>> what is the white house perspective on duterte? >> it is an opportunity for us to work with countries in that region that can help play a role in isolating north korea. duterter the past year, has overseen a bloody war on drugs that is left over 7000 people dead. while human rights groups have slammed duterte, president trump embraced him. we will speak with jeremy scahill of the intercept who kedt published a lea transferred where president trump says duterte is doing an unbelievable job on the drug program. we will speak also with glenn greenwald about how the media coverage of the manchester bombing victims should be a model for all young victims of war from yemen to afghanistan. plus, we will speak to toronto activist and journalist desmond cole. >> i think what was revealed is a certain naivete where we ignore very obvious problems of racial discrimination. we want to tell ourselves that it is not happening here and we especially want to tell ourselves we are not the united states of america. amy: up until recently, desmond co

so i think duterte does deserve a lot of responsibility.is popular in certain segments, in part because a lot of the people being killed come from poor, impoverished areas and they don't have strong advocates speaking out for them. but there is this concern it could spin out of control and create all sorts of problems. it it already has. 7,000, that is an extraordinary number in such a short period of time. >> brangham: apparently president trump did not clear this with the state department before issuing thoo this in-- invitation, is that unusual. >> the president of the united states, can basically do what he wants when it comes to invitations to the white housement but it it is a little unusual that this kind of invitation would not have been prepared ahead of time as part of his talking points. the reports indicate it came as a surprise not only to the state department but to some people on the national security council and the white house as well. >> brangham: do you think of this invitation as an endorsement? you described this as an

putin, el sisi, duterte now. he thinks he's creating, will get all the bad guys in the room at the same time and somehow cut a deal. that's his mentality. it's radically different than anything we've ever done and goes against the grain of the idealism of american policy, creates two policies, one is global where we're supposed to stand for something and one is in america where you can't sell foreign policy unless the people agree with it. americans happen to be pretty idealistic in our role of foreign affairs. >> duterte seemed to be saying he believes essentially in terms of north korea, maybe outweigh the need for the u.s. to make a public point about human rights issues inside the country. >> which is not something -- in all fairness, we looked the other way on a lot of people. i gasped when i heard it, i admit it. >> we looked the other way is, donald trump, if you want to give him credit for rough honesty here, i suppose maybe you can, under the surface of american foreign policy over the decades we've deal

duterte doesn't have influence. if the chinese president doesn't know kim jong-un, duterte, literally has no experience or pressure to put on north korea. >> i mean, admiral kirby, to christi christia christiane's point, it's not as if the philippines have traditionally played any role in the isolation of or impact on north korea. >> now, christiane 100% right. they have no throwway in northeast asia. what they have been able to help us with, what we hope they will continue, is with the tensions in the south china sea. we have a mutual security alliance with them, that dates back to 1951. they are relevant in that part of the world. they have no throw weight at all in northeast asia. i thought the argument that the call was about north korea and about building this international coalition was completely empty. there was nothing there. it was a missed opportunity for the president, if he's going to call duterte, to call him on the carpet for the human rights violations and make sure he understands, while we have a tr

talk about who duterte is. not just an abusive leader, he boasts of his crimes which is more than a lot of abusive regimes do. he boasts of killing people himself, and he has set off a wave of extra judicial killings in the names of counter narcotics, not just drug users and dealers but suspected drug users who turn out to be innocent people. the other thing we noticed when death squads are created in any country, philippines, brazil, whatever, they tend to morph into political death squads as well. we're starting to see a political dive to this violence with his political opponents targeted for threats and violence. >> as you know, the chief of staff reince priebus said this weekend that the motivation is that the u.s. needs duterte's help to try to rein in north korea. >> that's preposterous. china could be helpful in north korea and could you talk to certain regimes which have flaunted nonproliferation sanctions against north korea, like malaysia, nigeria or uganda. the philippines is not that important. the

why the white house is defending it, and will rodrigo duterte even show up? good morning and welcome to "early start." i'm christine romans. >> and i'm dave briggs. it is monday, may 1st, 5:00 a.m. in the east. >>> and breaking overnight, congressional negotiators from both parties reaching a deal on a huge spending bill that, if approved, will fund the government through the end of september. now, the deal includes several significant wins for democrats. it would add billions for the pentagon and border security, but nothing for president trump's promised wall along the mexican border. democrats rejected border wall spending as premature, since the president has not detailed plans for building the multibillion dollar barrier, which he has vowed mexico will at some point pay for. >> also, the bill has no money for a deportation force or federal cuts to sanctuary cities. there's no funding cut for planned parenthood. and there is a $2 billion increase for the national institutes of health. votes in the house and senate are expected by the end of the week. no r

could president duterte help the u.s. in dealing with north korea? >> president duterte could help the united states in dealing with north korea, but human rights are an absolutely fundamental part of america's values and america's interests, and to turn a blind eye to the sort of gross human rights violations that president duterte has been carrying out against his own people in the philippines doesn't in the bigger picture making us safer. standing by and embracing autocrats and dictators it is something that undermines our long-term national security. >> does meeting with a leader like duterte or others necessarily mean the u.s. is embracing all of their policies? >> not necessarily, wolf. that's why it's important to make that distinction. i'm not suggesting that we wall ourselves off from the world and refuse to make overtures or begin negotiations with countries like the philippines that have long been a united states ally but for the president himself issue the invitation and say he would be honored to meet with him while making no comments ab

duterte is an authoritarian bad guy on the world stage. as transaction al and pragmatic the president is, he has to remember the overall. the more he courts strongmen around the world is not good for freedom loving countries around the world. we cannot cast aside allies and rely on strongmen. i'm in the sure the president really understands this. if he is looking from one deal to the next. >> maggie, what is it with his seeming affinity of vladimir putin or said compliment s or nice things of kim jong un. the president wants credit for what others could not get? >> i think it is yes to all of the above . what you said is a key part of it. they will not do what the obama white house did. you can debate if that is wise or not. that is their approach. some is strategic. we saw this throughout the campaign. the president has a predelection. he doesn't use that for good or bad purposes. he praised and insisted he did not, saddam hussein, at one point. for saying he killed terrorists. he was considered a state sponsor of terrorism. i think you a

mr trump also extended an invitation to rodrigo duterte of the philippines, but rodrigo duterte isn'the will be able to make it. also coming up in the programme. her designs are seen as some of the most influential in fashion history. the netball in new york celebrates her work. and the faces of war. the exhibition which focuses in on us soldiers who fought in iraq and afghanistan. glad you could join us. it is 7am in singapore, midnight in london, and 7pm in washington, where president trump has roped in global diplomatic norms by saying he would be open to meeting with north korean leader kim jong—un. the president said he would be honoured to meet mr kim under the right circumstances. that may worry america's allies. japan has just sent its biggest warship to protect a navy supply vessel, a historic first for tokyo. a short time ago mr trump spoke of the danger posed by north korea to the region and beyond. i can say this. he is very threatening, he is a big threat to the world. how safe our troops in the world. how safe our troops in the demilitarised zone, and our ally in south k

trump risks giving duterte's actions an american stamp of approval.president defended his position, saying in bloomberg news, he is popular if the philippines, he has a approval rating in the fiif ilthe philippines. >> it is an opportunity for us to work with regions who can play a role in diplomatically and isolating north korea. >> it is an affinity for strong men. >> it is great to be with the president of egypt. >> from inviting the president >>> that was jeff zeleny reporting for us, our senior white house correspondent. let's get back to our panel, chris, why would the president of the united states extend an invitation to duterte to come to the white house, given this record that he has, killing his own people? >> 7,000 people, according to human rights watch killed in this >> the short answer is, wolf, i don't know why he would do this. the slightly longer answercy think that donald trump revels in of the way things are traditionally done. he likes -- in the same interview where he is praising kim jong-un, he says and that is breaking news. he

they were surprised by the invitation that the president extended to duterte. it's been reported that duterte has made comments he's not sure if he has time to meet with mr. donald trump. but they will be able to meet later on this year in the philippines, but it's worth repeating and pointing out to our viewer, duterte and kim jong-un are not the only leaders he's been praising, he's been praising president xi of china and he's been reported as saying flattering things about vladimir putin. >> joining us now is our panel. christiane, it's one thing to be saying you would be open to meeting kim jong-un, or duterte, they're different lieaders, but kim jong-un, to argue that he's brought his country forward, there's argument that he's brought his country backwards. >> to be honest with you, ever since kim jong-un came to power, which is five years ago, almost to this last week or so, he's managed to cement himself in power with almost unprecedented violence. there's the famous story of how he potentially with a aaa anti-aircraft gun mowed down the military chief,

he's covered duterte closely. the white house is justifying this, saying it needs the philippines on north korea. is that true? >> reporter: i don't think the philippines has much economic or political leverage when it comes to the regime in pyongyang. it could be a help in the south china sea in the territorial dispute with china, but not when it comes to nuclear weapons and north korea. and south china sea was not discussed according to the white house readout and the philippines president's readout of this discussion. what was discussed in addition to north korea was president duterte's controversial and very deadly war on drugs, which by some press accounts has resulted in the deaths of more than 7,000 people in the philippines in his first ten months in office. and by some accounts, the police themselves have killed more than 2,500 drug offenders, suspected drug offenders, all, the police claim, in self-defense. that is why, and then if you add the fact that duterte himself is a self-confessed killer, that's

mr trump has invited mr duterte to visit the white house.fficials say they also talked about the threat posed by north korea. ‘facebook must pay to police the internet‘. that's also in the daily telegraph, which has a uk parliamentary committee criticising social media firms for how they address offensive online material. the committee looks at fines for companies that don't censor illegal posts quickly. and it's a case of writer's block in la la land, in the financial times. hollywood is bracing for a possible writers‘ strike, as they seek a new deal with big studios. the last strike, in 2008, cost the california economy an estimated $2.5 billion. so, let's delve into those stories. we have nina with us from the wall streetjournal. let's start with this final week of campaigning in france. there is danger that some people are being turned off by both candidates. which is, i guess, a striking development to see that in the end you could see candidates not making votes with young voters on both sides. we have seen marine le pen being attracti

president trump invited rodrigo duterte on saturday after a phone call between the two.e un says mr trump must bring up alleged human rights abuses in the philippines if the visit goes ahead. we don't have sufficient data on the patterns of the violations, and clearly — and the numbers suggest that there is orchestration — if there is planning and organisation, clear planning and organisation, that threshold may be breached. but we are not in a position to say. we have warned the government of the philippines against undertaking these sorts of measures, what amounts to seemingly extrajudicial killings. also making news today, thousands of demonstrators have in taking part in may day protest in the united states. including this major rally in los angeles. thousands took part, criticising president trump's executive orders on immigration. demonstrations also took place in pennsylvania, wisconsin, and minnesota. meanwhile skirmishes broke out in venezuela, where may day protests there turned violent. it follows a month of unrest which has led to the deaths of almost 30 peop

duterte has taken a page out of the 1980's u.s.rug war in that he is using drugs to separate people. the issue of drugs to separate the poor people from the people who have means. and he is allowing or providing the environment so people could kill, as you pointed out, kill people who are engaged in drug use and drug trafficking. and people are afraid to speak out against this wrong because duterte has no qualms about having people's lives be threatened. i discovered people are being $100. for his little as it ranges from about $100 to $500 to have someone killed. actually, i love the philippines early because my life was threatened because of me speaking out against what duterte was saying about drugs and what he is doing. so we have it that in the united states, but the philippines -- i've never seen anything like the philippines. amy: professor, explain more what happened to you and your response to president trump, to the shock of many, inviting the philippines president duterte to the white house. >> i gave a talk basically sa

duterte have it both ways?e of the government he desires and at the same time, can he get back to a strong philippine peso? peso has sortine of been -- it has been up and down and hard to predict. on the one hand, on some days, the media would say and observers would say this is the worst-performing currency in asia. the next week, it is the best-performing currency. external factors. a lot of things happening in the united states. it is for us economic direction is concerned, if you look at the surveys, one thing that is very there is a slight erosion in his popular support in the lower segment of the income brackets will stop at the same time, there is an uptick in the abc crowd, the upper to middle income class, investors and entrepreneurs. a lot of that is contributed to the fact the businessman in her together seem to be getting consortium both how this government works -- comfortable with how this government works. the economic managers are pretty much given their own platforms to address the business hum

duterte has indicated he may not even come because he is just so busy. a erin? >> all right, no shocking part about the whole story. here is the reality, they're struggline struggling. you saw sean spicer, and reince priebus struggling to explain the president's comments on korea and duterte. they're put in an incredible situation here. they have to defend their boss. >> you spin, erin, and that is exactly what is going on here. i mean, you look at the leader, the philippines leader who is accused of so many human rights violations. but the white house's take on this is basically look, this is someone who may be able to help at the ends of the day when it comes to the conflict in north korea. strategically the philippines is important for a number of reasons in terms of military aspects, again, important for a number of reasons. but when the administration was pressed on this a little earlier today the real question was why these seemingly friendly outward gestures whether it is the leader of the philippines, turkey or kim jong-un, and sean spicer asked about th

>> his genocidal acts -- what is duterte, what is someone else? they could see trump's words and even action like inviting duterte to the white house as a permission to go on with what they've been doing. it's kind of legitimacy. and trump doesn't understand he's carrying all the power. defending freedom of the press, defending human rights, he could have one effect. ignoring it completely, first time leaders in the world to move on with their agenda. >> we've been reporting that the president will have a conversation with vladimir putin tomorrow as a russian dissident. what do you think of their relationship? >> look, we know that while trump criticize almost everybody in the world, never said a negative word about vladimir putin, even at a time when nikki haley and other officials harshly criticized russia for its support of assad in syria. trump was always silent. always positive about vladimir putin. i don't know what the substance of this conversation tomorrow but i'm afraid russian propaganda will use it again to demonstrate putin is still v

in a conversation about north korea, trump gave duterte military secrets when he said: come on!tleship" player. "okay, you'll never guess where my beautiful submarine is, unless you guess b-2, because that's where i put it, 2 through 5. ( cheers and applause ) plus-- plus, why did you put our subs in the waters off north korea? that's the one place we know they can hit with their missiles! but since the only way we seem to get any information out of donald trump these days is via conversations with dictators, i i have a favor to act of robert mugabe. can you call up trump up and ask him for his tax returns? we'll be right back with robin wright. e here. i miss home. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ tango! for the guy who finds a way. always unstoppable. but when we brought our daughter home, that was it. now i have nicoderm cq. the nicoderm cq patch with unique extended release technology helps prevent your urge to smoke all day. it's the best thing that ever happened to me. every great why needs a great how. are you still trying to perthat's like serena...er? trying to perform with an old racket. ahhhh

duterte says it could go on for a year. the white house thursday, a statement of solidarity and a promise the u.s. will continue to provide support and assistance to philippine counter-terrorism efforts. will ripley, cnn. >>> all righty, then. let's move on to the weather, shall we? sri lanka experiencing flooding monsoon rains. >> there are several areas receiving flooding, and across the u.s. as well. we are following a flash flood situation in branson, missouri. we're going to go to some of the damage. this is part of a larger storm system that spawned off tornados as well. currently, there are three missing from this flooding in missouri. this is in southwestern sections of the state. the city experienced significant rainfall in the overnight period and it forced dozens of water rescues within the city. in fact, lake taneycomo has risen. and check this out. this is the latest warnins across the state. here's missouri, just south of springfield, that's the area we're focussing our attention on now. that is an area that h

chris, you got two fronts here, you got duterte in the philippines, the idea of brings him to the white house, question of honoring somebody with a record like his with that kind of recognition but also the use of the word, honor, "i would be honored to meet with kim jong-un." is there a strategic calculation behind either one of these moves from the white house's standpoint? >> reporter: well, they say there is, they say that this is about making sure that the korean peninsula stays stable, that only under certain circumstances, for example, would kim jong-un be invited here and it would be toward that end, but obviously, when you say you would be honored for someone who is a brutal dictator, someone who no american president has ever met with a leader of that country, obviously, it's going to raise a lot of concerns. now, sean spicer was pressed on that a lot, and in a way, the president gave himself kind of an out because he said, and i'm going to quote him here, "most political people would never say that," what he said about kim jong-un, but i'm telling you under the right circumst

but mr duterte may turn down the invite.e says he can't make a commitment because of what he called a busy schedule. and this video is trending on bbc.com: at least 27 people were injured after a passenger flight from moscow to bangkok experienced severe turbulence. several passengers suffered broken bones. that's all from me now. stay with bbc world news. now on bbc news, it is time for hardtalk. slobodan milosevic is in the hague, facing the most serious charge on the planet — genocide. here in belgrade, his wife protests his innocence. who does she think was responsible for the thousands of forced deportations and the mass murders, and does she expect her husband one day to come home? mira markovic, welcome to the programme. when you saw your husband recently, in the hague, and you celebrated his birthday, did you tell him that everything was going to be ok in the end? what did you tell him? has he accepted his fate? whatever the international criminal court decides it to be, will he accept it? but he is going to be tried

in asia and duterte's controversial crackdown on illegal drugs. since duterte took office ten months ago, thousands of suspected drug dealers and users have been murdered in extra- judicial killings. a duterte spokesman said mister trump wants to develop a, "warm, working relationship." the white house described the call as "very friendly." no date is set for the visit. in canton, texas, 50 miles east of dallas, search teams today combed through the ruins of homes destroyed by tornadoes. the severe storms yesterday killed at least five people and injured more than 50 residents. the mayor called the damage" heartbreaking" and said the town was caught in a path of destruction 35 miles long and 15 miles wide. shortly after president trump took office, immigration and customs enforcement, known as" ice," began arresting hundreds of immigrants in very visible raids across the united states. but as internal ice documents obtained first by "the washington post" show, half of those detained had either no criminal record or traffic convictions. joining me

duterte says it could go on for a year. the white house, a statement of solidarity and a promise the u.s. will continue to provide support and assistance to counter terrorism efforts. will ripley, cnn. >>> barack obama enjoyed a royal welcome from britain's prince harry. the two spent time together at kensington palace saturday during president obama's latest stop in europe. the british royal and the former president talked about support for veterans and mental health, causes that both men support. mr. obama also offered his condolences to the victims and the survivors of the manchester terror attack. >> before his stop in london, the former president took in a round of golf in scotland to a huge crowd with angela merkel in berlin. >>> two men killed as they tried to calm down a man allegedly shouting racist slurs. why eyewitnesses are calling them heroes. >>> plus racist rants caught on camera. why more people are recording the incidents and posting them online, just like this one right here. you'll hear it in a moment. if

philippine president rodrigo duterte has opted to court china for its business and investment and to over sovereignty that dogged his predecessors. china and southeast asian countries agreed on thursday to a framework for a long—mooted code of conduct for the disputed south china sea. the paracel and spratly islands are claimed by six nations. a professor of international relations at the university of the philippines told me who he thought held the upper hand in the talks. i think both will have a very good chance at negotiating what will eventually be the code of conduct. it appears to me that the philippines is very much determined, under the administration of president duterte, to find a peaceful solution. but finding a peaceful solution, would this mean having a joint exploration of the disputed islands? well, the deals in october definitely included joint exploration and trade, which we are enjoying robust relationship with china. what i think duterte would like there, and what the philippine ambassador would like, is to be able to provide the ground through which a code of con

onto roderigo due are today. —— duterte. just back from a visit with vladimir putin. at home. what is threatening to impose, which don't think you legally can do. he's talking about the state of emergency just in one territory of the philippines. this demonstrates, just as we were talking about manchester, the threat from islamic state is all pervasive and everywhere. the reaction to duterte in the west doing this, even a few weeks ago, is recalibrated as a result of what has happened in manchester. the global terrorist threat is there for all to see. a policeman has been beheaded apparently in this southern ireland. he is taking the view that he has to act. and just looking at the praise and the words of support from donald trump and vladimir putin, this is a man who has his own human rights record. it is pretty disastrous. being actually flattered by these world leaders. human rights watches of wa nt world leaders. human rights watches of want of a better expression will keep the eyes on this. an appalling event. extending martial law across the philippines, trying

during the call, trump also boasted to duterte that the us -- the u.s. has two nuclear submarines off the coast of north korea, though trtrump addd "not t that we w want to use tht all." in news on iraq, the u.s.-backed iraqi military is opening an ininvestigation intoto a allegas of human rights violations committed by its troops fighting isis in mosul. an iraqi photographer who embedded with an elite unit of the iraqi military has accused the forces of torturing and raping isis suspects in an article published by the germany newspaper der spiegel. this comes as airwars says airstrikes carried out by the u.s. or iraqi air force reportedly killed dozens of civilians in the shifa neighborhood of mosul on sunday and monday. and a newly declassified pentagon audit had revealed that the u.s. army has failed to keep track of more than $1 billion worth of weapons and military equipment, including tens of thousands of assault rifles and hundreds of armored vehicles, in iraq and kuwait. amnesty international, who obtained the pentagon report, said -- "it makes f

but mr duterte may turn down the invite, he says he can't make a commitment because of what he called busy schedule. and this video is trending on bbc.com. at least 27 people were injured when a passenger flight from moscow to bangkok experienced severe turbulence. several passengers suffered broken bones. the airline, aero—flot, said the turbulence happened in clear skies, which meant they weren't able to warn passengers. that's all from me for now. stay with bbc world news. and the top story here in the uk: the detective leading the investigation into the fatal shooting of a businessman at his home in dorset, says it doesn't appear to have been a random attack. at least two suspects are being hunted. now on bbc news, all the latest business news live from singapore. the us federal reserve is set for its next meeting. what can be expected from the central bank? nailed it. how one of singapore's entrepreneurs set up a business empire. good morning, asia. hello, world. welcome to another edition of asia business report. i'm rico hizon. it's a tuesday. glad you could join us. we start o

president trump invited duterte to the white house. this is all of a piece and he called president erdogan on his recent power grab and said kind words for vladimir putin and called the despots who caused the tiananmen square massacre as strong. ronald reagan once noted how our declaration of independence, especially the notion that each and every individual is endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights. that's a beacon to the world. rage owen said our creed as americans is the human rights are the property of every man, woman and child on this planet and that a violation of human rights anywhere is the business of free people everywhere, unquote. whatever happened to that? the president's praise of dictators and their, quote, strength precedes his presidency but his recent expression of desire for more power seem rooted in his recent frustration over the health care bill. in an interview the president is mandating that pre-existing conditions be covered in their new reform effort. the only problem that does not appear to b

another thing that presidents duterte and trump discussed was duterte's controversial drug war, in which he is believed to have ordered a crackdown that has led to the deaths of more than 7,000 people. the police in the philippines have killed more than 2,500 suspected drug users, all they claim in self-defense, and that is part of what has human rights activists and of course democrats criticizing the invitation of this self-confessed criminal, and killer, rather to the white house. look at this tweet from senator chris murphy from connecticut, "we are watching in real time as the american human rights bully pulpit disintegrates into ash." of course, duterte famously cursed former president barack obama, but he seems to have an affinity for president trump. he said "we both like to swear. away.ittle thing, we curse right we are the same." he called former president obama a son of a whore. poppy? >> ivan watson, this affinity as you reported on for a long time seemingly for strong men leaders. ivan watson thank you. >>> on the issue of north korea, the president is leaving the door open

president trump has faced criticism for inviting rogrigo duterte to the white house.s activists say duterte's crackdown on drugs has killed his own thousands people. he has made public death threats against drug suspects. rich edson has more. >> even as the united states continues to try to work with the philippine government on a host of issues in east asia, u.s. officials stress problems with president duterte's prosecution of a drug war in that country that has killed thousands of people. the state department official says that "we've discussed our concerns with the drug war on multiple occasions. a corrective relation ship with the government philippines is crucial." officials in the white house say the primary reason that the united states wants a better relationship and the potential for that meeting with president duterte and president trump here at the white house is the primary urgent issue according to the white house and in that region and in that part of the world, north korea. >> jon: and there's bipartisan criticism at the white house? >> critics say wha

what's the white house's perspective on duterte? >> i think it is an opportunity for us to work with countries in that region that can help play a role in diplomatically isolating north korea. the interest of the united states, the safety of people in the region are the number one priorities of the president. mike? >> i want to ask you about tax deductions. the white house has talked a little bit about that as a way to curb big tax breaks for the rich. are you looking to any other policy changes when it comes to limiting breaks for the top 1%? >> we're at the beginning of this process, but i think you saw from the briefing i was giving you the other day, the focus on this is really lower and middle income americans. it means a family of four -- right now they're getting a $24,000 deduction, which means in a lot of cases you're going to see a family pay zero cases at the lower end of the economic scale. that's really a big deal for them to help put more money back into their pocket and take care of their family. >> on health care, th

so is duterte. is a guy responsible for 7,000 deaths in the philippines in this rabid counter-drug operation he continues to conduct. there's a difference between strength and brutality. all presidents have had to talk to dictators and tyrants. fdr, stalin, khruschev to the white house. president obama opened up diplomatic relations with cuba, that meant talking to raul castro. we have to do these things. you control the timing. you control the circumstances. that's what makes for legitimate diplomatic relations with a strongman you don't necessarily want to deal w elevating that strong man to a position of legitimacy they don't deserve. right now duterte does not deserve a meeting in the "people" house, the white house. >> fair point. ironically duterte said he's too busy, doesn't think he'll be able to come, interesting insight into his head. tony blinken, this isn't the first time trump folk and his supporters will say you guys are getting on trump for very little reason. this is how we deal with

dedicated to duterte, why he commands must respect at home despite his controversial policy. and the japanese princess giving up her royal status for love. live from oui’ her royal status for love. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc news — it is newsday. hello, everyone. it is 7am in singapore, midnight in london and 7pm in washington dc where a special prosecutor has been appointed to lead investigations into russian interference in last year's residential election. he is robert mueller, serving as fbi chief in 2001- 2013, and the mueller, serving as fbi chief in 2001— 2013, and the news comes as donald trump is accused of trying to getjames donald trump is accused of trying to get james comey and, donald trump is accused of trying to getjames comey and, another former head of the fbi, to drop a probe into link between his former national security adviser and the russians. for the latest, let's ci’oss russians. for the latest, let's cross over russians. for the latest, let's cross over to washington, and the bbc‘s laura bicker. how is this appointment

. >> and he has -- he had what aids are calling a very friendly phone call with rogrigo duterte, the president of the philippines. >> the philippines is a long-standing ally, but duterte was elected just last june, but since then has been perpetrating campaign of extrajudicial killings against folks in the philippines who are believed to be connected to the drug trade, drug users in the philippines. while the philippines is a long-standing ally, duterte is highly controversial because of his dismal rights record. and the fact that president trump invited him to the white house does appear to countenance duterte's behavior. >> tell me about the significance. we have figured out the relationship with south korea and the dangers of north korea. tell me about the significance of a closer or colder relationship with the philippines? >> well, the philippines has traditionally been the lynch pin of the u.s. strategy in the south china sea. during the obama administration, the president and his top aides negotiated rotational base access in the philippines so that the united states could hav

] now, duterte has since claimed he was joking.eless despite his dismal human rights record, the white house issued a statement saying, trump and duterte had a very friendly conversation and the president trump invited president duterte to the white house. so if you're a journalist covering the white house when duterte visits and hear donald trump say this -- >> let's give them a helicopter ride, okay? [ light laughter ] >> seth: run! [ laughter and applause ] so to recap a president who's in over his head is fighting with the media, remising about his election night victory, inviting authoritarian rulers to the white house and also, maybe doesn't know why the civil war happened. donald, do you still stand by your claim that the presidency would be easy. >> i don't stand by anything. [ light laughter ] >> seth: this has been "a closer look." ♪ [ cheers and applause ] we'll be right back with more "late night," everybody. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ ugh, no bars. oh no, looks like somebody needs a new network. when i got this unlimite

talking about kim jong-un and an invitation to duterte. let's listen to a little bit about what some of the conversation has been around this. take a listen. >> if it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, i would absolutely -- i would be honored to do it. >> and that was what killed a lot of people, right, to say that he would be honored to do it. people expect donald trump to be unconventional, yamiche, in his style. yet, in these cases, there is not just a domestic political audience as he had largely within the campaign but he has an international audience that wonder what he is thinking about this. >> i wonder in some ways as he is making these comments it does go back to the fact like what can this person do for me and how will this person reflect on me? are they saying things that make me feel that they respect me as an american and respect me as a leader. you go back to the point of he likes the idea of strong people. i don't know if he -- in some ways at least when i talk to republicans, i don't know if they really weigh wh

some of the critics of the duterte administration, including our very own commission on human rights,edia, changed the definition of extra—judicial killings, therefore deceiving the public and foreign media into believing that there is a sudden wave of state—sponsored extra—judicial killings in the philippines. also making news today: french president—elect emmanuel macron is continuing to form a new government, which will begin work once he is sworn in on sunday. his political movement will alter its name as it focuses on winning a parliamentary majority next month. meanwhile world leaders continue to give their reaction to his election. the german leader angela merkel says she is delighted at his success. translation: emmanuel macron carries the hopes of millions in front and across europe. he led a courageous, pro— european campaign and stands for openness to the world. an appeals court in austria has ordered that facebook must remove hate postings, in a ruling that is set to have international implications. it follows a case brought by the country's green party, which sought to bl