-russia relations. margaret warner, icu with a microphone. >> my question is, should we actually be going on offense in the information war, in the cyber war, in terms of delegitimizing not just exposing the corruption, the playing offense the way they are playing offense? the answer is yes, but not necessarily in the cyberspace. most of what happens in cyberspace is altering information or preventing information from being able to come forward. i think we should be on the offense of of making it clear exactly what we know russia and orpington in particular is doing. -- russia and or putin in particular is doing. we should be working closely with our european allies around the world and exposing and getting them to stand up and it knowledge with us that this is what is happening here. that message gets through. to go back, when i got here, the vestige of that cold war was an attempt to broadcast the truth into russia. and i think somehow, we have to have as the democracies of the world, have to be bette

and donald was invited to russia. so he and ivana went to russia. and they tried to make a deal to build a trump tower there. >> that deal never happened. >> there was talk of a trump tower in moscow -- >> but again and again, trump would deep on trying. >> donald's tried at least five times to build a trump tower in moscow. >> donald trump has an enormous ability to deny reality. reality is that during the campaign, not just in ancient history, during the campaign, he was negotiating for a hotel to be built in moscow. >> we've learned michael cohen, president trump's personal lawyer, was in talks with moscow through an intermediary about a proposal to build trump tower there -- >> that is the definition of business dealings in russia. >> the deal, outlined in a nonbinding letter of intent signed by trump in the fall of 2015, fell through. but not before trump's attorney reached out to the kremlin for help. >> cohen said in a statement today he e-mailed russian president vladimir putin's spokesperson dmitry peskov for help on this project on behalf

that sort of news i would like to move on to russia is russia currently a security threat for the u.s. sure it is. russia is the only other nation that possesses the ability not necessarily the will but the ability to destroy the united states or all the other members of the alliance. and their behavior of the last three years since they invaded ukraine has gotten has raised the concern of everybody including all members of the alliance all members of the european union. and it's it's the kind of thing that i think nobody wants that conflict is not inevitable we all want russia to be a part of the responsible community a responsible name again. not with their current that they're not on the right path not right now we want we would like to see them back on the path of responsible behavior as a great power and it's a great nation great people great history so many places where we could cooperate with them but they don't cooperate with you anymore well they've not lived up to any agreement that they've signed including minsk and other treaties unless you really put pressure on them to d

talks about is russia russia russia this russia gate but no no no no who cares if the united states actually cares i don't agree with victor i don't think this will be a sort of either way i think you know this this witch hunt will continue i'm. i'm far more interested in the way that the democrats and the media have tried to frame it they have argued through this anonymous anti propaganda propaganda you hit the. the alliance for securing democracy hamilton sixty eight dashboard which purports to follow a group of russian bots even though twitter says they've shut them all down. that. they're not going to name that didn't they never name who who they're actually following that they report purport to be promoting there are actually following you by what i know because i've never i've never had had any of these things that are talking about i mean last week these russian bonds that they follow the primary thing that russia was promoting it via social media was monday motivation because obviously more monday motivations is a putin this plot against the united states. you would think about syria

i denigrate and ridicule russia and indeed other perceived. enemies of that. same time in the next sentence they will ramp up what the degree of threat is from these countries so they don't seem to see the internal inconsistences of what they're actually saying certainly it was in boston of course for michael falling to say that about the russian aircraft because literally within a few weeks virtually all of the brand new fleet of britain's very advanced frigate fleet was laid up in ports because of similar breakdowns in a very modern ships charles security analyst great to have your analysis and thoughts on this aspect of the latest development tween london on moscow thanks charles. now to the u.s. where after a three day partial government shutdown american senators have voted to support a temporary funding bill which will keep services and institutions afloat until ether fabre. too much is on the table right now that needs to get finished and let us take advantage of these next few weeks to show the american people that indeed we will work together in the b

russia hacked into the us irish and british power grids fake russia was influencing the braggs it vote through social media fake russia hacked into cataloging a separatism and was promoting cataloging a separatism in spain real how about buying ads on social media in order to influence u.s. public opinion yeah yeah why not make up the budget actually all of those allegations were leveled against russia do you believe that do you think that they're actually doing these kind of things from what the seventeen u.s. . intelligence agencies syndicate and the strong possibility that they did i feel it's just i knew that to sell newspapers people just wrote of one story then put it on everything else that listeners showed new yorkers is dwarfed from an actual file of things that russia has been accused of it turns out that if you point the finger at the kremlin you can find a convenient scapegoat for almost any trouble that you're dealing with it will mop . r.t. new york. meanwhile germany has started the year by introducing a new law to tackle hate speech but it's already been criticized for

after they reunited with russia. there have been many lego leaves egalese questions on that, including on the budapest memorandum. according to the budapest memorandum, ukraine said it will no longer have its nuclear start. again, we have never threatened ukraine with nuclear weapons. so it means there have been no violation of the budapest meant -- memorandum. but in a separate protocol, the ukraine said this will not provoke racist, new not these, -- neo-nazi's. but what happened after the protests was a gross violation of that commitment. politically, i assure you, as president putin reiterated once again, we seek the full implementation of the agreements without any admissions and that is fully in line with our respect for territorial integrity for ukraine and its current borders following the referendum that was held with international law. reporter: but, we are talking about the 1998 borders and territorial integrity in terms of 1998. so maybe this treaty needs to be modernized. minister lavrov: with all due re

the russia investigations in the united states of course russia is not going to want a u.s. led pro there in the u.s. isn't going to want to russia lead pro there and so it is good that anybody comes out and says we need we need a probe is it jack to have something that we can go in and actually get facts on the ground not just from one state or nation but actually see what's happened get the numbers and get the facts so that we can actually find a solution to the problem rather than just pointing political fingers and blame well about those political fingers and that blame the russian envoy said that the u.n. o.p.c. w probe has been a complete failure and accuse western powers of pressuring the investigators to blame damascus what do you think about these allegations are they justified. i think they are justified i mean i think you know anything that comes out of the united nations anything that happens and we've seen that that's happened in syria and ends up being less about the people and more about the political parties whoever wants to take credit for whatever's happeni

the truth russia needs economically. he can afford it politically is a different question because the moment you have small businesses you have small medium plus the movie a medium club you have a lot of political freedom which is going to bake a little bit problem for him to control the system so as long as you have big companies you have control well but i'm sure it's going to be a very interesting not only for him but also for for the rest of the society and i think it's pretty clear that the petroleum economy or the hydrocarbon economy that we have been enjoying for the last several decades has reached its limit it's no longer producing enough resources to sustain russia both domestically and internationally if the west is really interested in making russia more democratic wouldn't it make sense to take putin on his word and how russia to develop this small and medium business capacity as a matter of not only diversifying its economy but also making russia more open and more risk. possible more democratic i think tha

improving in russia u.s. relations would benefit the united states as well that this is also the sole source serves their national interest and then our relations will normalize otherwise. i think it will just they will just continue playing their russia card for their domestic political purposes and our relations will continue to deteriorate well let's wait and see it's not up to us mr putin to have a question about the korean peninsula. during new year we've heard some good news but on the other hand we heard a lot of bad news people comparing their nuclear buttons. so how do you come in you assess the situation what can you say about this right now. i think and emerge the winner out of the situation and he has a nuclear charge and then. global strike a missile with a range of up to thirteen hundred kilometers capable of reaching almost any spot. in. the u.s. and now of course he's he wants to calm down and he acts very smart he's smart and mature politician. and all of these he's here but we have to consid

but focus on russia. policies ande based on the assumption that engagement with russia and global governance would turn into a benign actor and a trustworthy party. the national security strategy said that this premise has turned out to be false. do you agree with the national security strategy? think that the premise of engagement with russia is destined to fail. especially if you look over the long run. increaseave seen is an of russia acting out. think we could also see that there were some missed opportunities. the goal of integrating russia into both international and , the imf,nstitutions the world bank after the fall of the collapse of the soviet union, but also institutions like the council of europe -- i think that was the right choice to make then. going back to your question about, was this inevitable. there was a certain original sin the capture of russia and you cannot get around that. you saw that prior to the last administration. he saw in georgia in 2008 with the cyberattack in estonia on

the russia gate still kind of moves along though its parameters are or are thinning . here but one story that stays with us and i think we should have been at the very center of it is the fusion g.p.s. christopher dossier we have republican congressional officials coming out saying they want an investigation of this parallel we have a new investigations into the clinton foundation three of them possibly four here so both are fine have a life of their own mark here but i'm really really think this fusion g.p.s. thing is the key to it this is the this is the glue that has the entire russia gate conspiracy theory how is it pulls it all together there's a big broad legal pushback that's the story at the beginning of this year against russia gate. metaphor is suing the f.b.i. special investigator mueller for stepping outside the boundaries of anything to do with the election trump russia gate and going back through his tax records from that from more than a decade ago so he's calling for judicial review of the powers that mueller has we have the clinton foundation is now be

a british citizen will film about stalin is causing controversy here in russia more on that after the break. here's what people have been saying about rejecting the night it's your position it's the law in austin the only show i go out of my way to run gently but it doesn't really packs a punch at least yampa is the john oliver of party americans do the same we are apparently better than booth. i see people you never heard of love went back to the night i'm president of the world bank so take. me seriously send us an email. i'd like for many clubs over the years so i know the game and so i got. the ball isn't only about what happens on the pitch to the final school it's about the passion from the fans it's the age of the shaper money kill the narrowness and spending to get to the twenty million and one player . it's an experience like nothing else only because i want to share what i think what i know about the beautiful game but great so what more chance for. peace going to. welcome back journalists in the us have not just a significant change to the online mission statement of the na

a british second satirical film is causing controversy in russia more on that after the break. join me every thursday on the alex salmond show and i'll be speaking to guests of the world of politics or business i'm showbusiness i'll see you then. welcome back journalists in the u.s. have noticed a significant change to the online mission statement of the national security agency apparently the words on a state trust and openness and now gone the old core values used to begin with the word on a stage saying the american people have placed great trust in the n.s.a. and the agency promise to all of that with openness but now it starts with the phrase commitment to service here's how the n.s.a. explain the changes it's nothing more than a website update that's all it is. the effort to delete words that are that mean a lot to americans such as honesty and transparency and what have you has is something that. is important but if if the national security agency's deleting it i think that that means that they're getting more according to reality as to just how these intelligence agenci

so what is your own view of russia's extent of russia's involvement or meddling? um --rovsky: thank you. i do not really want to talk about this, because you have your opinion about this, and you read a lot of articles about this. fact inon will be in what i know, what i investigate. -- russian hackers hacked bill clinton emails -- hillary clinton emails. russia hasse, motivation to do this, and has the ability to do this, with the russian cyber army, cyber hackers, who are the greatest in the world. that is my opinion. >> i will also say, and i do not know what you would say about it, we had a publisher of meduza, and he probably would have ejected to -- objected to -- he was a they are a good the unitedut in states, they would say they are not. question right there. hi. intelligenceive analyst. much of the conversation about hackers has been dominated about the election hacking, information warfare, and propaganda. the last couple of years, we have seen an increasing number of hacks in western europe in are remarkably sophisticated and growing, which are targeti

saga of russia gate it really represents the attempt to export russia gate to other countries. during the run up to the break that's what we heard nothing about russian influence but once russia gate exploded in washington opponents of breaks it seized on the concept of russian meddling so with no facts and no evidence but a great deal of media interest it's got to be said and public interest at the same time the government made the decision late last year to launch an official inquiry into fake news into russian meddling and the official committee that was charged with it they asked all the big social media platforms to provide information and twitter and facebook they came but back with information originally but what they came back with the government wasn't happy with they accuse them of stonewalling the inquiry in even threatened them with sanctions if they didn't cooperate fully take a look at the correspondence between twitter and the inquiry into fake news i would ask the twitter provides to the committee at least if accounts linked to the internet research agency and a

and its kurdish proxies on the other and they're in a three way face off russia would like turkey at the united states to fight to drive a wedge between turkey and nato the united states would like the turks to fight russia over african canton because that would help destroy this very fragile essentially falling apart agreement for the stabilization of syria with the austin our agreement and it further destabilize syria and this is where we're at it's an extremely tense situation the writing was on the wall long time. it was going to happen and the hours and days ahead what erdogan actually does and how much damage he does in syria and whether he will then turned on the american backed kurds is up in the air you know the interesting thing is is that one has to wonder where turkish soldiers go do they stay or do they you know do they have you know it's like the russians went in had a mission said mission accomplished very limited. did what they wanted to do and basically withdrew well the turks state and again we're looking at how they do their part to say well the turks will most lik

sanctions on russia. where does that stand? yian: the trump administration has tried to show it's willing to take a strong stand against russia. just today, the treasury department issued sanctions against 30 officials and firms in both russia and ukraine who supported russia's invasion of crimea. so that was a first step. but what everyone is really waiting for is the treasury department, next week, release a report that's supposed to pave the way for perhaps more onerous sanctions that would be targeted potentially against russian officials, against russia's top business leaders. and that would be the sanctions that are related to the bill that congress passed in august requiring the administration to pass sanctions on russia because russia's alleged interference in the 2016 elections. now, russia says that these sanctions are absurd, that they're not working. in fact, this economy is growing. it's expected to grow 3% next year. so it's unclear exactly how much of a direct effect some of these sanctions will have and how effe

behind the soldier in it's in the holy notion of the mother russia. and it creates actually a distance this is something that they found the frightening because they diffusion of this kind of criticism really creates. a deep again but image mr mudd if i may interject here i think this is a very interesting observation i think it's also very true but i would point to what lies at the root of. jihadist sentiment toward the west is not on cultural separation but primarily in this the sounds of and just as the sense of an indignity the bloodshed the suffering that western countries brought into many arab society i'm sure they were driven by good intentions the west always things that it's doing the right thing but i think what matters to the afflicted country is not the intentions but the actual result don't you think that russia has the reason to be concerned at the same kind of do gooding would be visited upon it by the western countries i'm in i see an enormous difference here between the two situations. you wouldn't deepen this bullying too much more

. -- lead russia. look at the state of russia now. there are an enormous decline. -- they are in enormous decline. they have a second rate military power. they have significant advantages geographically where they are engaged, they have a nuclear arsenal that is -- it can blow up the whole world but in terms their advocacy, their capacity is minimalist compared to ours. they have a situation where they are an oil-based economy. from a market value of $350 billion to $50 billion in you dot 10 years, what if you're a democratic leader of russia? what do you do? how do you provide jobs for your people? where do you go russian mark how do you build that country? i don't know how that happens. -- i amot given up hope not naive about it, i have been a very strident voice in the last administration about putin and russia. that does not mean this is completed, that is just the way that things are for now. my last one element is that expression -- don't back a man into a corner, his only option around you is ov

and russia organized crime. they deny the allegations. >> there is a -- why would trump ever do business with those guys? >> guys like russia born felix. and they say the suit acuting him of shady dealings is a shake down. >> a twice convicted felony, after his second conviction, he cop ra cooperated on cases with the justice department. >> he was accused of stabbing someone in the neck with a ma margarita class. then fraud with penny stocks. >> his business ties extended well beyond the soho deal. together they explored additional trump deals in the u.s. and abroad. but in sworn testimony in a 2013 deposition, trump insisted he barely even knew sader. >> about how many times have you converses with mr. sader. >> over the years? not many. if he was sitting in the room right now i wouldn't really know what he looked like. >> it is absolutely up tree that trump doesn't know sader. >> at one time he held a card for the trump organization. he was also got between for the recent and controversial attempt at trying to

enough of this russia stuff. the reality is i would be interested to see if he can follow his impulses. maybe he will on prompter but i doubt it the next day on social media. >>> brews, the white house fighting back on the nunes memo, detailing alleged abuses by the fbi. they're pushing back on the idea that the president wants this with sarah sanders saying contrary to a report, the president has not seen or been briefed on the memo or reviewed its contents. jim sciutto joins me to discuss it. >> at least no current plans. jeff zeleny report go that the president has not seen this memo. so what is it? it is composed by devin nunes, the cheryl of the house intelligence committee. although he had recused himself from the chairmanship, from the russia investigations. he went down a similar path of misuse and unmasking of names. this current memo is one where he alleges there's evidence that the fbi misused warrants to monitor, surveil people by u.s. intelligence. specifically carter page. someone who advised presid

. -- lead russia. look at the state of russia now. there are an enormous decline. >> will there is enormous decline. they have a second rate military power they have significant , advantages geographically where they are engaged, they have a nuclear arsenal that could blow up the whole world, but in terms of their efficacy, their capacity -- it is the minimus compared to ours. they have an oil-based economy. you have it going from a market value of $350 billion to $300 50 billion in the last 10 years. what do you do if you are a democratic leader of russia? what do you do? how do you provide jobs for your people? where do you go? how do you build that country? unless you engage the west. i do not know how that happens. i have not given up hope, i am not my you have noticed i have , been a very strident voice in the last administration about putin and russia as i am now, but that does not mean that this this ist accompli, that how things are going to be. the last point i will make, when my dad had the e

russia is complicit in the assad regime for atrocities. some countries are still trying to force your organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons put the blame on the muskets they did not understand that in doing so the on the mind of your foresee of this respected organization. this came after secretary tillerson accused assad of perpetrating a chemical attack that supposedly happened on monday let's take a quick look. conducted. rochelle truly bears responsibility for the victims in this and countless others targeted with chemical weapons since russia became involved in syria well the problem is it hasn't even been confirmed that attacks even happen let alone who's responsible and there are only two sources saying this and both are notoriously pro rebel number one the syrian observatory for human rights which is comprised of one person based in the u.k. number two the white house so it's safe to say that the u.s. is ascribing blame based solely on online sources and the o.p.c. w. takes months to conduct a thorough investigation

well that's amid a string of similar attacks throughout russia this week r.t. starkly in view that has the details of the past five days have seen a frightening trend creeping up in russia with three different attacks occurring at schools. in all those cases the young perpetrators used basic weapons not an axis as that was likely all that they had at their disposal and a disturbing online trend also linked these incidents our sources believe that violent online groups that center around tragedies like the columbine high school massacre may also be a common factor that just to remind you the columbine tragedy took place in the u.s. back in one thousand nine hundred ninety two students armed to the teeth killed twelve of their classmates and a teacher and that horrific massacre is apparently inspiring violence and children who weren't even born when it happened it's so popular that the followers of such groups even have a name for themselves columbine years now russia's version of facebook called v.k. has dozens of these pages open to all we did a simple quick se

and finland off in london russia can do that oh. thank you very much for the center of all the best and have a nice rest thank you so much. with the islamic state and its many confederates defeated or facing defeat in syria what is next for this war torn country what justification exists for the us to maintain military forces that does washington want syria partition. and why. fight against terrorism is no longer at the heart of america's defense policy u.s. defense secretary has outlined a new strategy in which countering russia and china takes priority. a scandal worse than watergate that sound some republican lawmakers have described a top secret memo that allegedly exposes political bias against strong at the highest level of law enforcement now they are demanding it be made public. how long it was that someone i knew more screwed up and the teenagers attacked a school in eastern siberia injuring six people including a teacher it's the third such incident in less than a week. good evening to you thanks for joining us this hour y

russia. exerting all the efforts to find a political settlement unfortunately russia is just approaching this issue by the same means it used for the military solution after its interference on in two thousand and fifteen and that's why it is having real problems in finding this settlement or in finding a solution in other words the syrian case is one of rights of a political solution rather than a military one the military solution has really have proven to be a disaster is not a due to the fact that it has the best stated that country displaced its people and without getting any results for a settlement and that he g.m. doesn't he in confident as you reported in your report in your introduction which is. believe i miss conception of the still way ssion duty because of the iranian element the iranian factor and the question factor that gene is still there how could it feel confident ok ms ali they would go back into more details about the different players in the conflict mr klebnikov of the

medusa is one of the regions, independent, in russia to news in russia. [speaking in native tongue] now, in december after three years of working we have alrea already. in medusa i specialized in narrative stories like big stories about isis and influence and links to russia like this example of scout immigrant workers became islamic state fighters or like my topic lgt problems in russia and political groups against lb gt like the story. the last two years particularly i worked in stories about russian hackers. russian hacking activities against russia for example, this is an article about how russian services recruited guys from around the country russian cyber army. now, in the cannon institute and in the book it's the history of russian hackers from the soviet to today. today i will tell you stories about them. i don't want to talk a lot about possible russian packings for the american election and i think the last two years but i want to talk about russian hackers and their connections to government. elsewhere in the world, in russia the [inaudible] w

fusion gps is still now secretarying trump and russia. the publication of the original memos by buzz fooed, which -- you you know what, that night was the start of a whole new odyssey for buzz feed itself. since it's been fending of lawsuits of all kinds from all ieds. >> but editor in chief says he is proud of the dossier. that's next. t i don't need luck, i have skills... i don't have my keys. (on intercom) all hands. we are looking for the captain's keys again. they are on a silver carabiner. oh, this is bad. as long as people misplace their keys, you can count on geico saving folks money. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. ltry align probiotic.n your digestive system? for a non-stop, sweet treat goodness, hold on to your tiara kind of day. get 24/7 digestive support, with align. the #1 doctor recommended probiotic brand. also in kids chewables. if you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis,... ...isn't it time to let the real you shine through? maybe it's time for otezla (apremilast). otezla is

russia is complicit in the assad regime's atrocities you are acting as judge and prosecutor russia is running from the facts your behavior exposes your true motives russia has the audacity to lecture this security council this is a long political spectacle for not going to accept any russian proposal that undermines our ability to get to the truth we should at least have taken a look at the draft before rejecting it russia all on its own killed the mechanism we had specifically tasked to identify those responsible what do you need an investigative mechanism for before an investigation you haven't cuse the syrian government of using chemical weapons. came during a debate on how to tweak the system to assess chemical attacks in syria they met in same meeting was held after the us secretary of state claimed another attack took place in syria on monday he said russia should shoulder the blame for that and other incidents. whoever conducted the. russia ultimately burrs responsibility for the victims of these and countless others targeted with chemical weapons since russia became involved i

how much is russia putting up? those who have joined the us—led coalition they should also join the international effort to assist in the reconstruction of syria. how will russia join that effort? how much will it put up? well, i cannot give you a specific figure, because they are estimates. the one you referred to, citing staffan de mistura, that is one estimate, there may be others. i have not heard any estimates coming from the syrian government. certainly it will be a huge sum. does russia recognise its responsibility in needing to repair the damage it's responsible for? russia recognises its responsibility for achieving the result of the military involvement, which is destroying the assets and the bases of terrorist organisations in syria. we are also involved in promoting a political solution in syria. indeed. you are also involved in ensuring president assad is still in power and in control of much of syria and yet you are asking much of the eu to pay reconstruction money which would effectively prop him u

with a like russia on this russia and that russia isn't bad either. frankly people are really very great yeah ok it was interesting to me for i think the area. ok yeah i think in. this case a period just have to leave in such payment so used to use three excellent well it looks like the event starts english i want to start you thank you very much it's nice to me and i could look at my feedback and. kitchens out but always keep the bikini's and screenshots and shit yes but such a large scale of it starts of thanks to crazy russian. he's going to blow up a minimum of as evidence that he was a salesman i want that will send me yet a kenyan crucifying where you got to be the chief theory here for. a lot me why did i shoot c.s. . lewis that in the place you lost them where you are going to. but. your schedule beginning stella even actually might. appeal to them when you're wrong about. this if this is. me on the bus. and i'm crazy good to know your kids will tell you right the teachings easy. when you cheated we should cheer or sing this song but i don't w

his interests which are maybe more with iran than with russia because russia is an ally with israel and now i would add but acid in israel and israel and iran are not allies at all their enemies so these co-writing agendas right now in syria may create even more war than there was before when there was a uniting kind of enemy the state and now there isn't. unfortunately a moan we have run out of time we could do a whole nother program on this i'm sure we will so many thanks to all of you for joining us today on inside story in kabul and most capable for going to and ended by dr mussen salah. many thanks to you tube for watching you can see the program again any time by visiting our website as al-jazeera dot com. our facebook page says facebook dot com a.j. inside story is going to also join the conversation on twitter handle is at a.j. inside story from a laura car and the whole team here that's why and. the scene for us where they're online what is american sign in yemen that peace is possible but it never happens not because the situation is complicated but because no one cares or if

what trump and his team did toward russia, did back to russia right after this election in which russia tried to help them win. we knew before tonight that during the trump transition, top trump transition officials were in on the decision to have national security advisor mike flynn call the russian government secretly to try to under cut the inposition of new sanctions that the obama administration was imposing on russia in response to them messing with our election. mike flynn did not make those calls to the raugs -- russian government alone.ussian governm alone. top echelons of the trump transition knew he was doing that. they were in discussion about the strategy while he was doing that. ultimately, flynn ended up lying about that to the fbi and the rest is history. but in addition to that incident that happened after the election during the transition, we know from michael's reporting as soon as the trump people started landing at the state department, they started working right away on a proposal to have the u.s. unilaterally drop sanctions. their actions after they arrived in wa

well russia is a big military power brand to that the has become an influential player in the region for russia it seems to be very important to the turkey a lot of them to fight against parts of the so-called al nusra front which is a part of the syrian opposition in egypt province province so there is obviously something big at stake here as well moscow wants to drive a wedge between turkey and nato between turkey and its western allies because for russia the greatest prize could be if turkey breaks with the west and is special with united states yes speaking of the united states what are we to make of washington's luke warm reaction to all of this. let me ask you i mean why why has america's response so far been so muted. well because washington is walking a very fine line on this issue i mean the u.s. clearly doesn't want to anger turkey a key nato ally but of course it has also no interest in an all out extensive a war against the kurds because of course the course played a key role in defeating isis the islamic state in syria so the u.s. so the u.s. in a way is in a very diffic

i face great pressure because of russia. that's taken off. >> the words "relieving pressure" i think are going to raise questions for investigators. >> thank you very much. >> the president has consistently said that he did not obstruct justice when he fired james comey. >> mr. comey -- >> the two men come from completely different worlds. >> james comey is a professional lawman. he has a respect for the traditions of the justice department. >> should it be about the facts and the law. that's why i became fbi director. >> donald trump, on the other hand sack, businessman. >> he expects absolute loyalty from everybody working for him. that's the culture in which he has operated for many, many years. >> their relationship got off to a bad start. before the inauguration, james comey was in charge of telling donald trump about the dossier. the controversial document contained allegations about the president gathered as part of an opposition research during the campaign. >> i didn't want him thinking that i was briefing him on th

in other news this morning russia has been described as the biggest state based threat to the u.k. since the cold war general when it comes to wants more funding he says to bridge the gap between british and russian capabilities with more details not his party point. the arch exponent of this is russia i believe represents the most complex and capable state based threat to our country since the end of the cold war i believe or ability to preempt or respond to these threats will be eroded if we don't match up to them now we cannot afford to sit back when military chiefs are asking for more money for new equipment is pretty standard practice but normally it's retired generals this time around you had the acting head of the army nick carter so risking annoying his paymasters really by saying that he needs more money for the military but the purpose of the speech was just that he was warning of the dangers of underinvestment in the u.k.'s defense forces and he spoke of the dangers of failing to keep up with the level of russia's military spending and also with what he called russia's o

putin to power in russia. the techniques were first developed at home against the russian people and now he's using them globally. through our analysis it became clear several have stepped up to the challenge for some in europe the u.s. elections were a wake-up call that led to the political resolve and action. for others, they've been present for decades and organized accordingly. we learned in this investigation that the arsenal could be countered with the right mixture of political will, defense and deterrence. the countries that achieved a degree of success, one thing in common, political leadership who publicly says enough is enough and from there mobilized the bureaucracies to respond. in contrast to the current situation in the united states following the attacks like pearl harbor, 9/11, u.s. presidents rallied the country and the world to address the challenges yet today the current president of the united states barely acknowledges the threat posed by the repeated attacks on democratic governance and

and russia in many cases showing an inclination towards russia. how do we work with our allies in europe to make sure they don't wind up either through leverage or propaganda beginning to move into a different orbit? >> well, my nato friends get mad when i say this, but some of the things i think is funny about nato is if you're in a conflict with russia, you're not allowed to be in nato. isn't that the people we want in nato? that precludes ukraine. ukraine is i believe on the front line of this battle. they not only are fighting a hybrid war, they're fighting a hot war. i think that's a perfect example of where the russians get away with things. people are still talking about what's happening in ukraine as a separatist movement. the 920 tanks that are in eastern ukraine are russian tanks. and so the fact that anybody thinks this is something other than an invasion and the fact that the russians said we need the u.n. to arbitrate this is a real simple solution. leave. leave the country that you invaded. that will solve that. that will solve that

today in this hearing we have talked about russia and russia's nuclear policy. but i want to ask about america's nuclear policy. in the coming weeks, the trump administration will release its nuclear policy review, which is rumored to call for new nuclear weapons capability, more usable nukes, and expanded conditions under which the united states would contemplate using a nuclear weapon. secretary shultz, do you continue to believe that the united states should reduce its reliance on nuclear weapons, and if so, why do you believe that would be in our national security interest? mr. shultz: i think the use of nuclear weapons -- senator warren: is your mike on? mr. shultz: i think it is on. i think the use of nuclear weapons would promote an exchange and would be devastating to our planet. so i continued to believe that we should be trying to eliminate them. we were getting their for a while, and now that has all stopped, and now our problem is proliferation. so this is a new problem. we have to work at it and work at it hard. senator warren: thank you. specifical