Rubble. Or broadcasting live direct from our studios in moscow this is R T International im john thomas certainly glad to have you with us and we start with breaking news from beirut there has been an intense standoff in the lebanese capital where there is an outpouring of grief and anger over tuesdays deadly explosion Security Forces have used rubber bullets and tear gas to break up crowds calling for officials to be brought to justice. Was. It was. Because of this night. On saturday protesters stormed several government buildings in beirut Security Forces have driven out protesters who earlier stormed the Foreign Ministry they took over the building and declared it a headquarters for a revolution. Wow. Wow. Now we are coming back to the property of our people is building belongs to the people of lebanon. We went to martyr square to set up gallows for those who did this to our country today will hang news of this and we wont let a single government ministers keep. The Police Starts firing tear gas at us on mosques square and the iraqis will so its so so we fled arties ego has done office in beirut with the latest. Well the smoke still hasnt cleared from the streets of beirut and everything that you can see around me well it hasnt been caused by the blast but rather by todays protests we are in an area which has seen some of the heaviest clashes between the police the army and well the riot says it is in fact not far from the port where the bloss had happened but this was not caused by the blast this was caused by all the protests and by people being unhappy lots of dumpsters just overturned set on fire i mean by the time we got here there was much more smoke much more fires going on lets just see just have a look here this is not again this is not damage excuse me this is not damage from the blogs this is a from todays protests and what people are unhappy about lebanon has been battered in the past in the past year firstly and foremost leave the country is in economic in an economic turmoil its economy plunged then covert 19 heads and it didnt help the economy at all but on top of that what added was the well was the strain on the Health Care System and now this strain is worsened by what happened today because hospitals in some hospitals in beirut are destroyed the routes lebanons in fact lebanons oldest hospital no longer can take patients we were filming there today and the manager of the operational manager told me that he has he was born there and worked there for 35 years and he has no idea as to when that hospital is going to become operational again and with all of that and with the pandemic the figures are already in the hundreds well of those injured in todays protests i mean its almost 500 people who have been wounded today and the this figure. It is only going to rise now so people are angry but weve got to look theres if you can see theyre very vocal theyre very vocal and they i mean im absolutely sure that these actions will continue and it will do nothing good to the Health Care System and will add to the catastrophe that lebanon is facing right now in fact theres a small group of protesters. In another part of town and we had time to speak with them there just outside the Foreign Ministry which had previously been captured by the protesters and occupied briefly until the army moved in and cleared that building and i talked to my person who would like. Volunteer leader of that small group and she was very vocal she was very passionate about how cool is but she was she told me that she understands why people why people are so angry here why people are so angry at the government at the parliament and the ministers she said this she centrally said sometimes silence speaks louder than any words and sensually she called on her fellow protesters well at 2 to protest peacefully to just sit down and refuse to go anywhere and in that Case Scenario if the army moves in then they are clearly in the wrong and she did put all the blame on what happened today on the army and on the police but still she called on people on people to start protesting more. That is that is that is a tall order though i have to say because people are fed up it seems like this blast became the final the straw that broke the camels back if i may say so because throughout these past days that we have been here in beirut and outside of being ruled in for of course people have lost their homes and with the economic crisis they have not simply no money to put their windows back back in to restore the roofs over their over their houses over there. Homes some people are ready to leave theyre just ready to go and. Others are less fortunate because they simply have nowhere else to go there are 300000 people displaced by the bluffs and that was the last straw thats why people have been coming out sporadically throughout the week but todays demonstration has beat them as speed to all the previous ones when it comes when it comes to scale i mean its been hours since everything has been over but theres i mean theres the still the still smoke in the air and it seems like all the all the work that the volunteers had previously done yesterday the day before yesterday holds like classes and students schoolchildren just Good Samaritans going around giving out water to people and people just taking to the streets with brooms to clear out to clear out of the debris with shovels to clear out the rubble the same shovels were used today to attack the government so all of that progress of clearing out beirut streets of dealing with the damage it has been undone by todays action and from by judging from what ive heard from the protesters they are not going to stop. There have been brutal scenes in the lebanese capital demonstrators threw rocks and projectiles at Police Officers who responded with tear gas Security Forces reportedly resorted to live ammunition to force people back. The demonstrators. Also put up market gallows in a location where people were hanged more than 100 years ago under the Ottoman Empire protestors raised to cardboard cutouts with ropes around their necks depicting lebanons Prime Minister and hezbollahs leader as well as other officials in response to the surge in civil unrest Prime Minister hassan called some hours ago for an early election he stated that corruption was to blame for todays tragedy. But we are in a state of emergency and not only because of this catastrophe and the need to deal with it in these circumstances id like all Political Parties to agree on what happens next we dont have much time im prepared to bear this responsibility for 2 months until they can come to an agreement what is needed is for the not to stand in the way of Structural Reforms in order to save the country on monday at the Cabinet Meeting i will propose a bill seeking a nightly election. Ballot journalist all tough it was in the midst of saturdays chaotic scenes in beirut. These demonstrators were flocking to Martyrs Square also to the Lebanese Parliament to express their dismay over the poor over what they say is poor handling of the lebanese government of the aftermath of tuesdays that explosion which targeted the beirut sport. The demonstrators are have to or have taken a very violent turn we are also hearing a lot of shots being fired in the air in addition to that there gas and now these protesters and it doesnt seem that theyre planning to leave as Martyrs Square and its time soon many of them have already set up tents they say they are going to stay here until their demands are met and that was. Also at the same time we know that in the midst of the chevy chase the beta testers have stooped to the Foreign Ministry. Or they have been accompanied the by a retired Lebanese Army generals there are talks that the government officials will try to sit down with this retired Army Generals to a try and reach some sort of discussion or negotiations with a maybe to calm the situation down. We have lost everything we have lost our homes our lives have been torn apart from everything is happening at once and for that im 28 and what future do i have our currency has lost most of its wealth is it is great solution i want to say to him oh news is ready for you. For years. Seeds and the e. P. A. You can make people inflate even if you keep it in. A bit of a reminder of what happened in beirut an explosion went off in the port area on tuesday. It was one of the biggest a nonnuclear detonations in Human History explosion along with a follow up blast of massive fire leveled several districts and it claimed the lives of at least 154. 00 people with thousands more injured the search and rescue operation is still ongoing for days on with dozens of people still miss. Before and after images of the blast zone officials have revealed that almost 3000. 00 tons of Ammonium Nitrate were being illegally stored in the port area of beirut it is a volatile compound used as a fertilizer and also as a mining explosive and that stockpile has been sitting in a warehouse in a densely populated area for more than 6 years well mid the anger and grief there has also been a glimmer of hope for those who are still looking for their loved ones under the rubble in beirut after 24 hours of digging it 12 Year Old Girl was found alive. I know not how much but i do not. Write. Them down i know. Them all. The explosions shock waves across the city destroying buildings businesses and homes the u. N. Has warned of a humanitarian crisis with 300000 people in need of aid and shelter. The World Health Organization is warning that beiruts Health Care System has been badly compromised it was already under severe pressure from the cobra 1000. 00 pandemic and on top of that the explosion on tuesday put 3 hospitals out of action medics are working round the clock to save the lives of those seriously injured in the tragedy here is one heroic nurses story. When the explosion went off the ground shook beneath us the blast told me into another room i opened my eyes and found myself covered in the rubble i found my colleagues and friends line here on the ground covered in blood. In. The Neonatal Intensive Care Units were covered in rubble as well i started pulling anyone start of the units i was terrified because i thought the babies might be crushed under the rubble but thank god they were ok then i took them through this corridor and down full flights of stairs. I carried the babies and i was determined to take them to another hospital the only way less than 2 kilograms they had nothing on them except died people on the street give me their t. Shirts and clothes so i could read the new bills and keep the news the conservation the on t. V. I was holding the 3 babies and i didnt know if i was going to be able to rescue them enormous all the time was counting the heads on my chest to make sure they were still there. Still to come on r. J. International we will bring you a live analysis on the on rest now unfolding in lebanon and what is behind it thats after a short break stay with us. The of. The world is driven by dreamers shaped by so personal those words. The dares thinks. We dare to ask. Anyone else child saw same wrong all right old quotes just dont call. Me the old believe yet to shape our disdain comes to educate and in gain strength because the trail all. Went on many find themselves worlds apart when you choose to look for common ground. I. Think welcome back this is our t. International now a quick recap of our breaking news story right here on our International Thousands have been rallying in central beirut throughout the day piling the pressure on the government over tuesdays deadly explosion government buildings including 4 ministries have been stormed by activists a Police Officer has been killed in the riots according to local Law Enforcement and at least 230 people have been injured in street clashes Prime Minister has called for an early election and acknowledged that corruption was to blame for tuesdays tragedy. As we can now bring in the middle east expert maher thank you very much for being with us here on R T International. So its safe to say that there was definitely profound anger within the political establishment in lebanon before tuesdays tragedy. Was this explosion the final straw is it now the catalyst how do you see these protests developing. I think its a lost. And at the last. The problem is the political system and constitutional system of 11 because. To get in bed with political system and. To sharon doesnt make out to the lebanese people it when they change the government and aleutians. New issues doesnt blink anything new. There are still within the state act as bold and other groups and everybody wants something and also the system. Simply grow parliament from this group and their Prime Minister from that group is kind of doesnt work anywhere even in iraq and. Back in the middle east this kind of system doesnt work and i think they need a new social contract would just it and they should change the constitution otherwise i cannot see any hope you one day change it or knew you had elections as long as the system is the same you know there is no war for. Lebanon because the corruption. These kind of teams is coming from the system this is a black general problem and that is not related to the Prime Minister right now or. That you know these kind of system we are trying. To kid level on now in iraq. Well if you get right down to the basic demands of the protesters its Pretty Simple really they want justice and accountability is that something that we will actually see and how important is it that the lebanese authorities allow an international invest. Nation into this blast. Actually i think. The. Opportunity of internation. Or international court. System is a. Problem right now you know you can find somebody behind the blast but in general in economics in business in politics in every way in the socialist your. Lebannon there are theres a very big problem and nobody right now in the lead. To any of my ex fish or politicians and some business about business and you know running 6 and 3. I help. So we should help and im not seeing any solution right now for example not especially in problem and also include. And right now theres a lot. So she owes you girl and economical problem and a level and. Maybe even the amount. Given to them after their. Personal problems will carry on as long as the system but i dont know. Now we dont degrade too many. After. 5 after. The mission and the Syrian Regime is strong levanon but maybe they will prefer. To go out of lebanon but. I have no idea to him that. We may have a problem and have lost all political. It goes on this is this is this is not related to blast this is a structural system for. Our aging as we lost you for just a 2nd there but thats live t. V. Somehow it works but were back we have you now. Ok im going to ask you to go down the rabbit hole with me to speculate just a little bit. The Prime Minister hes called for an election could this actually deliver a meaningful change or do you think itll bring the same people back to power i mean many of the protesters want the whole Political Class to get out of there completely how well represented are their interests in parliament right now. I think they can they can change people whole political you know natural law and. The shallow and theres all parliament but new people will come up new people the same related to some groups some of them from just the last some of the sunni some of them french some of them are in it that is the real problem you cant change the purple but this is not the people you know you cant change just corrupted people and others. People will come because the system is all the decor up to the people this is not related to person with us on the or as bylaw or michel aoun or maybe a bad day as you know no we barely maybe 40 years there it would change anything even you can change everything that somebody comes along the same group and same you know opportunity same themes same kind of. Belongings as long as theyre here to comment he. Never would change anything in lebanon as long as the new level not very well and i lived there some while and now the system is some kind of multiethnic system in which you know like a new generators in with some group. You know petrol with some Group Electricity with some group and this kind of system you can solve the problem bringing new people because those people belongs to the groups. Cause the problem in lebanon im going to get a little technical here you bring up the need for systemic change because its the system that is broken. Not many people may know about this so this is the technical part to what extent is lebanons confessional system an obstacle to social and economic progress i mean how easy would it be to affect systemic change. Just it is very difficult to the problem because you know look just as. Just you know you need to leave now and although we do this now its going to the lebanese isolation of the middle east right now not just the timing is not good right now for lebanon and the whole the middle east in a mess but the have to do something that this is very difficult you can say you cannot change you know why it takes time but be here to do something otherwise its going to go on from the system from the seventys up to now has the heres know as far as i know no would change anything despite this this is difficult it is difficult right now because now he is well out there. And syria crowns and other groups you know and also International Interference and also of all different groups sects and religions and ethnicities it is a very difficult issue rid of the kid but they have to do something to change otherwise there is no hope for lebanon all right indeed interesting to hear thoughts tom our middle east expert thanks for being with us here on our to International Hope you can come back to us and help us reprimands around this as a progresses thank you sir for your watching r. T. International well be back with more of this breaking News Coverage in about 34 minutes. Summer solution starts right where we come up with solutions to all the problems they cover on the other shows are there a way today weve got a go to the moon edition with a special guest mark valid incremental im. Thinking of getting a new phone the ones weve gotten here should come around was as he didnt know until he was trapped in this tiny little wired coach you dont need a crate with him the wall just. Freaking out into the wall when its pretty much anywhere near him. Caged in the into lane conditions on puppy focusing i mean 67 years you know theyve been locked up in cages outside you see no protection from the weather the heat you know the cold air the rain the snow the thunder nothing they have no protection. But you know you. Get to kids. Across the u. S. Crude puppy mills are supported by dog shows and pet stores most of the puppies that are coming from these large Scale Factory farming kind of operations are being sold in stores even joined a Group Businesses are involved like the mom center there has been a shocking amount of the organizing opposition to efforts to increase the standards of care for dogs bred in commercial breeding facilities most of that opposition is coming from huge agricultural groups and industries that have nothing to do with jobs dont buy dog on o. T. The National Attention youre watching another lockdown edition of going underground a very special edition were joined by one of the great from also was a time professor at cornell. West he joins me now from princeton in new jersey cornell thanks so much for coming on last time i spoke to earlier in the week there was a hurricane shades of Climate Change then we had the catastrophe in beirut i mean war what the 1st of all your out here no indeed indeed the 1st i just want to salute you. The national you force for good. Deed indeed while we are thoughts when you heard about what happened in the middle east in beirut where normally you often spoken about war crimes this its open to question what happened but what if what if you thought about the terrible images well a meaningless bleak once again you drink about the suffering place in the middle east people not really wanting to tell the truth about reasons of power and inquiry in the middle east and were going to find out i hope you know whos responsible but i just i just. Am of the opinion that. Weve got to be bring honest and candid about the role of the u. S. And. It should never coordination of the Israeli Defense forces any u. S. Army but we shall see we shall see its also of course important week because its the 75th anniversary of the United StatesNuclear Attack on hiroshima ive got to say angela davis on this show endorsed endorsed joe biden in november