And in german football via munich leaves it until late in the game but takes home what could be a crucial win a frog. Im brian thomas good to have you with us the u. S. House of representatives has voted to impeach President Donald Trump on 2 charges stemming from his alleged attempt to pressure u. K. Crane into investigating his political rival joe biden now both well votes fell along party lines almost all democrats voting for the charges and republicans voting against them but this doesnt mean that the president will be removed from office the process now moves to the senate where hes likely to be acquitted by its republican majority. After hours of debating the 1st article of impeachment for abuse of power past perhaps. On this vote the yeas are 230 the nasal 197 present is one. Article one is adopted and just minutes later the 2nd article for obstruction of Congress Went as planned for the democrats on this though the as are 229 the nays are 198 present is one article 2 is adopted. Hundreds of kilometers away at a rally in michigan President Trump reacted to his impeachment. With todays illegal unconstitutional and partisan impeachment. Do nothing democrats and they are doing nothing all they want to do is focus on this what they could be doing are declaring their deep hatred and this thing for the american voter. This well is partisan speech is a political suicide march for the Democratic Party have you seen my polls of the last 4 which. Back in Washington Democratic had Speaker Nancy Pelosi accuse the republicans of being purely partisan she threatened to delay the impeachment trial until she could be sure it would be handled fairly in the senate. We have legislation approved by the rules committee that will enable us to decide how we will fund over. And we cannot name managers until we see what the process is on the senate and i would hope that that will be soon so far we havent fulfilled what will they are to us so hopefully it will be for only when we see what all this will. Probably with voting concluded in the house of representatives and donald trump becoming only the 3rd u. S. President to be impeached americans now face the next stage in the process the senate trial thats due to begin in january but democrats face an uphill battle considering the senate is republican controlled and they need a 2 thirds majority to remove President Trump from office. For the capitol is about to begin a brief period of calm over the Holiday Season as members of the congress and senate spent time in their homes across this starkly divided country. Or joined now by boris foreman Political Science professor at bard college here. Or in berlin nice to see you again boris going to the impeachment now moves to the senate when is it going to get there both sides say they want to speedy trial and can you walk us through what happens how the process holder sort of sort of a transmission note with some from the hose becoming managers of the case and moving it on and presenting the case to the to the senate and then there are some some. Equivocal statements of be heard about how it will then move on the question is whether the republicans will low any witnesses the democrats are insisting on additional witnesses and so there might be a bit more of a drawn out process but i think what both parties want to avoid is a clash with the with the president ial elections in november ok so how long could the process take you know how much time were looking at in the senate well i think the theres hope that it could be done early in the year in the spring so that during the primaries it will be over and done with but theres also an incentive a small incentive for the republicans to draw it out to the bit longer because what the impeachment trial does is to bog down the senators and if warren and sanders are still in the race they will not be able to be on the computer trail ok no chance of the democrat sped in the senate will pass republicans of course have the majority there well its as everybody says its highly unlikely 20 republicans would have to move to the other side and given what weve seen not just yesterday but over the last course of the years there is a deeply polarized political system its very unlikely for that to happen. And so it remains to be seen but as long as Public Opinion doesnt shift on this and it hasnt. This is probably not going to happen ok then why are democrats pursuing this course the president s described described as self destructive why are they going down this road well i think the argument here is that the founders of the constitution. The Founding Fathers of the u. S. Have decided that there are certain mechanisms in place or have to be in place if democracy is going to be protected if there is someone who puts their private interests above the general interest then these mechanisms should should be played out and this is the democrats argument and so theyre saying were doing this because it needs to be done weve been reluctant nancy pelosi has insisted on this multiple times and they view as well theyve been reluctant to get this process started but then they had to follow through ok and nancy pelosi back in march said theres no grounds for impeachment she didnt want to go down this road what changed for the democrats well i think having looked at the evidence after that was what for them made a difference the other thing is obviously the polarization not just between the parties but within the parties theres been a strong constituency within the Democratic Party thats been arguing for impeachment and so she had pressure from both sides basically ok how do you see the impeachment process playing out in the elections trump one the former democratic strongholds in michigan and pennsylvania how is this process going to go down in those key swing states in the next election it seems like the position are very polarized again it doesnt seem like this will change. I dont know exactly whats going to happen in those swing states. There is a reason why trump was elected and why they went from democratic strongholds to republican backers i dont know however either whether what trump has been doing in office the kinds of reforms that hes been trying to get started to really have affected those voters in a popular or in the popular and helpful way so it remains to be seen ok boris foreman thanks so much for coming in give us insights this morning from bard college here in berlin thanks very much. Lets preview down some other stories making the news today the pretrial. Whove been investigating his Business Activities good siac and his fiance were gunned down at their home in february of last year. Thousands of people across poland went out to demonstrate against a proposed law allowing the government to fire judges the protesters fear that this legislation would undermine the independence of the judiciary they also fear it could lead to polands exit from the european union. Bolivias attorney general has issued an arrest warrant for former president at allas is wanted for trial on charges of sedition and terrorism. He fled bolivia last month amidst unrest after he claimed victory in a disputed president ial election hes currently living in exile in argentina. Spanish police have clashed with protesters outside a football match between barcelona and real madrid the protesters outside the stadium in barcelona tried to draw attention to the cattle on separatist movement during that goal this match which was watched by 650000000 people worldwide. Most populous state New South Wales has declared an emergency over its bushfire crisis authorities are warning of the threat from fires will increase in the coming days strong winds and extreme heat are spreading the blazes and temperatures that have already set new records are set to soar even higher. A wall of flames consuming all before it the firemen trying to slow its advance of fighting a losing battle. Wildfires have been raging in australia for months now its going to be more than 3000000. 00 hectares of land and destroying over 700. 00 homes this smoke has engulfed sydney blaring it psychotic skyline but with record temperatures fanning the flames the state of New South Wales is preparing for things to get worse given the severity of extreme weather conditions today and also saturday and for the next few days on advice of commissioner fitzsimmons New South Wales will be in a state of emergency from today for the next 7 days scientists blame Global Warming for the severity of this years fire as parched from the searing heat New South Wales is a tinderbox already alight. Weve got just under 104 hours burning across New South Wales and half of them are not can timed was to die is going to be a very bad dined resty here in New South Wales the forecast is that sort of i will be even worse so were talking about some very serious and dangerous conditions over the coming days. With the heat bearing down many australians took to the waves to cool off. Even as they relax on the beach the flames a creeping place. All spent 3 years now since an islamist extremist around the truck into a busy Christmas Market in central berlin killing 12 people and injuring dozens of others many of whom continue to suffer from their grave injures the attacker was known to German Authorities at the time as a potential terrorist a Parliamentary Committee has been investigating this case opposition members of that committee have now presented their interim report and some of its findings are damning. 3 years on condos and flowers still commemorate the victims of the attack. A Parliamentary Committee is still trying to discover why authorities werent able to prevent it opposition politicians make serious charges. That we simply have to point out that German Security agencies completely misjudged the threat their assessment of anything was incorrect to a great extent they failed to take his plan seriously even sometimes the norm soon after the attack authorities described amerie as a lone wolf a small time drug dealer who picked up radical ideas on his own. Some members of the Investigative Committee say that theory no longer holds water and the summary had close ties to Germanys Islamist scene and the authorities were well aware of his activities so far im a big fear was one of the most dangerous potential terrorists of 2016 so no one seriously disputes that he was a hot potato that the passing back and forth no one really wanted the case. You couldnt get should 1st weve already determined the intercepted telephone conversations were not on allies and a timely and competent mana that co that observation was prematurely broken off and especially that the eventual puppetry to cell phone was not thoroughly sachse to evidence. Would 3 years later the Committee Investigating the case sees work is far from finished. And staying in germany this country has been marking the 30th anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall this year which led of course to german reunification and one of the Big Questions facing german leaders back then was what to do with a vast quantity of files kept by the east German Secret Police the stasi in the end they were made available to the public but 3 decades on they remain a source of controversy and pain. 30 years ago east germans stormed the headquarters of the stasi was they wanted to prevent the communist dictatorship secret police from completely destroying its archives here are in supreme war these guys you know the place where the secret police plan the oppression of the people they were in helping to preserve the files its an experience ill always remember as. My daughter i dont know. Today is the federal commissioner for the stasi archives is agency holds enough files to stretch for 111 kilometers as a journalist and civil rights activist he himself was put under surveillance spied on and filmed by the stasi until 989 just like millions of others the spying reached all the way to the top ranks and into the west one of the stasis main targets was long term chancellor helmut kohl after the fall of the g. D. R. The German Government did not initially want to make the archives available to the public in an exclusive interview with the former chancellors widow mica close explains why the since on stock there of questionable truth whats worse the stasi also added fake information to the Financial System that they were created in order to spy on people to subdue people and to secure the continuance of the regime by labor suspicion but activists from the former east germany persevered soon anyone could apply to look at his or her own files people were often astonished by what the stasi had known about them how much fun a long legal battle to prevent stasi files about himself from being released to academic researchers and journalists in the end a compromise was reached. Top 40 stuff which are mentioned i thought it was the stasi violated our human rights by spying on citizens and helmut kohl was all i would call a collector that information and these files of course they should be protected these. 30 years on more than 2000000 people have seen their files the identities of former star spies have been revealed. People who were wrongfully imprisoned were forced into working for the stasi were rehabilitated. But how to treat the finals in the future is still controversial. Theyre not a legitimate source this was always my husbands concern hed say the more distant people are from the g. D. R. Over time the less they will understand that the stasi files are not of a constitutional state that stopped since but one of the archives is a key historic document this is these arkansas its important to expand these files by talking to witnesses of the time but also with other information. In a sense history is always made up of many different elements like a mosaic shouldnt be a static image of history these archives should contribute to a discourse on history. That could take place here at the former headquarters of east Germany Secret Police in berlin a campus for democracy as in the planning it should be finished by 2021 and its hoped it will send a clear message towards the taters of can be overcome thats a reason for hope and thats the message that can be learned from history also for future generations to become aware that freedom and autonomy are not a given but instead they must be cherished and protected here t. Shirts and to shoot. That report was part of the d. W. Documentary tightrope act in dresden you can view it in its entirety online it did have your dot com slash stock fill this is due to abuse live from berlin still to come on the show in german football reigning champions buy in munich move up to 3rd in the table after all when at freiburg. But 1st a court in the philippines is found guilty in the members of a family clan accused of murdering political opponents and journalists people died in a massacre they work is traded in 2009 it was the worst Political Violence in the philippines to date those convicted are members of the influential family who were found guilty of ambushing a convoy of arrival class as a travel to. Register its candidate for a local election. Familys trial has been seen as a crucial test of impunity in a country where corruption and intimidation often decide local elections. And the latest on this lets bring in correspondent on a song those in manila. Can you tell us more about whats being called the trial of the decade in the philippines at this massacre caused so much public outrage because it was the killing of 58. 00 people including 32. 00 journalists and there are 3 things that really throw public indignation about this trial or this case for us is that it was sparked by a political rivalry to rival families were added and won but one didnt want to give up power and they were willing kill their political opponents to keep them from getting grabbing power probably that 2nd this is also the brutality of the hitting most of the women who were in the group or shot in their genitals the the victims there were their bodies were were peppered with bullets and they were buried in shallow bring you the back in broad daylight and 3rd because 32 of the killed return and it this is also a case of media suppression so incensed you know this this trial and he kept hitting the 3 things that are most wrong with the Philippine Government or the countrys political unit political dynasties and crackdown on media freedoms. Why is have been so very difficult to prosecute a case that took place across the took place a decade ago. There were 58 victims and they were buried in a shallow grave so can you imagine that exist behind me burying 58 people more than a 100 people were on trial so the testimonies of the witnesses to manage for both the prosecution and the defense were already bent thats on the administrative get additional 5 now because theyre dealing with a very political and not to be buying that. There was also a lot of days that experience by the families and also by the witnesses there were at least for businesses that were killed one by one over the course of this 3 of this decade trial you know what happens that some of those whove been found guilty have the opportunity to appeal this ruling 1st of all talking to the victim the families of the victims today and 1st they were happy about one thing and that is the conviction of the primary suspect all of them but one family so this is a victory not only for them but also for the judiciary system in showing that this powerful political family is not 9 above the law they cannot act with impunity and were such violent kidding that this thats one secondly though they do know that this isnt the end of the battle for justice those who there are still those who can appeal their c