is kind of becoming more prevalent so the europeans are tending to look at not just russia but also combination of china and russia together this is something that has not really been seen before in this period so i think there is a growing interest or concern about china russia cooperation and what that will mean for the future of nato all right we've run out of times we're going to have to leave the conversation there thanks so much to all our guests pavel felgenhauer teresa fallon and matthew bryza and thank you too for watching you can see the program again any time by visiting our website al-jazeera dot com and for further discussion go to our facebook page that's facebook dot com forward slash a.j. inside story you can also join the conversation on twitter our handle is at a.j. inside story from emergency room and a whole team here bye for now. on the deserted streets of bogata they've become familiar figures couriers on bicycles delivering food or medicine to lock down colombians most of them here are venezuelan migrants today my gamesa mother of 4 says contagion is always on her mind none of the

this is where i believe russia and china come in. ussia, by the way, is more of a short-term danger. i would say china is a longer term threat. it will have ups and downs. of course a lot depends on its own internal economic performance its ability to construct this belton road initiative. we need to push back. we cannot become complacent. investments in -- through development funds, with european union, working closely with the united states, as well as making conditions to attract private investment. this is why closer economic relations is important. they can only be fully equal once they recognize each other. i think all of that would help fight back against the nefarious russian and chinese influence. mr. mccaul: thank you so much. i yield back. chairman engel: thank you, mr. mccaul, mr. sherman. mr. sherman: mr. chairman, it's been an honor to serve with you on this committee for decades. you are a hero in kosovo. you are a hero in albania. and are you a hero in room 2172. thank you for your years of dedication and leadership. y

>> i would say china and russia right now. >> so moving to china you have been advising the biden transitionell us what are the big counterintelligence threats that they will be facing when they take office? >> first off they they are getting the presidential daily briefing every day and i'm confident the administration that sound coming -- incoming president biden and president-elect harris are getting the exact same intelligence i'm getting president trump's getting in the intelligence community is getting so they can jumpstart the threats we face every day. i want to visit a couple of things in counterintelligence. number one the geopolitical aspects of why china and russia do what they do. what is the nexus to big data in what is the nexus to supply-chain and how were you going to effectively protect our critical infrastructure moving forward? i would also say ransomware as a state sponsor specifically in the telecommunications, energy and the financial services sector. those are the biggest three concerns we see when we see threat actors in the last few years. >> last summer the u.s. go

contracts are not something that you publish in a newspaper but we are in consultation with russia and china and russia has announced so as the chinese that there are no do you go impediments to to selling weapons to iran and by the way i said before d.x. variation of the deadline that we're not going to go on a buying speech we have other priorities i mean we're dealing with cove it just doesn't buying vaccines from russia and china really dealing with other economic. emergencies in it on so i'm not sure procuring arms would be the highest on our list of priorities now you personally like to stress that they're on doesn't succumb to any pressure but a lot of. people believe that it was their program or that complain of maximum pressure that ultimately brought iran to the table back in 2013 leading to the agreement in 2016 was that the case and what was it about obama's approach that ultimately persuaded you to. start working with them can they do it again because it's the same people really if you look at the proposal that he made to the bush administration in 2005. in march on march 23rd 2

in countries like russia china churchy people are told it's that simple and if you're a journalist there and you try to get beyond it you are facing scare tactics intimidation. and i wonder is that where we're headed as well. my responsibility as a journalist is to get beyond the smoking mirrors it's not just about being clear and balanced or being neutral it's about being truthful. when he was born golf and i worked with you know. this is the wus slide from the crime that shocked germany a politician shot to the head in cold blood now a right wing extremist has been found guilty of murdering vile to look good and sentenced to life in prison is this a tragedy though that could have been avoided also coming up on scene and into the field a w.h.o. team in one.

procuring a vaccine the country has broken ranks with brussels by entering jab negotiations with russia china and israel peter oliver has more. e.u. commission president is on the phone the line is struggling to keep the states in line when it comes to vaccines she's warned the nations not to try and do their own deals the only framework we are negotiating in is as $27.00 we do this together and nonmember state on this legal binding basis is allowed to negotiate in parallel or to have a contract and parallel the loudest voice unhappy at brussels being in so charge of banksy procurements is coming from hungary with prime minister viktor orban saying the current plan could lead to months more of a lock down if we only rely on the western vaccines the restrictions will have to be maintained for several more months if we can find a safe and proven vaccine elsewhere we can speed up the process mr obama said that hungry had received only 800000 doses of the pfizer take vaccine and was budapest to be able to choose its own deals unfortunately the e.u. is poaches of vaccines has been very slow so hun

russia and china have nuclear weapons.n and north korea are in pursuit of nuclear weapons, and with iran and north korea, with malice towards the united states, developing long range missile systems with the idea of using these nuclear weapons against us. and so, the capricious tyrants still exist. what has this got to do with peace? well, i will tell you from my experience with a top five like that, it is overwhelming in terms of expertise needed, policymaking, it can consume a government. and then there's the rest of the world that isn't necessarily stable. so to me, an investment in peace and keeping the rest of the world stable, allows the united states to focus on the immediate national security threats. and in the end, peacekeeping, peacebuilding, stabilization is far less costly than defense. not just the monetary cost, but the cost of lives. and so thank you for investing in the u.s. institute of peace and being willing to have a dialogue about national security, the continuum of capricious tyrants, and what's most

you mean that russia and china failed to stop sanctions on iran yes that's what i said i mean russia are saying iran is now enriching uranium to rates that are much higher than the j c p a way would allow well that's already in the papers i mean i'll get to coronaviruses in a moment but the u.s. aircraft carrier nimitz has been sent to iran's maritime borders you have the boss of trump's pentagon making accusations against iran how would iran cope with us well me in the last days of a trump presidency. as i have noted over and over previously the united states major policies including the key issue of war are what the behind the scenes governing board decides and enforces and the presidents don't play determining role in them. not in fact from all the developments on folding and the news being broadcast that. it's my understanding that a new war is about to be imposed on the sensitive region of the middle east. therefore i wrote a letter to the leaders in the region. and asked them to avoid the consequences of such a war. i called on them to try and prevent it from happening. and war

russia china france and the u.k. were given permanent membership and the power of veto on any security council decision was not created to focus on the parent number the number of times the veto has been used has been increasing again in recent years those against marking increased tension between the u.s. and its allies on one side and china and russia on the other in coming u.s. president joe biden believes in the u.n. and international cooperation but he'll face a u.n. system with growing discord in a world where some see the united nations as increasingly irrelevant james al-jazeera lunde. still ahead on al jazeera back speeches latin americans defy lockdown orders this coronavirus cases. and why farmers in india are vandalizing cell phone towers and forcing the culture of petrol stations. it's time for the perfect gentleman. sponsored point qatar airways place to say the snow in spain is now starting to ease but it's going to stay pretty cold over the next few days we have got more the way of for wintry weather

and its allies on one side and china and russia on the other incoming u.s. president joe biden believes in the u.n. and international cooperation but he'll face a u.n. system with growing discord in a world where some see the united nations as increasingly irrelevant james al-jazeera london. hospitals and parts of the u.k. have become overwhelmed by a surge in covered $900.00 factions almost a year health care workers have faced on president unprecedented demands pressures and stresses as they're as john a whole looks at the cost the pandemic has had on their mental health behind the masks and visors in hospitals struggling to cope there are the hidden mental health costs of the pandemic one from flying dr who preferred not to be identified described feelings of helplessness and despair in the kind of things that we find tough or like this things that don't make us kind of stressed and sad is the feeling of being helpless particularly on call shifts in night shifts and i personally like the way that i get through it and by. telling myself that i knew it's go

and its allies on one side and china and russia on the other incoming u.s. president joe biden believes in the u.n. and international cooperation but he'll face a u.n. system with growing discord in a world where some see the united nations as increasingly irrelevant james al-jazeera london still ahead on al-jazeera behind the masks u.s. health care workers count the cost of a devastating certainly a mental health. storms get named in europe as well philomena is the name of this massive cat here which has been pounding spain recently now it's part of a chain that takes you through italy the balkans rumania and up towards eastern europe and this one will do the same it'll follow that line but in the last few hours this is overnight of course spain's whimsically badly hit and that includes madrid the airport closed roads around it also closed hardly surprising the forecast was for about 20 centimeters to half a meter of snow easy got that start quite finish to be a bit more to come during sunday but it tends to clear away from madrid headed towards the pyrenee

especially country is the gang out their claims to admire so much, like communist russia or china?ep saying, they are only kids. >> stop saying it. this nation was founded by young people. when we think of our pilgrim fathers we think of old men with gray beards. most of the people who came over on the mayflower were in their 20's, many were teenagers. captain john smith, my ancestor was in his 20's when he was a founder and president of the virginia colony. george washington was 22 when he was colonel of the british army during the french and indian wars. on the boat that followed the mayflower, there was a young let -- lad of 19. one of his descendents became president, franklin delano roosevelt. but the founding father was only 19. >> and i had forgotten they were kids, too. >> they were young people. there is a difference. they were young people who believed in god. the weirdos of the day denied god and do you know why? they have to because as long as people believe in god. >> shh. what is that? >> it is you, john. >> good evening, dr. harden. >> i saw the light. >> i am knocki

strategy and you have said in other committee members have quoted today the competition with china and russia and also several times that you think it is the top priority. so can you commit the china will be unequivocally identified as a competitor of the united states? >> and it is the most significant threat going forward because russia is also a threat because it is in decline they can still do a great deal of damage from recent days and to maintain some degree of focus but china is the facing threat. >> and you would expect to see that identified as the basic thread. >> you see that would not be the case? >> that, makes sense. but again i don't want to try to write the strategy here, we want to make sure we go through the ath process to identify what capabilities we can place against them but it it is the facing threat and i fully expect it will remain so going forward. >> i'm pressing on only because i think there is some confusion on - - confusion with the defense strategy it has been interpreted to put russia and china on a plane. but what you second one - - said that it is the facing

with power in your competitors, china and russia . outpacing the united states in the elements of capable vessels, investments arctic infrastructure. the us only has two polar ice breakers . o a fire aboard the healy this summer with half of america's icebreaking temporary commission. and as a result the polar star is now america's only operational icebreaker. while russia has approximately 54. this gap in capability creates space for russia and china now has more icebreakers than we do to exert maritime influence in the arctic which they are trying to do and amplify our existing vulnerabilities for vesseltraffic safety and security .maritime law enforcement, fisheries resourcesmanagement , search and rescue and environmental response. we seem russia push all in on controlling the arctic. russia has opened 16 deepwater ports. 14 airfields, the arctic military bases and even formed a new northern arctic command. in fact vladimir putin has referred to the northern sea route at the new suez canal which he says russia intends to fully con

and its allies on one side and china and russia on the other incoming u.s. president joe biden believes in the u.n. and international cooperation but he'll face a u.n. system with growing discord in a world where some see the united nations as increasingly irrelevant james al-jazeera london. this is al jazeera and these the top stories u.s. democrats are pushing to impeach president donald trump inciting violence at capitol hill at least $180.00 politicians are co-sponsoring a resolution a plan to introduce it on monday with a vote possibly by wednesday. sadly the persons running negative branch is a doraine judged on his.

china. we talked and russia. we talked about -- sen. man it is chin: pandemic is the first. gen. ustin: china is the most concerning. sen. manchin: john mccain, my dear friend, you worked with him, but john and i had a deal we worked on, auditing the pentagon, the department of defense. the only agency never audited. they're doing a good job but still a little lax. i'd like your commitment on that to make sure that the finances, that people know how we're informsing that money and what keep of return we're getting on that. gen. austin: you have my commitment. sen. manchin: i truly believe that you're the right person as the right time to do this job because it's a tremendous undertaking, and to restore confidence back to the american people that our defense department is there to defend us an is run by the civilians. basically, can be the let military be used against us at any time. sen. brown: thank you, senator. >> thank you very much for your time and thank you to your family as you -- for sticking by you as you go through this process. sen. blackbufferin: i'm not in favor of w

some of the money handed out by the government, apparently went to organized crime in russia, china and countries. the e-d-d says the new security measures put in place last october... have significantly reduced false claims. the i-r-s is urging americans to ditch paper returns this year ... and file their taxes electronically instead. last year, the agency receieved about 16 million paper returns... and officials say they are still dealing with a backlog of nearly seven million unprocessed returns. the i-r-s is delaying the start of the 20-21 tax season to february 12th... to try to prevent further backlogs. next at ten... president trump gets set to issue a new wave of pardons in just hours... as lawmakers discuss how to move forward with his senate impeachment trial.= plus, president- elect biden taking a new approach to immigration.... how he is promising a new path to citizenship for millions of people living in the u-s.= and vice- president- elect kamala harris is making history and paving the way for women in politics. what her new role means to a select group of women .. who hav

hegel many because they see it as vital when it comes to the unspoken financial war against china and also russia if if gold came back into play they would see that this would hand enormous power to china and russia russia isn't necessarily planning for it goes down to it but she could move there very very quickly china has a lot of undeclared gold of that i'm very certain and on top of that citizens also have a lot of gold probably about 700000 tons so there is a wealth benefit if you lie. to the population from a return to ghost town to say talking about political gridlock there because when i sat down to the brand was table all in order for some kind of gold standard to come back all these countries are going to have to do a simultaneously joint debt jubilee which you think would be politically impossible because they're wed to debt or keynesianism and they see debt and keynesian as the modus operandi of their system so they're not going to do that number one and number 2 that the u.s. government in its current position would not be willing to hand the ball to russia and china because effectiv

china. we talked about russia.we talked about. >> pandemic is number oneyou think from the standpoint . >> is the most concerning competitor we're facing. >> let me ask you this about finances, the late john mccain and your friend and we all missed on how you knew john pretty well. but john and i had a bill that we always worked on, highlighting the pentagon department of defense. it was the only agency in all of government that was never audited but they've been doing a good job but there's still a little political block there and i like your commitment on that. everything you can to make sure the people know how we're investing our money what typeof return we're getting . >> you have my commitment. >> i truly believe with all my heart you're the right person at the right time to do this job because it's a tremendous undertaking to rt restore the confidence backto the american people . our defense department basically is there to defend us is run by the civilians who basically are not going to let military be used

russia and china have not been content to civilly protect all the sod from account ability for his crimes against the syrian people but russia is the end of veto on you and syrian assistance to reduce border crossings to which assistance can reach rebel held syria to only one. this is made it only harder to obtain desperately needed food, shelter and medical assistance for innocent civilians. i strongly urge you to do every thing possible to keep this vital lifeline open upon your confirmation. i'm also concerned by the way china has sought to increase its role at the united nations and tin other international e organizations, not because cha does not deserve an appropriate role commensurate with its presence on the world stage but because it's attempt to pervert and distort the core values that make the un's work so important. china's efforts to insert president chi's thought into un resolutions has undermined the one commitment to human rights and this is the same later response will for the state farm and has determined to be acts of genocide committed against 1.8 million women, men an

in countries like russia china turkey people are told is that simple and if you're a journalist there and you try to get beyond that you are facing scare tactics intimidation. and i wonder is that where work at it is well. my responsibility as a journalist is to get beyond the smoke and mirrors it's not just about being clear and balanced or being neutral it's about being truthful. when he was put off and i were. coming up today. in the wilds for most often this country. interview show begins caught on of vaccinations with the chinese vaccines but they have questions. and whether people do trust we look at all tissues. and unstable government saucepans follow them.

china. while we were looking at this wild goose chase for three years over russia, russia, russia, congress letely missed the real threat to the united states and that is china. when we come back, we will adjourn lift lee smith to the conversation on these newly declassified documents. more bombshells, russia and china coming after this. and then we will get into the biden agenda with chad wolf and tom cotton. stay with us. ♪ ♪ we made usaa insurance for veterans like martin. when a hailstorm hit, he needed his insurance to get it done right, right away. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa want to sell the best burger in every zip code? usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. add an employee. or ten... then easily and automatically pay your team and file payroll taxes. that means... world domination! or just the west side. run payroll in less than five minutes with intuit quickbooks. maria: welcome back. we are talking about the document dump this week of russia information, two journalists this morning instrumental in exposing the russia hoax. john solomon, editor in chief of

china. while we were looking at this wild goose chase for three years over russia, russia, russia, congress letely missed the real threat to the united states and that is china. when we come back, we will adjourn lift lee smith to the conversation on these newly declassified documents. more bombshells, russia and china coming after this. and then we will get into the biden agenda with chad wolf and tom cotton. stay with us. maria: welcome back. we are talking about the document dump this week of russia information, two journalists this morning instrumental in exposing the russia hoax. john solomon, editor in chief of just the news, and joining the conversation is lee smith, author of the permanent coup. lee, thanks very much for joining the conversation. your reaction to what we saw this week as we have been talking about these newly declassified documents. >> yeah, i mean, john's piece is very important. the one that just came out this morning. i mean, it's actually fascinating because we realize that going back to 2016, the entire operation was covering for hillary clinton and her e-mail p

vaccines much more quickly, so yes, so far we've seen a big divide between north america, europe, russia, chinaata, i'm quite struck by the low vaccination rates in countries such as france and spain. exactly. to be honest, i think everyone in those countries is puzzled as to why those vaccinations have been going so slowly. the pace has been quite slow in europe, though some countries are showing a much faster roll—out, including germany, denmark. in countries like france and spain, as far as we know, only a few tens of thousands of people have been vaccinated. there could be many reasons. some of them are obviously logistical, and you could expect to see more vaccinations per day later on, but there is a sense that governments in those countries... how much does the anti—vaccination sentiment play into the conversation when it comes to vaccine roll—out? the conversation when it comes to vaccine roll-out? it plays a big role, because in those countries, it seems that while it shouldn't be too much of a concern, because even in a country where maybe half the population is still sceptical of the

the vaccines much more quickly, so so so, yes, we had seen a big fight between north america, russia, chinan quite slow, although some countries are showing although some countries are showing a much faster roll—out, including germany, denmark, but in countries like france and spain, as far as we know, only a few thousands of people have been vaccinated. there could be some reasons, some are obviously logistical and you could expect this period to seem all vaccines later, but there is also a sense that maybe the governments in those countries have not taken on vaccinating as many people as possible. (inaudible) they say they are sceptical, some governments including that in france, for example, are deliberately losing slower to display cautiousness in the roll—out of the vaccine, but they may be shooting themselves in the foot by doing this because they are going very, very slowly and not vaccinating enough people while lights could be safe. edouard mathieu. let's return to our top story — the phone call in which president trump asked georgia state officials to ‘find' new votes in order to

priorities have shifted in the recent years to focus on the competition with china and russia. at the same time, the trump administration through its disruptive behavior has eroded faith that he was global leadership with strategic consequences. our national defense strategy must be a component of an overall national security strategy that embraces all aspects of soft power as well as military power. as a former commander you have valuable experience to address security threats in iraq, afghanistan, syria, yemen and elsewhere. the incoming by administration faces an immediate challenge with respect to iran's growing nuclear ballistic capabilities. the department of defense will play a key role in deterring these threats will supporting diplomatic efforts in iraq and syria. while the isis caliphate was defeated, the factors that gave rise to isis remains largely in addressed. defending against transnational violence, extremist crucial continue. in afghanistan, our allies and partners need to be reassured that going forward they will be consulted upfront on any changes and he was