our very own sam sachs i first asked him if snowden has responded to president barack obama's speech on n.s.a. reforms. this sort of he was asked kind of the frame of should president obama have been given given this speech so early especially since so many voices have been weighed in on this debate namely the privacy and civil liberties oversight board which released a report today basically saying that the n.s.a.'s bulk phone records collection program is both illegal and mostly useless in preventing terrorism in that context edward snowden was asked do you think it's a shame that obama gave his n.s.a. speech before his privacy and civil liberties oversight board reported that report . and which still didn't respond and he wanted to focus in on the bulk records program he said it's time to end bulk collection which is a euphemism for mass surveillance there is simply no justification for continuing an unconstitutional policy with a zero percent success rate in light of another independent confirmation of this fact i think americans should look to the white house and congress to close the bo

their burning questions to snowden including a question about his reaction to president obama's n.s.a. speech we'll take a look at his response just ahead and the capital of ukraine has seen countless clashing between protesters and riot police now a tense cease fire has been declared while opposition leaders negotiate with the government the latest from ukraine coming up. and the syrian peace talks have just wrapped david two in switzerland but with the two sides warring over assad's power in the country will the syrian government and rebels even be able to come to an agreement in geneva bring you more from switzerland later in the show. it's thursday january twenty third four pm in washington d.c. i mean you're a david and you're watching r t. and we begin today with breaking news with a special q. and a chat conducted by former government contractor edward snowden today snowden gave a number of curious people out there the chance to have a conversation with him by offering them to ask some timely questions our very own sam sachs has been charting those questions and answers from our newsro

to use to acknowledge so what major reform would you have liked to have seen announced in this n.s.a. speech well i mean in a dream world what i really like to see is the patriot act revalued reevaluated you know. all of the reforms that the president offered in the speech sort of still occurred under the rubric of the patriot act which in my opinion and i think in the opinion of many states. adequately prioritized public safety weighted against constitutional concerns meanwhile he did take a closer look at one section of the patriot act in that section two fifteen the bulk collection of metadata now he did say that he wanted to reform it in india in the way that you and i know i mean that the government will no longer be responsible for collecting and storing that information as i understand it he wants to put that into the hands of third parties what do you think about that. i think it's a good but i mean it's a good choice d'art section two fifteen and metadata collection are kind of really only the tip of the iceberg of the total amount of information that the n.s.a. collects and process

their burning questions to snowden including a question about his reaction to president obama's n.s.a. speech we'll take a look at his response just ahead and the capital of ukraine has seen countless clashes between protesters and riot police now a ten cease fire has been declared while opposition leaders negotiate with the government the latest from ukraine coming up and the syrian peace talks have just wrapped a day to win switzerland but with the two sides warring over assad's power in the country will the syrian government and rebels even be able to come to an agreement we'll bring you more from switzerland later in the show.

n.s.a. to manage so it's not about substance very form what was the speech about what was a lot of this. going to the n.s.a. know that if another nine eleven or massive cyber attack occurs they will be asked by congress in the media why they failed to connect the dots. did you feel the collective shiver of fear run across america just then let the read traumatization began in fact of the course of the forty five minute speech obama mentioned nine eleven eight times and said the words terrorist or terrorism sixteen times do i even have to reiterate that you're four times more likely to be struck by lightning than killed in a terrorist attack in this country but don't worry words like transparency and accountability or mention a whopping one time each but hey this type of spying is all legal so moral objections to whatever the n.s.a. is doing doesn't really hold up in a court of law right mr constitutional law but i have. indicated that our intelligence community has sought to violate the law or is cavalier about the civil liberties of their fellow citizens. well except for a federal judge'

it was billed as a major reform speech the n.s.a. . and there were some reforms introduced but ultimately the speech was focused on section two fifteen bulk metadata collection this was the first program revealed by the snowden documents it's also a program that's in danger it was almost defunded in july of last year and that was before seven months of more of n.s.a. disclosures there's efforts in the senate to undo this program and one federal judge has ruled it likely unconstitutional so i think the president wanted to come out and save this program before it gets completely taken out in june first twenty fifteen it expires all together and they're not might not be enough votes in congress to end the program today but there certainly are no votes in congress next year to renew it either so the president made a deal he says look the government we're not going to retain this information anymore he didn't say anything about collecting they're going to still keep collecting the information i compared him to cutting off his left hand to sa

president obama heads to the department of justice just a few blocks from here and he'll deliver a speech on n.s.a. reforms specifically what he supports from the forty six recommendations his own review panel put forward a few weeks ago the president is expected to devote a large portion of his speech to the privacy concerns of non-u.s. citizens and businesses basically trying to assure foreign consumers that their privacy will be protected when they communicate using american tech companies like google and yahoo now you might remember when it was disclosed that allied world leaders like brazilian president dilma rousseff were spied on by the n.s.a. the president was quick to order a review of that program but the president has not shown the same concern for tens of millions of non u.s. citizens in germany and brazil and france who are also being spied on so there's a high likelihood that he will finally tackle that issue today now the big question is what happens to the most controversial n.s.a. program revealed by edward snowden and that's the n.s.a.'s bulk telephone metadata collection program

president obama set to deliver a speech on the n.s.a. surveillance methods as many question whether the government is ready to limit the agency's spying reach. the syrian government's as it once to team up was a moderate opposition factions against the jihadists that statement coming just days ahead of the geneva two peace conference. and foreign secretary william hague has north to try and convince scotland not to go it alone with an independence referendum eight months away. what you are to get a national coming to you live from moscow i'm marina joshing now millions of those who are concerned over the extent to which they have been watched by america's national security agency are now waiting to hear from the country's president and he is expected to announce much anticipated changes to the way the agency works but it's unclear how far the reforms will go argue some sacks reports from washington d.c. today president obama heads to the department of justice just a few blocks from here and he'll deliver a speech on n.s.a. reforms specif

earlier today obama gave his long awaited speech on n.s.a. reform unsurprisingly he rejected nearly all of the most important recommendations of his own review panel suggested in the wake of the snowden leaks bulk metadata collection is still a ok the information will just be stored in a yet to be determined non-government site and intelligence agencies will have to receive judicial approval before accessing that data base obama also hinted that privacy advocates would have some kind of role in contesting these data requests although as of now that role is completely unclear considering that courts have rejected only point the review percent of all government surveillance inquiries somehow i don't think that judicial approval is going to be too difficult for the n.s.a. to manage so it's not about substantive reform what was the speech about what was a lot of this we're going to get a say no that if another nine eleven or massive cyber attack occurs they will be asked by congress in the media why they failed to connect the dots. did you feel t

. >> the brazilian government says it watched president obama's speech about n.s.a.'s spying. brazil's president called it a first step. reports surfaced that u.s. was spying on the brazilian president. those are the headlines. i'm jonathan betz. "talk to al jazeera" is next. and you can find us online, go to aljazeera.com. maybe i'm making -- maybe i'm putting myself down too hard here. i always love that. because in a way, that it's really not very well-known. exactly why this works as well as it does. i mean, there is so much studying to be done on the brain. you know in 50 years, i can well imagine this not being a situation at all. >> because the treatment is so general, the electrical signals being sent to the brairc brain t a blank currents -- >> you aim for a person depending on his personality and skills, memory and word recall. so one person can have one target and another person, another. since i'm basically a verbal person, there is one to target for me that may be different for another person. >> and you were going to say? >> i don't think that the nerves actually

presidential speech. >> it's a pr gesture, a way to calm the public, making them think there's reform, when in reality there won't be. the public, at this point, heard enough about what the n.s.a. does, and how invasive it is, and they'll need more than a pretty speech. >> the host of "the stream", lisa fletcher is here with us tonight. greenwald is sitting on thousands if not tens of thousands of documents stolen from the n.s.a. government by edward snowden, who is in russia. plenty are calling from clementsy, but america is divided as to whether he's a whisle blower. >> i raised this idea that edward snowden could have held the nation's security in his hands, in the four laptops he allegedly has with him carrying the documents. greenwald's response is if you are going to be mad, be mad at the newspapers that publish the information, not the guy that stole that. >> the people that published it was "the washington post." >> he was in control of the information and handed it to journalists. he is culpable. >> when he handed it over to journalists he said, "i'm providing you with a lot of information much needs to be published, much is what you need to read so you understand how

speech comes during a time when the white house and national security agency are on the defense the president's own approval ratings have slipped to forty three percent piggybacking off a recent n.s.a. surveillance reform speech the president once again promised change but this time for a scandal he helped to perpetuate working with this congress i will reform our surveillance programs because the vital work of our intelligence community depends on public confidence here and abroad the privacy of ordinary people is not being violated they are reforms congress is largely on board with i think the n.s.a. needs to be reformed and i think congress is of that opinion i don't think that's a particularly partisan issue and we want to make sure that the privacy of the american people is protected consistent with making sure that we overcome any threat we have from terrorists and i think we can achieve both goals at the same time we've got to make sure that as technology changes we also make sure that our values remain consistent but how many of those pledges actually go into effect and america's most secretive operations is still questionable at this point another issue largely glazed over

. >> reaction in europe to president obama's n.s.a. speechd from cautious but mild approval to outright skepticism. on the website of the british paper that broke the edward snowden leaks, the comments were negative, few believing change will come, if it does, it will not apply to europeans, just minister. all along it's been a major issue, that mass surveillance of u.s. citizens and allies shows a double standard. often violates stringent laws on privacy established at the court of human rights. jim kel ot runs an advocacy group saying non-americans are furious at the perceived bias against them. while they say they are american citizen, they have the right to privacy. they don't believe it's true for europeans or people outside there at all. >> despite the leaks being published in the u.k., the debate has been mild, because the british version of the n.s.a., the government communication headquarters works in conjunction with washington. sharing the very same data that is mined by america. where today's speech may find greater attention is i

president obama's much anticipated speech on n.s.a. reform is getting a cold reception top ranking lawmakers on capitol hill calling his proposals ineffective while criticizing him for aiding a climate of uncertainty that's coming up after a quick break. first lattimer putin saying russia will do everything it can to ensure a safe winter olympics without making security measures too intrusive with less than three weeks to go before the start of the sochi games the russian leader sat down with the international media and addressed the huge cost of staging the event and dispelling fears that gay visitors would suffer discrimination my colleague spoke with our teams and to farmer who's in sochi about the president's address. these games are the most expensive in the limping history and five times the original price tag but mr putin did stress that over the last five years so cheek was the biggest building site in the world all the venues had to be built from scratch in vision huge infrastructural development in terms of roads and rail lin

n.s.a. the exposure of which sent shock waves around the globe will continue indefinitely the move was outlined during barack obama's speech on the operation of the intelligence agency which introduces a number of reforms yet as many say failed to tackle major privacy issues our days some sex reports. after nearly seven months of n.s.a. disclosures president obama finally came forward with reforms to the spy agency acknowledging that the current capabilities of the n.s.a. do leave open the possibility of abuse given the unique power of the state it is not enough for leaders to say trust us we want to be use the data we collect for history has too many examples when that trust has been breached. our such a system of government is built on the premise that our liberty cannot depend on the good intentions of those in power the president address the n.s.a.'s most controversial program section two fifteen bulk telephone metadata collection basically the president no longer wants the government to be in control of these massive metadata databases but that doesn't mean the president wants to get rid of bulk collection in fact the

well i think the speech was a few baby steps in the right direction but it was a lot of i dissembled lane and certainly it was a reassurance to the n.s.a. and its employees that they have been doing the right thing he talked really focus was on the two fifteen telephone metadata program that is just one of dozens of massive collections nothing in obama's speech putting any rain rain the end this collected all approach there was a big revelation of our call dish fire program that just fire program was collecting all tax calls literally hundreds of thousands of text calls every day are going into the n.s.a.'s vacuum it's gigantic hoover the n.s.a. tactics angered many across the world some comparing its activities to the full scale espionage of the cold war era our correspondent peter all over takes a look from berlin. on finding out that the united states had tapped a private mobile phone and glimmer cool confronted president obama with this claim . former offices in the east german secret police which was known as the stars of a warning for the n.s.a. if they think must surveillance is the solution to a nation's problems who quote if i

n.s.a. policy speech to germany's zdf network. cornbloom thinks the relationship will weather this. >> reporter: kornblum believes the relationship will weather this. >> i don't think there will be a major mantra or diplomatic rift. i think this is one of the short term events that the u.s. and its european allies get into fairly often. >> reporter: but bosbach believes the rift and mistrust over n.s.a. surveillance strikes more. >> ( translated ): how does the u.s. government intelligence see germany's legitimate interests in protecting the basic rights of its citizens? it's about the very foundation of the house? >> much of the trade was built on u.s. communication and internet firms, former ambassador cornblum has talked to some and are worried about losing business to european competitors. >> if you're considered to be a company whose interests are guided by your country. >> the most profound effect of all seems to be the german public's realization that they've become enmeshed in a system that could invade their privacy more

kept in place indefinitely as president obama is criticized for lack of action following his speech on the n.s.a.'s practices. it's just gone ten am here in of the russian capital you live with us on our t.v. international to be on with the. then base of data a delegation from moscow is trying to secure the release of a russian citizen who's been held without charge at guantanamo bay for more than a decade the russian officials are also looking into the ongoing hunger strike and the force feeding of detainees at the u.s. military facility archies on associates have been out of force. for the first time in twelve years a russian delegation spearheaded by the foreign ministry special representative for human rights got access to visit the guantanamo detention camp the goal meeting with the sole russian prisoner in gaza of held there without charge for a decade and taking steps to push for the detainees returned to his homeland we spoke to the top diplomat of the visiting delegation to get the details if you will government is looking for a new significant church it's a gay soldier the loop you can

kept in place indefinitely as president obama is criticized for a lot of action following his speech on the n.s.a.'s practices. this is an international coming to life for most co hello and welcome to the program. a new study by the massachusetts institute of technology has challenge the white house's claims against the syrian government the authors of the reports say the chemical attack in the ghouta suburb of damascus last august couldn't have been launched from government controlled areas and. is it joining us now live. or do we know. well this report is the result of almost three months of investigating of researching whether the missiles carrying sarin gas in syria on august the twenty first twenty thirteen were launched from the government or part of damascus now we made an exact copy of the map which was used by the u.s. intelligence when they voiced their concerns that the rockets were fired from this area from the area controlled by the government forces the area in damascus well this is the area controlled by the opposition and you can see those blinking yellow spots over there these ar

kept in place indefinitely as president obama is criticized for lack of action following his speech on the n.s.a.'s practices.