>> this is dw news live from berlin. tonight in washington, the whispers of impeachment are getting letter as u.s. president donald trump marks two years in the white house. a buzz feed news report returned -- contains it allegations that trump directed his former attorney to lie to congress about his dealings in russia. now leading democrats say they plan to investigate. also coming up, a letter to britain from germany with love, leading german personalities publish an open letter in the

times newspaper asking the british people to abandon breaks it to stay in the european union . we will bring you reaction from london. plus germany becomes the latest country to say it may exclude the chinese text giant huawai from its five network. the government has security concerns. it is good tabby with us. is this the smoking gun leading to a criminal u.s. president? a new report claims donald trump directed michael cohen to lie to congress. the report cites to a named police officers. the president apparently ordered

cohen to lie and to meet with vladimir putin to start that project. last year michael cohen pleaded guilty to lying to congress about the russian real estate plan. president trump has repeatedly denied any collusion with russia. let's take the story to the u.s. capital, i am joined by ir correspondent -- our correspondent. if these reports, the report, if it to -- proved to be true, what will it mean for donald trump? oliver: it will be another puzzle piece but this time, it could mean a shift in the tied for donald trump. the report says donald trump told michael cohen to lie in front of congress about the duration of these negotiations for this moscow trump tower project. michael cohen said the negotiations were over by the time donald trump was officially

announced being the candidate of the republican party for u.s. presidency but the negotiations lasted a lot longer, until the summer of 2016 and that being a few months ahead of the actual u.s. elections. if this turns out to be true, if these allegations that donald trump told michael cohen to lie in front of congress, this would certainly mean that we are witnessing the strongest piece of evidence yet of donald trump being guilty of obstruction of justice. >> it comes that time when the democrats are in control of the house of representatives meeting they can subpoena people as they wish. what kind of reactions are we getting from both sides of the political divide today? oliver: the democrats can certainly be happy about this month they will use this for their purposes, we just had the

chairman of the judiciary committee of congress saying it is a crime to lie to congress. especially to tell your attorney to lie to congress and vowing that his committee would investigate these allegations that they would get to the bottom of it. we also already heard again from the democratic party's calls for an impeachment once more and donald trump has also responded on twitter as he usually does. he is trying to question the credibility of michael cohen there, he said that michahael cohen was convicted of perjury and fraud and he is lying to reduce jail time. rent: our correspondent for us, thank you. all of this is happening as donald trump marks the midpoint of his first term in the white house, two years in, he is already organizing his reelection campaign. dw has been to headquarters.

>> this s bakery is a community fixture in this detroit suburb, one of the few small local operations every morning for 48 years richard julian has put on his a for an answer of everything from delly me too birthday cakes. the bakery is also situauated on the edge of a cocounty that was pivotal for trumps victory, macomb county, julian like some of his customersrs votededor trump.p. >> donald trump was a stretch for me in the beginning but when he became thth nominee for the party i backed him because he was a businessman. >> this is the small middle america establishment that was

of the heart of trumps message. an educator and a neighborhood resident said she was attttcted to trurump and his messagege int because of how different he sosounded syria >> the more i listenened and the more i heard his concretize a his ideas, those were my idideas and t tt s when i began to watch. i was at first, at the f first debate, ii w was almost inside e tv, , i thought, what t am i listening to?? it was so different. and d it was not staged, it was different. >> everyone we spoke with said his tweeeeting could be cringe worthy and sometimes his personal life can beam massive -- can be messy. despite everything thihis residt wants to seeee the presidentnt susucceed. >> i would like to see him take

us back to the a's when people were p people, not units are objects or numbers, classifications, where people wewere people, ththat wee havave respect f for one anotherer andi like some of the t things he has done o on the spur of the momen. i really likike the man and i wt to see him continue with his goals and get most of them accomplished. >> not everyone in the neigighborhood is a suppoer and some famamily ties have been strained. gary milburn has two daughters who do not like trump. he says he understood their objections but he still voted for trump. >> family isis not thrilled with me because i did vote for trump, he has made definitely statements regarding grabbing women by the whatever and doing this and that which to me is a lot of locker room talk.

>> two years into the tererm as president, the country is still divided. they have been shocking announcements, scandals, treaeaties have bebeen torn uput with this - -- t these people ve for trumump again? >> yes, i wouould. >> i hope he wins. i would vote for him again, i want this to continue. i would v vote depending on whoe is running againinst. >> a true republilican challener looks ununlikely dururing the 20 campaign. the democrats will have a talk order to win back the hearts of these voters. it seems trump will have no problem getting reelected for a second term. brent: here are some of the other stories making headlines, the white house has confirmed that donald trump will hold a second summit with the north korean president kim jong-un next month following a meeting between mike pomompeo and n norh kokorean -- the north korean vie

president. they met to this gus pyongyang's -- to discuss pyongyang's denuclearization. officers fired live ammunition and years teargas against demonstrators who threw rocks. our team has seen five works -- weeks of protests. legislation was approved establishing safe countries, making it harder to remain in germany. the move has been advocated by the interior minister. it has been quite a week for breaks it. more than the 20 imminent -- eminent figures notice that and they have written as a result of passionate appeal to the u.k. to

abandon breaks it. it is printed as an open letter in today's edition of the times newspaper. the woman named akk has signed the letter as well as andreas null. the green party leader and other leaders. here's what they wrote. after the horrors of the second world war, britain did not give up on us, it has welcomed germany back as a sovereign nation and a european power. we as germans have not forgotten this and we are grateful. should britain wish to leave the eu for good, it will always have friends in germany and europe. we believe that no choices irreversible. our door will always remain open. europe is home. we would miss the legendary

british black humor, the letter goes on, but more than anything else, we would miss the british people, our friends across the channel, therefore, britain's should know from the bottom of our hearts, we want them to stay. a short-term ago, we asked our laundering -- london corrrrespondent withth the reais have been inin london. reporter: we do not have an official reaction by anyny of te gogovernment figures, but i h he lookeded at e newspaper headlilines and it has been reported eveven though it is not exactly headline news b because therere is so much g going on in teterms of brexixit and it iss a chaotic situation where the u.k. is trying to f figure out whehee wants to go, it has bebeen n nod , for example,e, the financialal times saidd it r reflects a risg anxiety in berlin in terms of ththe cost of business. it is the fear of a hard breaks

it and this is a a reaction to . wewe have the sun, the biggggt tabloid, they report germrmany s begggging us to stay in the eu d similar, the express and other tabloids a are leaning toward brexit, they say it is a desperate bid for britain to stay in the eu. i have not seen a lot of scatathing criticism, but it iss seen as something as political and it is a political intervrvention. it is nonot stst a heart-to-o-ht by leading german figures, but it is something that comes from the center of german politics. brent: the appeal from germany comes at the end of a roller coaster week in british parliament -- politics with the defeat of the braves a deal and mays government narrowly surviving a no-confidence vote. theresa may is due to present her brags it plan b next week.

what is next for britain? we have this report. from london where our reporter found some unexpected answers. reporter: london, business as usual. but wait. was there something? oh yeah, brags it. for two and a half years we journalists have watched parliament vote again and again and we spoke to analyst after analyst and we still do not seem to be much smarter about the outcome of brags it. maybe it is time to look for some alternative ways to find answers. if you want to know what is going on in the british capital, ask the cabbies. they are the ones with their years on the ground. to man>> that is all i ever talt is breaks it. -- brexit, not even football, it

is just brexit. what i believe, what is going to happen. reporter: what is going to happen, timothy? let's pull over. >> the fear factor is coming in. more people i would say a are interested in having a second vote. reporter: that is a start, but can we make this more concrete? unlike politicians, numbers never lie and who is good at that? british oddsmakers. at a major bookie company in london, politics is a big moneymaker. what you people think about brexit? >> out of all the options the country faces, it is the second referendum that punters think is likely.

and the least likely at the moment is a no deal brexit which is the odds of six to one. hunters do not think that is going to happen at this stage. reporter: where money is gainene some is lost. let's find spiritual guidance. maybe the ghost of thatcher and churchill will have the answer. a tarot card reader is well-connected in that area. he is getting fives that prime minister theresa may is playing a dirty game. >> i think she will make another pact with the devil. i think she is going to, look what we have here, we have the devil, we have temperance. the double is about having contract and making a pact and temperance is about connecting things and putting things together, right? i think she will find a way to negotiate something. reporter: let's be honest, the

future of britain is still murky. until that is resolved, all bets are off. brent: two kazakhstan -- to kazakhstan, kazakhs are renouncing citizenship. china has run a massive surveillance and detention program on a province bordering kazakhstan. it has imprisoned as many as 80 million people in so-called reeducation camps, as well as forced labor. detainees say they are subjected to an doctrine is asian. human rights activists are trying to draw attention. >> every day, hundreds of people

crowded into the rooms of this human rights organization and kazakhstan. they are looking for their relatives and the western chinese province. millions of ethnic kazakh's live there. >> all of them have a different history, and some people inside they get mad. some people inside are injured. and we collected more than 10,000 facts. reporterer: he and others who he escapeped have told human rights activists what is happening in the camps. he explains the daily routine consists of military drills and there is an atmosphere of total surveillance. >> everything had to be in a straight line and the corners perfectly folded. if you did not do it like this, they would be you, it had to be

forefingers wide and not a millimeter more. reporter: he used to o be a successful businessman. he imported goods to china. the chinese authorities noticed him and accused him of propagating kazakhstan culture. that is why he was sent to a reeducation camp. >> they made us recite texts all day long about how great the government and the commumunist party are.e. we had to bow to bee obedient ad that we left president xi -- loved preresident xi. reporter: he has one of the few known photographs of a chinese internment paint -- camp. there are also drawings. a yoyoung woman, severely trauautized, d draws what she experiencedd in the camamp including the constant surveillance. she does not want to be recognized for fear of the chinese authorities and is in

hiding with relatives. the guards were like wolves, arrogant with cold eyes. they want to destroy our culture. they use methods reminiscent of china's cultural revolution, says this researcher. that is because one of the most impoportant economicic project e new silk roaoad crosses the province. >> the chinese want to keep the province quiet. it is verymportant for t them. many people thereof kazakh dissent. reporter: since starting the program in 2016, the chinese authorities have also been using guards. now for the first time, one of these guards his fled.

no longer wanted to be part of something he sees as a inhumane machine. >> the people i took to the campmps looked bad, thoroughlyy shaken. we were also constantly afraid. my colleague was deported to the camp because he had picked up a piece e of paper with the words, please help us written on it. cameras filled -- filmed him so they arrested him and took him to a camp. reporter: here at the small organization they tried to helpp by filming appeals by kazakhs who were looking for their relatives. they hope the world will finally listen. r this wee brent: dortmund could stop the run. there is plenty of anticipation,

they sit on top of the table with a six point lead and complacency may be their biggest rival going forward.d. >> of course, it is a good situation to be in but we know there are 17 more games and it is still a long season ahead. there are big challenges and difficult games to play especially in the next few weeks. >> dortmund dominated the open half of the season with fast paced entertaining play. they will have to hit the ground running with their first opponent, leipzig. they expect a tough game. >> they are dangerers in positin but also the counter attack. they have traransitioned really quickly. so there is not t much else toty about leipzig, they are a very good team.

>> dampening the mood somewhat is the recent illness of the captain. another player is also coming back from injury. the scored over 23 goals. the team looks shaping -- shaky in recent friendly matches. >> you've got the christmas season and new year's eve and you spend time at a sunny beach in dubai or somewhere and you look at the table and everyone is patting you on the back. it is perfectly normal for the tension to listen. but we cannot let that affect us. we must maintain our form with the same approach we had in the first half of the season. reporter: statistics point toward a successful second half of the season. dortmund have led the league three times at the halfway mark and each time, they won the title. not a bad omen. brent: the chinese company hu

awei is coming under attack and all signs. it has to do with national security. reporter: the german governor is saying it may block huawei's involvement in their future 5g network citing security concerns. until evidence is found no vendors should be excluded from the network and u.s. and other countries are keeping the chinese firm away from their netwtworks becausese of data security. they say the companies linkekedo beijing increases the likelihood of espionage. the u.s. is carrying out a criminal probe into the text giant. why is huawei so controversy all? it was founded in 18 -- 1987 by an engineer and former coming

this party member. it is now the world's number one provider of wireless network hardware. the company's private meeting it does not have to disclose its finances and it says the shares are divided between its 80,000 employees in china who do not have real voting rights. critics claim that an elite corps of managers essentially guides the company and coordinates with the government in beijing. this is something that huawei denies. the u.s. is pressuring allies to exclude huawei as they build networks. all agreeing on that, one of the u.k. providers also agreeing. the ceo of huawei refuted

claims of chinese government involvement. >> our company has never received nor w will receive ords from the government. we will refuse any order from the government. reporter: the ceo there. there appears to be some movement in the trade dispute between the u.s. and the eu. brussels said it is prepared to get rid of industrial tariffs and tear of industrial tariffs and tariff on u.s. made cars. the proposals is seen as the offers will benefit the u.s. in particular. >> american industrial firms that export products to the eu will be the big winners if import duties are abolished as proposed by the eu. u.s. firms currently pay a 5.2% tear of to sell their goods in the block. in the other direction, european

firms pay of 3.5% import tariff to american tax authorities. russell plan would see the end of duties on cars and car parts, an area where american firms are disadvantaged. they pay 10% in terrace and two point -- in tariffs. >> we are prepared to p put our tariffs on the negotiating table if we work together for zeroro tariffs for all industrial goods. > brussels faces pressure, u. president trump estrin to raise tariffs on imports of european vehicles. the eu commission has pulled back on one demand. that discussions over a new deal take place once the u.s. government removes its tariffs on steel and aluminum. reporter: nissan and mitsubishi say the ceo carlos gone -- ghon

received improper payment. payments are not part of the criminal charges that he faces in japan where he has been detained since november. japanese authorities have charged him with financial misconduct. you're watching dw news from berlin. brent goff will be back to take user through -- take you through the day. ♪ c ♪

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. welcome back to the front twenty four news room is nine pm in paris in here all headlines this. alexander but not a taste on the formal investigations this often manual michael's ex security aide is accused of misusing diplomatic possible. the us congress is to investigate whether donald trump broke the law the president accused of instructing his low yet to lie about a construction project in russia. tensions highn the dlcc is e country's top pool for past the publishes conclusisions on alleged electoral fraud. this is the u. n. says thirty four people h have alalready bn kikilled since the results were an