a former u.s. intelligence analyst faces years in jail for exposing america's drone assassination program we speak to a whistleblower who think close contact with him. he did it because he was exposing a war crime he's not allowed to see that and so he really doesn't have any chance of acquittal. as germany's struggles to suppress a 3rd wave of the coronavirus the christie and democratic union party leader suggests a return to full of down something met with skepticism from german politicians. petrol bombs and bricks the price of post bricks it border checks we discussed the

background to the weekend's violent attacks on police in northern ireland. very warm welcome you are watching r t international with me nicky aaron. a former u.s. intelligence analyst faces up to 10 years in prison for blowing the whistle on washington's targeted drone assassination program daniel hale pleaded guilty to transmitting and retaining national defense information his case comes amid mass disclosure of similar crimes allegedly perpetrated by the u.s. .

i have to tell you when he called me a few hours ago he was surprisingly upbeat and optimistic and he he remarked about how much press this issue has been getting since he decided to plead guilty so in the end i think that he thinks that this is been worth it that americans know more about the drone program now than 8 they did 6 months ago or a year ago and even though he's likely going to go to prison it was worth it the u.s. is flying these drones or at least it was until recently that were used ostensibly to kill terrorists or would be terrorists but in reality to kill anybody who might

resemble a terrorist and that included women children the elderly and anybody else who happened to be on the ground i believe that we're we're a nation of laws and we have to abide by those laws whether we like them or not if we don't like them we should change them go through the process and change them if congress has not declared war on a country we don't have a right to attack it we just can't decide that we don't like the politics of whoever happens to be in charge in a place like yemen or pakistan or afghanistan and then launch drone strikes against them it's a violation of international law. information about these and similar cases was given by hail to journalists from online news publication the intercept back in 2014 they later became available to the general public and the analyst was accused of disclosing classified intelligence information as the kids for the defendant to claim such exposures are necessary for a strong society. using the espionage act in this way to prosecute journalists

sources and spies childes newsgathering and discourages sources from coming forward with information in the public interest particularly when it relates to national security where government secrecy is at its height these documents detail the secret unaccountable process for targeting and killing people around the world including u.s. citizens through drone strikes there are vital public importance and the related to their disclosure is protected by the 1st amendment yeah it's the american government stuck to an alternative point of view and therefore 2 years ago hale was arrested and charged with violating the espionage act and other related offenses as biden came to power the public anticipated changes in the drone assassination program but now media reporting he aims to boost the armed drone exports to countries including those with poor human rights records john kerry r q a former cia analyst and whistleblower told us the terms of the espionage act leave

hale with little hope. this is the really the worst part of the of the espionage act this is the reason why ed snowden can't come home this is the reason why i couldn't go to trial this is the reason why jeffrey sterling the other cia whistleblower was convicted because there is no affirmative defense we are prohibited by law from going into court and saying i did it but i did it for this reason and in the case of daniel hale this was a war crime he did it because he was exposing a war crime he's not allowed to say that and so he really doesn't have any chance of acquittal the best thing to do for daniel as it was for me as it was for so many others here charged under the espionage act is to take a deal and to hope for the lightest possible sentence the decision that was made early on even before joe biden was inaugurated to pursue the appeal against julian his son it was that decision that made it clear that joe biden was going to pursue

national security leaks just like barack obama did and just like donald trump did after him and you can see the full version of our interview with john kerry out on watching the hawks throughout the day. that he's out of the christian democratic union of gemini on unless sat scores for a strike to look down as the country struggles to contain a 3rd wave off the coronavirus initiative was met with criticism from lawmakers. we disrupted already one thing we need another transitional look we need to build the bridge again to the date when everyone is vaccinated i know that many a tired of the pandemic but many already to take another step now and then move to another fees from may june and lash it isn't just the chairman of the christian democratic union party he's also the head of the state of north rhine-westphalia and some of his fellow local leaders aren't particularly happy with what he's had

to say the leader of the state of terror in jest the mayor of both questioned the well the sense of having a short term lockdown michael miller who's the mayor of burlington saying he doesn't think mr lasher it has thought about the long term implications of putting everybody into another lockdown this is ultimately the one of the big problems with coming up with a unified position here in germany it's not like i'm going to medical can say from the chancellor's office this is what we're doing everybody get on with it what ends up happening is the leaders of the 16 states listen to what mrs merkel has to say and then go we're not sure if we really want to do that and that has resulted in a lot of problems lot of lack of clarity when it comes to an overarching plan here in germany. now saying we need a 2 to 3 week lockdown this is a change in tune from the leader of the the state of north rhine-westphalia previously he was one of the loudest voices saying we need to open up everything

the c.d.u. chairman is still the bookies favorite when it comes to being his party's candidate to run for chancellor in september however going into a short term lockdown may well win him some support based on those that i spoke to on the streets of berlin i am happy they're putting more regulations on place i think things are looking a bit grim and it seems like it's going back to you know christmas despite we had back in christmas so i'm happy if things go back to. the way they work christmas is full lockdown i think that something mark stream has to happen i don't know if it's going to be a lockdown then they have to be more aggressive and say you can't leave your house you can't see people i think trusting people to do the right thing isn't working in the moments of for me the restrictions must be made stricter because the numbers are going out and the restrictions that we have now are not enough to deal with it i think in 2 or 3 weeks or maybe a month we will have a problem there for us to we need more to experiment restrictions and move

explanations. germany was supposed to go into a locked out over the easter weekend in fact it was announced from the chancellor's office by angela merkel herself only for her to turn around just a short while later and say actually they weren't going to do that this would be ultimately a good turn on that u. turn if they were if germany is to follow through on armin lush's plan not exactly what you want to see doesn't give confidence in the leadership when you having this type of planning or lack of planning we've also heard from yet inspiron the health minister here in germany he's not painted a pretty picture of the state of affairs at all he said that there's been an increase in the number of people going into intensive care with covert 4000 over the weekend he's also you said the vaccination itself won't be able to stop the 3rd wave of covert 19 that's currently gripping germany he says on side with arm in

lash its plan and says lockdown is what's needed. saying in europe a scandal has erupted in france after it emerged ministers allegedly attended secret elite cafes and restaurants in violation of covert restrictions and undercover report found luxury restaurants privately opening their doors to v.i.p.'s guests one interviewer even claimed he himself illegally dined in restaurants quote with a certain number of ministers guests apparently did not wear masks there knocked back bottles of champagne but members of the french government have denied any knowledge of the gatherings if ministers have broken the rules they must be punished like anyone else you've dismissed or it is so well informed let him name names there are not 2 types of citizens those who have the right to party and those who don't. well strands are supposed to have been closed in france since october in order to slow the spread of coronavirus we gauge the reaction to the claims on the

streets of paris. it was because of course we all need to relax but such a different attitude to people is simply shocking most french people like streamlet attentive we are asked to be on our guard and so it is surprising that people are treated differently it seems that everything is allowed for them and they have the right to do what others do not have the right to do i think these ministers need to go to everyone to the restaurants because people have not been to restaurants for a long time if they invited it would be nice. on the one hand they tell a stay at home do not go to restaurants close the restaurants and so on and they spend money there and do not worry about the crown of ours and we the people have no right to go there it's not fair this is an injustice and for going to a restaurant these people men and women are not waiting for the same consequences that would await for us if we were caught doing this it was not from us we're not going to if it's true then i think that they're the embodiment of the state the

embodiment of decisions taken at the state level therefore they should be a role model and if they do not adhere to the rules that they demand from this it isn't then their power loses it so i think it's very bad if it turns out to be true since their ministers they need to watch their behavior. northern ireland has seen several nights of unrest with protesters hurling petrol bombs at police to voice their anger at recent post brags that trade will was shoddy edwards has the details . we've seen numerous police officers injured and these violent clashes as well as dozens of people being arrested some as young as 13 and 14 years of age and so now police are really appealing to community leaders to try and stop this disorder and stop this on the rest as well but it all follows on friday a decision not to prosecute leaders of the irish nationalists the shin fein party for allegedly breaking coronavirus restrictions for attending a funeral of

a former ira leader last year that funeral was in june and allegedly around 2000 people attended so that is one part of the narrative but also we're seeing rising tensions due to post bricks issues as well as a specific part of the brics that withdrawal agreement that's a northern ireland protocol is coming under fire today what we're seeing is it all boils down to the fact that these new trade barriers between northern ireland and the rest of the u.k. essentially creates a defacto border on the irish sea what is that good and during the night and from britain will have to go through specific checks a century treaty a completely different to the rest of the united kingdom it's always been a huge sticking point in both theories of may's attempted bret's that deal but also boris johnson signed sealed and delivered bricks it deal that is a huge sticking point officials in brussels dublin and london just on technical terms but actually what we're seeing is a real a motive behind it it's an erosion of sovereignity for some it's

a betrayal by the british government and all acutely rips up the good friday agreement all together and all the promises of peace within it as well it does seem like neither the shin fein for that matter nor the d p are in the mood for to taunt any time soon when it comes to these violent clashes all to do with that northern ireland protocol and it seems all of this stoked up tensions is accelerating by breck's at seeing the appetite to unify northern ireland an island really increase in the last few weeks if not more. it's to its highest level of around 42 percent not just confined to the wishful nationalists either but that appetite is also growing amongst the devolved nations too we know that over in scotland that appetite has been growing for some years but nicholas sturgeons reenergize efforts are seeing that trajectory continue as well even though looking at wales which is the 2nd smallest nation of the 4 nations they're jumping on the independence bandwagon too with around 25 percent in the

polls saying that they would vote for independence which is double what it was around 6 years ago so it seems like these recent clashes over the last few days in northern ireland really are just real reflect real concerns when it comes to the disunited kingdom. political commentator frank hughes shows that his thoughts on the prospect of a unified and. there will never be genuine consent from members fall for the i consider to be the colonial population often more violently want to remember we've moved circumstances under which a small percentage of the population you need 20 or 30 percent of are ever going to want to join. peaceably and related to what looks like blacks and just like any referendum to think the saudis and reprimands once you get a 50 plus one. if you're a democrat you must accept. for me the partition of ireland as it has that was the

of the economy are one that was forced upon the nice people at the force who produced gone through and who support fish in the still of northern ireland just you know which itself from the existence of what it was born from british violence under threat of the. war on. by the british girl who were so for me reunification as a central part of the healing process where everyone and i don't want to insert catholic protestant under center and to save the roof future together and a peaceful reunification. coming out cut the colors down if it does that and down diff it doesn't as both sides of the us political divide threaten boycott the got that story and much more coming up after this short break.

is your media a reflection of reality. in a world transformed. what will make you feel safe. isolation or community. are you going the right way or are you being led. by. what is true what is. in the world corrupted you need to descend. to join us in the death. or a mate in the shallows. you know a lot of people speculate whether or not god exists or not i'll tell you one thing

that i can guarantee does not exist financial regulators. welcome back hostilities have fled in eastern ukraine with reports of daily exchanges of fire and shelling on front lines wearables in the dawn near screeching claim to ukrainian drone strike killed a 4 year old boy kiev denies the claims and is demanding evidence that the strike did take place and so far it has not been possible to corroborate the claims but a team from marty's rep the video agency attended the boy's funeral and spoke to his grandmother about the incident. never you don't understand this grief you have to go through it it's really hard his parents are beside themselves with grief especially his mother i don't care that the house was damaged but why did this

child have to suffer did he shoot someone dad of something or did he say a bad thing to someone he was just a child only poor years old and then tional in god's eyes. as tensions saw in eastern ukraine officials on military staff in care of have blames russia our senior correspondent mark gasnier of reports. this is far or what there was of it is crashing and burning under a sustained barras from both sides the only see has the numbers more than a 1000 violations most of them artillery exchanges were detected on april 3rd ukraine's propaganda machine is also churning it is now officially calling thousands of its own citizens russian militias who are to blame the party line says for everything corrina ukraine and its partners are taking note of russia's systemic escalation of the security situation and the nats can lugansk regions and

in the republic of crimea of all this is happening against the background of the russian federation and willingness to reaffirm its commitment to the cease fire or the current escalation by the russian federation the systemic and the largest in recent years a common goal is victory in the war against the aggressors and to ensure a stable peace to restore the territorial integrity of ukraine we will need the consolidated efforts of all the ukrainian people all ukrainian people apart from the ones they now call russian militias in a bid to discredit them their beliefs and their grievances probably not the best idea if you want stable peace but there are 2 major takeaways from their recent statements 1st after years of stalling delaying and torpedoing negotiations here of seems to be entertaining the idea of a military solution to the civil war victory by brute force the other takeaway is

that ukraine has virtually because war and russia officially naming it the russian ukrainian conflict russia isn't even a party in this civil war if its military was involved it would be over very very quickly that much is obvious if scouting imputed to the russian army is moving within. territory in the directions it deems necessary in the shape and form it sees fit to ensure the security of our country this shouldn't concern anyone in the slightest russia poses no threat to any country in the world and that of course includes ukraine russia always pays very close attention to its own security clearance to ukrainian president probably not helped by dismal ratings his seemingly bet on calm for a day ship is military has issued a statement warning moscow that the us promised it won't leave ukraine alone and it won't let russia's aggressive plans materialize the state department has confirmed

this ukraine's own aggressive plans it seems get a pass the americans should not be concerned by what russia is doing but rather look at kiev's unacceptable behavior which not only fails to implement them and set of measures but even denies degree most in a manner that is becoming ever more provocative if our us colleagues were to focus and it would really facilitates to belittle a lot all hope is yet lost there is still a chance that cooler heads will speak out that they'll stop this escalation and will cause countless lives and achieve nothing but that's going to take an international effort rather than egging ukraine on with promises of support and righteousness as has been washington's policy so far a former u.n. weapons inspector scott ritter say as nato backing for kiev sanctions it carol. the support comes and 3 things one is the ongoing material support the united states

continues to provide big holes arms munitions and other military equipment to the ukrainian military much of this is lethal in nature meaning used in combat then there's the the the training that's taking place the cross training between nato forces the clean americans and ukraine and ukraine believes that this training shows that they're somehow you know brothers in arms and then there's the political rhetoric of the phone call for instance from the secretary of defense it was ukrainian counterpart yes ukraine is being led to believe that there will be support and there will be but the support will be military the support will be diplomatic political you know they they support the right that the ukrainian objectives and they also view the ukrainian russian tension as supporting an overall western strategy of containing and destabilizing russia so everything bad that's having ukraine today that you know props up

a an american and nato policy of containing and destabilizing russia. disagreements between the u.s. state of children and major corporations of a disputed new voting and also escalated into a tit for tat series of fights and different boycotts kind of often as the story. coca-cola has long marketed itself around the world as uniquely american something that unites the entire united states but not any more this legislation is always. this legislation is wrong. and we were. given the choice to cave to the pressure of an out of control counsel culture we respectfully request issued an all coca-cola company projects to be removed immediately just because you run a soft drink company doesn't mean you get to control our democracy georgia has put forward a new voting laws requiring photo id to vote to get to lety bills and matching

signature is no longer accepted the proposed voting legislation also would outlaw the giving out of drinking water to people waiting in line to vote and other regulations which democrats say are intended to stifle the voter turnout among african-americans and low income people coca-cola is not the only corporation boycotting ga over new proposed voter reforms you've also got delta airlines viacom c.b.s. citi group j.p. morgan chase cisco and other corporations that are placing economic pressure on the state former president donald trump says that republicans are now going to boycott the boycotters in support of georgia's election laws for years the radical left democrats have played dirty by boycotting products when anything from that company has done or stated in any way that offends them now they are going big time with woke cancel culture and our sacred elections it is finally time for republicans and

conservatives to fight back don't go back to their products and till they relent so now we've got republicans targeting the corporations that are targeting georgia but it gets more interesting before these corporations started boycotting georgia you had liberal activists threatening to boycott them if they didn't liberal activists said that they would boycott coke and other corporations if. they refused to stick it to georgia to speak with a woman it's this post some of you know the corporations that they needed to speak out against racism with a view might sequence about this opposition is they've not lived up to their room words but you'll silence you're actually being complicit so we're going to say to them if you want some money then you all to go back then we all have to use our voices of seeing these corporations falling over themselves every year around the time of the king holiday celebrating the king and yes i think that the way to celebrate the king is to stand up for what he represented voting rights it's not

just corporations that are being affected by this rapid polarization of america now you've got major league baseball being boycotted by republicans because it has pulled out of atlanta and that comes after obama biden and many democratic party voices and liberals called on the league to pull out of the biggest city in georgia whether you're a bank a soda supplier or america's favorite sport you can't get out of it don't boycott georgia and you get boycotted by the democrats do it and you get boycotted by republicans america is rapidly polarizing and some of the biggest economic players are now stuck in the middle and are to see new york. the son of the u.s. president has apparently lost went on throwing questions about a laptop that allegedly reveal attains foreign business interests but tons of biden's admission that the stolen computer could be his cost doubts on his father's claim that revelations about his work on just russian descent imation. is that left

of your i don't know actually this year easy answer is that i truly do not know you could have been yours of course certainly there could be a laptop out there that was stolen from me that could be that i was hacked it could be that there was that that it was russian intelligence or during the 2020 lection campaign donald trump repeatedly referred to the laptop to promote corruption claims against hunter and joe biden regarding the business dealings abroad but laptop was seized by the f.b.i. in 29 the u.s. intelligence community concluded last year there was no reason to suspect any russian involvement but journalist and author daniel as are things hunted by didn't latest interviews will be used by republicans against the president. expect the republicans to make make use of this information to make them use. chips as i would expect the democrats in a similar situation to to do the same so as i said the republicans will make use of

this i'm pretty sure of that and they will use that border to hammer joe biden as best they can but the important thing is know what we are the truth lawyers it's fairly clear we have we have a signature of a receipt that shows that order by drop the laptop at a repair shop and doa were so what this really confirms the accuracy of that report and it looks like there is evidence that joe biden was a silent partner as sons business deals and that is pretty pretty important. supporters of former us president donald trump have accused you chip of political bias they point to allegations that the video sharing site deleted millions of dislikes from videos on the white house's official channel and website was set up this year to track removals of the dislikes pay claims that in the 300 videos posted by the white house most of the nearly 3700000 dislikes were deleted by you

tube the platform says its policy is to remove reactions considered to be spam with the poses and systems in place to ensure that the gauge went on you tube is authentic and remove any fraudulent metrics by its claim that you deleted around 8000 dislikes the white house video but did not do the same for other popular channels data suggest that their dislikes are regularly removed around once an hour but other popular you tube channels do not get anything like the same scrutiny journalist and commentator chant with more say as the issue raises wider concerns of online neutrality. even with the 2 and a half $2700000.00 dislikes removed the white house is the biden white house's video still of a ratio about $6.00 to $16.00 dislike to everyone like $17.00 to $1.00 but what it remains unclear is her.