of this upcoming election play into the potential front pietschmann proceedings how could it change things well on the one hand experience on the last time the united states went through this process was now twenty years ago during the impeachment of president bill clinton who as you know was impeached by the house of representatives but acquitted in the united states senate following a trial. the difficulty of impeachment in the united states is that it necessarily requires a two thirds vote which means that both parties have to support it in order for it to be successful there is no current indication that republicans support an impeachment effort and so that effort ultimately would be doomed to failure at least if the objective is to remove the president from office however that may not be the only objective obviously an impeachment proceeding is damaging to the president's reelection prospects and republicans will go to great lengths i suspect

in the near term to avoid and try to prevent that from happening or that you were talking about mother reports and you yourself have described it as game over but it doesn't clear trump of obstruction of justice. well it does from the standpoint of the determination by the department of justice in some sense the special counsel robert muller left that issue unresolved but someone had to resolve it and of course under the special counsel regulations it would be expected that the attorney general ultimately would make that call which involves a very careful consideration of the law the facts and most importantly policy from the perspective of the department about whether or not a sitting president should be charged and further whether or not a sitting president can commit the crime under the circumstances of obstruction of justice remember the source of the president's i are all along has been that he has

and was unfairly been accused of colluding with the russians in connection with their efforts to affect the two thousand and sixteen election although it's technically true that one could obstruct an investigation that ultimately is determined to have no merit it's a rather odd obstruction of justice case to be made under the criminal law and frankly also as a matter of impeachment a situation in which your are you know allegedly obstructing something that an investigation that ultimately is determined to have no merit well let me ask you more about that investigation robin you were in an independent counsel yourself do you think it was a mistake from the law not to question his family. the special counsel addressed the question of whether. it was appropriate to issue a subpoena to obtain the president's testimony remember first that a target of

a criminal investigation whether it's anyone or even including the president united states has a fifth amendment privilege under the united states constitution to refuse to testify and assert a protection against self incrimination so that's the first principle second in order to subpoena a present in the united states that's that becomes a constitutional question about whether or not a special counsel would have the authority to do that and whether such a subpoena would be enforceable by a court the special counsel explicitly indicated in the report that that's the late stage of the investigation to have issued a subpoena that would have been subject to a court challenge would have inevitably delayed the conclusion of the investigation by many months my prediction would be that that's something that would have required probably more than a year to resolve and it is his view of it was that he had sufficient evidence to

from other sources to make. findings and conclusions relative to the obstruction piece without the benefit of the president's testimony so that's why he decided to do what he did what would you have done it differently again. i think that any investigate my experience and the benefit i think of experience of having done special counsel an independent counsel investigations is that the public's patience is not unlimited in the united states in terms of how long an investigation can usefully go on before it's time to bring things to closure this investigation lasted twenty two months my own experience is that after eighteen to twenty four months whatever your of you are going to have uncovered by way of evidence will have occurred during that period the longer it goes on it's a question frankly of diminishing returns unless unless relatively speaking is achieved and also the public's patience is exhausted and at some point public

sentiment is is usually in favor of drawing the investigation to a close i think the special counsel was well aware of that which is why that decision i think was made and that is a relevant you know consideration i mean i can't really second guess that judgment i think that's a judgment based on experience and given the fact that other special counsel investigations are independent counsel investigations have gone on for far too long and of cost too much the that's a situation that's not ultimately in the country's best interest i think that's what he was focused on as i would have been under similar circumstances yes robert ray a format united states independent counsel thanks for being with us on outta there . plenty more ahead on this news hour including we look at how flooding in iran is draining two and a half billion dollars from its economy. french police unions demand action from

the government after an increase in suicides. and in sport the king of clay wins again but there's a big upset at the monte carlo monster who will be here and will be actually. called the saudi led coalition and yemen says it's launching an operation to destroy rebel drone base in the capital sanaa both sides have claims down in each other's drawings in the last week who see media posted this video showing what they say is a saudi unmanned aircraft being shot down over a province on friday the saudi amorality led coalition claimed that it brought down a drone over the port city of her data the coalition says it's determined to end all who see drone capabilities in the country. well turkey has arrested two palestinian suspects who allegedly confessed to spying for the united arab emirates

the two men are reportedly accused of monitoring members of hamas and the muslim brotherhood turkish media reports one of the men arrived in turkey in october last year just days after the murder of saudi journalist jamal khashoggi police are investigating a possible relationship with the crime natasha going to aim has more from istanbul . two palestinian men have been arrested in istanbul they've been charged with political military and international espionage the palestinians were initially detained at a hotel in is stamboul officials confiscated an encrypted computer stashed in a hidden compartment sources say the men allegedly confessed to being intelligence operatives working for the united arab emirates and they were here specifically gathering intelligence on arab dissidents and students after the arab spring in two thousand and eleven many arab dissidents came to turkey to live in exile sources

tell us the men were under surveillance for six months during that time they contacted turkish analysts made inquiries about qatar's foreign investment in turkey the two countries are close allies the u.a.e. is part of a saudi backed blockade against qatar intended to isolate the country the men also allegedly contacted a suspect in the. murder case. was murdered inside the saudi consulate in istanbul last october there was international condemnation at that time the u.a.e. and saudi arabia are close allies now sources are saying that shortly after quiz show g.'s murder the first operative entered the country the second soon after to help with the workload but the focus of the investigation appears to be on spying on arab dissidents in turkey and there's the thought that given the strained relations between turkey and saudi arabia turkey and the u.a.e.

and turkey and egypt that perhaps the u.a.e. was attempting to open up a new avenue of intelligence gathering in turkey. well protesters in sudan say they'll name a team that will take charge of the country by sunday there's been calls for a civilian that government to take over from the military rulers who ousted president omar al bashir earlier this month reports. that joining the sit in is like stepping into a new sudan people are taking power into their own hands these civilians are now guarding the border and they're greeting people with songs and smiles there was soul being searched is almost a pleasure and they'll work involuntary like i said. while this crowd braves the heat to put out a message of change others help to keep them cool money is also being donated

drinking water is provided i food is served for free for a while today medical doctors have left their paid jobs on joint efforts to set up makeshift clinics to help those who protested last night. yeah we worked in hard conditions there were days when we couldn't handle the sheer number of people who came for medical help we could hardly sleep for days we were doing both the humanitarian and national juta by being here. these people are here in front of the army headquarters to make sure a complete revolution is achieved and a military coup doesn't just lead to another period of rule like that and ahmad bashir. in medicine he said the military council most head of power to a transitional civil in government which protected by me will fulfill all the objectives of derivable so far we have only cut the head of the tree we still need

to remove the roots a message that's being eco that on sudan as ordinary people now take center stage the blood that's been shed for this moment. these are not. as are the young women who acted with courage and leadership this is where some of the deadliest lost still visible the morning. when thousands of protesters were caught in the crossfire members state security those losses they displace the special see. such a detailed description of what if it's not a person who just get a sense of this uprising it's like a fire that's building the presence of the old regime. the uniforms of those snipers who were caught hank here as a mark of shame to those who fought change but many here say the deep state is still intact and only the facade of the whole matter she has been removed i think.

they didn't go they just removed some dirt and put more dirt in its place we don't want any national congress members in the government and that's why the protest must and and they are the slogan whether or not that is she has fallen and we are staying here. well friday protests have taken place for the ninth successive week and algeria thousands in the capital algiers chanted down with the system longtime president of the lassies britta flicker was forced to resign earlier this month and protesters continue to demand change because of the interim government links to beautifully they are also unhappy with the presidential election being delayed until july he said one there is a political science professor at castle university he says the protesters still appear to have the support of the military. the most difficult thing to do is to predict what's going to happen next in algeria but for the being. in the violence

that have been incidents of people trying to do they live the. protests but both of the protesters and the military seem to be as far as this is concerned the chief of staff so i will not permit of julian blood to be spilled the protest was on for size seen on. media would they call this protest it's not violent protest will exercise it our constitutional right to demonstrate peacefully this is basically the mrs but the protesters are sending now lebanese women hope they'll soon gain the right to pass on citizenship to their children even if they're married to a foreigner but proposed changes to the nationality exclude women married to syrians or palestinians and how to reports from beirut. as a lebanese mother and was born and raised in lebanon but that is not enough to gain nationality women married to foreigners are not allowed to pass on citizenship and

that means their children need a residence permit if they are to find work while denied any government support for those like las whose fathers are palestinian the situation is further complicated because they have limited rights here i am an only child to my to my mother my to my home and my parents. i cannot own property and i cannot inherit inherit from my mom and. this inheritance to my pure church children. rights campaigners want the decades old nationality law to be reformed especially since lebanese men married to foreigners can pass citizenship to their wives and children we're being told that should women have the rights for nationality they are going to be of course i'm saying despite tween course they're going to. see

the delicate sectarian balance of this country hence leading to another. this is truly bizarre. politicians who oppose amendments to the law say it will have an impact on the demographic balance in the country lebanon's political system is based on a sectarian power sharing agreement they particularly fear the presence of a large syrian and palestinian refugee population because they are from one sect. she is a member of parliament's women and children rights committee he says it is the right of every woman to pass on her nationality to her children but it has consequences when you are twenty percent more. the. and that. is about four hundred people. exceed two million two million and. a huge.

there are no official statistics but non-governmental organizations say there are at least eighty thousand women married to foreigners women affected by the law are hoping things will change but acknowledge they are facing an uphill battle. senator beirut well still ahead on al-jazeera border vigilantes why this video from the u.s. mexico front here is causing an uproar and. i'm not after partner in a house in eastern france rebuilding not saddam won't be easy but this cathedral proves that it can be done. and coming up in force we've seen many golfers whole incredible shots but not many like this.

head of the range showing itself lasting or in much expect in china in april and particularly in may of this rain gets more and more persistent but a figure of one hundred millimeters in twelve hours will cause flooding this is just inland from hong kong it could be anywhere and one dog and probably will be in the next two or three days the darker green represents a full cost of heavier rain and it be running in the bush the same sort of last year so the next two days if you're in hong kong you're right on the edge in shanghai it should be out of it but if you're anywhere else in land expect some significant rain south of this quite a big gap before you pick up some more significant showers they've been showing themselves around jakarta borneo and so the way you see west job west papua has been quieter recently three days ago big showers here and almost covered in clouds drifts off shored to the indian ocean every night so the shells could bill by day i

think still affect singapore possibly the other darted bangkok other so ransley way see in west java coffee in particular that's for the next two days not a huge amount of sherry stuff here you'll notice. that's also true of india the heaviest rain is likely to be in the foreshadows in kerala sri lanka bangladesh but for most places is just getting hotter. the weather sponsored by catherine is. in australia more women a big job than ever before but what's driving this alarming development one on one east meets two x. inmates who've lived long behind bars on zero zero. i mean this is different whether someone is paying for someone to read this meddling in mainstream think it's how you approach an official nothing it is a certain way of doing it you can just buy a story in fly out. adequate.

housing is not just about four walls and a roof it's about living in a place where you have peace security and most importantly dignity un special rapporteur. hello again. reminded of the news this hour u.s. president donald trump has offered support to libya's war. in a phone call trump recognized tough to his role in fighting so-called terrorism and

securing libya's oil resources have to his forces have been fighting to take control of tripoli from the internationally recognized government. the us department of justice has dismissed a subpoena by the democrats requesting an uncensored copy of the report as premature and unnecessary an edited version was released on thursday it appeared to clear trump of collusion with russia during the twenty sixteen campaign but suggested he may have tried to obstruct justice. protest leaders are expected to name on sunday the team that they say will lead to their country forward protest as stepping up to months for a civilian dead transition just a week after the military ousted president omar al bashir and took over power. well the governor of the u.s. state of new mexico is expressing concern over a video of members of a militia group illegally arresting migrants. at the border the video was posted

online this week and quickly went viral it shows members of the group dressed in camouflage clothing and with semiautomatic rifles holding groups of migrants a civil liberties group in the state has called on the government to investigate a group of vigilantes calling themselves the united constitutional patriots well earlier i spoke to. who is the stuff attorney with the center for constitutional rights he says militia groups on the border acting with impunity. under normal circumstances any group of citizens who were on our mind and took another group of individuals into custody would be considered kidnapping and potentially drastic terrorism because the trump administration has made it clear that they have no interest in protecting the lives or safety of migrants they're looking the other what i think in two thousand and five they began something called the minutemen project which is a loosely affiliated group of vigilantes over one hundred branches over ten thousand members whose sole purpose is to enact domestic terrorism and violent acts

against minorities especially against migrants we've seen a huge uptick in reports of vigilanteism along the texas mexico border texas new mexico border and indeed in california to if it were any other group that wasn't so vowed to an immigrant rhetoric nativist right if they were vanishes and they would be facing federal kidnapping and potentially domestic terrorism charges at the border patrol founded in one nine hundred twenty four was responsible for scores of murders deaths disappearances indeed a lynching and so many border patrol members themselves were former vigilantes many have. same vigilantes in their communities and they're certainly looking the other way i think the other thing to keep in a consideration is that the border patrol views these individuals as actually helping them do their job. or patrol has had a hard time filling positions to execute trunk's native decision and i have to

imagine that they're happy to see. there's been a sudden rise in the number of french police officers taking now are knives an increase in attacks mass protests and police sentiment is adding to the stress on average one police officer is committing suicide every four days now police unions are calling on the government to take action as under schapelle reports. police officers are the ones members of the public look to to keep them safe but now it's the police who are looking for help the pressures of the job becoming too much for some of them. these officers in marsay are in mourning for two of their colleagues who killed themselves this week twenty seven others have done the same so far this year others stood outside police stations and the interior ministry in paris woman is of. i myself and my children do not ever become police officers because all their lives they will suffer in souls believing in

a lack of recognition so what i can accept for my children my current. working conditions for police officers and some of the country's main cities have been described as difficult. and some say the yellow vests protests which began last november in response to rising fuel costs but quickly became a campaign against the government have added to the pressures while the vast majority of demonstrations have been peaceful there have been outbreaks of violence and cases of anti police chants. already under stress from a number of terror attacks and a two year long state of emergency officers faced long working hours and struggle to get paid for overtime. a government report reveals french police have a suicide rate thirty six percent higher than the general population already this year the number of officers who have taken their own lives is double the figure from the same time last year and police unions fear if action is not taken now

twenty one thousand could see more suicides than in one thousand nine hundred six when seventy officers died that the government says it's setting up a special unit later this month to try and tackle the problem and prevent more deaths. there is a passion for the uniform it's extraordinary but there is pressure and we obviously need to heed the warning cries that we come through these individuals suicides cries of the collective. that the police don't feel protected by the government and the yellow vests protesters don't think the government is listening to them it's a delicate balancing act on the streets of french cities and al-jazeera. jill has been held for a journalist who was shot dead in riots in the northern island city of london derry politicians on all sides in the part of ireland controlled by britain have condemned the killing and the way emma heywood has. only twenty nine years old

larry mckee was a rising star in journalism she just signed a book deal and had a promising future instead she's the latest victim in northern ireland's long running conflict. after police raided a property in londonderry or derry as it's commonly known more than fifty petrol bombs were thrown at police and several vehicles were hijacked and set on fire mckee was watching events and in the hours before her death tweeted derry tonight absolute madness. the journalist was standing close to a police vehicle when several shots were fired and she was hit she was taken to hospital where she died we believe this to be a terrorist act. we believe a sprint car to provide a dozen republicans. are sassaman at this time would be that the new ira are most likely to be the ones behind us on the forms our primary line of inquiry open night forensic teams what to try to piece together the events that led up to her. earlier

this year the new ira was blamed for a car bomb attack in terry it's also claimed responsibility for sending possible bombs the killing of the journalist has shocked the community and devastated have friends and. our hopes and dreams and all of her amazing potential with a single barbaric act. this cannot stand britain's prime minister to reason that the murder was shocking and truly senseless condemnation to from the leaders of northern ireland's biggest political parties this is a tragic loss of a young life and our hearts are broken for although all those concerned those people who carried out this and this attack have no place in society those people who carried out this attack do not have any support those people who carried out this attack have attacked all of us they have attacked the community they've attacked the people of daraa they've attacked the peace process and they've attacked the good friday agreement of course violence criminality terrorism was

always are all still wrong today and twenty nine chain we can damage wholeheartedly we hope that everyone will work in london diary and indeed further afield with the place service to give them all the support that they need many people in northern ireland to concerns about that we knew ballance in derry and what led to it there were many tributes being paid to lehrer mckay all praising her as a seeker of the truth emma heywood. climate activists have gathered in a number of european cities at the start of the easter break they're demanding that politicians act in the face of what they call a climate emergency china hell reports from london. climate change protests that began in london on monday are spreading. by friday greenpeace activists had appeared in paris aiming their actions of

multinational companies with government linked messages aren't you we want to send the message that we need to act urgently there's a climate and social crisis that needs to be tackled and at the moment we're not even close and in rome the young swedish climate activist gretta from berg told the crowd that time is running out. she manatee is standing at a crossroads we have decided which we want to take and now we are waiting for the others to follow our example. at the start of the easter holiday weekend a small group of teenagers tried to block access to london's heathrow airport police were quick to intervene they were part of the london based movement extinction rebellion that drew the attention of one celebrity dame emma thompson to help make its message heard. the london protests have been shed you will to last

for two full weeks or until the government promises to confront what protesters describe as a climate and ecological emergency but there are signs the police will send for london's busy oxford street and other locations three it will be full there. is a very fine balance being struck here between the interests of this very peaceful passionate crowd and public order with roadways in the capital obstructed now for five days it's clear that nobody here wants confrontation with the police clearly feel that they've got to do something to regain control of the police something fantastic. i say far of what i've seen how far are you prepared to take this as far as needed as long as it remains a peaceful nonviolent atmosphere on this for his last day there's been a number of arrests but all my whole it's all been pretty good natured so young and old in a city in for the earth for humanity and

a better future john how al-jazeera london. still ahead on al-jazeera in sports find out why the heavyweight boxing champion is looking for a new opponent paul will be here to explain. bringing my maybe my children so they can see and get more comfortable for us children are at the heart of america's love affair with weapons fact that makes the report and therefore need to shoot and it's fun but the new generation is fighting fire with reason you're fighting for because you don't want to see if you do speak it. never again part of the radicalized youth series on al-jazeera fake news is a global virus but in indian politics it's becoming a cancer all of these up unstructured and abuse and manipulate them into whatever

the party just based on emotion can skew the perception of the under diva specifically if you're bombarded with a freak news it does start to flow to you as the world's largest democracy goes to the polls how vulnerable are expenses to militias disinformation. people and power investigates india fake news and agitprop on al-jazeera. the repair bill for flood damage in iran is expected to be around two and a half billion dollars millions of iranians are rebuilding their lives after the devastating floods a month ago and the reports from norristown province the crisis has come at

a bad time for iran's shrinking economy hampered by u.s. sanctions. iran's government is measuring the cost of flood damage in the billions of dollars for iran's people measuring the cost is also very personal damage shops . broken furniture. even packets of spigot. homes have been destroyed shops and businesses damaged everything is gone. now the cleanup the floods left this school filled with mud the goal is to clear up as fast as possible to get the children back into class now this is the kind of thing that will cost time and money to fix if you look over here that metal structure that's connected to the bridge that is a temporary one that had to be put in place when the pressure of the water that was coming through flowing through the river brought down entire sections of that bridge and if you look over here in this direction basically what we're looking at

is a river front that has now been completely destroyed. the iranian government's response to this emergency was raw.