narrator: funding for this presentation is made possible by... woman: babbeac a language app that s real life conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian anmore. babbel's 10 to 15 minute lessons are available as an apor online. more information on babbel.com. in narrator: fu was also provided by... the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum-kovler fountion. pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs stion from viewers like you, thank you. woman: and, bbc world news. laura: this is "bbc world news america."

reporting from washington, i am laura trevelyan.in opup the impeachment inquiry. transcripts reveal what witnesses have been sayingse behind clodoors. battling delhi's pollution. why lifesn india's capital ha many struggling to breathe, and how the government is responding. plus, a dire warning about u.s.-russia relations from someone who should know. why markel corporation of says the world -- kyleorbachev says e world is in colossal danger. laura: for those watching on pbs and around the globe, welcome to "world news america." the impeachment inquiry into president trump is ramp. democrats in congress released transcripts of closed-door interviews revealing top diplomats showed concern about the president's contac with

itukraine as he withheld my aid and asked for an investigation of democrats. in one exchange, former ukraine ambassador marie yovanovitch was asked out the phone call between mr. trump and ukrainian leader in which she was mentioned. president trump says, "well, she is going to go through some things." yovanovitch said, "i didn't know at it meant. i still am."cerned. the lawmaker asked, did you feel threatened. she replied yes. a former advisor to the secretary of state said that in service he had nevn foreign anything like this. he said he quit in part becausot heoreign policy was being politicized and that u.s. missions were being used to procure negative political formation for domestic purposes. earlier today president trump batted away questions about aim smear campaign at ambassador yovanovitch. pres. trump: the president of ukraine was not a fan of hers, either. he did not exactly say glowing things. i'm sure she is a very fine woman. i just don't know much about her.

laura: for more on the impeachment inquiry i was joined earlier by ron christie, former advisor to president george w. bushth president is now saying he does not know much about this ambassador who apparently he was so concerned about and wanted to get rid of in the summer. ron: good evening to you, laura. strange. opts are very this is an individual the president obviously knows whoe and has talked about her in the past and now is saying "i 't know who she is. one of the things about this impeachment inquiry that is going to harm the president is you are going to find inconsistencies with what he may have said or tweeted in the past with what the intnesses will forward to congress. laura: as a former white house official, does it bother you that a former u.s. ambassador felthocked and threatened by what the president was saying about her? ron: interestingly enough, i'm not sure. being one pleasure of the president of the united states, you realize that the pleasure and the time can

end before you like it. did president bush yell at me in the oval office?yb yeah, he had some choice words. however, the questio is is the president's behavior that is alleged disrupting our foreign policy? that is what i'm more interested about as opposed to whether someone was uet at their job. laura: what are your contacts on capitol hill telling you about how solid or otherwise the president's support is as we get the public hearings on the herizon? ron: we saw fromote in t house of representatives that the president did not lose any republicans as it relates to the impeachment inquiry. what i'm looking at with my n contacts is what goes one united states senate. if the house votes to impeach the president, then you move to a trial in the senate. iction would remove the president from office. what am iearing? people do not want to have a trial in the senate. ere is wavering support in the president's base. they need 20 republicans to decide to remove him from

ofthce. laura: ie a possibility that as public hearings are held and we may hear from ambassador yovanovitch herself and how the president running foreign policy -- this is the allegation -- in his own interest and not in the best interest of america, what effect could that have? ron: there are diplomats around the world who are asking the same question. is the president acting with america's interest at heart? i believe he is. but this alleged testimony about his behavior is going to raise questions. that is why these hearings should be done open in public so all the american people can hear and assess their validity. laura: are we going to get to ae point wherblicans are saying, yes, there was a quid pro quo, but they got their aid in the end so it doesn't matter? ron: hard to say. i have personally not seen a -- i personally don't see a quid o quo. you saw some quotes -- the ukrainian president said he didn't realize the aid had been held up. however, this is a political process, not a legal one. politically speaking, what do

the american people believe? do they believe heading into an acted in a way that he needs to be removed from office? laura: ron christie, that is the million-dollar question. thanks for being with us. ron: good to see you. laura: india's highest court ha accuate governments of passing the buck when it comes to air pollution, saying politicians are onlynterested in gimmicks instead of lonterm solutions. in delhi, the level of toxins in the air is 10 times the safe limit. drivers are forced to use their cars every other day to improve the situation. reporter: it is a real public health emergency. the air here is poisonous. by many accounts, this is the worst poution in years. many are choing to stay indoors, and those who do go out are experiencing healthli cotions. >> because of the pollutionle l, every day i wake up and it is suffocating to breathe

sometimes, inflammation in the nostrils and the eyes also. reporter: for the last few days, delhi has barely seen any sunlig because a thick layer of toxic smog hangs over it. delhi residents continue to breathe highly toxic air as pollution levels remain severely high even today.nt the governays it is doing what it can. private vehicles on the roads are being restricted and shuools remain but critics say when pollution levels are so high, delhi needs more drastic policy measures. delhi's city government is restricting the use of private vehicles on the capital's roads. from tod november, only cars with odd or even numbered platesill be allowed on theoads each day. but many are skeptical, as this

system was used before, but it is not clear if it helps bring down pollution. >> ocourse it is ineffective in dealing with air pollution as an issue. if air pollution was solely due to the vehicle traffic, this would be a solution. right now it cannot be a solution because motoriz private transport has a very small share in the whole pie. reporter: another major cause of the high pollution levelis farmers in neighboring states burning crop stubble to clear their fields because they lack modern machinery. enough political will to combat the problem. until that happens, deuei will conto choke. laura: absolutely horrifying images of tt smog in delhi. shares o mcdonald's dropped 3% on wall street today after news

that the fast-food giant fired its ceo. steve easterbrook tted to a relationship with an employee, which is against company policy. in a statement he said, "this was a mistake. given the vaes of the company, i agree with the board that it is time for me to move on." i spoke to wendy murphy, professor of sexual violence law. e ss of mcdonald's is fired for a consensual relationship with an employee. what is your reaction? wendy: first of all, characterizing that type of relationship as consensual is problematic because in the work clear for decades that a superior in a workplace cannot have a "consensual relationship" person male or female.ferior there are antidiscrimition laws that forbid this kind of

contact because i don't think this is complicated- you don't want anyone in a position of power exploiting the power to gain sexual access to an inferior employee. laura: if this -- is this a sign of changing standards in the workplace, the fact that the board of mcdonald's felt they had to leave the ceo go? wendy: i'm not sure it is changing standards. it might be a shifting appreciation for the inttyerance of socor the behavior, because it has always been a lel. -- illegal. put in some cases and some companies he has been tolerated historically. the fact that this is mcdonald's, one of the biggest companies aroundhe world, that this is the mcdonald's ceo, i think the board's willingness to say no matter what he is worth to us as a company, we cannot afford politically and otherwise to let this stand. it does speak to the fact that

women are hang an impact when they are speaking up about sexual harassment, sexual asult in the workplace, and other places, that there is to more culturarance for this behavior. even the most influential and wealthy among us will be laura: and yet so many people in america meet their partners at work. are all workplace relationships going to be problematic? wendy: i hope not. hthat is where i met band. he was my boss. no,sa the m is very simple, that you can and should feel comfortableia szing and even dating and franklyme marrying e you meet in the workplace. the issue is are they also controlling your career? do they have influence over your futuren that company? if you meet someone and you love them and y are dating and you want to take it further and you have thatbl p, in the sense that one of you is superior to the other, you either have to

get a different job oryo one of has to leave the company. that is the only way to make it work. it is not st fair to the individuals involved, it is fair to, especially in a case like this, women as a class. you don't want women in the office looking at this relationship and saying, ah, that is why she got promoted. i can't believe i have to do something like that did become successful in this business. it is important to send the right message about the value of women, that itdo has nothing t with whether they are sleeping with the boss, that their skills and merit wilget them ahead. ura: wendy murphy, thanks for being with us. wendy: you bet. laura: in other news, authorities in the iraqi capital have denied reports of casualties following more violence between security forces and antigovernment protest medical sources have been quoted as saying 4 people were killed. more tha250 people have died since protests began in baghdad and other cities last month. the united states has formallyte notified the unations of

its intention to withdraw from the paris agreement to combat climate change. the notification begins a one-year process of exiting the global accord, culminating the day after the 2020 election. u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo said last month that te agreement had imposed an unfair economic burden on the united states. british mps have voted for a new speaker, replacing a man has become a global star of the brexit process. lindsay hoyle was literally dragged to the chair that he takes from john bercow, whose wit and him fame abroad, while at home he was seen as a champion of parliament and eight phone and the site of government. eaier i spoke to the bbc's gary o'donoghue, who serd as chief political correspondent in can you explain whars. position of speaker was so elevated under john bercow that we are talking about it in

america? gary: he became immensely controversial in the era of brexit. he was seen by the pro-brexit people as w being someo stood in the w of some of the brexit moves them and by the other side he was seen as a champion. he became a very contral figure. there is this attempt to return to a much more evenhanded referee-type figure. laura: who is this new speaker? what can you tell us about him? is he going to be famous for his cries of "order, order"? gary: we will see. him as soon as possible. this is sir lindsay hoyle, from lancashire in the north of england. he i a member of the opposition, m lab but they say he will be nonpartisan. he says he will not be a continuity candidate because commons has become tic and a bear pit and he will restore some order. he will try to abolish clapping in the house of commons, which he says has crept in the last few years and he says is very un-parliamentary.

on the lighter side, he has a pet parrot called boris and pet tortoise called maggie. laura: fascinating, conservative leaders both. is he ing to play a role in the brexit process that yet to come? gary: he will play a pivotal role in everything. bear in mind in england the speaker is not partisan ke in the u.s. with the nancy pelosi. they are there to ensure that the government is held to haaccount, andis an important thing that parliament has been doing through the brexit process. and they are there to ensure that backbenchers, members who don't have a government job -- bear in mind our executive is drawn from the members of ensure that they get a voice as well. he is when we saw him dragged to the chair in t introduction, that is an indication of how difficult a job the speaker has been in the past.k

it dates b 1377. bear in mind, the reluctance is that over a 150-year period, abouseven of them had their heads chopped off for carrying bad news to the monarch of the time. laura: there you go. a fate we wish to avoid. you are watching "bbc world news america." still to come on tonight's program, building bridges, not walls, in the gaming world. connections insteaof violentng divisions. laura: large crowds of antigovernment protest is have gather cities in lebanon despite prime minister saad hariri resigning last week. the demonstrators nt the establishment to be removed and replaced with nonpolitical technocrats. there was a large counterdemonstration on sunday. reporter: the demonstrations began in october as a ptest

against high taxes on mobile phone apps. the plans were scrapped, the prime rinister hasigned. these protesters want more. >> we achieved part of our demands can which was ousting the government. but now we demand a neutral technocraticer gent, not a political one. >> how am i supposed to get married? my entire salary goes on electricity and mobile phone urlls. they take all of money and leave us in debt. it has been 30 years andt hey haven'ne a thing. reporter: these demonstrators disagree. supporters of the president filled central beirut on sunday morning, adamant that the head of state remains in power to guide the country through the crisis. ban's foreign minister, the president's son-in-law,owed to bring about change. >> we have lg and difficult ys ahead. we are racing against time to preventio collapse, but corru and public debt beat us.

reporter: this revolution is feminist. angry of the country's worst economic crisis for decades and or women'by a demand rights, the protesters' lists of demands is growing longer. ahind the partyosphere are serious problems. more than 25% of' lebano's citizens live in poverty, according to the world bank. while the protests might be smaller and the prime minister might have resigned, the issues have not gone away. laura: when youre piche latest video games, you would be forgiven for thinking they are all about blasting away your enemies and blowing things up. but a much-anticipated new game is taking a different approach. it is called dea stranding, and the creator says he wants to build bridges, not destroy them.

>> we are in tokyo, ere there is just hours left for these developers to finish a game that has had the games industryta ing since it was announced in 2016. and we are the only camera crew e in thworld allowed in to witness the acclaimed crtotor's unique approac making games. famed for popularizing stealth games in the 1990's, where sneaking, not shooting, was the way to play, he has been considered a visionary. what is soon clear is he is in complete control of that vision. here he is personalling the trailer for death stranding.

reporter: his first gameet released sinceting up his own independent studio is a ale of aus post-apocalyptic america. for three years, the advtising and marketing has teased and confused people, leaving many scratching their heads. what is it all about? reporter: while this approach is exciting som others are nervous, left wondering if anyone is challenging this vision and if the game will live up to expectations. with gaming worth more than the movie and music industrieses combined, tiike death stranding require huge investments, costing millions to develop. it is employing stars

hollywood actors and has some of music's biggest names contributing to the soundtrack.s >> thi new ip. in this a day a where there is so much money and so much risk, it is unusual to see new ip of this grandness even that in itself in 2pl9 should be ded. reporter: the people around me are working on gaming's biggest secret. you have artists, coders, producers, technical staff, all ffhere working their sockso finish the game and make sure it is up to the standard of the gaming world expects. >> death stranding codemaster! reporter: as the team celebrated ready for hisam release, the questions turned to the future. will they still be celebrating when people outside the room get a chance to see what they are working on?

his place in histo hisev earned role in bringing down the iron curtain and rolling back the nuclear arms race between the . soviet union and the u he is warning that tensions between russia and the west are putting the world and colossal danger. mr. gorbachev has been speaking to our moscow corrpondent stev rosenberg to mark 30 years since the fall of the berlin wall. steve: at the age of 88, mikhail gorbachev o rarely go camera. but the men who held end the cold war has decided to speak threat. is under the arms race he thought he had stopped has reignited, amid and the u.s.ion be iow dangerous do you think the current confront is between russia and the west? mr. gorbachev: as long as weapons of mass distraction

t,exuclear weapons, the danger is colossal. all nations should declare, all nations, nucleareapons must be destroyed. to save ourselves and our planet. steve: mikhail gorbachev says preventing war became his priority when the soviet public began sharing their feelings of conflict. mr. gorbachev: everyone used to say to me, "mr. gorbachev, don't worry about the food shortages or our other problems. we'll manage. just make sure there is no w ar." it showed in the last war how much my countrymen had suffered.

steve: in the past weeks to talk about the cold war. how would you describe the curren standoff between russia and the west? mr. gorbachev: chilly, but still a war. steve: when the berlin wall fell, gorbachev didn'elt intervene,tant to prop of the iron curtain. mr. gorbachev: there must not be bloodshed. that.ldn't allow for an nisue of such mde, for germany, the whole world. steve: he famously hit it off with margaret thatcher. any advice on brexit? mr. gorbachev: you can figure that one out for yourselves. you british are clever. i wouldn't give you advice. steve: so not only a president,

steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. laura: an important interview. turning to ourporting champions in d.c.gt, the wash nationals paid a visit to the white house this afternoon. it's customary for american sports teams to be invited by the president after winning a championship. but like so much in washington right now, these events are not without division. catcher kurt suzuki dond a "make america great again" hat, while more than half a dozen players che not to attend. some have been critical of mr. trump's policies, and the president himself was booed when he attended a world series game. divided times indeed in sport and' politics. i'laura trevelyan. thank you so much for watching "bbc world news america." naator: funding for this presentation is babbel, an online program designed by language specialists

teaching spanish, french and more. narrator: funding was also provided by... the eeman foundation. by judy and peter blum-kovler foundation. rsuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from , viewers like yank you. narrator: more, pbs. ♪

cnewshour produions, llc ve >> nawaz: goodng, i'm amna nawaz. judy woodruff is away. on the newshour tonight, on the record. the first transcripts of teimony from the impeachment inquiry are released, as four white house officials refuse to appear before house investigators. then, ukraine in the crossfire. a report from the eastern frontr the battle against russia grinds on. >> ( translated ): if for example america and europe don't help, i think russia will push forward, they won'just occupy this area. they'll invade. >> nawaz: plus, amy walter and tamara keith are here to break down what those state races mean for the presidential election and what's next in the impeachment inquiry. all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.