brent: this is "dw news," live from berlin. tonight, the suspect speaks out. syria's president denies he used chemical weapons on his own people, after the security council failed yet again to pass a resolution on the attack. assad said he was framed and that the u.s. fabricated the attack to justify a military strike. also, the mother of all bombs. u.s. forces dropped the biggest nonnuclear bomb on the so-called islamic state in afghanistan. it is the first time the 11-ton

weapon has been used in combat. a lead goes cold in the investigation into the attack on the dortmund soccer team bus. investigators find no evidence that the iraqi detained after the attack was involved, but they say he is a member of islamic state. brent: i am brent goff. good to have you with us. tonight, syria president bashar al-assad, the man accused of poisoning his own people, has come out fighting in the first interview since the suspected chemical weapons attack last week. in an interview with french news agency afp, he insists his forces have turned over all the chemical weapons and that they did that years ago. that means, he says, that he cannot have used them last week. at the u.s. and its allies, they don't believe him, which is why

president trump launched a missile attack on a syrian air base last week. reporter: he is not backing down. syrian president bashar al-assad said the u.s. airstrikes against his regime followed deeply false claims. president assad: our impression that the west, mainly the united states, they fabricated the whole story in order to have a pretext for the attack. only a few days, 48 hours, between the plane and the attacks and no investigations, no concrete evidence about anything. the only thing were allegations and propaganda and the strike. reporter: old words from assad, who knows -- bold words from assad, who knows moscow remains in his corner. efforts to investigate the gas attack with syrian cooperation were vetoed by russia at the un security council on wednesday.

>> it is long past time for russia to stop covering for assad. it is long past time for russia to push seriously for peace and not continue to be part of the problem. reporter: but moscow says damascus doesn't even possess chemical weapons, and blames rebel groups. in a continued show support for assad and his regime, the foreign ministers of russia and iran will meet with their syrian counterpart for continued talks on friday. brent: want to bring in a chemical weapons expert in the u.k. he joins me on the phone. good evening to you. let me ask you, first and foremost, we have heard that there is evidence of sarin gas that was found at the scene of that attack last week. isn't that proof enough that this was a chemical weapons attack? >> well, thank you, first of all, for having me. so there have been 2 pools of

evidence so far. there is postmortem accounts had from april 6, consisting of autopsy reports that indeed seem to suggest the use of sarin attacks. more recently, even today, a delegation of scientists sent by the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons, and on the basis of the samples they have collected, they also confirm yet again that the use of sarin. indeed, it seems to be the starting of a consensus that sarin gas, sarin toxins have been used. however, the opcw needs another week, i would say, to confirm its initial findings. brent: let's talk more about the opcw. mr. assad said in the interview that there was no way he could

launch a chemical weapons attack, because he says his forces gave up those weapons a long time ago. but that is not true, is it? the opcw has been on all kinds omissions in the last two years alone looking for chemical weapons in syria. >> it is absolutely true. back in 2015 immediately after the attacks, the opcw -- syria committed in terms of surveillance and monitoring chemical weapons, it was compelled to assemble a list of its chemical weapon arson rate, and was compelled to surrender all of its weaponry command from 2013 to 2016, approximately 100 tons of chemical weapons have been destroyed in that timeframe, within those three years. the opcw, from what i

understand, investigated 21 sites accessible to the opcw, given that this takes place in an arena of conflict, leaving open the possibility of perhaps chemical stocks, weather could also be the possibility that new chemical weapons have been developed secretly on the ground. brent: ok, for moore working -- from harvard university in the u.k., talking last about chemical weapons -- warwick university in the u.k., talking to us about chemical weapons and mr. assad. the u.s. military has dropped what it is considered to be the largest nonnuclear bomb in afghanistan. it reportedly hit a tunnel, let's housing islamic state in the province -- tunnel complex

housing islamic state in the province. in a statement, it said it was the first ever, use of the weapon. it is known as the mother of all bombs. u.s. president donald trump is praising the pentagon for the decision to use the bomb, calling it a success. president trump: really another successful job. we are very proud of our military. just like we are proud of the folks in this room, we are so proud of our military, and it was another successful event. brent: let's bring in our only own -- our very own reporter who has been to this area in afghanistan where the u.s. dropped the mother of all bombs. this is a different type of weapon compared to what we have usually seen, right? reporter: yes, you are totally

right. this is a massive bomb, 20,000-pound bomb which exploded in the air, unleashing 11 tons of explosives. you can see how massive it is. for comparison, the cruise missiles launched at the syrian-based last week, they were about 1000 pounds each. brent: and what do we know about the area where this bomb was dropped? doesn't it make a difference if you drop it in the middle of nowhere? what do we know about the region? reporter: this region lies directly on the border to pakistan in eastern afghanistan. i was traveling across the neighboring province last year, and the place when the bomb was dropped, according to u.s.

defense ministry, is a remote area. that's why, as they say, they decided to drop this bomb there. we have to say that the region in eastern afghanistan is isis stronghold, stronghold of the so-called islamic state. and some areas are under their control and they are even stronger than the taliban there. brent: our correspondent in washington explaining the hows and whys of the use of the mother of all bombs today in afghanistan. thank you very much. during his presidential campaign, president trump consistently and adamantly pledged not to get involved outside the u.s., particularly in syria. then he ordered last week's missile strike. syria is one example of the twists and turns of foreign policy under mr. trump. over the course of one day he reversed his stance on several

campaign promises, leaving allies guessing. reporter: nato chief jens stoltenberg could have been forgiven for entering the oval office with some trepidation, especially after president donald trump told a german newspaper in january he thought nato was obsolete. yet stoltenberg needn't have worried about what trump was going to say. president trump: i said it was obsolete. it is no longer obsolete. reporter: trump was carried to the presidency on a wave of populism, including a nationalist foreign policy. president trump: from this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. from this day forward, it is going to be only america first. america first. reporter: in other words, every decision would benefit ordinary americans. on twitter, team for his predecessor, barack obama, -- he

him for his -- he implored his predecessor barack obama not to intervene in syria. yet on day 77 of the presidency, the u.s. military fired on a syrian air base. a suspected chemical weapons attack had changed everything. suddenly trump wants to act and even remove president bashar al-assad. president trump: these heinous actions by the assad regime cannot be tolerated. reporter: trump had been courting vladimir putin, the russian president. now he admits syria has harmed that blossoming friendship. president trump: right now we are not getting along with russia at all. we may be at an all-time low in terms of relationship with russia. reporter: trum on the campaign trail, china was another major world power consuming trump's thoughts, especially on trade. mr. trump: we cannot continue to allow china to rape our country,

that is what they are doing. reporter: but he was all smiles when he met his chinese counterpart xi jinping at his florida retreat. no mention here of imposing punitive import tariffs. instead, talk on twitter of goodwill and friendship, another example of trump's shifting foreign policy. perhaps that was the plan all along. trump president get -- president trump: we must as a nation be more unpredictable. we tell everything. we have to be unpredictable. reporter: and that is certainly been the case so far. brent: all right, let's pull in our correspondent again in washington. what do you make of all of these trump turnarounds? he came into office as the great disruptor. what is he doing now?

reporter: you know, he has been described as impulsive and unpredictable anyway. and people who know him say that he is someone who listens to his advisers and then decides. so that might be a reason. some people say, people who know him, that he is not an ideologist. he is someone who tries to adjust to a situation. brent: that's true. getting rid of steve bannon from the national security council is, many would say, an example of him being willing to quickly change his mind and not listen to someone who has been a confidant. how about the reversal on nato? at one time he said it was obsolete. now he calls it a work of international peace and security. -- a bulwark of international peace and security. reporter: he said in the press conference yesterday that he

changed his mind, he changed his position on nato, because he to make the alliance to fight terrorism, which of course is not true. according to some experts, this is adjusting to the office, because campaigning and say nato is obsolete is one thing, and being president and needing allies is another thing. some say that it could be due to a shift among his advisers, and more mainstream advisers are now having a say. what we have to say that whatever the reason, mr. trump asked us to do his positions, positions that his allies have to rely on, and in the end, of course, it is important for him that he has the approval of the american people. brent: our correspondent on the story for us in washington. dealing with those yo-yos of foreign policy in the white house. thank you very much.

we're going to take a short break. when we come back, javier has the latest business news, and the latest on that investigation in the german city of dortmund. the explosion by a soccer team's bus. one of the leads has gone very cold. we will explain.

brent: welcome back. you are with "dw news," live in berlin. syrian president bashar al-assad has denied using chemical weapons last week. he said it was a fabrication to justify a u.s. strike against his forces. a deadly blaze has ripped through a religious retreat in senegal, killing at least 20 people and wounding dozens more. the fire toward through straw shelters designed for a multi-day gathering of muslims. each year the village holds a

retreat attended by thousands of muslims from across west africa. the cause of the fire was not immediately clear, but strong winds helped it to spread. a setback tonight in that investigation into tuesday's attack on the dortmund football club. german authorities say a man they detained over the bombing of the team's bus does not appear to be linked to the incident, but they have issued an arrest warrant for the man, an iraqi national come on suspicion of being a member of so-called islamic state. investigators are also questioning the authenticity of three letters found at the scene of the attack. the letters claimed that the bombing was in retaliation for german military operations against islamic state in the middle east. after the bomb attack, dortmund's champions league match against monaco was postponed, but took place on wednesday night, just 24 hours later. dortmund's coach said his team

was not consulted properly about the rescheduling. but european football's governing body has denied that. here is more. reporter: fans and players had tuesday's bus attack firmly on their mind. inside the stadium, supporters paid tribute to the injured player. some players were still clearly upset. >> what happened was something that i hope happens to nobody. and we are all on the team under shock. >> just replayed because we have to play -- just we played because we have to play. all the people, we are not animals, we are people who have families. reporter: the decision to only post won the match for one day was highly criticized by players and fans alike. the dortmund coach was informed

of the new kickoff time via text message shortly after the explosions hit their team bus. "only minutes after this attack, we basically had the feeling we were being treated as if a beer can had hit our bus. and half an hour later, the decision was made that it would be held tomorrow at 6:45 p.m. that gives you a feeling of powerlessness." he said his team would have appreciated having a few days to recover from the attack. these pictures show the enormity of three explosives that hit the bus, injuring the spanish defender and scaring players and fans. "they played and they played reasonably. they shouldn't have had to lose, but a loss is better than having them injured or some thing like that."

"psychologically it was a difficult fight for them. the magic should have been played later." it can't be proven that dortmund lost because they were traumatized, but their chances of reaching the next round of the champions league now look slim. brent: days after that dortmund bus attack, european soccer has hit the headlines for the wrong reasons again tonight. the europa league again between leon and the turkish side has been delayed because of crowd trouble. leon tweeted that fans in the top tier of the stadium has started throwing objects, forcing supporters beneath them to escape into the pitch just minutes over the game was due to kick off. a journalist summed up the feeling of soccer fans worldwide after a tough week with a sad e moji. a spokesman confirmed that the game was delayed because of crowd disturbances. the match got underway 45 minutes late after the president

went on the pitch himself to appeal for a calm. all right, u.s. banks release highly anticipated numbers today . the will be have happier from the business debt -- the well behaved javier from the business desk is here within a wa -- with the numbers. javier: citigroup, jpmorgan, and wells fargo -- let's take a closer look at those numbers. citigroup wrecking much or analyst expectations with a profit of $4 billion, up 17% over the year thanks to hire trading revenue. jpmorgan saw better results, putting profits up $6.4 billion, up and 17% as well. the only one lagging behind is wells fargo. low mortgages weight on his finances as well as a scandal on unauthorized accounts to meet

sales targets caused the profit to be flat. these number is, head of possible reforms to banking regulations. the so-called. frank act might be changed to suit -- the so-called dodd-frank act might be changed to soon. let's bring in our correspondent on wall street, western watching those numbers. good to see you. thing seemed to be looking up for u.s. banks. is there more optimism or concern? reporter: well, it depends, because most of these banks that parking roger earnings show evidence of slip -- that beat earnings show evidence of slow growth. the federal reserve is still on board with at least 2 more hikes this year, something that will help banks' ability to make money from lending. also, deregulation and a bullish

stock market should contribute in the short-term, has earnings have benefited from substantial gains in trading revenue. brent: today we saw the u.s. dropped the mother of all bombs in afghanistan. what was the impact on the markets? reporter: well, u.s. investors panic a little bit, with the dow jones falling more than 100 points as the dropping of these bombs increased geopolitical tensions. u.s. equity markets have been focusing on syria and russia and north korea and china, as investors tried to figure out foreign policies, and here at home, trump's priorities keep changing as now he wants to get a health care bill passed before any tax reform, for an infrastructure or spending belted markets -- spending bill. markets start losing its cool about anything achieved so far. reporter: u.s. president keeping us guessing there.

and we will stay in the united states. deutsche telekom subsidiary t-mobile won big in the u.s. government wireless spectrum auction. it invested a feeling dollars to secure half of the licenses on offer. at&t only spent about $1 billion. u.s. rivals verizon and sprint did not make any bids. the new frequencies will allow t-mobile to provide better mobile internet coverage to its customers. saudi arabia made headlines after announcing it would issue its first global islamic bond. well, the oil-exporting country managed to raise $9 billion with it. the issue is designed to ease pressure on foreign reserves. according to sharia law, interest payments are un- islamic, so the companies paying profit, not interest, by offering property investment. saudi arabia needs the money urgently as the drop in the oil price has taken a toll on the kingdom's finances. reporter: these saudi women are

hard at work at a garment factory. until recently, this would have been a rare sight. most business owners prefer to employ migrant workers. but not anymore. the government wants more and more women to join the workforce. the change may be slow, but it is already making itself felt throughout the country. it is part of the country 's attempt to future proof the saudi economy. saudi arabia's oil reserves will not last forever, the country wants to cap its dependence on the commodity. state-owned companies could soon be privatized. the international energy agency is betting demand for oil will decline in the next two years, ramping up economic pressure on the government. the 8 billion euros it took in one that fill the hole in the budget. the bonds are islamic bonds, meaning they don't accrue

interest. they only produced profit for investors, putting them in line with the demands of sharia law. the demand was enormous, say bankers and investors. that is why saudi arabia will most lely issue a new batch to bring in the billions it needs to make the country fit for the future. javier: that is often the business desk. back to brent now. you have something rather cute. brent:ome pandas, javier. the netherlands has welcomed a pair of giant pandas. they are on loan from china and will stay in the country for at least 15 years. they were welcomed at amsterdam's airport by schoolchildren waving them to branches, the animal's stableford. they will be held -- staple food. they will be held in a special complex which includes undersea for their hoped-for future cubs. here is a reminder of the top stories we are following for you could syria's president bashar

al-assad has denied using chemical weapons in an attack last week. he said the deadly guessing of civilians was -- deadly guessing of civilians was a fabrication designed to justify a military strike against his forces. the white house says u.s. has dropped the biggest nonnuclear bomb in afghanistan, targeting the so-called islamic state. it hit a cave system being used by i.s. fighters tonight, an in-depth look at the imminent threat of a north korean nuclear test. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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