the taboos that they dare to break in washington d.c. u.s. president will trump celebrating his impeachment trial acquittal with prayer and accusing his opponents of using god against him and here in germany a pariah political party becomes a kingmaker a royal embarrassment for chancellor angela merkel a move by her own party a move that she calls on forgivable i'm bored golf in berlin this is the day. it was a bad day for democracy in. this matter is inexcusable downer kratz need democratic majorities. we cannot accept make sure he's achieved with help from the. ending to unstick stream must on the right unless. the result must be acknowledged. and examined it

not are not and will not cooperate with p.t.s.d. if the people. also coming up there given the choice but to suffer for the rest of their lives are you an effort to stop the practice of female genital mutilation. but i had my daughter's cut because i was afraid of my mother's influence. and you can see her picture there she said if you don't have it done to your daughters prayers won't be hurt. if you put it in with them. to our viewers on p.b.s. in the united states and all around the world at welcome we begin the day with 2 unprecedented moments in politics one american one german today in eastern germany a controversial state premier resigned just a day after being elected with the help of

a far right extremist party that party is the a f d every mainstream party including german chancellor angela merkel's conservatives has refused to consider any government that could include the a deep well yesterday a taboo was broken in what became an unprecedented 24 hour hold on power it happened in the eastern state of the range thomas kemo face was elected state premier in a deal that included support from the. that deal also included the chancellor's conservative c.d.u. party when chancellor merkel found l. and she reportedly called the arrangement inexcusable emerged today resigned saying that should help remove the stain that was created by doing business with the far right. joining me here in the big table is my colleague on your call she's one of our political correspondent she's also from the range where we're all of this happened on the you covered elections there in the last october the elections that

have yet to produce the government in that state how surprised were you i have to say i was really surprised i did not see it coming at all what we didn't know right after the election was that it would be very hard to form a coalition government in the state of syringes because simply because the elections haven't didn't bring any clear majority vote the city you and democrats conservative in turn into had ruled out right from the beginning to collaborate in any way with the far right and i'm i was really surprised that they did not keep to that promise what. would you think when you found out 24 hours ago that if he was going to do this i was extremely surprised because the a have to enter into is a special a if he could use you could say it's one of the most extreme groups within the a 50 of the one in 7 days so i would never have imagined that these city you would

collaborate in any way with that kind with that specific group of 50 you know they want to take a look now at the i mean that already has established itself in all of germany's state parliaments meanwhile extremist tendencies they are becoming clearer especially in the range of the party is dominated as we just heard by aggressively nationalist we take a look. it is the party leader entering he's pushing the far right party even farther to the right that's the divisions within the party itself but they could lead the public face of the party and its internal tensions have frequently marched alongside well known right wing extremists nevertheless he's been a member of the 2 engine parliament since 2014 if the politicians have won seats in all german state parliaments it's the biggest opposition party in the bundestag where its members often provocative. campaigns are work us book hasn't

had cover girls and men was nice living off benefits and other good for not seeing are we not secure our prosperity economy grows and in particular the welfare states . migrants particularly muslim migrants are the main targets of the f.t. which started out as a euro skeptic party the emphasis on migration issues has won over many voters big tent party slug c.d.u. and s.p.d. under more and more pressure especially in eastern germany where the a.f.p. has won up to 28 percent of the vote in recent elections it's increasingly difficult to farm coalitions without the far right party but it's a different story at the national level the recent surveys show that if the next federal election was held today the f.t. would only end up with about 14 percent of voters in any case all party leaders in the bundestag have ruled out cooperation with the a of d. nationwide meanwhile interest a significant faction of beyond her associates within the a.f.p. is shifting even further to the right the question is how far will they go.

how far could go on you i mean what we're seeing in this small eastern state of is it something that could be replicated in other states across the country well 1st of all we have to keep in mind that the a 50 has established itself in every state parliament also. talk so technically this would be possible as we just heard in the report to be a tends to be stronger gets you more votes in the former communist part of the country in the eastern states of the country so ranger used to be part of this communist region but i think what's also quite remarkable is that it took only hours after those after that election that people went out and took to the streets and demonstrated against it now you have to keep in mind the range is a pretty small state. linfield it's far way down no big towns in that

state no cosmopolitan centers so going out and demonstrating spontaneously is not something that is not on the daily basis is there of and use it so i was really surprised to see that even in small towns people would go and take to the streets and i thought that was quite remarkable and you know we have to remind ourselves and our viewers the right now in the german federal parliament they are the war just opposition group in parliament so what we saw in the range you could it have consequences at the federal level i think that it already did it because as i said the city only after you. broke a promise not to collaborate with the dia think that damaged their credibility also on a federal level and keep in mind that both going to back of the chancellor and i think it comes on the leader of the christian conservatives the c.d.u. did not approve of that election going to come come and go and try to intervene to

make sure that this would not happen well it still happened and i think it shows us that that might not have complete control over the party at all times you know if there's an obvious disconnect there in that party for sure on your call as always on your we appreciate your insights and your reporting thank you. is a practice that usually causes wife long physical and psychological damage female genital mutilation it consists of the partial or total removal of a girl's external. and is most prevalent in africa the arab world and asia but the united nations says it's also a problem here in europe our next report takes us to france to meet a group of women fighting to stop the practice and the pain. fatima john her daughter son amata enjoy preparing food for their extended family some cousins live with them and friends often stop by they enjoy having an open

house. making it's an african dish that's eaten in the sun have especially in mauritania mali and above all in senegal. cooking is one of the traditions she holds dear from her country of origin mauritania but there are other traditions that she strongly rejects. me. i was cut so are my 3 oldest daughters. i know that my 2nd daughter had complications when she gave birth. but i had my daughter's cut because i was afraid of my mother's influence. you can see her picture there she said if you don't have a done to your daughters their prayers won't be heard. working

as a midwife in mauritania in the 1980 s. turned her against the practice. i've met many women who've suffered from fistula or incontinence they couldn't hold back their urine anymore they have to change their clothes all the time there are even some who have become completely isolated . when fatima joc came to france as a political refugee in the 1990 s. she started her campaign against female genital mutilation she founded an association that campaigns for women's rights in communities where the tradition is still accepted she's also part of a european network lobbies members of the european parliament to take a more active stance against it her daughter solemn ata has also joined the effort. i was lucky not to be affected by f. g.m. i grew up in france and i think the question never came up for me but people around

me people i know are affected by it in my community even in my family that's why i feel it's important to fight against it. sell a model and her cousin launching a you tube channel about the risks of f g m. hello to all and welcome to the you tube channel purple chair my name is howard. f g m is illegal in france and the rest of the e.u. still there are as many as 125000 survivors of the practice in france alone. are confident about the impact of their outreach. to the alliance for this is an act of violence done to small girls who've done nothing wrong maybe it'll follow them until their death that's not good whatever happens i know this is a fight i will continue. and i won't give up before i see concrete results.

well for more now i'm joined by flavia when you go over from the in geo equality now and she campaigns against female genital mutilation for me it's good to have you on the program you know this is a this is a difficult subject to talk about but it has nothing to do with with sexuality or with sex does it this is all about since reason centuries of men thinking that this is what you do to have control over women how do you how do you change that when you talk to people who could be possible victims of this. thank you very much for having me on the program indeed as you rightly put it it's a centuries old practice and that is one that is really deep rooted in gender inequality and of course they show. issues around controlling women's sexuality so that for me the very critical starting point when it whenever we are

trying to address this is because if we do not actually address the root causes of why it's happening in the past it means all other interventions really yielded much and unless we really tackle the social norms and the substructure and eighty's gender equality violence against. and what does it look like when you are let's say for example here in europe in france where there were our story was put together when you're when you're talking to women because women are the ones who actually perform this practice on young girls or women and what do you what is what do you say to these women i mean explain to me the process of actually trying to to change the way they think. i think the 1st thing is of course just understanding. the basics of it why is this happening and also appreciating that female genital mutilation where you took as much as yours is

a saying that we meant that biggest constituency in terms of who is actually going on this i think it's important to underscore they should around. where is the choice what does it mean to lead to not have to not undergo this practice how does a woman or girl featured in a community are such that if she doesn't and. so the issue is really to address everyone in the community that we men and every every member of the community because if a woman has a choice if she's not able to perhaps attend meetings of. other women in there to get water in the market etc but you see it in public events etc simply because you've got her children were not able to get married and things like that so it's important that we actually address it or at least equally and and be able to tackle this issue from a very old wide perspective and approach all the members of the society not just limited to the women was as much as gender inequality is what we treated by.

brought up i think. not just that women but as you lessen saddle problem one for me what about the men i mean when you talk to men who are are they are the men are they the biggest hindrance here in stopping this practice. i hesitated to look at it from a man we meant perspective i look at agenda which is a system as an organizing of how society functions so well. basically what this is that will be chappie be to gender inequality it's really how to talk about those values the values that to drive to check and drive jenny so i would say that you put some sometimes find that a man does not want. children for example to be cut but you find that their woman is pushy because it's i'm sure out lobbying and short on your social club so for people this is the. time

a product of that men and of course the women who are trying to also get what you see from god such as a social social privileges or a way of doing things so yes when the critical agents of change when it comes to. brothers and even the leaders so are the event but when it comes to amend of course the discussion around fidgety of course is largely populated by men and at the biggest beneficiaries of the same system but it's also critical to look at them as also agents of change in our lives in the process yeah agents of change that's right very important to know them and to reach them via one go if you have with the in g.-o. equality now joining us tonight from brussels lobby we appreciate your time and wish you all the best with your work it's important work thank you. thank you for having me have a lovely on thank you. we were treated unbelievably unfairly russia russia russia it was all. so

we had a camp a little did we know we were running against some very very bad and evil people we thought after the election it would stop but it didn't it just started with fake jesse ace should be ashamed of themselves today stay knew that we were totally innocent but they kept it going but this is what the end result is. there you heard of the u.s. senate it has acquitted president donald trump on both charges of impeachment the senate dominated by the president's fellow republicans voted to clear him of charges of abuse of power and obstruction of congress the acquittal in the bid by democrats in the house of representatives to convict and alst trump from office it is therefore ordered in a judge that the said donald trump b. and he is here by acquitted of the charges in said articles bruised but ultimately

unscathed donald trump is free to remain in office thanks to a predominately republican senate which brought so many and democrats hopes of seeing him removed from the white house senate has voted in favor of acquittal on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of congress only one republican senator voted to oust the president and leader of his own party mitt romney of utah a former presidential candidate himself who crossed the political aisle to convict the president on one charge abuse of power were i to ignore the evidence that has been presented. and disregard what i believe my oath and the constitution demands of me for the sake of a partisan end it would i fear expose my character to history's rebuke as republican senate to celebrate today slim yet significant victory of that democratic counterparts protesters gathered outside washington d.c. capitol building to make that disappointment known. i think it's

disgraceful i think it's clear that trump was guilty it's clear that he believes he used less power as the result brings to an end a trial that has deeply divided the u.s. and leaves the president free to focus on gaining a 2nd term in office november's election will be the 1st in history to include and impeached presidents on the ballots. well this is the image that the u.s. president presented to the world today the same pose was captured when arrived at the national prayer breakfast this morning it was trucks 1st public speech after his acquittal wednesday by the u.s. senate the impeached president took aim at the only republican senator who voted to convict trump mitt romney from utah all now this is what romney said after the verdict was delivered yesterday as a senator juror i swore an oath before god to exercise impartial justice i knew from the outset that being tasked with judging the president the

leader of my own party would be the most difficult decision i have ever faced i was not wrong i'm sure to hear abuse from the president and his supporters. does anyone seriously believe. that i would consent to these consequences other than from an inescapable conviction that my oath before god demanded of me. you know what those consequences are coming hard and strong romney leaned on his faith to lean out against his own party now i'd like for you to listen to how the u.s. president characterized romney's reliance on his religion i don't like people who use their faith as justification for doing what they know is wrong nor do i like people who say i pray for

you when they know that that's not so so many people have been hurt and we can't let that go on so that's the message from president trump today his 1st opportunity to speak to the nation about his acquittal compare that to what former president bill clinton said in 1999 following his own acquittal at the end of his own impeachment trial. now that the senate has fulfilled its constitutional responsibility. bringing this process to a conclusion. i want to say again to the american people. how profoundly sorry i am. for what i said and did. to trigger these events in the great burden they have imposed on the congress and on the american people. and what stands out today in 2020 with that reminder from

1999 president trump does not say he's sorry his aversion to apologizing is well documented in fact his resentment is part of his identity as a mayor culpa of any sort is anti-trust and that appears to be history now contrast that to the german chancellor angela merkel when she learned today that her own conservative party had broken a taboo by entering a deal with a far right party in a regional action she called that move forgivable in other words you've done something for which saying i'm sorry we're not be enough to fix the result that deal fell apart today why is this all important and with the words that leaders use and western democracies they are instruments of power they also influence our moral compass and tonight that compas well the needs recalibrating this

is what trumps sun done jr posted today on instagram after his father's verdict was announced a photo of mitt romney with the message mom jeans because you were a i can't say the word here on television but you know what that word is. at the beginning of this week we reported that the western world is asking what has happened to our democracy when the events of this week demand an addition what has happened to our democracy and our decency. the legendary oscar winning actor kirk douglas he has died at the age of 103 he made his name in hollywood's golden age of movie making him was one of the biggest box office stars of the 1950 s.

and sixty's his son the actor mike douglas announced the news of his father's passing saying to the world he was a legend but to me and my brothers he was simply de. in film as in life he was the underdog who refused to take things lying down cut ductless his most famous moment was as and roman who that a slave revolts in the 1960 movie spartacus i was like a champion trying to punch my way to success. you see yours it was easy for me to. say a line like. i don't want to be you my life. i want to hear people call me mr. the son of russian jewish immigrants douglas fought hard to reach the top even working as a firm ground rest to pay for acting lessons he appeared in more than 80 films and his cleft chin became his trademark ductless enjoyed playing villains and

characters on the edge after being nominated 3 times he was finally given an oscar award for lifetime achievement in 1996 or you and i. a touching tribute from his son actor michael douglas dad i love you so much and i'm so proud to be your son the last hero of hollywood's golden age has passed away at the age of 103. what a life when the day is almost done the conversation continues online you find us on twitter you can follow me a brick got t.v. don't think if you use the hashtag newday and remember whatever happens between now and then tomorrow is another day was he then everybody.

coming. into the conflict zone here in london it's still all about bricks or bricks it breaks it to break up the bricks of what we all should full was making the right decisions of steering the right ship we want to stay friends with our british neighbors strep city resident matt good coming so special this week we'll look back good some of the key arguments for that shaped visit also the growing great friendship debate conflict. next on d w. story

so that people will hold on for g.w. office book and twitter up to date and in touch. with.

here in london it's still all about bricks and. bricks it really means is still out. what we opted for was making the right decisions and steering the right ship. we want to stay friends with our british neighbors. as it is that i have to defend the interests of european citizens the fact that referendum has been hugely divisive in this country and i think so special this week we'll look back at some of the key arguments for them shaped this often angry debate.