berlin. trump's choice to head the cia, his stand on russia clearly not the same as that of his future president. mike pompeo telling the senate that russia acts aggressively around the world and that it is clear russia interfered in the recent u.s. elections. coming up -- >> vladmir putin is a murderer in the fog. -- and a thug.

>> exclusive interview with john mccain calling for a deeper investigation in russian meddling into u.s. politics. and hopes for uniting cyprus. talks between sides are at a crucial stage. it is good to have you with us. in washington donald trump's pick to run the cia is getting a grilling. despite trumps calls for closer ties to russia, mike pompeo has parted ways with his boss with some hard talk. russia's efforts to interfere with the u.s. election were very real. an aggressive act ordered by top leadership. voicing strong support for the

cia saying he had seen staff walk through fire. it is clearly in contrast to what donald trump has been saying. he lashed out at u.s. intelligence agencies accusing them of leaking the story about russia having compromising information. >> two days after dimming revelations of questionable origin were published tensions between trump and u.s. intelligence agencies reached a new level. u.s. director of national intelligence said he told trump the lake had not come within the intelligence community. trump blame them for the inflammatory dossier. the people suggest trump and russia had closer ties than previously thought. >> the title is allowed.

the content of the report is poor. not to mention it is weird. we have seen loads of strange documents but in this case it is very poor. i think most already realize the document, the main purpose of which was clearly to hinder improvements in russian u.s. relations has no serious basis. it has no evidence to back it up. it is written in the usual tone and makes claims without any basis. claims based on demands. >> a former british intelligence officer has been named as the author of the dossier link to the consultancy agency orbis business intelligence which has refused to confirm whether it was involved. >> not going to make it, about the dossier that is being spoken about.

>> christopher steel has gone into hiding. >> in other news, donald trump and his team are not the only figures in u.s. politics. in an exclusive interview senior republicans senator john mccain told dw he has grave concerns about how trump will deal with putin. >> the president-elect had this conference after the elections and he for the first time it made it that the russians had been behind the recent election hacks. what do you think his response might be? >> i was very pleased to hear him acknowledge that the

russians were primarily behind the serious attacks on the election. he did point out correctly there are other nations who had engaged in it. i'm glad that he admitted or stated that the russians had been responsible for thettks erning ect ere doubt about it. hys that the fact that he is not a liability under trumps leadership, putin will treat this country much better. >> i believe that vladimir putin he is a product of the kgb.

and they believed they could have a new relationship with vladmir putin that praised him for george w. bush. i looked into his eyes and saw his soul and with the obama campaign the reset button, the obama presidency. what we have to understand is what vladimir putin is. we have to go back to the days of ronald reagan. peace through strength. the onlyunderstands is strength. the price is higher than what he might gain from it. we have watched him dismantle the ukraine, take crimea, use his airplanes to drop precision

weapons on hospitals and aleppo, the list goes on. he is doing that with a country that is very weak economically and so we need to have a return to peace through strength. we will be glad to talk to vladimir putin but only from a position of strength. >> does mr. trump understand this? >> i don't know. >> what is your overall impression? there was a conflict between esther trump and cnn? he accuse them of fake news and things like that. what is your overall impression besides these particular remarks about russia and election hacks? >> i will be as brief as possible.

president-elect trump has changed the way politics are conducted in the united states. with the use of twitter, with -- this was the first press conference in five months he has held. that is unheard of. he is able to energize his base of support. at the same time his approval ratings are lower than any president in modern times as he assumes the office of the presidency. so we are seeing an unusual time in american politics and a very polarized america. i would like to see him reach out. for me to criticize what he has done obviously, he has succeeded and in politics the ultimate result is what counts.

>> dallas u.s. senator john mccain speaking with us earlier. -- that was u.s. senator john mccain speaking with us earlier. i want to bring in my guest, he was a member of the external advisory board at the cia. mr. o'hanlon thank you for taking the time to talk with us. i want to ask about what you think is happening right now between the future president and the cia. come inauguration day after what happened yesterday will be future president see the cia as his ally or as his enemy? >> i don't know. i am getting worried it is going to be tougher road to recovery that i would have previously expected. this recent set of events is

especially foreboding. if you have the kind of attitude he does, you would feel that these initial reports of russian hacking were an attempt to take away the legitimacy of your electoral victory. trump should not have reacted that way but it was entirely predictable that he would partly because the message that came out of the intelligence was what was not clearly stated. it seemed like the people on capitol hill releasing the reports about the hacking of the disinformation campaign seem to be conflating that action with a question about the legitimacy of trump's when -- win. trump was told the russians

tried to blackmail you and this is the reason they might. it is horrible behavior on your part, it is basically buying prostitutes in moscow, and we are letting you know in advance. intelligence community did not leak that. >> isn't that unprecedented? >> the whole thing is unprecedented and it is crazy. if you are donald trump you're going to be suspicious this people are out to get you. my guess is someone on capitol hill leaked the information. you have to ask why the cia briefs so many people? even though i am an admirer of the cia and critic of donald trump i can feel his pain and i think that we have to stop making this problem worse. we have to allow for a trust to emerge. that is off to an extremely bad

start. >> even if you see both sides in this, bringing it into the public realm the way mr. trump has done it is only going to exacerbate the problem and now you have leaders worried about not only the stability of the next administration but the integrity of u.s. intelligence moving forward. how are you going to maintain credibility when the next president is tweeting that he thinks your agents are thugs? >> i'm a big critic of donald trump but in fairness what you said is not correct. he has not the person who went public with either of these bombshells. the bombshell about the hacking and disinformation was the obama administration given reports to capitol hill which came out through capitol hill offices to the media. this week it was not trump was saying allegations he had hired

prostitutes. it was some kind of a leak somewhere else. trump suspects it was the intelligence communities. >> that is what i am saying. he lashed out at the intelligence community and why go public and so public and so vehement about that when you're not sure? >> you are missing the point. i'm not defending trump. trump was responding to something that was already in the public domain when he gave the press conference. the initial release of information was the intelligence community briefing president obama and enough people on capitol hill that my suspicion is something from capitol hill leaked to the media. all of us need before the press conference. at that point he was responding to these allegations that his

character might be impugned and he might be blackmailed. everybody had already heard the basis by that point. i think trump is a nasty guy, don't get me wrong. on this issue he has not fired the first shot either time. >> michael o'hanlon with the brookings institute. please come back again. i have a feeling we will have reason to talk many times in the future. >> thank you. goodbye. >> tonight rumors about mr. trump and what you might be up to. marie le pen has responded. she was not there to see the president-elect. one witness posted this photo of her sitting at a cafe. she refused to comment as she entered an elevator in the building. she is seen as a contender to win the french presidency later

this year. you're watching dw news. good news for the german economy. kristof will explain why 2016 solve the strongest performance in years. we will be back. >> make your smart tv even smarter. the dw smart tv app. what you want when you want it. up to date, extraordinary. in depth. you decide what is on. find out more.

>> one out of eight people is suffering from hunger. join the fight. >> live from berlin, our top stories. donald trump's choice to head the cia has taken a tough stand against russia. russia acts aggressively around the world and he said it is clear that russia interfered in the recent u.s. elections. the new u.n. secretary-general says a deal on unifying cyprus is close. after decades of division he is mourning the international community not to expect when he says could be miracles.

along with the ministers of britain, greece and turkey, negotiators are discussing security issues pivotal to a unity deal. the two sides still have a way to go but he says progress is being made. the island has been split since 1974. let's go to our correspondent on the story for us in geneva. good evening to you. the talks are going on. they are behind closed doors. what do we know? >> not that much other than the greek foreign minister through his diplomatic hissy fit. through a -- threw a diplomatic hissy fit. he didn't see things moving ahead in that they had a later

date. this might just be negotiating tactics. one thing is clear, this is the point where the states really talk about the hear hard stuff. the turkish soldiers, will they remain there or are part of them in guaranteed for the future? a clever compromise is being searched here and this is not coming quickly. >> we have been here many times before. negotiation have failed in the past. why are we getting reports of optimism among people close to negotiations? >> the point is that the two

sides, the greek leader and the turkish leader, they have really gone far ahead and made enormous progress. they have made in enormous compromise. they deposited in the vault of this u.n. building, they had redrawn the boundaries of cyprus on the island. the turkish side needs to get back larger segments. they are willing to do that. it is something that should be solved. also the compensation and returning of refugees from the 70's to their former homes. all that has more or less resolved. there has been definite progress. >> ok. very good.

thank you very much. time for business news, the figure of the day. 1.9. >> that is the figure of the day. 1.9%. that is how much the german gdp increased last year. as for the expansion in germany, it increased state spending and people buying more stuff. >> german consumers were the driving force behind the robust growth. private consumption rose 2% from the previous year. the mood was optimistic that the number of people working at a 12 -- at a high.

housing was a key investment but not just for migrants. the construction industry benefited from higher demand. consumers, german companies and the state generated 3 trillion euros of gdp, around 38,000 euros per capita. the economy has recovered since the financial crisis. the growth rate is around the european average but uncertainties remain. something can always go wrong. they can be political fact or's or monetary issues. we remain positive. we believe it we 1.5%. germany's treasury will benefit for the year. there is even a little room left to maneuver.

there is an expected surplus of more than 19 billion euros. >> is this dieselgate 2.0? fiat chrysler used emissions cheating software on 100,000 trucks and suvs sold since 2014. they dismissed the accusations. the company is facing a two class-action suit over defeat software. epa is no longer certifying them in the united states as a result of the charges. shares plummeted by over 10% in new york and milan. britain's finance industry has given up on efforts to maintain access to the european union single market after brags it. the countries most financial lobby group is calling for limited market access for some sectors of the industry.

the group is pushing for a packed in which they would accept each other's rules and allow cross-border trading of stocks and bonds and certain other products. the sector would lose the past porting reince and with it tens of billions of pounds and so-called hard brags it. china wants to massively expand its investments in nigeria by another $40 billion. the chinese foreign minister made the announcement. they have wound up a tour of african nations. the deal comes at a price. nigeria is pledging support for beijing's one china policy. meaning tie one would be losing one of its allies on the african continent. >> chinese foreign minister greeted by nigerian president. china's growing economic presence is part of its foreign-policy and africa is the

cornerstone. the minister is speaking to chinese state media. china has a stronger friendship and more extensive cooperation with africa than with other countries. china is ready and able to make new contributions to peace and development in africa through strengthening and cooperation with african countries. concerns abound about how the slowdown in china will impact africa. china is the largest contributor to infrastructure projects. that has dropped off as the chinese economy has cooled. china praised the request to move out of a boger. taiwan has protested and asked nigeria to reconsider the decision.

>> china is a country of high-rise buildings and high-tech elevation but for decades one simple item has not been able to earn the made in china mark. the ballpoint pen. they have had nod -- have not had the technology to make the stainless steel tips. history is about to be written. after five years of research they have found a solution. china hopes to stop imports of pen tips within two years. who would have thought? >> i have it import here for you. >> sports news now. lewis morris has reached a scoring milestone. he netted his 100th goal in 120 games for the club. he accomplished this in fewer games than his teammate.

another milestone, they have together scored 300 goals. next to a bit of serious thrillseeking, a chinese extreme sports junkie completed the first base jump from the newly opened bridge, the world's highest bridge. 565 meters above the river below. at them got himself into the zone and then took the plunge. he descended like a bird in freefall. he opened his parachute that was two thirds of the way down. there he goes. he touched ground 81 seconds after leaving it behind. gravity always wins. here is a reminder of the top stories we are following for you. donald trump's choice to head

the cia says russia acts aggressively around the world. after a short break i will be here to take you through the day. we'll have a look at the fallout from that press conference held by donald trump yesterday. stay with us for that.

♪ this week on "wealthtrack" in our exclusive annual outlook with wall street's king of economists, ed hyman. he describes how much the world has changed. he and matthew mcclennan tell us what it means for investors, next on consuelo mack "wealthtrack." ♪ new york life along with mainstays family of mutual funds offers investment and retirement solutions so you can help your clients keep good going. >> additional funding provided by thornberg investmt