Its thursday, september 19, 5 p. M. In washington, d. C. And youre watching rt. In syria, an Extremist Group linked to al qaeda has seized control of a strategic town in the countrys northern border with turkey. The group is known as the Islamic State in iraq. Turkey, which has played an interval role in moving arms and supplies to the rebels has now closed its border as a result. Meanwhile, bush are alassad bashir alassad sat down to reaffirm his commitment to destroying his chemical weapons arsenal. Experts say it will be so difficult to be free of these chemical weapons, especially in a war situation like this. This is buying you a long time. Even if you have all the requirements afforded by everybody, it takes time. Youre saying this could take years. As i said, we dont have experience in that regard. I did say take one year, i didnt say years. Maybe a little bit more. Meanwhile, u. S. Secretary of state john kerry spoke at the state Department Today urging the u. N. Generalissimo to move quickly on a deal to eliminate syrias chemical weapons. He also pushed a human report confirming the use of those chemical weapons in the country. The u. N. Report confirms unequivocably that chemical weapons including the nerve agent sarin were used in syria. They returned with several crucial details that confirmed that the assad regime was guilty of carrying out that attack, even though that was not the mandate of the u. N. Report. For the latest on the negotiations on rating syria of its on ridding syria of its chemical weapons, lets go to our correspondent. Discussing the countries chemical disarmament and syria has to destroy or remove its chemical weapons by mid2014. But first provide a full list of its chemical weapons and stockpiles by the end of this week. That is according to the deal that moscow and washington agreed to over the weekend in geneva. It became a political and diplomatic alternative to a measured response to the use of chemicals here in syria all days just after the u. N. Investigators released their report of the use of chemical weapons here in syria. They have been working here for some time and they released the report. But an exclusive interview but in an x was of interview, the Russian Foreign minister criticized the report. The syrian authorities have conducted their own sampling and investigation, analysis in terms of possible evidence of rebels being responsible for the episodes on august the first. But beyond that cut august 21. But beyond that, also 22nd and 23rd. The head of the Human Mission here the head of the Human Mission here who the head of the u. N. Mission here who investigated, this new evidence into the final report never happened in fact. Russia will also carry out the examination of the evidence provided by the Syrian Government and will also transfer this information to the u. N. Security counsel. You have heard of homes being seized by the government before, but have but how about a skyscraper . A federal judge authorized the u. S. To do that after authorities discovered that it is secretly owned and controlled by the iranian government and that is a direct violation of federal moneylaundering laws and sanctions against iran. Marina tells us how this 36 story giant snuck under the radar over 30 years. The great empire and its favorite nemesis, fred them a decades relations between the u. S. And iran have a nice quote. But in recent months, attitudes have been thawing as tehran and washington have taken steps to overcome years of hostility. To begin with, the new foreign minister was received positively by western officials the summer. A westerneducated former Iranian Ambassador to the u. N. Has been called a worthy negotiating partner. The appointment has been seen by some as in all of branch to the white house. Another optimistic development came in july when 131 members of the u. S. House of representatives wrote a letter to u. S. President barack obama encouraging him to use the opportunity offered by president or honey for the improvement of bilateral hip bilateral relations. Iran confirmed this week that president rahani and president obama exchanged wrinkle respond is, rare contact you to the leaders of two nations exchanged letters of correspondence, rare contact between two leaders. On wednesday, iranian officials released prominent iranian lawyer from prison after being jailed for three years for her human rights work. In the past, the u. S. Worked actively for her release. Iranian media reports also say that other supporters rouned up in the antigovernment protests have been released. This comes as irans new moderate leader, who has promised more freedoms at home a constructive engagement with the world, travels to new york for the United NationsGeneral Assembly debate. However, on the heels of mr. Rahanis arrival, the u. S. Government is prepared to seize a 36story skyscraper that is secretly owned and controlled by the iranian government. A u. S. Judge has ruled that the owners of this fifth avenue building, known as the al the foundation and acid corporation, transferred rental income and other funds to an Iranian State owned bank, a valley a violation of sanctions. This couldnt have come at a worse time considering that the leaders of the u. S. And iran could possibly meet facetoface next week. That is not the only news coming from iran. On the eve of newly a wreck did newly elected rahani, they recently freed some of the most prominent put a cold business from jail. That includes journalists, authors, activists and under and attorneys, most notably a human rights lawyer who protested against the iranian government. Also out this week him in an interview with nbc news, president rohani pledged to tear down barriers that prevented iranians from surfing the internet freely. He believes that all people should have the right to have access to free flow of information. Even a platform for dialogue. So a lot of changes. But is this change we can believe in . I was joined by the policy director at the Iranian American Council and we asked him what we should make about all these changes. These are all extremely positive signs. This can all be leading to a historic meeting the queen president obama and president rohani meeting between president obama and president rohani. He said a lot of positive things. A lot of people in washington were saying, well, that is all well and good, but we dont know if he is able to deliver. Prime minister netanyahu said he is smiling while he is building a bomb. He is a wolf in sheeps clothing. Rohani over the past six weeks has managed to convert these positive words into positive actions. He is demonstrating that he can deliver. He wont have an infinite amount of time to to so because there are hardliners in iran who do not want an approach with the u. S. But there is time right now. The question is will obama be able to do the same thing and hold off hardliners in washington from sabotaging attentional talks . Can you sabotaging potential talks . Can you give us some examples . Campaign promises that he made were in regards to the human rights situation. Yesterday, we saw this landmark announcement that 11 Political Prisoners were released. This was a case raised by human rights urbanization sent by president obama himself. She was the major face of the crackdown against the human rights defenders in 2009. Rohani made good on this promise. He also said that he would try to get the leaders of the Green Movement release as well. That has gone to the Security Council which will make the decision to release them. Nothing will come outside of negotiations. But already, iran is converting some of its high enriched uranium for fuel purposes it cannot be used for a Nuclear Weapon and have taken other sets to signal willingness to what further caps on the Nuclear Program. Im glad you brought that up. We had a clip of him speaking about the Nuclear Program. Mr. President , these are Prime Minister netanyahus words. Not mine. He has said about you his strategies to be a wolf in sheeps clothing, smile and build a bomb. Can you say now categorically than that iran will not build a Nuclear Weapon under any circumstances whatsoever . Firstly, an occupier and a new super government that does injustice to and a usurper government that does injustice to the region with war policies should allow itself to give speeches about a democratically and freely elected government. We are not in support we are not in pursuit of Nuclear Weapons. Do we have reason to trust him . What can we do to trust him in the future . This is a positive sign. Nobody should operate on the assumption that one side cant trust the other side. This is about verifiable agreements. I think theres reasonable hope with rohani. For once, for one, he does have the backing of the Supreme Leader. The Supreme Leader said, look, we need to be more forcible at the negotiating table and iran needs to be prepared to compromise. He allowed rohani to take over authority of the nuclear negotiations, something that was previously overseen by the Supreme Leader and bodies like the iogc. Now it is in the president s domain. Rohani has been instrumental in compromises for the Nuclear Program. I think it is something that he clearly believes. Obviously, the u. N. Is coming up next week. How are american politicians responding . Are they willing to listen . President obama deserves a lot of credit actually. He exchanged a lot of letters with rohani. Rohani said that he was happy to see these letters. There was positive communication between the two sides. Congress is a different story. There are some in congress who want a diplomatic offramp. They saw how the syria issue played out and they dont want that in the middle east. There are those like Lindsey Graham who is saying he actually is going to meet all of this positivity by iran with a resolution to authorize war against iran to basically threaten the country because he says they have been emboldened somehow. So i dont think Lindsey Graham and other folks are updating their talking points. They are acting as if iran hasnt changed when the relation thats when the ble is that there are all of these positive signals and hopefully the they are acting as if iran hasnt changed when the reality is that iran is showing all of these positive signals and hopefully washington will be looked take advantage of that. Will be able to take advantage of that. As you probably know, congress is in the process of debating the 2014 budget. And all the attention is focusing on republican plans to permanently defund obamacare. But they are also the process of product the passing a bill to cut the food stamps act over the next 10 years. The nutrition of form and opportunity act will be cut by twice as much as a proposed farmville. Proposed farm bill. Numerous others will have their benefits reduced. All of this is in addition to significant cuts that will begin in november. I was joined earlier with the director policy and advocacy as well as research at the federation of protestant welfare agencies. I asked her how the argument played out in the house. The fact is that we do have 47 million americans who are hungry and in need. They have lost their jobs are in the great recession. They have had their hours reduced. Many have had to declare bankruptcy. And then you have the elderly who are impoverished. And they have a very fixedincome. So these debates in the house about adding such a lifeline in our country needs to be based upon the facts of who are the hungry and within and what the extent of the needed out there. What are the major criticisms that republican lawmakers say is that there is rampant fraud and abuse for these snap her events snap programs. Is there any proof of these major abuse . And will defunding help curb this program . That is a complete myth. Government data shows that the food stamp and Supplemental Assistance Program has very low fraud and has very high Quality Control measures. So that is not at all a fact to go on. We have a situation where the Government Data that just came out, the census data, shows about 46. 5 million americans who are impoverished, roughly the same number, 47 million of americans who rely on the food stamp program. The fact is that the people who are impoverished, who are in need based on Government Data, on the same ones receiving the Supplemental Assistance Program. So anybody who is talking about fraud is just not looking at the facts. We have a situation where not only do we want to make sure that this vital lifeline to hungry americans is maintained. We also have the fact that food stamps help the economy. They are basically it is basically money going to people who wills bandit immediately to puood who will spend it immediately to put food on the table for their children and themselves. So it is hard to keep this slow recovery continuing if we cut 40 billion dollars from this program. You will have stores and grocery stores, bodegas in these very struggling communities have that economic engine be stopped immediately. That is just something that makes no sense. At the same time, fox news has reviewed a server who is using snap benefits to buy lobster and sushi in that story got many people riled up. Do you think that is representative of how the food Assistance Program is being used . You always see conservatives bring out that one oddball case, that one very rare case that usually gets caught the various food and welfare agencies immediately. They have very stringent rules. I, myself, as a child who was on food stamps with my family when we were immigrants and refugees of war coming to this country, we had nothing basically but the clothes on our backs. Representative of the 40 Million People on the rv data, these are people in need. We cannot be diverted from the immense need out there by one on case that is just not represented representative of the rest of the country. Do you expect this bill to pass . We are very concerned because so many cuts have already happened at the federal level as well as the city and state level. So these are very am a very serious threats. So these are very, very serious threats. So policymakers in d. C. Are not seeing their neighbors or even those in their extended family, the hardships that they are going through. So when you have that kind of policymaker who is out of touch with the real lives of people, then it is a real threat. Thank you so much for joining us. She is the director of policy and advocacy and research at the federation of artist and welfare agencies. Federation of protestant welfare agencies. As americans, we trust that when a certain need is stamped with a usda inspection seal, we can eat it without worrying about safety or health. The what if i told you that half of the usda inspectors and Meat Processing plants will soon be replaced by people who work for the Meat Companies and selves . Essentially privatizing inspection. Would you still trusted then . That is exactly what the u. S. Department of agriculture is planning to do in the nottoo distant future. It is the latest usda plan said to roll out across the country, a Meat Inspection program allowing for producers. Replacing them with private inspectors hired by Meat Companies themselves. A report lays out how the government is neglecting to stop contaminated meat. The Pilot Program was implemented 15 years ago in five different port lance nationwide. But the results of different pork plants nationwide. But the results were varied widely. Three of them were on the top test list of worst plans dealing with health and safety violations. One was the outright failure to remove physical fecal matter. It points to a serious lapse in relation. We are letting the companies do the job of the inspectors and even control the usda inspectors, control where they stand on the line and control what access they have to the plant and how much authority they have. It is a very dangerous situation when we already know that we have food safety problems. According to the center for disease control, there are approximately 76 million cases of foodborne illness each year in the united states. 325,000 of them result in hospitalization. 5000 of them in death. However, those statistics havent seemed to slow down the usda. This is all despite the fact that the department has yet to decide has yet to study whether the program is working. One group calls this lack of review disturbing. It is obvious, in the last 15 years, whether it is the pilots that have been running in chicken and turkey plants or in the home lance, the hog plants, that there is not a port for the theory that this will improve safety. It is not only food Safety Advocates who are concerned about this program. Ryan malone worry that a the bottom line will impact him and his customers. I have to be a little bit leery about it. Companies nowadays are just worried about the bottom dollar. Theyre not worried about the customers. They dont worry about what they are feeding everybody. So the usda being there is a big help for all of us because they make sure what happens directly. The increase in fecal matter findings is a sign that the program is working. He said we do many more checks for fecal matter in pilot plants than we do in traditional plants and so it is not unusual that we are finding more because that is what our inspection personnel are focusing on. Despite their insistence that the program is working, the Department Says it will conduct a review by march of next year. The food Safety Advocates are hinging on that to bring this to a halt. All you facebook users out there, get your computer mouse ready. Chances are that you will like us nextdoor it. A fourth u. S. Circuit court of appeals ruled unanimously on wednesday that the like button is like sticking a clinical sign in your yard and it is protected as personal speech. Will this pave the way for retweets and youtube likes to be considered protected speech . Earlier, i was joined by the producer of the majority report and he explained the court case in more detail. Basically, the Fourth Circuit court overruled a lower courts decision that Facebook Likes did not constitute protection under the First Amendment simply because i guess they felt clicking the button was inconsequential and does not and is not significant enough to fall under protections of free speech. But the Fourth Circuit court ruled that it is indeed an expression and, like you said, like putting up a campaign sign. There is also political statements burning a fight even. These are all things protected under the First Amendment and i dont see why the Facebook Like shouldnt be protected under the First Amendment, too. Who does this affect . Can people in private companies who like negative posts about their loss find repercussions . I guess you can say there is still freedom of speech, but not freedom from the consequences. In this particular case, it was a tippie sheriff so it was a public servant. Is this some it was a Deputy Sheriff so it was a public servant. On top of that, the like is so vague, specially when youre selecting a page or even on twitter when you are following somebody. I am not a fan of donald trump. But i follow him so i can echo what he says and hate him for his political views. He has over 2 million followers. 2 Million People do not like donald trump, please. You have to look at it as it is. Does the First Amendment detect all forms of the speeches . Or does it make a difference between how significant the speeches . The speech is . And it doesnt. It does say that there has to be some sort of significance. If it is political speech, you are protected by it. Im glad you brought up twitter, although im not sure that our Founding Fathers would have had it. Do you think this paves the way for retweets or if the government doesnt agree with what you are retweeting . I think that all of these social media interactions should definitely be covered by the First Amendment because they are forms of expression. We are living in an era of Citizens United where money is speech people who use the internet yet the internet anyway. They can go to the library. You dont need money to use the internet. So this is a form of speech that may be the affluent and the politically connected have access to that others dont. So combating millions and billions of money with millions of like, right . If you can spread the word through activism on the internet and that transforms into on this read activism or political activism that changes laws and creates laws, dont say a problem with that whatsoever. Its not the first venue he was ever kicked out of and it likely wont be the last. But actor Russell Brand is making headlines this week after he was booted from the gq men of the year awards. But what did he do . The event was sponsored by the german fashion firm hugo boss. Something you might not know about that Fashion Company is it manufactured not see uniforms back in the day and boss himself was a member of the nazi party. The company also use forced labor is provided by the not sees to make the uniforms. Used the company also used forced labor provided by the nazis to make the uniforms. Any of you who knows some history know that hugo bosse made the uniforms by the nazis. They love fantastic, lets face it, while they were killing people based on their religion and sexuality. He was partly right. But they did not take kindly to that joke even if people laughed at it and they kindly asked him to leave. We will have to see if he is invited back next year. For more stories, go to youtube. Com america. Hello and welcome to nhk. Its friday, soept 20th. Im Catherine Kobayashi in tokyo. North korean leaders pushing to restart talks on their Nuclear Program and have the backing of a powerful ally. The chinese for when minister wang yi has urged the unit