country. chemical attack -- w what chemil attack? p president queuestions whether they were e actually targeted by chemical weapons, saying that united states may have staged the attack to make the case for war.

a council on human rights says russia failed to those taken from chechen rebels in 2004. ♪ first, its nickname is the mother of all bombs. the united states dropped a 22,000 pound weapon on easternrn afghanistan, the biggest non-nuclear weapon evever used.. ththe targetet was an undergroud network of caves andnd tunnels used by fighters from the islamic state group. ordinance airsive bomb was tested in 2003, but has never been used in combat. president trump said that he believed the mission had been a great success. trump: just like we are

proud of the folks in this room, we are so proud of our military. it was another successful event. we have e the greatest militaryn the world, and they have done the job as usual. we have given them total authorization. that is frankly why they have been so successful lately. host: a little earlier he told us more about this on and why it was being used now in rural afghanistan. >> officially ththe goal is toto defeat thehe islamic statate organizatition. because e of the refusal to o ar questitions about persosons, pee are free t to speculate abobouty this hapappened now, and why dona trump this or didn't. -- knew about this or didn't. and why he went after afghanistan at this specific time.

this is a white house that believes the airstrikes in syria were very successful, and gotten positive coverage. that may lead to more governance will to confidence and drop a bomb like this one. there are struggles and problems around the world for the united states. several potential areas for the united states to use its military, including syria against bashar al-assad, and the other is north korea and the regime of kim jong-un. perhaps this was a warning shot in another country to show thehe military might of the united states. we are free to speculate. these are important questions that were asked of sean spicer, white house press secretary. he refused to answer, referring us to the pentagon, who have only given us details when and why the islamist dropped, and --

why this bomb was dropped. no details as to possible casualties. the pentagon said that it took all necessary precautions to not be civilian casualties. the actual result, whether this was a success, dropping a bomb this big on this network of tunnels held by the islamic state organization. host: let's take a quick listen to white house spokesperson sean spicer who gave detail on earlier. around 7:00 p.m. in afghanistan last night, the u.s. 43 weapon ind a gbu- afghanistan, which is a tactical delivered weapon. we targeted a system of tunnels and caves that isis fighters used to move around freely, making it easier to target u.s.

military advisers in the area. the united states took all precautions necessary to prevent casualties and collateral damage as a result of the operation. host: that was white house spokesman sean spicer giving a few more details about that bomb the u.s. has dropped in eastern afghanistan, the world's biggest nonnuclear bomb, never been used before in combat. has been testing that weapon since 2030. this is the first time it has been used. the united states has been involved in the conflict in afghanistan for the past 16 years, for in feist -- fighting first al qaeda, the taliban, and the islamic state as well. last week's chemical attack in syria was fabricated by the united states in order to make the case for war, according to

president bashar al-assad. in his firirst interviview since more than 80 people e killed and hundreds poisoned in a rebel held village earlier thihis mon. he denies that the attack had even taken place. > there was no order to make any attack. we don't have any chemical weweapons. we gave up our arsenal t three years ago. even if we had them, we would not use e them. we would never use our chemical arsenal. our impression that the west, mainly the united states, is handling terrorists -- they fabricated the whole story in order to have pretext for the attack. is a staged one, a play, that we see on social networking and

stage toropaganda, a give a military attack. host: meanwhile, an airstrike by a u.s. led coalition fighting the islamic state has mistakenly killed members of the democratic forces south of syria on saturday. u.s. allies identified the area as an isis position. those in rebel held towns under siege from government forces say that claims to evacuate them have been put on hold. to,000 are to be bused safety, but the united nations criticized the plan, saying it results to forced him displacement. >> these rebels and cicivilians are the first to reach safety after last month's agreement, between qatar and i run. -- and iran. this agreement covers four

diseased areas. two opposition held forces held by regime forces. both sides got the ball rolling, exchanging prisoners. estimated 10000 and 30,000 people are to the evacuated in what could be one of the largest top election exchanges in syria. -- largest population exchanges in syria. those wiwill be moved to damascs or rebel held aleppo. besieged since 2015, these four towns have been named a humanitarian catastrophe by the united nations. the last time he received una aid was november 2016. -- they received un aid was

november 2016. the rececent chemical attack has delayed the exchange. our guestst joins us from beirut. do we know more about why thehee equations have been delayed? >> there has been no word yet from the rubble party involved in these negotiations, or from the syrian government. we have seen many situations that involve prisoner swaps. it is probably due to the rebel's insistence that the evacuations take place simultaneously. people waiting with their loved ones by these green buses, hoping to g get word on whwhat will happen through the

evening or hopefully by tomorrow morning. host: they are very keen to get out of these towns, which have been held by government f forces for quite some t time. >> absolutely. it doesn't mean that the decision to leave it is any easier. those that are being given priority are those that are sick or wounded, women and children. conditions in the towns that are rebel held and have been bebesieged by government forces are particularly terrible. madaya made history for residents that were feasting on insects. if they leave these towns tonight or tomorrow, they will

,e at least able to go to idlib where they have access to medical care, but leaving people behind is a tough situation. host: there has been a lot of criticism about this agreement. u.n. saying t that this amouounts to forceced population didisplacement.. >> absolutely. this has been the product of months of negotiation. it was agreed in march between the government and a rebel group, cap this was the best case scenario they could come up with. yesterday there were a few swaps of women, childrdren, prisoners, asas well as s few corpseses of fighters, which should gigive those waitining to leaveve hopet th c could go ahead.. but the situation is being changed by these mass evacuations from one area to another. it is not clear what effect that

will have on the country's cohesion long-term. host: thank you very much. missing,97 people are believed drowned after their ship sank off the coast of libya. many coming from sub-saharan africa were e their wayay to europe. a spokesperson said 22 people were rescued by the libyan coast guard. 15 women and 5 children are among those missing. one of the most shocking events in recent russian history. a european court of human rights says russian authorities failed to adequately protect the victims of the 2004 school massacre. an attack by chechen rebels left to 30 people dead, most of them children. -- left 230 people dead, most of them children. ofthe morning the first september, 2004, they did not know it would be the last time

they would waive their families can buy. stormed thetants school at 9:00 in the morning. what followed was a three-day siege. terrorists rigged the gymnasium with explosives and held 1000 people captive, including 800 children. the militants demanded the withdrawal of russian troops from the republic of chechnya. 750 others were injured. it ended when russian forces stormed the building. survivors say the troops used excessive force. the european court of human rights ruled there were serious failings in the russian had one of the massacre. the court said that even though russian authorities had been tipped off of the attack, little has been done to disrupt the plot. security at the school had not been increased and no measures

were taken to prevent the chechens traveling on the date of the attack. neither the school nor the public had been warmed of the threat. the court ruled that the victim's right to life was violated and ordered russia to pay 3 million euros in reparations. more than 400 russians were involved in the incident or whose relatives taken hostage in killed involved in litigation. the court has called it unacceptable. to date, no russian official has been held responsible for the massacre. in turkey, it is too close to call the resorts of the referendum on extending the president's powers. teachers, civil servants, judges, and journalists arrested or suspended following the failed coup are watching closely. vote forl that a "yes" ergow can leave the without a

job permanently. >> on the 16th of april, turkey will decide whether the president erogan should be given more powers and possibly role until 2029. according to the latest polls, it is not and neck with "yes" narrowly leading with 51.5%. >> we are seeing strong movement. i am sure that a "no" vote will make the ballot boxes explode. we can't trust one man to run the republic. wins, godse if "yes" willing the days will be better. >> it is estimated 10% of voters remain undecided. it was campaigning for the "no" vote are led by the opposition chp party. >> one man will decide how many ministers are in the cabinet. one man will decide what their duties will be.

one man will decidide the number of deputies the present will have. the parliament will be completely bypassed. chp says the changes would remove checks on erogan's influence and would launch turkey into authoritarianism. >> the chp leader insists on one-man rule -- what one-man? please the articles and you will see that is not the case. if you think being the party leader as president is one-man rule -- >> critics say national television coverage is getting 90% of airtime t politicians that supporto the "yes" vote. the opposition is trying to counter this. turks go to the polls on sunday. host: in venezuela, unrest

spreads with protesters calling for early elections and the immediate release of political prisoners. it is the biggest challenge to maduro's rule in years. even areas that traditionally backed the government are turning against a president being blamed for chronic storages. the program for this film festival has been revealed, 18 films in competition and countless special craning -- special screenings. here is a preview of what we will be seeing once the event gets going on may 17. >> an international and diverse selection for this year's film ,estival, the 70th year running four frenchtop, directors.

>> he has not been in competition too often. ♪ >> indeed, therere is plenty of lol talent, including a film ea=luc goodard. ♪ there will be renowned filmmakers and regulars at the .estival end"ew film "happy features a french happy middle-class family living close to a refugee camp. among the three women directors and competition, one is eagerly anticipated on the red carpet. >> she is presenting "the

dunst,d" with kirsten and many other actions. >> this year's festival kicks off on the 17th of may. host: kate moody is with us in the studio for business news. let's start with this ongoing pr nightmare for united airlines. the scandal is not going away after staff violently removed a passenger from the plane. it is still going on. kate: this man is probably going to sue the airline over his treatment, captured by his fellow passengers, going viral and prompting outrage to boycott the carrier. a reminder of what the video actually was. he suffered a concussion and a broken nose, and will likely need reconstructive surgery. that is according to his lawyer

who gave a press conference thursday. accepts the apologies from the ceo two days from the incident, but says it was insincere and prompted by a wave of that city. -- wave of bad publicity. > that is not going to let hm off of the hook here. if you are going to eject a passenger, under no circumstances can it be done with unreasonable force or violence, that is the law. andnreasonable force violence is used under a set of circumstances, the common carrier, united airlines in this case, is responsible. kate: united has issued another apology after that press conference and says the complete

review of the incident will be completed by the end of this month. certainly far from over. it is the last trading day for u.s. and trading markets. they will be closed for a long easter weekend. a fairly light session on wall street until the u.s. dropped a huge ball on afghanistan, prompting a negative slide for the market. dow jones down 0.4%. geopolitical tensions have been rising all week. investors are keeping a close eye on the white house and its next move. major european indices closed lower. banknking shares a and the travl sector weighed on overall trade. oil prices edged higher after the international energy agency says the market is close to coming into balance, when supply and demand are roughly the same. the monthly report says the global stockpile dipped in march, and will continue as opec and russia extends cutbacks

beyond the june deadline. weaker than expected economic activity in india and russia. mexico was a frequent target on the trump campaign trail as he threatened stiff tariffs on goods imported over the border. this agenda pushed the peso to all-time lows in january. three months in, the peso has emerged as one of the best performing currencies of 2017. relations gotn off to a shaky start after donald trump. mexico was one of the real estate billionaire's targets on the campaign trail as he vowed to bring back jobs to the u.s. progress on a renegotiation of the north american free trade agreement has been slow so far, and trump has yet to carry out of imposing large tariffs on the border.

imports have risen 4% year on year. a weakening of the peso spurred by trump's election victory. >> we are seeing many companies continue to invest, another flow of trade continuing to increase. it is not hard to say that 2017, mexico will have record exports in donald trump's first year. >> among the big winners is the auto industry, which saw a 36% the in production in march, strongest start to a year since 2011. new manufacturing orders were the highest in six months. unemployment in exit go gone down to a nine-year low. areas most exposed to the threat of the trademark are looking ahead with -- trade war are looking ahead with cautious optimism. >> samsung says preorders for its new smartphone has passed those of its predecessor. it is still reeling from the

recall of its note seven with reports of exploding batteries. it goes on sale in the u.s. and canada april 21. two of america's biggest banks have seen interest rate boost -- jp morgan and citigroup has seen $6.5 billion and $4.1 billion respectively. they hope donald trump will follow through on plans to reduce regulations on the industry. london's housing market is in its deepest slump since 2009, according to a real estate survey. prices in the capital dropped as demand weakened in march when the u.k. launched its formal brexit proceedings. the number sales and potential buyers in london but instead needed last month. -- both stagnated last month. taxes on second homes could continue to weigh on the property market. winemakers in italy are

increasingly worried about brennan moving the european union. -- britain leaving the european union. they are the most wine importer, almost 8 million euros last year. after brexit, those products could be subject to increased duty. that is causing panic in verona. >> floating high on the bubbles of success, it's exports to the united kingdom exceeding 30% last year. eu hasxit out of the soured their celebrations. italian wine could face tariffs to that of non-eu country, giving its stiff competitions from australia and new zealand. >> the level of taxation is crucial. if it increases the price of european wines too much, they won't be competitive against other types of one's. -- types of wines. >> this would be a setback for

french and italian wine growers, the largest suppliers to the u.k. by value. while they face stiff competition with australia in terms of volume, they could slide back if placed on a level playing field. some say that the industry is being held hostage during brexit negotiations. >> medical equipment for medicine -- that is considered serious business. whereas they would think cheese, wine -- we can use that to upset people. >> the large amount of product that french and italian winemakers sell to the u.k. makes them hugely weary of a bad brexit deal. they will be watching the negotiations closely and hoping for a good trade arrangement with a key export market. >> finally, she is only five years old, but she has her very own trademark. victoria beckham has registered her daughter's name with

intellectual trade properties in europe, which means people cannot use that on a range of brands, including cosmetics or entertainment. facing -- that may seem premature, but others have had trademarked in early age. they want to protect the beckham brand, but to be worth around 500 million pounds, 590 million euros. perhaps worth a trademark for that little girl. host: thank you very much indeed. we are taking a short break. stay with us. more news and headlines up

04/13/17 04/13/17 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! pres. trump: : right now we are not gettining along witith russt all. we may b be at an all-time lowon terms of relationship with russia. amy: president trump warns relations with russia are deteriorating as u.s. accuses moscow of covering up the syrian government alleged role in last week's chemical attack that killed 87 people. meanwhile, russia is accusing the u.s. of raking international law by launching airstrikes