Single word closely and ill take a closer operation down the dangerous road. The abuse for the hoax was a total this is a decency check and our government is that petri is in check i took an oath to uphold the constitution of the United States of america it says that no one is above the law that includes the president of the United States. Also coming up crimes against its own people 30 years ago tonight in east berlin crowds stormed the headquarters of the secret police just in time to stop the shredding of a dark past. Then the fight to save the files was far from one that took a Hunger Strike and huge effort to convince west german elites and politicians who wanted to keep a lid on this for various reasons. On to our viewers on p. B. S. In the United States and all around the world welcome we begin the day with the vote that sets in motion the trial which could mean the end of the Trump Presidency last month the u. S. House of representatives voted to impeach donald trump on abuse of power and obstruction of congresss power to investigate that abuse well today the house voted to send those 2 articles of impeachment over to the u. S. Senate now that is where beginning next week for only the 3rd time in u. S. History a sitting u. S. President will stand trial senators acting as jurors deciding yes or no to convict and remove trump from office the Republican Controlled Senate is expected to do anything but the. The always about marking history. Using time on december 18th house of representatives and paints the president of the United States and impeachment that will last forever and this time has given us the ability to. Show the American People the necessity of a fair trial to expose the degree to which mcconnell is working hand in hand with the subject of the impeachment the president to essentially turn what should be a trial into a sham. Well we already know how 3 u. S. Senators will most likely vote they happen to also be democrats who are also candidates campaigning to become the next u. S. President it will soon be make or break for most candidates in less than 3 weeks voters in iowa or cast ballots in the 1st primary of the election season last night was the final opportunity for all 6 candidates to debate face to face and last chance for 6 remaining candidates to make their case before the democratic primaries begin and the candidates used their chance to attack President Trump on his Foreign Policy decisions and right now what i fear very much is we have a president who is lying again and could drag us into a war that is even worse than the war in iraq trump offered his own counter programming at a rally in milwaukee in battleground state wisconsin he defended his decision to kill soleimani. Saw a man who was responsible for murdering and wounded thousands of americans it was actively planning new attacks but we stopped them cold. And frankly they already started the attack as you saw in baghdad very large embassy in baghdad that was already started. A moment to remember was a standoff between Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren warren accused sandor still have said a woman could not be elected president of the United States look at the man on this stage collectively they have lost 10 elections the only people on this stage who have won every single election that theyve been in are the women but Bernie Sanders rejected the allegation the real winner did not emerge good news for joe biden who avoided a blunder this time and that could consolidate his position as the front runner of the Democratic Party. And the talk about this potpourri of Political Action im doing here the big table tonight by times and barker he is with the Aspen Institute here in berlin he also once worked for the u. S. State department tysons good to have you on the show i want to just stop for a moment and consider the events that are playing out right now at the same time weve got the race for the white house that is about to get very serious right and at the same time weve got an impeachment trial which could end the Trump Presidency begins next week these are as i said like a split screen reality that we have rare we rarely if ever experienced in the history of the u. S. Right and then we also have you know the trade to todd between the u. S. And china thats of course the narrative that the white house is putting out there but lets be honest that we have action taking place in russia and you know everything that happened with iraq in iran now seems like ancient history i mean everything keeps getting crowded out where in such a saturated environment and honestly thats kind of what the Trump White House wants is everything to continue to get layered over so that we forget about things like impeachment but you know one thing that has changed since the original vote in the house and today when the articles were sent over is 1st of all we have the willingness of john bolton to testify and 2nd of all we have new information from left us who will be giving an interview in the United States i think today or tomorrow linking Giuliani Rudy giuliani to actual perhaps spying espionage on the former u. S. Ambassador to ukraine so a lot of developments are a little happening in this case and with all that considering all of that do you think when the trial starts next week that were going to have a screeching halt to all of these things happening and the world will then be able to focus on this impeachment drawn well the one thing we know for certain is that we have 3 acting senators sitting senators who are taking place in the democratic primary and they all take their jobs. But seriously and theyve all indicated that they will be there for the trial they will be there to submit questions and render judgment so they will not be on the campaign trail in iowa and well see how much that draws attention back to washington but the Campaign Continues to go forward and weve never seen a constellation like that either have we were weve got actually more than 3 senators several senators when you consider the ones who dropped out of the race who will be acting as jurors and who also would like to win in november and replace this president right i mean lets be honest that gets back to the fact that this is in essence not a strictly criminal trial it is a political exercise its written to the United States constitution and people could say well that does present some sort of conflict of interest but on the other side of the aisle we have Mitch Mcconnell and and members of the Republican Party who have said that theyve already come to a conclusion of what the verdict will be and shift today you know he would he would say to you no thats not true this is a trial the forefathers one of them to be a trial the way we expect a trial to be evidence witnesses documents do you think all those things will be. Well. Well its trending in that direction there are several republican senators who are kind of seen as the make or break for whether or not witnesses and evidence will be able to be presented and weve already had for example mitt romney come out and say if john bolton wants to testify im going to be on the side that has done bolton testify were already seeing Movement Towards a majority to have witnesses the republicans themselves are looking at constellations that would kind of in their opinion level the field on that saying if we allow john bolton for example to testify we need to allow hunter biden or have hunter biden testify as well but were just at the beginning of that negotiate from all of this the president to raise im thinking of for example he doesnt have to go to washington next we. Keep campaigning in iowa right and theoretically Vice President biden as well he will be able and tom styer theyll all be able to be present in iowa New Hampshire of course the trial is focused on it least as a side matter on Hunter Bidens seat on the board of. And just one more developing story that we should note of the service of bristol were hacked this likely russia by the russians so this is another developing i mean theres just so much news in this very live investigation still taking place the debate last night for you came out what would you say on top i think it was a draw i mean really there was nobody who landed a super meaningful punch that the main kind of optical takeaway was a live Elizabeth Warren zinger about you know every woman on the stage her and any club of our having won all of their elections so i mean collectively having 10 but generally i dont think there were any real knockouts what was interesting is the in physis on Foreign Policy that took place at the start and what the candidates but all tried to do was say you know who has the judgment for this role theres a lot of engagement fatigue abroad and you know a lot of desire to bring troops home there. Was a lot of attacking on trump for the incident in iraq and the tension with iran and a lot of you know nobody noting that he ran to end these endless wars President Trump and that he has actually deployed more troops in the region rather than withdraw them so a lot of critique on trump for his position middle east will iowa will be as important as iowa will would like to see. I mean what about if mayor peter some said he will say he will pull off a surprise when will that help him or he could do well i dont know is not a microcosm of the United States its quite were oh its quite white. Iowa New Hampshire both have demographics that are not reflective of the Democratic Party more broadly both states could render a victory for somebody like pete or Elizabeth Warren and to be honest its still very fluid and theres kind of a 4 way tie between the 4 way front runners in both states the super tuesday that really matters right right exactly so then after the 1st 2 caucus and the 1st primary you do a sweep of the south where a preponderance portion of the population is africanamerican the democratic primary and what the polls are currently showing particularly among older africanamericans is there solidly behind by you know well see well see if that keep him through because a lot of commentators were not impressed by his performance last night so i said mark is always has weve your analysis thank you thank you. You know we treat it but for the 1st time let me stress for the 1st time in the entire history of the existence of missiles and Nuclear Weapons including the soviet period and present day history we are not catching up with anyone and on the contrary other countries have yet to create weapons that russia possesses but i see. All of that was russian president Vladimir Putin earlier today delivering his annual address to the countrys federal assembly the weapons that he was referring to are new hyper sonic missiles they can fly it 27 times the speed of sound and its claimed they can invade any and all enemy defenses in other words russia is winning the arms race. Said that the new missiles were developed because of u. S. Efforts to develop a Missile Defense system that could be road russias Nuclear Deterrent the u. S. Says that Defense System is not intended to counter russias missile arsenal. All right to talk about this military boasting im joined tonight by Bradley Bowman hes with the foundation for defense of democracies in washington hes also a former National Security advisor to the u. S. Senate friendlys good to see you again. What should we believe should we believe what amir putin when he makes claims that hes number one in the world now. I think we should sprinkle out healthy dose of skepticism to everything that putin says there is a track or record their exaggerating their capabilities but with respect to these Hypersonic Missiles these hypersonic like nichols was of the oven guard system that they have now says operational in late december there is no doubt that is a formidable weapons capability that would appear to be more advanced than what the u. S. Currently has fielded so that system is designed lets be clear to attack the United States here at home is designed to fly an extraordinary speeds and to in any interception this is a system designed to kill americans at home and so we should take it seriously but to use a metaphor you know in terms of military people that russia is tall but they are not 10 feet tall you know russia us economy is roughly the size of the state of new yorks economy doubters Russian Troops lacks the combat experience american ships from pound for pound theres just no comparison between the u. S. And Russian Military but there are areas like this where they are ahead of us primarily because theyve been working on a long time the u. S. Is not lacked the ability of such a system just lacks the political will for a long time arcot sleep at the switch for one yeah im going to say you know rome wasnt built in a day either and you dont build Hypersonic Missiles in a day either i mean the United States has not been caught by surprise with you know with this type of weapon as the us stood by and watched russia move forward at least in terms of Hypersonic Missile technology have they willingly let themselves be beat by russia. Its a great question you know with with defense expenditures in defense and testaments research and development sorts of things theres virtually infinite threats and finite resources the problem for the United States sense at least since that 1001 terror attacks is that weve simultaneously been trying to connect operations in places like iraq and afghanistan to maintain the readiness of currently defined forces while also modernizing our forces and that combine that with unpredictable funding authorizations coming from Congress Late funding late authorizations we created a problem and when we had to choose between Current Operations and modernization we consistently chose Current Operations and as a result. China russia and summers leapfrog us and American Military security in some areas if youre a creating the situation room now the good news over the last 3 years or so weve had more sufficient funding defense funding more timely resources and the u. S. Is actively reestablishing its military sphere already but its going to take time its going to take time like you said these weapons not until today and i was and how does this fit into the global geo political picture especially with china emerging as a military power now i mean is the United States is the pentagon more concerned about what china will produce one day than what russia is producing now. If i were asked to rank order that leaking threats to the United States i would but china number one i would put them as a more serious threat than russia you know russia serious theyve got a modernized Nuclear TriadNuclear Arsenal there on the Un Security Council good as is often said its plain he cant well china has a much much larger economy has a comprehensive system and strategy that conducted the largest that that intellectual property in Human History i view china as a much more formidable threat but both of these authoritarian powers represent a threat to the u. S. And our allies in europe and the us as we awoke to that fact in recent years our european allies and partners are waiting thats that too and this is not just a classic is mark and mark you going great power. Competition here this is these are authoritarian regimes who are representing a fundamental challenge to our democratic way of life and International State system is facilitator prosperity and president prosperity and security since world war 2 when china and russia they have also you know come together in certain times of war games exercises that theyve conducted jointly how concerned are you in russia and china joining forces to create some type of military monolith against the United States one day. It its a great welcome question you know so that recently there was a joint needle exercise in china russia and iran you know you can judge someone by the company they keep oh thats interesting we know that china russia inducted major and in some ways on president exercise last year 2002 of them Energy Projects going back and forth china purchasing russian air Defense Systems so theres a lot to point to to be concerned about but theres also some historical sensitivities concerns between those 2 parts well so theyre not going to be best buddies anytime soon but they clearly see it in their combined interests to stand up to the u. S. And our allies the focus in our eyes and trying to push us back in and change the International Order as more of their liking is authoritarian powers that dont believe that their power comes from the consent of oh yeah who ever wins in november will have plenty of china and russia on their plate to deal with thats for sure Bradley Bowman with the foundation for defense of democracies joining us tonight from washington friendly as always we appreciate your analysis thank you thank you. 30 years ago today people in east germany stormed the headquarters of the countrys secret police known as the stasi the berlin wall had fallen just 2 months earlier euphoria was being followed by a reality check or real fear fear that the stasi would destroy the millions of files kept on most citizens evidence of a nations crimes against its own people were today german president. Visited the former stasi headquarters here in berlin to mark the anniversary he praised the crowds who refused to let the stasi shred any race evidence and im sure now here at the big table by my colleagues i mean young police covering this for its getting to do you so i mean the study was one of the biggest secret Police Forces in the world at the time how did it shape east German Society well i think it was it was a massive part of east German Society in in 1989 when these germany fell there were nearly 300000 people working for the stasi in one form or another and of course it was a system of that operate it its a network of prisons they had the sweeping powers to deal with what would enemies of the state locking people up to which ring them and and so on and they carried out an enormous amount of surveillance of pressuring people in many cases to spy on friends and families and so thats the legacy of pain that that has left behind but one of the useful things to come out of the fact that they have these habits of documenting everything they did was that theres an awful lot of evidence is still around and people are still going through it now you know 30 years ago east german citizens prevented the destruction of the stasis surveillance files on millions of people one of those who took part in that storming 30 years ago tonight spoke with the w. News. He was there votes going temp lean a former east german civil rights campaigner 30 years ago he and other demonstrators pushed their way into east germany stars the headquarters its still the resting place of thousands of files on citizens who were spied on you so often yes i said so you know what we want this peaceful disarmament of our actual takeover of the whole thing will happen a lot faster no placebo was opened the gate the storming of no man in street was a key moment after stasi buildings and other cities had already been occupied in the proceeding months several 1000 people now poured into the berlin headquarters was the stasi workers tried to destroy files up until the very last minute but the activists were able to rescue most of those files. But the fight to save the files was far from one that took a Hunger Strike extreme effort on our part to convince west german elites politicians and those who wanted to keep a lid on this for various reasons. After all nobody knew exactly how sensitive the information that hes germanys state security had collected was in the end the files were made accessible to the public temp lean applied to see his own. It was certainly a unique experience i was part of the 1st group that got to see the files in 1900. 90 us in opposition figure it was highly unlikely that a very comprehensive file a whited me it was very thora but there was also one from the 1st half of the 1970s that was classified as a puppet try to follow. For 2 years templin himself was an unofficial stasi informant he ultimately quit and got involved with civil Rights Groups later he was arrested and kicked out of east germany after the fall of the berlin wall he returned and took part in the negotiations to dissolve the stasi but he still struggling to cope with what happened to this day. A lot of people say yeah well it was so long ago. If we think about the nazi era and im not saying that the same just comparing that to it took decades to process the monstrous things that happened back then. You have. The stasi files will be transferred to the National Archives from 2021 as long as they remain easily accessible to ordinary people templin has no problem with fact in germany decided to do to make these files Public People can see their own files is that a template for other countries around the world that are coming to terms with their dark histories i think it is and it seems very successful still thousands of people even last year of lying to see their files and its a model thats been called it in the form of communist countries of Eastern Europe but not only there even in places like last in america where theyve got you know theyre dealing with the legacy of injustice from military dictatorships or in other places in africa even those departed south africa that all these situations can move from the way that germany has dealt with that legacy from east germany and its all part of that process of truth and reconciliation some young as always thank you. Well the day is almost done the gover say she continues online youll find us on twitter either at u. W. News you can follow me and brant goff t. V. Dont forget to use our hash tag the day and remember whatever happens between now and then tomorrow is another day well see you then it. Comes. Into conflict zone with tim sebastian. Chinas recent celebrations for his 70th anniversary was quite the Public Relations triumph it was supposed to be my guest this week here in london is going to guy out how does he justify chinas catalogue of human rights abuses out of a continuing pressure on hong kong. Conflicts of. Next. Rebuilding mosul. Liberated from isis in july 2017 march and the city still mayan ruins. Reconstruction has been slowed by corruption and various conflicts. Many people just want to get on with their lives. Others wish that i asked would come back in 45 minutes w. Look closely. To see carefully. Dont know the soup she needs to be a good. Match. To. Discover her. Subscribe to the documentary on you tube. Look child the habits old the old what youve read about the mice most of the people all the training kept over training the it reminds me of the little tracing folks if snarl the wall and all that very much at stake in Hong Kong Chinas recent celebrations for its 70th anniversary what quite a Public Relations triumph they were supposed to be not with continuing protests in hong kong and fresh