17 died and dozens were injured in that attack. Voting is still underway in the u. K. s general election, the polls open for another hour. Millions of voters are choosing representatives or 650 states in parliament. Are the contenders Opposition Labor Party and conservative party. Had wellts will not be into friday. This will be one of the most momentous events in the european history. Lets take a listen to some of the voices in theresa mays constituency. I am an undecided voter still at this stage. Economy, schools, hospitals, we need to think of fairly careful about who im going to vote for. There was a fast last time. Here in this country, and that have been trained, now they are being made available for work. I have had enough time to be worried, now im just anxious to know how it will play out, what is going to happen, everybodys opinions. We less worry now and how manage. Taking thection place with the specter of a brexit limning. Looming. Whoever wins has to go into those talks appeared. It is supposed to be there brexit election, isnt it . Theresa may called this election, because she wanted to go in with a stronger position. Yes. That was the initial justification, saying she will need a larger majority in parliament to be that difficult woman, strong, stable, and stand seatsthe other 27 member getting up against her in brussels. In brussels, we havent heard anything about what kind of a brexit she would like the yonder we already knew beyond we already knew it was a difficult her main competitors, jeremy corbyn, managed to steer the conversation to labor and wealth issues. He said he was going to assigned 75 billion pounds to save the nhs, and get rid of tuition fees. A lot of that coming from taxes on big business, but both of those main parties are saying they respect the referendum result of last year. That will not change, exit will happen brexit will happen. Jeremy corbyn is more open to consensus saying that no deal is the worst case scenario, he deftly wants to make a deal with the e. U. The centrist party ran a manifesto that would put the brexit deal to a second referendum in the u. K. , but that doesnt have much traction at all. What happens if there is a Hung Parliament . That would mean that no party gets an absolute majority, they may have to work together, there is no stable government, in other words. That will be a matter of delay. Once again, we would have to see with the u. K. Will decide to do. You could see whatever party would try to form a coalition government. In 2010 two 2015 with the liberal democrats, they ruled against doing that again. The Second Chance could be for the minority government. Majority inhad a parliament, and minority doesnt have the guarantee that it would easily pass through the comments. Through are going brexit, there are tens of thousands of new legislation to pass. The third option could be to hold another election. Hopefully we wont see that. You said, in brussels, what is the feeling there . What are they hoping for . Main feeling is they want to move on with the brexit negotiations, and they would be happy to see either of the candidates get a strong government. Once they have that, they can make decisions smoother, quicker. Article 50 has been triggered. There is a clock ticking. It needs to have a deal or it could be with nothing. Thank you so much. Moving to the United States, thep is not a liar, that is line from the white house tonight defending the president from allegations made by former head of the fbi, james comey, who has been testifying in washington. Comey has alleged that President Trump spread accusing stop short of the president of of starting the course of justice. I was fired because of the russia investigation, a dramatic statement from former fbi director during his much anticipated hearing before the Senate Intelligence committee. I know i was fired because of something about the way i was conducting the russia investigation was putting pressure on him, and i somehow irritating him. Before being fired by trump oversaw they investigation into possible collusion during the 2016 election. An investigation that also encompassed a probe into former National Security advisor, haeckel flynn, and his contacts with russian officials during the elections. There is allegations that President Trump asked that investigation to drop comey testified he orchestrated this leak himself. Tweeted on trump friday after i better hope there is not tapes. Thinking that there might be corporation, there might be a tape, and my thought was i need to get that out at the public square. I asked a friend of mine to share the content of the memo with the reporter. I thought that might prompt the appointment of a special counsel. Onhe says he wrote memos every interaction with trump, because he thought the president might lie. He did not say whether the conversation was of section of justice. Dir. Comey i dont know whether it was an effort to obstruct, i took it as a concerning thing, but that is something the special counsel will have to decide, what the intention was there. Richard burr said this is nowhere near the end of the investigation. More about that, i am joined by a lawyer and legal expert. Thank you for being with us. First of all, in your view, has the president broken any laws . All of thehe filled elements of the crime of obstruction of justice, if he was anybody other than the president , surely a case would be brought here at we have seen cases brought on less than this. However, this has brought a layer of complexity that is unparalleled. This is the president of the United States, he is the titular head of the government. Away the, if you take fact that he is the president , there are all of the elements here. The president has admitted himself, he fired comey to get rid of this russia thing. Everything coming said today bolstered that. There have been a serious set of denials of from the Trump White House tonight, from one of President Trumps press secretaries. But also his lawyer was speaking earlier, and he wants to comeyrsue comey, because is leaking the details of what should have been classified, private conversations with the president. What are your thoughts on that . A good have exerted a claim of executive privilege, but he did not. That would have looked worse. There is no classified information here, so there is no leak of classified information. It is interesting that he divulged the information like he did, but he has been forthcoming. He has provided factual evidence that if true would support that, and he felt as wrong Public Interest was being served and this was his personal recollection. It along to him personally, so he released it. The president will seize on that. President will go against it as aggressively as possible, and there is not much more to seize on right now. Parallels have been drawn between this, the russian investigation, and the water scandal. Watergate do you see the similarity . It reminds me of the famous david bowie line do you nixon . R president do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. We know the president is not a student of history, and he has similar. Gs eerily the smoking gun in watergate is similar to this where you and is having a conversation with his aide and they are discussing how to get the discussion under control, and halderman says we have to get somebody from the cias side to ask the fbi to stop. The cia side is on our team, but he knows enough at he cannot order the investigation to stop out some valid pretext. Nixon understood that, but even then it doomed him. The current president , it is remarkable that he doesnt have that level of understanding of how his actions will be perceived. That was part of the points from paul ryan today. President really doesnt understand the workings as we all know, he is not a politician, he doesnt know about the laws and protocol between the president and the executives, and the fbi . Is that a defense . It is a stupidity defense. Everybodying, i think would agree that there is a high degree of incompetence here, that doesnt necessarily mean it but itinally stupid, would be a remarkable level of incompetence not to understand the ramifications of some of the things that are done. If that is the best the republicans can do, its probably not a very strong defense, and that would be conceding what comey said is accurate. In a battle of who is more credible, some of them in defense of trump, are siding with comey. Thank you. Iran has called President Trumps response to a terrorist attack repugnant. 24 hours after the attack that killed 17 and injured more than 50, more details our correspondent has more details. Eran still in shock. Charon has also had to deal with the doubleedged condolences of the president. Fallingderstand them victim to the evil they promote. New sanctions on it pushed you ron foreign minister to you ron foreign minister to respond on twitter. It says they cannot accept u. S. Claims for friendship. A feeling echoed on the streets of the capital. I think the main source of support are the arab countries and the head, saudi arabia. They get money from saudi arabia and get military support from the u. S. And israel. The United States supports terrorist groups, it is very cruel that they support terrorist groups who kill people. Several assailants opened irans you rons parliament building. One of them detonated his explosives vest. A short while later, another attack was launched against the ayatollah how ma. U. S. Backed forces are moving into raqqa in syria. Brdish and fighters have forces, andagainst now they are our correspondent has the report. Took over fighters the streets on the outskirts of raqqa on wednesday as they obliterate the hold on the capital. An alliance of kurdish and arab fighters that since mondayay has continued its advanced from the southeastern districts of the city to its western edge. Until this moment, there have been heavy clashes in this district. Islamic state group snipers using tunnels and mine s. Raqqa, syrias six largest city, is located not far from the iraqi border. Kurdish militia and the war monitoring groups it reported the airstrikes and shillings from the coalition had hit targets along the city border. Upright for stand very long, because there are snipers hiding and there are drones flying over us that are dropping bombs. Wrathe operation called destroyates seeks to soldiers that have held the city captives since 2014. A sign reading Islamic State syria and iraq have turned their attention in a defense against the american coalition, that is months in the making here it syria forces made its way quickly to the area on wednesday, but the long battle is just beginning. Situation and yemen continues to go from bad to worse. The number of people affected by a cholera outbreak is now approaching 100,000, and epidemic was declared last month. The countrys Health Care System has been almost completely destroyed. Many people are on the brink of famine. Kate, lets head back to the u. K. Where voting is still under while longer. Le the economy is a key issue, isnt it . Yes. It has been in the spotlight for about a year. It is though, now starting to show signs of week this. Ness. Ekkn the u. K. Had the lowest growth rate, Business Investment and Consumer Spending is also beginning to falter. A brexit related slowdown, that is what the oecd is predicting for the british economy. In its latest report, the organization is revising its forecasted downward. Is expected to hit 1. 7 this year, a slow push that could put the Unemployment Rate above 5 . Falling below 4. 7 in march, its a level since 1975. A plausible scenario, it is the kind of thing we have to avoid. It should be a call to action. It is unexpected, shocking, perhaps for the british as much as the european. It will be costly. Another worry inflation. Inrose from. 8 to 2. 6 april. According to the bank of england, it could reach 3 by the end of the year, a decline power not just for consumers, but for the whole country. Thanks to brexit, the british currency has taken a dive. The pound wase, worth 15 cents more. The u. K. Already imports more than it exports. Its a trade deficit is among the highest in the european union. Meanwhile, gdp across the currency block Group Reported 6 in the First Quarter of this year. That came as central bank rolled out other cuts to Interest Rate saying it is confident the economy is headed in the right direction. He would pump money into the economy in order to balance inflation. The president of the European Central bank made no changes to his policy settings. We decided to keep the key Interest Rates unchanged. We expected them to remain at their present levels for an extended period of time. There are nethat asset purchases at the current pace of 60 billion euros, intended to run until the end of december 2017. Like his counterpart in the Federal Reserve and the bank of england, he has a boosted the economy i keeping interest by keeping Interest Rates near zero. Year from itsis march forecast of 1. 8 . The forecasts of 2018 and 2019 were also lifted by. 1 . Given the good news, some analysts believe it is time to wind down the money printing presses. We cannot afford to keep becausebs a running, the patient is already in the hospital, we see growth and productivity have improved, so there is no particular need once dictated using quantitative easing. Quantitative easing and low Interest Rates may have provided lifesupport when it was in critical condition, but now we must look towards a longterm cure. Lets take a look at the trading now. About. 3 percent. Street,s on a wall meanwhile, keeping a close eye on the former fbi director. Markets were reassured by the lack of Game Changing surprises there. The dow and s p both trading underneath the flat line, nasdaq also peering back its gains. It has been volatile in the oil market as well in light of wednesdays losses. It is currently trading at 49. 69 a barrel. Other business headlines now, the u. S. House of representatives is expected to vote on a bill that will dismantled the dodd frank act. The Current Administration argues that after the financial crisis, it is more difficult for businesses to get credit. They may have a hard time getting enough votes in the senate. Shares in the Chinese Company alibaba expected their revenue to increase by half, its accurate. Billion. L top 34 t gained onalleian news it will sell it valiant. The released their debt load last year. Posed newan union rules to protect its Aviation Industry from what it sees as unfair competition. There have been competitors in the golf receiving illegal subsidies, which makes it difficult to keep up. The allegations. This would make it easier for european carriers are government to want to compete against a foreign competitors. The transport commissioner said the change will help the european line remain leaders and international aviation. The commission proposing a new regulation to make sure that e. U. Airlines can compete on the grounds of equal opportunity. It would allow the e. U. To take appropriate action, that puts the airlines at risk. Think is so much. We are taking a short break. Do stay with us, much more coming up after this 06 08 17 06 08 17 [captioning made possible by democracy now ] amy from pacifica, this is demomocracy now thing, tot important bring our people to dignity that they d deserve, to bring our people the love that they deserve. Amy today we spend the hour in studio with recently freed, longtime puerto rican independence activist oscar lopez rivera