A looming humanitarian disaster increased attacks on a limb by assad Regime Forces are putting millions of civilians at risk. Plus w. Continues its journey along the road to braggs it with a key vote due today in the British Parliament d. W. Talks to swell a fernandes one of the conservative partys leading the euro skeptics. And he is one of millions of chinese rarely seen in public we look at efforts to empower the mentally disabled in china rather than hide them away. Im sorry kelly welcome to the Program Thanks for joining us. U. S. President Donald Trumps former chief strategist steve bannon has refused to answer lawmakers questions about trump campaigns alleged contacts to russia bannon was testifying in a closed door session before the House Intelligence Committee when bannon declined to answer their questions they issued a subpoena in an attempt to force him to talk about and reportedly said that he was under instructions from the white house not to discuss certain subjects. But this was affectively a gag order by the white house preventing this witness from answering. Almost any question concerning his time in the transition or the administration and many questions even after he left the ministration. That was democratic congressman adam schiff as you saw just right there are joining us now here in the studio and barker he is Program Director at the Aspen Institute germany here and welcome to tyson including. You know we heard adam schiff alleged there that this was a gag order from the white house was it and is it possible for bannon to claim executive privilege you know this is a longstanding norm in washington that president s do want to keep frank counsel with their counselors like steve benen was going back to the Nixon Administration where they do want to stab a space that is a safe space for president s to basically say what they need to say it in the search once this is kind of like client lawyer privilege the interesting thing here is theyre deploying it in the same way that the attorney general put deployed it in open hearings earlier last year basically saying that executive order has executive privilege hasnt been invoked but it could touch on rails that would require executive privilege so theyre setting up a number of obstacles to steve benen testifying which really angered the House Intelligence Committee on both sides of the aisle and right now Everyone Wants to hear from steve benen we know that theres not only an Investigation Underway in the house theres also you know Robert Mullers an investigation that the special counsel we know that he has issued a grand jury subpoena for bad and we just we just learned about this apparently it happened last week. This is of course the investigation between trumps you know associates and russia possible connections to address if he refused to speak to lawmakers in the house can he refuse to speak to muller under this grand jury executive privilege does not apply to grand jury clear criminal investigation so he will be forced as you know reports are coming out to disclose all information any and all information to the grand jury and of course he was not there for that one incident of potential collusion that were aware of the june twenty sixth meeting between. Don jr and to tell you about some of the sky which also included jared push there and others all men afford but he was there so he wasnt there for the alleged potential crime lets say or the scene of the incident but he was possibly there for the cover up everything that happened since including the disclosure last summer all eyes have really been keenly on this investigation and on millers investigation the fact that bennett is being subpoenaed now where does this say what does this say about where we are in that process were definitely circling the drain a little bit i mean you know were starting to come to the point where the members of president most inner circle including president himself are being asked to provide interviews to Robert Mueller and his team to be subpoenaed to the grand jury so were coming to some point where we might start to see action at a higher level than paul metaphor to than some of the points that weve seen recently the fact that this was a grand jury subpoena the fact that this just wasnt you know a conversation in office as has been the case with other members of trumps inner circle what does that tell you well if steve benen. Interviews which have been reported out in the Michael Wolff book are credible then there are a lot of lines of action or potential lines of action including Money Laundering one very important strand which will probably occur if personnel is policy you see in millers team that they are following the money a little bit there has been a lot of investment in condos through Shell Organization since trump became a candidate and there is questions of how that ties back to countries like russia so there are a lot of different strands that could be pursued and you know steve benen has bear witness to a lot of the conversations that have taken place around those dealings and its not just about the money right because i mean theres multiple directions that this investigation could take right right just walk us through some of the possible scenarios because on the one side there is this to ties potentially to russia. Chucks and of justice as well. Yeah so i mean we have on tape a lester holt interview you know the basically what was the the the big bang point of this investigation was the firing of james komi and after the that occurred President Trump went on television and said he didnt like where the the Russian Investigation was headed basically indicating that it was an incident of the struction of justice on the record on the air so was that the actual intent what were the decision points that led to that interview into that decision to fire jim comey those are also questions so there are a lot of different strains theres Money Laundering theres the potential for collusion theres the obstruction of justice piece so a lot to unpack for the mower team tyson barker thank you so much for joining us to tell us a little bit more about this move will crush it thank you. So lets get a quick check now of some other stories that are making news around the world. A Hong Kong Court has sentenced prodemocracy activist joshua long to three months in jail wang was found guilty of contempt of court relating to his role in the twenty fourteen umbrella protests is the second time that he has been imprisoned over those rallies a military court in thailand has dropped charges against in eighty four year old historian who has been accused of insulting the countrys monarchy sumach civil rasika questions whether a National Myth about a dual fought five hundred years ago by a king on the plaque on the back of an elephant had really happened the court said that there was not enough evidence to proceed. Unusually cold weather has brought chaos to the Southern United States where there were pileups and kentucky highways and louisiana were closed and flights in texas canceled widespread ice made conditions particularly treacherous. Well washington has frozen sixty five Million Dollars of planned funding for Palestinian Refugees state Department Officials say that the decision was meant to prompt other countries to help pay for palestinian aid but a recent tweet five President Trump has put all of that in doubt he wrote that palestinians give the u. S. No appreciation or respect and threatens future payments the u. S. Will still pay a portion of the pledged funding allowing services to continue for now. Can bring out food to the needy a key service the un relief and works agency provides to millions of Palestinian Refugees many here who depend on the agency a bracing for the worst. Of it all. Coming off to the Palestinian Refugees instead of pushing us to the verge of death this seventy two year old fayez for his grandchildrens future. Is a great workout what will become of the cvs criminals and the burden on society there would be terrible. His family lives in the gaza strip the dire state of the economy means almost everyone here qualifies for services. Those also include health care and education. The u. N. And those services are of extreme importance not only for the well being of the nations and there is a serious humanitarian concern here but also in my opinion and theyll be that is shared by most International Observers including some israeli ones it is an important factor if the believes one row was set up to help the hundreds of thousands of palestinians forced from their homes during israels creation in one nine hundred forty eight the refugee camps have turned into these concrete slums. Israel says the agency is in need of reform. But position as it should its not a question of defunding or not its a question of replacing the old ways after seventy years where the i mean see that will actually address the really major real work produced but for many palestinians across the middle east is a vital safety net. And for more were joined by tanya kramer who is standing by with the latest from jerusalem so tanya walk us through how important this u. N. Aid program is to Palestinian Refugees. Well to be seen in the report. To the methods. Created in the sixtys. In late ninety seven as a temporary solution to the political solution is found that hasnt been found and today. Takes care about roughly as they say Million People across the region not just in the occupied west bank but also in gaza in jordan in syria and in live in arm so that Schools Education programs. Health care and clinics so it also always has been. Strong financial pressure and they experiencing off on five year is definitely seen as a major crutch to them and given that people in gaza they have been fearing this significant cut in the aid program what could the impact be on the ground there. Well you got there there actually at one point three Million People eventually did as refugees and some of them that really belong to mark finer. Than so because of the decade. Because of this very difficult Economic Situation they do did and. Now were not as productive statement as bombs to defeating us come to saying they will continue to provide services that really can make sure that schools are still running but it leaves people in the extreme uncertainty of what will happen next and also they are kind of feeling and theyre paying the price in a political game as weve heard it comes on the background of the u. S. President also that the u. S. Are presented to you and having threatened to cut if the palestinian leadership would not come back to the negotiation table now there are negotiations but this is perceived as political pressure to the policy no sorry and people yes saying annoyed effects to most of the people and its political pressure with wider implications because it is not only gaza that will be affected and we know jordan lebanon syria also home to many Palestinian Refugees relying on this and how is the cut likely to play out there yeah as you said i mean it will affect many countries in syria and lebanon jordan there already and the press in syria this war in lebanon and jordan have taken in a lot of refugees so it will be thousands across the region its interesting to say that even Israeli Security fit officials have warned about the potential risk of such cuts so it is unclear whether the u. S. Will release those funds that delay to states your method calls for other countries to step in but its certainly a nice people in the region over the lot of uncertainty tanya cramer interview salon thank you. We turn to syria now where assad the assad Regime Forces have stepped up attacks on it led the countrys last rebel held stronghold thousands of fighters and civilians fled there after the fall of aleppo back in two thousand and sixteen but intense fighting has once again pushed people to flee and aid agencies warn that a massive humanitarian disaster could lie ahead. Rebel counter attacks against the Syrian Regime. President Bashar Al Assads forces have stepped up their assault on this last opposition stronghold in the north of the country in recent weeks. Against him this coalition of jihad east and moderates dont stand much of a chance. Troops backed by russian airpower launched intensified attacks on northern how mark and southeast about a month ago. Thats led to the biggest wave of migration weve ever seen. One hundred thousand people have already fled the fighting in southern this is raised fears of yet another humanitarian crisis in syria where stream the concern that amid this escalation in fighting up to two Million People may be at risk this is an area where tens of thousands of people have already been displaced and the own going fighting could provoke even further displacement of civilians. That means more suffering the regimes campaign has included attacks on hospitals according to the u. N. Those so far left unscathed are ill equipped and doctors are exhausted. And. There are so many injured people we cant take care of them all. No hospital in the world could treat the number of patients that come here after their neighborhood has been bombed. It is a war zone and thats although russia iran and turkey designated it as a deescalation zone last year more than a Million People have fled here from other former rebel controlled areas fighters as well as civilians but theyre no longer safe the Syrian Regime and russia say theyre targeting terrorists but political analysts disagree. To Syrian Government wants to bring all the remaining. People held areas under its control and wipe out the opposition that doesnt care what happens to them he wants to take control of the whole country before peace talks began. Just a few weeks ago this market in it was bustling. That was a sense of normality. But that save the now. Really be a stall holders have nothing to do anymore no one dares come here because of the asterix people are staying indoors wondering after seven years of war in syria peace is no place it appears that assad wants victory at any price. Monica is here now with some Business News and investors are looking to brussels today exactly because theyll be talking about tax havens today. Tax havens are on the agenda in the e. U. The block is preparing to remove several countries from its recently published blacklist of tax havens seventeen countries were named in the list that was only published in december many of them who were small islands in the caribbean and the pacific now eight countries are expected to be removed from the list next week after making new commitments thats what the e. U. Says and these countries include south korea which is one of the Worlds Largest economies the United Arab Emirates one of the largest arab economies and panama long a haven for offshore accounts now critics say that the e. U. Is backtracking by allowing the countries off the list so soon and well be talking to an e. U. Policy advisor on inequality and taxation in just an hour from now in the meantime bitcoin the crypto currency thats divided the financial world has continued to tumble in the last twenty four hours forty more than twenty five percent its been described as a bloodbath bitcoin a fell below eleven thousand edging close to its six week low rumors that the south korean and Chinese Governments could ban trading encrypted currencies sent to many of the coins noah the e. U. Is also reported to be preparing new rules that would no longer allow crypto currency owners to remain anonymous when they convert crypto coins. Well germanys a state own to h. S. H. Malta bank one of the biggest lenders in the shipping industry has reportedly agreed to exclusive talks with potential bias j. C. Flowers and severus theres no time to lose a. Survivor the financial crisis but only with a state bail out and now the e. U. Wants the bag sold or liquidated by next month because well bad loans to shipping companies. And well federal tell us they simply trusted their bank manager when they wanted to invest thirty thousand euros ten years ago their Financial Advisor recommended they put the money into two ships instead of more reliable government bonds you braved about crawling well to trade volumes ally india always sifters when just the prospect of the risks is very limited as it was conveyed to us with a secure unusual dividend made it lucrative by a. Lucrative. More anybody but i just wanted a good investment on the one with the ship sounded great to me and yeah it was a bit naive just how it was so. Naive if he wasnt restricted to small investors many shipping companies also overestimated global trade volumes and bought shipped off to ship. North Bank Financed their spree with generous loans it quickly grew from a provincial state bank lender into one of the Worlds Largest shipping finances by two thousand and nine it had over three