bombed again a al-jazeera operation in baghdad where one al jazeera journalist was killed as well as another person was injured that was working for al jazeera so as you can see from the very beginning i mean this is really no laughing matter but this wiki leaks cable itself shows the sort of nonchalant ness of this conversation and it directly shows that al-jazeera was at least asked to be targeted. alex like you said this is no laughing matter we know that al jazeera america they shut down just over a year ago back in april of twenty six seeing our life here research out what were the issues that made the station call it quits we don't see interesting i didn't even last three full three years and it was a station that started with a lot of power a lot of. you know interesting facets that they put together they post a lot of people from some big networks in the states ali velshi move from c.n.n. he's a well known journalist over to al-jazeera america so they have the big names that even had an interview they had a with a well not exactly interview but a tape of bin ladin speaking an

amongst them, the closure of the al-jazeera news channel. their investigation, authorities in the u.k. say that a faulty fridge freezer unit sparked the fire at a london 79er block in which at least people lost their lives. time now for a check on the top business news stories. i'm joined by brian quinn. electronics giant, toshiba, its troubles continue. >> that's right. announced they're looking at even deeper losses for the 2016 fiscal year than previously predicted. the company has just been given a second extension to file its results, after missing a previous deadline. it's facing a downgrade or even delisting from the tokyo stock exchange. reporter: toshiba's troubles continue. the electronics giant a has been second tierto the of the tokyo stock exchange. the release of its earnings is pushed back again. 10thba now has until the of august. it said it needed more time, westinghouse filed for bankruptcy this year. japanese firm expects to report a net loss of 995 billion about 8 billion euros. conference, its boss offered apologies to i

presented with in exchange for the sanctions against that country demand includes shutting down al-jazeera that story and more coming up right now. it's monday june twenty sixth corp him in washington d.c. i'm in touch sweet and you're watching r.t. america our top story this hour is a major mistake at c.n.n. the cable news network has been forced to retract what was considered a potentially bombshell story the president trying to rush saying it did not meet the company's editorial standards or to a correspondent on your part tells us why the story fell flat and how c.n.n. is responding the most trusted name in news is on the defensive as of friday night when what was sold as an explosive report linking president trump to russian investment bankers was replaced with this editor's note on june twenty second twenty seventeen c.n.n. dot com published a story connecting anthony's car mucci with investigations into the russian direct investment fund that story did not meet c.n.n. editorial standards and has been retracted links to the story have been disabled c.n.n. apologizes to mr karr mucci.

it decides the hear the case in october and saudi arabia and its allies demand cut or shut down al-jazeera network as a condition for lifting the blockade i michel's reporting tonight from washington d.c. you're watching mark t. america. good evening friends we start tonight with the looming showdown in the u.s. senate health care takes the spotlight this week as the trump administration is anxious to repeal and replace obamacare some republican senators well they're not buying it they're not sold on the senate plan and today the c.b.o.t. scored the bill delivering some more rough numbers to consumers the latest polling shows half the country believes the current law is just fine fifty one percent see obamacare as acceptable it's clear the republicans face an uphill battle to get this thing done through reconciliation military and has been following the story and she has more on this tonight in iowa and this latest iteration of the g.o.p. health care bill this time from the senate will hurt almost about as many people as the one proposed by the house just a few weeks ago that's according t

>> well, al jazeera, al jazeera arabic and al jazeera english really are at the heart of the power.oft power. it's been across all of the developments across the region. and has really been a sore eye for saudi arabia. and now, these two countries, qatar and saudi arabia, don't always see eye to eye. but most of their objectives are the same. so, this really coming down on al jazeera and limiting press freedom in the region is a very bad sign for things to come, natalie. >> gul tuysuz, thank you so much. >>> still ahead on "newsroom" at this hour, putting safety first. evacuations took place overnight in london to make sure there's no repeat of the grenfell fire disaster. story ahead. -san francisco. -when? -friday. we gotta go. [ tires screech ] any airline. any hotel. any time. go where you want, when you want with no blackout dates. [ muffled music coming from club. "blue monday" by new order. cheers. ] ♪ how does it feel the travel rewards credit card from bank of america. it's travel, better connected. the travel rewards credit card from bank of america. it's looking up, not do

they care a lot for al-jazeera network and they know how strong and powerful it is in promoting views so they have raised all these demands in order to empty the hands of those from the winning aces that he had and made a powerful act there on the southern rooms of the persian goals. our major gas pipeline project between turkey and russia has entered a new phase in the black sea president putin was on board a specialist plane ship to see the work for himself also on board was of. i just came back from a gigantic vessel called the pioneering spirit imagine the size of four football fields well that is how big it is what is the pioneering spirit in the black sea well it is here for the toughest job in gas pop like construction deep underwater stages of the turkish stream at one point it will get to two point two kilometers below sea level project is so crucial for russia that the president decided to fly in for the launch of the toughest stage that i was telling you about but it's also very important for turkey that's where the pipeline is heading towards so on this special occasion a

that could play both ways also al-jazeera i remember once the saudi king said what is only a small island with a network. it's true that he tried to despise kids out of several months ago but it also shows that they care a lot for al jazeera network and they know how. strong and powerful it is in promoting views so they have raised all these demands in order to empty their hands of the hall from the winning aces that he had and made a powerful actor on the southern rims of the persian gulf i don't believe. you know respond to with regard to your second question i don't believe that would comply with all these demands that saudis have raised the saudis do not have the power to impose their will on any more at the beginning of the conflict there try to you know intimidate with military force with the chances of a cook but we all knew that it would there were these two options were off the table the main issue was laying a seizure and our economic seizure in qatar to bring good tweets needs. to start an inside descent inside guitar to provoke the cats are used to stand against their governme

a britishn is journalist and broadcaster at al jazeera english. papaul mason is a a columnist fr the guardian, and a filmmaker based in london. when we come back, what james comey said yesterday before the senate intelligence committee. stay with us. ♪ [music break] amy: "london calling" by the clash. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace reportrt. i'm amy goodman. fired fbi director james comey testified thursday president trump tried to derail an investigation into national security advisor michael flynn's links to russia and accused the president of lying about why he was fired. >> confused me when i saw on television president saying that he actually fired me because of the russian investigation. and learned again from the media that he was telling privately other parties that my firing had relieved great pressure on the russian castigation. i was also confused by the initial explanation that was offered publicly that i was fired because of the decisions i have made during the election year. that did not make sense to me

mehdi hasan, an , award-winning british journalist and broadcaster at al jazeera english. he is host of the program "upfront" and a columnist for the intercept. he is author of "ed: the milibands and the making of a labour leader" and "the debt delusion: exposing ten tory myths about debts, deficits and spending cuts." and from london, we are joined by paul mason, a columnist for the guardian and a filmmaker based in london. his most recent book "postcapitalism: a guide to our , future." we welcome you both to democracy now! we turn first to washington, d.c., to mehdi hasan , your take on what has just taken place in britain? >> i think it is an absolute humiliation for the prime minister of the united kingdom, theresa may. she had a 25 point lead when this campaign began and ended with a hung parliament, having lost seats in parliament, of against the labor leader jeremy corbyn, who has increased bowsher are the biggest margin i think since 1945. it is very bad news for her. she is been prime minister for less than a year. how much longer she will survive, we don't know b

they include closing the broadcaster -- al jazeera. sarah: i am sarah kelly. occam to the program. their message is clear. the franco german alliance is back. ready to lead and provide the eu with a post brexit run. angela merkel and emmanuel macron have given a joint press conference at the end of a two-day summit in brussels. the veteran politician and the newcomer looked like a well-established team. voicing agreement on every issue. >> europe's new power couple. angela merkel a and emmanuel macron held a jojoint press conference at the europepean summit. unity all over. especially when it came to one of the most contentious issues, the legal migration and the refugee crisis. the positions taken by chancellor merkel were brave decisions and i hope we don't have to repeat them. in any case, i will do anything to stand by you because of this common challenge. it requires common answers. seems like this from last weekend have become more and more frequent. more than 50,000 r refugees have crossed the mediterranean. 8.6% increase compared to 2015. leaders come in with their support

they care a lot for al-jazeera network and they know how strong and powerful it is in promoting cathars views so they have raised all these demands in order to empty the hands of the hall from the willing ace's that it had and made a powerful actor on the southern rooms of the person goals. the pentagon's name pakistan as the main external reason for instability in afghanistan . the exploitation of ungoverned sanctuaries outside of afghanistan by terrorists and afghan insurgents is the single greatest external factor that could cause failure of the coalition campaign the u.s. is now planning to increase drone strikes targeting militants in pakistan islamabad has condensed in the calling it a violation of sovereignty u.s. officials gave different reasons why the afghan campaign wasn't going to plan iran is reportedly arming and funding the taliban corruption is a huge challenge and afghanistan that russia is now meddling in afghanistan it's very difficult to succeed on the battlefield when your enemy enjoys external support and safe haven we had the. overt legitimacy led to the taliban b

as we heard that, closure of al jazeera is one of the main demand.l shabbat, a young seniorjournalists spoke to the mark bell shabbat, a young senior journalists and spokesman for aljazeera young senior journalists and spokesman for al jazeera and young senior journalists and spokesman for aljazeera and said if they are worried about closure. not at all. we have grown accustomed to this pressure that has been exerted on us ever this pressure that has been exerted on us ever since the inception of al jazeera, more than 20 years ago. we we re jazeera, more than 20 years ago. we were the first independent news network in the arab world, as a result because we continue to speak truth to power and provide information to the citizens not only 110w information to the citizens not only now of the arab world but the entire globe, there are governments who have probably the worst track record of human rights, the worst track record of respecting freedom of expression and information, and all other human rights. they insist on cracking down on us. we have grown

what impact might it have on al jazeera? >> how much might be demanded of qatar to avert this problem and of her further, more threatening escalation is that they would have to renounce many of their ambitions in the region, as you point out, it includes media influence as well as throwing his money around and supporting different groups. -- azeera has been made major part of qatar's influence. it has really riled the entire region at times. it completely revolutionized the media and allowed a greater in theof freedom israeli-palestinian conflict. years, critics of algeria -- al jazeera have said it is causing a division in the region in that sense. of course, it also covers domestic and should -- issues and other gulf countries. >> notwithstanding, some are saying that began a series of bashing articles. it suggested that cutter -- qatar had its relationship with president trump. >> there was one particular report that the leader was talking about the idea that trump might not much longer be in power. the were complaining a

al jazeera has been a major part of qatar's influence. and as you said, it has really riled the entire region at times. it's been a boon in a way to arab media, it completely revolutionized the media. and it allowed a greater degree of freedom in covering first the israeli-palestinian conflict, later the u.s. invasion in the occupation of iraq and now in recent years with the arab revolt. during this period, critics of al jazeera have said it has become much more sectarian and taking sides and caused division in the region in that sense. and of course it also covers domestic issues in other gulf countries. of course never in qatar, in ways that are not always comfortable for their rulers. >> there is also this, not withstanding what we said about the military base that's there. some are saying that it began a series of qatar-bashing articles after qatar's imir suggested that qatar had a tense relationship with president trump. >> yes, well, there was one particular report that the leader was talking about, the idea that trump might not mu

they care a lot for al-jazeera network and they know how strong and powerful it is in promoting cathars views so they have raised all these demands in order to empty the hands of the from the willing ace's that it had and made a powerful actor on the southern rooms of the persian gulf. after america's defense secretary admitted u.s. failings in afghanistan last week the pentagon seems to have been looking for somebody to blame and it's found someone in his first report to congress since the election the pentagon named pakistan as the single greatest external factor hindering u.s. actions there are poor refers to what it calls support of afghan insurgents by the pakistani government during sixteen years of its involvement in afghanistan washington has given a range of reasons why it's outgunned campaign wasn't going to plan. iran is reportedly arming and funding the taleban corruption is a huge challenge in afghanistan that russia is now meddling in afghanistan it's very difficult to succeed on the battlefield when your enemy enjoys external support and safe haven we had the. overt legit

but they provide a huge platform for al jazeera to create a legitimacy for radical islamist views.n i was in the obama administration during the conflict in libya, they were providing money and arms to the islamist groups in libya, the very ones we did not want to see develop any kind of support. so you are seeing an effort on qatar's part to have it both ways. what you see the saudis and the egyptians doing is saying that has to stop. it seems the administration is sending mixed messages. the president is tough in singling out qatar and supporting what the saudis are doing. we see the secretary of state saying we need to deescalate, the boycott is causing problems from a humanitarian standpoint and the standpoint of our military operations. we need to bring this under control. i understand the need to do this. but it can't be done in a way that allows qatar to continue doing what it's doing. eric: what you just said was astounding. not just support for hamas and al qaeda. but for the taliban. do we risk the threat of having our air base, the largest in the region kicked out of the

payments for deaths and other losses caused by qatari policies and also putting the plug on the al jazeera news network international reaction to these demands has been mixed particularly from washington here you have president trump indorsing the decision to ostracize qatar saying that the state must stop funding terrorism the time it come to car. or get to our to end its funding. they have to end their own. and its extremist. ideology in terms of fund and yet the state department's questioned the motives as to whether it's to help tackle tara or settled long term grievances now that it's been more than two weeks since the embargo started we are mystified that the gulf states have not released to the public nor to the qataris the details about the claims that they are making toward qatar the more the time goes by the more doubt is raised about the actions taken by saudi arabia and the u.a.e. at this point we are left with one simple question were the actions really about their concerns regarding cutter's alleged support for terrorism or were they about the long simmering grievances betwee

western media outlets i can understand why the different media outlets russia today for example al-jazeera have different points of view and everybody recognizes that when they switch on the television the people who are deliberately manipulating the facts i think that's going to be called out and we can't have a serious discussion of serious matters if this kind of tactic is tolerated and i think it's very important this is coming out and hopefully it will have some effect on the kind of coverage that sinan does in the future always good to get your take out to martin somers independent journalist or thanks for joining us this hour. russia sees the latest u.s. threat to use military force against the syrian government is on acceptable the white house earlier claimed the assad leadership is preparing to launch a chemical weapons attack president trumps press secretary says the u.s. will take action if that happens the united states as identified potential preparations for another chemical weapons attack by the side regime the united states is in syria to eliminate the slum extent of iraq a

has been issued by a saudi led group of arab nations breaking ties with the rat and closing the al-jazeera news channels are among with demands in order to lift a punitive blockade when u.s. secretary rex tillerson says qatar is carefully reviewing and considering the request anyway the arab states also one of the close a military base operated by turkey which is inferior to that country's leader president hu and says the ultimatum goes against international law is our middle east correspondent pulled his sleeve. well turkey's president at the one has slammed a list of demands that was made by saudi arabia and three other countries on qatar to end its sudden isolation and those demands must be met if qatar wants to find itself back on good terms one of the measures on the list directly concerns to as qatar has been told to end and has military presence in the country now president has called this decision and attack against a sovereign states rights take a listen. we see the attitude regarding the thirteen articles in contradiction with international law because that cannot be such an atta

share the biggest natural gas field so that could be a problem as well it calls on shutting down al-jazeera and all qatar funded news outlets to terminate to military presence in qatar to any joint military cooperation with turkey that is taking place inside of qatar the list says that there needs to be agreement to all demands within ten days or the list becomes invalid now the document does not specify what the countries will do if qatar refuses to comply so of course it remains to be seen whether qatar will view these demands as either reasonable or actionable. after their demands appeared in the press the u.s. foreign minister accused cats are of leaking them he branded it either an attempt to undermine talks or just callous policy well there's also been reaction from those mentioned in the demands al-jazeera slammed a call for its closure as an attack on the freedom of expression while turkey said an order to withdraw its military presence from cattle was meddling in other countries relations. well to share with the turkish base in qatar is a guarantee of security in the gulf and deman

when al jazeera started it, saudis didn't like it. it blew over. qatar established diplomatic relations with the israelis and the same thing, it blew over. some are saying this is more serious. >> it seems more serious when you're saying the citizens have two weeks the get out. qatar airways, i've flown a million times thargs shutting down their land border. remember, qatar is hosting the world cup in 2022, i believe it is. i think they have the olympics coming there as well. all the food they're importing. everything goes through that land border in saudi arabia. so toouts weergs in a little pickball what we're going to do about our military base. my prediction is that you'll see the saudis, especially probably the emirates. i don't see that happening. this is a power play here. saudi is telling qatar, get a line or you're completely cut off and they've chosen completely cut off. >> thank you for joining us. >>> coming up next, the president's $1 trillion overhaul. and is it or isn't it? president trump may be calling his executive order on immigr

of what he called a callous policy well as also be reaction from those mentioned in the demands al-jazeera called the gulf states demands for its closure nothing but an attempt to silence the freedom of art to abolish turkey's military presence in the country turkish defense minister said that it would be an intervention in the country's bilateral relations with the turkish base in qatar is a guarantor of security in the gulf and demands for its closure represented interference in its ties with. political commentators saeed moustapha horse chesham things such tough demands have been made by gulf states to strip qatar of its most powerful geopolitical assets they have raise some demands in order to empty the hands of qatar from the merits and winning races that it had that maybe. we wait like its ties with the muslim brotherhood like its ties strong ties with hamas gave him a say in the middle east peace in the palestinian views really should also use the strong ties with iran that made it a player a good actor in the region.

they care a lot for al-jazeera network and they know how strong and powerful it is in promoting cathars views so they have raised all these demands in order to empty the hands of the hall from the winning aces that he had and made a powerful act there on the southern rims of the person goals. next on r.t. international watching the hawks delves into how russia case is starting to bite the hand that feeds it. with the islamic state perceived to be on the defensive in syria many of the parties in this proxy war are eyeing the next stage of this conflict as a result russia in the us. is washington strategic interest in syria really. greetings and salutation i'm sure by now we've all of the old saying another day another dollar or as they say here in washington since the election of one hundred old j. trump as president another day another allegation for meddling into hacking the collusion to obstruction week after week day after day we witnessed a steady stream of allegations directed at the white house and russia but but this week things have taken any rather intriguing turf as democrats

shootinghat qatar is down al jazeera. qatar cannot afford to break its ties with iran.y share a very logical oil filled with them. these are designed to put additional pressure on qatar. discussion on moderating some of the content of al jazeera or moderating some of the connections between qatar and iran. that becomes a basis for discussion. since the isolation of qatar began, there has been a lot of that we could see north state actors strengthening their presence. the fact that if there was any willingness to continue negotiations with iran, it would have been more beneficial to have a neutral actor mediating in between. how well thought out you think this strategy to isolate qatar is? >> i think it reflects a lot of frustration on the part of saudi arabia and the uae toward qatar. how well thought out it was, i think that is a very good a short given that while after president trump was tweeting his support for qatar's isolation, his secretary of state was trying to calm the situation down, i think that some of the pressure that the saudi's and the uae have put on q

like ale, it does not jazeera because al jazeera is pretty much unique and this --le region in adopting a relatively critical attitude to what is going on in the air world. -- in the arab world. i don't think the saudis will be able to force turkey to do anything it does not want. rishaad: exactly. in your view, rex tillerson also says some of these demands would be very difficult for qatar to fulfill. how do you think it plays out? >> it is very difficult to say. qatar the demands is that doesn't interfere with the internal sovereignty anywhere else. this is a massive interference in internal sovereignty, as you can see as you read through this list. all utterly unreasonable. should not fund terrorism and so forth, that goes without saying, but the saudis are scarcely innocent of that. difficult to say because you have these contradictory voices coming out of the white house. tillerson i think is trying to go for some sort of moderation and reason and so on. trump is of course as always unpredictable, and of course doesn't understand the politics particularly well, but it is very hard

. >> those demands are closing the al jazeera news network. reducing ties to iran and closing a turkey military base. and cnn producer joins us now from istanbul with more about it. the list of demands seems like these countries are overreaching with such demands. >> reporter: well, natalie, this move came very suddenly and surprisingly, but of course there is a backstory. the nations that are carrying out the so-called block on qatar said this is a move to stop qatar from funding and supporting terrorism. the backstory is qatar has an active foreign policy. strategic and critical partner in crises around the region and pivotal in trying to establish communication lines between different groups that might not always be able to speak to each other and facilitating communications for western governments. and the impact of that foreign policy has been huge compared to how small qatar really is. that has been a source of irritation for its neighbor saudi arabia which views itself and is the dominant player in the gulf. and this list of demands whe

it includes the closing of al jazeera television, reduced relations with iran and cutting ties with groups also the closing of a turkish military base in ka paqatar. many people i was talking to say this will go away. sense will prevail therepragmatism, but asking them to close down al jazeera enormous the links to islamist groups, we can understand, but the other? interesting. >>> senate republicans revealed their healthcare plan state side, it includes large cuts to medicaid and a defunding of the planned parenthood organization. united health was the biggest gainer with the healthcare select etf hitting an intraday high earlier in the session. casey hunt has the details on a bill written in the shadows. >> reporter: wheelchair-bound protesters. >> save our liberty. >> reporter: 43 arrested and dragged from a senate office building. >> i worked all my life with my disability, but i'm not rich enough to keep my daughter alive without medicaid >> reporter: all happening just as the draft of the gop plan to repeal and replace obamacare was finally made public this morning. the draft senate

and of hosting the al—jazeera tv channel, a constant thorn in the side of arab rulers.his go? translation: i don't think the uae and saudi arabia will, or want to, interfere to overthrow the regime in qatar. theyjust want qatar to commit to what's been agreed on. qatar has invested billions of pounds in britain. it owns the london shard, harrods, luxury hotels, property and bank shares. qatar's embassy in london is making no comment this evening, but this is an escalating row between close allies of britain's in the gulf. qatar will not be able to endure this sort of isolation for long and looming on the horizon is an important date on the calendar. in just five years' time, the fifa football world cup is due to be held in qatar. already a controversial choice of venue, this would be all but impossible if this row is not resolved by then. frank gardner, bbc news. the leader of the scottish national party, nicola sturgeon and the liberal democrat leader, tim farron, have faced an audience in edinburgh this evening on a bbc question time election special. they faced quest

the nation has ten days to comply with the list of demands including shutting down al jazeera. it got worse this month following accusations including from donald trump that the nation supports terrorism. fred is following these developments for us. what are you learning? >> we have a list of demands that saudis and other countries are making toward qatar and they are hefty demands, john, aside from shutting down al jazeera. they are demanding qatar shut down other television networks as well. also cut most of their ties with the iranians. they share the biggest gas field in the world. that is something that is going to be difficult to do. stop meddling in the affairs of gulf countries. they accused the qatari's of shutting down saudi arabia and paying reformation for debts or damages done by qatari's. they have not responded. the list of demands hasn't been made public yet. it's confirmed it exists and each side is accused of saying they are leaking the list. it seems like a list that will make negotiations very, very difficult because the demands are crass. among them is stop

the list of demands includes shutting al jazeera, cutting back ties with iran, and ending turkey's militarysence. pakistan, more than 150 killed after a tanker exploded. officials said dozens more are in critical condition. villagers had gathered to collect leaking fuel. the final round of election showed a resurgence in for former prime minister silvio berlusconi. candidates showed backing and an independent candidate. they made significant setbacks for the ruling democratic party. spacex has launched its ninth rocket, topping last year's total. the lift off from vandenberg in california follows another launch on friday. it is caring 10 satellites for iridium communications. it is the first time spacex has sent two rockets into orbit in such a short time. global news 24 hours a day powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. this is bloomberg. francine: thank you. italy has approved emergency ,ules for two ailing banks mobilizing as much as 17 billion euros. on friday, the european central bank declared the lenders failing or likely to fail and said both

authorities arrested him, the bureau chief for al jazeera english on charges he up terrorist organizationsegypt eventually pardon him and he's doing his employer. >> i filed my lawsuit while i was in prison in egypt. i met members of the muslim brotherhood who confirmed that the network had given them cameras, live transmission equipment, and use their footage without the knowledge of us, which contributed to our tough situation. >> when he filed his lawsuit, al jazeera denied the charges. months before fahmy's arrest, egypt's overthrew. one of the many examples of the deep and complicated rivalries and conflicts among middle east countries. several, like saudi arabia and egypt, have severed ties with qatar. in in the latest encounter, president trump is taking sides. >> one of the big things we did, and you are seeing it with qatar and the things that are actually going on in a very positive fashion, we are stopping the funding of terrorism. we are going to stop the funding of terrorism. >> state apartment official says secretary of state rex tillerson and a dozen phone calls has spoken t

ties with iran, removing the turkish military base in qatar and shutting down the news network al jazeera al jazeera responding with this statement, we assert our right to practice our journalism professionally without bowing to pressure from any government or authority. and calling the demands nothing but an attempt to silence the freedom of expression in the region well, mark, it's not reacting to this i'm going to send it down to you at "squawk alley". >> thank you, jackie good morning it is 10:00 a.m. at american airlines headquarters in ft. worth, texas 11:00 a.m. here on wall street and "squawk alley" is live >>> good morning welcome to "squawk alley." joining me this morning, sarah eisen and mike santoli and the the senate's new health care plan in a joint statement, rand paul, ted cruz, mike lee and lee johnson say it doesn't do enough to repeal obamacare. republicans can only afford two no votes the aarp, american hospital association and others have also come out against this bill health care stocks, though, surging following the draft's release. they're on pace for the best wee

al jazeera has been closed, it is funded by qatar. they have cut land, sea and air links with qatar. much to the concern of some people there. >> supermarkets and qatar have been filled with residents stocking up on groceries. the rush came after several countries declared they are cutting ties with qatar. saudi arabia is impmposing a blockade ohihis neighboror. therere are charges ththat qatas supporting organizizations like the islamic state and egyptp's former rulers which qatar denies. the u.s. secectary of ststate rx tillerson currently in australia urged cooperation. >> we would encourage the parties to sit down together, address these differenceces. if there is any role we can play in terms of helping them address those, we think it is important that the gcc remain unified. >> just two weeks ago, donald trump visited t the middle eaea. the middle east was already divided before his trip. they must leave the countries within 48 hours. ththcitizens w within two o wee. the emirates are letting to pause flights to and from it. >> o

particularly, in the arab media because of al jazeera arabic.ar has long challenged its saudi narrative for the region. it has been sympathetic to the muslim brotherhood. it has been quite supportive of the morsi government and the revolutions after the arab spring in egypt and elsewhere. the saudis have been on the opposite side of this. if the saudis are aiding to escort matters further toward some form of a confrontation with iran, one thing they need to get rid of before they do so is qatar and its ability to challenge the saudi narrative inside the airport in case such a thing happens. take a look at 2006 when israel and has a lot went to war with each other -- hezbollah went to war with each other. the saudis did not managed to win the narrative and the war of narratives within the arab world. the air world overwhelmingly was siding with hezbollah in a conflict. it taught them a lesson of how important it is for them to have a much stronger media apparatus. the biggest challenge to that is al jazeera arabic. these things seem to be connect

al jazeera, a qatari-owned international news channel, has always given prominent support to, or i shoulday airtime to muslim brothers and opponents in a variety of countries around the region. it is an easy charge to make, but, as i said a bit earlier, it's a bit like the pot calling the pet -- calling the kettle black. saudi arabia has long had ties to many of the same extremists, promoting wahhabism threat not just the immediate middle eastern region but throughout the muslim world. even in parts of the west. it is rather rich to be charged on that score. laura: what, if anything, does this have to do with donald trump's visit to the region last month? it is an issuek of circumstance and somewhat coincidence. this is not in the interest of the united states. i think this is one of the things that the american administration will be trying to say to the saudis, who i believe thein a moment of testing new relationship following the inauguration of donald trump. they felt as with their relationship with barack obama had reached the absolute bottom despite the fact that he did a saudi's --