for it all economic sanctions on iran were left it let's talk a little bit more about this with scott lucas he is an american studies professor at the university of burnham and he joins right now yes there is that there is so much a professor for joining us it's really really difficult to tell whether all the tough talk coming out of washington is real because on the one hand you've got president trump repeatedly saying that you know iran broke the deal the spirit of the deal but the i.a.e.a. says no they're complying and congress also agree with iran complying with the terms of agreement and then we've had today right before coming on air the new york times reporting that the u.s. will keep the deal so is this just all part of the art of the deal. ok well it's donald trump who wants to leave the deal getting to stage an appearance where he waves his fist furiously but it's a very small stick because his top advisors are telling him that the u.s. needs to remain in the deal for the sake of relations with european partners like germany to prevent iran from having the excuse to quickly return

scott lucas is a professor of international politics at the university of birmingham live this hour in birmingham, england. good to have you with us, scott, to talk more about this. on the day of the funeral, the president had two options, he could offer condolences to the soldier's family, he could remain silent if he didn't have anything constructive to say or a third option, to tweet about this democratic congresswoman before the funeral. president trump actually gave some insight, though, into how he uses twitter, why he uses it in an interview with fox business. let's listen. >> i doubt i would be here, if it weren't for social media to be honest with you. i have a tremendous platform. when somebody says something about me, i'm able to go, bing, bing, bing and take care of it. the other way i would never be able to get the word out. >> before the funeral on the day of the funeral he tweets to the u.s. congresswoman, using the word wacky to describe her, on the day of the funeral, so the question here is who is the audience, scott? who do you surmise he's talking to? who does this

work to outlaw nuclear weapons and let's talk more about the significance of this war and with scott lucas he's a professor of international politics at the university of birmingham scott thank you very much for joining us your reaction to this announcement. well i think i call a lot of what dance has said and that. the nobel peace prize is not always for what has been achieved it is for what we hope can be achieved and this was a message of hope today that the double committee recognizing that we actually are on a bit of a downward spiral over nuclear weapons the north korean crisis threats to the possible nuclear deal to the nuclear deal with iran that was signed only two years ago tensions over the future of russian activity as well as existing large stockpiles that the us house and of course the fact that israel continues to have under certain core weapons all of that is in play and i think that the committee sort of draws our attention to that but they do a second thing and they say that by recognizing i can't which is a civil society group they say what this just isn't a matter where

. >> scott lucas joins us from birmingham, england, teaches international politics at the university of birmingham and often joins us to talk about u.s. politics. nice to see you. first, let's talk about that cryptic comment from mr. trump this week saying this is the calm before the storm. and that there is only one option. could that be a military reference? >> of course it is a military reference. trump has said for months, of course, there could be fire and fury. he has talked about striking back at rocket man, north korean leader kim jong-un. he's treating this like his former show "the apprentice," keep everyone guessing, are you fired, are you not fired? will we send the missiles in, not send them in. it stirs up drama. there is a bigger message here, which i think may be missed. this was not just a jab at north korea yesterday. this was another jab at secretary of state tillerson. because what trump was implicitly doing was he was rejecting diplomacy. that's the second week in a row that he has knocked back tillerson who is trying to pursue back channel discussions to step ba

let's talk about this with scott lucas, professional of international politics at the university of birmingham, england. scott? >> we knew he was going after barack obama's legacy. and in the past week he's undermined what were arguably mr. obama's two most significant policies internationally and domestically, iran and health care. >> yes. i mean, the first rule of thumb for donald trump is if barack obama did it, rip it up. the question is what affect that has. we're talking not only about health care and iran, but stripping back environmental regulations, stripping back health, safety in the workplace, stripping back regulations in the lgbt rights. in iran you have the risk that the u.s. will actually isolate itself. that long-time ally, including britain, will now side with the iranians in terms of the maintenance of the agreement. and on health care, i am just -- the amount of devastation and the amount of destruction this could cause to americans in terms of premiums and terms of lack of coverage and in terms of not having central benefits covered, donald trump said earlier this year if

work to outlaw nuclear weapons and let's talk more about the significance of this war and with scott lucas he's a professor of international politics at the university of birmingham scott thank you very much for joining us your reaction to this announcement well i think i echo a lot of what dance nests and that the nobel peace prize is not always for what has been achieved it is for what we hope can be achieved and this was a message of hope today that the double committee recognizing that we actually are on a bit of a downward spiral over nuclear weapons the north korean crisis threats to the possible nuclear deal to the nuclear deal with iran that was signed only two years ago tensions over the future of russian activity as well as existing large stockpiles that the u.s. house and of course the fact that israel continues to have under certain core weapons all of that is in play and i think that the committee sort of draws our attention to that but they do a second thing and they say that by recognizing i can't which is a civil society group they say what this just isn't a matter where yo

but professor scott lucas, we got the gist of what you we re lucas, we got the gist of what you weregainst the spanish police's behaviour at the weekend. pro—independence groups are calling for everyone in the state to stay away from work. more than 800 people we re away from work. more than 800 people were injured in the clashes that happened in voting in barcelona. barcelona's football team has confirmed its players will also strike. our correspondent gavin lee is in catalonia and september us this —— sent us this. is in catalonia and september us this -- sent us this. this is barcelona, the shops are shut, businesses are closed, public transport closed, the flag is ever y where. they're trying to make this city have a shut down for the day to support the independence movement and condemn the police violence. you can see ballot papers on the pavement. there are people of all ages and i have been talking to a few and they say, today if they can get a message to the government with their voice, with the signs, maybe they will get a response. the other thing that is notable is how app