profiting from the pandemic 2 senior german politicians are quitting in a major scandal for allegedly earning hundreds of thousands of euros after brokering deals for face masks. meanwhile the u.k. government faces claims of financial mismanagement during the pandemic after offering frontline health workers a pay raise of just one percent while it spends millions on a new media briefing room we gauge reaction in london. is interesting so is the story here is about these i mean trick people save. for the problem is when i'm going to hospital table i think the nurses are not safe for me then. and president biden's long awaited covert relief bill finally passes through the u.s. senate but people face getting less money than they did under donald trump.

or broadcasting live direct from our studios in moscow this is our chance national i'm john thomas and the glad to have you with us. are now german m.p.'s are standing down over claims they made hundreds of thousands of euros from brokering deals for face masks with more on the scandal here is our europe correspondent peter all of. make no bones about it this is a big scandal he a mini pound demick profiteering isn't a look any party wants to be tarnished with in this is part of the ruling coalition here including angler merkel's christian democratic union party the representative . said he's going to step down at the next election this is after his company. illegibly made around a quarter of

a 1000000 euro from being the middleman in deals when it came to pee pee and masks during this pandemic may not be good enough for some sort of set he needs to go right now and no wait until the election in the autumn however he said he is sorry for what he's done so far but he isn't the only one that's been involved in this scandal we've also heard that. from the very insistent party the c s u is facing a corruption probe after he's understood to have taken away a 6 figure sum for being the middle man again in deals involving masks he's already said he's not going to run in september he has stood down from his position as the deputy leader of the union parliamentary group but he's denied any wrongdoing what this is prompted is well senior figures including members of angela merkel's cabinet coming out and saying there's no way this can be tolerated in condemning

those 2 politicians to collect a commission that it's a money stream mediation in emergency situations is not possible that destroys trust in our democracy those who fill their own pockets with essential goods such as masks do not represent the people but the lowest interests it's understandable why the center right block is circling the wagons there's obviously a bundestag election coming up in september but before that just next sunday there's 2 important regional elections as well and they want the candidates involved not to be as distant from this particular scandal as possible there's also a want to not be more fuel to a fire of frustration at the same people demonstrate against the way the government has handled the pandemic here in germany 'd and it's not just a german issue we've also seen those protests taking place across europe.

a level of hope said it will surely only be added to when it starts coming out that m.p.'s that politicians were enriching themselves personally during this pandemic. german journalist thomas fassbender says public anger over the issue will damage the ruling party. i think that definitely the christian democrats as a party at the false coming coming elections we take a hit there's no question there's anger about this the interesting thing here is that mr little bit just last year was the subject of a completely unrelated corruption of misbehavior commotion misbehave a case with a nice own party that man has been known for

a sort of potentially shady behavior is there where allegations and nevertheless the party sort of shut their eyes that is of course the dangerous thing it's not just a matter. such of the letter of the law but also. 'd about the way it is. downing street is being criticised for spending millions of pounds on refer to hold white house style media briefings and in another echo from across the pond a british prime minister boris johnson is setting up a charity so donors can fund renovations of the premier's official residence but for many in the u.k. the money would be better spent on health care for staff working on the covert frontlines. interest through issue here is about these i mean drugs could be a poll for us will call for it to still be a poll to know if there are nurses and doctors or not everybody that works in

australia people saved lives after the public did. the answer people spoke about not a problem with people in africa. but it benefits from health workers then had the resistance to work you can often be prepared more people had their herbal i'm not sure we do they would be for you over 2600000 people a lot of other food so i could be more more with you know collation so making sure the whole population is properly covered but what can you do if they say this is it has to be necessary course but you know when you when when when i'm going to hospital table i think the nurse is an essay for me then you know that's what would be necessary for me to make sure you can have enough pay and they've got enough motivation to work on lies are important decoration. the u.k. government insists difficult economic circumstances mean that it can only afford a one percent pay hike for national health service staff but with inflation predicted to reach $1.00 and a half percent this year that would likely mean

a paid cut in real terms in our says union says that they deserve more and is preparing for strikes political commentator anthony weber says the government's priorities are completely wrong for the media companies and she needs these. facilities one of those issue which is. a fine or. witnesses shortage of finance money should go in and see to. the very. sudden schools or actions of a corrupt she was like. giving a night's rest starts but it doesn't go out. rather a pool message that the government's prepared to spend money on promoting its own interests but not prepared to spend money on people who have been looking after people who. are paid in hospital in unsuitable people who live theatre mean just

stop and respect the nurses and so on. where that said if the government has extended its a furlough scheme until september which pays 80 percent of people's wages for hours they cannot work during a pandemic with leaders predicting the cash will get the economy back on track but talking arc is going underground british economic historian robert skidelsky questions the numbers. they think there's a lot of pent up demand that the a lot of savings that people haven't been able to spend and that as the shops and entertainment places reopen people will flock to these places with a straw spending and that'll make the whole thing revived but if you look at it realistically i'm very skeptical about this because national income has fall it's fallen by 10 percent cents in 2020 that means savings of all there as you know some people will have extra savings but what about all those whose incomes have full

they're not going to have extra spending power we're talking about people who are being made on employed because small businesses are closing going bankrupt and or cutting down on their stuff and rather than keeping that population on 1st. i would try and provide work for them and especially young people. are at a much anticipated trial has begun in the us city of minneapolis the former police officer accused of killing george floyd has appeared in court for the 1st time derek charged in faces charges of 2nd degree murder and manslaughter and could be sentenced to up to 40 years in prison if convicted of the presiding judge positive jury selection for one day while prosecutors seek to reinstate in additional charge of 3rd degree murder demonstrators gathered outside the courthouse demanding justice for george floyd a black man who died during an arrest in may of last year people were seen holding

images of floyd. and banners in support of the black lives matter movement in anticipation of protests in minneapolis has seen a heavy security boost with the courthouse being fenced off and about 2000 national guard troops deployed to maintain order demonstrations in the aftermath of floyd's death in it 2020 were marred by vandalism looting and arson some local businesses have boarded up their windows as a profession. sadly i think it's essential especially since what we saw last summer after mr foy died in police custody and the damage was done across the city but also what we saw here on january 6th in washington d.c. on the other end of the political spectrum there's a lot of instability and potential violence right now in america sadly i think the more security the better you know we need to see that all these buildings being boarded up you know it's it's killing our business downtown i was just walking

around and looking and seeing razor wire multiple levels of barricades fences. all of this stuff seems like for a couple of blocks around this courthouse. and. it's just it's just it's a mix of emotions it's somewhat you know i understand but then that the same time wow what if we come right in the case and prompted wide support for the black lives matter movement the findings of a recent poll however show a downward shift in the attitude of the u.s. public since the protests last summer trust in the movement has fallen by 10 percent at the time of floyd's death sparked outrage in the u.s. and worldwide here's a recap of how the saga unfolded. all

right let's cross live to seattle based civil rights activist anthony rogers right

now thanks for being with us here. this is a tricky topic to cover especially now with all of the politics around it but why are prosecutors seeking to reinstate the drop 3rd degree murder charge if reinstated what kind of an impact could that have on the final verdict. yes this is a very good question i think that attorney general keith ellison the attorney general for the state of minnesota is essentially trying to do what would have happened if george floyd was actually the assailant of the officer and get as many charge is available to them as possible in an effort to get justice in an effort to hold this officer accountable so they want to have as many. potential tactics in their arsenal to ensure that the people of the community of minneapolis get some semblance of justice and not just the limits.

of grand jury to a short list of options that they can use to hold this officer in contempt. here's a rabbit hole question for you if you'll go down there with me. do you think that he can get a fair trial in minneapolis i mean what all of the coverage suggesting he's guilty and the threat of violence influence the jury in some way. yeah this is this is a fair question i mean i do think that as it is a with people who convicts commit crimes that we do have to trust the process there is no doubt that you know there could be some subjectiveness applied to the situation of this officer but i would argue that the entire world was subjected to a modern day lynching and i don't i don't see where this officer would be able to get a fair trial. evidence is there everyone has seen as what occurred

and i believe that we have widespread agreement that what occurred including the officers who stood by and were there complicit is simply unacceptable. security has been beefed up in the run up to the trial is the situation tense enough on the ground to justify the fencing and other measures i mean we've seen what happened on the 6th in the capital is this just an extra precaution because of that. yeah i think it's very important to not conflate what happened 6 with what the city of minneapolis is preparing for what happened in january 6 were people were reacting because they didn't get their way in and in an election and i think that what the city of minneapolis is preparing for is how people may react if they don't get justice what i will say is that i think they're also into supporting what they have what they have seen whenever we have had cases like this going all the way back to

trayvon martin. taylor and now george boyd has a very real possibility that. the people may not get justice that the family of george boyd may not get justice and therefore the community could turn apoplectic as a result of that this is a cumulative impact that we have to come to grips with in the united states of america and a community of people specifically african-americans who are absolutely traumatized by a having to witness modern day lynching and then be not see the perpetrators of these lynchings held accountable so again. for a pill you're in the justices what about anticipating unrest we saw some locals board up their properties ahead of the trial we did see violence actually when the georgia incident took place originally do you think that will turn out to be

a wise move. you know i don't i really don't want to speculate on what could or herb may not happen i mean i will say that i absolutely feel that it is warranted in justified for these community especially business owners to be as prepared as possible right i mean it's just like preparing for a natural disaster like a hurricane it may or may not hit your community is hard but you still want to be prepared just in case but i think again what we should really be focusing on is how sad it is that despite what the entire world saw you know you know happy and that we still have to anticipate the fact that there may be a failure of the justice system and i think that it should not be lost on the back to that is what they are and to some painting that this is salient and murder of george floyd could either walk free or get charges that are minimal.

one thing that we do know is that there's a huge misunderstanding about what the black lives matter movement actually is the latest poll suggests that there has been a decline in trust in the b.l.m. movement after the worldwide support we saw just last year why do you think this is the case. unfortunately this is rather symptomatic i mean we have seen time and time again that when there is a flashpoint whether it's at aubrey or to me or rice briana taylor sandra bland that in that instantaneous moment there is so much outrage and then there's support for movements for black liberation and then after a time that that support tends to fleet as a matter of fact we saw a poll in addition to the one that you showed that white attitudes towards racial justice have also plummeted since last summer when we saw a lot of solidarity this is extremely unfortunate and i think it really speaks to

the apparatus of white supremacy that exists in the united states of america and the fact that it just does not seem that the nation as a whole is ready to take the real steps to prevent these flashpoints from occurring again and it's and it's cyclical you know in a way we pay attention to the flash point instantaneously and then after time that attention dissipates which leads to another flashpoint so it saddens me to say that this is cyclical and not surprising i don't think it has as much to do with trust in the black lives matter movement as it does in just a loss of interest on the one hand and it's specially as it pertains to white people it's not happening to their children it's not happening in their communities so therefore they're not seen the need for manifest empathy and long term solidarity in briefly

a quick follow up for if you don't mind face of such adversity and what i mean by that is systemic racism in the united states do you think that the b.l.m. movement has actually managed to advance its cause since then. it's to some extent i would say absolutely in terms of awareness you know there can be no doubt that many more people are aware of systemic racism systemically brutality that has existed in this country since its so-called founding i would say that we have seen some policy interventions it's up to others to determine if those policy interventions go far enough but just last week here in the united states we saw the house of representatives passed the george which would come with some reforms again whether they are adequate enough it's subject for another debate but that is clearly the result of the awareness that black lives matter movement interjected into the entire consciousness of seats this past summer all right civil rights

activist anthony rodgers right it's always interesting to hear your thoughts on these matters thanks for being with us here international thanks so much for having me we'll see you soon all right. joe biden's covert relief bill has finally passed through the u.s. senate after last minute negotiations but while $1.00 trillion dollars sounds like a lot of money people may actually get less did under donald trump we delved into why it may be just a drop in the ocean for the american taxpayers. ungar in america especially for children has soared to historic levels unexpected medical bills have created a stir just families desperate for in america the richest country in all the world we have incredible hunger what ours is possible as the u.s. continues its brutal battle with one invisible enemy an old one house of ram just poverty but for those one in 10 americans who lost that job and same never

recovered all those 3 in 10 low income families who worry whether the next meal is coming from good news joe biden promised you a helping hand no one should work 40 hours a week you live in poverty and it wasn't just higher wages no biden was also going to rip open the government's wallet and hand out those support checks the american rescue plan is going to keep the commitment of $2000.60 already gone out for $200.00 checks to people who need it. this is money directly in people's pockets and with control of the house of representatives the senate and the white house the only trinity nothing could stop the democrats puffing that kind of bill no out of touch little greedy republicans not even trump no it was a done deal right but we obviously are now ultimately send the. money to less people in the administration this is not the promise that we need.

conservative democrats have fossil divides in the admin sense fewer and less generous relief checks than the transfer has been good so not a done deal biden promised one thing with his $1.00 trillion dollars aid package the house then took a stab at it and the senate's now taken a not the stab at it in its wounded form almost $12000000.00 fewer adults will get the relief biden pledged unemployment benefits are finishing a month earlier than planned and as for raising minimum wage to $15.00 well courtesy of some democrat senators who vetoed it that won't be happening and if you're wondering what an elected official laughing in the face of the people they saw it looks like well hey you go. to cinema cinema no i'm sure go it's a big thumbs up from have for $174000.00 annual salary but if you

thought biden himself brainchild this bill was as devastated by this well think again he is comfortable with where the negotiations stand he is controversial and knows there will be tweaks at the margin so if these tweaks mean that american struggling to stay afloat amid the biggest recession in the u.s. in decades on getting the money who is what national democrats particularly nancy pelosi and chuck schumer have chosen to do is crimes through a 1.9 trillion package that includes things like funding on the national endowment for the arts and national endowment of humanities and the subway in silicon valley to help nancy pelosi constituents and while the washington elite did eventually realize that splashing $100000000.00 on a subway in the richest town in america wouldn't sit well with those people standing in line to food banks when will it realize that it works for we the people

and not me myself and i. much of the mainstream media were delighted by the bill with the washington post initially branding it a defining move by biden that saw the paper come in for quite a bit of mockery online it has since changed the headline shall waste money on americans could washington post exaggerate by density of mints in the market desk way probably not shameful lou make it rain with a check that still doesn't cover a whole month's rent soak up all of the money show us my fellow pools the amounts are being paid or just a drop in the in the bucket the payments are proof that their faith and the by the ministries was well founded and the reality is of course that much more of the covert relief bill is going to other causes no other interest groups in the us you know we have a constitution and the government has grown by leaps and bounds beyond what the original intentions were at this point the number of the duties of the american

federal government have. the number of duties it's arguments over laughable you know the last coded stimulus package had billions and billions being sent to foreign countries this one has everything from money for amtrak which is a perennial loser of public money. 3000000000 in aid to aircraft manufacturers almost 300000000 for the national government for the arts and all while people are suffering and i would add that while there are clear signs that the global appetite for u.s. treasuries which is u.s. debt seems to be waning this is a heck of a time to be incurring a lot more debt. italy's a 0 region which includes the capital rome is calling on the government to start producing the russian sputnik vico vaccine that is as the country's health minister says he is in favor of the russian jet. my opinion if the vaccine works and is safe i do not really care about the nationality of the scientists who developed it

therefore i am open to sputnik v as well as to other vaccines should the european medicines agency in the attorney and medicines agency give their approval we are ready to cooperate with russia even very soon sputnik 3 has already been approved in 2 e.u. countries hungry and slovakia comes out of the block is criticised for the slow pace of credit virus in occupation in member states last year regions health chief told us about the approval process was put in agree. it's necessary to produce vaccines in house in order to be self-reliant and avoid the problems we've recently faced including the difficulties with job supplies and on time deliveries autonomy will benefit everyone in this case we've always treated the sputnik vaccine with great respect paying particular attention to the scientific evidence behind it therefore we had no reservations about it off we saw the in the explanations of its validity in the medical journal the lancet and by

the last there are only national institute for infectious diseases in a row we've always said that the efficacy and safety of vaccines are the main thing whereas the origin doesn't matter to us. unfortunately we can't say decisions absolutely independently and always have to wait for the approval by regulators will so hope for a fast track process so that it doesn't get bogged down in excessive red tape because we're in emergency and in great need of doses in italy we don't expect to see any disputes around the sputnik vaccine because we believe it will contribute to the common good and protect the health of our citizens. the brazilian president has called on people to quote stop whining about the country's covered catastrophe that is despite brazil registering its highest daily covert death rate last week it has the 2nd highest number of deaths in the world with more than 260000 victims.

should i do for this quarter do you mean enough with the pretentiousness enough with the whining how long are people going to carry on crying for you we have to confront the problems obviously we need to respect the elderly those with conditions but where is brazil heading to if we live in fear. meanwhile health authorities say just over 7000000 have so far received at least one vaccine dose but brazilian hospitals are struggling to find room for the sick and the health system is overloaded to highlight the point this is a container that has been placed outside a clinic in the north of the country to store victims' bodies here's what nearby residents think of that my. breast but i think people are panicking and this containment shouldn't be out in the open pal. that it has a huge impact i think it makes you more careful more inclined to protect yourself it's only when you actually see it that it has any impact when you realize that our people in their last profit wants where all to blame people but also the government

because they should set the example. the editor of a brazilian news site told us the president must take the blame for the worsening situation i think it's. a strategy. all the time trying to prove to the brazilian book relation that he has the situation the control. of the situation is completely out of control i don't see the resume he's going to have back the situation before may or june because we have a very. in the nation we don't have any more. to bring back beat. 'd i think the next 30. days i going to be even.