sins and the taboos that they dare to break in washington d.c. u.s. president donald 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 forgiveable berlin this is the day. but it was a bad day for democracy in. this matter is inexcusable to encounter kratz need democratic majorities. we do not accept majorities achieved with health. and think in 63 missed on the right

unless. the result must be acknowledged. and examined it not are not and will not cooperate with p.f.g. it. also coming up there given the choice but to suffer for the rest of their lives so 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. but you can see her picture there she said if you don't have it done to your daughter's death prayers won't be hurt. to put it. to our viewers on p.b.s. in the united states and all around the world 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 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 to marriage 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 correspondents she's also from the range where were all of this happened on you 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 so enjoy because simply because the elections hadn'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 fall right and i'm i was really surprised that they did not keep to that promise. of to yap what you think when you found out 24 hours ago that the if he was going to do this i was extremely surprised because the. special a 50 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 off if you want to take a look now at the do you mean that party 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 a mistake 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 de politicians have won seats in all german state parliaments it's the biggest opposition party in the bundestag where its members often provocative. means our work us book hasn't

had cover girls and men was nice living off benefits and other good for nothing are we not secure our prosperity economy grows and in particular the welfare states. migrants particularly muslim migrants are the main targets of the 50 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 collisions without the far right party but it's a different story at the national level 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 into injure a significant faction of gun hook 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. state of reengineer is it's something that could be replicated in other states across the country or 1st of all we have to keep in mind of the a 50 has established itself in every state parliament. so technically this would be possible as we just heard in the report the tends to be stronger gets usually more votes in the former communist part of the country in the eastern states of the country the 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 and you should 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. did have consequences at the federal level i think that it already did it because as i said the city and the afghan interim broke their promise not to collaborate with the think that damaged their credibility also on a federal level and keep in mind that both are going to back of the chancellor and i think that come. the leader of the christian conservatives the c.d.u. did not approve off the election i'm going to come combo and try to intervene to

make sure that this will 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 if there's an obvious disconnect there in that party for sure and your call is always on you we appreciate your insights and your reporting thank you. it is a practice that usually calls his 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 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 an african dish that's eaten in the sahara especially in mauritania mali and above all in senegal. cooking is one of the tradition she holds dear from her country of origin mauritania but there are other traditions that she strongly rejects. me. i was cut. 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. but you can see her picture there she said if you don't have it 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 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 a 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 solow model and her cousin a launching a youtube channel about the risks of f g m. hello to all and welcome to the you tube channel purple chair my name is how. f.t. am 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 law 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 men who go over from the geo equality now and she campaigns against female genital mutilation for years 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 deeply rooted in genting and of course they show they. should around controlling women's sexuality

so that for me the very critical starting point when you never get trying to address this because if you do not really address the root causes of why it's happening in the past it means all other interventions. unless we talk with social norms and the substructure and eighty's gender equality violence against. elections 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 or society for that 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 wide perspective and approach all members of this i don't look at the media to the women it was as much

a gender inequality it's what we treated by. brought up i think. not just that women but as you guess was that a problem for me what about the men i mean when you talk to men are are 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 reach out to be generally quality it's really how to talk about those values if i leave that to dr to check and. 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 there were many who she was sure out and short on your social class 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 a social social privileges or a way of doing things so yes when a critical agents of change when it comes to. brothers and even the leaders so are the event but when it comes to them end of what the discussion around fits of course is largely populated by men and that 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 flavia when go if you have with the in geo 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 and 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 suburbia bad and evil people we thought after the election it would stop but it didn't it just started with think jesse is 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 double 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 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 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 celebrated a slim significant victory over that democratic counterparts protesters gathered outside washington d.c.'s 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 would be used with 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 an impeached president on the balance. well this is the image that the us president presented to the world today the same pose was captured when trump arrived at the national prayer breakfast this morning it was tribes 1st public speech after his acquittal wednesday by b. u.s. senate the impeached president took aim at the only republican senator who voted to convict trump mitt romney from utah 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 apart in 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 version 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 dan. in film as in life he was the underdog who refused to take things lying down cut ductless his most famous moment was as a roman gladiator who that a slave revolts in the 1960 movie spots a cuss i was like champion trying to punch my way to success. you see george it was easy for me to. say and i like. i don't want to be you hear you all my life. i want to hear people call me mr. the son of russian jewish immigrants douglas sport hard to reach the top even working as a 1st round wrestler 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. knew 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 to find some twitter user at u.w. news you can follow me a brit got t.v. don't think you can use the hashtag newday and remember whatever happens between now and then tomorrow is another day we'll see you then everybody.

strong opinions clear positions international perspectives and donald trump takes credit for the great american comeback speaking in the very room where congress held hearings to impeach him he declared america's union stronger than ever as election season starts is he i'm stuck with both to find out on to the point to point. the next book on t.w. earth. that changed.

our part documentary about the river. using charts and john. songs like god don't go away stay with us for all time by the sound of freedom the time 45 minutes till the. shish trail today don't miss our highlights w. program online w dot com hart's. southern napalm 250 plan to people are about to see again the lassie is one of them who complained of.

an improvised clinic is being set up in a town hall complex. and to the next danger. can you see the t.v. see anything than a reporter on the roof with a name police officer mom just dr drew eat seeing the light starts february 8th on t w. speaking in the very room where the hearings to impeach him began donald trump this week declared the state of the american union stronger than ever a speech traditionally used by american presidents to appeal for bipartisan unity on ambitious political aims became nothing short of an election rally in cry as the president took credit for what he called the great american comeback many of his listeners will have found themselves pondering the democrats' chances of making a comeback after this week's chaotic primary election in iowa archer.