:00:07. > :00:13.This is BBC world news America, reporting from Washington. High
:00:14. > :00:16.drama on the Hill, Republicans pull the vote on their health care bill
:00:17. > :00:21.at the last minute after failing to win enough support for it to pass.
:00:22. > :00:26.Revealing and replacing the former administration's plan was a key
:00:27. > :00:31.promise of President Trump and his party, where do they go from here?
:00:32. > :00:36.Obamacare is exploding, with no Democrat support we could not quite
:00:37. > :00:42.get there, small number of votes short. More arrests in connection to
:00:43. > :00:44.the London terror attack, as police try to establish whether Khalid
:00:45. > :01:06.Masood acted alone or not. Welcome to our viewers on public
:01:07. > :01:10.television, in America, and also around the globe. It has been a day
:01:11. > :01:15.of extraordinary political drama on Capitol Hill, as the Republicans
:01:16. > :01:20.tried and failed to put their health care legislation to a vote, early
:01:21. > :01:25.morning, the big question was, did they have the support to get the
:01:26. > :01:27.bill across the line? After intense last-minute discussions between
:01:28. > :01:31.speaker Paul Ryan and Donald Trump, just minutes before the planned
:01:32. > :01:35.vote, the president called the speaker and told them to pull it. A
:01:36. > :01:39.little earlier, Donald Trump had this to say: we had no Democrat
:01:40. > :01:43.support, no votes from the Democrats, they were not going to
:01:44. > :01:47.give us a single vote, so it is a very difficult thing to do. I have
:01:48. > :01:52.been saying for the last year and a half, the best thing we can do
:01:53. > :01:58.politically speaking is let Obamacare explode, it is exploding
:01:59. > :02:03.right now. Many state have big problems, almost all states have big
:02:04. > :02:05.problems. I was in Tennessee the other day, they have lost half of
:02:06. > :02:10.their estate in terms of no insurance, that is happening to many
:02:11. > :02:17.other places. I was in Kentucky's the other day, similar things are
:02:18. > :02:21.happening. Obamacare is exploding. So, Obamacare has exploded. With no
:02:22. > :02:26.Democrat support, we could not quite get there, we were a very small
:02:27. > :02:29.number of votes short in terms of getting our bill passed. Up on
:02:30. > :02:33.Capitol Hill, this is what the speaker of the house Paul Ryan had
:02:34. > :02:39.to say. I will not sugar-coat this, this is a disappointing day for us,
:02:40. > :02:44.doing big things is hard. All of us, all of us, myself included, will
:02:45. > :02:48.need time to reflect on how we got to this moment, what we could have
:02:49. > :02:53.done to do it better, but ultimately, this all comes down to a
:02:54. > :02:57.choice, are all of us willing to give a little to get something done?
:02:58. > :03:04.Willing to say yes to the very good, even if it is not the perfect? BBC
:03:05. > :03:07.have been following all the developments up on Capitol Hill,
:03:08. > :03:11.extraordinary day, President Trump effectively trying to blame the
:03:12. > :03:15.Democrats but this is his Republican party at war with itself? After a
:03:16. > :03:20.day of drama, a week of drama, after bringing the vote to the brink,
:03:21. > :03:23.there is defeat and disappointment, both for the Republican party and
:03:24. > :03:27.for the president themselves. For the Republicans, they have been
:03:28. > :03:30.talking about repealing and replacing Obamacare for the last
:03:31. > :03:35.seven years but in the end, they could not agree how they would
:03:36. > :03:39.replace it, and what they would replace it with. Moderates said the
:03:40. > :03:43.reforms went too far, leaving too many people without insurance. The
:03:44. > :03:47.Conservatives believe that this bill did not go far enough. They wanted
:03:48. > :03:51.more of the health care reforms brought in by Barack Obama repealed.
:03:52. > :03:56.Brought back. The two sides could not find a consensus. It is an
:03:57. > :03:59.embarrassing setback for the Republicans because at the first
:04:00. > :04:05.time of asking, the first time they had a chance to put something
:04:06. > :04:09.through the house, they have failed. And it is embarrassing for the
:04:10. > :04:13.president, he may want to blame the Democrats, he is Donald Trump, he
:04:14. > :04:18.wrote the art of the Deal, he prides himself on making deals, and when it
:04:19. > :04:24.came to the first political deal, he has failed at it. -- The Art of the
:04:25. > :04:28.Deal. Is that it as far as any health care bill will be promoted?
:04:29. > :04:34.It seems they want to leave it in place for now, they will move on to
:04:35. > :04:38.tax reform, to other things. Just as President Trump's ultimatum
:04:39. > :04:43.promised, he said, vote for change or there will be no change. It seems
:04:44. > :04:46.they will leave Obamacare in place. When it comes to that, Democrats are
:04:47. > :04:53.scratching their head, they know and they have said that the bill needs
:04:54. > :04:56.nurturing, not neglect. They know that there is problems within
:04:57. > :04:59.Obamacare, for some, insurance premiums are rocketing, for others,
:05:00. > :05:03.they are losing the joys of health care they would like. They know the
:05:04. > :05:07.bill is not perfect, how both sides work together to find some way of
:05:08. > :05:14.creating a health care that works for all, your guess is as good as
:05:15. > :05:20.mine. For more on the politics at play here, I spoke a little earlier
:05:21. > :05:21.to the Republican strategist, John Christie, former adviser to George W
:05:22. > :05:28.bush. This was an organising principle of
:05:29. > :05:33.the Republican Party, this was a campaign pledge by Donald Trump, how
:05:34. > :05:38.much of a setback or disaster is this for him? It is a very big
:05:39. > :05:41.disappointment for the president of the United States, who has
:05:42. > :05:44.campaigned vigorously, and said that the first thing he wanted to do with
:05:45. > :05:48.the Republican Congress was find a way to repeal the Affordable Care
:05:49. > :05:54.Act. The signature legislation of Barack Obama. We have seen a flurry
:05:55. > :05:58.of activity, up the last couple of hours, Republicans confident they
:05:59. > :06:01.had the vote. Paul Ryan, at the insistence of the president, pulled
:06:02. > :06:07.the bill. Big disappointment, no way to sugar-coat this, the Republicans
:06:08. > :06:13.had seven years and today they blew it. It shows open warfare within the
:06:14. > :06:16.party. Paul Ryan describes it as growing pains of being in
:06:17. > :06:20.government, is that how you would describe it? No, I would call it a
:06:21. > :06:24.disaster, what the Republicans were trying to do yesterday was the
:06:25. > :06:27.seventh year anniversary of the day that Barack Obama signed the
:06:28. > :06:31.Affordable Care Act into law, Republicans wanted to find a way to
:06:32. > :06:34.put a bill in the House of Representatives floor to begin the
:06:35. > :06:42.repeal process, what they forgot along the way is, in the art of
:06:43. > :06:45.negotiation, The Art of the Deal, they needed to cobble together a
:06:46. > :06:48.coalition of the most conservative members as well as some of the more
:06:49. > :06:55.moderate members, people from New York City, Philadelphia, big urban
:06:56. > :06:58.areas. The white and the house work focusing on Conservative members, at
:06:59. > :07:03.their peril and at their neglect, they forgot you need 216 votes to
:07:04. > :07:06.pass, unfortunately for them, they did not get enough Republicans,
:07:07. > :07:12.knowing that no Democrat would join them. Who will take the rap? Can
:07:13. > :07:15.Paul Ryan survived question not he is in great shape! He is the one
:07:16. > :07:18.person more trusted than anybody else in the house of Representatives
:07:19. > :07:23.by the Conservatives and the moderates and frankly even by the
:07:24. > :07:27.Democrats, at the end, he is fine, his speakership is not in peril. If
:07:28. > :07:30.I were to be a betting person and look down the line, the person right
:07:31. > :07:35.beneath him, Kevin McCarthy, House Majority Leader, and right under
:07:36. > :07:42.him, the house majority whip, the person in charge of counting the
:07:43. > :07:45.votes, I think a lot of finger wagging, why couldn't the folks in
:07:46. > :07:50.leadership whose responsibility it is to deliver the votes, why could
:07:51. > :07:55.deliver? The money was going to be deliver? The money was going to be
:07:56. > :08:02.saved and spent on other things, the tax reform as well, this does not
:08:03. > :08:07.give any traction or momentum to the Trump administration. In fact they
:08:08. > :08:12.were looking at $900 billion of revenue that they were going to
:08:13. > :08:15.spend over the next ten is for Republican priorities in health
:08:16. > :08:18.care. Now they have to go back to the drawing board, the question is,
:08:19. > :08:23.when they get in the room, when they shut the door, when they lock the
:08:24. > :08:25.door, what can they find consensus on, what can Republicans and the
:08:26. > :08:29.conservative faction and the moderate faction and importantly
:08:30. > :08:34.working with the Senate and the president come together and find a
:08:35. > :08:36.consensus to bring to the President's signature, at this
:08:37. > :08:42.juncture, I don't see that coming any time soon. Final question, what
:08:43. > :08:48.would your advice be, now, then, to visit ministration? My advice is
:08:49. > :08:51.simply this, the next time that Republicans seek to put a major
:08:52. > :08:55.piece of legislation on the floor, let's talk with the entire caucus
:08:56. > :08:58.first, talk with United States Senate members and see what is in
:08:59. > :09:02.the realm the possible, what are they able to do, what horse trading
:09:03. > :09:07.needs to take place, so that this kind of embarrassment and inability
:09:08. > :09:12.to govern for the American people, because it looks bad from optics
:09:13. > :09:17.perspective, does not happen again. Thank you very much. British police
:09:18. > :09:21.say that they have made two more significant arrests as they try to
:09:22. > :09:24.establish whether the man who launched the attack this Wednesday
:09:25. > :09:29.in London was working alone or with others. 11 people have now been
:09:30. > :09:35.arrested, detectives have also released the first image of the
:09:36. > :09:53.attacker. 52-year-old Khaled Mashud. -- Khaled Mashud.
:09:54. > :10:21.The face of Khalid Masood, the face that confronted police
:10:22. > :10:25.The face that looked out of the car at pedestrians
:10:26. > :10:28.The 52-year-old was known by a number of names.
:10:29. > :10:31.Born Adrian Elms in Kent, by the time he was at this boys'
:10:32. > :10:34.secondary school in Tunbridge Wells, he was called Adrian Ajao
:10:35. > :10:37.School friends remembered him as a sporty pupil who liked
:10:38. > :10:41.Adrian was a very nice lad, a fun guy, always laughing,
:10:42. > :10:43.always joking, worked reasonably hard, good at sport,
:10:44. > :10:47.But Masood was soon developing a reputation for violence.
:10:48. > :10:50.In this sleepy Sussex village, where he lived in his 20s,
:10:51. > :10:53.at the local pub he slashed a man in the face with a knife
:10:54. > :10:56.Didn't have a very good reputation, definitely.
:10:57. > :10:59.I remember he was a bit of a troubled character,
:11:00. > :11:01.I think would be the way to describe it.
:11:02. > :11:04.A family friend said this wasn't the only time he turned violent.
:11:05. > :11:07.The chap was looking at him, and I was just sitting at the pool
:11:08. > :11:09.table, and he took umbrage against the landlord
:11:10. > :11:12.for looking at him like he was, and he flew over the bar,
:11:13. > :11:14.he got a glass, he was going to do him.
:11:15. > :11:16.Khalid Masood spent time in three prisons.
:11:17. > :11:18.Around ten years ago, he worked in Saudi Arabia.
:11:19. > :11:21.It's not clear when he converted to Islam, but he started
:11:22. > :11:23.using the surname Masood at least 11 years ago.
:11:24. > :11:26.His mother now lives in a remote farmhouse in Camarthenshire,
:11:27. > :11:29.They haven't been in any sort of contact with their son
:11:30. > :11:31.for well over 20 years, from what I understand.
:11:32. > :11:34.And when it comes to terrorism, unfortunately, nobody can be
:11:35. > :11:36.responsible for the action of their children.
:11:37. > :11:37.Masood, we now know, launched his terror attack
:11:38. > :11:41.after staying overnight at a hotel in Brighton.
:11:42. > :11:49.untroubled by what he was about to do,
:11:50. > :11:52.that he was about to leave his hotel room,
:11:53. > :11:57.He was joking and smiling and friendly.
:11:58. > :12:11.He was a lovely guest, and we even put comments
:12:12. > :12:15.There was nothing in his conduct or demeanour that would have
:12:16. > :12:18.given me a feeling that there was something weird about this guy.
:12:19. > :12:27.And he's just on his way to commit mass murder.
:12:28. > :12:29.Detectives have searched the hotel, and there have been
:12:30. > :12:33.In Manchester, a car was taken away by police in Didsbury.
:12:34. > :12:35.Two arrests described by senior officers as significant were made
:12:36. > :12:40.The police are still trying to build a picture of the man who came
:12:41. > :12:49.They say their main aim now is to try and work out
:12:50. > :12:51.if he was acting alone, inspired by terrorist propaganda,
:12:52. > :12:54.or if there are others still out there who encouraged him,
:12:55. > :13:06.supported or even directed this attack.
:13:07. > :13:09.But it's clear there are still gaps in the police's knowledge.
:13:10. > :13:12.We are appealing to the public today to say, if even in hindsight now
:13:13. > :13:14.you realise something about Khalid Masood,
:13:15. > :13:16.something about his associates, his movements, his planning,
:13:17. > :13:28.now is the time to come forward and speak to our officers.
:13:29. > :13:30.A bright student, turned violent man, turned terrorist.
:13:31. > :13:56.STUDIO: Still to come on tonight's programme: oil, Arabic issues and
:13:57. > :14:00.the American way, how a new play at Washington's Kennedy Centre brings
:14:01. > :14:07.these things together around a petrol station. It has been one of
:14:08. > :14:10.the most contentious issues in Washington right now and multiple
:14:11. > :14:14.investigations have been launched into alleged Russian interference in
:14:15. > :14:18.the US residential election. Or the campaign chairman of Hillary
:14:19. > :14:22.Clinton's failed bid, it is an issue that gets close to home. John
:14:23. > :14:25.Podesta has accused the FBI of double standards, following the
:14:26. > :14:28.agency director James Comey going public about his enquiry into
:14:29. > :14:32.Hillary Clinton's hacked e-mails days before the vote without
:14:33. > :14:40.mentioning any possible Russian role. We asked him if he was
:14:41. > :14:47.suspicious during the campaign. Of course we thought that was going on
:14:48. > :14:50.for some time! And we argued to the press that they needed to look at
:14:51. > :14:54.that, they needed to dig into that and uncover it. But it was a
:14:55. > :15:02.revelation that the FBI was looking at that as early as now evidently
:15:03. > :15:05.they were. One more trip in something that I have been highly
:15:06. > :15:10.critical of the bureau about, which is the double standard they applied
:15:11. > :15:16.in this campaign. The intervention, the number of resources they spent,
:15:17. > :15:21.scores of FBI agents that they had, poring over Hillary Clinton's e-mail
:15:22. > :15:27.server, which the FBI director ultimately concluded was not even a
:15:28. > :15:33.close call, nothing worth prosecuting; compare to the
:15:34. > :15:37.engagement on the Russian side his intervention just 11 days before the
:15:38. > :15:44.election, the Clinton investigation, total silence with respect to the
:15:45. > :15:49.Russian intervention, and now, the potential collusion between the
:15:50. > :15:54.Trump campaign and the Russian actors. That was really a double
:15:55. > :16:02.standard that is still inextricable Tumi. You are very calm about this
:16:03. > :16:05.but... No, I am very angry about it, I just learned to appear calm! -- to
:16:06. > :16:17.me. In Syria, the military battle to
:16:18. > :16:21.defeat so-called Islamic state in their home base of Raqqa is gaining
:16:22. > :16:25.ground, earlier this month, Syrian forces backed by Russian and Iranian
:16:26. > :16:30.allies recaptured pal Meera, for the second time in the past year, chief
:16:31. > :16:35.international correspondent travels to the iconic city, to see the
:16:36. > :16:39.aftermath of Islamic State. -- Palmyra.
:16:40. > :16:46.VOICEOVER: Palmyra, Roman ruins, precious world heritage, I is has
:16:47. > :16:51.occupied this site twice in the past two years, their last target, the
:16:52. > :16:54.Roman theatre, a stage for grisly executions, slitting throats,
:16:55. > :17:00.shooting soldiers and civilians here. -- IS. Islamic State has lost
:17:01. > :17:03.this prize and ground beyond here to the Syrian military backed by its
:17:04. > :17:08.allies. Palmyra matters, but the battles
:17:09. > :17:12.which lie ahead, including Raqqa - the IS's self-declared capital -
:17:13. > :17:14.matter more, and are And that's because confronting
:17:15. > :17:18.IS in Syria means confronting Are the West and countries in this
:17:19. > :17:21.region now willing to work with President Assad and his Russian
:17:22. > :17:24.and Iranian allies to In the basement of a deserted
:17:25. > :17:29.building we are shown what's called And the paper trail
:17:30. > :17:38.of its brutal rule. were thrown from the top
:17:39. > :17:52.of a building, The city of Palmyra next
:17:53. > :18:04.to the ancient site is a ghost town. People fled IS and the ferocious
:18:05. > :18:07.fighting here, including Syrian This is where some of
:18:08. > :18:23.the displaced have taken refuge. including this woman
:18:24. > :18:30.and her five children. She remembers the exact moment
:18:31. > :18:37.when IS fighters came to her door. TRANSLATION: It was a quarter
:18:38. > :18:39.to five in the morning. I opened the door and saw
:18:40. > :18:41.men shouting at me. They came in and took
:18:42. > :18:46.my husband and niece. I was told they chopped
:18:47. > :18:48.off his head. They took my nephew,
:18:49. > :18:50.who was only 15. She doesn't know how
:18:51. > :19:05.her family will cope. IS no longer occupies their home,
:19:06. > :19:27.but it's dark shadow STUDIO: You are watching BBC world
:19:28. > :19:32.news America. A new play by one of the world's leading contemporary
:19:33. > :19:37.Arabic makers is having a world premiere at the Kennedy Centre in
:19:38. > :19:43.Washington. It is the story about migrants, statelessness, war,
:19:44. > :19:54.refugees, and oil. The author, whose usual troupe of actors come from
:19:55. > :19:57.actors that are part of the presidential travel ban, is using
:19:58. > :20:01.American actors this time. I spoke with Sulayman al Bassam. .
:20:02. > :20:05.It is a play set on a desolate border, the theme is Arabic but
:20:06. > :20:21.performed by an all-American cast. When we appropriate the American
:20:22. > :20:29.idiom through the company of American actors... It is not so far
:20:30. > :20:35.away. These themes around migrant workers and borders and identity,
:20:36. > :20:42.and power, power relations, take on a resonance that is very
:20:43. > :20:49.contemporary in today's America. Onstage, two colliding worlds, this,
:20:50. > :20:54.fighter, -- this is performed in the style of American gospel. So what is
:20:55. > :21:02.the relevance of Arabic political theatre in today's America? I have a
:21:03. > :21:07.great relationship with blacks... I think that the theatre, in these
:21:08. > :21:17.Times has crucibles of dissent, and as crucibles of truth. -- and as
:21:18. > :21:24.crucibles of truth. Arts organisations today fear to be
:21:25. > :21:25.perceived as taking a position against the current administration,
:21:26. > :21:35.that is palpable. Petrol station, intended by its
:21:36. > :21:41.author to be theatre that challenges and explores the divisions and
:21:42. > :22:05.similarities between America and the Middle East.
:22:06. > :22:14.What a day of political back and forth it has been on Capitol Hill.
:22:15. > :22:15.They have been talking about this for seven years, repealing
:22:16. > :22:21.Obamacare, it should have been something that could unite the
:22:22. > :22:26.Republican party, tearing it up root and branch, in the words of Senator
:22:27. > :22:30.Mitch McConnell, but sending it to Barack Obama over the past few years
:22:31. > :22:34.and having its veto, here was their chance, both chambers, the
:22:35. > :22:37.presidency, this was their first hurdle to get it on the President's
:22:38. > :22:42.desk, but they stumbled over it, fell on their faces, could not get
:22:43. > :22:46.it through. At one stage, it looked like President Trump would tough it
:22:47. > :22:51.out, that this road would happen and win or fail, we will have the vote.
:22:52. > :22:54.Interesting strategy, something they started last night, basically
:22:55. > :22:57.putting down a marker and saying, this will happen, a way of getting
:22:58. > :23:01.the members of Congress who were wavering off the fence and committed
:23:02. > :23:05.to it, they stuck by it thinking they would be able to push it
:23:06. > :23:08.through, but the more they push and negotiate with the right-wingers on
:23:09. > :23:13.one side and the moderates on the other, they kept pulling it farther
:23:14. > :23:18.apart, and people broke. Barzagli, the president directly rings two
:23:19. > :23:23.national newspaper reporter. The Washington post, Robert Cosco,
:23:24. > :23:27.apparently, with no announcement, picked up his phone, had Donald
:23:28. > :23:33.Trump on the other line, and he said, we have pulled the bill. Not
:23:34. > :23:39.even through the switchboard, it was from his cell phone! He was dealing
:23:40. > :23:45.what -- detailing what was being said, that this was the full that
:23:46. > :23:48.the Democrats, that they did not work with them, even though there is
:23:49. > :23:53.40 formal Republicans in the house, rather than Democrats. -- Robert
:23:54. > :23:58.Costa. Maybe jumping the gun on Paul Ryan, who was about to have a press
:23:59. > :24:02.conference. 64 days in, this was the main legislative thing that he was
:24:03. > :24:08.going to do, plenty more down the line, the momentum, where is it?
:24:09. > :24:11.It's definitely hurts momentum, undermines authority and reputation
:24:12. > :24:14.as a deal-maker, he said that he was the close, his press secretary said
:24:15. > :24:19.that he was the closer, coming in to seal the deal, he came in and said
:24:20. > :24:22.that was going to happen. How many deals as he closed? As president, he
:24:23. > :24:26.has not close any, this was his first big legislative test, where it
:24:27. > :24:30.goes from now, he said in comments this afternoon that it is going to
:24:31. > :24:33.be tax reform, that he wants to focus on that, that is more
:24:34. > :24:37.complicated because there are tax components in health care reform
:24:38. > :24:41.that have to be dealt with in order to deal with taxes as a bigger
:24:42. > :24:46.package. America left with Obamacare. Thank you very much. That
:24:47. > :24:51.is the end of today's show. You will find much more on the day 's news on
:24:52. > :24:53.the website. Have a great weekend. We will see you on Monday at the
:24:54. > :25:07.same time. Lets see what the weather is up to
:25:08. > :25:10.over the next few days, and we have been promising fine weather this
:25:11. > :25:11.weekend, and indeed, that