Nonstop flights are available from most major airports. More information for your vacation planning is available at aruba. Com. And now, bbc world news. Jane this is bbc world news america. Reporting from washington, i am jane obrien. They lined up early to get a copy of fire and fury. Now the author of the Controversial Book is speaking out. Michael i would say the one description that everyone has in common, they all say he is like a child. Jane north and south korea are coming together for talks for the first time in two years. A rare break in the diplomatic freeze. First came the snow, now the bitter cold. Americas east coast has seen temperatures plunged to lows rarely felt before. Welcome to our viewers on Public Television in america and around the globe. There is a lot of Speed Reading taking place in washington today as the controversial new book fire and fury officially went on sale. The author, Michael Wolff, has taken to the airwaves to defend his reporting, but the white house continues to say many of the accounts are full of lies. It is the controversy that has dominated the first week of 2018. The bbc news north america editor jon sopel has the latest. Jon not quite harry potter, but at midnight last night, they were queuing to get their hands on fire and fury, and if donald trump had the powers of the young wizard, he would have made the book disappear. But he doesnt, and this damning portrait is available for everyone to read. What im looking forward to seeing what we all know is going on below the surface. Im expecting the white house to be as absolutely dysfunctional as they would make it seem. No one gets tired of palace intrigue. Jon the picture it paints of life in the west wing is unsparing. Allegations of marital strain, tears and tantrums, dysfunction, and at the epicenter of every storm, donald j. Trump. Michael one description that everyone gave, everyone has in common, they all say he is like a child. And what they mean by that is he has a need for immediate gratification. It is all about him. Jon and the gravest charge of all, wolff alleges a number of his unnamed sources told him that the president is mentally unfit to remain in office, a charge that brought this response from the president s spokeswoman. Sarah sanders it is disgraceful and laughable. If he was unfit, he probably wouldnt be sitting there, he wouldnt have defeated the most qualified group of candidates the Republican Party has ever seen. Jon the president has been on twitter to rubbish the book, saying, i authorized zero access to white house, turned him down many times to author of phony book. I never spoke to him for book. Full of lies, misrepresentations, and sources that dont exist. But that is not how Michael Wolff remembers it. Michael i absolutely spoke to the president. Whether he realized it was an interview or not, i dont know. Certainly was not off the record. He standsuthor says by every word, although with anonymous sources, it is hard to fact check. The most remarkable thing about this is that given Michael Wolffs track record, why white house staff gave him access to the inner sanctum of the west wing for months on end as virtually a semiresident. The author was asked this morning when he had to say about the threatening letter the president s lawyer said. Sent. His reply, where do i send the box of chocolates . Jon sopel, bbc news, washington. Jane for more on the fallout, i spoke a brief time ago with the white house columnist for the hill. Critics will find what they want in this book, but what in it is actually new . Well, i think there are embarrassing details, the steve bannon quotes. This is a huge story. The question of whether it changes peoples minds is a different question. The president s hardcore supporters have proven quite impervious to other negative coverage. Michael wolff, as we know, has received some criticism. Jane he is pretty controversial. How much credibility or how much of this book should we believe . Some of it, but not all of it, which is not the most satisfactory answer. Some of the most newsworthy stuff has not been walked back by sources, bannon and others. So that seems to be unimpeachable. There are other details, like the suggestion that President Trump did not know who john boehner, former speaker of the house of representatives, was. That is contradicted by tweets from trump. That does not seem to be true. There are factual inaccuracies, but in my judgment, not enough to discount the whole book. Jane you cover the inner workings of the white house. How do you think people around the president are being affected by this, and people who may be considering joining the administration . They do need to fill some jobs. Yeah, absolutely. This has been a chaotic administration from its outset. There is a lot of infighting from the very beginning, not just with steve bannon, with reince preibus, members of the president s family. This book will further deepen those concerns, but those concerns have been there for a long time. Jane but he did seem to be getting things back on track. He finished 2017 on a high. Tax reform went through. He is on retreat with Republican Leaders discussing the next step. Will this derail the political agenda, or be a flash in the pan . I think it slows his political momentum, because the tax bill was used as evidence that the presidency was becoming relatively more normal. That idea has been pretty much sent up in flames by this book, which has pitched us once again into these bizarre, almost surreal moments that have been rather frequent during this administration. Jane and yet again, the question we always ask, he tweets about it. If he had kept quiet, would this have been playing out differently . I think it would not have been quite such a big deal, and Michael Wolff has publicly thanked the president for creating such a controversy around it. We have seen this kind of phenomenon in political publishing before where controversy sells books and if the person that kept quiet, it would have been less of a big deal. I think the fundamental allegations in the book are big enough to have caused a series serious stir. Jane moving on from that, the fbi has announced that it is reinvestigating the clinton foundation. How significant to you think that is . One of the problems is we dont know a lot of specifics about this, whether there is new information or not to suggest corruption on the part of the clinton foundation. But to me, the significance is that the president has been pushing for a long time for the Justice Department to do this kind of thing, and there has been an effort by his political allies more broadly to either distract from or detract from the investigation going on to the president s circle about allegations over russia. That is the framework within which this fits. Jane thanks for joining me. The snow was one thing, but no w an arctic blast is leaving much of americas east coast in a deep freeze. Temperatures have plummeted to Single Digits in new england and the windchill is making matters worse. It could be next week until early. Laura trevelyan has been braving the elements all day to bring us this report. Laura the morning after the snow cyclone, and this was the scene in one part of massachusetts. An allout effort is underway to their mountains of snow, and the subzero conditions are making life very difficult. Even the sea has frozen in areas of new england. Yesterdays blizzard and the frosty aftermath are producing record low temperatures. The winter hurricane conditions have brought not only heavy snowfall, but flooding, too. In coastal massachusetts, strong winds coincided with the high tide. In boston, there was a threefoot storm surge. The citys mayor is blaming the changing climate. Maher we are keeping an eye on all of the different floodings, and if anyone wants to question global warming, look where the flood zones are. They did not flood years ago. Laura in boston, the floodwaters which engulfed the streets have frozen in place, trapping the cars in ice. The brutal conditions closed new yorks major airports, though they have now reopened. New yorkers are taking it in their frozen stride. Im so bundled up, i have so many layers. I feel ok right now. As long as i go quickly to work, i am ok. I just want it to be over with. It has been way too long. I want to be nice and warm again. Laura the race is on to clear away the snow in manhattan before it turns into dangerous ice. The storm brought in all of this cold air from the arctic, and so and aftermath was due to have subzero temperatures the next few days. It is so cold out here, 10 degrees celsius, that already i can hardly feel my fingers on my or my toes. Can you believe this is tallahassee, florida, and we are getting snow . Laura they havent seen snow in almost three decades in that part of florida. And the freezing temperatures are prompting Many Americans to experiment. This particular trick is proving very popular in the deep freeze. Laura trevelyan, bbc news, new york. Jane and laura joined me a from a bitter bryant park just a short time ago. Laura, most People Living in the northeast are pretty used to harsh winters, but how are they coping with this . Laura well, jane, as i am speaking to you now, with the windchill 17 degrees celsius, these are prolonged, historic lows, and as you say, they are used to low temperatures, but it is the fact that they are going on and on and on. Some people are enjoying the weather out here in bryant park where there are ice skaters. But lots of people are just trudging through the snow and doing their very best to get through, digging out their cars, shoveling four feet of snow in a snow drift yesterday. I can tell you it was a lot of exercise. I saw people doing their best and hoping that it warms up by monday where it is, believe it or not, warm enough to snow. Jane unbelievable. Laura trevelyan there for us. The United States has been criticized by Security Council members calling an emergency meeting on iran. Russias envoy accused washington of abusing its platform at the Security Council. Has agreed to hold direct talks with the south for the first time in two years. Their plan for next tuesday and will likely focus on the upcoming Winter Olympics in south korea. The announcement comes a day after the u. S. Said it had agreed to seouls request to delay joint military exercises, which usually increases tensions with pyongyang. Reporter the first talks between the north and south korean governments in more than two years will take place here, a village that straddles the border between the two countries in the demilitarized zone. The souths offer of highlevel talks was accepted via fax. Regarding the agenda, both will discuss the Winter Olympics and ways to improve ties between the south and north korea. Reporter it came hours after the United States and south korea agreed to suspend joint military drills. They say exercises like this one are defensive, but the north Korean Leader sees them as rehearsals for invasion. Both south korean and u. S. Marines taking part in this exercise in the mountains, training together to deal with winter conditions and temperatures below 20. But these drills will stop for the duration of the Winter Olympics and paralympics. The south korean president , moon jaein, says the games could be a groundbreaking chance to dee scelate tensions on the korean peninsula. This man has not seen his sister in 70 years. He and others whose families remain divided by the border hope these talks could be the prelude to change. Im old now, and i dont know how many more years i will live. It is my only wish that i meet my sister once and for all. This is a wish for not only me, but all divided families. Reporter but others are skeptical about kim jonguns motives. The commander of u. S. Forces in south korea said they are keeping expectations at an appropriate level. My Mission Remains the same, to quietly and under control operate a military force in greater and greater readiness in the event that it is the negative outcome, not the positive. Reporter but skepticism did not stop President Trump claiming credit for the potential thawing of relations. Does anybody believe that the talks would be going on right now, he tweeted, if i wasnt firm, strong, and willing to commit our total might against the north . Jane you are watching bbc world news america. Still to come on tonights program, china is not the only power on the rise. We look at indias increasing role on the world stage. A major outbreak of crown of thorns starfish has demonstrated devastated australias Great Barrier reef. It is yet another blow to the World Heritage site which is reeling from 2 consecutive years of major coral bleaching. Racing beforee they cause further damage. Reporter it is a feast to the senses that attracts millions of tourists from around the world, and a smorgasbord for the crown of thorns starfish. The spiky predators have been munching their way through australias southern Great Barrier reef. Where they appear now is a mystery. We are talking about a system that is 100 kilometers to 250 kilometers off the coast of queensland. There are some studies done that may suggest that it can result from nutrientrich upwelling from deep waters, but that has not been confirmed. Reporter with each starfish consuming more than a diameter every night, officials are working to control the a break. It is another blow for the reef, which is recovering from devastating coral bleaching in 2016 and 2017. Scientists say it could get worse. Arets caused by warming causing more instability than in the past. What we see in the tanks is essentially death and destruction a month amidst all the cardinals. The average temperatures will increase by a degree, degree and a half over the next 20 years. It is extreme events from an extreme events become much more frequent. Reporter four action is needed to limit Greenhouse Gas emissions. To save the underwater paradise before it is too late. Jane in the current geopolitical climate, china is often regarded as the rising superpower, but is another country being overlooked . With a huge military and rapidly growing economy of its own, india is eyeing a top spot in the global community. It is a topic and author explores in her new book, our time has come. In it, she looks at the countrys quest to become a leading power, and how the u. S. Should respond. She joined me a short time ago. Why do you think global institutions such as the u. N. , the g7, seem reluctant to recognize indias power . That is such a great question, something i do take on in the book. India is excluded from these forums in which people debate and set the global agenda. It is very difficult to carry out reforms. Think about the un Security Council, how you get reforms to take place, it will take the votes of 180 countries. It is going to mean that some countries end up with less power and a smaller voice than they had before. We have not seen the kind of coordinated agreement thinking on making that happen. They care,hould though . How does india compare with countries like china . There is the moral argument, the argument of moral fairness. I make that case in the book. If you think about it, india is going to be the worlds most itulous country, for 2025, has one of the Worlds Largest economies already, on track to become the fifth largest economy this year, surpassing the u. K. And france. That is a big deal. It is very active. Contributing troops to peacekeeping. Doesnt have that permanent seat on the Security Council. Is that fair . It is the Worlds Largest democracy. Why doesnt it have that voice . Jane is the u. S. Taking advantage of the potential that india offers . I think the United States is. I think the United States about 20 years ago began to change its policies and walked towards a stronger bilateral relationship with india. That is continuing to grow and develop. Doesnt mean we dont have problems. We have a lot of problems on the trade and economic front, for sure. But particularly the defense and security relationship has moved in leaps and bounds. Last year not last year, its 2016 hard to get used to 2018 already the u. S. Congress formalized a new status for india. No other country in the world that has that status. It allows the United States to treat india on par with nato allies. Jane could this have a negative impact on stability in the region, as india grows in military might . It depends how you look at it. I would argue no. India has been a force for stability in the region. Many americans looking at this do seestrategically india as a ballast of stability. It is a democracy, it offers that as a model, even with the problems that are well known. India is increasingly taking on more burden sharing. For example, in 2015 after the terrible collapse of the government in yemen, it was Indian Armed Forces that ended up carrying out evacuation of thousands of foreign nationals, including Many Americans, too. Jane very briefly, what does india want . India wants to be recognized as one of the great powers in the world. They feel in many ways that all that india has accomplished with decades of democracy, despite its flaws, and against the odds, as many said after independence, they have not yet been given that due. Jane thank you very much for joining me. Thank you. Jane it was a video that went viral and provoked protests across the u. S. Eric garners final moments in a choke hold while complaining he couldnt breathe captured on a cell phone. The debate over police use of force has raged on ever since. Now an unlikely theater experiment involving officers and improv aims to use mr. Garners tragic death as a way to improve relations between police and the public. We went