Transcripts For ALJAZ NEWSHOUR 20240713

Republicans hes cautioned against beach meant and of course at the heart of all this youre recall is the democrats that the case for the democrats is the allegation that president try to leverage a white house meeting and military aid which was sought by ukraine to pressure the ukrainian president vladimir selenski to nongenetic ations a former Vice President joe biden any son hunter by the so happening right now in the House Judiciary Committee 45 minute question period for the republicans and the republicans so far interesting only focusing on their witness Jonathan Turley professor of law Washington University lets continue to listen you have to understand the most the senators when when it was said. They jumped into their political graves it was true most of their political careers ended they knew they would and because of the animosity of the period triangle said the following once this set the example of an peaching a president for what when the excitement of the hour shall have subsided will be regarded its insufficient causes no future president will be safe who happens to differ from the majority of the house. And 2 thirds of the senate he said i tremble for the future of my country i cannot be an instrument to produce such a result and at the hazard of the ties even a friendship and affection till calmer times shall do justice to my motives no alternatives are left to me and he proceeded to give the vote that ended his career you cant wait for a calmer time its time for you is now and i would say that what troubles said is has even more bearing today because i believe that this is much like the johnson impeachment its manufactured intil you build a record im not saying you cant build a record but you cant do it like this and you cant impeach a president like this professor turley theres a recent book on impeachment by a harvard law professor lawrence tribe in joshua mats that discusses what they consider to be a legitimate appeal to impeachment process. The book is pretty anti trump its called to end a presidency and in that book the authors state the following when an impeachment is purely partisan or appears that way is presumptively illegitimate when only republicans or only democrats view the president s conduct as justifying removal theres a strong risk that policy disagreements or partisan animists have overtaken the proper measure of congressional impartiality. Another quote is we can also expect that opposition leaders to the president will be pushed to impeach and will suffer internal blowback if they dont the key question is whether they will cave to this pressure one risk of our broken politics is that the house will undertake additional doomed partisan impeachments a development that would be disastrous for the nation as a whole mess or ter turley is that advice being followed by House Democrats in this case not on this schedule the one thing if you look at i laid out the 3 impeachments the one thing that comes out of those impeachments in terms of what bipartisan support occurred is that impeachment require a certain period of saturation and maturation that is the public has to catch up im not prejudging what your record would show but if you rush this impeachment youre going to leave half the country behind and certainly thats not what the president what the framers wanted you have to give it time to build a record this isnt an impulse buy item youre trying to remove a duly elected president the United States and that takes time it takes work but at the end if you look at nixon which was the Gold Standard in this respect the public did catch up they originally did not support impeachment but they changed their mind you change their mind and so did by the way the courts because you allowed these issues to be heard in the courts professor turley the next and clinton impeachment were debated solidly in the high crimes category correct crimes where it is you but on the evidence presented so far is it your view that there is no credible evidence that any crime was committed by president wrong. Yes ive gone through all of the crimes mentioned they do not meet any reasonable interpretation of those crimes and im relying on express statements from the federal courts i understand that the language in the statutes are often broad thats not the controlling language its the language of the interpretation of federal courts and i think that all of those decisions stand mightily in the way of these theories and if you cant make out those crimes and dont call it that crime if it doesnt matter then whats the point call it treason call it endangered species violations have none of this matters so that would put the democrats move to impeach President Trump in the category of high misdemeanors and in James Madisons notes of the Constitutional Convention debates they clearly show that the term hi mr manner was explicitly explicitly referred to as a technical term and it wasnt just something that any majority of partisan members might happen to think it was at any given time and often when theres a debate about a technical term people turn to dictionaries and the 1st truly comprehensive English Dictionary was Samuel Johnsons a dictionary of the english language it was 1st published in 755 and the founders in many of their libraries had this book and on their desks in the Supreme Court still cites johnsons dictionary to determine the original public understanding of the words used in the constitution so heres how the 75 edition of johnsons dictionary defines the relevant terms and highness demeanor hi the relevant definition is capital great opposed to little as high treason definition of misdemeanor is defined as something less than an atrocious crime. And atrocious is defined as wicked in a high degree enormous or at least criminal so if you look at how these words were defined during the time the constitution was debated and ratified misdemeanor is something less than an atrocious crime and atrocious is wicked in a high degree and as a result a high mist of misdemeanor must be Something Like just less than a crime its wicked in a high degree now professor turley is that generally comport with your understanding of the phrase high misdemeanors it was understood by the founders with the purpose of narrowing that phrase to prevent the sorts of abuses that youve described it did i mean if you compares the extradition clause the language was that was used was different for a reason they did not want to have to establish a type of broad meeting according to the view of some people as to the meaning of high crimes and misdemeanors those provisions would be essentially identical and thats clearly not what they wanted a professor turley next id like to explore how this impeachment is based on no crime and no request for false information unlike the nixon a clinton impeachment like to start with some background the American Media for years has been asking questions about former Vice President bidens son and his paid involvement with a corrupt Ukrainian Energy company bryza is one example of those media reports d from june 2021008 was an a. B. C. News investigation titled 100 bidens ford foreign deals to joe bidens son profit off fathers position as Vice President theres still a clip of it here from a with a barisan a promotional video and many have seen the video of joe biden talking about getting the ukrainian prosecutor who is investigating grissom a fired. And a New York Times article says from made 1st 2019 referring to joseph r. Biden one of his most memorable performances came on a trip to kiev in march 2016 when he threatened to withhold a 1000000000. 00 in United States loan guarantees if ukraine as leaders did not dismiss the countrys top prosecutor among those who had a stake in the outcome was hunter biden mr bines younger son who at the time was on the board of an Energy Company owned by a ukrainian all of arc would been in the sights of the fired prosecutor general we would have 100 biden engaged in no crimes regarding a sitting on the board of or is my if an investigation led to the bankruptcy of the corrupt company Hunter Bidens lucrative position on the bridge and the board would have been eliminated along with his 50000. 00 a month payments that was his stake in a potential prosecution involving the company in fact even neil kakuro the former acting solicitor general under president obama in his recent book entitled impeach says the following is what contra biden did wrong absolutely under biden had no real experience in the Energy Sector which made him wholly unqualified to sit on the board of the only logical reason the company could have had for appointing him with his ties to Vice President biden this kind of neat ism isnt only wrong it is a potential danger to our country since it makes it easier for foreign powers to buy influence no politician from either party should allow a foreign power to conduct this kind of influence peddling with their family members also Lieutenant Colonel bynum and was asked at his hearing would it ever be u. S. Foreign policy in your experience to ask a foreign leader to open a political investigation and he replied certainly the president is well within his right to do that so the American Media and others were asking questions about honor biden and his involvement in the ukraine and President Trump in his call with the ukrainian president simply asked the same questions the media was asking. Now professor turley is your understanding that the house impeach nixon for helping cover up his administrations involvement in a crime and that the evidentiary record showed nixon knew of criminal acts and sought to conceal them including tape recordings of president nixon ordering a cover up of the watergate break in shortly after it occurred it is in is it also your understanding that the house impeach clinton for the clock crime of lying under oath to deny a woman suing him for Sexual Harassment evidence she was legally entitled to as correct. So there were requests for false information in both the nixon and clinton scandals by the president s aides or associates or by the president himself directly yes but there are no words in the 4 corners of the transcript of President Trumps call that should or request for a false information are there no and thats the thats one of the reasons why if you want to establish the opposing view you have to investigate this further now let me walk through the standard of evidence House Democrats insisted upon during the clinton impeachment the minority views in the clinton impeachment report were signed by among others grand Senate Minority leader schumer and current House Judiciary Committee chairman adler and they say that one of the professors who testified quote has meticulously documented how in the nixon inquiry everyone agreed the majority of the minority in the president s counsel that the standard of proof for the committee in the house was clear and convincing evidence professor turley would you agree that the evidence compiled to date by House Democrats during these current impeachment proceedings fails to meet the standard of clear and convincing evidence i do by a considerable measure now let me turn again to the book and the presidency and that book the authors state the following quote except in the most extraordinary circumstances impeaching with a partial or plausibly contested understanding of key facts is a bad idea. Professor turley do you think that impeaching in this case would constitute impeaching with a partial or plausibly contested understanding of key facts i think that thats clear because the this is one of the thinnest records ever to go forward on impeachment i mean the johnson record once again we can debate because this that was the 4th attempt at an impeachment but this is certainly the thinnest of a modern record if you take a look at the size of the record of clinton and nixon they were massive in comparison to this which was almost wafer thin in comparison and it has left doubts not just in 2000 the minds of people supporting President Trump whats in the minds of people like myself about what actually occurred theres a difference between requesting investigations and a quid pro quo you need to stick the landing on the quid pro quo you need to get the evidence to support it it might be out there i dont know but its not in this record i agree with my colleagues weve all read the record and i just come to a different conclusion i dont see proof of a quid pro quo no matter what my presumptions assumptions or bias might be on that point id like to turn now to the current impeachment procedures professor turley would you agree that a full and fair adversary system in which each side gets to present its own evidence and witnesses is essential to the search for truth it is and the interesting thing is on the ng with the english impeachment model that was rejected by the framers they took the language but they actually rejected the model of the impeachment from england particularly terms of hastings but even in england it was a robust adversarial process if you and if you want to see adversarial work take a look at what edmund burke did so Warren Hastings mean he was on him like ugly on moose for the entire tire trial. And as you know in the many minority views in the clinton impeachment report the House Democrats wrote the following we believe it is incumbent upon the committee to provide these basic protections as representative Barbara Jordan observed during the watergate inquiry impeachment not only mandates due process but due process quadrupled. The same minority views also support the right to crossexamination in a variety of contexts and the clinton example. Now professor turley you describe how Monica Lewinsky wasnt allowed to be called as a witness in the Senate Impeachment trial after her original testimony going to be old how she had been told to lie about her relationship with president clinton by his Close Associates its a cautionary tale about the dangers of denying key witnesses can you elaborate on that because the only reason i mention that is that i was in a portion of my testimony dealing with how you structure these impeachments what happened during the clinton pietschmann and it came up during the hearing that we had previously. Was a question of how much the house had to do in terms of clinton pietschmann because we had this robust record created by the independent counsel and they had a lot of testimony videotapes etc so the house basically incorporated that and the assumption was that those witnesses would be called at the senate but there was a failure at the senate the rules that were it were applied in my view were not fair they restricted witnesses to only 3 and thats why i brought up the lewinsky matter about a year ago Monica Lewinsky revealed that she had been told that if she signed that affidavit that we now know is untrue they had this she would not be called as a witness if you had to actually called live witnesses that type of information would have been part of the record mr my yoga gentlemen you know this back i note this is the moment in which the white house would have had not be true to question the witnesses but they declined our invitation so we will now proceed. To questions under the 5 minute rule i yield myself 5 minutes for the purpose of questioning the witnesses. Fesa feldman would you respond to professor turley comments about bribery especially about the. Relevance of the elements of criminal bribery yes bribery had a clear meaning we have been listening to the republicans present question then witness the then all experts. And now its professor noah feldman who is speaking once again at the inquiry which is now in the House Judiciary Committee which has heard from for. The fesses have talked about why they think the case for impeachment should go on all should not go on lets bring in heidi is your castle who is on capitol hill for us in washington d. C. Heidi again this is a new phase in the inquiry into present donald trump remind our viewers of whats been happening over the last 3 hours. Sure so today was the 1st day that the House Judiciary Committee has had control of this impeachment inquiry why is that such a big deal well because this is the committee that is charged to initiate impeachment proceedings those actual articles of impeachment which is really synonymous to a criminal and a criminal indictment in a sense that the president would face eventually if he goes to a trial before the senate and setting up the the writing of those articles today was the findings of the actual trumps dealings with you frame that we heard developed over weeks of testimony from the fact witnesses making the case according to democrats that trump put his personal interests ahead of those of National Security when he pressured ukraine to announce that it was investigating his political rival joe biden while trump was withholding security aid to ukraine now the question today isnt so much whether that happened isnt what charges trump may face but rather whether those accusations rise to the level of impeachable offenses and from these 4 witnesses who were all legal constitutional scholars 3 who were in the majority had a unanimous answer to yes this is. Is impeachable offenses in fact one side of this is not impeachable then nothing is and in fact the history is watching and the conclusion of how this how this concludes isnt solely determining the fate of President Trump but also what happens for us president s that come down the line in the future and we heard some very stark language coming from these 3 witnesses called by democrats one said that trump has attacked each of the constitutions safeguards against establishing a monarchy and others said that she had never before seen a us president double down in violating the his oath to to faithfully protect the Us Constitution now the one person who is in disagreement is that forth constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley who was called by republicans now its notable that in his published Opening Statement he said that if these allegations against trump were proven if he indeed withheld Security Assistance ukraine for political gain then yes that would be impeachable but he puts in a big card yet he says that has not been proven in fact he calls the evidence that has been developed then and says that if this moves forward into the senate for a trial it will be the fastest impeachment trial on the sinister evidence and he is the sole voice on this panel representing the argument of republicans that are attacking the process of this impeachment inquiry all right heidi thank you very much for that lets speak not to Melanie Sloan whos a former federal prosecutor live with us from washington d. C. Has been with us for the last 3 hours and listening to these hearings and melanie as you suspected when we spoke earlier every public and so far on actually only focusing on their witness Jonathan Turley during their 45 minute questioning Jonathan Turley professor of law at george Washington University did you hear anything shattering from him. No nothing earth shattering it was all in his opening opening testimony i mean he did let. Representative collins get away with a lot of untruths and with that also jeff taylor the person who was doing the questioning the counsel for the republicans they tried to bring up again the hunter biden gaslight situation so 5 i dont think anybody on the democratic side would argue that it was totally appropriate for hunter biden have the job with burris ma but by the same token that has nothing to do with why president President Trump was never really interested in whether there was actual corruption he just wanted an investigation so it would hurt Vice President joe biden in the campaign so that sort of went on in there and mr turley certainly could have a corrected that basically mr turley is just repeating the same arguments which is that this is going on too quickly and theres not enough evidence but again they dont get to the point that the Republican Administration the trumpet ministration has refused to cooperate and has refused to provide the witnesses that would indeed give and provide additional facts and by the same token there has been an enormous amount of evidence that the money was withheld from the ukraine that the ukraine knew that the money was being withheld and that President Trump was withholding the money. For the asking for the ukraine to say that there was an investigation into mr biden and vice and hunter biden so its not clear what evidence would be sufficient for mr turley in fact yeah his whole argument is based on the fact that the that the process of the impeachment process is flaunting his few weve heard from these constitutional experts 3 democrats 3 who were brought by the democrats and Jonathan Turley by the republicans what is this going to change in your view melanie if anything. I dont think its going to change anything i think that the theyre both trying to lay out their case the republicans in the House Intelligence Committee hearings were much more fiery i think one things weve seen thats been interesting here is that representative collins who is a very fiery supporter sometimes of President Trumps was quite calm and measured in his questioning and i think very trying to make the case that there is no constitutional case for impeachment just like the democrats are making out that there is a constitutional case for impeachment and again i think both sides are using these law professors in the testimony they provide to try and persuade anybody left in the middle perhaps who already doesnt have a view on this and yet by the same token nearly every american already has a view if in fact theyre watching this at all thank you melanie thank you so much for joining us Melanie Sloan a former federal prosecutor commenting the hearings today in the House Judiciary Committee with us were going to take a break from those hearings now of course well keep you up to date with everything that happens in the House Judiciary Committee hearing into president Donald Trumps impeachment inquiry were going to move on to other world news now and the nato summit has ended with leaders uniting behind common commitments thats despite the meeting highlighting bitter divisions on several major issues lets go to Laurin Taylor in our european new center in london for more on that lauren thankfully leaders managed to agree on issues such as russia and china and settled a major stumbling block when turkey dropped its objection to nato defense plan but behind the public display of unity cracks were on show as john howell reports what food near london summit was held. So good morning i think where it does start if you can find those seats this gathering of nato leaders had one objective a show of unity to mark 70 years of the worlds most successful military alliance one for all and all for one instead it was a public display of differences that began the day before on tuesday u. S. President donald trump was on the combative form not the one pushing the front is not only will macron on nato strategy budget payments and trumps unilateral withdrawal of u. S. Troops from Northern Syria this is where the dish there is one of the various issues. But tribes views are no longer those of a president seen as preeminent leader of the alliance now some allies here including the british french and canadian leaders see donald trump as disruptor in chief apparently sharing a joke at his expense during tuesday nights reception at buckingham palace. Trumps response on being asked about the canadian Prime Ministers comments to fester and soon afterwards he tweeted that there was no need for a final press conference. Emanuel macron meanwhile continued to press his case for change you know to me who is our enemy how can we act together against International Terrorism in particular these are all subjects that were not sufficiently settled bates to be about something or there then but history and Financial Issues or the study of the idea of the voices of reassurance were left sounding a bit thin that always been able to overcome these differences and then unite around the record toss to protect the Founding Fathers and thats exactly what to do today the question it all raises is central to what nato is and what it exists for what happens to an alliance built on collective defense when that collective commitment thats periods of unity isnt just solid as some would like it to be nato member turkeys president richard tired earlier on earlier demanded that the kurds abandoned by trump in Northern Syria be recognized as what he called terrorists or hed veto Alliance Efforts to bolster its eastern defenses against russia this was a threat that represented a fracturing of natos central accord is what trump and macron do seem to agree on but many others dont that russia is no longer the enemy it was and while nato is focus has widened to include china Cyber Security hybrid warfare the alliance cant hide from the difficult truth that multiple challenges mean multiple conflicting interests undermining the unity theyve come here to celebrate going to aljazeera at watford north london. You know russias president is accusing the u. S. Of viewing space as a potential theater of war that a mere few tinner said washington is rapidly developing its military forces in space prompting moscow to develop its space sector further putin has said he categorically opposes the militarization of the cosmos but has had to ramp up russias presence following the launch of u. S. Space command in september u. S. President of trump has said he wants his country to dominate space. Germany has expelled 2 Russian Diplomats out of federal prosecutors said there was evidence russian intelligence was involved in the killing of a georgian man in berlin a victim who had fought with chechen separatists was shot in broad daylight last august the kremlin denies any involvement and says the expulsions are unfriendly and unfounded steffen has more from moscow this is rapidly turning into a diplomatic rock between russia and germany after german prosecutors have announced that they have strong indications that russia is behind the murder of a former Chechen Rebel commander solem current hunger filly and 2 Russian Diplomats have been expelled from germany now russia says it will take countermeasures and the Foreign Ministry here in moscow says that these expulsions have been groundless the murder took place in berlin on broad daylight in august and a Russian National has been arrested for shooting him in the hat but according to media reports his identity papers were false and they have suggested that the Russian Secret Service was behind the murder something that the spokesman of president put in the nice trigger look. I dont know there are serious suspicions there jim that being what relation to the russian authorities does this have this is absolutely groundless speculation dystopic has been somehow whipped up by german media but this doesnt mean that this is how things are. This murder in berlin has been compared to the poison attempt on former spies cripple and his daughter in the United Kingdom and 2018 also then the Russian Secret Service was mentioned as being behind the attack and the incident had a very bad impact on the relationship between the United Kingdom and russia now this role in germany comes only a few days before president putin is about to board a plane to paris where he will meet with german chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss peace in peace and ukraine a visit which is meant to improve ties between russia and europe and e. U. Delegation to malta has expressed grave concerns over the integrity of the investigation into the murder of journalist and Anti Corruption blogger definite khurana galatz year she was killed by a car bomb and 2017 those accused of involvement in her murder have indicated government ministers close to the Prime Minister huge education has urged Joseph Muscat to leave office immediately resigned on sunday following weeks of protest but says hell remain in power until january the fokker is in motors capital the latter. Pressure is mounting on the office of the Prime Minister not only have there been daily protests but now a damning assessment from a delegation from the European Parliament here to investigate the crisis they believe that while the Prime Minister remains in office theres a risk of the investigation into the murder of daphne cowen i believe being compromised there has to be absolute confidence in the process and i think when hes in office that confidence is not there the way functions or doesnt function in malta has direct implications for the position of malta in the European Union soon after Carolina Police 3 people were arrested they are awaiting trial and on november the 20th one of the wealthiest people a multi fenech was arrested and accused of being complicit in the journalist murder something he denies soon after his arrest he pointed the finger at a person very close to the Prime Minister Keith Schembri the Prime Ministers former chief of staff he stepped down from his role last tuesday spent 2 days being questioned by police before being released without charge meanwhile the person regarded as the middleman in the killing has pointed the finger both at schembri and fake as being coconspirators in planning the killing of cairo and i believe as the European Parliament delegation said it was either out of complete naivety or complicity that the Prime Minister allowed this to happen on his watch. Thats it for me in the team in london back to fully into an hour and thank you very much for that were going to take a short break but still ahead on aljazeera a new push to see if war crimes were committed in afghanistan on protesters in lebanon condemned the political elites branston backed a prominent businessman as the next Prime Minister and in support saudi arabia and host nation qatar are set to meet in a politically charged arabian gulf cup semifinal on hear from both campaigns force with peter coming up to stay with us. Hello welcome to the other look at the international forecast because some of the changeable weather around northern parts of the middle east over the next couple of days this area of cloud just spilling out so of europe out of the black sea that will sink his way for the south was in these for system snow on that eastern parts seeing some snow that will push its way down towards the southern sections of the caspian towards mobile parts of iran surround at around 13 celsius out and rain coming through here for the area of rain through syria down towards lebanon maybe even into julian as we go on in sea where friday itll sweep its way through cooler just to me behind aleppo 12 celsius the wintry mix continuing around that region further south in the east there is more sunshine wolf sunshine prachi around 27. 00 celsius across much of the Arabian Peninsula southern parts of vermont could see some wet or whether just nudging its way in here is easing down towards the horn of africa towards somalia and thats where we are going to see this system pushing its way through this tropical side winds not too much of a problem but that will cause some flooding further north it is generally dry across saudi arabia but the chance of wanted to show is just around central parts of the red sea over towards mecca. The shocking treatment of disabled people in Eastern European state run caverns in these cages who cannot have access to a toilet or water and the bureaucratic indifference to their plight she has his hands and his fates tied to the beds 5 years off to fast highlighting such abuses people in power returns with a 2 part investigation to continuing mistreatment and neglect europes recurring shame hard won on aljazeera. Education is the beacon that mights the future and if in any society but even those who live in amanda neatly says getting an education takes inspiration and determination to ensure you know the kids who live in the remote areas dont have electricity t. V. Or computers. To short films show how a love of learning finds a way. A. J. Select aljazeera. Play watching aljazeera with me fully back to the war a reminder of our top stories this hour donald trump seemed between inquiry has entered a new phase constitutional scholars are testifying in the House Judiciary Committee to establish the gravity of the u. S. Presence alleged crimes trump is accused of withholding military aid to ukraine to pressure it into investigating his potential democratic rival joe biden. Despite beginning their summit bitterly divided nato leaders meeting in london have managed to unite behind. Common commitment theyve also settled a major stumbling block after turkey had dropped its objection to nato its baltic defense plan and russia has vowed to retaliate up to germany expelled 2 of its diplomats the germans took action after prosecutors links russian intelligence to the killing of a georgian man in berlin last year russia denies any involvement. On to other news now and tens of thousands of people are going to mass demonstrations in colombia unions and student groups called a nationwide strike after talks with the government failed this is a 3rd strike in the space of 2 weeks protesters are angry over president francois Economic Reforms strike leaders also want him to do more to tackle corruption and Police Violence in lebanon meanwhile protesters have condemned the decision by the outgoing Prime Minister saad hariri to back a prominent businessman to replace him critics say samir hati wants fix corruption and government mismanagement which has led to weeks of protests this is the latest in a weeks of unrest Security Forces fired tear gas at protesters trying to block a man a main vote in beirut earlier the president called for formal consultations with all additions to nominate a new Prime Minister but as in a heart of reports demonstrators say they wont stop until their demands are met. Security forces are making sure that protesters are not able to block roads any longer it seems there is a decision by the political elite to push ahead with their plans to form a new government headed by a new Prime Minister not everyone is happy for for 49 days the lebanese many lebanese have been on the streets demanding change demanding a government in the pen and the political affiliation blaming the political elites people who have been in power for 30 years for the dire state of the economy and lebanon and the politicians did not hear their voices instead theyve come up with an agreement to form a government made up of political figures with that with a number of technocrats yes they made some concessions some divisive figures are not going to be in the next cabinet but over all the the same political parties. Well be running this country so anger in the streets people saying that they will continue what theyre calling the revolution but the question is how much power do they have now there is a decision by the political elite to clamp down on the protest movement and in many ways they weakened and broke the back of the movement when they reached out to some of the organizers and are now promising them seats in the government and its not just that these protesters were receiving some support from opposition parties and now that opposition parties have come together with those in power took to it to really for a new government means these people do not have much influence they will continue to raise their voices but not much will change but the new government will have a daunting challenge a lebanon is in dire economic straits the lebanese lira is devaluing the banks have imposed capital controls afraid of capital flight people are not able to even cash out their salaries so the Economic Situation is going to be the main challenge the Government Faces and thats why it is so important for this government to have International Support because people lebanon need Financial Assistance to start flowing in from abroad. And Lebanon Central Bank says its lowering Interest Rates to try and easy economic crisis is one of a range of measures being imposed to tackle the countrys escalating financial problems banks were shut for nearly 2 weeks when the protests started in mid october about 4000000000. 00 in hard currency has been withdrawn from lebanese banks in september. A prominent u. S. Businessman with links to Donald Trumps advisers has been charged with conspiring to conceal the source of millions of dollars in donations to Hillary Clintons president ial campaign josh nader is one of 8 people indicted by the Justice Department in the u. S. He was among the witnesses in special counsel robert millers investigation into russian interference in the u. S. Election campaign 3 years ago that speak to another hashemi about this his director of the center for middle east studies at the university of denver is via skype from there thank you so much for being with us some significant accusations and claims against george nader does any of it surprise you. No it doesnt. This individual is a morally depraved person in terms of his personal life hes also a convicted pedophile but politically hes also connected to some very morally depraved political actors in the middle east particularly the Saudi Crown Prince and the crown prince and it was widely known that he was deeply connected to the Trump Administration but now were hearing that hes also been funneling money and law being his. Is a bit of the people who pay his bills lobbying the Clinton Administration as well and so this i think you know highlights several things one how corrupt authoritarian regimes in the middle east are now influencing u. S. Policy but also its highlighting how american democracy now is so pro can and is so in deeply need of Campaign Finance reform that unless this happens theyll be nothing left of american democracy how much faith in this case is going to head the democrats in the lead up to 2020. Well i think will be used by the republicans to deflect criticism that they have been soft on foreign influence particularly related to russia and putin particularly related to trumps close ties with authoritarian repressive regimes around the world including the middle east they will use this and say well look you know clinton was. Was guilty you know as well in terms of taking money from the exact same type of political characters so i think it will and i hope and i think it will affect american politics and and hopefully for the better in the sense that those candidates that are running for u. S. President will say you know enough is enough we have to pass legislation ironclad legislation that prevents foreign governments from you know corrupting american democracy and how it affects these foreign governments as you said george nader actively lobbied for the crown prince of saudi arabia and the crown prince of the u. A. E. Showing as you said that private money can wield foreign influence is that likely to change anytime soon in the u. S. Well its not going to affect those foreign repressive authoritarian regimes around the world theyre going to just try and find other loopholes to influence american policy i think the onus here and the responsibility is on the United States is on the american taxpayer and im up and on the its the responsibility of american legislators to ask you know what type of country do you want to live in if you want to live in a corrupt political system thats starting to look like a Banana Republic where if you have enough money you can effectively you know shape u. S. Policy i mean thats effectively what were dealing with here so i dont think it will affect you know authoritarian regimes theyll still try and you know play their we could games but im hoping it will be a wake up call to the citizens of the United States that their democracy is withering away theres not much left of it and this is just another piece of evidence to prove that point now there are very good to talk to very good to get your insight thank you so much for joining us there from denver. Thank you. The International Criminal court is to decide whether those involved in the war in afghanistan including the u. S. Should answer to allegations of war crimes a battle of judges ruled against a similar request made earlier this if finding it was unlikely any of those involved would cooperate aljazeera tony betty spoke with relatives seeking justice for 4 men killed during the conflict in eastern afghanistan. This was a bedroom that became an Execution Chamber the night Afghan Special forces stormed a family home in jalalabad suspecting it to be an eyesore terrorist cell the operation ended with the death of 4 brothers hands tied behind their backs and shot at close range. Mohammed millet zuyder describes the way his nephews were killed in cold blood. Sidique joannes eben supports a hill well were not i saw members one was a judge another a lawyer and 2 were money changes the government has not given an explanation as to why they were killed and to the families knowledge no one has yet been charged with a crime. We want all those involved to face justice the one who shot that the one who gave the orders and the one who gave the wrong intelligence they need to be hanged in front of us then we will know justice has been done. The villages of jalandhar in eastern afghanistan want justice as well to avenge the deaths of 70 friends and relatives who died in a bomb attack as they prayed in a mosque the perpetrators are either eisel all the taliban ready girl lost 10 members of his family in the blast. But i wasnt in the mosque when i came home i found the bodies of my family including my little son i fell unconscious it was truly horrible and has devastated our village in a country that has suffered for decades of conflict justice has been in short supply the International Criminal courts chief prosecutor for 2 bensouda wants to end the climate of impunity in afghanistan and start an investigation of war crimes a request has been refused by the i. C. C. Own judges on the grounds that none of the main players will cooperate and the process will be lengthy and costly. Shes appealing that decision and has accused the taliban of targeting innocent civilians and the Afghan Government of torturing prisoners but she also says that the United States may be guilty as well the United States is concerned that if this i. C. C. Investigation goes ahead it will also focus on the role of the cia in afghanistan its black ops and socalled black sites where prisoners were subjected to controversial some say inhumane methods of interrogation and treatment misspend sudha says there is information that members of the u. S. Military and Intelligence Forces committed acts of torture cruel treatment rape and Sexual Violence against conflict related detainees. The u. S. Has defended its actions in afghanistan and has responded by attacking the i. C. C. Its threaten to prosecute its investigators and take retaliatory measures against any country that cooperates with the investigation in eastern afghanistan theyve been bombed from the air shot on the ground and no investigation is about to change that. There was that i think were caught in the middle when Government Forces on the other side of the fighting were the ones who suffer our houses are destroyed our loved ones are killed we want it to end. Its not clear if the i. C. C. Investigation will ever get off the ground and achieve anything but what is clear is that all sides have blood on their hands and most people in afghanistan want something more than justice they want peace tony berkely al jazeera eastern afghanistan. Natural and manmade disasters have combined to create some of the worst conditions in baba has seen in about a decade nearly half of its people face severe hunger and starvation priyanka go to has our report. These parched lands of zimbabwe were once known as the breadbasket of Southern Africa but with just one year of normal rains and half a decade there is strong crops are dying animals too and millions of people need food to survive its essentially a National Catastrophe half the population almost 8000000. 00 people on the brink of starvation and the causes are essentially a combination of Climate Change particularly growth and economic collapse the economy is in freefall. The government recently reshoots zimbabwe dollars for the 1st time in a decade but put restrictions on how much people can patrol from banks that doesnt help when prices of food and other commodities have soared to record highs making peoples income nearly worthless the rate of inflation is estimated to have reached almost 500 percent the 2nd highest in the world after venezuela the drought and poor maintainance has affected part generation and lead to lead the blackouts and is a shortage of water and medicines. Families are having to lay tough choices in cases of children for instance they have to make a choice about whether the whether the children stay buckets warm and do chores and side find other means of livelihood or go to school in the areas families have to decide on you know what kind of meal they will have for the day because families and open areas Andrew Liveris most insists instances sometimes can only afford one meal a day the u. N. Says zimbabweans on the brink of manmade starvation and economic crisis feeding into a Climate Crisis putting millions at risk. Aljazeera. The u. S. Censor don are planning to Exchange Ambassadors for the 1st time in more than 2 decades u. S. Secretary of state mike on bail made the announcement of sudans Prime Minister abdullah dog visited washington said sudans shift away from the military rule any establishment of a civilian Transitional Government was a major factor in the decision. On the. Cant force a speech at holly thank you very much greenpeace japan says radiation hotspots have been found with a tokyo 2020 a limp dick torch relay will begin in march the refurbished j Village Sports complex was used as an Operational Base to deal with the 20 live in Fukushima Nuclear reactor meltdown it reopened earlier this year and the argentina rugby team stayed they during the world cup. Now the greenpeace survey in october of j village which is a National Football training complex found radioactivity readings as high as 71. 00 micro sieverts per hour might not mean much until you learn that most people are exposed to natural radiation of 2. 00 to 3000. 00 micro seabirds a year which means anyone staying at a village for 2 or more days could be exposed to more than that the readings arent deemed life threatening if exposed for a short length of time but greenpeace say the levels are 1775. 00 times higher than prior to the Nuclear Disaster and heavy rainfall could spread contamination and so south koreas unpick committee are so concerned about tokyo 2020 that they plan to bring radiation detectors with them to the olympics theyve also shipped their own homegrown food to feed athletes. And in the past we provided korean food in order to encourage athletes this time the main focus will be on providing food that is safe from radiation will bring as many ingredients as we can and even if we do get local food supply we will test it. Fiji is postponing Domestic Support until january because of the Measles Outbreak in neighboring samo or at least 60 people have died in summer fiji has a much higher rate of vaccination but theyre canceling events likely to draw crowds their football Beach Volleyball and netball governing bodies have already suspended competitions. Israel folau has settled these dispute with Rugby Australia for what he claimed was unfair dismissal he wanted 9 and a half 1000000. 00 but the terms of the deal are confidential for now as a conservative christian the 30 year old was sacked over a social media post saying that hell awaited gay people he said it was religious discrimination so rugby astray near the New South Wales rugby union and flour released a joint statement saying the social media post reflected a mist of allows genuinely held religious beliefs and must of allowed did not intend to harm or a famed any person must once all australians to know that he does not condone discrimination of any kind against any person on the grounds of they sexuality for loud and followed that up with this post on you tube. With todays acknowledgement and apology by rugby we have been vindicated and can now move on with our lives to focus on our faith and our family we started this journey on behalf of all people of faith to protect their rights of freedom of speech and religion we now look forward to the federal government and act in the legislation necessary to further protect and strengthen these rights for all australians thank you. Right now in saudi arabia Anthony Joshuas preparing for his heavyweight title rematch against andy ruiz jr the 2 will battle it out in the saudi capital riyadh on saturday in what has been dubbed the clash on the dunes the fights come 6 months of the joshuas shock defeat at Madison Square garden that lost him his will title belts. Im used to this position and even when you watch m. P. And nothing and as a respected heavyweight knows that you ways out of a challenge a mindset all of these quite satisfy is come up with his reality challenge a mindset ive always said that previously when that the boats around my waist and now im speaking into existence this is the challenge of mindset so i call it back to 16 back to my 16th fight hungry determined to focus on the go and i know theres really not much to say besides im ready to rock and roll i know ages and come with a different game plan i know hes prepared i know hes motivated so i think thats what gives me the action and ive been more motivating you know being more caution as i know he lost weight and i know hes and i try to box mary around. But it is my job. To prevent that you know so im ready for whatever kinds of my way in america rocking around. Meanwhile saudi arabias National Football team up preparing for a politically charged arabian gulf cup semifinal against host nation qatar on thursday the qatar is defeated the United Arab Emirates in their last Group Stage Game saudi arabia like the u. A. E. A one of the countries currently blockading gaza saudi boss says he hopes this match can bring the 2 countries closer together by all. Of. This would be the most important. I feel we were in the war. The best years of peace and the next game that we know that. Its a very difficult one we know about the quality of our open wanting to morrows game but. Once again. We are confident in our in a lot of players in their qualities as well in their commitment for sure. Were going to try to who are best to morrow and have a good performance and hopefully good result former england cricket captain bob willis has died at the age of 70 on wednesday he had been suffering a long illness according to a family statement when displayed 90 test matches for his country he took 325 wickets putting in 4 from the all time list for england perhaps hes most memorable performance was taking 8 final innings wickets to help england to a famous victory over australia in leeds in 1981. Thats where well leave it for the most part for me again later feeling if think you very much for that thats it for this news hour from doha from the fully back to one whole team here thank you so much for watching live from London Youth Center next door in 10 a famous. Kenyan journalists in pursuit of press freedom and justice i havent seen very desperate situation on one side but they cannot afford being clean and investigating government corruption and the National Health care system some of the transactions were seeing the collapse. Of money that is unexplained to africa on some sites and publish will see that some people will want to come even if it doesnt knock the oscar whos truth is it anyway on aljazeera. Investigative journalist seymour hersh. Global experts and discussion really toshiba deal and you disagree with that deal because of the terrible twos the worst of all it was brought to us were going to have stories from other angles. Open your eyes to an alternative view of the world today you have to rethink pretty much everything thank you for talking to aljazeera the great programs to inspire you on aljazeera. From ancient embryos to communist leaders. Age old philosophies and the rule of law remain central to the worlds oldest living civilization. In the 1st of a 2 part series the big picture charts how a. History spanning by 1000 years chinas role in the industrialized world. But china complex part one on aljazeera. This is ultimately to their families in a very different way where there is little we dont leave. The House Judiciary Committee is told by constitutional experts that President Donald Trump did commit. To this is live from london also coming up nato members reaffirmed their commitment to collective defense but major questions remain about the future of the alliance. Summers Measles Outbreak as the death toll rises at least one other person if a country takes its own measures to prevent infection