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tv   Amanpour Company  PBS  September 26, 2018 12:00am-1:01am PDT

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hell everyone. welcome to amanpour and company. here is what's coming up. president trump takes to the u.n. to blast iran, calling it a corrupt regime. i speak with the iranian president. plus, cane europeans se nuclear deal the trump administration wants to destroy? they are trying as hard as they can. also ahead, new zealand's prime minister made history by bringing her newborn into the u.n. chamber. one of a coalition of new, young we talk motherhood, her progressive agenda and climate change. tracy ulman tells's us why s
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and philli millsteen family. thank you. welcome tohe program. world leaders are in the midst of their annual getogether at e united nations. president trump's speech wasug awaited, alt his opening lines didn't go down quite as he expected. >> in less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country. america -- so true. didn't expect that reaction, but that's okay. >> with that, trumpembarked on a hard line addreng which was n sovereignty and protectionism, offering foreign aidfr tnds, saying he
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rejects globalism. last year, it was north korea. this year, iran is drawing his greatest fire. after pulling the u.s. out of the iran nuclear deal, president trump is now saying that he is confident theirl leaders w want to talk to him just like kim jong-un did. when i sown with the iranian president, he painted a different picture. he tells me that iran does not want to meet with the united states at this point. mr. president, welcome to the program. >> translator: thank you very much. >> can i start by askingyou, the president of the united states has tweeted this morning saying that despite repeated requests -- i think he means your reqsts -- he h no plans to meet you, maybe some time in the future. he thinks maybe you are a lovely man. that's what he says in the eet. what do you make of that? have you requested a meeting with president trump? >> translator: not thi year nor
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last year. we have neverade such a request for a meeting with the president of the united states. of course, last year, from american officials we received eight requests for meeting. and iid not see that as being an appropriates meeting, a do not see it as being appropriate now. and a meeting must take place at a time when that meeting can serve a purpose and be beneficial and serve the benefits of both nduntries. but the current conditions, when it comes to ag meet and dialogue, i do not see it as beneficial nor appropriate. but you should ask him who such request. >> we will try to ask. before i go on to the substance of the policy and the iran
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negotiations for the nuclear deal, preside trump likes to reach out to other leaders. he did it last year with leader kim jong-un. he called him rocket man, and he threatened to destroy north korea if therele was n activity from north korea. and then now, he is calli him a good man and shaking his hand and meetinghim. in this tweet, he said maybe, i'm sure, you are a very lovy man. how do you respond to that? do you think he is a lovely man? how do you respond t those kinds of person to person reach outs? >> translator: in any way, for me what is of importance is the leaders of the two countries are seeking mutual interests. and have a dialogue and take subsequent steps which ultimately can lead to the
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tundoing of the knots tave existed and the difficulties that have existed in the relationship betwe the two untries during the last four decades. everything else is just playing with words n and will get us to any solutions or any destinations. >> what will bring you back to negotiating with the united states? i'm saying that because the u.s. says we need to renegotiate, we need to open the iran nuclear deal, known as the jpcoa. mr. trump, mr. pompeo, have said, we do want to negotiate with the iranians. iran has to change i behavior. what do you say tothat? >> translator: well, you see, after many years of negotiations and dialogue, aonsensus was reached, an agreement was reached between the seven countries. and it was agreed upon by the os leadership of seven
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countries involved. subsequent toch whin the united nations security council it was approvedapproved. no one has the right to unilerally exit such an agreement without just cause and cannot violate a united nations security council resolution. therefore, the united states government deviated on a path during the past few mths, and it must return from that deviated path to the previous point, to the point of departure. and there will be the point where we can talk about as to whether this agreement is being implemented well. this is not the time to talk about anything else, to hold dialogue about anything else prior to the proper and precise
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implementation of the previous reement that was reached >> do you believe thathe united states is after regime change to overthrow the government,he system in iran? i ask you because just as you arrived here in the wou.s., of president trump's closest advisers said twoifferent things. giuliani said that whether it's in two days, twohs mo two years, the regime in iran will be overthrown. and then nikki haley, the u.n. bassador said we are not in the business of regime change. do you think the sanctions and president trump's policy is aimeyo at regime change i country? >> translator: phaps many in the united states during the past h such wishes. to be dealing with the regimen i iran that would be completely
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beholden the united states as was the case prior to the revolution but such an objective was never reached. and it will never be reachedl unch time that the iranian government rises from the will of the people in result of the ballot box and the vote of the people through whichss their leadership and the representatives are chosen, that means that the people are governing and are in charge and no power and no government can standn front of and face down a nation, and the iranian government is not separate from the people. so overthrowing that government means overthrowing the will of the people of iran. and this shows a great mistake in their calculus, just as this mistake unfortunately has been repeated over and over again in
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the past by the united states government. >>ould i ask you this then? because you were brought before parliament in iran when the president pulled out of the iran nuclear deal, when president trump did and when sanctions started to be reimposed. ththth called you. it's the second time in history they called a president, to ques you said, beware sabotage wears to destruction. painting a bleak picture of people's lives will lead to further darkness. you said more important than that is many people lost faith in the future of the ipuamic ic and are in doubt about its power. you were talking about the iranian people. i'm interested in that becauseh earlier year there were demonstrations across iran, bigger than the so-called green revolution, wider, more people, longer. the people are saying they're not happy. you accept that, they're not happy with the government, wthey're not happy with t it's being run?
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>> translator: i will start from he last statement that y made, which wasn't quite precise. you said that demonstrations longer than we witnessed in the past. you do know that last year the entire length of those ns demonstratioere five days. nes thatthe previous you touched upon lasted about months. so five days to seven months is not exactly equal, the number of people who were participating in thes protests, it's very clear how many of them there were. and you do know that after five days of these protests, there were followed by three days of constant marches. pro government and in support of government. so in many cities across iran. so this event that you touched
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upon shows the strength of the system of the islamic republic of iran. if in the united states of america in five or ten cities a few thousand people demonstration, this shows the will of the people of the united statesf america. the truth i tst one year and 41 millions ago, people went to the ballot boxes to cast their votes during the election. this is very clear. and it shows whethere peoo have faith in the system or not and they do certainly feele hat they hright to choose their leadership. >> whaur is the pre on you and on the people of iran with theseon sanc with the fact that oil revenue and exports are now pmmeting because of sanctions, because certain european companies have had to pull out?occcurrencyas dropped.
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the supreme leader said he regrets sending yourself a the foreign minister to negotiate with the united states. how much pressure is there on you? will you remain within the nuclear deal from your perspective? >> translator: the issue of the jcpoa, the nuclear agreement, until such time that o interests are secured,wielivered in the framework of this agreement, we will that framework. but if we do see that the five remaining countries in the agreement are not living up to their commitments, then we will have new conditions and new frameworks. iran does not believe that it shouldll unilate stay in a multilateral agreement.
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all of the sid who were signaties to this agroemeeement have responsibilities upon which they must deliver. the p onlyty that has committed egregious mistakes by exiting this agreement unilaterally and without cause is tte ustates of america. but certainly, the sanctions will b people.sure upon the sanctions mean breaking the normal cycle of economic tran betwirms and countries. and the united states of america, with all of its power, is seeking to disrupt the cycles of trade and economic activity. so in the long-term, the united states will not be able to ntinue these pressures. these pressures will not in the rilong-term bring a closer to her objective. one thing is clear, that pressure is upon the shoulders
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of the people, the people w seek to make ends meet, won't be in a position to have to pay more for the same. so the sanctions of the united states of america have only one affect, and that is pressure upon the daily lives of the normal people in our nation. and this represents animosity and enmity from the united states of america targeleng the pef iran. and this is -- we say, therefore, that this is not regime of sanctions that is targeting the iranian government or system. it's targeti the people iran. and this is something that the americans unfortunately only believe in. they say not only we will target the people with sanctions and bring hardship to their daily lives, but we're also supporters of these same people. so this shows a disconnect between what they are saying and what they believe theeople of
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iran do not believe these to be eealities. theyhe realities in their daily lives. the realiti clearly show that a country that wishes to deal with us or a firm that wishesin project, build roads, railroads, port facilities, the amerins come in and they bring pressure upon that firm or that entity in order to stop that project. so they are against progress in iran. they are against advancement for iran. so this does not benefit the united states of america. it does not benefit iran nor the region. history will judge that the united states of america at this juncture made a big mistake. >> do you have faith? do you believe the european government and all the other signatories to this deal are trying very hard to save it and trying all sorts of mechanisms
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to save the deal? do you hav faith that they can do that and that you can stay in the deal? >> translator: thus far, the european countries as well as comes nd russia, when it to only expressing their w political and aims, they have been quite resolute in making those announcements which consisted them saying that we wish to safeguard the jcpoa. but in reality,n a tangible fashion, our expectations have whnot been met. the europeans announce, what they say today, if they can put it into practice, of course, the jcpoa will remain asan such we will be able to, without the presence of the united states of america, continue with this agreement. >> thank you very g ch for join. >> translator: i thank you very
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much. >> for the moment, in will stick with the nuclear deal. but for how long? u.s. pressure is forcing companies to leave iran as we talked about. the country is bracing for a harsh new round of u.s. oil sanctions starting in november. the european negotiator is trying to keep it all together and just before the presidents of ira and america spoke at the u.n. today, i asked her whether she thought the nuclear deal would survive. welcome back to the program. >> thank you. >> you hav aery public role of trying to save the jcpoa, otherwise known as the irian. nuclear de this time last year you told me that the entire inteational community and as europeans, we will make sure this deal stays and it stis. how are you feeling about that today? >> well, so far i cannot say so good. so far, it is holding.
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iran is still complying with nuclear-related commitments. the iea just came out with another report, the 12th report saying iran is complying with its mmitment. we are putting in place measures that are ming sure that iran can continue tohe benefit from economic relations it has -- legitimate economic relations it has with the rest of the world. that's the point. isn't it? president trump not only pulled the united statesut out put secondary sanctions on europeans and others who do business with iran. the president of iran has said we only give theop ens and the signatories a certain amount of time to make t suret this deal still benefits us. otherwise, we pull out. their oil is plummeting. theye going to have sanctions come early november. boeing has pulled out. german firms have pulled out. all the major benefits as youy
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hat were due to go to iran seem to be fraying very, very seriously at the edges. what can youll act do? >> we are putting in place mechanisms together with the europeans, but also with russians, chinese, with others in the world, from all over the world, to create the tunnel to keep trade with iran that would guarantee that trade can continue regaress of the secondary sanctions that the united states put. >> thateans avoid paying the iran central bank or whatever, the government, and figure out all sorts of nemechanisms aroun >> we are working the technical details. putting in place mechanisms to guarantee that trade can continue.av >> you a huge amount of faith in your power to somehow convince european business ando rs that they won't be hurt by u.s. secondary sanctions. that's the bottomline. people actually think that their business lies with the united states if there's a competition
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between the unlited states and iran. >> i'm ot saying it'seasy. the confidence i have has a limit. it isfi a dlt environment in which they are operating. i'm convinced of the valueat of as done. i'm convinced because i see the results. what ig say is that the united states cannot think of imposing its own policy decisions on sovereign countries hd organizations. the europeae the legitimate right to decide with whom to do business andtrade. this is what we are doing. not only the europeans but also e rest of the rld. >> i keep having to come back to this. so far, they are choosg the u.s. boeing pulled out. a lot of german companies with major -- the major business with iran right now are pulling out. >> yes. eisome trends that we are . we are working on trying toe guaranhat those that want to continue to invest in
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legitimate trade and in iran and with iran can do it. >> this time last year, president tru shocked world leaders by his rhetoric regarding north korea. little rocket man, fire and fury, we will destroy north yrea. and the saw the meeting and almost lovy they are exchanging letters. they say nice things about each other. do you think that'sng to happen here? are you worried or are you anticipating president trump launching a broadside against iran from the podium of the security council or the general assembno? >> i c predict what president trump will say in the context of the general assembly or elsewhere. for us europeans what counts as actions, policies. >> president trump and his administration insist iran's global behavior has to change. that wherever they go on this nuclear deal has to be tied with
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ballistic missiles and operations in syria and in the persian gulf area and all o that. is there any movement from iran on those issues to your sa sfaction? >> believe me, the toughest discussions i have are abo syria, yemen or the regional dynamics. that clear. >> with the iranian foreign minister? >> the irania foreign minister. we spent 12 yearsot nting issues. that prevented us from the rest. the focus was prevent iran from developing a nuclear weapon. preserving that agreement allows us to build on it and the other issues with an open channel of dialogue. n d to use more together. together with the united states hopefully. not having the nuclear deal in place would not put us in a better position toiscuss with iran the rest that we need to address. indeed, we have started to discuss with iran the last couple of months the situation in n,ye the situation in
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syria. i believe we are better hesitioned with agreement to discuss and address and achieve results on the issues than without. >> you have spoken over and t again about security, ab making sure you maintain the global security so far as you can. some said that maybe you shouldn't be using just that as your paradigm. for instance, eli lake of bloomberg, if she didn't exist, the oug autocrats w trying to create her. dictators should not aim to transition these countries to open societies but rather to prevent conflict at all cost. >> the? question is >> the question is, do they have a point? is there, for stance, a stronger way you couldr eit then or now be engaging iran on human rights as well as for
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instance ernon-prolion? >> we are the only one in the world engaging with iran on human rights. you know we are the only ones having human rights dialogue at every time we meet with iran. engaging is not being soft. you can be very strong and talk. but you have better alternative thanalking in times of conflict. is there a better way than diplomacy and dialogue? is it war the alternative? is that the military option the alternative that works? isn't it more dangerous? haven't we done that w enough? see the consequences of that. i will alwaysefuse to hear that dialogue and diplomacy is being soft. you can be talking and very clear, very strong, very tough. what's the alternative? >> all around yo whether it's your own home country of italy, whether it's hungar whatever it,france, britain, everywhere,
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there's a rise of populism and nationalism. into this mix comes president trump's person f winning.populi. this mix comes president trump's person for winning. you have everybody on board into the movement, which he is trying to gum up the i worksthe upcoming parliamentary election for the eu parliament. they believe they can get anywhere from 17% to 20% to 30% block in the parlment. how much of a threat is that to the workings of eae eur union in terms of the kind of policies that you are trying to make won'? >> i wou call it a populist movement. i think we have to call thing with their name. it's a far right extreme right political movement. traditional party that have very little of unconventional and very traditional extreme rht position. not only europe but elsewhere in
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the world as well. caey have a different poli agenda. on foreign policy, we continue to act as one with one voice and with a coordinated action. >> are you concerned -- because democracy is a great part of foreign policy. are you concerned with the rise of illiberalemocracy as they call it in europe? >> in europe, elsewhere in the world, it is something that personally worries me. in particular, the fact that -- again, i stress not so much in europe but elsewheree world. the idea that values are not so relevant. that you can build solutions against others. and i think this is a very fragile way of building lu ons. you might find the exit strategy for a couple of weeks, but then you go back to the situatior of conflictnsion. this idea that the world is in the hands of strong men sitting
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around the table and deciding by themselves over the heads of the people, i simply think that doesn't work. this belongs to a different kind of era. that is the past. i don't think this is fit for this country t i don't this is what the people of the world think. t the ideat human rights, women's rights, society is nothing relevant and that only the ones that have the pow count, i don't think this is the problems to solve the of the world. >> thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> talking about an old kind of leadership style. there is one prime minister here at the u.n. turning more heads than most. that is zealand's. she's passionate about climate, refugees and progressive policies. she's only the second leader es modern to have a baby while also being head of government. when she showed up for her first general assembly with her
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three-month-old daughter, it went viral. when i sath down w her today, she told me why she hopes mov like these will help normalize the workplace. we >> thank you very much. >> did you ever imagine that the perfectly normal act of a woman giving birth would be so incredibly viral all over and everybody just wants to talk to you about that? >> no. no. obviously, this is the norm for a women to enter into motherhood. i had to experience it when i t comes to world leaders, it was tal. while i hopere will be a day when it isn't worthy of comment, currently, it is. i expect that that there will be a time. >> you are the second. you save doneething quite unprecedented that has gone viral. you took your baby into the general assembly. >> well, actually, i was
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speaking. i came down from the podium to fihe she was on the general assembly floor. there's an ima that captures the moment when i see her there. >> youick her up a you are hugging her. >> it was delightful to see her there. i expected she might be in another ace. i think probably what it speaks to is the fact that i am still breastfeeding. i have her near me most of the time.ot it'slways obvious that she's in close proximity most of the time. >> you talk about openly why? inspireyou want to working mothers? because you want to make it -- >> i want todoormalize it. hink that if we want to make our wkplaces more open, then we need to acknowledge that there are logistical challenges that come witht.op i that despite being a bit more open, which expect brings vulnerability, it might create a
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path for other wome >> it's extraordinary that your partner has agreed to be the house husband, soo to speak, take care of your daughter. that must be really important as you doll your state duties, your head of government >> what i consistently acknowledge is that i'm not doing anything special. i have a lot of help. the fact that clark has the ability toe able to juggle his career and also be our primary caregiver makes all of this possible. what has struck me the most from waymoment we announced t we would make things work, the number of men and women who have done the same there isn't a lot of discussion about something that has been happening. malize it. n >> i don't know whether you are as alarmed as i have been amazed byome of the incredible sexism that you have received from your own media at home.
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can a mother be prime minister? can a pregnant woman do the ob in job? can a new mother talk about climate and refugees and all the things you are talking about? >> and yet i have to say i't d feel that it's the environment where you are able to openly challenge that. at leasteems to be in any way claiming the criticism isn't justified or that you show any weakness. we should be open to criticism. we should be open to beed challe the same way all of our counterparts are. i accept that and encourage it. it means we have robust democracy. it becomes very tricky if you try and partition off what might be seen as sexist criticism. i just don't the best way i can rebel against those notions is being confident and being good at my job. >> it is actually extraordinary
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that these thoughts and these kinds of views occur in new zealand, which is distinguished by being the first country in the world that gave women te. right to v >> i would absolutely classify l as being increprogressive. the fact that i am the thi female prime minister. i never grew up as a young woman believing that my gender would stand in the way of me being able to do anything that i wanted. i credit new zealand for that, the environment, the womene ho went bef. to credit new zealanders for the fact that they did welcome the fact that i had a child in officey the positiv far outweighed any negativity. i'm deeply pud of where we are as a nation. >> what is the leadership rule book for u? people think that to be a prime minister, you have to be this way, this way, this way. are you trying to sort of open up theeadership rule book?
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>> i think it's time for us to reconsider whether or not with meeting the expectations of the public and their expectations, particularly of the new generati of voters. they are wanting us to be constructive. probably the old playbook when it comes to politics is you succeed if you are seen as pretty ruthless. thfe's a lot o ego in politics. they are mostly aligned with s.onomic mark i am determined to do things differently. i think you can be both stron and compassionate. i think success is not justou economic but about your social indicators. on those missioeeasures,e looking to be world leaders. we are using indicators acrossur cu, social, economic and environmental. if we succeed, we will be amongst the first in the world.
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that to me is the kind of governance we >> here at the u.n. you are taking part in climate talk and discussion and trying to move that ball forward. i spoke to jerry brown a week or so ago who also is doing his carbon neutral program, which i think you are signed up to. he said that unless we really get our act together, there's going to be the kind of clime daniel damage, migration and refugees that makes what happened in europe look like a tea party. it's going to be so bad. he said a lot of countries are not stepping up to the plate, deisite the p climate accord. >> we all have an obligation. there's no ability to opt out. this is not a hypothetical. this is reality. we have just f comem the pacific islands forum.ss in disg regional security,
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in that forum, pacific island nations identified climate change as beingth the biggest at we face. the biggest threat that we face. the message that came through trongly as well was that we cannot give up. we cannot be the sentiment it's about now adaptation, that we still have a responsibility to try and ensure that wherever in the world an individual is living, that they have the opon of being able to preserve their language, their plac their land and simply conceding that sea a levels rising and they will be inundated is not the position they wantghs to for. they want us to fight to try to reserve what we are seeing. >> you are definitely counter current if y like. europe is clamping down. the united states is clamping down. they have a low bar for allowing refugees, theowest in u.s. history right now under the trump administration. i wonder - you are a progressive leader. you are among the new band of
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young leaders, including president macron, justin trudeau and others who see the as it is today. present trump has pulled the u.s. out of the paris climate account, is putting a low bar on refugees allowed into the united states. also, he just gave a talk on drugs and the drug war, which you have said that you are igt going to sup to. what are the issues that you have with the currentni adration's policies? >> i think actually when you pull back, there is a common theme, actually, that underlies the political responses we're seeing, be it the -- we see growing insecurity. globization is fundamentally changed the experiences of workers across the world. we have to challenge ourselves and say, did we respond adequately to that? did we give financial security that voters were askingfor?
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did we respond to those needs? a probabwer no. i think we have seen the consequences of that. my response is to say in new zeala zealand, we can respond by feeding some of the fear, exacerbating that fear, saying we can do things differently and the response doesn't have to be isolan is isolationism. it can be open. it can be as a trading nation continuing to take alt ateral approach. that's the approach that we take. >> a l of americans have suddenly become sensitized to where new zealand is, not just because of you and yr profile. >> we're not on every map that's out there. it's a real proble we have had a campaign around it. there are maps where we are missing. >> no. >> it's true >> i'm sure peter thiel can put new maland on the and billionaires who look at it as a doomsday refuge for themlves. is that something you welcome?
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do you want all these rich, ls internatioo buy up land? >> i have heard of this. for whatever reason they are interested in new zealand, we are a country that welcomes overseas investment into our productive economy. want it to be of genuine benefit to new zealand. we want to grow jobs off t back of that investment. we have taken a particular view whether it comes to purchasing residential housing. that's because we have a housing crisis. >> what is the view?ou what have done? >> offshore residential purchases where someone has no long-term interest in residing in new zealand a making a home. >> i guess just finally, youad a forum with your predecessors, the prime minister. you were talking about the three stages of feminism. there was suffrage and the vote and empowerment and running for office. the next one she says, the current one is protecting against abuse.
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the abuse of women, which we see all over the place, the united states isn the middl of a me too movement. you have all these allegations eeof the supreme court nom how does one right those skcale? how does one protect women? >> i think this h been something that within the new zealand context that we have been very wise to for some time. we have horrific rates of domestic violence. our reporti rate has been as low as 9% for abuse. we know that domestically, we have a significant path to travel to improve. for me, that next wave is actually abo basic security for women.by underpinne notion of respect. respect in the workplace, in the home.
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every woman has the right te o feel s their day to day lives. what can be more basic than that?rp unning that as well for me, financial security. the ability for women to have the opportunity to support her family, have that independent. if she's in an abusive situational relationship, t ability to move, to leave, based on that financialit sec working on the fact that we have low paid work, we have a gender pay gap. these are all interdwitwined. >> it's a big job. thank you very much.ha >> you. >> a bigb. i wonder whether the prime minister will be a subject for vernment. tracy ulman, she's the first and only british woman to have her own tv sketch shows in both the uk and the united states. in her latest series, she looks
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at the women shaping our world today from merkel to may to trump. she looks for empathy in her ch acters, taking an interest in their actions behind the scenes as well. we sat dith her to talk about her show. >> you have season three coming. if someone h not watched season one or two, wt do they need to know. >> my first -- the shows oe s originated in england. i was asked would i like to do a television show in my goodness, i didn't think i was on the radar for bbc e. anym bbc was run by a woman who is doing an incredible job.e ecutive -- when i was there 30 years ago, it was white men in bow ties talking about the war. at was itv.
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running around in bikinis. it was pretty bad. i started the show three years ago. i thought, england this buzzing global hub, multinational melting pot, the food is great now. i want to take on this country again. then we go to brexit. everything changed. the psychology chang that became interesting. this is my third year. the first two are slower. would do one character that became a breakout in portraying angela merkel. i couldn't really do sketches about her and shoot them into september and put them out in january. too much has happened. this, sease filmed some things earlier and hoped they woul remain pertinent. two days before transmission or a day before, we wouldun in and have a standing set for 10 downing street.
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i could be theresa may panicking about brexit. it was lovely. it was my little "sarday night life". >> let's take a look at a clip. >> we will train you. i will take you through some everyday situations and all you must do is not close the eye begin. the phone rings. you pick it up. you hear a teenage boy whose voice is breaking. yorealize it's theresa may try harder. you are a chancellor. >> first of all, can we say, p.amazing work on the mak that is uncanny h good these folks are able to make you look. how long does that take? >> not long. for a television schedule, and lf makeup takes more than an hour and a i can't do it. i have a genius makeup artist.
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a dutch sculptor. it's brilliant. it's made with gelatin now. years ago i wore it was like talking through a kitchen sponge. two men put them on in the morning. it must not take more than an hour and a hal i am angela merkel maybe through k.nchtime. they have to be qu that keeps the spontaneous >> you stay in character. >> i imagine -- all my characters are politicians are off duty. i don't want to see them making speeches. it's how they are behind the scenes that interests me. >> how do you model the manner itch mannerisms? if i wanted to figure out how to imitatsomeone, is this their walk? >> her walk is -- particularly
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her shoulders. she movesly her arms but rom here. only move from here. i think george w. hugged her from behind yrs ago and she went -- it was like a physi reaction. i thought, she's the only girl in the room. you got all the guys. i thought the hook for her is she's very, very sexy. she's a sex bomb giving off the sex and she's powerfu because that. i admire her enormously. i hope she knows i exist. >> what is it about politics that you find intriguing enough to put the time and effort into these characters? >> i try to cover the broad spectrum of society in the shows i'm doing. i really have found that women politicians like angela merkel, like theresa may,ar'm sim age to them, i look for the
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empathy and sadness in people, too. theresa may is having a horrible time. she's got to handle brexit. as a fair p weatherme minister, she would have had a nice run. now, i have to fix what the boys have messed up. that's how i see it. t re's a clip from brexit and people jumping ship. t's take a look. >> are you scared about life ? after brex worried you will be forced to cue for hours while the rest walk by laughi at you? you should be. you big british idiot. don't worry. the deadline for brexit is approaching. join the 160,000 who have applied for anri passport, presumably one that says i'm still european so don't [ bleep ] hate me.il our team crawl through your ancestry andind some irish lative who qualifies you.
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everyone is a bit irish. it helps me remember that my own mother is from dublin. the next time you see me >> that's one of my favorite characters. what about the relationship you y between theresa may and donald trump? >> she gets on the line and hash a talk w him. they are standing by with a large scotch. i think they were puzzled by trump at firs now they're getting used to it and figuring out how to play it. habitual.
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i come here and it's like people are under siege and obsessed. i get to breakt up by doing something varied. if i did trump or just talked about trump, i would go out of my mind. >> what's the secret to staying in the business this long? it's remarkable there's not that many champiomedians that have he run that youree c has had. >> pretty great. i think i was married for 30 years to a producer. that would be my husband who passed away five years ago. he tout aught me controlling th right, owning the show, distribution. ss really did all the busi stuff. let me do th kroecreative stuff. we worked together. i have big gaps between working. i've taken time off for children. i'm not obsessed with working all the time.t i get to do wwant to do.
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when i do it, it seems like -- i still do this multi-character thing. the credits on my show are me on my mother's window sill when i was 6 . i'm still doing it. money out of it and made a living out of it. longevity in the business. >> you said before that that window show for you mom started after your father had passed away. is was a way for you and her to deal with the grief. tell me about that. >> well, we loved to laugh in my family. we have a very down to earth sort of london working class sense of humor. i remember i made her laugh. not just funny, making funf things. sad things. i used to impersonatehe spinster that lived opposite us. never got married because her fiancee oiance had been killedn
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war. to be her, i could be her for my mom. break their heart and impersonate everyone in the village. it's a way to deal with the sadness and grief. aim doing it my husband died five years ago. i came back to bbc dd i'mng it as an adult woman. >> who did you look up to? who gave you some confidence to say, you keep doing this funny stuff? >> there are always wonderful characters, bu trained.re they did shakespeare. i wasn't that girl. ither here nor there. i had seen gilda .radn bits of carol burnett. and lucille ball. we were behind them in england, but then we caught up now. i had this great admiration for
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hrthe way women coulde on american television. >> should there be anything that is off limits for comedy? i think we're in a national conversation right now on whas too far, political critique or about political correctness. >> it only goes too far when it's not based in good energy and it's observation, it becomes angry and partisanl.nd cr then it's not funny to me. >> are you intentional? or is it just to entertain when it comes to thinking abo what is that you are writing? are you -- if somebody looks at a sketch, this is her way of pushing back? >> no, i don think people see me that way. i've been very fair. i do a tbbc show t goes out prime time with all generations, allorts of age people watching it. i think we try and keep the show very fair. i said, i sick of the
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tribalism. >> can you reallyid a it? not that you have to be a member of it. >> no. >> when you lock at instagram, twitter, maybe people around you shield you from it. it is pretty -- >> i didbo sketch that on one of the shows with my daughter. i was -- i don't partake in twitter. my daughter does. she shared thingsn hat had b said on twitter. fantastic.m are i've always loved her. she's so much fun. she's crazy. one man was consistently writing things severe as i hope shecaets er tomorrow, i hate her, why doesn't she die of aids, i would have had sex with her in the '8 and now she's -- you go, whoa. it's massively out of proportion. i wrote a sketch about that. this -- yosaw the sketch. we did a sketch about going to find him. imagine if you say, what's the you.er with my daughter went, it's a massive overreaction.
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we had fun doing that. that was my take on that viciousness. there was some kid that would sit in the bleachers. no they hav a voice. we have always done it. it's a different form of doing it. >>c? you optimis >> very optimistic, hopeful. >> why? love people i really do. i have faith in so many great people. my daughter isaving a baby in a few months. >> congratulations. >> that's exciting to be a grandmother. always optimistic and hopeful and alway looking to laugh and finding humor and having so much fun. enjoying my children and and this opportunity i've been given. i lived near a sewer work and a fish and chip shop. who thought i would do this and say what i want to say and s sitting here. i'm so lucky. >> congratulations on your
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success. thanks for joining us. >> and yours. >> she has great energy. season three premieres on hbo september 28. just a note before we go. at the u.n., president trump berated opec for raisingil prices. tomorrow, i will speak with the sound did saudi foreign minister. that is it for our program tonight. thanks for watching amanpour and company on pbsmond join us ow. uniworld is proud sponsor of ahmamanpour and company.
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bea had bigger dreams and those dreams were on the water. a river specifically. multiple rivers that would be home to uniworld river cruises and their floating b.tique hotels today, that dream sets sail in europe, asia, india, egypt and more. bookings available through a yo travnt. for more information, visit uniworld.com. >> additional support has been provided by, bernard and irene schwartz, the cheryl and phillip millsteen family and by contributions to your pbs station om viewers like you. thank you. station om viewers like you. thank you. >> you are watching pbs.
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♪ ♪ - this week, we do the near impossible. we show you how to make pita bread at home. it's foolproof, will puff every time. then we do a fattoush salad, weofse grapes instead omatoes. and, finally, we travel to the west bank to make our favorite palestinian chicken dish, ic is musakhan, shredded chicken with onion, sumac, spices, pine nuts, and tahini. so stay with us as we do middle east classics, scoming up next on mieet. - funding for this series was provided by the following.

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