♪ brent: this is "dw news," live from berlin. tonight, the worst chemical weapons attack since the syrian civil war began. the signs are there as dozens die in an attack in the rebel-held north. it is not clear if syrian or russian warplanes carried out the attack. both have denied any involvement. will this attack be the red line for u.s. president donald trump in syria? also coming up, authorities release pictures of the suicide bomber suspect in the st. petersburg suicide bomb attack. he is a 22-year-old from giga

stand, a country that is no stranger to terror. and his first visit with the outside world. german diplomats visit the german turkish journalist charged with peddling terror. he is part of a diplomatic tug-of-war between berlin and ankara. ♪ brent: i'm brent goff. it is good to have you with us. it could very well be one of the deadliest chemical weapons attacks in the six-year long syrian civil war. dozens of people come up to 100 including children, were killed in a suspected chemical weapons attack in northern syria early this morning. both russia and the syrian government have denied any involvement. the un security council will hold an emergency session tomorrow. what u.s. president trump plans

to do remains a mystery tonight. our first story takes us to syria. the images you are about to see are very disturbing. reporter: rescuers try to wash toxins from this man' as body. the fight for his life on the streets. the images from the scene are too graphic to show. children and women, grasping, dead. helpers try to find a nebulous. in the clinics, the medical teams battle. the patient symptoms include suffocation, breathing failure, fainting, foaming at the mouth, convulsions, and paralysis. some survivors can speak of their ordeal. >> we were asleep then suddenly i felt the airstrike. my son was outside.

now he is here. he is here. he fell to the ground. >> i was asleep when the warplane hit us. i went outside with my dad but my head started hurting. i fell asleep and woke up to find myself here. reporter: amid the chaos, a british trained doctor. throughout tuesday he posted video from his clinic. >> this is not chlorine. we do not smell chlorine on this patient. this is not chlorine. this patient has clear pinpoint people. reporter: he said all the patients appear to have been hit by sarin, a nerve gas known as an organophosphate. >> we are collecting the evidence for you.

reporter: sarin attacks the nervous system causing the heart and other mouth -- other muscles to spasm. it can kill within minutes. in 2013 the west accused the syrian government of using this gas in attacks that left hundreds dead. president al-assad decide -- denied the charges. monitors and activists remain skeptical. >> it's a disaster. all the world is watching us get killed by chemical weapons. reporter: the military has again denied responsibility. brent: i'm joined now by one of the few western journalists who lived in damascus before the civil war began. it is good to have you back on the show. assad and russia both say they

have nothing to do with this attack. we know the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons is on the ground there. obviously they cannot keep up with the chemical weapons that are being used. is that what we're seeing? guest: what happened today is nothing new. the amount of victims is new. we have seen them regularly attacked with chlorine gas, which doesn't lead to as many victims. but we have had nerve gas attacks reported with 93 victims. we didn't talk about because we are busy with aleppo. last week we had another nerve gas attack. we had this fact-finding mission . weapons are supposed to be there. they reported on it and they confirmed the assad regime was using chemical weapons. they gave it to the united nations.

great britain and france try to get you an resolution on this and we had the russian veto. this was just a month ago. we have everything there. the mechanisms are there. brent: but we can't enforce it because of russia or chinese veto. the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons, it looks like a permanent cat and mouse game between them and the assad regime. he has been found guilty so many times of hiding chemical weapons. guest: and he has been found guilty on many other atrocities. high-ranking officials of the assad regime are being accused in european ports for war crimes for state terrorism. these are important signals to the assad regime that you will not get away with it. this is the end of impunity.

this is the only hopeful sign. brent: you see the end of impunity but some people are looking at what we saw this morning, if it is a chemical weapons attack, as a sign that assad feels he is secure in his power. guest: but it doesn't make sense , even from his own point of view. he was about to normalize relations with the u.s. president trump said he doesn't care that much about this. we had his big hope that the europeans would start to rebuild syria to get rid of the refugees. he would tell the european leaders, my syrian countrymen do not need your money. i will take back all these refugees. in this very moment you have all these representatives from 70 states in brussels discussing how to support syria in the future. in this very moment, he starts killing people by regular bombs

that no one cares about and starts with a chemical weapons attack that everyone is talking about. this is to tell the rest of the world, i don't care, i do whatever i want. brent: maybe it was someone else? maybe isis, al qaeda, turkey? guest: maybe the u.s. sometimes they bomb the region because would have been al qaeda affiliate in the region. but it is not very probable. we know that isis used mustard gas once. but we have not heard the use of sarin gas. and it was an aerial attack, it was bombs. brent: so they had to have fighter jets. francis said assad is testing the new u.s. president with this attack to see if trump has his own redline. guest: stop talking about red lines. we had president obama talking about red lines.

they were clearly not respected. what president trump is not much different from what president obama does. he is decrying terrorism in the form of isis -- brent: he is talking about putting troops in syria. guest: to fight isis. he doesn't care about the fight against president assad. if you want to get rid of terrorism inside syria you have to realize that terrorism has been created and nurtured by the state terrorism of the assad regime. by the way, the new administration in washington has no clear vision at all about this. no one is competent. brent: as always, thank you for coming in. we appreciate your viable insights. -- valuable insights. authorities have identified the main suspect in monday's metro bombing in st. petersburg. he is a 22-year-old russian citizen.

the investigators say that his dna was found in a bag containing a bomb that was diffused at a different metro station. 14 people died in the blast. dozens more were injured. reporter: a day after the deadly attack, people remember the victims in front of the station. as a city begins three days of mourning, people here are anxious but trying to carry on. >> first, i was really scared. i did not want to go anywhere with the metro because i was afraid. reporter: yesterday, people work on their loved ones, checking on how to get home. the blast hit the metro train mid afternoon as a travel between busy stations in the city states are -- in the city

center. the train carried on to the next stop. authorities say his decision probably helped save many lives by speeding up the rescue effort. however, the station descended into chaos. people try to help the wounded and cried out for assistance. along the station platform, passengers turned rescuers tended to the wounded. others wandered in a state of shock. the explosives went off when the train travel between the technological institute metro station and another station. a second bomb was found later at another station. russian investigators say they believe this man may have carried out the attack. fragments of the 22-year-old's body were found in the train. evidence they say of an apparent suicide bombing.

earlier, state officials identified the suspect. despite the shock of the tragedy , the station remained busy on tuesday. overground, life continued and deterred with russia open monday's attack does not return to years of violence after years of relative calm. brent: in berlin it has become somewhat of a tradition to project the nation's flag as a sign of solidarity. but it seems not for russia and st. petersburg. reporter: november 2015, paris attacks. march 2016, brussels bombings. most recently after the london attack. in recent years berlin minute a custom to light up its economic

-- its iconic landmark to honor victims of terrorism. not this time around after the attack in st. petersburg. some took to twitter to voice frustration. you should have lit up the gate. not for vladimir putin but the victims and their families. the fact that this decision follows an attack in russia is a bad taste in my mouth. today, members of the berlin senate nature be to the victims of the st. petersburg bombing in person, like flowers in front of the russian embassy. in a recent decision, the senate decided to illuminate the gate only one terrorist attacks occur -- it has made the exceptions. as seen here after the orlando attack on a gay nightclub or after a man rent a truck into a group of israeli soldiers in january. >> is unfortunate timing that this decision was taken directly to forcing petersburg,

especially because of our historic connection to russia. reporter: at his embassy in berlin, the russian ambassador to germany thanks politicians and the public from support and refrained from criticizing the decision not to illuminate the gate. >> this is a decision by the germans. it is a domestic issue that they have to decide on themselves. reporter: as controversial as berlin's decision might seem to some, sing petersburg has company. there were no solidarity lights after a white nationalist killed six in quebec nor after the truck attack the french city of nice that killed 86 last summer. brent: still to come. the european parliament losing patience on vehicle omissions. it wants tighter controls and penalties for emissions cheating and it wants to compensate clean car owners in your. we'll to you more about that.

plus, the footballer who still has what a top award at the 11 millimeter football film festival. the film is called, beloved elephant, but it is not about an elephant with tusks. plus christoph will be here with business news. stick around. ♪

♪ brent: welcome back. our top story, united nations security council will discuss a chemical weapons attack believed to have been carried out on a rebel held town in syria earlier today. human rights activists say dozens of people including children died. russia and the syrian government deny any involvement. russian officials have named the chief suspect in the suicide bombing on the st. petersburg metro system. they also released these pictures of him. he is said to be a 22-year-old

man, a russian citizen born in kyrgyzstan. to turkey, german officials have met with a turkish german journals -- journalist imprisoned since february. dennis eugen was arrested -- he is being held in solitary confinement. his case is one of several issues that have led to increased tensions between germany and turkey in recent months. reporter: at his newsroom in berlin, his colleagues at the newspaper are relieved that he has finally been granted a counselor visit after 50 days in prison. in a letter published today, he expressed his thanks for the support he received while in solitary confinement. despite his german and turkish citizenship, it took tough negotiations between best before

-- tough negotiations before the visit was allowed. >> he is doing well under the circumstances. solitary confinement is still stressful for him. very pleased there has finally been success in enabling counselor assistance. reporter: turkeys judiciary accuses him of terrorist propaganda and incitement to hatred at the moment to hatred. germany takes a clear stand. >> the rule of law, democracy, and freedom of the press has played a major role in all the talks. once again, i stress that this should not only have to do with one case. that is one that especially worries the german public. but that this of course has to do with the situation of all journalists in turkey. reporter: the diplomat clearly

stated that the case is the test for german turkish relations. and it is expected that the journalist will continue to be assisted by german diplomats while he's in prison. brent: hungary's parliament has passed an education bill that critics say aims to shut down the university founded by the billionaire investor george soros. almost two thirds of mps voted for the legislation which is seen as a crackdown on independent institutions. the new so -- the new losses of stricter institutions and how universities perceive -- protesters turned out in budapest over the weekend condemning the new law as an attack on academic freedom. germany's president criticized the move speaking at the european parliament for the first time since being sworn in. he said that europe cannot stand by and watch a university in budapest be deprived of its autonomy.

in the same speech he britain's decision to leave the european union, calling it irresponsible. >> ladies and gentlemen, it is now up to us to ensure that the european dream does not fade to nothing in the next generation. that's the message that i bring from my country. yes, we want your. -- we want europe. we want to build a better europe and we want to be a european germany. thank you. [applause] brent: that was the german president. time for business. christoph is here to talk about that big u.s. trade deficit. christoph: but it may lose some of that and on this because united states exports hit a two-year high in february. in a piece of news which will likely please president on trump , imports have declined by most and percent. that means the trade deficit is

narrowing. trump has vowed to make america great again by making goods at home. at the white house he hosted a meeting with 50 business leaders to discuss ways of bringing millions of manufacturing jobs back to united states. critics say there are still few plans in place to make that policy a reality. let's bring in our markets correspondent yet scored a in new york -- jens korte in new york. jens: overall it is a good sign that trade deficit is shrinking by 10% in february. it could also be a sign that there is improvement and the global economy -- talking about actions from washington, donald trump met with ceos of big corporations in

the white house and he made a big announcement for a version for spending in the amount of $1 trillion or more. he said he is going to make massive cuts when it comes to financial regulations. especially to. frank. he wants to give -- especially to dosdd frank. -- dodd frank. reaction was mixed. the announcements were not very specific. christoph: the top-selling sneak your in the united states last year was made by adidas. are the germans catching up on the home turf of big-time rival nike? jens: yes, they are catching appeared he stock of nike dropped about 1% and was the biggest loser in the dow jones. adidas for the first time in more than a decade has the top spot.

that said, if you look at the ranks two to ten, all of those came from the nike empire. even if adidas doubled the market share to a good 7%, nike by far is still the leader of the pack with a market share of a good 37% on the u.s. sneaker market. still a way to go to catch up with nike. christoph: indeed. jens, thank you. carmaker opal has been cleared of emissions fraud charges. the company does not appear to have committed any crime. the investigation into opal was launched last may after a german environmental group filed the complaint accusing the carmaker of manipulating emissions test results. volkswagen and other german carmakers are still under investigation. vw has admitted to cheating pollution tests.

meanwhile the fallout from volkswagens diesel scandal continues. eu lawmakers urged european authorities to quickly establish new checks and penalties to prevent automakers from cheating on emissions testing. the way volkswagen did for years. reporter: a majority of eu lawmakers devoted in favor of the recommendations aimed at preventing future violations of admission standards. some pointed out that while american car owners received compensation from volkswagen, europeans came away empty handed. now they lawmakers want limited -- what manufacture to compensate european buyers of the vehicles as well. they're also urging the european commission to propose rules for eu-wide rejects stress him -- redress system. they also want tougher emission rules for new cars. along with better oversight. the proposed measures would also

give the european commission more powers of sanction. the eu parliament criticized both the commission and member states. it says they had known for 10 years that emissions were much higher on the road than on laboratory simulators. yet they failed to act. christoph: that is all your business for now. back to you. brent: in sports, joining together the 11 millimeter football film festival. it just ended in berlin. the top award went to a film and soccer player named salaman who plays for berlin. the film is called beloved elephant. the ivory coast national team are known as the elephants. >> i just came from training straight here. reporter: an evening at the cinema for one of the bundesliga's best.

he is on hand for the second premiere of a film or drink his european football life and his life in ivory coast. >> i show the first one in the ivory coast and the second one here. i'm very happy because people in my home can see the film. reporter: he and the director had a backstage pass to the 11 millimeter international football film festival where the screened the film. he sees memories and his own philanthropic work on the big screen. >> thank you. reporter: not much after the screening, the judges maybe decision on the festival's best offering. >> [indiscernible] reporter: not a bad night out after a hard practice for footballer described as the director as a mentor for players present and future. brent: here's a reminder of the

top story we're following. the united nations security council were discussing chemical weapons attack believed to have been carried out on a rebel-held town in syria. human rights activists say dozens of people including children died. russia and the syrian government deny any responsibility. after a short break i will be back to take you through the day. we are going to have in-depth coverage of that attack in syria. stick around for that. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] reyes: it's the place where 3 south american borders meet and

where security often falls through the gap. i'm elaine reyes in washington, d.c., and this is "americas now." [siren] first up, is it a triple threat? richards: so this is the only motorway... reyes: correspondent joel richards explores the challenges paraguay, argentina, and brazil face in keeping drugs, arms, and illegal business away from their shared border. next, information that can save lives. we meet a researcher who is using technology to pave new paths to healthcare in rural guatemala.