Gonna rip up the usa because they feel like people would like. That. Trumps. You know if they come back they call that a payoff. Also coming up tonight a round and robust relic of east german communism that still dominates the skyline of the very unified Nations Capital berlins t. V. Tower is turning 50. A bit scary i didnt expect it to be quite high when we looked for a basis to go into the when we missed and we saw they needed to go. And see our viewers on p. B. S. In the United States and all around the world welcome we begin the day with the trunk presidency deeper than ever in an impeachment investigation deeper than ever inside ukraine today as donald trump added china to the list of countries that he has solicited for political dirt against joe biden lawmakers on capitol hill they had ukraine on their minds in a closed door hearing the former u. S. Special envoy to ukraine kurt volker testified about any role he may have had interims coersion of ukrainian president zelinsky to provide damaging information about joe biden and joe bidens son volckers a name appears in that whistleblower complaint which became public last week the one that triggered an impeachment inquiry against the president and voters testimony today it was private but President Trump he said plenty in public today well i think by. Going down and i think his situation because you may very well find that there are many other countries. Just like this. So i would say that president. If it were me i would recommend that they start an investigation. Nobody has any doubt that they were that was a christian 100 percent. New connelly he joins me tonight from kiev in ukraine good evening to you nic lets talk about kurt volker he he had an important job as special envoy to ukraine for the United States until he resigned last week last year i interviewed him here and he was adamant in his defense of trumps commitment to ukraine take a listen to what he said. I can imagine your job is very difficult if there was one thing that you. Could get from the Troop Administration that you dont have right now what would it be i think i do have what i need from the Trump Administration i think we have very strong support all the way through about putting pressure on russia to get their attention to create a negotiation support for Ukraine Partnership with our european allies and a negotiating position on the table that we would be prepared to the silicate a Un Peacekeeping mission to go into Eastern Ukraine create security create the conditions where there can be elections in the mens good remains can be implemented and then see the territory restored so i think everything is in place what we need is not from the trunk administration what we need is from russia and that is a serious effort by russia to end the war all right so nick is that the image there that we saw is that the image that kurt volker had in kiev i mean what was his reputation in ukraine. Well brant had a reputation here of being a friend of ukraine someone who. Represented a more traditional republican Foreign Policy approach towards russia a more hawkish line on russia than weve seen from President Trump himself and as such he was probably as we will discovering now not a great fit in the current trumpet ministration putting on a brave face in that interview with you there last year but he did achieve something that no previous u. S. Diplomat had been able to achieve for the ukrainian side he managed to convince mr ation to sell lethal weapons to ukraine javelin and theyre not being used in donbass theyre only a last resort should the war escalate but that was really a breakthrough for the ukrainian side who were disappointed the bomber mr ation had restricted their military support to defensive weapons and military supplies and that sense he will be missed definitely here in. This impeachment scandal i mean its getting bigger and ukraine is in even deeper is president he is hes succeeding in deflecting questions about truong and all of trumps men. At a level i think these revelations about the trump mistress and reaching out to australia and these comments will present himself to china in a way takes the heat off a bit and shows that this was part of a bigger pattern of behavior on the part of this is mr ation it wasnt just some specifically ukrainian situation but definitely this is something that is coming to haunt him i was at one of his very red briefings just the other day when he was trying to talk about his plan to bring peace to dawn bass and again and again you saw him confronted by questions from the excessive press about his meetings with mistress officials had he met Rudy Giuliani or not had he been influenced to put under pressure and you could seem getting very annoyed and want to just really to shift the focus back on his domestic agenda that is definitely unwelcome and something that is not going away in a hurry all right Nick Connelly in here with the latest on the ukrainian angle of this impeachment scandal nic thank you and here with me at the big table tonight is a man who knows washington d. C. And how u. S. Policy reverberates here in berlin and Europe Jack James is senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund is also a member of the council on Foreign Relations jack its good to have you back on the show you just a few days ago from washington you know policymakers you know well makers here in berlin. What are they asking or what are they saying about this impeachment inquiry in washington that its going to happen and i think its going to happen even by the end of this year if not before. And largely because of what mr trump said today or yesterday asking china now to get involved in this investigation i think hes got a problem understanding what his office is when he speaks and theres a larger problem here and that is. Governance the relationship between the executive branch of the legislative branch and theres a 3rd level and thats what im really concerned about and thats the reliability of the United States and the trust in the ability to deal with the United States without having it immersed in domestic politics do you get this is that berlin that is already preparing for a president mike pence well i dont think theyre that far along i mean lets see what happens between now and the time that the impeachment process starts the question is who gains from that does he mr trump again as somebody whos the victim and then plays for its own base or do the democrats win and they have a bit of a problem because even if they go for the impeachment theyre going to have some point pivot to the real issues on the table for everyday voters not this so one way or the other this is going to be a very difficult chess game for both sides you know the german chancellor Angela Merkel well. Ukrainian president the way its going. He is quoted in this phone call transcript summary with the u. S. President and he he. Did not say the most flattering things about miracle were germanys policy with ukraine do you think he has he shot himself in the foot with germany already well look i think hes right is it the beginning of understanding what his offices as president i mean remember where he came from so hes drinking from a fire hose when it comes to understanding politics whether its domestic or whether its fine and i think that you know hes trying to run through extremely tight rope here and in that respect i think you know in that case its best to give him time to respond to this i mean the fact is is that this accusation that was made by trump germany and europe to do much for the crate is false so i think its this point is a real tight rope for him see how he can do it if this impeachment takes place if the president is removed you know thats never happened in u. S. History if it does happen what do you what do you whats your sense for german u. S. Relations post impeachment but thats a hard one that i mean i think that to some extent there were issues before trump was elected that really shaped german American Affairs 30 years after the wall 70 years after the founding of the republic we celebrate that i think there were things that were changing anyway and so regardless of whos going to be president and whos going to win the election in 20. I think its going to continue to change the parameters of discussion tween berlin and washington and the United States in general with germany thats not all bad so its a little premature to speculate about you know pence or trump or whoever the democrat might be who might win but either way the environment of german American Relations is in flux. Its its in flux and the i guess the building of relationships that you see between policymakers and lawmakers is that happening as robustly as it was but see 101520 years ago or do you see that being eroded but i think that there is an enormous amount of interface between the governments and i think that there is an enormous amount of by the way interface between governments below the federal level you know they just finished this thing called. And theres a lot of activity going on at the levels of the state and local governments so i think that we shouldnt underestimate the bonds of the countries together that have been built up over these last 7 decades but we should not take them for granted yeah all right jack stand by were going to talk with you again in just a moment. Insulins not know in advance posed that 29. 00 is off to german reunification the majority of east in germany feel like 2nd class citizens in germany fewer than 40 percent of eastern geminids believe reunification with the success among people who are younger than 40 that figure is any around 20 percent less than half a happy with a democracy in germany. You know sobering words there 29 years after west and east germany became one nation again ending the divisions that were created by the iron curtain of the cold war here with me of the big table is jack james he is with the German Marshall Fund you know the german chancellor Angela Merkel and she came from east germany she has been the leader of the country since 2005 and we were doing the math today she has been basically the leader in this country half of the time since the wall phil how responsible is she. Personally for these persisting east west differences i dont think shes personally responsible i think these are relationships that are going to evolve willy brandt when it happened said now what can Grow Together should Grow Together and its not going to be easy i always make a comparison and i hope its not too far afield i mean we had a civil war between 1965 and were not done with that either and i mean this takes a while generation so i dont put the onus on her for the kind of. Adjustments and changes and quite frankly frictions that have occurred this is part and parcel of the price that one paid in 180990 to get something that had been our the goal for many many decades but you know when you when you look at the the image of our going outside of the country shes known as the champion of western liberal democracy but inside the country here if you ask people what does merkel champion most people will tell you they dont know shes not really known for being a champion of any calls since she was an east german could she have done more if she had made east germans and east germany maybe her or champion as a politician i dont think she wanted to do that i think from the time she was elected she wanted to be the chancellor of all germans and i think that was heavy on her mind that she shouldnt be pigeonholed because she was she was always being measured as that is she being too much of an aussie yet is that right i mean maybe some people in east germany felt that that wasnt enough but my sense is that that was her goal i mean she was given an opportunity to do something that very few leaders have ever had the opportunity to do and thats just so 2 parts of a country together i mean even though shed been chancers in 2005 she was already involved in the early part of the years and she served in kohls cabinet so she saw that unfolding over. Any right at the beginning and i would give her credit for sustaining the dialogue now whether or not she was you know talking about big pictures and you know the vision thing and so forth i dont think that matters too much i think that this was a time when there was sustainability and to some extent predictability and now maybe there is a different you know i fear i remember covering the the election victory of your hard schroeder and when he became chancellor here and then covering when im going to merkel became chancellor and me because well this was like night and day the difference is here do you think west germans do they not get enough credit for you know electing or accepting an east german as their chancellor as they did in 2005 and then for keeping her in power for as long as they have yeah its an amazing thing shes going to probably tie calls record as 16 years and in that respect its almost a bit of a compliment in the sense that she did arrive at a point where people east and west did feel they were represented by her why else would she have been elected 3 times after her 1st initial and so i think that to some extent theres a great deal of accomplishment there at a time when it was turbulent remember there was the recession there was a lot of things with the euro and then of course we had the migration issue so i think that you know what should underestimate what was at stake and at the same time you know these things evolve at a certain epoch and i think that at the end of 60 i guess 21 or whenever just when one has she will be able to bow out and i think quite frankly with a great deal of legacy benatar let me ask you before we run out of time when she does step down in 2021 will that be the time that lawmakers here say now is the time to draw the line now is the time to declare east and west history not of that thats going to happen i mean i think as i said before in the United States we have great our Regional Diversity as i think germany has had diversity. For almost the entire existence of it as a country and even well before that they shouldnt necessarily be a 0 sum game there ought to be a way to combine the regional identities with the National Identities and maybe of course with the european focus. Senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund tech it is always good to have you on the show good to hear your insights today are you will still thank you jack good to be here. So 29 years since west and east germany ceased to be the division the official division was no more how did that happen heres a look back when the wall still stood. Main 989 the iron curtain was starting to fray hungary wanted to pull down forward as people in east germany just wanted to leave many fled to west german embassies in Eastern European countries hoping to continue on from that to the west. Despite the warnings of east germanys leadership more and more people left the country took to the streets in october 1909130000 people demonstrated against the east german regime. A month later it was hard for 1000000 i. 10 on the 9th of november 1909 the unimaginable happened the berlin wall fell the iron curtain was history germans were overjoyed i. Chancellor helmut kohl took advantage of the euphoria he convinced france britain and finally soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that a united germany would be at the service of europe. In record speed german unity was a great both nationally and internationally the 5 states of the former g. D. R. Joined west germany on october 3rd 1990 kohl finally attained his goal a unified germany. We remember those days very well someone who made those days possible is with me here in the studio right now the former east german civil rights activist caterine. I think its good to have you on the show weve talked before here at the big table i want to pick up on the topic of the german chancellor Angela Merkel weve been talking about her tonight when you think about. Her contribution to german reunification has she done enough. Or has she let you down how do you feel. You know i in my opinion this is not a one man show or one woman show so we unification or democracy is a job for all of us so we have to make it possible we have to talk to each other and to understand each other its about understanding anothers position where is he coming from what is the background and so we should put more effort into this its just work it is what it is and its love and its its true it has to be done every day is it being done enough today so i think people who are not doing it in i think is they expecting someone else should do it but thats not how our democracy work we can only do it or no one does it and so then its not happening so but the responsibility is on us its so in the english word of responsibility its very fine because its an ability to respond to right exactly so and i really like that that is an interesting way to look at the word but youre right it is the ability to respond to each other when you when you look at what has happened in the last 30 years do you still feel like an east german. No if you ask me in the respect if i feel like a 2nd a 2nd class citizen i dont but if you are as ok im unformed from my past so what i am today its because of my history growing up in a dictatorship knowing what this means how it affects your freedom of speech or moving whatever you want or becoming what you want to become so i much more area see the privilege of living in a democracy and being pirated because you were denied that you know what it was like to have dinner and in this respect though when never forget my tossed with to take us back to 1990 when east and west germany came together again this would be the last question before we run out of time what expectations did you have for the future. I just had the how not to come too long into prison so afraid of you know and yet there. But i also i just felt ok if you can make it if you can give this movement a face and if you can leave the movement out of the church and the freedom and we you can see it on our banner for an open country in this free people its true and so that was our hope and that visit we gave to this street and its a vision that you continue to give to the country and you know your your life is an example of that and we appreciate you taking the time to share with us tonight again cuts mean how are you sturm and civil rights activist on this very important day here in germany thank you kathleen thank you well today marks another anniversary here it was 50 years ago that construction was completed in east berlin on the Television Tower it was designed to tower over west berlin a symbol of communism engineering superiority well it didnt work out quite that way did it but the t. V. Tower it became an icon of a city that is changing and attracting millions of people every year take a look. At the heights of 368 meters its billions most visible down mock up and in 1969 its attracted 16000000 visitors from all over the world. The bit scary i didnt expect it to be quite high when we look for places to go in the lead we missed and we saw. The big one every monuments specially in the new one. To elevate history. Gets to the top in just 40 seconds. The lift that takes resistance to the viewing platform at itu 203 meters as a top speed of 21 Kilometers Per Hour for safety reasons only 350. 00 people are allowed on the platform at any one time on a clear day you can see 80 kilometers. The revolving platform also doubles as a Restaurant Guests can enjoy an ever changing view joining their meal. To come in and the tables are moving so 1st of all you have to find your table manners and then youre amazed by the view that greets you so yes its very special when you come up here those definitely affect. Thorsten brinkman is the boss here so he gets to see places most visitors dont see. The technicians platform 246 meters for example. A friend in told me its an architectural achievement and above all a masterful piece of engineering my colleagues thought up using slide rules and glass is quite remarkable. They were back. To Berlin Television tower isnt just a draw for the tourists its also a unique building that best testament to the division of germany and its reunification. And the special day is almost done by the conversation continues online or find us on twitter either at the w. News or you can follow me at brant t. V. Dont forget to use the hash tag today and remember whatever happens between now and then tomorrow is another day well see that everybody. And. When much of europe wanted to keep them out maria microbiome he invited them in. To free colander so most is home to one of the worst pretty cheap canst in the mediterranean. But one woman makes life a little better for her new neighbors. Meet mama maria and the refugees of some us. Next on. German industries are dependent on subsidies each year the german state pumps billions of euros into the private sector. Too much some experts say. Yet others believe that subsidies are necessary. Whats the situation like elsewhere in europe come home made in germany in 60 minutes d w. Y subscribe to double your books you meet your favorite writer and finish i like to see myself as became sky in the strange grown up world do you know where your books are neuter whats the connection between bread by. And the european union. Correspondent and baker can stretch this they can live with the rules set by. Stamping recipes for success strategy that makes a difference. Baking bread on d. W. Alone a very warm welcome indeed to focus on europe with me please occur even europe is still struggling to get the refugee crisis under control with tensions running particularly high on the greek