obama's protect its own existence. as his time in office draws to a close vetoes the u.s. defense bill brining it constitutional. u.s. military contractors who were jailed for that involvement in the massacre of iraqi civilians and 7 are given presidential pardons come from. notably excludes prominent slows. the french government backs a controversial bill on so-called green card supports allowing travel and other activities to be allowed people vaccinated against. critics though say the move will turn everyone else into a 2nd class citizen. from

moscow thanks for joining us on our. hawkins welcome to the program. donald trump has conducted one of his final acts of defiance as president he's vetoed the $740000000000.00 defense bill despite its wide bipartisan support in congress it's not a hefty cost though that the outgoing u.s. leaders got a problem with his concerns of an unraveling of some of his previous moves saying it undermines national security. 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 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 that 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 our 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 numerous provisions of the act directly contradict my

administration's foreign policy particularly my efforts to bring our troops home i oppose endless wars and as does the american public this act purports to restrict the president's ability to withdraw troops from afghanistan germany and south korea not only is this bad policy but it is unconstitutional 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 the president's veto of the national defense authorization act is a next of staggering recklessness that harms our troops and then our security and undermines the will of the bipartisan congress next week december 28th the house will take up the veto override with bipartisan support you know what's fascinating

about that is congress of 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 caviar 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 interestingly 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 the clear wars they would simply prevent presidents from them donald trump has walked out raise with his latest list of presidential pardons includes military contractors jailed for killing civilians in iraq but no whistleblowers the sparkles from rights activists he's kind of open picks up

a story 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 ment's and there has been a wave of anger and criticism of who it is that the president of the 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 aircraft or. that they were dead bodies everywhere are missing are humans going to be on the way to people in authority among the dead bodies ministry with those who are chosen in the region of 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 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 mold. 10 years after the incident 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 had sonny's 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 commute meant the names that were missing that many were optimistic and hopeful about were julian a son gen 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 assange 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 to its values i think the least thing to do is to end the suffering the purity the songs to pardon him this man has suffered enough for the interest of the public and was 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 clan and saying this is what every country that hosts u.s. occupations u.s. bases is told it's a matter for u.s. justice when u.s. soldiers and u.s. contractors and mercenaries kill rape and pillage in your country will handle it well here's the message the united states will not handle it it will not treat

these cases in the way that it would treat a case of mass murder in the united states those of us who did not support from selection support dropping the demand for extradition of julian a son for crimes that amount to a commission of acts of journalism i don't care who julian a son she is what his politics are what horrible things he's done he performed a great service for the world he behaved as a journalist and a publisher he worked with the legitimate whistleblowers who were doing services for the world he took care to limit any damage that could be done as he was performing this service he ought to be pardoned and i hope he will it certainly seems more likely still that trump will pardon him and then that president biden when he's newly into office will drop the case. french governments pushing for the

introduction of so-called green possible or greater freedom of movement to covert immune people critics say those who decide against getting vaccinated will be essentially treated as a lesser citizens and that says the latest polls suggest some 6 in 10 people in france though want the job auntie's portfolio has the latest. france is preparing to end its health emergency by april the so says the french prime minister john kass sticks he's presented a vote in the national assembly and establishing a so-called their own health emergency management regime simply 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 could to some politicians the nation believe i'm vaccinated people

feeling as though they say can processes and if this bill has really been tabled it must be forward 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 bellamy 6 has proposed the issuing of green possible it's the people who have been immunized with we could take the example of israel which grants each vaccinated person a green passport allowing them to go 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 off to a 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. well you know we spoke to a member of the french national rally party who believes the government has gone too far so you know emanuel mccrone the prime minister and the health minister promised us there would be no compulsory vaccination they would leave the freedom

to choose to the french in fact thanks in particular to marine le pen we see that the draft laws speaks of a measure completely veiled aimed at limiting the french people to certain rules in their public lives thereby deciding for them whether they will be vaccinated or not i think it's shameful in fact it's 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 the agreed to strict discipline for many months they said yes to the introduction of corentin said yes to the imposition of a curfew he agreed to everything that was imposed on them the next day the government came up with nothing better than to further curtail their personal freedom if the government wants the french to get vaccinated they must restore enough of trust that's the voice of wisdom. in the meantime spain is also ready to

start vaccinating people with the vaccine after it was given the green light why you regulators the country's health ministry is saying no record will be kept of anyone who turns down a job it is considered important to record cases of rejection of the vaccination in the vaccination registry in order to understand the possible reasons for a locked in sin different population groups according to latest poll shows there are 40 percent of spanish citizens are ready to be inoculated against the covert 1916 percent so they'd need more proof that it's a fact of war almost a 3rd will refuse to get a job all 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 nor 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 well general lee falls following 3 deadlock in israel plus a possible breaks at break through all that on the program still to come here at r.t. international. christmas eve special while we await santa nothing away for because the future is here now and it's glorious. is your media a reflection of reality. in

a world transformed. what will make you feel safe. isolation and community. are you going the right way or are you being led. by. what is true. is faith. in the world corrupted you need to descend. to join us in the depths. or remain in the shallows.

the program the u.k. and the european union may be finally about to announce a post brooks a trade deal that all reports that i'm boss of us are preparing to meet on thursday about christmas eve to start the ratification process shadow's dash he has the latest. boris johnson and his european counterparts have been working 'd tirelessly and they say they're closer than ever before. 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 breck's it in the u.k. his general election much of it all boiled down to breakfast he'll be 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 essential he should quit if mr johnson fails to reach an acceptable trade agreement with the e.u. the prime minister will also have failed 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 kingdom within a. day that has been president to 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 that because still the e.u. and the u.k. need to sign on that doubted line they need to get that deal in place. israeli government has collapsed after months of parliamentary wrangling failed to secure

a new budget the country is now heading for its 4th election in 2 years old quarter takes us 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 here 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. israeli 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. because there i will differ really good that we will never have an

election again. we prayed that the stage to shoot would take over i think now the situation is created and we don't have the money and the time for the elections on the house and that's i mean i 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 robot has been removed from the u.s. capitol building following a long running campaign against symbols associated with slavery now being moved to the state of virginia which is the legal owner of the sculpture. it

generally was a prominent figure in the coalition of southern states during the us civil war and also a slave owner has become a hate figure for anti racism campaigners but is still seen by many in the american south as a hero because of his military achievements and bravery the vacant spot will be taken by step 3 of black civil rights activist barbara johns democrat house speaker nancy pelosi has welcomed the move the removal of a statue of robert elite and its forthcoming replacement by a tribute to barbara johnson vaccinia is welcome news there is no room for celebrating the bigotry of the confederacy the capitol or any other place of or not in our country are numerous symbols of america's voting past have been removed in recent months the movements lowballed after the death of george floyd in minneapolis back in may so all to cation with police it's brought to several other countries with activists the strong war removing monuments associated with historical racism i thank.

you thank you we've all term possess the flaring off about some more of that if you topple again to get some perspective from both sides we spoke with conservative commentator christopher harris and historian gerald ford. even today there are more symbols of statues honoring races and play voters then and see races and see slavery happening and this is an outrageous badge of berlin there were still statutes honoring herman gerbils or at all 'd hitler for example the i would be

considered outrageous it may be true that you cannot undo the past but certainly you can honor the best up the us and you can remove the worst of all 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 all 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 if 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 horribly history boom bust with the

latest on the us economic recovery new strain in the u.k. plus more news from across the wall to that saying that just a few moments time that's in half an hour with the latest to join us again that. you know one tough son no not. ugly little political knew no. real to look they should know the. unit 731 was a unique organization in the history of the world what they were trying to do was to simply do nothing short and build the most powerful and most deadly

biological weapons program that the world had ever known. the real you know. what it said israel should go. they did today no. new look at the rush of. him on the modern. no modern others in the new home or not on their own wants to know. i'm going to no no i. will number 4 kind of wish to know about dollar one you i know you did room. for more or less than 0. point. 000 want to. see my in you on a. site.

that they give us the. cold war british or the british for in watching. the u.s. has secured a $100000000.00 doses additional doses of pfizer's koeppen $1000.00 vaccine is cases continue to slam the nation straight ahead we're going to welcome an expert in the field to bring us up to speed on the state of the rollout plus with christmas just around the corner millions will be traveling to be with family what impact could that have on new cases artie's could have injured break it all down and with congress finally passing a strong bias relief package could we see a wrench thrown into the talks by the executive branch later i'm going to analyze

the latest comments from president trump on this deal in fact today let's go right there. we leave the program with the latest in the copen $1000.00 vaccination drive the u.s. has ordered an additional $100000000.00 doses of pfizer in bio and texas vaccine pfizer said wednesday now according to a statement released by the drug maker the 2 firms will now supply a total of $200000000.00 doses to the united states the full allotment is expected to be delivered by the end of july 2021 agreement also for the u.s. government the option to purchase an additional $400000000.00 doses now health and human services secretary alex released a statement touting the deal saying so.