Transcripts For KQED BBC World News America 20171024

Cooling trade winds, and the crystal blue caribbean sea. Nonstop flights are available from most major airports. More information for your vacation planning is available at aruba. Com. And now, bbc world news. Laura this is bbc world news america. Reporting from washington, i am laura trevelyan. 2 republican senators unleash on donald trump. Jeff flake joins bob corker in saying he wont run again, and now they are speaking out against the white house. Senator corker sad place, for my perspective, for our nation, and i think the worst is the whole debasing, if you will, of our nation. Laura the foreign minister of pakistan speaks exclusively to the bbc, saying that there is a Huge Trust Deficit between his country and the u. S. And paul cezanne fans rejoice. An exhibition featuring dozens of portraits by the influential artist, many of himself, goes on display in london. Welcome to our viewers on Public Television in america and around the globe. This was a dramatic day in u. S. Politics. Tonight, the leadership of President Trump is under fire from two republican senators. Jeff flake of arizona has joined bob corker from tennessee in announcing he will not run for reelection, and now they show share Something Else in common, a scathing critique of the president s conduct. Before mr. Trump traveled to capitol hill for lunch with senate republicans, here is what bob corker had to say about him. Senator corker it is a sad place, from my perspective, for our nation, and i think the worst of it will be the whole debasing, if you will, of our nation. I think that will be the contribution that hurts our mission the most. You think the president is debasing the nation . Senator corker i dont think there is any question that is the case, with the way he has conducted himself and goes to such a low level. I do. Laura senator corker there. And then republican senator jeff flake took to the senate floor to announce his decision not to seek reelection, and had this harsh assessment of the current political climate. Senator flake we must never regard as normal the regular and casual undermining of our democratic norms and ideals. Accept theer meekly daily sundering of our country. The personal attacks, threats against principles, freedom, and institutions, the flagrant disregard for truth and decency, the reckless provocations, most often for the pettiest and most personal reasons, reasons having nothing whatsoever to do with the fortunes of the people we have been elected to serve. None of these appalling features of our current politics should ever be regarded as normal. Laura senator flake. For more on all of this, i was joined a short time ago by the chief washington correspondent for politico. Senator flake also said today, it is time for our complicity and accommodation of the unacceptable to end. Is this a Tipping Point in the Trump Presidency . We will see. There have been these moments before. I do think its important to remember that it was thursday when both former president george w. Bush and former president barack obama made very similar comments, parallel comments, that there is a threat to democracy. This isnt a political thing. Of course, bush a obama a democrat, and corker and flake republicans, members of trumps own party, making this case above politics, about his conduct and fitness for office. Now, these comments have been made by some in the past, but most of the time theyve been made by trumps political opponents. Whether it starts to be the beginning of something rolling, we dont know. Laura right, these two are not running for reelection. Is it more significant if we hear it from people who are planning to seek election next year . Well, maybe, but corker and flake will be there the next year and a half in the senate. What will they do in that time . There are things available to them, and it is not just voting for or against the president s agenda on tax cuts, things they believe in anyway the budget, obamacare repeal, which they were reliable votes for on all of those issues. There are questions for example, will they push for hearings, will there be action they move beyond this, beyond giving a speech on the floor or interviews . All of which affects the conversation with their thinking, but it is a question of what happens when the actual substance laura right, are they going to do more than just talk . Of course, the white house has dismissed this all as petty criticism. We saw the president go on a twitter tirade against senator corker. But he is in a bind, too. You talked about the narrow majority the president has in the senate. He needs these people to get tax reform through. He does, and to get anything else through. We see the president looking at the end of his first year in office with no major legislative accomplishment. Republicans across washington are extremely worried about what things will look like in next years election if they dont pass anything, feeling that tax reform is the last best shot to say to voters, we hear you, we are trying to do something for you. If they dont do that, they will have a lot of problems, and if they dont have the votes from bob corker or jeff flake on the agenda, they will not be able to do that, because they only have a 5248 majority, and importantly, there is a senate race in alabama coming up in december which could put roy moore, republican, in, would probably not vote with most of the conference. Laura do you think that republicans are sitting tight on their discomfort just to get the tax cut . No. This is a long process for republicans sorting out how to think about President Trump and what they want to say. Laura thank you for joining us. Thank you. Laura so what is the reaction to all of this infighting on capitol hill . Earlier, my colleagues katty kay and Christian Fraser spoke to republican congressman Steve Russell for their Program Beyond 100 days. Katty congressman russell, you represent oklahoma, a pretty conservative state in the middle of america, and i wonder what your constituents made of the row between bob corker and donald trump. Well, if we were to get excited about every row between the executive and politicians, we would be spun up all the time, i suppose. Quite frankly, i dont know if they are paying a lot of attention to it. Katty you are, though, presumably. Rep. Russell well, certainly. We are always concerned, particularly in regard to Foreign Policy and how that might be impacted. Christian congressman, how do you think this might affect the president s ability to get things done . Rep. Russell i think it is important on 2 aspects. We cannot keep making this about personalities. On either side of these types of spats, when we go around poking one another in the eye, we want to poke the other eye, and we will accelerate beyond. I think what we have to do is focus on the policy. I think the president has a good Strategic Vision for the things that he wants to do. Unfortunately, unlike times in the past where he can choose to do business with the corporation or not and just move on to another corporation, the only thing he has to work with is in this case the republicans in congress, primarily, and then congress as a whole. So we are all he has, and it serves well to focus on policy. We ought to as members of this body show some deference and respect as well. Christian we understand why bob corker feels able to speak the way he does, because he is standing down. But the president is there for the duration. Does he need to engage . Why is he on twitter today with on an important day when he is meeting in the Senate Taking on bob corker . Rep. Russell i cannot pretend to know what is in the mind of the president. My own observations are, as he sees people that attack, he has a propensity to push back. I think him not coming from any political background might account for some of that. I think what you have is that people are going to hate us from the right or left or everything in between, often on what we do, and sometimes even if we come up with a great idea people will hate it on principle because that is the nature of politics. The president , on the other hand, not coming from that environment, i think he is probably adjusting to some of that. Ok, is it a proper adjustment . We can debate that until the cows come home. But you have a man in his 70s that has had habits of success in his past, has habits of behavior that are not likely to change after seven decades. Laura congressman Steve Russell thethere. Chinese president xi jinpings name has been enshrined in his partys constitution, giving him equal status to chairman mao. This came at the end of the communist Party Congress in beijing. China editor Carrie Gracie sent this report. Favor, raisee in your hands. Against . None. None. Unanimous. More than 2000 communists, and not a single vote against. Xi jinping fought on socialism with chinese characteristics for a new era. It is a third chapter for communist china. Mao united the country. His successor made it rich. Xi intends to make it strong. It is all a long way from where he spent his teenage years as a farmer. Xi jinping had been born into the communist elite, but sent to the countryside when mao purged his father. That was then, this is now. China on the up, and xi promising quality of life at home and superpower status abroad. We want our lives to get better, and we want a strong country. Xi jinping is very tough. Compared to other leaders, he is great. Carrie xi believes in control. The partys control of the public. His own control of the party. And a campaign of fear to silence rivals. Xi jinping has acquired more authority and power, and the Chinese Communist party has taken a step away from collective leadership and towards a oneman rule by a very charismatic and powerful leader. Carrie for centuries, chinas emperors ruled from behind the walls of the forbidden city. By enshrining his vision, xi hopes to make himself invulnerable. Chinese once called chairman mao the great helmsman, and foreigners called him the red emperor. One man who dictated the destiny of more than one billion people. Now china has a new red emperor in xi jinping, and his Party Comrades are already calling him the helmsman and the savior of socialism. Maos oneman rule brought only china misery. But this time is different. If xi fails, we are all the poorer. If he succeeds, his drive for control will reach us all. Carrie gracie they are on a chinas imperial president. In other news from around the world, germanys newly elected parliament has begun its opening session in berlin. The first time in decades, members of the far right nationalist party are taking their seats. The alternative for germany come with antiimmigrant and antimuslim views, came third in last months election. The parliamentary leader says a new era has begun. Hong kongs tax court has granted bail to 2 activists jailed for their prominent role in prodemocracy protests in 2014. They were originally ordered to do community service, but were jailed in august after prosecutors appealed. Tillersonof state rex was in pakistan today, meeting leadership,ntrys and says the countrys share a common interest in regional stability. Pakistans foreign minister, who was at that meeting, sat down with the bbc for an exclusive interview. He discussed his nations response to american calls for more action to combat terrorism, and said there were no safe havens for militants left in pakistan. They do not need our territory anymore, because almost 40 of the afghan territory is under the direct control of the taliban, and this is being admitted internationally. There is basically one key factor missing in our relationship, and that is the trust. We have a Huge Trust Deficit, and we are desperately trying, both parties, america and pakistan, to bridge this trust deficit. We dont have safe havens. Reporter the u. S. Doesnt seem to buy that. You are absolutely right. There is a trust deficit. They are not buying our narrative, and we are not buying their narrative. They must also do some self accountability, also. Why has the narco trade gone up by 3700 . Reporter they said the reason the war is going badly for the Afghan Government is because the militants because the territory it is the ineptitude of the forces which are present over there to bring some sort of normal situation to afghanistan. That is resulted in what is happening today. Reporter so you are saying that pakistan is being blamed for this ineptitude of the United States . Absolutely. Absolutely. You want me to repeat it . Ill repeat it. The failure is much bigger than what they are attributing to us. Reporter you talk about the trust deficit between the United States and pakistan. How concerned are you about the possibility of economic sanctions being leveled against pakistan . We do not get any economic assistance in our states. From the United States. Just a trickle. Nothing more than that. We dont get any military hardware from them, not at all. But having said that, there is a willingness on both sides to bridge this deficit, bridge this gap. Laura pakistans foreign minister there. You are watching bbc world news merica. Still to come on tonights program, a portrait of the artist. Londonbuster show in features the work of french postimpressionist paul cezanne. The british former assistant of Harvey Weinstein says she was paid over 160,000 to keep quiet after accusing the Film Producer of Sexual Harassment. Company fired by the he cofounded, condemned by hollywood, and now a former assistant has said that after she was sexually harassed by Harvey Weinstein, she was paid more than 165,000 to stay silent. Now a Zelda Perkins says she has decided to break the legal agreement, which could result in her having to repay the money. She told the financial times, i want to publicly break my nondisclosure agreement. Unless someone does this, there debate. A my entire world filled and because i thought the law was there to protect those who abided by it. I discovered it had nothing to do with right and wrong and everything to do with money and power. In los angeles, the premieres are continuing, but stars say hollywood must change. Maybe this is a watershed moment where we believe women and let them feel safe to talk about what they are experiencing. The fact that somebody that powerful, his career is completely ruin, that is a message to anybody who would behave like this. Reporter the allegations against weinstein mean that his former company, based in new york, could also be in the firing line. In a statement, the new York Attorney general said, no new yorker should be forced to work into our workplace ruled by sexual intimidation, harassment, or fear. If the Sexual Harassment or dissemination is pervasive at a comedy, we want to know. At a company, we want to know. More than two dozen women have made allegations against Harvey Weinstein. He has denied allegations of nonconceptual nonconsensual sex. The scandal has affected the lives of so many women. Laura kenya is facing a lastminute legal challenge before the president ial Election Rerun on thursday can go ahead. Uhuru kenyatta won in august, but that was nulled by the Supreme Court. After editor for goldstein reports. Africa editor for gold gene reports. Reporter it looks and feels like a boisterous democracy in action. But it is an election with only one side. These are president uhuru kenyattas supporters, and they are to many the election takes place whatever Railia Odinga says. He is just taking us backwards. To come and bring war. Fergal the Supreme Court is is seen as having stole their victory in the last election. In the western stronghold, it felt like another country. These views are from the group of the luer and raila odinga. They believe the kikuyu majority wants to marginalize them. What annt election that is already rate. We want a free and fair it already rigged. We want a free and fair election. Election is not going to happen. Fergal in this volatile atmosphere, it is hard to imagine free and Fair Elections taking place in Opposition Strongholds like this. , there will be serious doubts over the legitimacy of the results, certainly for those who support raila odinga. This is in part by dynastic struggle. Kenyas first postcolonial leader was the president s father. The idea was to banish tribalism, but the dream fell away over oneparty rule and cronyism. Now recent democratic progress is under threat. Thursday,ns on kenyas democratic future. A lot of blood has been spilled and labor has been expended by kenyans to achieve the democratic traditions that we have. It is not just about an election, or a pf of an election. It is about kenyas democratic future. Fergal the escalating tension is harming kenyas economy. Half the countrys manufacturers plan to shed jobs. And for the vulnerable, the fear of violence is palpable. Lydia is a widow whose twoyearold daughter was wounded by a stray bullet during riots in her village. She also has a son, and since her husband died, survives on the few pounds she earns watching washing clothes. Life here is very difficult. I wash clothes in order to meet, but i cannot do that, because the baby is upset. I cannot leave home. Kenya is deeply polarized. Tonight a bodyguard of a senior judge was shot and wounded, and there was a growing sense of crisis. Ne, bbc news, nairobi. Laura french master paul cezanne is known for his condition is hard, and now a major showing his owing on show in london. Paintings from around the world will be displayed together for the first time. Our arts editor has more. Reporter portrait of an artist as a young man. Paul cezannes early selfie, painting him his 20s when he was still looking like no other artist. He would paint himself throughout his career, making breakthroughs in technique and tone each time, until this final selfportrait, when the artist picasso called the father of us all revealed his lifetime knowledge and skill in a single image. Cezannes ideas are radical in the second half of the 19th century, and they are still radical today. Not the idealized versions of the rich and famous, he just wanted to paint ordinary people in ordinary settings, and thereby create something extraordinary. Even though he does not seem to represent expressed emotion, obviously he is interested in character, and i think he really wanted that sense of peopleness of people. For growth is of social regardless of social status, regardless of anything. When you look back in the history of portraiture, who has done that before . You end up with rembrandt. Reporter other pictures in this exhibition where we see cezanne the artist take leaps forward. The first big thing is very early in the mid1860s where he makes portraits that have never been painted in that way before. The next big step is the middle the 1870s, where after having worked with impressionists, and color blues in this picture, then by the 1880s, the volume is very present, with regular hatched brushstrokes. In the 1890s, all of these different currents start to come together. Reporter cezanne was famously grumpy. Sitters could be reprimanded for the slightest fidget. Does an apple move . He would snap. It is fair to say cezanne was Something Else. Aura the cezanne selfies i am a laura trevelyan. Thanks for watching. With the bbc news app, our vertical videos are designed to work around your lifestyle, so you can swipe your way through the news of the day and stay up to date with the latest headlines you can trust. Download now from selected app stores. Funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, and kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for americas neglected needs. Planning a vacation escape that is relaxing, inviting, and exciting is a lot easier than you think. You can find it here in aruba. Families, couples, and friends can all find their escape on the island with warm, sunny days, cooling trade winds, and the crystal blue caribbean sea. Nonstop flights are available from most major airports. More information for your vacation planning is available at aruba. Com. Bbc world news was presented by kcet, los angeles. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc woodruff good evening. Im judy woodruff. On the newshour tonight we must never regard as normal, the regular and casual undermining of our democratic norms and ideals. Woodruff a Republican Party in turmoil. Senator jeff flake calls President Trump dangerous to a democracy, as a public feud between mr. Trump and senator bob corker overshadows efforts on tax reform. Then, after fake test scores sent some atlanta educators to prison, a look at those caught up in the cheating scandal, and how schools are recovering. As a community, i think we owe it to these kids to give them what they lost. Woodruff plus, a world series for a stormweary city. Houston hopes toin