Have made statements of what is happening in russia and you just mentioned it is that interference or not you. Pass your judgment on what is happening. But. We reserve the right to do this. Your country. If you think its interference well you can think like that but i dont think it has anything to do with real interference. And whats happening. I can congratulate mr johnson he emerges a winner but when she. Fell the sentiment of the british public. More sophisticated than his opponent. Came out as we know and she ones too. To leave all the consuming that. There was something about agriculture. To please raise your hand yeah. Would you leave it with a bit of itself just go back to the studio weve been listening live to blossom reported as he conducts his and marathon Media Press Conference as he does every year weve just been listening to come questions being fielded by journalists for the 1st when he was looking back at his time and power saying that russia is a completely different country from what it was in the early 2000 then he went on to talk about defense capabilities and probably most interestingly he just feel that some questions from a b. B. C. Journalist who outright asked him whether or not russia is interfering and u. K. Politics the russian president said that the u. K. Passes just judgments on whats happening in russia and of course russia does the same and ask whether or not the journalists considers that interference i mean also congratulated on his recent win in the recent u. K. Election now that press conference has been going on for just over 3 and a half hours were not quite sure how much longer it will go on but of course well be coming back to it throughout the day to bring you all of the most interesting questions and answers on pressing international topics. And other news u. S. House democrats have stuck to their guns adamantly going had an impeaching donald trump is accused of abuse of power and obstructing congress but the whole impeachment saga could backfire on the democrats as appears to have rallied republican support something the u. S. President has been quick to point up. The a 230 the nasal 197 present is one. Article one is adopting. This lawless hard assume is a political suicide march for the Democratic Party have you seen my pose of the last 4 weeks. And trump may have a point according to the latest polls hes getting more support from the public since october 2 just after the democrats started their impeachment inquiry against him his Approval Ratings have grown by 6 percent at the same time the number of people who think he should be impeached is declining from just over half in october to 46 percent now its up to the republican dominated senate now to decide whether to remove trump from office Mitch Mcconnell who leads the majority there so thats unlikely he anticipates a partisan outcome just like in the house which voted almost entirely along party lines after 8 hours of heated debates with only 3 democrats saying no to the impeachment articles. This process has been partisan vindictive dishonest the president s actions seriously jeopardize not only Americas National security but security of our closest allies this investigation was unfair the articles of impeachment are not based on facts but instead are entirely politically motivated President Trump abuse the power of his office for his own personal and political gain history books will tell of this day it will tell of a purely partisan effort to remove the president of the United States sriram charlie author of trumped emerging powers and the post American World believes that the democrats wont succeed in getting rid of the president. I think he is short on food for the general election the president ial election which is 11 months from now i think the democrats have basically dont smear trump Andrew Carnegie she said if we do and to create doubt in the minds of the. Dignity and honesty in the process the democrats are holding all these hearings and system or knees and people coming out and giving a big deal hold that it will create enough doubt in the minds of the most i think this is a teetotal unix being used to prepare for the general election because everyone knows that. Are going to end in removal of from 63000000. 00 amid fears that the senate will not remove the president from Office Democrats have a plan b. When it comes to undermining donald trump theyre ready to resort to some old weapons like the miller report artist martin explains its difficult to understand the purpose of last nights Impeachment Vote why should the upper house of the u. S. Congress pass judgment on donald trump when democrats already have a plan b. The House Judiciary Committee says it will continue to investigate donald trump regardless of the outcome but what else is left to investigate well the House Judiciary Committee is saying that they will resurrect the dead i. E. The moeller report this will give them a chance to get back to their roups and bring up that old russian collusion agenda and they can get the impeachment hearings going all over again the public version of the miller report contains numerous rejections these rule 6 redactions withhold information about President Trumps knowledge of his campaigns contacts with russian officials and wiki leaks and therefore bear on whether the president committed impeachable offenses yes same old same old even though bob muller found no evidence of trump russia collusion its all about belief these days the democrats should look into some very solid facts like the recent ruling from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court regard. The surveillance against carter page now thats the very carter page who is transforming a Foreign Policy adviser just the very next day Michael HorowitzInspector General of the u. S. Department of justice were due to the f. B. I. For failures during the early stages of the russian probe your field 17 different omissions and inaccuracy was in the carter page warrant applications and furthermore they included dr documents and concealed information there were so many errors. We couldnt reach a conclusion or to make the determination on what motivated those failures although we did not find documentary or testimonial evidence of intentional misconduct we also did not receive satisfactory explanations for the errors or the missing information and the failures that occurred now James Coleman who was the f. B. I. Director at the time of the investigation did that his bureau was sloppy and how they investigated donald trump and his team furthermore the infamous cia which started the entire russia probe was not as important as it was made out to be it was one of a bunch of different facts to resemble to a part of the court it was the one that convinced the lawyers that they had enough now with that added to the pile to go forward as a question is it seems that you were minimizing the role of the of this field if i was sorry that i did that now call me also said that he does not care how credible steeles allegations were being conclude the reporting from steele was bunk they concluded there were significant questions about the reliability of some of the sub source reporting that should have been included in the renewals when i reached the president i briefed him on a small part of it that i told him i didnt know whether it was true or not i didnt care and in fact he didnt care about the investigation at all in general i didnt know what theyd learned from the some source i didnt know the particulars of the investigation isnt that investigations or this is. Investigation of the campaign of the man who is the president of the United States how the narrative that donald trump colluded with russia in order to win the 2016 elections hasnt really panned out however the narrative that donald trump has been and appropriately in leicester gaited by people who have an agenda of trying to bring down his presidency is getting stronger by the day now some people might look at this case and say to the democrats stop meeting a dead horse just let this russia stuff go already but it could be more dangerous to travel to rivals than they realize it could be a case of stop beating this dead horse before it comes back to life turns around and sinks its teeth and deal. R. T. New york. Israel has banned christians in gaza from visiting holy sites such as bethlehem and jerusalem during christmas there reportedly around 1200 christians in gaza last christmas 700 were granted permits to travel to the holy cities artist has more. With christmas almost upon us some people face to face plans a heaven to be aborted because of israel over this Holiday Season its banned christians in gaza from visiting some sites that embody exactly what christmas is about basically hanway jesus christ was born and here in jerusalem where he preached was crucified and resurrected after consulting with all security bodies in israel it was decided that this year departure pomus through the allenby crossing will be issued to goals and christians off to christmas however it is important to emphasize that every request received from the palestinian Civil Community in the gaza strip is checked individually and accepted after a security diagnosis procedure that moves by these radial thirtys isnt as usual as typically commission is given every easter and christmas we have to petition for travel through the Palestinian Civil Affairs ministry who in turn poses a replications to the israeli side with and wait for a long time to receive an o. B. Very decision of approval or rejection without further explanation there are almost a 1000 christians living in gaza if since hamas took control in gaza israel has cracked down on travel if a few are gazans are being given permission to make polygamy has in 2018700 were given permission to visit holy sites of a christmas this year the number is 0 the decision has been condemned by the israeli based organization gisha which protects the rights of palestinian residents the persistent does respect shown for the needs of the palestinian civilian population stands in violation of fundamental human rights and also points to an ongoing into speak ation of his release separation policy between the 2 parts of the palestinian territory gaza and the west bank theres been Little International reaction to the christmas ban for example the Us State Department which prides itself on protecting religious freedoms around the globe has remained silent lets ask people here in jerusalem what they think about the ban do you think its a diversion because everybody should be able to visit to the holiest places. To reach to the sickness and where wherever they want to be. Given that christianity for the jews even the most of them so many people did coming from there for christmas and going to bag when its a war plays and all that everybody a muslim and christian this suffering goes up because of the war saw there are no way is that. Its not fair at all to be. Deprived from your own religion and thats why i have they are invading everything. Including relieve him including your privacy including you believe christmas is supposed to be about bringing people together but israel it seems has turned into an occasion to keep people apart policia r. T. Choose to them. A school in the u. K. Has found itself in the headlines after 12 year old pupils were asked to imagine they were the parents of a victim of the 2017 Manchester Arena terror attack they were then asked to write an essay for homework respondent to the viewpoint that all terrorists should be forgiven some parents were outraged. I think this is simon is absolutely disgusting for all sorts of Different Reasons it seems to me to be brainwashing begins i have not let my daughter attend school today until i can find out more about what the school is teaching now with children. The school has since apologized and cancelled the task we discussed the issue raised with political commentator and new York Observer columnist under walker and chief executive of the Ramadan Foundation u k. For a victims family to be able to have the compassion to forgive is a very personal decision but to try to change the narrative somehow the altera should be forgiven you think is really dangerous the idea that terrorists can be rehabilitated is often not true and i think what i would have told her diaper the teacher in our school is our 1st pops the pupils to write a letter to parents to better understand the impact of terrorism and there is a real concern that if you try to drop language that we see in this particular exercise of how will it get to mars is terrorism on there violence and saying to Young Children in this country that you somehow can forgive terrorist i do the you can forgive terrorist if you kill innocent life then you should for political aims and you should stay in prison for the rest of your life look time and time again we are told that the only way to push Forward Community relations is to try to understand why the terrorists the terrorists no no no what you have to understand is why your neighbor is being victimized by those terrorists whether it be muslim families who are concerned for their safety after after terrorist attacks or whether its the people being directly affected and we. British citizens should be really looking at the fact what can we do to keep our country safe but more importantly to hold to account and bring justice for the victims of terrorism we should teach children the important difference because if the children believe that all muslims are like solomon the baby the guy who blew up manchester where on earth do we get as a country its not acceptable to leave that implication in childrens margins. U. S. Tech giants among them Apple Microsoft and google are facing a lawsuit from 14 congolese parents and children human Rights Groups accuse the companies of being complicit in the deaths of children who are working in cobalt mines in the Company Supply chains cobalt is in high demand as its widely used in batteries for devices such as smart phones here are some of the testimonies from children who for legal reasons have all been given the same name and im warning you may find some of the upcoming images upsetting. The chamber ceiling collapsed on people in a coal mine john doe 5 was one of only 2 survivors john doe 3 was living in the mine area on his motorbike loaded with 3 bags of kabul he was hit by a large cobbled transport truck and his leg was amputated after 2 weeks of working john doe will never there was severely injured he was 14 years old when he was in the mine the families and injured children are seeking compensation for forced labor negligence and Emotional Distress some also claim they suffered serious injuries while crawling through tunnels or carrying heavy loads artist tosca taylor has more. How far would you go to make your fortune hire a child a child kill a child these are the questions the worlds most famous tech giants will be onscreen in court as part of a larger mock legal case thats off to a Human Rights Organization that complicit in the injury and deaths of hundreds if not thousands of children in the democratic republic of congo all to feed the wild insatiable appetite for the very nature gadgets defendants ample google will microsoft tesla are knowingly benefiting from and aiding and abetting the cruel and brutal use of Young Children and democratic republic of congo to mind called the Young Children are not merely being forced to work full time extremely dangerous mining jobs at the expense of their educations and futures theyre being regularly mean been killed by tunnel collapses and other known hazards common to call gold mining in the d. R. See the case has been brought forward on behalf of 14 congolese families 6 of whom have lost children walking and mines the document makes 5 harrowing ranting with stories of broken spines paralysis and people buried alive and collapsed tunnels children as young as 6 forced to walk up to 24 hour shifts using tools the Human Rights Group brandts as from the stone age many of these children while also trafficked. And while the latest i phone retells around 1000. 00 these children were being paid as little as 2 for that troubles if they survive the watching day ive never encountered are documented more severe a similar. In the elocution of income between the top of the supply chain and the bottom its dad disconnect that makes this perhaps the worst injustice of slavery and Child Exploitation that ive seen in my 2 decades of research what could be watch these lives though coble apparently a metal that is essential to those in lithium batteries found in every smart phone every laptop every electric car and as the tech boom continues to monta has sought the d. L. C. As one of the poorest countries in the world but also a mineral gold mine has been only too willing to power at this for a shift market it produces around 60 percent of the wallets coble supply mining the thought of it by hand now some of those giant corporations which signed a contract with these Mining Companies say they had no idea what was going on those people in Silicon Valley cant be big readers than because this has been news before further the horrors of the plight of these children has been widely reported in the media defendants all have knowledge of the forced labor dangerous conditions and extremely low p. Provided to child coble minors then you have reports like the one by Amnesty International back in 2016 which documented how child cobalt miners were over exposed to hazardous chemicals while walking with no protective gear and basic hand tools apples promise a year later its not use mines that didnt provide professional quit meant must have gotten lost in translation even worse than just standing idly by though pretending youre all the good guy indeed taking a major peach from the corporate cover of guard defendants apple alphabet dell and microsoft have joined in support of modal mining programs and d r c to create the false impression that they have acted to prevent the known horrors of kobold mining in the deer sea by children but when you are raking in hundreds of billions every year what are a couple of lives over 9000 miles away from you though of course theyll have. I believe they really do care people should have values. Companies are nothing more than a collection of people and so by extension all companies should have values you know apple has always been at the core about changing the world its no coincidence that a company dedicated to free flow of information was founded right here in the us as an American Company we cherish the values and freedoms that have allowed us to grow and serve so many users we always knew that we were losing our money now was of our life and our Eyesight Technology but how could we know it was costing lives too. We asked the companies and question for comment they said reports of misconduct are always investigated with appropriate action taken they also told us that they are committed to being responsible when sourcing materials but we also heard from a journalist in the d r c who claims that Companies Know exactly what theyre doing. The north this system is not good in a call and they are taking profits from this of course they nor. Do most of demining the mind coming from the dia cobalts all go into all the kind of minerals from the instant they nor the government is less. Directly to the death of 100 millions of people walking illegally kids walking illegally in the mine on 100 percent i think 80 percent of those minerals coming from illegal way in a very difficult area we cant even call it the Blood Minerals and they have a direct responsibility on those blood because they do want to buy and they want using it they know we do which could be sure those mining mine is extracted from the us that is the place where we are talking about these people directly from the big companies. Today as it happens every year what im reporting is fielding questions from both foreign and National Journalists and heres a marathon q. And a session that happens at the end of each year i touch on a number of topics everything from ukraine Climate Change domestic issues and whatnot our correspondent Martha Stewart has been listening in for almost 4 hours now to everything thats being sad what would you say are some of the president s most interesting answers. Well theres theres a lot he said that you know has turned turned had certainly and we could be in for 2 records today the 1st is the number of journalists in attendance accredited 1895 and you know the latest estimate is with hes got 40 minutes to go until he sets a new record in the length of this q. And a session which i would argue water the turn heads the most out of what everything he said in the last almost 4 hours is that he said that he wont be running for a 4th term he said this while out through a question from a journalist and said wouldnt it make sense to empower the Russian Parliament at the expense of the presidency which is a very powerful tool which will admit. Certainly but you need to think twice before rewriting the constitution but one amendment that could be made is limiting the number of terms that a president can one not in a rule but in total. What could be done is to cancel the. Amendment we have 2 terms in a truly serve 2 terms then resigned and had the constitutional right to return to the presidency because it was not. Confusing some of our political scientists and public figures so we could be counseled. Just one thing of course the many many issues. Steve a more questions that havent been asked not. Everybody is going to get a chance to field their questions and 1900 journalists and just one of putin but one thing that you know russians are affected by especially is sanctions that change the way of life here in russia both positively the growth of local industry agriculture export and negatives the. Europeans whose duty bound in russia with regards to the sanctions leveled by europe against russia and mirror sanctions against Russia Vladimir Putin said that they should go to politically motivated sanctions make the world a worse place they dont make it in we change their behavior and they certainly dont benefit either side all they do is impede dialogue and on that note with regards to europe german journalist asked about the murder of an ethnic chechen recently in berlin which led me putin replied. There is a lot of confusion there has been dialogue between various security agencies but this man was a murderer a murderer with blood on his hands complicit in the murder of almost a 100 people and he was allowed to walk the streets of berlin. No. But you get upset in the can he was a criminal a killer in one attack in the caucuses he killed 98 people in other countries they hold morning ceremonies where there are less victims and this is from the full list of evil actions and we raised this question multiple times in syria we see what is going on in the jail as well i still fighters being killed people from central asia russia and 2nd place but there are also many people from western europe from from from germany we see that these people terrorists walk freely in european capitals now Something Else concerning russians namely their athletes as of course the recent ban that came down from water banning russia from International Sports competitions for 4 years and thats something that the president to comment on tell us more about what he had to say. Well the ban was taken painfully heard Many Russians this is a country with a very rich sporting heritage this is a country thats proud of its sporting achievements of its athletes and to be banned from participating in a lympics under the russian flag from all sorts of sporting competitions in the foreseeable future for years. Was certainly very painful and Vladimir Putin said that this is unprecedented in its injustice he made an example of say a 14 year old figure skater what would she know about doping she was too young to take part in these olympics when this scandal erupted why is she being punished and why is there this blanket punishment. For something that only a select number of individuals did. Was decision is not only unfair but also not consistent with common sense and law as for doping with decision to compete under a neutral flag was made at previous to now the same thing once again never before have we seen a president like this in International Law secondly any punishment must be individual this is natural and its an overwhelming majority of athletes in a clean how is it possible to play someone elses guilt on them to. That reputed mention that you know the sunni and reinforces the suspicions that an element of political motivation to this band that the that isnt acting entirely from a sporting perspective on the topic of politics of course he was asked about the impeachment of trump which he said chances are the american president isnt going anywhere this is a political spat and a little fight between democrats who lost the election and the republicans who won it in the democrats are trying to get a little revenge using the made up reasons you pointed to the conspiracy theories that were ed for years on American Worldwide television about the trump russia collusion story what about turned out to be a complete died and he says now that its being we have to accept russia has been replaced with the ukraine a trump ukraine Conspiracy Theory and that he said that you know this is the still run of the cycle but ultimately trump will stay with regards the russian American Relations for bringing us those updates were actually going to cross over it live again to Vladimir Putin and listen in to what hes saying now. You just need to be competently qualified. You can always bring in. The list aggression thats would definitely be in demand. I have a suggestion to. See the joy is from a stone youre right here just. Because you can. Promise to the person to like to send to police. I could do that with out of i could be after the lot of you my name is vladimir and my. Family memory is so huge that now i get off simoom half of these are all or my students they started. Where im gonna see it can now bring us more on what the russian president was just speaking about you know we just missed that he was