Of hardtalk, 2017. So many personalities, so much passion. And more than a little anger. There is a lot of pain in america, and donald trump addressed that. He said i will bea trump addressed that. He said i will be a different type of republican. I hear your be a different type of republican. I hearyour pain. Be a different type of republican. I hear your pain. The only trouble is hear your pain. The only trouble is he lied. Blue eye at the work inside the white house, and i will tell you, there is no crisis, we are creating the results expected of us and which got the president elected supreme and which got the president elected supreme he can build as many walls as he wants. What he will never ever achieved, is mexico paying for the wall. We do not want to have islam claiming power in our country. Preaching against our values, our culture the worst thing that could happen with north korea was the escalation leading to sleep walking interwar. It is the entitlement of too many men, and it is epidemic. When they are famous, it gets talked about. There is only one place to start in the look back at 2017, the united states. Donald trumps election victory reflected a divided america. In his first year in office, those divisions were deepened. Bernie sanders, welcome to hardtalk. It is great to be with you. To you in any way regret what you did with Hillary Clinton . She could be in the white house. I do not accept that. I accept the fact our campaign brought millions and millions of people into the political process. Donald trump did not need me to understand Hillary Clinton gave speeches before wall street. She did not need me to understand her record. There is a lot of pain in america. And donald trump addressed that an. He said i will be a different type of republican. I hear your will be a different type of republican. I hearyour pain. Iwill ta ke republican. I hearyour pain. Iwill take on the establishment, the politics, economic establishment. The only problem is donald trump lied. Senator lindsey graham, john mccain, your good friend, says it is time for republicans on capitol hill to stand up to donald trump. We are not his subordinates, john mccain says. So, are you now prepared to stand up to donald trump . Absolutely. We came out strongly against the first travel ban because i thought it was basically a ban on a persons religion. Sebastian gorka in washington, what is the atmosphere in the white house today . Fabulous. I literally just left atmosphere in the white house today . Fabulous. I literallyjust left the oval office where we swore in general kelly as the new chief of staff or the president. It was like afamily staff or the president. It was like a family gathering. A great mood. Lots of breast. We are very excited about recent developments. Anthony scaramucci, with his words to the new yorker, he has surely thrown a bomb into the building behind you, the white house. Not at all. I know that is what colleagues on the hill on the left and in the chattering classes of the leftist media would want people to believe. But it is not at all like that. We are excited, the agenda to make America Great again is working. We have strengthened the team. We have people who can communicate to the base that elected him as president. Sebastian gorka left the white house just a month later. One of the most extraordinary features of the first months of the donald Trump Presidency has been the deepening sense of a war between the white house and the so called mainstream media. On top of the enemy list of the president , the new york times, the president , the new york times, the grand old lady of american newspapers, which donald trump portrays as a purveyor of lies. This isa portrays as a purveyor of lies. This is a president , umm, who does not like the press. No president ever like the press. No president ever like the press. No president ever like the pressie gets. He likes it less. This is a man who made his name in the industry by manipulating the tabloids. He becomes president andi the tabloids. He becomes president and i think he was expecting the same thing. Fox news gave it to him. But we will not. You, i think it is fairto but we will not. You, i think it is fair to say, for a long time, as a paper, did notappearto fair to say, for a long time, as a paper, did not appear to take donald trump that seriously. Would you at least a cce pt trump that seriously. Would you at least accept that . I guess the way i would slip it, it is not that we did not take him seriously, we did not ta ke not take him seriously, we did not take the donald trump phenomenon seriously. Out of touch would be the phrase. I will accept that. There was anger in the country. Anger at elites. We were seen as elites. I do not think we had our finger on the pulse of the anger. We wrote about the anger in the country, but we did not understand the scope of it and how much people want to change. None of the usual diplomatic rules applied to the donald Trump Presidency. Some harsh words came from south of the border. Excuse me, it starts with the wall. He can build as many walls as he wants. He can enclose that leading nation behind more walls because of fear and because of his crazy ideas, but what he will never ever change is mexico paying for the wall. That is a different thing. That has to do with sovereignty, that has to do with sovereignty, that has to do with dignity, that has to do with pride. We are not paying for that stupid wall that he wants to build. Build that if you want with us taxpayers money. Latin america had its own big headache this year. Venezuela plunged into an economic crisis which saw shops run out of food and medicine. Nicolas maduro faced a wave of protesting. For the last few years you have been a diplomat at the un representing venezuela and the venezuela government. A month ago you decided tojump ship. Government. A month ago you decided to jump ship. Why government. A month ago you decided tojump ship. Why is government. A month ago you decided to jump ship. Why is that . It is impossible to defend what cannot be defended. You can clearly see the violation of human rights and the crimes against humanity that have been committed in the past four months. It is impossible to defend quote unquote socialist utopia, it isa quote unquote socialist utopia, it is a dystopia. Ajourney to venezuela undercover. Journalists we re venezuela undercover. Journalists were barred as the opposition to do the streets. The mother of the countrys most famous political prisoner took me to hear the voice of resistance. Look at that. A jeep has come out look at that. Ajeep has come out of the present. They want to talk to us. The present. They want to talk to us. This was the moment our filming in venezuela came to an abrupt end. As the military police approached us from the prison, we attempted to leave. We managed to conceal the camera in our leave. We managed to conceal the camera in oui car leave. We managed to conceal the camera in our car but our cover was blown. European politics in 2017 featured concern about immigration, the rise of antiestablishment populist politics, and efforts by mainstream politicians to reinvigorate the centre ground. And, of course, there was brexit as well. One of the most memorable interviews of my year came from nicholas frank, whose father was hitlers lawyer, and the nazis top official in parliament. It hurts to admit we killed the lives of innocent people ina killed the lives of innocent people in a system which was really a tough system. And to be against the system was to have a very brave character to do it. But this hurts. You can endure it, and i still love germany, i love being a World Champion in football, for instance. Really, i am a nationalist, yes . As you can see, especially refugees, everything changed because it was as if we were jews again. The swamp is coming. You feel that . You feel so insecure about your germany today . Yes. Dont trust us. We do not want to have islam claiming political power in oui islam claiming political power in our country. We are very much in favour of religious freedom, i said that already. And a mosque is where muslim people are practising their beliefs. That is ok. What we know from our secret services is we basically, in every mosque have problems, because they are preaching very often in a language which we do not understand, erratic. They are preaching against our values, our constitution, our culture. Arabic. Let me explain, we have radical and political islam in europe, jihadists. Secondly, we have a trap by putin, an autocrat in the kremlin who tries to divide europe. And now we have an american president who is seeing the european unity as a pillar for foreign policy. He is saying openly he hopes the eu disintegrates. I think we are, for the moment, the eu disintegrates. I think we are, forthe moment, in an existential moment for the eu. There isa existential moment for the eu. There is a clear idea for brexit. Theresa may will say that in her speech and her florence speech. There are bits iam not her florence speech. There are bits i am not enthusiastic about, but it isa i am not enthusiastic about, but it is a clear manifesto. She has been generous in the office she has made to the eu. The government she leads is stronger than many, not all, continental governments. You can ta ke continental governments. You can take a decision one day and change your mind another day. It happens. It is ok to open doors and say perhaps, if you are interested, one day, we would be happy to have you back. Throughout 2017, europe cast uneasy glances to the east. Vladimir putin continues to flex russias muscle in the International Arena while maintaining an iron grip at home. Vladimir putin just tries to distract the russian people from real problems like inequality and poverty. We have 23 million russian citizens living below the line of poverty, and he is distracting them from this problem with is imperial delusions about making russia great again and all that stuff. You know, unfortunately, we have a very weak position in our country. . Could that be because they are not allowed access to state television, for example . It access to state television, for example . It is not about that. You have modern media. Television is diminishing day by day. In russia today, if you switch on the tv and you want to find opposition voices, you. The american president is winning elections using twitter in order to be a successful opposition, you have to be sustainable you have to have a problem of development of the country. You also have to be allowed a semblance of freedom. You have to be a person not at risk of being assassinated as Boris Nemtsov was 100 metres from the kremlin. You have to be like election of any whose brother was caught up in trumped up charges. Alexi navalny. You need space to make a movement in russia. Why do you think they are not fair charges . Because the European Human Court of rights has said they were illegitimate. We dont agree with that. You dont agree with the European Court of human rights . |j would European Court of human rights . would rather trust are in court. Welcome to the hardtalk studios. Great to see you. We are going to put you in that seat over their. One russian intent on challenging putin and the election next march came into the hardtalk studio, boasting views, not experience. hope he will be wise enough if i will be registered to support me because unfortunately, this situation is very unfair, he wont be registered by unlawful lawsuits that are made against him, so if we are fighting for the same goal, and i think we are, with alexei navalny, i offered him this option, to be united a person who just opens the door. I am the one who will be registered and i hope together with him we can fight for the best future of russia. In africa, 2017 will be remembered as the year Robert Mugabes rule finally came to an end in zimbabwe is, tempting perhaps what is seen as a wider determination to push for more political accountability. The former president , welcome to hardtalk the mindful of what the National Assembly said in november of last year when you lectured them about corruption. What did they say . The person who introduced corruption to this National Assembly is the previous president. He had corrupt practices from day one. Listen to me, when i took over the National Assembly said to me. The National Security adviser said whenever i said in a bill to them i shall send it with money and i said no. If they dont pass it i will. The National Assembly says have you forgotten the sacks of money that we re forgotten the sacks of money that were displayed on the floor of the house of representatives . Where did it come from . Being used for bribes. You tell me he says you and im quoting him directly. The grandfather of corruption in nigeria. I never gave anybody dying. Never. Welcome to hardtalk you made a decision to call forjacob zuma to go. Yes. Notjust as party chief but as president of his country. Yes. My belief was that if you are in a leadership position you have the responsibility of guiding others. And whenever they get off the rails you have the ability to put them back and that same conscience should help you as well. You dont think zuma has a conscience . Today it is failing. It has failed . I say the entire leadership is crooked, with a few exceptions. How could you just a few exceptions. How could you just a few months ago describe Robert Mugabe as a father figure when you seem mugabe as a father figure when you seem to think that the people close to him are responsible for the murder of your husband . He appeared to bea murder of your husband . He appeared to be a father figure to me. It was during this trouble that these people were giving leadership to everybody in trouble. According to custom, it is out of respect we give to our citizens. It calls into question yourjudgement. About mugabe . About everything we have discussed. It is hard to understand how your political career makes any sense at all if you have morals, ethics and principles. The issue is you have never been to zimbabwe. The issueis you have never been to zimbabwe. The issue is you have never seen what personally i have done for the country of zimbabwe. The issue is you have never come to the interview for yourself those people to say, how do you takejoice as a person . Actually i have been to zimbabwe, i have reported from zimbabwe, so i have reported from zimbabwe, so i have a little bit of an idea of how the politics of the bubbly works. You have been there but you have not asked about me. Politics of zimbabwe. The map of the middle east changed in 2017. The self styled caliphate established by the islamists of Islamic State was erased in iraq and much of syria, so was this the end of the jihadists search . much of syria, so was this the end of the jihadists search . I dont think we are going to see the end of isis at all. That will be with us for a long time, not in iraq but it is spreading. Already its reached thailand and the philippines. Definitely it has reached europe. But in iraq you are suggesting they will change tactics . They wont hold territories so much as conduct an underground insurgency . Holding territories is finished for them, but they will do insurgencies. And they will embark on insurgencies. They will resort back to terrorist activities of explosions and killings and assassinations. Thats why i say we need to end the war. Thank you i was on the first commercialflight thank you i was on the first commercial flight to land in benghazi, libya. Is fighters had terrorised the city for a couple of years, before being vanquished by a new Libyan Military force, led by this martial. A one time kadhafi loyalist with his own ambitions to rule the world. Troubling evidence emerged of abuses committed by him, including summary executions. You would have read the latest un report suggesting that as the forces moved back to benghazi there were as abuses of human rights. Thats something that worries the international community. That worries us as well. These reports came out and he voiced his concern and he said that he would address them by investigating these people who had been committing these outlawed acts. Have you seen those videos and pictures, minister, of people being shot in the back of the head, bound, feet, executed . U nfortu nately i head, bound, feet, executed . Unfortunately i have seen them. These acts should stop and im sure that the army staff will look into that the army staff will look into that seriously because of the wrongdoing that we have witnessed. Aside from the conflicts and geopolitics, 2017 will be remembered for the power of womens voices, speaking out about misogyny, sexual abuse and gender inequality. Some of my most memorable interviews from this year reflected deeply personal experiences. It is the entitlement of too many men and it is epidemic and when they are famous and powerful like harvey then it gets talked about, so its really important that those women who have been brave enough to come out. Indeed, the logjam has broken. But there was silence when its clear that people knew of these behaviours but did not talk in public about them for year upon year. Wire . The women he preyed on and praise on, young women, most of them were in their 20s when it happened. Vulnerable. Afraid that if they said anything or did anything it would ruin their career. Wiley you felt you couldnt speak out year ago when you couldnt speak out year ago when you heard a lot of this stuff . Macro you heard a lot of this stuff . Macro why. You heard a lot of this stuff . Macro why. I was afraid. If it had happened to me i would now. It has happened to me, but long ago, and its very hard to come forward when youve been a victim of sexual abuse, because you get dragged over the coals, you have to prove. We have to stop believing these women and stop protecting them. Ian mckellen, i wonder if you feel, looking back now, whether you have been a better, fuller actor, younger, if you had been more public about your identity . younger, if you had been more public about your identity . I think probably. It is a certain truth of me and practically every person i know who has declared their sexuality that life becomes better in every possible way once you are honest. That clearly affects your work and my work, which is dealing with honesty and truth about human nature, it was likely to be more convincing. And thats what friends and colleagues said, that overnight my acting took on a depth which it hadnt had before, because im no longer disguising, i now revealing. Personal, political, powerful. We celebrated 20 years of hardtalk this year. Hes looking forward to more memorable encounters in 2018. Until then, have a very happy new year. Hi there. Our weathers going to stay pretty cloudy and mild between now and Christmas Day. Looking back at yesterdays weather, it didnt really matter where you came from in england, whether it was herefordshire, or North Yorkshire or indeed surrey, the skies all looked pretty much the same. Extensive low cloud and weve got more of the same to come not just across england, but across wales, a good part of Northern Ireland and much of scotland too. The mild air continues to feed in off the atlantic, weve got these weather fronts wiggling across the uk bringing pulses of thicker cloud at times and this will bring some outbreaks of light rain and drizzle. For some of us, it will be a damp start to the day. But look at these temperatures. 10 degrees across wales and southwest england. Very mild here. A bit colder in scotland, where there will be patches of frost and there could be some dense patches of fog around as well. Temperatures here could be slow to rise, as cloudier weather tends to build in over that cold air as we go on through the first of the morning. Weatherwise, little overall change, the damp weather tending to move away from england and wales. Left with extensive cloud. Still quite murky in the west into the afternoon and those temperatures mild for the time of year. Similar to what we had on thursday, highs around 11, 12, even 13 degrees. Through friday night we do it all over again. The cloud will thicken further, perhaps a few spots of drizzle and generally turning a bit murkier, so some fog forming again around the coast and the hills around the west. These are minimum temperatures and theyre actually above the temperatures we would normally expect during the daytime at this time of the year. Now, looking ahead to the weekends weather prospects, weve got more of the same, really. Quite mild and breezy, it will stay on the cloudy side, some rain into the north west of the uk and that is one small change that we will see during the weekend. Saturday, then, looks Something Like this. A lot of cloud around, misty and foggy across Western Areas, a few breaks in the cloud across Eastern England to the eastern high ground of eastern scotland. At the same time it will turn wet in western scotland, thanks to the slow moving weather front that will be around through christmas eve, even into Christmas Day, bringing the threat of some localised flooding across these Western Areas of scotland. Christmas eve, though, another mild one and another breezy one. Temperatures again into double figures fairly widely across the uk, and for Christmas Day, if you want a white christmas, you can have one. Head up into the scottish mountains above around 500 metres elevation, you will find some snow. Those levels dropping a little bit later on christmas night, with southerly winds for the vast majority of us, Christmas Day is not going to be a white Christmas Day, it will be mild again with ten or 11 degrees with a lot of cloud across the sky. Thats your weather. This is the briefing. Im rachel horne. Our top story. Catalan separatists win a majority in the regional elections, plunging spain into renewed crisis. The first visit to moscow by a British Foreign secretary for more than five years. Can the two countries patch up their relationship . Turning blue the British Government says the countrys passports will return to their old colour after brexit. And coming up in the business briefing, christmas cheer for investors as stock markets come to the end of their best year since 2009. Well be getting the views of veteran investment manager, Justin Urquhart stewart