want to be registered anywhere neither the government the city council or anyone else has to know what i do. i believe it violates our privacy and they should not interfere at the moment no i'm not going to vaccinate it doesn't seem right or wrong to me i think people should get vaccinated but without forcing anyone everyone should do as they choose. i am one of those who doesn't want to be vaccinated it seems wrong to me i don't want any government to have to tell me whether or not i must be vaccinated because it's my decision. general leave faults parliamentary deadlock in israel a possible briggs breakthrough all ahead in the program this is your r.t. interest.

a lot of questions what does it mean to be conservative is coming from the conservative and the change what he needs to be conservative. in mind. for

conservatives to believe. 17 minutes into the program you're very welcome back the u.k. the european union may be finally about to announce a post of bragg's a trade deal there are reports that ambassadors are preparing to meets all in 30 just a few hours from christmas eve of course to start the ratification process edwards dashti told me more. boris johnson and his european counterparts have been working tirelessly and they say they're closer than ever before to getting a trade deal of course they would be closer than ever to getting a trade deal considering the amount of time left the deadline is obviously the 31st

of december but today is widely seen as a deadline day the final day for any provisional agreement as both sides are quite keen to get a deal in place by christmas all that said fisheries is still one of the main stumbling blocks it's still one of the key obstacles it has been throughout all of the talks throughout the year and it is still today in fact the loss what we heard from banja the chief negotiator just last night he said that the u.k.'s latest offer is absolutely unacceptable for the european union so it is quite hard to see that we're really getting to a breakthrough moment but it seems as though it hasn't it's all to do with how killing now the amount of percentages in the waters at the e.u. and the u.k. are now negotiating but when we look at the wider context of that we know that brics it has almost been the political death of david cameron and indeed theresa

may 2 prime ministers for boris johnson we know 6 that he has predicated much of his political career covert aside all of breck's it in the u.k. is general election much of it all boiled down to breakfast the very eager to get the best deal in place for britain and in fact many m.p.'s within his own party are holding to ransom on that very fact saying if he doesn't get a good deal for britain that if ascension he should quit if mr johnson fails to reach an acceptable trade agreement with the e.u. the prime minister will also feel the people of the united kingdom as a lifelong member of the conservative party i believe that mr johnson's position as prime minister would be untenable well in terms of ratification then that could all be done and dusted here in the united. thing within dale says this data has been pencilled into diaries for m.p.'s here in the united kingdom is the 30th of december over across the channel then for the e.u. 27 member states to a little bit more complicated they could all agree though on video link but

parliament would have to ratify it to their suggesting that they would then ratify it potentially all of the event that's also not quite ideal because if anybody objects to anything well it's already being provisionally applied but all of that being said that's quite forward thinking but because still the e.u. and the u.k. need to sign on that they need to get that deal in place. to the middle east the israeli government has co-ops to after months of parliamentary wrangling failed to secure a new budget the country is now heading for its 4th alexion in 2 years told a quarter to coast through the story really seems like tuesday's budget roadblock was the last straw for israel's 7 month long ruling government coalition now benjamin netanyahu party and benny gantz is blue and white party are both blaming one another for the impasse and with these new elections scheduled for march i think we could possibly be seeing the end to 11 years of the premiership of

benjamin netanyahu but netanyahu doesn't seem very worried. when i'm not afraid of elections we are prepared for that we will win the public in israel knows who's bringing in millions of vaccines for peace agreements who's blocking iran who is bringing security and who will restore the economy with great impetus. well netanyahu is ratings are actually at an all time low but he's still projected to do better than dance in these new snap elections but he polls are actually saying these not projected to win a majority like in these previous instances i mean after all his political career has been followed by a corruption case which he's denied any wrongdoing in and and also people aren't very happy in israel about the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic we've seen protests gripped the country for the past 6 months and they're not really showing any sign of letting out.

was really politics have been deadlocked for a long time now a lot of people are saying that another election isn't isn't going to fix the situation it's just going to lead to a 5th election down the road but i'm happy that we have a fulfilling action. because the world of the free good we will never have an election again. we traded the stage to shoot would take over i think now the situation is quitting cold and we don't have the money and the time for the elections on the house senate chamber you think that the election is completely unnecessary it will cost us more than 2000000000 new israeli shekels if

not more and we're in the middle of coronavirus people can't make ends meet why spend 2000000000 new israeli shekels now what for. a statue of confederate general robert e. lee has been removed from the u.s. capitol building following a long running campaign against symbols associated with slavery it is now being moved to the state of virginia which is the legal owner of the sculpture. general lee was a prominent figure in the coalition of southern states during the us civil war and also a slave owner he's become a hate figure for racism campaigners but is still seen by many in the american south as a hero because of his military achievements and bravery they can spot will be taken by a statue of block civil rights activists barbara jones democrat house speaker nancy pelosi was welcomed the move the removal of the statue of robert e.

lee and its forthcoming replacement by a tribute to bob or johnson is welcome news there is no room for celebrating the bigotry of the confederacy the capital or any other place of or not in our country when you're assembled solve america's slave owning past have been removed in recent months the movements of all after the death of george floyd in minneapolis back in majoring in alter case with police it's spread to several of the countries with activists destroying or removing monuments associated with historical races i was.

on the day tempers are still flaring after that summer of statue toppling on the get some perspective from both sides we spoke with conservative commentator christopher horace historian gerald ford. even today there are more symbols of statues honoring races and play voters then and races and the slavery happening and this is outrageous badge of berlin there were still statutes honoring herman gerbils or at all hitler for example that i would be considered outrageous it may be true that you cannot undo the past but certainly you can honor the best up the path and you can remove the worst of it i think that's what this statue of property levy it's removal it's all about it's trying to say that slavery was wrong that slavery never should have taken place and certainly no statue honoring

a slave holder never should have been erected in this country i believe that the statues that were put up were celebrated democrats subgrade in the confederacy so i think it's just odd that democrats are the ones who put them up and they don't want the rest of the world to know that they were the ones who put them up they don't want the rest of the world to know that the confederacy was pretty much all democrats but now they want to celebrate and they want to be they want to get the credit for taking them down as if now they're such great fighters against racism and slavery when they're the ones who put them up there removing the statues so they can remove their own. their own just horrid the history well for a deeper dive into the matter or indeed any of us our stories our website has you covered and it's just a click away absolutely free tool i mean only you could buy for into.

joining me every thursday on the alex simon show and i'll be speaking to guest on the world of politics sports business i'm showbusiness i'll see that. this is what happens to pensions in britain. hello and welcome the ground stop where all things are considered i'm peter labelle

a lot of questions what does it mean to be a conservative today is donald trump a conservative and did he change what it means to be a conservative what about the issue of clowns and finally what does it take for conservatives to win. these issues and more i'm joined by my guest and a caucus in greenville she is a newsmax insider as well as contributor to the washington examiner and in toronto we have arthur who wrote he is editor at large and being libertarian dot com all right crosstalk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want and i always appreciate it ok let's go ahead and greenville in my introduction to ask the question what does it mean to be a conservative today in your mind what does it mean to be a conservative and let's keep in mind the tron presidency and the recent general election go ahead well in my mind it means to be conservative what it's always

meant which is that we are working to conserve the classical liberal values our country was founded upon but i think there's a role fracture within conservatism these days i think trump has increased that fracture i think it was a system before he actually came into office but it has become deeper and more visible and i think that there are a lot of conservatives who want to move that movement into the action that he was mostly focusing on which has a lot more nationalism involved and isn't always as attached to our classical liberal foundations as i would like to see the movement attached to it so i think it'll be interesting to see where conservatism goes in the next couple of year. i don't think there's a solid answer for where it ends up right now there's there's sort of a battle to be fought. well so let me taking away from when you just said there you i guess i can read that into that is that true did not have a positive impact on conservatism. during his time in office well i guess it depends on the perspective you're looking at it from from my opinion you know as someone who is really concerned with free market values with individual liberty

with limiting the government i didn't see a lot of that the trump presidency that being said i do think for people who are more concerned with issues surrounding the culture or surrounding the popularity of the movement surrounding tracting a more diverse population to the movement i think there were some positive takeaways that you could credit to him and i and i think that those are interesting and that's why i think i say there's a battle to be fought because there's a lot of new blood that he brought into conservatism there's a lot of people been pushed out because of him and conservatism and so if those people come back if those new people stay if there's going to have to be a turf war because i don't think they're fighting for the same ideology largely oh i don't think they are i know i'm not point you and i will definitely agree your own thing with the same question do you i mean how has changed conservatives in america if at all and if it is a good or is it for the worse go ahead so i do think that he definitely changed and served as an america. that up until trump you had

a sort of conservative definitely since bush won.