national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] brent: this is dw news, live from berlin. tonight, the fallout from the firing after donald trump shocked washington by showing the ei director the door. democrats are left shaking their fists. >> if there was ever a time when circumstances warranted a special prosecutor, it is right now. brent: lawmakers on both sides of the aisle question the timing of the president's decision to fire james comey. the white house maintaining it had nothing to do with the investigation into possible ties between the trump campaign manager russia.

-- campaign and russia. he's willing to visit the north. the son of north korean refugees and is pushing a nonconfrontational policy towards pyongyang. germany's defense minister vowing temple mature after investigators uncovered an alleged plot by soldiers to kill politicians and put the blame on refugees. and another blow to fifa's image. corruption again at the spotlight of the soccer world governing body after it ousted the top ethics judge and prosecutor. they say their removal means the end of the reform process at fee for -- fifa. ♪ bren i'm brent goff, it's good

to heavy with us. why did the u.s. president fire the man leading an investigation into possible russian connections to the trump campaign? that is the question democrats and even republicans want answered tonight. the fallout from the shock decision to get rid of fbi director james comey showing no signs tonight of letting up. reporter: democratic senators are crying political interference of the recommendation that trump sack fbi director comey. his dismissal while he was investigating possible russian connections to the trump campaign is a major red flag. >> if there was ever a time when circumstances warranted a special prosecutor, it is right now. mr. rosenstein already expressed concern that director comey damage the integrity of the fbi. reporter: the official reason was that he botched the investigation into hillary

clinton's emails. >> democratic colleagues complaining about the removal of an fbi director when they themselves repeatedly and sharply criticized that removal being done by a man whom they repeatedly praised. when mr. rosenstein recommended his removal for many of the very reasons that they consistently complained about. reporter: intelligence agencies have spent the last five months trying to determine if there was evidence of russian interference in the election. >> a counter intelligence hearing about if trump officials colluded with the russians. i don't have any evidence of collusion or a crime. the fbi needs to keep looking and do their job. >> sergei lavrov met with -- they dismissed russian claims of influence in the election.

>> i'm joined at the big table. he is a veteran of the u.s. state department. it is good to have you back on the show. hours after firing the man that led the investigation into the trump campaign in russia, the president meets with moscow's top diplomats. that looks suspicious even if there is nothing to it. that a coincidence? bad planning? >> the optics couldn't be worse. it's like watching a rocky and bullwinkle cartoon. the truth is, sergey lavrov had planned to meet secretary tillerson in alaska and changed those plans to meet with president trump in washington. i think it's a coincidence. the firing -- we're talking about two different parallel tracks. it is complete chaos from what we are reading, what is happening internally.

it was a good decision made it pretty spontaneously. in the communications, senior people were not informed about it. brent: they were running around trying to explain a decision that caught them off guard as well. do they have the authority to fire the fbi director? >> according to the law, that is the case. but the norms have been set over a century now. director of the fbi j edgar hoover notoriously had a very difficult relationship with several presidents. the director position is a 10 year term. the reason it is established that way is to maintain the integrity and independence of the fbi as a law enforcement agency. brent: comey was 3.5 years into his contract, a republican put in place by obama. >> and he was put there because

he had a bipartisan consensus. he was the deputy attorney general and sina somebody with sterling integrity. it was questioned in the 2016 campaign. brent: of course. >> his fierce independence was seen as a strength by democrats in the russian case and perhaps is a problem for the administration. brent: let's just remind our viewers how we got to where we are tonight. take a look. reporter: here is how the scandal unfolded. after a lengthy investigation, the fbi announced it was recommending no criminal charges against clinton while she was secretary of state. >> although we did not find clear evidence-p, there is evidence that they were extremely careless in the

handling of highly classified informatn. reporter: tand then in october,y announced that the fbi had discovered new emails relevant to the clinton inquiry. the investigation was reopened. landing comey back in trump's good books. he praised the fbi director for showing guts in the face of fierce opposition. democrats were furious at the timing of the announcement. backtracks. he said the emails were not cause for criminal charges after all. but for clinton, the damage was already done. president trump enjoyed good relations with comey.

he even joked that the fbi director was even more famous than him. comey confirmed that alongside the clinton inquiry, the fbi had investigating whether alleged links between trumps team. after praising the handling of the clinton inquiry, they are using it as grounds of his dismissal. brent: lots of cases of whiplash there if you try to follow what happened. they have a special prosecutor to continue comey's work. >> there has been a closing of ranks within the republican party. they did not find it necessar y to appoint a bipartisan

committee within congress to investigate this matter. the fbi and the senate intelligence committee. brent: we appreciate your insight and we will be talking again. abandoning the recent decision to armed syrian kurdish militia against so-called islamic state. speaking in the turkish capital on corrupt, they warned that the decision could hurt the u.s. and the accused -- then accused them of siding with terrorists. they were effective allies against i.s.. u.s. weapons could fall into the hands of the turkish government. the south korean president is willing to visit north korea to improve relations between the

two countries. >> this is one o taking over afr a decade of conservative rule. his inbox is full. given recent high tensions with north korea, the most urgent task is to set a new tone with pyongyang. he's ready to go when necessary.

at home, it won't all be plain sailing. soaring unemployment and corruption in politics are dividing the country. he says he will take a humble approach. >> i take this office and demanded. sharing more. he had to take a presidential residence. it is more quickly than normal. there is no time for a long handover. the president starts it even though the inauguration was over.

brent: links to an alleged right-wing terror plot. >> they faced hostile questions from the parliamentary defense committee. the hearing comes after the arrest of a second german soldier on charges of planning a major terror attack. the two soldiers were allegedly targeting politicians who support germany's liberal refugee policies. among the targets, they were against the justice minister. the cases raised concerns on its senior officers ignored the

evidence of far right sympathies among veterans. were serious alarm signals in the run-up to this case and they were all ignored. the right-wing extra miss nature , and one of the men in custody was on the radar. these are huge unforgivable terrible mistakes. this these to be investigated. one of the problems is that investigations have lost from the top down. they promised changes to reporting procedures. they range from an inspection of the nonjudicial punishment system.

this focuses on looking forward and includes a review of a broader examination of political education of the training and education within the bundeswehr. it is a regulation that accommodates a differentiated view of how german troops see their country's military past. it allows the display of wehrmacht memorabilia within the historical context. after revelations that not the era -- nazi era homes and other things have been on display. brent: you are watching dw news live from berlin. another blow to the image of the soccer's world governing body, fifa. two former members of the ethics committee are sounding alarm bells. we will have that story and

helena will be here with the latest business headlines. stick around. we are back in 60 seconds. ♪

brent: welcome back with dw news. our top story. democratic lawmakers are increasing calls for a special prosecutor to investigate possible ties between the trump campaign and russia. that is after the white house sacked fbi director james comey who was leading an investigation into russia's meddling in the u.s. election. there is a business angle to this story. time to go to the business desk and find out how wall street has been digesting news of this unexpected firing of the fbi boss.

>> the main indices are starting to shake off the news of james comey's firing. the s&p trading just above breakeven. investors certainly turned cautious after the fbi had was dismissed. analysts think the development could distract trump from pursuing his promises, including that highly anticipated tax reform and deregulation. demand for safe haven assets like gold, bonds, and the japanese yen rose. dw shareholder should be happy. profits of 34% in the first quarter. the diesel scandal is still on investors minds as they gathered for the carmaker's annual shareholders meeting in hanover. a volkswagen chief said the cars have been refitted. it also emerged at a cost. hitting double-digit billions. they are distinctly unhappy

about how management handled the scandal. today, they made their voices heard. >> a big day for volkswagen shareholders. it's an insult if you ask me. hardly anything has been explained. it no one knows who's been responsible. some of the shareholders will let them know what they think. and that is going to be funny. the ceo is coming to grips with the scandal. northern 4.7 million diesel engines have been refitted. it's about half the affected cars. the company still reported profits in the billions. they were taking steps to ensure something like this could never

happen again. we encourage our employees to report misconduct early, using the new whistleblower system. we have made significant improvements to our internal checks systems. he said he would ask the board to increase the company's dividend this year. that would mean vw pouring out 20% of its profits. in the future, it could reach 30%. it is some comfort to shareholders but another sign the diesel scandal has far from blown over. >> price war has claimed yet another victim. a german panel manufacturer says it plans to file for bankruptcy. they blamed the decision on price erosion in the solar sector along with its debt burden. solar world has invested heavily in solar powered mobility.

it employs nearly 4000 people. german manufacturers have complained about being undercut by chinese competitors. the us trillion government has unveiled the new budget for 2017. and in it, the big surprise for the five biggest banks in the form of a tax increase. the treasury hopes it will raise 4.5 billion u.s. dollars over the next four years. bankers say it will only put investors off. >> estoril you has enjoyed uninterrupted economic growth for decades. the end of the mining boom has undercut revenues in recent years. cash raised by the new bank levy is intended to help balance the budget and pay for public spending. scott morrison says it is money the banks can't afford to pay. >> it is more accountable at the executive level. we ensure the banks are paying

their fair share. >> rumors have sent bank shares tumbling. and the head of the association blasted it as a political tax grabbed a cover up the budget back home. >> it is a policy that every australian will end up paying for. >> the tax only applies to banks borrowing and won't affect customers. >> it is not on the depositors accounts. if banks tell you they are changing their pricing, because of this, they are not telling you the truth. >> after a decade of budget deficits, they are under pressure to get its house in order. >> that is the latest from the business desk. >> fee for is under fire after announcing it will replace two key members of the ethics team.

the governing body will not extend the mandate. they say that their removal means the end of the reform process at fee for. >> they were behind the removal of dozens of corrupt officials. the two men responsible for calling the corruption culprits find themselves out of a job. the rehabilitation will continue without them. and the pair are not impressed. >> fifa will suffer because of this. without a functioning ethics committee, it is a dead letter. reporter: the former president was one of the big names. his successor has been investigated himself. they clearly fear their removal

is an attempt to silence the committee for good. >> as it seems now, the work of the ethics committee was inconvenient for the fee for officials. -- fifa officials. the removal of the ethics committee is not in fifa's best interest. it is against good government. reporter: fifa has endured negative headlines. brent: it is good to see you again. how important for these two men in cleaning up their act? >> they were important, that's for sure. they made them asked today in front of the world press and they have said that since 2015,

they have actually investigated 194 cases into football officials. out of these, over 70 football officials have been sanctioned by these two. you can't have too much fear for the big names. brent: what is this mean for ongoing investigations into corruption? >> it was apparently an unstructured and unprepared process. aaron mind that judge eckert, for example, i was in contact with him yesterday evening and he basically got the information by myself and through the media.

he didn't even know about it or he would of never flown to brain. -- to bahrain. they said they were not even offered the option with these two people to actually renew their project. the problem remains, as you just said. they have over 100 open cases. the problem will be that the two new ones coming into place now do not know anything about swiss law. they don't know anything about the cases, so it will take months if not longer to look into these cases. one of the cases that is still pending is fronds beckenbauer. it we want to know more about that cases well. brent: we have been watching to see if infantino will bring pen -- transparency.

>> i'm laughing a bit because we have been speaking about this new age. the new age is now the new age is there. what we have seen here, i think it has a new flavor to everything we've seen. we are looking into a world soccer federation which is not at all renewable. >> the more things change, the more they stay the same. always good to talk to you. democratic lawmakers in the u.s. are increasing calls for a special prosecutor to

investigate possible ties between the trump campaign and russia. it is after the white house sacked fbi director james comey who is leading an investigation into russia's meddling in the u.s. election. i will be back to take you through the day with more in-depth coverage of that decision to fire the head of the fbi. was it a coincidence or a cover-up?

the economic gap in south korea is becoming a serious issue. over their lifetimes, employees of smaller enterprises reportedly earn only half of those working for the major firm