Transcripts For ALJAZAM Consider This 20140604

Suing the n. F. L. Not long after he filed. Hello, im antonio mora, and this is consider this. Here is what is on consider this. The president need to look us in the eye and explain what he has done. Dan joins a concussion lawsuit. Dan merino and his lawyers are discusses pulling out the lawsuit. If you want to be part of the cash cow, you go into the family. Its 25 years since the prodemocracy protest in beijing. Hope was gone. They were sending troops to kill people. China will never go back to total tarian again. We begin with a controversy surrounding the deal that freed Bowe Bergdahl from taliban captivity in a swap for five top taliban leaders in guantanamo bay. With mounting allegations, the army announced on tuesday it would launch an investigation into the events surrounding his capture. The chairman of the joints chief of staff stated army leaders would not look away from misconduct if it occurred. Arriving in europe for the beginning of a 4day trip, president barack obama was forceful in defending his decision to make the deal that freed Bowe Bergdahl from the taliban. Regardless of the circumstances, whatever they may turp out to be, we get an american soldier back from captivity. Period, full stop. We dont condition that. Joining us from sacramento is Sergeant Joshua korn eel son who served in Bowe Bergdahls platoon. You were there the day Bowe Bergdahl disappeared. You said you have no doubt he was a deserter. Why . He was, first off Bowe Bergdahl was quiet. He kept to himself a lot. Didnt divulge too many personnel details to one particular person, and he was reserved, very quiet. I mean, a lot of people are quiet, obviously. He did spend a lot of time with the locals. He enjoyed happening out with the amp, Afghan National police. That morning, when it came up and we had Bowe Bergdahls weapon, body armour, and sensitive equipment and no Bowe Bergdahl, it was you just thought yeah, Bowe Bergdahl would be the guy that would walk away. There were consequences to his disappearance. What did it mean for you and the rest of the platoon. After he left, we launched a series of small patrols in the neighbouring area looking for him, looking for any sign that he might have, you know, been captured or he might have wanted to have gotten back. As a soldier you go through training where if you are captured, you are taught to leave equipment or signs that you want to be found. We never found any of those much the following 90 days after Bowe Bergdahl left, we searched every day for 20 hours a day to find Bowe Bergdahl. It took you away from your mission. Absolutely. The mission from the time he left for the next three months following was to find Bowe Bergdahl. There are a number of reports that six soldiers ended up losing their lives while searching for Bowe Bergdahl. What can you tell us about that. Do you know anyone that died in that process, squ what impact did it have on the platt on. Morale was low. We were out, you know, expending energy, so much time, resources, everything that we have we are giving to find Bowe Bergdahl, and he deserted and walked away and didnt want to be found. We were essentially spending extra time, energy and effort to find someone who didnt want to be found. Turning to what the president said today, he said that the sacred oath is what every mum and dad who sees a son or daughter sent to war should expect from the United States. What about Bowe Bergdahl, do we have an obligation to bring him back or anyone else. If Bowe Bergdahl deserted. Should we have an obligation to get desert yes back too . Absolutely, hes a United States citizen that served to come back from the United States. Hes a deserter from the United States army and needs to be held accountable for deserting his post and being a deserter. He needs to be accountable for all of that. If he didnt follow the sacred oath, how much important was the promise do you. Do you think wed be able to get people in the military, if we didnt get impinge to follow the oath. The army ethos, is never leave a fallen soldier, never leave a comrade. So that it is what it is. You know, it doesnt matter if its a deserter, if its a wounded soldier or injured soldier, you as that person and bring them back to safety. Bowe bergdahl being a deserter, he deserved to be rescued. You said he should not be considered a hero, what would you say to him if you had the chaps to talk to him . I would ask him why he purply walked away and left myself, my platoon members, my battalion to clean up his mess that he made by leaving. Id ask him why, how he feels about having six United States Army Soldiers subsequently killed in the search for him. For Bowe Bergdahl. So many questions. Appreciate you joining us, to tell us yore story. To help better understand what is next, im joined from philadelphia by jack demarchio who formerly was deputy undersecretary and analysis operations at the department of homeland security, and worked as a judge advocate general and is currently a partner at a law firm. Jack, good of you to join us. Your reaction to what you heard the sergeant say. Thank you, its a pleasure to be here. The sergeant said interesting things. Hes right with regard to the code of the military. I had several deployments myself, and we dont leave a soldier behind. Whether the intuffed u deserted individual deserted or captured, we try to make every effort to get the soldier back into the United States forces. Hes currently in germany being evaluated. How long do you think hell stay there before hes questioned about the charges. Sure, hes in Landstuhl Army hospital, and is undergoing a series of evaluations to determine his physical capabilities as a result of five years in the captivity and custody of the taliban. Once the doctors are finished with him. Hell probably be returned to walter reed in washington d. C. Area the medical center, part of the theys bethesda naval hospital. Given the fact that theres conflicting evidence as to his intent to leave his post or whether he was captured by the enemy, that is going to be an issue that the army will have to hone in on, and examine carefully. Talking about some other legalities, all the members of the platoon had to sign documents agreeing not to discuss anything that happened during or in connection with Bowe Bergdahls disappearance. Why would the army stop them from talking. Are they putting themselves in danger now by speaking out . I dont know what the status was, or what the circumstances were regarding that socalled gag order. That may have been a fact that the investigation was still ongoing, and the army felt that it was better to keep statements out of the press. Now, of course, the investigation the soldier has been recovered and is in u. S. Custody. We go into a second phase to determine what happened, what were the circumstances from his absence from his unit and duty position. We have heard some allegations that there may be a desertion. If this is, in fact, a desertion, that will kick in certainly an investigation that the army will most likely do in any case. Probably something called an article 156 investigation, or Army Regulation 156, which is a regulation calling for an investigating officer to be appointed by senior officer to investigate the facts and circumstances surrounding an incident. In this case most likely an investigating officer will be looking at whether sergeant Bowe Bergdahl lift, ut circumstances, was it vault the circumstances, was it voluntary or involuntary. That will be the next step after hes determined physically fit. If they find it was voluntary, do you think therell be a trial . If it was voluntary, if the 156 investigation comes down, there was a desertion, to try the case, to bring it to a Court Marshall. Under the uniform code of military justice, article 85 calls for a trial if an individuals has been found guilty of desertion. It is defined as absence from your place of duty or post without the Proper Authority with the intent not to return, the intent to ab sent yourself after the duty post. If he is found guilty by a Court Marshall, do you think hell be punished. If hes found guilty bay a Court Marshall, it will go from theres two faces. The phase where they determine whether the individual was guilty or not. If hes determined to be guilty, it goes into a penalty phase, determining what type of punishment would be appropriate for that individual. A Court Marshall which could be done by a jury of officers enlisted, or a judge alone trial could give him. If found guilty, could give him no essential punishment, or the maximum punishment. I know you dont believe that is likely under the circumstances. Again, its hard to speculate. If found guilty, certainly anything is on the table. He could be sentenced to a prison term or not. Its speculation at this point. Thank you, jack, for joining us to explain the process. President obama is on a 4day trip to europe to support nato allies, that the u. S. Will support them. Arriving in warsaw, polands capital, the president said security was sack roe sanction the and u. S. And its allies would stand together and would ask congress for a billion dollars to position more military equipment in europe and bring in more european forces. Well increase american personnel, army and air force units, rotating through allied countries, and step up the partnerships with friends like ukraine, moldova and georgia. For more, im joined by david ignitionous, the Washington Post columnist on foreign affairs, writing on the murky world of intelligence, counterterrorism and the c. I. A. He is an author. You were tough on the president s Foreign Policy speech. You said your paper, the Washington Post, the only consistency of the policy is that its been bad. Is that weakness why hes in europe, offering a billion dollars in what is a military aid, allies that can rely on american strength. Its important to president obama to tell european allies that the United States is there. Its committed. Its committed in terms of additional money in terms of n. A. T. O. And defense. From president obamas standpoint, the progress of events worked out as well as it could have. Thats one of the things i said in a column. I was critical of parts of a speech, we can talk about that. Ukraine, given that the United States didnt have military option, the combination of sanctions and diplomatic pressure had the rush jobs to allow the elections in russians to allow the elections to take place. Theres a newly elected president. Both say they can work. Now the question is steadying those closer to russia, poland, the baltics, and others are nervous. They saw what happened in ukraine. The question conditions to be whether president obama not just whether he has the military to use in europe, but whether he has the will to take the steps that would back putin and the russians up. That is a question the world is asking about. Is there a danger that with this announcement. Hes doing what serg alavrov Sergei Lavrov said he shouldnt do, moving in more money. That is a danger. What Vladimir Putins decision function is, how he reacts to u. S. Policy is hard to predict. The United States has a crucial alliance in terms of security. Going back to the end of world war ii in n. A. T. O. And its important that the countries feel confident that the United States stands behind them. Moving Additional Forces to support the countries, figuring out a way to help ukraine move down the road towards neutral but stable status between east and west. I think those are all sensible consensus american goals. You are right, there is a daner that Vladimir Putin will look at the steps and feel lease being penned in, threatened, and will take feel like hes being penned in, threatened and will take actions. Im not sure that president obama has a choice. He has to show that we are serious when he says we have allies. I want to the touch on three quick topics. Lets listen to the president talk about the afghan war. At the end of this year a new afghan president will be in office. Americas combat mission will be over. You wrote that the president repeated an avoidable mistake when he set the time limit on a u. S. Combat presence in afghanistan. I just dont understand that decision antonio, ill be honest. When the president announced his initial search of 30,000 u. S. Troops in december 2009, adding the transportation force in afghanistan, it didnt make sense to announce the time when you would begin withdrawing the troops. You should leave the adversary guessing. Everything we know about conflicts says the more you notify your adversaries, the more likely they are like to wait you out. I arrived the president a asked the president that question in a speech before the policy was announced in 2009. I think it was a mistake. I think its been a mistake not to try to leave a residual force in iraq. Even a modest one. It would have been difficult. The iraqis werent sure they wanted one. I think it was a mistake to leave to quickly. Its true that al qaeda is back in fallujah, back in ramada, and the valley where the United States at great cost of people, lives lost, and funny spent, managed to chase them out. They are back. You have to ask what is the lesson that tells you. To me it is important for the u. S. To leave some residual force as a check against the kinds of violent extremist you see in iraq. That obviously could cripple afghanistan in the future. Talking about al qaeda, you have written about syria. We saw voting in a president ial election begin on tuesday. Three years of civil war. 160,000 dead. Millions of people displaced. We saw Bashar Alassad and his wife casting ballots. He will unquestionably win the election. The white house is asking for 5 billion for an antiterror Campaign Including training and weapons for syrias moderate opposition. That opposition seems rudderless and at this point is that too little, too late . It is fairly rudderless. Thats a reason for this programme of assistance that the president seems to move toward. I travelled inside syria with the opposition. What you see in syria breaks your heart. Its a wonderful country. Aleppo, which i visited during the destruction of aleppo is a beautiful city in the middle east. To see a leader dropping these might marish barrel bombs on civilian populations is should trouble everyone. I think the evidence that Bashar Alassad used chemical weapons against his own people is wellestablished. That should shock people. In 2014, 2013, the use of chemical weapons is outrageous. I look at the selection, i look at everything haing in syria happening in syria, its heartbreaking. In my own judgment, everywhere has to look and make their own decision the my judgment is that the United States needs to stablilize the areas liberated from Bashar Alassads forces. And the only way to do that is by helping the opposition, which is really ragged to have better command and control, and have Stabilization Forces in those areas so it doesnt become warlordism. In some ways the new novel is relevant to all the stories. You write about a c. I. A. Where hackers are more important than conventional spies. It takes place in an intelligence world that is reeling from the Edward Snowden revelations even though you started the book before we knew who Edward Snowden was. Hackers. Cyber terrorism, warfare. How big a change will this be for the c. I. A. In the future . Intelligence, meaning the information that the c. I. A. Gathers and analyses is now all digital. I mean every document that you get, every image that you record, every voice captured through surveillance is digital information. As such, is subject to being hacked. I became fascinated at the beginning of 2012 bit the way in which the world of hackers, the world of cyber espionage, cyber work is colliding like in spy novels. It seems all the spy novels, penetration of the agency, deception. They were going digital. They were going into zero, and ones. I set out to write a novel capturing this colleagues of two worlds i saw happening. And that is the novel the director. You started at a death con hackers conference, some of the information is incredible. You wrote that you dont consider Edward Snowden a hero, we dont know how much damage he caused u. S. Intelligence. Whatever one things about Edward Snowden hero or trial dater, if the n. S. A. Has the powers we were talking about, nothing is scarier than having rogue actors having access to the capabilities, at the center of the novel. How realistic is that that our secret communication, the n. S. A. , the c. I. A. Could be compromised. Unfortunately, i think the Edward Snowden case demands that it is realistic. I dont want to go through the whole debate about whether hes a whistleblower or something much worse. What he shows us is malin actor, an agent of a foreign power, a disgruntled person could take the most sensitive tools and turn them against the United States. Somebody inside the air gap as they like to say in the intelligence system, inside the circle, could compromise the systems, manipulate the data involving you and me and everywhere else. Its a scary prospect. I know the Intelligence Community is trying to figure out how to prevent future Edward Snowdens, people taking data, using it for their own purposes, without making work places that are so tightly controlled, so full of surveillance, big brother looking over your shoulder that no one would want to work there. You dont want to create an area where no smart person would want to work. These are the issues going forward. I tried to write a postsnoweden model. This is the new world we live in. This is about how living in the world of wikileaks, Edward Snowden revelations how can they do their business in a way where we are comfortable with it. In a lot of ways, its good that i am being publicly debated, because it matters how the debate turps out. All sorts of important questions raised by davids latest thriller. A pleasure to have you with us. Coming um, 25 years after the Tiananmen Square massacre. How china is cracking down on disdepartments and western dissidents and western media. Hiphop mogul Russell Simmonds turns to an unlikely place to educate kids. What do you think join the conversation. Al jazeera americas presents the system with Joe Burlinger observing a crime a shocking number of these eyewitnesses get it wrong how much would you remember . Dark complected. Medium height. You described most of the majority of the men in america sometimes witnesses get it right when you have an eyewitness to say i saw him do it, that is the best evidence. And sometimes sometimes they dont no one is listening to us. George is innocent. The system with Joe Burlinger only on Al Jazeera America its an unforgettable image of the fight for human rites and freedom, one the Chinese Government spent a quarter of a century trying to get a billion people to forget. On june 5th, 1989, a man, his name unknown, defied a column of tanks near Tiananmen Square. The night before Chinas Peoples Liberation Army gunned down hundreds, perhaps thousands in tianamen for demanding end to control of society, corruption and control. On tuesday security was heavy. People toforeign Ministry Spokesman said the crackdown was the correct path, saying in china there were law breakers, no dissidents. The relevant departments of the chinese departments act according to the law. It should be respected. Im joined by gordon chang. His latest article in the National Interests is entitled tianamen could it happen again. Good to see you. A Million People protesting in Tiananmen Square back then, before the berlin wall fell. It was an incredible moment in modern history. The beijing government has been cracking down on dissidents in the past few months, and journalists. What are they afraid of . They are afraid of another teenman. Its 1. 2 people in the center of beijing. And protests in the city around china. The problem is most people in china do not believe a one party system is not good for a modernized society. What keeps it together is prosperity. But they have an economy that is stumbling, the same situation in 1989. Then it was inflation, now deflati deflation. Its economic mismanagement. I think they know they have a real problem. The power behind the scenes in china decided that they needed to give lessons in obedience to people massing in tianamen. Are we seeing history repeating itself, is that what they are trying to do. Sending a message of intimidation, dont mess with the communist party. For those people alive in 1989, and, of course, theyll never forget it, they are trying to coerce them. Its a message of intimidation. Subtle but intimidation. For a generation of chinese, not alive in 1989 or very young, what happened is the party tried to erase it from everyones memory. Clearly for those people they have little understanding of what happened in 1989. They grew up with a feeling of almost the government being benign. They dont fear the government as much as peel that went through tianamen. They have been successful in erasing the memory. Its pretty well not in the history books, and people refer to it as the republic of amnesia. The average Young Chinese person may not know what happened. There are some people that dont know at all, dont know anything, and some heard that there were protests in 1989, but know little about it because the governments dont test it, they dont teach it in school. Sometimes they hear it from parents, but that generation its not important, not something we think about. Because of the ignorance, it may be thats why we are seeing more protests in china, people are not that afraid. They dont realise what happened. They wanted to teach a murderous lesson saying the communist party would go to any means to keep in power. Young kids in school dont know the lesson. They are assert if, they are more defiant, the result of trying to erase this from the schools, from memory and history. They see the government as being good. They dont thing they are subject to the controls that the rest of us know they are subject too. More of them travel than they did back then. The people na the United States must know that china is censoring the internet. That they are not that benign. Yes, but when someone goes into louie vuitton, they are not going to go in and read a sign saying by the way, 25 years ago your government killed thousands of people. They see sightseeing, shopping, eating. Talking about a different china. Shanghai, the big documents make fifth avenue look shabby. Its a different china. Thats why you go there. You dont get a sense its a semitotal airian state. A lot of chinese grow up with the feeling that its a free society. When you compare it to anything else, its like the truman show. If you are in the environment, you dont know whats outside. Could tooep men happen again . It could. You do have the pressures building up in chinese society. Because the deposit is coercive it doesnt agrees a lot of problems, it has less pressure to do so. Because of that you get the pressures building up because people are upset. Its the problem that authoritarian governments face, that they dont respond to public pressure like a democracy. The danger is china is more important than it was back then. An explosion is something you dont want to see. Lets see if they figure out a way to move forward. Gordon chang im not optimistic about it. Good to see you. Thank you for talking about this important tat in history now an update on our al jazeera colleagues held by bars in egypt. The trials of peter greste, Mohamed Fadel fahmy and Baher Mohamed is set to resume on thursday after bail was denied again on sunday in cairo. They have been held since december. Separately Abdullah Alshami has been detained since august. Hes been on a Hunger Strike and lost a third of his body weight. Al jazeera calls the charges baseless and maintains the innocence of all four. The Network Continues to demand their immediate release. Straight ahead Russell Simmonds is trying to harp es the trillion dollar spending power of children for a good cost. He joins us. The last thing you want next to your name in a High School Year book is most likely to succeed. What is going on by dan mer eeb eeno, the on awane dan merino, the on again, off again lawsuit. The spending power of children was recently measured at more than a trillion dollars thats right. Kids. Our nest guess is ensuring that our nest guest is ensuring that some of that will help their future. He is doing that through green rocks, a company to eued kate youth on educates children on health and other matters. The first is environmental. Join us as you meet the most loveable, squeezable snugable. You wont want to miss a second of our ackspacked actionpacked game. Your future depends upon it. Mission g rock. Who would have thought Russell Simmonds would be a video game mooing ug. He joins us in new york. U. S. A today named him a top influential. He discovered a number of artists, political activists splooupsed analogistal policy on a variety of issues and has a new book out. Success through stillness, meditation made simply. Russell simmonds great to have you here. Video games kids are always on the gadgets and playing the games. What do you hope to accomplish. Its education, taking many shapes. The first game entered number one on the 9 to 11 chart and to the overall kids chart. It achieved the number one status. Its on ongoing status to promote the game and will build up different elements on different, you know, places to go with it. Characters are great. The more ethnic than usual. They dont have a lot of them. Its a chance to educate without being preachy. Thats what you are trying to do, have them have fun, but learn. Yes. Music plays a big part of t. We have a major music component. I dont think music and gaming is integrated. We are putting out a record every week. Well download some of those records to play with the game. So thats going be fun. And other hit records will be available for the kids to play. That is something you have focussed on, how important music can be to a kids education. Music is good for stillness. We need people to practice and appreciate art. And appreciating art in music, especially in all the scripture, all spiritual practice, music brings you to still ness, and that is where happy innocence resides. People are drawn outside of their core, where music and art brings you to the core. I just believe in it wholeheartedly and like the expression of the odds. Thats what it is. Music, poetry, comedy, art expression. And i that Digital Company is tied to this in various ways. Look at the amount of things involved. Its difficult to believe you have the time for half of them, much less all of them. Im going to chicago in a couple of days, im get ron emanuel to teach quiet times p times in schools. We have all the research in the world. Theres tremendous research about brain functionality and kids focussing and functioning and having relationships with the world, that quiet time has been a tremendous asset, and the Scientists Say it now, its not just all the prove et cetera and reliage lions, now the prophets and religions, scientists are telling us now. How has that helped you . I have meditated for 20 years. My name is rush. You do more in less time. The more you expound on present moments, the greater the relationship with the world and level of happiness. The idea of meditating twice a day, when you slow down and operate from a still mind, meeting nothing attracts everything. The neediness of the world its the cause of suffering. The stillness is the cause of happiness. We want to give people a chance to use thousands of years, people meditated and talked about it. Its not in the School Systems when we have it in School Systems, its a success story. Do you thaik it can be successful in kids. I motivate my kits every morning. Thats what my question is you would be surprised. You have a 13yearold boy to sit and meditate. I dont know that i can do that to my 14yearold. My daughter started at eight, the other at 10, one is 14 and one is 11. They meditate before school. So many schools where we have tremendous success with kids and quiet time. You sit, preach the mantra and the kid zones out. Goes deep into meditation. Adults may have double. You should learn. It will change your life. I gay oprah, ellen degeneres, and teachers it changed their life and it spread the word. Its an important tool. Making poetry and comedy. Making consciousness. Thats a great accomplish s for me. You have advocated that and the importance in schools. Spending money on art. Kids that have music on maps. Are you at all disappointed at where the Music Industry has gone over the past 30 years. I think if a kid can be shot in a weekend and doesnt make your news feed, then an artist can talk about it. Some of the sad realities are reflected through poetry. People dont like the sexual content, thinking it sexist, homophobic. Rap is not as sexist as their parents, not as homophobic as their parents or as gangster as the government. I dont feel a poet should be stifled. They say things you dont lie k sexual things how can they say that. A man says that. Its true. Its been argued. 26. If thats the case, why cant an artist sing about it. Their job is to sing about what is on the hearts and minds of people. The question is whether its gone too far. They all say that. Its not always glorifying, its stating the reality 99 of the time. They glorify the programs. It happens. They say in their world that that is whats. Im sorry, if you dont live in a neighbourhood. Im glad they reach you. When they say f the police, dialogue had to start. It wasnt stop and brisk, it was lie them down and figure out what is in their pockets when they are on the cement. You spoke out about that, gun violence, the need for violence. So many issues. So many issues that you had been out there. What had been the main focus. Is there a main focus. Things come. If they are useful. The celebrity is valuable to build out a programme or support. Whether its gay rights or animal right. 40 billion animals born into suffering is not what it meant by dominion. It caused a global warn. All the deprap in the water and oil do i look sick. Im 56, i dont feel sick. I feel okay. I dont need animals for 15 years. I dont think its necessary to poison ourselves. Do you see the report on beef. If 30 of the protein came from beef, the amount of carcinogens would be 20 . Theres so many conflicting reports. Many, many billions of dollars went to that. People like to believe they can eat meet. A lot of contlicting reports on diet. Youre going to go that route. You are involved in everything. Good to see you. Russell simmonds, his book on sale now. And the video game is available for download. Coming up one of the n. F. L. s biggest stars sues the league over concussions and changes his mind. Dan merinos seemingly conflicted decisions. As kids bring share book home, why do few have likely to succeed . We have an ouportunity to really reach out and really talk to voices that we havent heard before. I think Al Jazeera America is a watershed moment for american journalism real reporting that brings you the world. Giving you a real global perspective like no other can. Real reporting from around the world. This is what we do. Al jazeera america. Todays data dye examines a dying trend in High School Year books. These days fewer schools are having votes to decide who is likely to succeed, least likely to succeed or most popular. The journalism Population Group said 75 of books used to include those titles, to 25 now. Reasons vary. There are legal concerns by some that feel labels or most likely to have a conversation with himself could hurt students prospects in the future. The wall street journal reported on a study finding onethird of kids found being named most likely to succeed turned out to be a burden. A study that tracked 276,000 found those most likely to succeed earnt more than their peers by the time they were in their mid 20s. Some proved how accurate the labels can be. San ra bullock was selected most likely to brighten your day. Angelina jolie was best addressed. And is getting those honour from entertainment magazines. Negatives may not mean much. Tom cruise was voted least likely to succeed, and Sylvester Stawell own was most likely to end up in an electric chair. Robin williams was named funniest and least likely to succeed. His classmates were half right. Coming up dan merino is used to staring down pressure without blinking. Why did he flinch on a lawsuit against the n. F. L. That he just filed . This, is what we do. Al jazeera america. Hall of fame quarter backdan merino added his name to a lawsuit brought by former players of the n. F. L. Over concussions suffered on the field. Within hours, the Miami Dolphin announced that it was a big misunderstanding. Lets bring in dave zirens sports edfor for the nation, author as well. Dave, good to see you. Dan merino has been all over the place on this issue. Fellow players were not happy with him when he made this comment when the news of the first concussion lawsuit broke . Its a violent game, a physical game. If you take away too much. It will be like flag football. Players know what the risks are. When i went out to play i thu there was a chaps of getting a concussion or breaking a leg or getting a knee injury. Hes crate sized for being a hypocrite and says it was a mistake. Do you buy any of it . I dont buy any of it. This stinks like fish out in the sun or a dolphin, if you will. Ive been looking at this carefully, and this is clearly a story where we are not getting all the facts. When the news was released that dan merino was part of the lawsuit. I spoke to a lot of folks who were part of the lawsuit or sympathetic to the lawsuit, former players that were thrilled. They said forget about everything that dan merino said. This is a big deal. The name dan marino has so much recognition and credibility and he is known as someone successful financially since his playing days. The fact that he was entering the lawsuit was a point of principal and pride saying its not about money, but the Greater Goods for the players, and for him to pull out saying he didnt know when he put his name on the lawsuit that this would go public. Its ridiculous. The bad jokes that a lot of people are saying. Isnt this proof that he suffers a post conask yousive syndrome. If he goes on a lawsuit one day and pulls out the next. What is going on. Hes had a long cultivated career and imaging and left c. B. S. , where he was a broadcaster for n. F. L. Football. Hes looking for a job in the Miami Dolphins front office. Is this what is going on, he felt like he couldnt get a job in the n. F. L. While suing them at the same time. Thats the whisper. We know how hostel n. F. L. Ownership and the commissioner is to the lawsuits. We know this. We know how, frankly the culture of aust risition happens to players. This is what we know. The question about dan merino, did he pull his name because hes trying to get a job with the dolphins or the number of fl. Its a theory that makes sense, what doesnt make sense are the explanations coming out of his camp. The other thing that hes saying is he entered the lawsuit in case he had medical bills down the line to make sure his family would be taken care of. If thats the case, why pull your name out of it. Lets turn to soccer. Its been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Its not about the problems in brazil. We are talking about problems with the 2022 world cup in qatar. And the allegations are now that a former Vice President of f. I. F. A. , a qatari, paid millions in bribes to get the tournament to be assigned to qatar in 2022. The World Cup Committee released a statement saying that he had played no role in their bid and they had to convince him, like everywhere else, that was deciding who would get the world cup. People are calling for a revote on all of this. Do you think that could happen . Absolutely i think it could happen. First of all, bribery and f. I. F. A. Go together like Peanut Butter and jelly. A problem when stories like this emerge is you have to fight against the cynicism and eye rolling that happens. Thats what people expect with so many of these bids. There are a lot of other issues at play. First and foremost the idea of playing the world cup over the summer seems unrealistic. So they were talking about moving it to the fall. A lot of the top soccer leagues said we will sue f. I. F. A. If it moves to the fall because that will mess with the schedule. Theres a problem. There has been serious and disturbing reports about the labour conditions of the work of the Migrant Workers from nepal, working on building the stadiums. Hundreds reported having died from heat exhaustion. All of these factors together with the bribes make the idea of moving the world cup out of qatar something that i think moves from possible to probable and you having countries like australia throwing their hat in the ring saying theyll be ready and are willing to do it if they need to. Another black eye forward f. I. F. A. , the soccer federation, facing allegations of fixing of games in the not too recent past. A lot of issues. Good to have you with us, as always. The show may be over but the conversation continues on the website. You can find us on facebook, google and twitter. See you next time. Hi everyone. This is Al Jazeera America. 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