normal blood it means i don't think this is clean competitions we will see there are skiers doping we don't bring also in these competitions well r.t. has all of the international olympic committee whether it will investigate these doping allegations and we're still waiting for a reply however sports lawyer david log in says it's worrying the i.o.c. hasn't publicly commented on this issue. what's interesting is you heard the outcry in the media about these allegations you haven't seen any action by wada as it currently stands i don't see there being an investigation which you know is in the light of everything we've discovered with regards to the russian doping allegations is troubling everybody where there is a problem should be investigated we need to understand that the doping is in fact a global problem is raised by this documentary we need to understand that doping as happened in occurs across the world and that this is not an incident slated to russia that this is a global problem it's a continuing problem and it's something we need to address seriously right now even be the greatest it's a doping experts in the west as a lot of cannot currently detect doping in athletes that's a problem. has found no evidence that russia interfered in the u.k.'s breaks that referendum that's according to the company's global head of public policy you start to find in front of me you can't house of commons committee. we looked at all advertisements with any connection to russia and we found no evidence of our services being used to interfere in the referendum but we don't look in the survey for the pay for advertising the election but actually the operation of channels will go to the films which are which can be linked back to russia nations who have a political purpose a message through the referendum would you be able to do that for us we are happy to cooperate with that investigation so it's yes yes despite these are endless attempts to accuse russia of brecht's that meddling in this pressure on online platforms to expose any shady business that russia might have been up to yet another revelation this time from you tube that nothing of sort had happened and this indeed at yet another session of the u.k. parliamentary committee inquiring into feek news who this time travel to washington to ask their questions but it has to be said that despite all of their hard work this inquiry has produced no results of substance so far if you remember previously this committee seems to have been sort of left hanging by twitter we found that one percent of the accounts in the data set were registered in russia could you confirm how many other accounts were being controlled from agencies in russia even if they were not registered there we do not have sufficiently strong evidence to enable us to conclusively linked them with russia the failure to obtain straight answers is simply increasing concerns about these issues rather than reassuring people well this as google also said they found no evidence of russian meddling in the brics that referendum as well as of course facebook following their investigation having said that they found that russia spent seventy three p. on any kind of posts related to bracks that. well meanwhile a u.k. campaign to reverse the bricks and vote has received a hefty financial boost from american billionaire george soros the best of britain green confirmed he donated almost half a million pounds through his foundation. george soros foundations have along with a number of other major donors made significant contributions to our work indeed through his foundation he has contributed four hundred thousand pounds he's funding is one among many sources. best for britain is a pro e.u. not be group pushing for a second bracks it referendum one of their key principles is need not leave the e.u. the campaign hopes to influence the opinion of the public and politicians on this issue. what downing street was quick to react to resume a spokesperson insisted there would be no second referendum as the country has already voted to leave the e.u. human and labor rights lawyer dan kadlec says the u.k. is now experiencing the kind of foreign meddling that happens in other countries we know that george soros some self has played a role in interfering in many country in some of the color revolutions so-called color revolutions in eastern europe for example and of course we know that the us government itself has and continues to meddle quite seriously in other people's elections with in other people's political processes for example secretary of state tellers and just were recently on a trip to latin america he called for the military in venezuela to overthrow their democratically elected president i think for countries like the u.s. the u.k. i think their view is they can read on anyone else's political processes that will but other people can't participate in there so i mean it is a double standard clearly a double standard and i think again the u.s. will protect that double standard. to the hilt and we see that time and time again . us republicans are threatening to slash funding to a council research group one that after the break. i'm completely confused about why a republican administration made a change that was essentially. part of the democratic philosophy i can only think that somewhere deep within what they call the deep state in the us treasury there were left leaning bureaucrats who implemented this change to a territoriality based system of taxation without anybody actually be aware of what was going on. the pentagon recently released its new nuclear posture review its critics are stunned not only the use of nuclear weapons is now more thinkable but it's also the threshold for their use has been lowered dr strangelove would be proud is the world facing another dangerous arms race. welcome back republican nor makers in the u.s. are threatening to cut the funding to the world health organizations cancer research program that's after the international agency for research on cancer said america's most widely used we've made by monsanto is probably cost mechanic. i arched unsubstantiated claims i orks your response. why i arc should receive any government funding in the future they are disputing the organizations findings regarding its leading herbicide called round up and back in twenty fifteen the international agency for research on cancer concluded that roundups active ingredient of life estate could be carcinogenic to humans now roundup is made by months santo and it's the world's most widely used weed killer since the seventy's it's been sprayed on corn soybeans cotton and other crops and now republicans believe that the study was flawed and relied on cherry pick science accusing the agency of lack of transparency and anti industry bias they say that it's quite a state is designated as carcinogenic it will require manufacturers and retailers to warn workers and consumers and plus it'll increase costs and instill fear in the public some have disagreed with republicans it is important that we review the methods and tactics that industry has used to influence this administration and attack independent scientific organizations like the world health organization's international agency for research on cancer or i or would like to say that fundamentally this hearing is about the ability of a public health agency to call a carcinogen a carcinogen even if that carcinogen makes a huge amount of money for powerful corporations according to the center for responsive politics monsanto lobbied more than four point three million dollars in twenty seven team the environmental protection agency which is not an international organization concluded that the same ingredient does not cause cancer and i are says that they've been under attack ever since they published their conclusions against life a state at the same time monsanto has been pushing against these findings through several different means and the company is seen as well quite controversial not only in the u.s. but all over the world president micron promised in november that life of say would be banned within three years inevitably modified crops have been banned in. over thirty five different countries but not band of the u.s. international organizations have included that like if they could get sansar as the so these lawmakers intentions are quite unclear. or radio talk show host they believe the w.h.o. scientists need to provide stronger evidence that the monsanto we kill or causes cancer a lot of people don't understand what the ingredient is used for glyphosate round up is used commercially as a weed killer it sounds like monsanto hasn't spent enough money lobbying and hasn't put enough donations and volunteers in spock it's yet or at least in the right ones this is a serious turn for the worst for monsanto but i'm not sure there is the evidence that everyone wants to see that the substance is plainly carcinogenic too to have that much influence you would have to have thousands or tens of thousands of cancer cases that were traceable to do use of the product and i'm not sure that kind of evidence exists there's always anecdotal evidence but i'm not sure there's convincing evidence there isn't a bulk of data to be analyzed to make that determination and there should be because they've been using it for fifty years based on some arm waving and some accusations of cherry picking of course monsanto cherry picks every corporation protects its product you can expect them to do otherwise what i'd like to see is the bulk of data that can be analyzed and give you a clear indication that it's carcinogenic and i have not seen that yet and i don't think the lawmakers are saying they've seen it either they just want to explore the possibility. well the republican seeking to count funding to the w.h.o. on the u.s. house science committee but the views expressed by current time for members of the panel have often raised eyebrows. we don't know what those other cycles were caused by in the past could be dinosaur flatulence. what happened when the c o two was greater since then and now there's been then the cycles of up and down warming the dinosaur flagellates. all the stuff evolution. in reality. all that is last. think about if your ice cube melts your glass it doesn't overflow as displacement i mean this is the thing similar things that they're talking about mathematically and scientifically don't make sense. british newspaper the times has accused the b.b.c. of bias for renting out its t.v. studios to this channel this is how the times describe the situation the b.b.c. is making money by hiring out its studios to r.t. the television channel controlled by moscow the b.b.c.'s dealings prompted damian collins the conservative chairman of the commons media select committee to question the b.b.c.'s ethics well in response the b.b.c. says it runs out studios like any other international media organization independent journalist martin summers sees double standards in the times article. i think there's a general attack all arty in that you know political attack in the west they don't like your t.v. station because they see it as competition for their own narrative about events of course there is a whole attempt in the west to diligence somalis the russian point of view of things core of the strains of the times which is owned by rupert murdoch and of course a lot of the print anything it likes takes a particularly hard line for example on briggs it but they say the b.b.c. can't engage in commercial activities on the side which they've been doing for years without any interference whatsoever is not impartial i mean he's got an agenda he's very definite got definitely got his views and he uses his media to push those views now in a free society that's acceptable to a certain extent but it's a bit cheeky of him to start check attacking other people for expressing their views in a perfectly legitimate fashion and it just shows how twisted the debate about these things in the west has now become. where we are back in just over half an hour with the latest news but for more in the meantime at r.t. dot com. national governments in various locations still don't even understand what crypto currency is how mining works what bitcoin does and that confusion and that learning curve that they haven't bothered to climb leads to a lot of missed policy choices messed up policy choices and it's because of a massive confusion out there so little is known about bitcoin except our currencies at all levels of government most levels of the consumer world and even within the crypto community itself. in america a college degree requires a great deal. paying a decades long ted. studying so hard it requires drugs. going through humiliation to enter an elite society. and parching to death sometimes quite literally. want other true colors of universities in the us. with all made goods manufactured consent to consume to the public wealth. when the ruling closest to protect themselves. in the final merry go round of lives only the one percent. of the time to ignore middle of the room signals. commuters rule the world. despite its turbulent history the soviet union owns dominated international sport however little was known about. use of those champions from the. right on the shoulder of number. one will bear one from we've got over me just remembered you three drove me to describe what your group is like i wish there was computers after your you were build the first some of your limpy team of nine hundred fifty two when you did see each of us concentration camp prisoners and from slime soldiers sort of different but even that is good there was corruption because you are much in that in the ship because you're worthless but you're in for one flew through go into a bit of a cross with you if you think that the area we're going to go with. the measures your bush will go through personal. enthusiasm would hope when you do when you're at the national mourning putin you're there with the workers here in the room. this is boom bust broadcasting around the world from washington d.c. if i'm part shelton. coming up in the wake of hurricane rita how are individuals and businesses in the economy fairing in the u.s. territory of puerto rico well i ask an expert plus sticking with the caribbean i sat down with a business a social entrepreneur from eighty sasha cramer to discuss how that nation has overcome some critical challenges with an eye towards business now let's get to the day's top. stories. as we reported yesterday the u.s. trade deficit has ballooned to nine year high of five hundred sixty billion dollars creating more trade challenges for the trumpet ministration some have hoped that a controversial trade deal between the european union known as t t f the transatlantic trade and investment partnership could move forward however france's foreign affairs minister has told the french parliament that his country will quote insist that t. tip will never be revived if trump carries through on his promise to leave the paris climate change agreement that president trump said he intends to do so the minister said no paris agreement no trade agreement the u.s. knows what to expense since each of the twenty eight member e.u. nations could veto any new to fear free trade deal the french threat alone could be enough to kill t. tip goodnight irene good night. if you spend any time warner near us highways you know about pilot and flying j. truckstops well the future of the former president and vice president of the company mark hazelwood and scott one bolt and two other employees is in the hands of a jury in chattanooga tennessee who will determine if the defendants committed a fraud by conspiring with their sales division to rip off customers with promised rebates the scam is said to have netted pilot more than fifty six million dollars. the chinese currency the yuan has dropped one percent against the u.s. dollar on thursday not ching its biggest one day decline since the chinese central bank devalue the currency back in august of two thousand and fifteen. and months after hurricane maria pummeled caribbean and particularly the nation of puerto rico the territory of puerto rico our nation how are individuals businesses and the economy fairing here to discuss we are joined by antonio c. martinez the second chair of the latin american practice that gotham government relations and communications both here in washington and in new york antonio thank you so much for being here really appreciate it so what's the status of puerto rico now the status is still dire had still a very very. painful. complicated recovery that there's still a long way to go still. without power and much many of my most parts still. five thousand businesses are still closed. there just only now getting the ports reopened they're just getting to the infrastructure that they which is the priority to get that back up and upon line. and making sure the people are getting food and water the basics in the critical issue to get energy up and running which are still just we're still they're still not there yet and obviously put a rico would like to reopen and really be back for open for business and tourism it's a beautiful island beautiful beaches. and no passports required because that's the other thing puerto rico and is an island of. several million more than three million american citizens and is a population that is larger than many states yet they do not have political representation in the congress and that needs to be addressed once and for all sort of like right here in washington d.c. taxation without representation you know it tonio holland cook who hosts the big picture here on r t america had the mayor told last weekend and she spoke about the hotels getting back on line listen to what she had to say no the resorts also him going is is is in good condition they have a few more people over there we have five motels the way they're there for isn't there although i will tell in the in the wall in the in schools that have been so for are now in all those or a thought where they're going to be open in the in the north there are all those all hotels that are all good impose that all the hotels are roaming. my wife was just recently down there doing. some work and some volunteer work and her experience was a lot of the hotels are open they did have some problems with power periodically going on and off is that what you've heard yes and i would say to people if you like puerto rico and have been there go is the best way that we can help people in puerto rico is by investing our dollars and connecting they are part of the united states they are american citizens and we need to finally hold them with that regard and don't be scared because they've had this devastation oh go ahead and go there and maybe you'll even get a deal when i actually was they had just actually opened she was there the first week i think that this place was was open and they were really appreciative let me ask you talked about five thousand businesses being closed there is a really i mean is it pretty much everything is that just focused in on one or is that it's a rural area that's across that's across the country i mean in some of the rules in rural areas you have a situation where the desperation to get power restored there where the local townspeople are now doing the job of the power company and the army corps of engineers clearing in and trying to clear a pathway to get lines reconnected and restored a town of calm all in puerto rico one hundred since out in the southeast part of the island so it's pretty it's a pretty dire situation but at the same time it is a tribute to the human spirit of how hard these people are working and we as their neighbors can support what they're doing by investing our dollars there and also by finally extending to them the respect and place that they deserve in this country you know i want to play a clip another clip of the pulse of the mayor where she talks about being a treated a certain way let's look at that real quick. right now the president will consider in the budget food so that these queerly. as a to read california takes us on our world isn't free. seems to not just be fair but make a lot of sense. that it is a u.s. territory don't need a passport to go there has that been the case so far antonio. again this issue about territory and we need to resolve this issue either we admit puerto rico into the union which i believe i think that's what the people want or if they if the people who decide let them choose independence but treating them like a colony treating them like we've done it it's really in a way it's almost a disgrace and it's a shame and it's just inherently unfair that we need to address this injustice but what about you know there's been a lot of concerns or was whatever it was ten days maybe two weeks ago that famous said it was pulling out and then people would know we're not pulling out we're just not going to be bringing any more water to deliveries and how does that look today are they still there or the. they're still there but there is that tension and and it begs an interesting question is why why why would even thema even ponder the idea that they would pull out out of a place where there are americans who need. emergency assistance that is their charge that is their responsibility government's got to got to got to serve the people they've got to be got to do the job they were they were empowered to do i've seen a couple of stories about not frauds but mismanagement by contractors yet there are there any of those that we should be able to should be concerned about fraud in any regard but are any of those particularly notable lessons for sure that the one with the lady who was hired to provide millions of meals and can only only. around fifty thousand eventually yet ended so that really is not a reflection of jim it was a hundred of a million below it. just her by yourself the trial you have something trying to do it's a never could have done she didn't it wasn't wasn't equipped but but that goes back to the whole contracting process where you got a screen you got to do your due diligence yes there is an emergency but even in an emergency there are mechanisms in place to say these contractors are qualified they have the resources and the structure to to respond to these kinds of very high demand for services but that does something that can be fixed but yes it certainly was an embarrassment i don't want to get into it now but i hope you'll come back to talk about the puerto rican i'm more concerned about the businesses the individuals the economy get up we appreciate you coming in until you see him or to the second chair the latin american practice that got them government affairs and communications both here in washington and in new york thank you very much part of my pleasure of being back with you thank you. time now for a quick break but hang out there because when we get back we move from puerto rico to eighty and before we take a break two things one the dow has taken a nother big tumble that looks like one thousand and thirty two down that's after the eleven seventy five the other day that's monday and then last friday that ominous number six sixty six down so this is not good news for mark not good news for markets you know we're up thirty percent over the year this brings us year over year that is this brings us to about probably twenty ish percent anyway and before we go to break russia and saudi arabia have teamed up to build a twenty seven billion dollar liquefied natural gas plant in northern russia the cooperation despite being on opposite sides of the syrian conflict show how important energy related issues are to the two nations who have for the past eighteen months worked in concert on other issues such as opec oil production cuts which are at least partially respond. for slightly higher oil prices crude oil at nymex new york mercantile exchange was trading around sixty one dollars a barrel today and here are the final numbers at the closing bell. very few now to speak paying more attention to peace. of north korea nuclear issue i personally believe that this coming can come up in just solutions but deicing the u.s. has been paying too much attention to military you know solutions but i hope the u.s. would pay more attention to the peaceful solution to the north korean nuclear problem . running just close to the first out of the foothills of. the concepts on those planes to perform i actually prepare myself to. heed what to say trust with us and we. as most of. the snow in houma. time. now.