in june twenty eight hundred nato held a training exercise in the baltic states and poland nineteen nato states and partners including friends took part. from a military standpoint it would be extremely difficult if not impossible to defend the baltic states against a russian attack involving armored divisions and tens of thousands of troops. on some. german soldiers also took part. they need to exercise. here read units defend themselves against an attack by blue units. the. it's strategically better to wait than to fire blindly and give away your position. but that's functional name finds we engage the enemy infantry and took out quite a few of us can. i redeployed my men in a stream bed which is a good defensive position. right now we're waiting for the next enemy attack. which they are probably preparing right now to find as good of an all star says the doctor in north korean yet. germany is leading a nato force in lithuania that involves one thousand two hundred troops from ten member states. the units were sent to strengthen the alliances defenses along europe's border with russia.

as far as the decisions nato made to augment the presence in several states in eastern europe that were seen as under the three baltics and poland, the aired states had a small presence and we now have three battalions as part of the so-called enhanced nato forward presence. it is not up to the russia border, and certainly the russians don't like it but it is by no means a presence that could be seen as anything that is going to threaten russia. it is much too small to have offensive capability. question toecond stephen is, i believe last month or this month, the pentagon ran battleter simulation of -- battle, possibly world war iii where china would hit us in the pacific and russia would hit us in europe. is that true? i am not familiar with that specific game. we at the rand corporation have run a variety of wargames where there has been a challenge, particularly a study published in 2015 which showed that not so much that the united states was incapable of defending the united states but in terms of the defense of the baltics, that it was a difficult military challenge because of the time-distance problem. we don't

a vote of confidence in the measures that lead to mistaken is it the four battle groups in the baltic states and in poland are not meant to hold the line for long they are precisely that they are going to be credible they are and they are credible as a deterrence and defense tripwire because they bring together forces from across the alliance units from every single nato ally practically are serving in those battle groups and server but you animal russian knows russian know that if they step across the line they will face. the entire nato alliance but that is why nowadays we are placing our emphasis on reinforcement and readiness and being able to rapidly move troops in behind those battleground isn't impressed by that either it says that given the current posture and capability including the european battalions and rotational u.s. omid brigade combat team russia still enjoys a substantial time distance advantage in the initial days and weeks of a conventional ground campaign in the baltic states that's the reality of geo geography and the fact that russia does in fact sit as the great land

time distance advantage in the initial days and weeks of a conventional ground campaign in the baltic states that's the reality of geo geography and the fact that russia does in fact sit as the great land power in eurasia that's a fact of history yeah but i do forces are not providing the tenets that you promised i don't know why you keep saying that tim you're sorry i'm not sorry yes i'm going to work to give sorting some reports that have come about and i'm terribly amused by those around reports you know i work for random the one nine hundred eighty s. they said exactly the same thing during the cold war so the fact of the matter is everybody gave up there's just no no they don't make it up but they are repeating you know what is based on a reality of the geopolitics and the geography of eurasia what we can do is ensure that russia knows all twenty nine allies are prepared to act and are prepared to reinforce and that has proven during the cold war an effective deterrent and i believe it proves an effective deterrent today the impression of an alliance that is no longer credible has been

them managed to do it you may not have agreed with the story you may not have agreed with the baltic states national narrative you may not have agreed with the. invocation of central asian medieval warriors in the central asian republics you may have disagreed with them but all of them managed to come up with the reception of you by a slightly bigger national narrative which gave their states some kind of reason to exist ukraine failed in the ok john you've got a mini gen i want to talk about one more i want to talk about one marine issue here and then over here let's talk about the lack of justice for a marine in the unit in the united states eighteen months prison nine months already served well as just be. global because she agreed to cooperate with the investigate us and the west and used. for example bloomberg immediately admitted that she could not be a spy because if you agreed to cooperate with the investigation in you're a spy that means you're a traitor and you are no longer welcome in russia but russia said fine you know let's put it that let's get out of there because let me rem

very religious if you want to be alone with going to the baltic states and to europe bread is not just for eating you have to really digest it's today's lesson plan lets you share that on social media one a pretty boy is this tony and say may the bread last and it will last forever. on the world wide web. back to the studio and now for something completely different because to me has joined me here a ballet dancer from australia currently with the internationally renowned go dance from stock dots and that's a dance company of sixteen that's in berlin for a four night extravaganza called make out israel. started dancing at age seven in vienna while he's at home on stages of the stages of toronto york television moscow and of course berlin twenty five years young but already quite a long career behind you welcome to the studio and thanks so much for coming in tonight are you excited for this performance in berlin ok now the title says it all nega israel obviously this is high octane stuff by a group of famous choreographers. and then begin with landmark works not an interesting mix is th

i thank if the baltic states were not members of nato we would be saying -- seeing it in the baltic states today. i think since the election of 2012 in which he felt or believed that the u.s. intervened against him when he was reelected president, and he -- he regards anything that we were doing in terms of promotion of democracy of civil society and so on which was going on, began really during the bush administration, as interference in their internal affairs, and so i think this newest piece is basically retaliation and the determination to weaken the west in every way possible through fomenting internal divisions, and not just in the united states but in europe as well. and we have seen it in germany and france and italy. they were involved i think originally in the brexit vote. and to the president's point about the soviet playbook, the problem today is the technologies that are available through social media and the internet and cyber and so on are dramatically important effective than the tools available to the c.i.a. and k.g.b. in the cold war. and putin is using all of these again

if i think the baltic states were not members of nato, i think we would be seeing it in the baltic states today. i think since the election in or2 in which he felt, believed that the u.s. intervened against him when he was reelected president, and he regards anything that we were doing in terms of promotion of democracy, of civil society and so on, which began really during the bush administration, as interference in their internal affairs. and so, i think this newest piece is basically retaliation, and the determination to weaken the west in every way possible through fomenting internal divisions. not just in the u.s. but in europe as well. and we have seen it in germany, france, italy. i think they were involved originally in the direct sit vote. -- brexit vote. the problem today is the technologies that are available through social media and the on aret and cyber and so dramatically more effective than the tools that were available to the cia and kgb back in the cold war. and putin is using all of these mentnst us to try and fo divisions among us, to interfere with the outcomes of our

further north to some places of low cloud yes but plenty of sunshine as you push up towards the baltic states across northern parts of europe seven celsius of berlin is cool crisp sunshine eleven degrees in london getting up to eighty eight in madrid some fine in tribe weather coming through his nose still want to wintry flowers there over the alps unnoticed from all the parts of africa we have still got some bits and pieces of cloud just floating out to the northwest just pushing a question is here over towards libya but by and large is fine and dry. weather spot. i can't tolerate this. as protests over welfare cuts exploded nicaragua's from trying government launched a brutal clampdown. now after a year of debts detentions and political suppression crisis negotiations are underway. but could the dark days of civil war still return. people in power investigates the frontline nicaragua on al jazeera. welcome back you're watching al-jazeera time to recap our headlines both main parties in israel have the same number of seats with vote counting almost over prime minister benjamin netanyahu look

east 18 degrees or more across poland that is unusually warm for this time of year around the baltic states cooler than the rest of the week with the increasing chance of showers, more details and have an hour. hello, i'm ros atkins, this is 0utside source. the death toll in the sri lanka attacks has passed 350. more footage of the alleged attackers has been released. we'll get more details on that. and the political row over intelligence failures is intensifying. most of them are well educated, and come from may be middle or upper middle—class. the uk will use the chinese telecoms firm huawei to supply equipment for its 5g data network — despite being asked not to by the us. iran's foreign minister has suggested that the british—iranian nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe could be released from jail in a prisoner swap with iranians detained by the us. some newsjust in — iran's foreign minister is offering a prisoner exchange for nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe a british—iranian dual national who has been held in tehran for more than three years and an iranian woman held in australia on what he calls "phon

potentially could spin out of control some potentially potential talking about potential accidents baltic states are apparently police and concerned the russian threat and they're very happy every time nato conducts their drills on their territory and this obviously gets on the nerves russians it's like a never ending story but since you're going to mission is actually early conflict prevention do you see a serious conflict potential there. you see i think the threat perceptions need to be taken seriously and this is. while most of reasons why we launched this structured. to allow to see beijing states to come together and share strength perceptions. i think it is only by getting a better sense of what's right and. we can gradually rebuild trust and call to do come here all the time not just part of the western well right you know the reality on the ground here just as much as you know the reality on the ground there do you feel your take threats should be taken seriously do you think there is a potential it's absolutely irrelevant to how i feel about it your handlers you know as you say take ca

which a lot of countries are doing dollar like united states that mark poland and the parts of the baltic states saw it is a bit surprising but on the other hand if you look what you stated in the past and what you wrote for instance of the fund for. so he was never a supporter of this project which is not a political project which is economic a project you know run by several companies from western europe and the russian federation thank you very much for your time today matthias material dorn felt political analyst at the berlin center for caspian region studies at the free university of berlin. a russian student who's been paroled after serving her first sentence for trying to join the slum mixtape has been facing reporters this afternoon we picked on the story after this. to. put themselves on the line to get accepted or rejected. so you want to be president and she. wanted. to write. this is like the before. can't be. interested in the. doing those manufacturing jobs also start to innovate because that's where the innovation happens on the factory floor so the factory floor is been moved to

had deployed three companies to the three baltic states to defend nature against russian aggression. as they were attacking ukraine, they began to make plans to attack the united states doing the 2016 residential election. so i want people to understand that what russia did, i will keep us focused on russia, this is military doctrine come of this is called new generation warfare. the russian chief of the general staff has created a doctrine designed to basically crash us or influence us from within. you don't have to invade us, you don't have to cross our borders, ,ou are changing us from inside changing americans view about our democracy and helping americans fight each other. you are sewing those divisions. what this 448-page report did was map out, at least the first part of it, how russia did that. it is so important for americans stop.w that this will not they did it again in 2018 in trying to shape perceptions and they will do it again in 2020. eight may be a guest the republicans the next time rather than the democrats. we have to prepare and protect our country from this influ

not give a very convincing response that it would be willing to do that so then you've got the baltic states worried you've got poland worried so even saying these things does have a bad impact but people reassure themselves by saying in real facts and figures what president trump has said has not actually played out and alexander we know that celebrations are planned for today so you know everyone is sort of brushing those tensions aside and getting ready to blow out these seventy candles what's on the agenda. we are here in front of congress because there's a morning told her broker is due to arrive here and to address a joint session of congress and this is a very important event he was invited here by house speaker pelosi and by the senate majority leader mcconnell and it shows that there is very good by purchasing support for nato here in congress where they were for example this year in january the house voted overwhelmingly for a so-called nato support to that would prohibit. taking federal funds to withdraw from nato later on nato foreign minister will gather here in washington to ce

it is northern europe netherlands germany for example and also the baltic states france but to changes the winters down to a northerly that further says you can see this cloud is not moving very much these things are not going to change very much i think falling out of that cloud from slovenia down to greece is going to keep falling things actually if area settled still in western europe showers likely in spain temporary thirty in madrid struck france two seems sherry's well the tension berlin is still maintained at twelve on tuesday but it is the green with a bit of whites in it for snow still some of the probably a townie of outs for this time but the green extends all the way down through the adriatic to the igi and even affecting western turkey and move and overnight tuesday wednesday picture stow forty rather more vigorously but only on the mountains brain rather more likely down to single figures by the time we get to wednesday woodridge up to sixteen northern spain southern france so pretty showery could well be thunderstorms now some of the payoff from that is going to be a nor

theyn that came together, we have a situation where there is a shortage of labor in poland and the baltic states. you have people in spain and portugal, you will find out it is much more likely you will get better results looking at this whole european economy, rather than a single countries. , they have been taking a decision by corporate's -- a company of 2000 employees being successful in the world market with three or four competitors, one possibly from japan, one might be from italy or finland or the united states. they met the challenge of being globally competitive. neighbors,ust their it is not exports and imports to the countries right at the border. this is the reason for the success. for when theret is slower growth in the global economy, we will have a slower growth in germany because we cannot avoid it. you should understand there is one thing with the german economy that many people view that researchers are not happy with the idea but there are some that are making schedules to say we put together exports and imports. we have them. look at the different countries. and then you wil

putin season looking for a opportunity to test nato whether or not we would come to defense of the baltic states or some other country? >> yes. i do think that risk while still relatively small has gone up. over the last -- several years it is at the end of the day that psychological component thought an american president doing somewhere in the backew of his mind but said nato and the e.u. and our relationship with europe, is a part of some great big con against b the united states to b our wealth to take advantage of us that is a suckers filet to some extent. iom think that does erode, that- the underlying message of deterrent that the alliance has to convey to russia and it encourages a putin that thinks he can challenge and split nato and fracture nato to unravel alliance that gives them some part to be able to do that. >> okay john thanks for being here. appreciate it. when we come back a showdown in the senate this week republicans move to break the democratic stall on president trump nominee. nice tip. i'll give you two bucks for the chair. two?! that's a victorian antique! all right, how

opportunity to test nato in this, and whether or not we really would come to the defense of the baltic statesyes, i do think that that risk -- while still relatively small -- has gone up over the last several years. again, it is at the end of the day, it is that psychological component. the fought that there is an american president somewhere in the back of his mind believes that nato and the e.u. and our relationship with europe is a part of some great big con against can the united states to rob our wealth and to take advantage of us, that it's a sucker's play to some extent. i think that does erode that -- paul: right. >> -- the underlying message of deterrence that the alliance has to convey to russia. and it encourages a putin that thinks he can challenge and split nato and fracture nato and unravel the alliance. it gives him some heart that he might be able to do that. paul: john hannah, appreciate it. when we come back, a showdown in when we come back, a showdown in the senate as 2,000 fence posts. 900 acres. 48 bales. all before lunch, which we caught last saturday. we earn our scars.

and that continues into saturday after some morning mist and fog, parts of finland to the baltic statesrday and on the cool side here in saturday with southern parts of spain and portugal to the stormy weather. temperatures in paris, 26 degrees and we could get to that here as we go to the next few days, drier in many areas to the weekend and all the details in half an hour. hello, i'm ros atkins, this is 0utside source. the mueller report into russian meddling in the us election has finally been released. the two year investigation finds no criminal conspiracy between donald trump's 2016 election campaign and russia but doesn't clear the president of obstructing justice. president trump still insists the report's findings totally exonerate him. i'm having a good day too. it was called no collusion, no obstruction. we'll bring you the key details from the muller report and all the reaction. as you can see from this picture some people have chosen to print the whole report out. it will take you a while, it's over 400 pages long, if you'd rather have it digitally, it's available online, a

connected officials, for oligarchs who were siphoning money out of moxco, bouncing it through the baltic statesnto america and the western financial system generally. now, deutsche bank has been fined for this by regulared including in new york. it's paid penalties more than $600 million. meanwhile, the bank has been incredibly evasive. i mean, you call them up, you ask questions. they don't give you any answers. congress has written to deutsche bank, inquiring about lending to mr. trump, and never received a reply. what's interesting now is we now have subpoenas and maybe deutsche bank will finally start shedding light on this. of course, donald trump's tax returns might tell us something, but we're still waiting for those as well. >> in the immediate, i mean, now we know that deutsche bank is turning over documents to the new york attorney general. i do wonder what you think kind of the big at least the most important question that you would have that could possibly be answered from what the new york attorney general is getting. and for that matter, the investigations under way in congress. >

capabilities specifically with regard to russia it's deploying troops into eastern europe into the baltic sea states and hansing its air and naval presence in the black and baltic sea the u.s. is even deploying marines again back up in northern norway and i think military commanders are looking at that and seeing the sense of the decisions that have been made over the past five years as way in ways to strengthen nato and they're they're happy with that at the same time it's this political uncertainty about the nature of particularly american leadership and the president's commitment to nato leaving not only our allies but military leaders uncertain about the capability of the alliance if and when it actually gets challenge will the united states politically being gauge in this alliance if and when the necessity is there that question has never been asked. to the extent it is being asked today and that is a big change the national rifle association in the united states is lobbying congress to block the law which prohibits people convicted of domestic and sexual abuse from owning firearms congress is

capabilities specifically with regard to russia it's deploying troops into eastern europe into the baltic sea states it's hansing its air and naval presence in the black and baltic sea us is even deploying marines again back up in northern norway and i think military commanders are looking at that and seen the sense of decisions that happen made over the past five years as way in ways to strengthen nato and they're they're happy with that at the same time it's this political uncertainty about the nature of particularly american leadership and the president's commitment to nato that is leaving not only our allies but military leaders uncertain about what the capability of the alliance if and when it actually gets challenge will the united states politically being gauge in this alliance if and when the necessity is there that question has never been asked. to the extent that it's being asked today and that is a big change even though it's great to get your insight because you're so well connected with what's what the thinking is need to talk to you thank you my pleasure algeria's constitutional counci