9. trial of u.s. president donald trump past begun with senate republicans blocking democratic attempts to obtain documents and evidence in a bitter debate over proposed rules democrats accuse republicans of a cover up trump is charged with abuse of power and obstruction of justice sheer brutality reports on a longer opening day stretching well into the night. founders trusted the senate to rise above short term passions at the last moment senate majority leader mitch mcconnell altered his proposed rules for the impeachment trial gome was the possibility that the evidence collected during the various house inquiries might not be entered into evidence in the senate trial of the democratic party house managers and white house lawyers would now have 3 days and not 2 to make their opening statements that left the issue of witnesses and documents house democrats argue that they were withheld in the course of their inquiries into whether donald trump was withholding congressionally mandated military aid for ukraine in return for an investigation into former vice president joe biden and that these must be produced in the senate trials a leader mcconnell wants a trial with no existing evidence and no new evidence a trial without evidence is not a trial it's a cover up the white house argues that the request for more evidence proves the democrats don't have a strong case against the president they said in their brief we have overwhelming evidence and they're afraid to make their case think about it think about it it's common sense overwhelming evidence. to impeach the president of the united states and then they come here on the 1st day and they say you know what we need some more evidence the white house also argues that the documents and witnesses are privileged in order to shape foreign policy the president must be able to have private deliberations with advisors and that's an argument rejected by the democrats make the argument that the president's conduct here was was was conduct that every president should be allowed to engage in and i think that most americans don't believe that mr chief justice i yield back the democrats failed to pass their amendments on the mcconnell's rules though they will be another chance to debate the need for more witnesses and documents but only after opening arguments and the cross-examination of the house managers and white house lawyers he just watch donald trump was reported to be monitoring proceedings while attending the world economic forum in switzerland his position remains unchanged that was a hoax let's just dip into the senate debate at the moment they are close to baiting whether john bolton a very close adviser to president trump should also appear chairing the trial speaking at the moment to subpoena john bolton i am struck by what we have heard from the president's counsel so far tonight they complain about process but they do not seriously contest any of the allegations against the president they insist that the president has done nothing wrong but they refuse to allow the evidence and hear from the witnesses they will not permit the american people to hear from the witnesses and they lie and lie and lie and lie for example for months president trump has repeatedly complained that the house deny them the right to work quote witnesses to cross-examine witnesses and so forth you heard mr simple only repeat this like today when i have with me. the letter that i sent as chairman of house judiciary committee last november 26th inviting the president and his counsel to attend our hearings to cross-examine the witnesses to quote witnesses of his own and so forth and i have the letter the white house letter signed by mr simple loney rejecting that offer we should expect at least a little regard from the truth from the white house but that is apparently too much to expect. ladies and gentlemen this is a trial as a try at a trial the lawyers present evidence the american people know that most 10 year olds know that if you blow block if you vote to block this witness or any of the evidence that should be presented here it can only be because you do not want the american people to hear the evidence that you do not want a fair trial and that you are complicit in president trump's efforts to hide his misconduct and hide the truth from you from the american people bassett or bolton was appointed by president trump he has stated his willingness to testify in this trial he is prepared to testify he says that he has relevant evidence not yet disclosed to the public so this is a list speaking of that let's cross over to see other times he's also been listening in and we wonder whether the american public were ready for these hearings this debate to be rolling all into the early hours of wednesday morning. right there there's a sort of weird group think that's taken hold amongst many here on capitol hill after midnight. that this might be the final amendments of the democrats introduce the the request to subpoena what might be their star witness if witnesses are allowed john bolton the former national security adviser to donald trump who has said he has information that hasn't been already imparted about the white house's dealings with ukraine and is reported to have called rudolph giuliani and others interactions with that image of the ukrainian president and what they were up to a drug deal he said he did want to be any part of it what democrats ought to do is really hear what what what what was your impression of what was going on of course is john bolton he's a very controversial figure he's a person who knows how to get lots of public p.r. exposure and so on he has a book coming out in 20 twentieth's it was actually said that he was reluctant to initially speak to the democrats because he was saving it all through the book which he hopes is going to be a bestseller it's clear that the white house doesn't want to speak in the last few days we've heard reports from the washington post that they are beginning to wonder well maybe what if no other witnesses but john bolton some republicans have also said mitt romney for example said he wants to hear from john bolton what if this does happen that sort of makes hatching plans as to where perhaps he could he could testify in private and confidential circumstances because of what he has to say has an impact on national security so the white house is even preparing preparing for the possibility of him testifying even though certainly from what we've heard today from the democrats is they don't think that they certainly have the votes yet when a vote is taken next week on bringing in witnesses next documents they don't think they necessarily have the 4 republican votes they need in order to get witnesses to stop testifying in the impeachment in the impeachment trial so what we saw today then was the salute the long list of amendments. but it felt like a publicist because he has 2 hours of debates potentially where they're saying that saying that these are the specific people we want we're mick mulvaney of the acting chief of staff we want to white house aides we want john bolton and then they go into enormous amounts of detail as to why they want them and similarly with the documents they want from the white house the state department the office of management and budget the pentagon and then they go into detail as to why they want it and then the the goal seems to be that even if the democrats don't have the votes next week when this will officially be discussed in a kind of blanket debate about whether to introduce more witnesses and documents they've already got all the information out there in the public sphere on the record if people are interested and they were interested in having their minds changed where they already have a very good idea of why the democrats want bolton why they want more veiny why they want information the state department they've actually got into so much detail that perhaps you're always don't need to when this is what we start baby what the democrats hope global continue to monitor that detail with you from capitol hill in the days ahead thanks here. the u.s. president is half a world away at the world economic forum in davos but he's delivered an upbeat address telling the gathering of political and business elite that america was experiencing an economic boom like never before our diplomatic editor james bays. on the day of the start of his trial for a peach but this was the davon version president trump on the world stage in a place surrounded by business leaders where his advisors knew he would look presidential it's clear from his recent comments and his posts on twitter that the us leader is obsessed with impeachment but this was a speech over half an hour long in which the i word wasn't mentioned once that i am proud to wear that the united states is in the midst of an economic boom the likes of which the world has never seen before. we've regained our stride. rediscovered our spirit in reawakened the powerful machinery of american enterprise america is thriving america is flourishing and yes america is winning again like never before. many of the world leaders who were in the room know how much now depends on the u.s. electorate this could be troublesome last starforce but they're preparing to for the possibility of a 2nd term this is a global forum dealing with global issues and so we have more and more conflicts breaking out across the world that need everybody around the table to solve them and we need the united states as part of that conversation and the united states needs an effective state department needs an effective diplomatic corps and soft diplomacy as well in order to be a true partner and i think people are genuinely worried that this is a place where donald trump feels comfortable he was never invited to speak at davos as the head of the trump organization now he feels part of this elite club as the u.s. president his advisors cleverly using this as a backdrop for a speech to a domestic audience james bows out 0 doubles lebanon has a new government after hezbollah and its allies reached a deal ending 3 months of political deadlock hasn't been signed off on 20 new cabinet ministers after meeting with prime minister. but the announcement has angered protesters are reports now from beirut. lebanon's new prime minister has sunday has finalized his cabinet lineup it took weeks of political horse trading even though those who are fighting over seats are allies and part of the ruling alliance jab's critics call him a pawn of the political elite but addressing the nation he tried to defend his cabinet at a time of mass protests over lebanon's worst economic crisis in decades was a family party to him we will endeavor to answer that demands to ensure that we have an independent judiciary to bring back stolen money to fight corruption to protect the poor of social classes from high taxation to tackle an employment and to put in place a new electoral law that brings everyone together under one national identity that the street has asked for the use of the government announcement brought protesters who have been demanding a new leadership back onto the streets they gathered in central beirut the epicenter of a 3 month old movement to topple the political class they accuse of mismanagement and corruption protestors disputed insistence that the 20 ministers who are specialists with no political loyalties i'm here because i don't trust this new government that's going to be formed because it came from the people who have been in charge for the past 30 years and in bad doesn't bring good and bad only brings bad. the. government has also been criticized for being controlled by the iranian backed hezbollah and for being one sided political opponents of the ruling alliance including outgoing prime minister saddle heidi refused to join the government. they're just playing the same hope that the plagued 100 days ago was sold as a form of the just stopping us in the face or laughing at us to like who are those people and what are they doing on the streets the government faces many challenges in the midst of an unprecedented nationwide terror. uprising deb's government is expected to receive the vote of confidence in parliament but it is the support of international investors and donors that lebanon needs to get out of the economic and financial crisis the last time created international support group for lebanon met in december it made no financial pledges and instead called for a credible government that listens to public opinion expressed in the ongoing popular uprising. 2 for weeks many lebanese have been struggling to make their voices heard yes seen told the security forces protecting parliament building that the steel and concrete barriers won't be able to protect those in power was i'm here to demonstrate against the corrupt regime that has been. writing this country for 30 years or more they were the only words that have killed each other and the sex groups to kill each other. there is determination to continue their struggle or what people here coal the revolution but the government announcement on tuesday sent a clear message that the established parties are still in power lebanon's crisis is not over center for the beirut. all still out here all al-jazeera appealing against the citizenship blow in india supreme court judges get ready to hear the 1st complaints. well that's been credited with creating the cia's post 911 torture program says do it again. hello the weather conditions across northern sections of the middle east we've got plenty of rain on the way the cloud gives you an idea of where the worst of the weather will be and show enough history these eastern sections of iraq as they go through wednesday some very heavy amounts of rain so very wet and baghdad just 921 and of course once it pushes into those higher elevations it will turn over to snow now by thursday that tends to disappear but it does push further southward said the southern sections of iran where of course it has some fairly recent flooding that could just exacerbate the problem because we have all some very saturated ground and also those shells working their way south is through the gulf so some showers likely across into doha just 21 celsius and a cold day in riyadh it just 17 degrees but the really heavy rain this is further to the south across madagascar we have got a very intense area of low pressure just sitting in the mozambique channel picking up lots of energy lots of rain and just literally continuing to dump it down so we could continue to see more and more at least half a meter this is as we go through the next $2.00 to $3.00 days meanwhile got a few showers if you will southern eastern areas of south africa one is that in the forecast on thursday that scattered showers really from on go the east was right across into my zombie. the. big stories generated thousands of headlines the media angles in this story are too numerous for comfort with different angles from different perspectives things never really being believed. muddying the water even separate the spin from the facts the misinformation from the genocide the said was clear and sounds to me and here this link with the listening post on out 0. welcome back you're watching on to 0 with me said robin a reminder of our top stories the republican controlled u.s. senate has blocked democratic efforts to obtain evidence and call some witnesses in president donald trump's impeachment trial democrats say republicans are covering up proof that trump abused his powers also lebanon has a new government with prime minister has on a cabinet of specialists and academics backed by hezbollah and its allies which has angered protesters who want ministers without political loyalties. china's health ministry has confirmed there are now 9 deaths and more than $400.00 cases of a new respect to treat illness it's warning the corona virus could mutate and spread further the government is warning people in the city of will hand to limit travel as millions across china are prepared to travel for the lunar new year celebrations when. we advise everyone not to go to war and we advise 100 and not to leave the city and later do special circumstances this will help reduce the flow of people and the risk of transmission and we've already strengthened monitory and prevention mechanisms in provinces where they are confirmed cases brown is in hong kong he says china's government has been transparent in handling the virus. and he listened then to leave him the vice minister for china's health commission he almost seemed to be saying that they're going to order a virtual lockdown and of course there's no doubt that of china's communist party puts its mind to it it could lock down a large swathes of the country if it felt it was necessary now president xi jinping has said that the health and safety of the people is absolutely paramount right now and he's also been urging his officials to ensure they maintain transparency another senior communist party official on monday night said that if any official was found to be withholding any sort of information related to this virus then they would in his words be nailed to the pillar of shame for attorneys so the message coming out from china's governments is that it wants to appear to be transparent it doesn't want to be embarrassed in the way that it will 17 years ago during the sars epidemic when it sat on information for several months and remember almost 800 people died during that epidemic so the government is maintaining a position of transparency it's saying that it's inviting foreign health officials to come to him including officials from the world whole for health organization. supreme court judges in india are preparing to hear the 1st appeals against a new citizenship law that gives persecuted minorities from 3 neighboring countries the right to apply for citizenship but not if they're muslim as i found out that's provoked weeks of protests calling the legislation discriminatory and unconstitutional. from east to west from north to south india has seen protests big and small many extremely noisy. indians have come out in large numbers angry at the law passed last month granting citizenship to people from persecuted religious minorities from neighboring countries but not if they're muslim opposition politicians civil society activists young and old and many students have been at the forefront of the peaceful demonstrations have turned violent in states mainly controlled by the ruling b j p party of prime minister. police have been blamed for numerous deaths and injuries. in order pradesh the death of this young restaurant worker walking home after a shift caused outrage and prompted an investigation into police violence. protests have taken various forms. in song and the art of these creative minds gather to explain how they feel about the events of the past few weeks to indian history that as india it's not necessarily this or that community or caste or religion. i just stick together. in calcutta opposition politicians have made their position clear. regardless of religion they say the reality of the national register of citizens the n.r.c. and the citizenship amendment bill the c.a.v. is becoming clearer thanks toward the end we had a dungeon games and in those did engine 60 percent of people in those would engine games were bengali hindus so it is in by a story about an odyssey and is not really been sent to get all it affects everybody it affects him in citizens. prime minister narendra modi is clear about what the citizenship law is marble are bigger than the muslims who were born on indian soil or whose ancestors are children of mother india they have nothing to do with the citizenship law or the national register of citizens neither are the muslims being sent to any detention centers nor are there any detention centers brothers and sisters this is a white lie. and it's here at india's supreme court that the final decision will be made the chief justice of india will hear almost 60 partitions objecting to this the citizenship law the government will get his chance to explain the details of the legislation and then we expect to hear long and lengthy argument the debate will center around whether the law is discriminatory or whether it's fails to live up to the spirit of india's secular democratic constitution. until a verdict is announced millions whose indian identity and their right to live here is being questioned will continue to fear for their future so hold raman al-jazeera you delhi boeing's troubles 737 max fleet will remain grounded until worldwide until june 3 months later than expected and the company has struggled to convince regulators that the plane's a safe after 2 crashes killed 346 people boeing's been updating software computers and pilot training for the plane since it was grounded last march 1 of 2 psychologists credited with creating the cia's post $911.00 torture program testified at guantanamo bay on choose day. reports from guantanamo jim mitchell defended his controversial role in the program as a matter of moral courage when jim mitchell was a contract psychologist for the cia he waterboard khalid shaikh muhammad 183 times on tuesday with muhammad sitting just meters away mitchell testified at the 911 pretrial hearing mitchell said his job his interrogator was to make suspected al qaeda members talk the fact that people are being held in isolation for years incommunicado from their families told that they're going to die there and lack all ordinary protections of a person in prison. is outrageous mitchell said the bush administration pressured the cia and the f.b.i. to do anything and everything to prevent future attacks he said the cia persuaded him 1st to take on the case of abu zubaida and that his work with other detainees including muhammad only grew with time human rights groups say the statements detainees gave to both the cia and later the f.b.i. were given under duress and never should be used as evidence in the trial mitchell testified he knew defense lawyers are trying to keep f.b.i. statements out of this case but he chose to show up for the sake of the 911 victims and their families just before tuesday's testimony ended psychologist gemma mitchell told the court room this let me tell you i get up today and do it again if the cia words ask him to take part in its enhanced interrogation program mitchell returns to the stand for more testimony on wednesday roslyn jordan al-jazeera guantanamo bay. general intended to terrorists libya's warring sides to join former leaders in finding a diplomatic solution to the country's civil war it follows a summit in berlin on sunday in which world leaders pledged to end foreign meddling and help to escalate the conflict a conflict poverty and natural disasters a full stall most often 1000000 afghans out of their homes in the last year alone for some families internal displacement has become part of life that crosses generations reports now from the western province of herat 12 little always he's a struggling to deal with the crisis. it's in the provincial districts the police are fighting for afghanistan's future where the bodies of members of the taliban are displayed like hunting trophies. for reassurance to rule communities that they're safe a warning to armed fighters of what to expect from others can district governor chief. but in remote areas of afghanistan local officials know security does not only come from the barrel of a gun gaining the confidence of afghan people is equally important difficult than the backs that day of the poorest of the poor and really need a lot of help definitely these men have no other choice but to become teledyne criminals or join an insurgent group if they don't find a job we try our best to help them but the insurgents also try their best to easily recruit them despite ongoing challenges herat province is doing better than many other parts of afghanistan making it a destination for people trying to escape the 1000 year long war in their country with camps been here for 2 years the men women and children living here fled fighting in nearby provinces to the relative safety of herat but living conditions here are very basic tents are barely standing most people are exposed to the elements all the time there is no medical help and there is never enough food. places like this have become the blindspot of this conflict. unseen and unheard people here are angry. he has no idea who is in the general there is no one representing ordinary people in peace talks with the taliban so how can those talks be successful these people lost their family members but no one even came to show sympathy for them mohini was born after his family came to this camp 2 years ago this winter the only place he ever knew is also where he died. all his father has left of him is a single picture on his phone. and there was a lot of snow for that day we were staying in the tent which took our child to the clinic i didn't have money for my son's treatment so we came back to the camp that night it was very cold and the next morning my son was dead thought the most father is worried she might be next she's been running a fever for days there's no one to turn to for help. we're living in these things no one helped us with proper tents and no one's helping us with food and went to supplies. everyone seems to have a story of a family member who's died from a preventable illness they hold out registration cards for benefits they say never come or are not enough. and it is very cold and we are shaking because of the coat we do not have anything to keep ourselves boom people give us little time and little help. if the u.s. leaves it will get even worth afghans are already killing each other the taliban killed 4 of my family members including my husband tonight brother i fled my home with 4 children and came here americans measure the cost of the longest war in their history in the billions of dollars and in kabul doha and washington they're trying to negotiate a deal with the taliban that would make it possible to withdraw u.s. forces from the country. but in displacement camps all over of the honest on fathers and mothers measure the cost of the war in lost lives. iraq afghanistan. is there with me still robin a reminder of our top stories the u.s. senate has been voting on rules that will govern the impeachment trial of president donald trump the republican majority has voted against democratic bids to force the white house and state department to release documents democrats say republicans are covering up evidence that trump abused his powers she has more from capitol hill. the democrats are clear that they say were so much evidence so many witnesses were withheld during the house inquiry the senate they must be heard in the senate the senate trial and it's also clear that mitch mcconnell or mitch mcconnell's argument that there will be a vote all of them bringing in extra witnesses more documents but only after opening arguments in cross-examination that the democrats aren't terribly confident as to sara lee very well when that vote when there is a debate about introducing more evidence lebanon has a new government after 3 months of political deadlock prime minister has named a cabinet of 20 specialists and academics that many backed by hezbollah and its allies which has angered protesters who want ministers without political loyalties china's health ministry has confirmed there are now 9 deaths and more than $400.00 cases of a new response to treat illness it's warning the corona virus could mutate and spread further 1st case has been confirmed in the u.s. with others reported in thailand south korea japan and taiwan the government is warning people in the city of rouhani to limit travel un secretary general and tony a good terrorist is urging libya's warring sides to join foreign leaders in finding a diplomatic solution to the country's civil war it follows a summit in berlin on sunday in which world leaders pledged to end foreign meddling and help deescalate the conflict. boeing's troubled 737 backstreet will remain grounded worldwide until at least june 3 months later than expected the company has struggled to convince regulators that their planes are safe after 2 crashes kill 346 people boeing's been updating software computers and pilot training for the plane since it was grounded last march those with headlines more news in half an hour next on al-jazeera it's the listening post do stay with us for. in a 2 part series. observes the lives of 2 children. over 20 years. where insights into circumstances that shape lives. in a rapidly changing world. 20 years of me continues with good morning. on al-jazeera. there are now saying shut down crying last night up about a 5th of the. protect the trust. life has now come back here oh yeah like i proud chanting the revolutionary guards . hello i'm richard burton you're at the listening post here are some of the media stories that we're covering this week iran the showdown with the u.s. and how the accidental downing of a passenger aircraft has changed the narrative there portugal and race.