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Discussions have begun among US Senators on the US nuclear treaty with Russia known as START or the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. The potential agreement between the two countries calls for the reduction of their respective stockpiles down to 1,550 strategic warheads within the next seven years. START has yet to be ratified by the U.S. Senate and Russia’s government. In order to address concerns about the US’s missile defense systems, President Obama has assured the Senate that it would remain untouched. In fact Obama has gone as far as to budget $180 billion over the next ten years to maintain the US’s arsenal. Satisfied with the assured continuation of missile defense, the Joint Chiefs of staff and most of the commanders of the US’s various missile defense programs are supporting START. This week, seven of the US’s eight former heads of the Strategic Air Command and U.S. Strategic Command sent a letter to the Senate urging them to ratify the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia. With President Obama making nuclear weapons abolition a significant part of his foreign policy, a new documentary debuts today, produced by the acclaimed film maker Lawrence Bender called Countdown to Zero. The documentary is written and directed by Lucy Walker and features original interviews with an array of former heads-of-state like Tony Blair, Jimmy Carter, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Pervez Musharraf. Lawrence Bender has produced films like An Inconvenient Truth, Inglourious Bastards, Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, and many more. His films have been honored with 21 Academy Award nominations including two for Best Picture.

GUEST: Lawrence Bender, film producer of Countdown to Zero.

Countdown to Zero opens today at the Arclight Hollywood and the Landmark on West Pico.

To get involved text the word ‘zero’ to 77177. Find out more online at www.takepart.com/zero