Prepping to set sail again right the total time to boost their new i. Q. So as u. S. China relations deteriorate decades old tensions in the South China Sea are ramping up between both countries well a number of nations have conflicting territorial claims in the region in the United States seems eager to strike that fire to the detriment of china our case alex one hell of it has that story. There from the United States armed forces are patrolling the South China Sea were conducting a lot of surveillance flights we have conducted a number of the Taiwan Strait transits we are continue to watch closely what the chinese are doing and the u. S. Is keeping an eye on china in its own neighborhood using intimidating military hardware such as b. One b. Supersonic bombers in the sky and warships in the water. The trumpet ministration also plans on deploying long range cruise missiles in the Asia Pacific Region china has called americas maneuvering and illegal trespass and has put the u. S. On notice saying that it is willing and capable to defend itself for decades the South China Sea has been subject to several overlapping territorial disputes between China Vietnam the philippines taiwan malaysia and bernard and theres a reason for that without a doubt the sea is very valuable about one 3rd of the worlds shipping flows through the strategic body of water 10 percent of all the worlds fisheries are there and to top it off the South China Sea is thought to contain 190. 00 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 11000000000 barrels of oil. To the dismay of its neighbors over the years china has taken possession of a number of tiny islands in the sea and since 2012 the country has gone so far as to create manmade islands like this one which now holds a runway and a sophisticated military base besides sending military assets to the region the United States is also fueling the fire in other ways secretary of state mike pompei oh is urging members of the association of Southeast Asian nations to stand up to china accusing that country of taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to grab more territory many analysts reject that claim and a number of the South East Asian states that are involved in the territorial dispute are accusing the u. S. Of stoking trouble to forward its own interests meanwhile china maintains that it is working with others in the region to preserve peace and stability here is chinas foreign minister at last summers is yet meeting in bangkok. We think non raging country should not deliberately amplify differences in disputes left from the past in fact they should support the efforts by china in asia and in having these differences properly addressed we dont think these non region countries should make use of these differences to sow dispute in china and asian countries. From trade to the coronavirus washington is hitting china on multiple levels the dispute that so china see is just another step in a plan which some say is creating a new cold war between the 2 superpowers and is aggravating a situation that regional players have been able to manage on their own for r t m alex mileage. United states could soon be working with weiwei to establish 5 g. Standards one year after blacklisting the Chinese Telecom giant to keep it from working with u. S. Tech companies now the move could signal a shift in policy at a time when washington wants to be at the forefront of 5 g. Well talk more about this r. T. S. Rachel blevins joins me now with these details so rachel. Right now looking at it what do we know so far about this decision what was nearly one year ago when the Commerce Department decided to blacklist and at the time they cited National Security concerns but now it appears that they may be taking a step back from those claims so reports are now claiming that the Commerce Department has drafted a rule which would allow u. S. Companies to work with wall way to set global 5 g. Standards they say added knowledge is the importance of inclusion in creating industry standards for 5 g. But there will still requires approval from other agencies before it is finalized the Commerce Department has yet to address this or to say if their focus is now moving away from National Security and towards the importance of 5 minutes so rachel how has this decision to blacklist weiwei how is it impacted companies here in the United States where u. S. Technology Companies Like intel and qualcomm have been at the forefront of pushing for the government to pull back on these restrictions because at the end of the day wall way is the largest producer of Telecom Equipment in the world so these companies here in the u. S. Are the ones that stand to lose the most now when looking at the impact that all of this has had over the last year the senior director of policy for asia the Information TechnologyIndustry Council argued that although the u. S. Government wants its companies to remain competitive with wall way their policies have inadvertently caused u. S. Companies to lose their seat at the table to wall way and others on the end so not only have they lost money but theyve also lost influence at a crucial time when the world is making serious decisions about the future of technology and i feel rachel like the whole overarching theme in the news today is everybody is going back and forth on decisions including this one so whats the reason for the change in policy why now while the u. S. Sees exactly what wall way is doing with technology and they also see that despite months of warning other countries not to work with wall way it hasnt had the drastic impact that they hoped it would have so just last month we saw a group of 6 senators including marco rubio and tom cotton come together. To send a letter to talk trump and ministration officials and in that letter they called for more clarity from the Commerce Department and they specifically wrote quote we are deeply concerned about the risk to the u. S. Global leadership position in 5 g. Wireless technology as a result of this reduced participation and the economic and National Security implications of any diminished u. S. Role in 5 g. So before they claim that if the us worked with wall way then it would be a concern for National Security now theyre saying that if the us doesnt work with while we have been that will be what will harm National Security so there are a lot of moving parts there but it is also important to know that even if the Commerce Department changes this rule of law we will still be largely blacklisted here in the United States and i guess well have to kind of hold our breath to see if that decision changes here in the next hours days coming weeks well see arties Rachael Blevins as always thanks so much for that report thank you. And over in russia president Vladimir Putin is chairing an on line meeting with top officials to ease lockdown measures in the country but do so with caution putin said that the restrictions should be lifted gradually to avoid another wave of infections the nationwide self isolation is due to end formally on may 11th. Closer to home the district maryland and virginia saw their biggest single day increase in deaths related to cope with 19 prompting officials to warn that this area might be the next virus hotspot well hospitals are also seeing a rise in the number of patients hospitalized with the corona virus and now an ice rink in maryland has been turned into a temporary morgue as Funeral Homes in the area are overwhelmed and a massive drop in car sales here in the u. S. Due to the pandemic its pushing lawmakers now to provide some sort of aid for the Auto Industry the retailer sold almost 800000 fewer vehicles than what they expected lawmakers are persuading congress to consider adding Car Manufacturers and suppliers into their next Coronavirus Relief package. Over to texas regulators there are now relaxing rules when it comes to companies storing oil underground now environmentalist groups immediately raise concern about these new rules pointing to potential groundwater contamination and other dangers now up until this point companies could only store oil underground in salt caverns because it was seen as the best option for preventing leaks but the new rules other geological formations will now be illegal to use. The cruise line industry is finding itself in the spotlight after several cruise ships continue to operate during the height of the coronavirus pandemic even though the deadly virus was rapidly spreading and to add insult to injury some major cruise lines have been issuing refunds to their customers at a snails pace artist on how to reports from miami. As the corona virus pandemic worsen worldwide new information shows the major cruise lines continue to operate despite the growing threat of the disease well knowing the luxury liners that continue to fill with passengers are possible incubators for the deadly virus but wall street journal reports that the cruise line industry launched voyages on more than 100 ships on or after march 4th the day of the 1st confirmed cove in 1000 death of a passenger from a cruise stopping in the u. S. A marker of the pandemics long reach and by march 13th the centers for Disease Control and prevention had linked cruise passengers to 17 percent of reported coded 1000 cases in the u. S. At the time thousands of passengers and crewmembers worldwide were sickened and dozens of people have died since then the u. S. Coast guard is now reportedly investigating whether 2 ships owned by Carnival Cruise lines violated federal law by not alerting authorities in San Francisco in puerto rico about sick passengers on another criminal investigation is underway in australia last week a Congressional Committee announced it was also putting investigation into carnivals actions both in terms of preparing for and responding to the pandemic demanding hundreds of pages of files and documents from the company the. Happening and its subsidiaries are also the subject of numerous lawsuits filed by passengers who were exposed to the virus and family members who lost loved ones several ships with sick crew members and passengers eventually docked in miami and Fort Lauderdale among other ports the people being treated at local hospitals are being allowed to return to their home countries or states in march the c. D. C. Issued a no sale order and the industry shut down. R. T. Recently chartered a boat to take an exclusive look from the water at the port of miami where a line of ships remain docked while others remain anchored off shore with nowhere to go but that may be changing soon despite the Ongoing Investigation and the continued lawsuits and the call that 19th red Carnival Cruise lines said this week that it plans to resume cruises starting in august from the port of miami here behind me Fort Lauderdale and Galveston Texas the company says it plans to begin a gradual rollout with 8 ships sailing from the 3 ports to the bahamas key west and cozumel mexico carnival is already advertising deals on its website for cruises to mexico the bahamas n. Puerto rico and a statement the company said its committed to supporting all Public Health efforts to manage the cove in 1902 ation and is consulting with experts government officials and stakeholders in developing plans to resume sailing operations the c. D. C. Says its closely monitoring those plans and would not give a timeframe when it would be safe for the cruise lines to set sail again all this is passengers who cancel previous trips on not only Carnival Cruise lines but the worlds other major operators including Royal Caribbean and Holland America are still trying to get refunds carnival said more than a 1000000 passengers were impacted by the pandemic as it works to process those returns while Royal Caribbean and Holland America said it takes on average of 45 to 60 days for those refunds to be processed there still no time frame on when the other major cruise lines will set sail again if they even do for r. T. John hardy. Airlines are taking a financial head. Due to the pandemic and unable to meet a federal mandate to receive bailout bill today theyre in the hot seat before a Senate Committee were going to discuss that with guns and the sports h. Q. Regina ham she is flipping through the pages of sports history what will she find to tell you next after the short break. You cannot be both with the yeah you like. Is youll be via reflection of reality. In a world transformed. What will make you feel safe. High salacious or community. Are you going the right way or are you being led so. Direct. What is true what is faith. In the world corrupted you need to descend. To join us in the depths. Or a maybe in the shallows. When else so small seems wrong why dont we all just dont call. Me old yet to say proud just to become educated and engagement because betrayal. When so many find themselves worlds apart. Just to look for common ground. I. Well this week the u. S. Senate Commerce Committee is taking a closer look at the effects kovan 1000 has brought on the Aviation Industry but while that hearing is going on literally right now you have some Aviation Companies who are getting billions of dollars from the coronavirus cares act to not lay off or for low any employees doing just that so to get an idea of whats going on and what we can expect from todays hearing i am joined by investigative journalist and cohost of boom bust ben swine band great to see you hope your stay in safe down there in hot lanta 1st things 1st who is at todays hearing and what can we expect yes so its no airline c. E. O. s who are going to be there its essentially the heads of different unions the head of the Airline Executives union the Aviation Union and essentially the heads of the unions are there to do 2 things really in front of congress one is to essentially Tell Congress how bad shape theyre in and we all know theyre in bad shape but how bad off the airlines are and then to explain the fact that they have received billions in bailout and the fact that theyre really not honoring the terms of what theyve been told so let me just break those down for you the 1st part is United Airlines so United Airlines is essentially saying that it has started telling certain workers is going to cut their hours even though under the carriers act as you know fair and they are not allowed to do that until after september 30th 30th of this year or so after september 30th you can cut hours and you can lay off staff but you cant do it until then if you receive these billions of dollars in aid so united as it has received the aid but they said theyre still starting to cut hours so theres actually a union that has filed with the court asking for a court to intervene and to actually stop this from happening but the other thing thats happening and this is important too is that these these executives are city or these Union Leaders are sitting in front of the senate today and what theyre essentially saying is you know airlines shouldnt have to refund the publics. On the if you bought a ticket and you havent gotten your refund they shouldnt have to because its billions of dollars and theyll go out of business if they have to refund that money and you know its interesting that is there actually was a call for these airlines to refund that money i mean it was brought down like you know by the government but you know getting quickly to this lawsuit as i mentioned before you know and you mentioned as well these Airline Companies cutting back hours for workers thats now prompted those you a Service Workers union and theyre going to file it obviously as you mentioned to the lawsuit over the schedule cuts is the reason that these companies were given all this bailout money so there wouldnt be scheduled cuts so as far as this lawsuit and looking at both sides and again playing a little bit of devils advocate here ben sure couldnt these airlines kind of argue well theres not a lot of flights going on so why keep that many people on 247. Well thats a thats exactly what theyre arguing just to give you an idea of how bad it is so these Airline Unions