standing shopping and dining offers and trying our services. biala gassed trunk food. managed by from. this is the deputy news live from bergland us president donald trump of rips into his former chief strategist steve bennett is in the firing line for explosive comments on a trump tower meeting with russians donald trump says that bannon has quote lost

his mind. also coming up an apparent and two anti-government protests in iran but as pro-government rallies hog the country's airwaves what is next for the divided islamic republic we will ask an analyst plus we will have the latest on a prestigious football prize dortmund's pierre everett over my young is going for a second act for can player of the year award tonight we will look at the stands that's. i'm sorry kelly welcome to the program thanks for joining us. u.s. president donald trump has launched a scathing attack on his former chief strategist steve benen ahead of the release of an unflattering new book by journalist michael wolff the president said steve bannon has nothing to do with me or my presidency when he was fired he not only

lost his job he lost his mind. the president disavowed bannan after it emerged that he had attacked donald trump jr for a twenty sixth meeting with a group of russians in the book bannon is quoted as saying the following even if you thought that this was not treasonous or unpatriotic or bad will paraphrase and just say stuff i happen to think that it is all of that you should have called the f.b.i. immediately u.s. media say trump's lawyers have sent a cease and desist letter to ben and accusing him of violating a nondisclosure agreement by speaking to wolf now an epic falling out between these two former allies what could it mean for the trump presidency of the russian investigation more in just a moment first a look at how the bad and trump relationship collapsed with friends like these who needs enemies it may feel like ages ago but it hasn't been that long since president donald trump and his former chief strategist steve benen were thick as

thieves. toward the end of the two thousand and sixteen presidential campaign benon left his post as executive chairman of the right wing web site breitbart news to join the trump campaign he was the embodiment of all the issues that energize the trump base nationalism and time a great an economic deregulation despite accusations of racism and xenophobia benon helped build the wave of populism but trump it unleashed trump became president and became a kingmaker. bennett took on the role as chief strategist and senior counselor to the president he was seen as a primary architect of trump's nationalist agenda the president was not shy about celebrating their closeness is very committed and friend about it he's very committed to getting things passed we'll have a very good relationship as you know with steve been steve's been a friend of mine for a long time i like steve a lot man and also helped push both the president's populism and his attacks on

news organizations their corporatist globalist media that are adamantly opposed adamantly opposed. to an economic nationalist agenda like donald trump. but after a series of staff shake ups and public embarrassments trump brought an instant in the white house to an end after a mere seven months. now following the publication of an incendiary book ben and then trump have suddenly become sworn enemies trading barbs over the media. given how fervently readers of breitbart have supported trump the cracks in this relationship could spell trouble. and for more on whether or not that is indeed the case i am joined by having reka head of the program of u.s. and transatlantic relations at the german council on foreign relations here in berlin thanks so much for being with us you know strong language as we've heard from both these two no surprise i mean they're really known for that aren't they

but at the end of the day this book is said to describe the president as an on disciplined man child who doesn't understand the weight of the presidency does it leave him in trouble i think if this is seen as an inside look into the presidency and many will do this especially on the more liberal side of the spectrum of course this will damage him underlying the views that people have of him i think. one has to wait i mean if you could present himself as a nonpolitician as somebody who's doing things differently as a deal maker as a businessman this might actually help him help him along why ben did this i assume he understands that we he will have more attention in the wider spectrum of the political interest if he's going against the president and i think there might be some vanity in it in the end i think trump might be able to to use that for his own benefit because he can distance himself from the far right and win back the

voters in the republican center so that's the view on on how this book might and impact public perception but how about when we talk about legally speaking because of course we know that there is an investigation that is underway and on to the truck campaigns ties with russia bannon describing a meeting that the trump campaign had with a russian lawyer as quote treasonous what does that do for the investigation and potentially for the trump presidency in legal terms. in legal terms it will not change a lot because it's only an assessment from an outsider one might say but politically of course it strengthens position it will strengthen the view that there must be an investigation like this it will make it harder for trump to to fire him and to go against him so this of course increases the credibility of mahler and the findings that he might get in the end i would assume there will be. things to do to

be dragged into the open that will make the trump family or the complain look bad but it might be the trump himself didn't really. is not really a culprit in the narrow sense so that might be the come out and he might even use these assessments for that but how much does it undermine for example republican efforts to undermine the investigation because we know for example actually just yesterday perhaps quincy densely perhaps not perhaps you can weigh in on that president tom's former campaign adviser paul metaphor and he actually sued the special counsel robert muller in order to get him to narrow the scope of the investigation of course not a fart he has been indicted for for money laundering it within the scope of the investigation where do you think that that all of this leaves the pro. i think that there are many republicans who are basically conservative they are not russia friendly they want to have the state run in an efficient way so they they might

might see all these like intermingling the financial interests that come into play there the backdoor politics they might see this. as disgusting and so actually this might also strengthen support on the republican side metaphor does of course he's trying to clean his own sheet with it and it's about his own career and his own role in that so i would assume one of four does not do the core republican that is that is represented here and just briefly before we go you're an expert on transatlantic relations leaders here in europe how are they dealing with all the traumatic the united states it's of course impossible for them because the all this is dragging away attention and energy from the from the white house and it would be much more needed to fill the open posed to have an idea of what the white house and the ministries do together so they all hope for a more stable. running of the of the government and we don't see this is only day

four of the new year. in fact it is heading rico ahead of the program on u.s. transatlantic relations at the german council on foreign relations and berlin thank you. and while many trump critics see michael wolff spoke as further proof of a president who is way out of his death it appears that it will do little to damage his image among his supporters if anything they are turning on those who attack him like a fan in his new site breitbart once a favorite among top supporters is being bombarded with angry comments one person has in fact written i voted for trump i didn't vote for ban and i will stick with trump thanks another person writing bannon is really thinking that. his car does not stink and that he is the king of it all what is wrong with this guy some choice words that he's using there that we've chosen to admit but many bad and backers voicing doubts that the book is little more than half baked

journalism right wing social media favorite tweeted the following why would ban him go after john jr who is beloved by the base it is a kooky fight to pick doesn't make sense the author has a history of fabricating quotes we need bannon to stream live and get his story out so a lot of people weighing in there on the controversy in the meantime let's get a quick check now of some other stories that are making news around the world the u.s. senate has sworn into new democratic senators reducing the republicans majority to two jones from alabama one a special election to fill a vacancy eat and minnesota's tina smith was appointed to replace al franken who resigned amid allegations of sexual misconduct rescue workers in south africa say that at least four people have been killed and around forty injured in a train crash they express train derailed after it smashed into a truck around two hundred kilometers south of johannesburg images posted to social media showed up turned to coaches and part of the train in flames. myanmar marks

the seventieth anniversary of its independence from britain with the flag raising ceremony there was no reference to the crisis in iraq and state that has seen more than six hundred thousand broken to muslims leaving to bangladesh to escape and military crackdown on in search of. a new foreign policy chief frederica mogul really is on a two day visit to cuba aimed at strengthening ties with the vana after washington tightened restrictions on the communist nation mcgreevey has called the u.s. blockade of cuba illegal and obsolete saying that it serves to worsen living conditions on the island u.s. cuba ties thought after the obama administration eased trade and travel rules but the trouble white house has since moved to reverse those measures saying that cuba had failed to improve its human rights record. in iran the head of the country's elite revolutionary guard has announced what he called the end of sedition this

after he deployed forces to put down anti-government protests in several provinces twenty one people were killed during the weeklong protests and authorities arrested hundreds in a show of might have running on state t.v. broadcast these images of pro-government rallies across the country there are unconfirmed reports of continued anti-government protests iran has imposed a blackout on social media but this footage from isfahan province shows a building allegedly belonging to the revolutionary guard going up in flames. and for more let's bring in a.f.p. correspondent eric roundoff who is standing by with the latest from tehran welcome to you eric we know that the head of the revolutionary guard has said that the anti-government protests have essentially been defeated or or wiped out so to speak what are you hearing. yeah it's been pretty quiet. we had very few protests last night

a very heavy police presence including really good revolutionary guards on the streets very hard for us to verify information we're getting from the problems but the fact that there are far fewer videos posted on social media suggests that they have indeed died down to considerable extent at least more broadly speaking but do you think that the protests over the last week reveal about iran's leadership are we for example seeing cracks between hardliners and moderates in the regime does these kind of just off to the budget announced by the president some are already. some pretty unpopular austerity measures cuts to welfare raising fuel prices not hard line is it's a pretty been attacking him on those issues finding does the best way to undermine his leadership. trying to rally the coal particular against it. and there are suggestions that the seventy's were actually behind the protests broke

out into this much wider arrest so romney could actually be a good opportunity to get him to say that we need to close ranks if you carry over attacking me this way you see the kind of arm rest that you can trigger the signs are he's going to have a lot of work to do to try to placate people who are deeply angry about the economic situation and what does that mean would you say for the prospects of of economic reform in the country because they you know as you mentioned a lot of people they seem sympathetic to the protesters craven says. yeah i mean there are a lot of people on the streets of tehran who understand the frustration of young people in a country where the unemployment rate is that two percent for the narrow stuff idea to a case of iran has a very good education system so a lot of people are underemployed as was dealing with that there are times over that that iran faces a lot of structural problems still under pretty heavy sanctions from the americans

that make it very tough to to get trade go there are no simple solutions for up for president rouhani but i think we are going to see him try to so he's off on some of this there is a notice that he had announced trying to make life a little bit easier while still trying to move ahead of some of the liberalizing reforms trying to put the economy back on on attack over technocratic focus to try to spur business interest but no no no easy solutions there eric randolph with the latest from tehran thank you you thank. and kristof is here with us now with more on those economic concerns that is right sara as international sanctions were lifted two years ago many people in iran hoped their lives and their living standards would improve nine twenty fifteen foreign companies invested some two billion dollars in iran once sanctions were lifted foreign direct investment increased to almost three point four billion dollars now french energy giant total

invested heavily in the country as did french carmakers and german companies are also vying for business in the country that all adds up to a sixty five percent increase in foreign investment so money is flowing in but apparently it's not impacting as many as iranians as people had hoped. now for more let's bring in ami or ali's adays the deputy managing director of the german iranian chamber of commerce in terror on good to have you on the program i mean there many of the protesters say they don't feel any improvements of their lives what has been the major problem hampering the development they have been hoping for . yes the major problem would still be the recession i believe because. iran has had very difficult years behind. of a stock lation so high inflation and very. high recession and the

industrious specially. and we have had last year the comic growth of twelve per cent but it is mostly been through with the. rise increasing oil production so that the industry is not. growing with that pace and so. therefore it's hard to for horde of people to feel to make important people tangible is that the economy grew now we're around has a high unemployment rate thirty percent we just heard at the same time the country has a very educated population what is necessary to get the economy going in a way that makes sure people's lives are actually improving. and we have have to divide. external factors and internal

internal factor external factors and mean that the international bang. or more billing would be more willing to cooperate and to finance projects in iran that is mostly. dependent to the u.s. politics and then the new u.s. administration this is it really important factor because there are many european companies and many german companies who cannot move forward clint cannot make the next test without without the necessary financing tools. behind them but it does you have us if you are not will tell us up on the pressure on iran is it. on fortune's and i think it would be difficult in the next. i think at least two or three years. unless there is a solution found or between the countries but i don't think so. but we

have also some homework done in iran and the government has to for example. make doing business more easier to fight corruption to make. competition more and more the markets more liberal so the business the doing business environment in iran should be. should be more if i and i mean briefly how important is trade with germany for around. very important germany has been. then. if you may still say so the locomotive of the industrialization of iran. and is a very important historical partner of the iranian industry and therefore the

iranian companies are really eager and willing to work with a german company her partner there or very important partner iran i'm here and he's a day of the german iranian chamber of commerce and tear on thank you so much for your insight. security experts have discovered a major design flaw in the chips made by u.s. tech giant until a bug fix could significantly slow down the performance of p.c.'s with an intel microprocessor the take giant is yet to release more details about the flaw which experts say could affect millions of computers around the world operating systems running on intel chips like those of apple and microsoft must install the fix to avoid security issues but could then run up to thirty five percent of slower into shares the new york lost more than three percent on the news. tesla has again missed production targets for its model three sedan the electric car maker

produced less than two and a half thousand vehicles in the fourth quarter well short of the twenty thousand cars a month promised by company founder mosque now investors are closely watching tesla's ability to mass produce its vehicles is a test of whether the electric car pioneer can live up to its ambitions now for more let's bring in our markets correspondent anetta vice in frankfurt and that's a our customers and investors for that matter fed up with the fact that tesla keeps breaking its promises. well i wouldn't go as far as saying that they are fed up but they are concerned you also see that in the share price reaction and after market and now free market in the u.s. the shares are down by more than two and a half percent as it stands now and that is a major concern all of course to and vaster is clients are not fed up with

tesla as of now but there is also a growing worrying among analysts that that could be more delays and that could actually lead to the fact that clients could consuls their orders altogether as tesla has apparently serious problems to deliver on that promise to deliver cars and in other news we're seeing heavy storms all over europe with heavy damage that as reinsurer munich re says last year was the most expensive and natural disasters fuels in near yeah while that's a very much regarded report it comes out every year early in january where munich re is actually contemplating how the year wars and this time it was the record for insured losses for two thousand and seventeen and also very. if not and if you put all the losses together it was also

a huge year for the insurance industry going forward what they are saying is also interesting because they are saying that they do think that natural catastrophes are here to stay and that we should consider the best to be in the new normal because climate change is also affecting the sick how serious and how how big those losses might be for the insurance industry going forward it rather cost a lot of money and a device broken friend for thank you. and sarah has more on the harsh weather that's hitting europe these days yeah busy extreme winter weather in fact kristoff a storm is sweeping across europe and has left four people dead and caused widespread damage and disruption violent winds of up to one hundred forty kilometers per hour caused scaffolding to collapse in paris two hundred thousand homes in the french capital were also left without electricity the storm has also caused chaos here in germany with powerful winds downing trees and power lines

firefighters in the city of cologne worked to clear debris from roads. the u.s. east coast is bracing for heavy snow as a winter storm intensifies into what is called a bomb cyclists on for the first time in almost thirty years snow fell in the florida capital tallahassee elsewhere in the sunshine state freezing temperatures turned one man's pool into an ice rink drivers up the eastern seaboard battled high winds and blizzard conditions a state of emergency has been declared in four states hundreds of schools have been closed in expectation of a record breaking vote temperatures. time now for some sports news where world football spotlight will be on the gaming capital across the night and our sports reporter backs merrill joins us in the studio to tell us a little bit more about what is at stake so what is happening in the confederation of african football are going to be announcing the african footballer of the year and you will awards and in the running of dortmund america obama young of gabon

he's been nominated the last three years in a row and one in twenty fifteen saudi oman a he was also nominated last year represents a center goal and plays for liverpool at club level and his teammates at liverpool mohamed salah was also nominated and he could be the first egyptian to win since the awards were taken over by the confederation of african football in one thousand nine hundred four so who's the favorite to weigh well i would put my money on mohamed salah the last player i mentioned he's recently joined liverpool in the summer he joined forty two million euros and at the time the english press many liverpool fans and me too actually thought it was a bit of an overspend not a player that they needed not a player that would really improve the squad but he's proved us all wrong he plays on the wing but he scored impressive twenty three goals and also has eight assist the season already really really strong numbers and he's out showing pretty much

everyone on the premier league stage including his teammates sadie oh man who i think will go empty handed again this year i think most will be the african footballer of the rebate not openly on i mean what are his chances well yeah i mean he has good chances on paper i mean last season he was the top understood scorer in the awards of course for the entire year last season forty goals in forty six appearances this season he's continued that form twenty one goals in twenty three games i mean you can't really ask for much more from a strike. but i think a change to the voting will favor most sallah and that's because while the confederation put together the shortlist of these three players voting. it's up to the fans online so they voted on the website on facebook and i think because most at the end of the year has played really really well as the strongest of the three i think the fans will have short term memory and go for salah now that's not the only change the team's voting that you mentioned that's not the only changes that are underway this time around right yeah there's also

a change because usually you have two winners and what used to happen from two thousand and five up until last year is ward for the twenty sixteen year was there was a player of the year based in africa so that enabled players who play in africa in smaller leagues in competitions that don't have as much money as the european game for instance to get recognition as well that was scrapped and initially without explanation by the confederation and after a lot of criticism they addressed it yesterday in a press conference the president of the confederation i'm not i'm not he said there are not two levels of football in africa best is best there's no best of the bad and best of the best i can see his point and i think it's understandable that they scrapped it but i think it is a shame because players who don't play in the big money leagues who are playing in africa across the continent they deserve to get recognized as well and they'll be missing out from that recognition right maxwell thank you so much for telling us a little bit more about these awards and tomorrow we're going to check back in with you if you were right on those picks. you're up to date now and c.w.

news i'm sorry kelly in berlin thanks so much for watching i'll see you next. clue. enter the conflict zone this week conflict zone is it the u.s. army seoul in first training area is a very old guess is lieutenant general ben hodges commander of the some thirty thousand u.s. soldiers in europe with such concepts

a commander in chief in washington many people in europe are wondering is america still a reliable. the for next on. whether red stripes almost exact. this brand of knitwear has got to be colorful. missoni. i realize that many people need they need to have courage colors that once they were made they feel better the story of a unique i'm not sure a brand and its secrets to success the romance in sixty minutes on g.w. . make your smart t.v. smarter than t w force one to do. what you want when you want it hope to do it extraordinary. to move you decide what's on sunday more

than double john comes. smart to. be any. residual of course nothing is what will twenty you have in store for us which topics will shape the next twelve months or a little bit of news. between the elections you can view the pics on twenty team turn up for president good. to. see. you this week conflict zone is at the u.s. army soul in first training area in bavaria our guest is lieutenant general ben hutches commander of some thirty thousand u.s. soldiers in europe with a such controversial commander in chief in washington.