We have a big new family now thank you everyone wherever you are oh very you did it you got us out thank you very much. Right to the top second story thing im going to stop right here. Also coming up americas opioid drug addiction claimed fifty nine thousand lives last year to date u. S. President on will trump is declaring the crisis a Public Health emergency not quite at the level that he promised just two days ago. Its a National Emergency were going to spend a lot of time a lot of effort and a lot of money on the Opioid Crisis. We begin the day with a german politician coming out of retirement to help rescue some of the people caught in turkeys crackdown extreme today in a surprising move a Turkish Court released eight human rights activists from istanbul prison who are on trial accused of aiding terrorists in last summers attempted coup now one of those set free today is a german citizen and that is an important detail the release of the activists appears to have been the result of a renewed attempt to defrost the icy relationship between germany and turkey with german chancellor Angela Merkels blessing former german chancellor Gerhard Schroeder began covert talks last month to cut a deal with turkish president richard tell you a better one today germanys foreign minister said that the release of those prisoners is an encouraging sign what remains unknown is what if anything turkey demanded in exchange for letting the activists go free our first report starts with todays unexpected its. Wednesday night in istanbul for pain not a nightmare has ended after more than one hundred days behind bars the human rights worker for Amnesty International is once again a free man after his release from prison. His comments on what happened made his ordeal clear. Im really grateful and i can say we are really grateful. For everybody who supported us legally. Diplomatically and with solidarity and we know its going on but we do it together. Case and those of other german citizens arrested by turkey have severely strained relations between the two countries in berlin there is palpable relief over his release from prison. We were very pleased when the news came yesterday that Peter Storrie now was to be freed he will sarong only imprisoned in turkey for three months but now is the time to bear in mind that there are still german citizens being unlawfully held in prison in turkey for. You know if he had to. Give if it does then that this is sensational and we should encourage turkey to take more steps to release the other prisoners especially the journalists where the accusations were made up out of thin air this former german chancellor played a decisive role and does release a media report saying chancellor merkel knew about churches mediation efforts this was confirmed by his social Democratic Party colleague foreign minister. One german citizen may have survived a hard time in a turkish prison but others still behind bars are waiting to see what german diplomacy can do for them this week chancellor merkel met the wife of imprisoned german journalist an easier job a clear show of solidarity by the German Government with those being held illegally in turkeys presence. And im joined here at the table now by our Political Correspondent kate brady its good to have you back on the show so lets talk about weve got eight people freed on bail they can travel home which resulted a but they still have to face a Turkish Court when the trial resumes in november right exactly but at the moment obviously everyones eyes now are turning to shoreditch and this deal because now were waiting for the still obviously of the german nationals still detained in turkey and so will be looking ahead to see whats going to happen to those people who are still detained now on what dale what diplomatic deal can be done live and if there is one to be made it is a good point isnt it how how did the former german chancellor Gerhard Schroeder i mean how did he become this is a covert mediator and somewhat of a freedom broker is what he was called today by some i mean does he have a special connection with the turkish president well he was sent there on the request of sigma gabriele the German Foreign minister but of course it is no secret that schroeder and add one enjoyed a very close relationship while schroeder was the german chancellor until two thousand and five and that his continued i met someone that added one can still relate to connect with him and has said himself in kind of close the circles it has been reported before that he said that im sure it is the only german politician that he can still trust and of course its not going to notice. Today as well schroeder and share a very interesting a mutual friend and thats father may have putin is interesting isnt is like the club of strong arm leaders and then the former german chancellor appears in that in brokering a freedom deal of any sort for human rights activists like the man we saw today that is something that we would expect a statesman to do schroeder hes been harshly criticized here in germany though since leaving office for the for his intimate business ties as you said there with russia and Vladimir Putin is this deal that were seeing taking place is this schroeder being rehabilitated in the eyes of his own country well it could look like that on the surface of course theres this joy today that has been released and its being praised by the foreign minister as this encouraging step a german and turkish relations but of course turkey hasnt changed overnight. Rule of law is still being scrutinized on it state of emergency is still in place and turning back to shreds of see that some questions are going to be asked of that as well now of course everyones going to be happy that hes leading diplomatic deals with. Germany for the German Government while also receiving his pay package from sudden infant and sensually and doing all of that with the blessing of the german chancellor Angela Merkel as well. Weve got eight activists that have been set free but many more remains in custody in turkey germans but also lots of other foreign nationals not to mention the tens of thousands of turkish citizens who have suffered in this crackdown can this deal can even make a dent in that extreme crackdown that weve seen since that attempted coup last or two summers ago well as i mentioned before nothing is going to change over. And where obviously we could expect perhaps a comment soon from adeline himself well have to see just how these relations develop now im especially between germany and turkey but just own it in on germany and take you there are so many more issues to be resolved between those two countries but of course theres also still going to be International Pressure thats still going to be necessary for all of those other people to be for the east we certainly hope that that indeed happens for for those many innocent people in custody in turkey our correspondent kate brady on the story for us tonight here at the big table thank you kate. Well in spain the question tonight well it remains wide open whats the state of catalonia and its independence today catalonia has a separatist leaders said he will not call snap elections the one tool that might have defused tensions with the Spanish Government over cattle on independence carlist bridgeable says it is now what to catalonia is a Regional Parliament to decide whether or not to hold elections the Spanish Government plans to impose direct rule on catalonia tomorrow and strip which amount of his powers earlier this month catalonia as leader declared independence after a referendum but he immediately suspended implementation. Correspondent charlotte chosen hill joins us from the kettle on capitol barcelonas shes on that story for us tonight good evening to you charlotte so were not were not going to get a snap election were not getting a declaration of independence the ball seems to be back in the Central Governments court in madrid tonight doesnt. It certainly does appear that way thats because we know tomorrow the senate in madrid is planning on voting on whether to impose article one five five that would impose direct rule on catalonia it would mean removing those in the Regional Government from power will also mean taking control of its finances and its police force as well as we have known for some time that that was likely to happen tomorrow and all indications point to the fact that they will vote in favor first of all because Prime MinisterMariano Rajoy party is pushing for this it has a majority in the senate and secondly because weve heard from nights that he in a tweet that he wants to quote rescue castle anyas so it does indeed seem that all eyes are going to be on madrid tomorrow and we know that he wants to rescue catalonia implying that he wants to rescue it from its president mr huge amount that he did not did not give the announcement that people were expecting today so how the people in catalonia feel now. I think its bad to say that both those who are in favor of independence and those who are against it actually have something in common today both a walking away from todays developments feeling probably slightly disappointed Pro Independence supporters i had really expected to declare independence today there were thousands of people on the streets in the square behind me saying that they wanted just that the mood was was really quite bitter among the people son who was standing behind me some were even chanting traitor referring to preach among some real anger on the other side those who are against independence may well have been hoping that he would call Regional Elections today the hope being that it would deescalate what is becoming an increasingly tense situation an increasingly tense situation and that leads us then to tomorrow and the weekend the Central Government says its prepared to its ready to impose direct rule will it and will it be peaceful. Thats certainly looks highly likely whether or not it will be peaceful is anyones guess at this point there were some rumors that some of the very Pro Independence factions in the Catalan Government which try and prevent it happening there were even reports on social media that they were giving people tips on how to stop some of the practical elements of direct rule being imposed sort of taking guardian government buildings for example to make sure that madrid cannot take charge we have already seen some violence on the streets of boston that was on october first the day of the referendum which essentially kicks off this entire crisis the day that it was claimed by the Catalan Government that the people voted in favor of independence. Then on the streets we saw the police say reach trying to prevent not referendum. Taken by some really violent scenes doesnt it as high pare it went to sense of that but that the potential is very real our correspondent charlet chosen field on the story for us tonight in barcelona charlotte thank you very much. All this week Chinas Communist Party ensure the thought of president. Into the con countrys constitution now that is as close as it gets in china to being a figure on par with the monarch and it signals to the world that the chinese are ready for xi jinping to lead them possibly for a very long time now contrast that with the uncertainty that defines so much of thailand today the year long mourning over the death of king kong came to an end the king enjoyed a reign of seven decades and for most thais he was and is the only source of monarch identity that they knew with the king now part of the past thailands future feels as uncertain as a. The end of a long year of sorrow hundreds of thousands of thais citizens lined the streets in bangkok to witness the third day of the elaborate five day funeral and cremation ceremony. King called me paul was a father figure to many thais. I want to stay here in this area even after the cremation because i want to hold every piece of the ceremony in my memory everything i see and every feeling from today as much as possible from. Ninety five percent of the current Time Population it was born during the late kings reign royals and dignitaries from forty two countries arrived in bangkok to pay their respects to the king and the royal family thailand has observed a year of mourning following the passing of king last october at age eighty eight he ruled the country for seven decades and played a pivotal role in maintaining stability during years of political upheaval and rapid development. Or for more im joined by Andrew Mcgregor marshall a former thailand correspondent and author of a kingdom in crisis thailands struggle for democracy in the twenty First Century and hes going to have you on the day there has been a lot of talk in thailand of the late king being a unifying figure how do you see its like. Well you actually right bret most thais really revered the king and genuinely loved him and so the grief that you saw at the funeral this week was real. But i think many analysts including myself think that much of the reverence for the cave was built up through propaganda its really about the mystery rather than the man because if you look at his legacy after seventy years on the throne thailand has not been able to establish democracy it still has a military dictatorship it has been able to eradicate corruption has a very poor Education System the environment is still being damaged so if you look at what can we can achieve this seems rather limited and so for those reasons the monarchy is now much more divisive factor than it was in the past and Going Forward after this funeral that could be a real problem for thailand. Lets talk a bit about the kings successor the me how well is the next he was known in thailand well hes highly unpopular in thailand as you probably know he spends most of his time in germany he lives in munich hes been photographed wearing some rather bizarre clothing and feature tattoos hes on his fourth wife and he doesnt have anything like a similar reverence as his father hes also started really asserting himself in the last year actively intervening in politics in a way his father never did so the time and hes supposed to be a ceremony or more a key now the new king seems to be trying to intervene directly in an alliance with the military and thats got many ties very worried about the future so this funeral is a time for grief about the past and morning commute on is also a time for real i desire to see about what comes next for tight right Andrew Mcgregor marshall a former thailand correspondent and author of a kingdom in crisis thailand struggle for democracy in the twenty First Century and three thank you for your insights we appreciate. Well there has never been a drug abuse crisis in the United States like todays opioid addiction opioid drugs are now the main cause of death among americans under the age of fifty today u. S. President donald trump declared opioid abuse a national Public Health crisis active today my administration is officially declaring the Opioid Crisis a national Public Health emergency under federal law and why i am directing all executive agencies to use every appropriate Emergency Authority to fight the Opioid Crisis as part of this Emergency Response we will announce a new policy to overcome a restrictive nineteen seventy zero rule that prevents states from providing care at certain Treatment Facilities with more than sixteen beds for those suffering from drug addiction. Or there was risk President Donald Trump there now trump has also announced other steps including more training for Health Professionals who prescribe opioids and what he calls a Massive Advertising Campaign to persuade young people to avoid the abuse of prescription drugs. We want to turn now to joe shrink in new york city joe was the founder and Program Director of high sobriety which cares for opioid addicted patients also through the use of medical marijuana joe its good to see you i want to ask you whats your take on what the president said today. Well its just way too little if the president respects anything at all its money and if hes not going to put any money towards this hes not really sincere about much of anything weve heard this rhetoric before weve heard that it will be controlled at the border our kids just say no its the same old thing that weve heard now for forty or fifty years and i dont really have much hope that this is going to do much of anything for the crisis well what i found in finance downing is does is just say no mentality that we heard even from the attorney general today but you know that is something that nancy reagan made famous in the one nine hundred eighty s. And you know we hopefully are a little wiser now and we know that telling kids to say no usually is a license for them to say yes even more so how do you explain the fact th