A potential war with. The situation around syria was one of the issues the Russian Foreign minister addressed during a Media Conference followed the United NationsSecurity Council meeting in new york as well as our correspondent kelli morgan during the press conference we heard a lot from the Russian Foreign minister he made wide ranging comments about different parts of the world now i had the opportunity to ask the foreign minister a question i asked him about the fact that right now the usa says that its forces in syria which are there without the permission of the Syrian Government it says that theyre only there to ensure the defeat of the isis terrorists but at this point now theyre saying that would to withdraw them would strengthen the Syrian Government the internationally recognized legitimate government of syria so i asked a lab rob about this kind of a mixed message coming from u. S. Leaders and what its like and he gave me this response to principle and the lack of a fundamental commitment to our agreements is typical of. U. S. Diplomacy including the reasons why the americans stay in syria ricks to listen repeatedly stated that the only goal in syria was the defeat of i suppose now because farmland bushs plans another topic that came up during the press conference was the jay c. P. O. Way that was pointed out that the situation in the negotiations with north korea could be affected if the usa is to withdraw from the iran deal now is directly asked about the the fact that that trump and others have questioned and talked about pulling the usa out of the iran deal this is what he had to say about the j c p o a. Which it was the joint comprehensive plan of action was centered on iran stopping its military Nuclear Program in exchange for the lifting of anti iran sanctions a similar deal is now being tabled for north korea but if the iran deal is seen to me nothing how can we expect the d. P. R. K. To prove a similar deal that could be retracted any moment it seemed one of the overall themes of lab robs remarks was russia russias efforts to stabilize the world and reduce the level of terrorism and instability around the world in different regions he voiced some criticism of u. S. Leaders and some frustrations that over all other theme was an effort to kind of get along with countries around the world and create stability in parts of the world that have been unstable and plagued by terrorism violence and extremism. A growing number of us republican congressman a demanding the release of a top secret intelligence document they believe it reveals political bias at the highest levels of the f. B. I. And the Justice Department in how they handled the investigation into alleged ties between the chum campaign and russian i had that same shock feeling i was like wait a minute this actually happened from our Justice Department and this f. B. I. Thats how serious this is that there has been a real attempt to undermine this president. And it is come from the scariest of places and its the type of information that we need all americans to see immediately. Of course part of the american just me a lot of the life in washington now samir if we are to believe what those congressmen just said this could be potentially political dynamite to what extent do we know what is in the memo what it could mean. Yes absolutely well some republicans are referring to the top secret memo as a scandal worse than watergate and reactions have ranged from sickening to jaw dropping saying that it raises serious questions about the Obama Administration now the memo was put together by the House Intel Committee and since then republicans have been calling for its immediate public release we dont know whats in it but it supposedly contains evidence that Justice Department officials mostly f. B. I. Are guilty of political bias against trump and according to reports u. S. Intelligence officials used the trump russia dossier or thats filled with unproven claims to improperly obtain a warrant to look into the trunk Campaign Democrats voted against the release of the memo understandably so saying that its be used to discredit the Intelligence Community and the trump russia investigation so yes i guess democrats are now defending the Intelligence Community and representative adam schiff even called it a profoundly misleading set of talking points well the document has raised interest outside of Congress Wiki leaks wants it so badly theyve announced up to a Million Dollar reward for it and some have even said that the memo will not be released to the public but regardless this alone reveals partisan bias against trump so well just have to wait and see what happens when he thanks me a call with the latest there from washington the. Well lets. Turn surely very significant story with ron paul former republican congressman former president ial candidate in the United States wrote always a pleasure to speak to you whats your reaction to this based on what is is saying we dont know too much about the content is a lot of speculation out there what are your thoughts. Oh i didnt hear you thats to me i didnt hear the beginning of your sound youre my apologies one im just asking theres a lot of speculation about this memo what are your thoughts on it and its significance. I think youre catching me off base. To describe a little bit more what youre asking please yes certainly if you can hear me ok were just talking about this this memo which is some a describing is the biggest scandal in watergate whats your reaction to it. Ok well it may well be but i think there are still too many unknowns especially from my viewpoint i dont know what the details are but there is a lot of things out there that one side hides it from the other side but i think that the greed of emphasis that so far media is put on you know the connection to the russians i think has been way overblown and id like to just get to the bottom of it but this new new information thats coming out maybe this will reveal things and help us out but right now its just a political fight i think theyre dealing with things that are a lot less important than the issues they ought to be talking about so i guess well wait and see until we know exactly what really went on but right now i dont think anybody is seeking justice or seeking truth as much as theyre seeking to get a political advantage of the speculation again i must say the speculation at this point says that the document refers to officials in the above or administration now if you think back donald trump said claim that one point that he had been attempts by the Obama Administration we had the f. B. I. Director denying it we had the National Intelligence director denying it i mean if anything comes out of this to support that allegation it would be a huge scandal wouldnt it. Mean. Oh it would be but you cant believe anything that they do say because for me from my personal viewpoint without knowing what i would be surprised if they havent spied on him they spy on everybody else and they have spied on other members of the executive branch in other president s so yes i hope it is a if they get the information i hope it does wake up some people but its ongoing you know just the other day when they voted to give even more power to spy on the American People the president could be influenced by the fact that they used it against him and i believe they did and he believes that. And yet he went along and giving more power to the secret agencys a spy on the American People ive always maintained that government ought to. Be open and the people ought to have their privacy but right now the people have no privacy and all our government does is work on secrecy and it becomes competitive between the two parties who get stuck with the worst deal by arguing who is guilty of some crime and its a political thing much more of them seeking justice should we read anything to the fact as i understand it all democrats on the committee voted against releasing this memo over the democrats always do that when it comes to the republicans. Well yeah thats it i sort of fits my argument it is so so political but on occasion you know while i was there we would work on issues like this and we get one or two democrats that would come over and be independent minded and sometimes you have a republican there were times when i thought the democrats were right in what they were accusing and i would support them now but our problem is is those numbers of people who are willing to not be absolutely blindly loyal to the Political Party theyre far and few between and you dont have too many of them but the fact is if all the democrats are opposed to it might mean trump is probably right theres probably a lot of stuff in there that would exonerate him from any accusations theyve been making i dont think is too much to knowing that there has been a pretty fervent campaign to to get donald trump removed since his inauguration republicans have been speculating that the Infamous Trump dossier was used to obtain a surveillance warrant against trump is it possible that such a document a political wall with unproven allegations is it possible it could have been used to do the. Well i think they used at to get up special prosecutor and thats a. Joke i mean hes no more an independent prosecutor than the man in the moon and its just really weird how this new administration was able to go along with this and put somebody like that you know to investigate everybody so i think the dossier has no legitimacy. As being something revealing some truth or some revelation of trump of being associated with with russia i think its. Different the people i know and respect and see what theyve been writing theyve been telling i think the story that its all made up essential theres nothing there to say that theres a real collusion between the Top Administration on the piano trompe and im not a supporter of his but i think that has been carried way overboard i think they cant stand the fact democrats cant stand the fact that they lost the election and they cant stand the fact that trump is a little bit more independent minded they like and i think a deep state is opposed to him even though his policies are all over the place and sometimes i say that im frustrated because he supports too much of the neo cons in his foreign interventionism so it is a mess but they are very frustrated with trump and there still is a significant number of republicans and democrats would do most anything if they could kick him out of office. But he thinks about always a pleasure to speak youre listening to the voice of reason for many people for the republican congressman ron paul. The right leaning old tonight if. He has proposed a very fine the age of all migrants coming to the country its an idea thats been roundly condemned by all of the policies in the buddhist with details hes peter all of. Well if alternative for germany thought that getting into parliament was going to be the hard part theyve certainly been brought down to earth with a bump over the last couple of days as parliaments reconvened here for the twenty eight hundred section in berlin the f. D. A. Put forward changes they wanted to see two laws relating to asylum and Refugee Status here particularly when it came to the ages of those claiming Refugee Status in germany now the alternative for germany say that between thirty and eighty percent of those that have applied in the past havent been at the age they said they were this was turned upon by the other parties within the bond the start of every single one of them to a man saying that the alternative for germany was wrong in doing this and in fact when the proposals were put forward they were greeted by booths in the chamber. Was a deal making no bones about it they disagree strongly with a. S. D. And all of their policies. One could get the impression our position is close to that of the f. T. But if you just look through their proposal and listen to what theyre seeing here you realize that its all about attacking migrants. And the proposal of the air of d. Is permeated with right populism it took nor the reality. Of who ever seen the wording of the proposal and heard the speech of the f. T. Representative will recognize instantly that its not about the improvement of age verification but about stirring up animosity against young migrants. The kind of rhetoric were purged from goes against our christian values its all about hate towards foreigners and this we cannot support. We also saw it on thursday and the parliamentary session it was held at the alternative for germany put forward an idea that the one of the reasons behind a rise in anti semitism in germany had been due to the influx of islamic immigration that was then shot down many parties including all anglo Merkels Christian Democratic Union saying that anti semitism had its roots in the far right in politics in germany and elsewhere around so thats where we stand at the moment for them if theyve just entered Parliament Last september following the election this is the first time that theyre really getting their teeth into legislation its not going well if youre an alternative which are many supporter anyway at the moment all of the other parties coming together uniting is one something we cant find them doing over any other issue here in germany to say no to the a. F. P. And no to their policies. And its not only in the German Parliament having a rough ride recently the facebook account of one of its members was blocked following her call for people to join a womens march against rapes and killings perpetrated by migrants i organize a womens march to the chancery almost every day we read about horrific reaps and murder of women the more women come the more pressure it will put america and politicians from the old parties together at a state in the streets to fight for our right to freedom and saboteur many ssion despite belonging to a party known for a strong anti migrant rhetoric bilger who is a womens and childrens rights activist regularly travels to syria and iraq to help people there she said by good origin herself and was surprised that the official reason for facebook ban. As going to facebook of a show on my travels with facebook started a few years ago facebook has a big issue with women and migrant backgrounds you can notice that i dont have a nordic look i can see that i am originally from the south here in germany i fight for human rights which isnt always easy in islamic countries people like me are silenced by facebook and since i have a certain popularity and quite a large following i was blocked for thirty days then my account was deleted but that wasnt the first time my accounts have now been purged four times and since i am a member of the air of d. Which in germany fights for womens rights i am a nuisance for facebook and the mainstream media. Lola was banned under the new law that forces social media to delete offensive content within twenty four hours after receiving a complaint otherwise companies could face huge fines earlier this month the deputy leader of the alternative Germany Party saw her facebook and twitter account suspended of the she criticize the countrys police for saying happy new year or a book is lola builder again who says that people who express their anger at migrant policies in germany are seeing their voices silenced online. This problem is your policy of the German Government and especially of the old this is intended to help young man from islamic or african countries get settled in europe and to accept their religion and culture for this reason and german citizen who has lived here forever has been ignored and in the case of facebook or twitter it works like this they censor all critical statements even though they are consistent with the real situation of course it runs against the mainstream political line in germany for this reason they try to silence all critics of the German Governments asylum policies. French riot police have fired tear gas Prison Guards from europes largest jails striking over dangerous working conditions including attacks on staff in the latest incident with a different jail on corsica two guards were injured in a stabbing attack by an inmate whod reportedly been radicalized inside is what a french prison union told us about that incident. Oh you know this is where theres a serious incident took place in borger prison a ridiculous inmate brutally attacked two of our colleagues. French prisons have suffered several similar attacks on god recently a week ago three security staff were injured after an inmate attacked them with scissors and a razor blade on monday and yet another jail seven guards were attacked by an inmate in that case according to the Justice Ministry the perpetrator had again been radicalized in prison inmate violence disobedience and vatican has ation triggered a nationwide strike of french Prison Guards who have in turn clashed with riot police. In the striking guards are demanding or thirtys do something about the dangerous conditions in french jails are the friends spoke to a representative of a prison guard. Said bluff. The government representatives are to blame they dont want to discuss the problem how to find a solution to our poor working conditions but we demand an increase in the number of Prison Guards and also the creation of a special high security wing radicalise prisoners. Its not just jails that are giving the french authorities a headache drug related crimes are becoming so bad in parts of the paris metro train drivers are reportedly refusing to stop at certain stations thats according to a Union Representing the metro and bus network in the capital. Went on the ground to see what those fears are based on. For most three reasons the metro is a staple of life with its winding tunnels and lines that stretch across the city its often the easiest way to get from a to b. But down in the. Underground the gritty underbelly of the capital is being exposed drug related crime and violence has been a longstanding issue in paris as metro but now the unions representing the train drivers say it is spiraling out of control dealers and muses including those taking crack cocaine and no wrong doing what theyve doing. Lighting up metro drivers so fearful of attacks at some stations many are choosing to longer stock their survive more fos of im not proclaim its very dangerous and its terrifying if you can range from a simple punch to people using nails knives or. Stations like marks door and market a year are especially troubled druggies has come here for their daily fix and gangs have taken over for problem of. The problem is very dangerous for both the metro workers and for the commuters its even more dangerous they are targets of fast ive seen more than one hundred attacks take place. Within minutes of arriving if marks metro station we witnessed what looks like a drug deal the man with his back to the camera has just arrived with a bag in hand he was the platform stopping and exchanging some packages with people and then he left with his bag empty this seems to be the new normal. There are lots of drug users and i think that with everything thats happening in the magical they should be doing something most of the time the drug users are aggressive and everyone is afraid for the security of. Children. Twenty twenty five. Lived there weve weve weve heard of course. Been. Attacked just one time because the we had in the middle of the night is a small four. Plane with that popular part of press upon problem as the security robberies can happen sometimes its maybe aggression physical aggression sometimes two by ceasar man attack another young man. As we travelled through some of the most dangerous stations we saw Metro Security and police trying to crack down on the problem they succeeded in moving this bunch a long but in reality all theyve done is move the problem to another stop on to another day charlotte. Paris. Today to join me for the latest News Headlines at the top of the hour. Heres what people have been saying about rejected and disastrous pull on ourselves we only show i go out of my way to find you know what it is that really packs a Party Oh Yeah its the john oliver of our three americas do the same we are apparently better than nothing. To see people you never heard of love right back to the night president of the world bank very early right ok seriously send us an email. Hello and welcome to cross talk where all Things Considered im Peter Lavelle with the Islamic State in its many confederates defeated or facing defeat in syria what is next for this war torn country what justification exists for the u. S. To maintain military forces there does washington want syria partition if so and why. Cross talking syria im joined by my guest Jonathan Steele in london hes an International Affairs commentator in leeds we have here he is a senior lecturer in middle east politics at the university of bradford and in doha we cross the mohammed should we he is a professor of conflict resolution at George Mason University and author of what is unlike continuity or rupture in the wake of the arab uprisings all right gentlemen crosstalk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want and i always appreciate if i can go to you first in leeds here let me read some of the headlines here tillerson touts indefinite u. S. Presence in syria and assad must go in new plan also tillerson u. S. Military presence in syria open ended will ensure regime change i thought we got way way past that with the collapse of the Islamic State with talks in afghanistan im sorry in kazakhstan with the russians in the iranians and the turks i thought you know to look this is a blast from the past where is this coming from go ahead. I think what we see at the moment. From the. Germany for cation of syria effectively what we are seeing at the moment. In the postwar german situation when the country became divided between two different spheres of influence and that kind of open ended division changed the security and the Political Landscape of the world at least for about forty years of course we have to bear this in mind that at the moment over the last two or thirteen months what we have seen in the american political establishment is confusion so i really dont want to jump to a conclusion but if mr tillotson is absolutely committed to his words and they are going to keep their forces in syria to prevent further empowerment of bashar assad effectively is what i mentioned is going to be kind of germany fixation of syrian conflict which will have serious implications not only for syria but for the right the region of course they keep telling us that you know they are not interested in partition and this integration of syria what if it moves like a doc if you like a dog then probably its a dog you know jonathan weigh in on that because i am really quite mystified by all thats what is the National Security interest of the United States to maintain military forces even legally under International Law in syria what is the game plan it seems to me its a lot of spite they dont like the fact that the russians the iranians and our side won that its back down on the ground they want to accept it go ahead jonathan well i think theyve made it clear that going to iran initially was against iris but it was against. Quite clearly the bill to run up into a burglar going to listen was to. Looking about this northern arch the some kind of arch invisible to anybody except to listen and the American Administration that would stretch from turn around to the mediterranean coast and its nonsense i mean for years syria was a completely calm country agron had meant minimal influence there had no troops there at all its only because of the collapse of the authority in syria that the ukrainians of commune and if authority is restored in damascus and assad can exert control as hes hoping to do throughout the country then no need for the ukrainian presence and im quite confident that it would be dramatically reduced so its a bogeyman in the eyes of the americans its nonsense yeah ok to mohamed in doha i mean i agree with you its really. A farce here that the u. S. Is created in pursuing here but it has real life implications on the ground here i mean the interesting thing is is that the syrians proxy civil war it never gets simpler we have the whole situation ok granted its an illusion but turkey is not and this is we have this collision thats going on between to me and nato countries the United States and turkey having a collision over the kurds here and i dont see any real easy way out except for maybe a deterioration of nato relations within the alliance i mean that certainly cant be what the americans want is it go ahead moment. While so for we have seen one year off from prism in the u. S. Foreign policy and so far what we are witnessing is basically politics with no specific strategic objectives so far the trump of the ministration has not has not the result of the isis problem for sure at the same time the syrian conflict now is limbaugh and instead of the scale eighteen this particular conflict in the middle east what he has tricked through a good another call. With tookie so far now were faced by with one open ended conflict that is going to be between the United States and then go into if you cations in iran and beyond so far in terms of conflict and there is i dont see a particular strategic way out of this mess unfortunately we had a lot of tory coming from the white house but we dont have any effective Strategic Decisions try into the skill of distribution or at least help with the syrians find an outcome that would be favorable to all parties. In this because the whole journey for process now has been become history yes and ive seen i mean that im so i dont want to sound naive here but there is a way out here its called and sitting down at the table and negotiate an end of this have internationally observed elections i have nothing