24/03/2017 BBC World News America

This is BBC world news America, reporting from Washington. High

drama on the Hill, Republicans pull the vote on their health care bill

at the last minute after failing to win enough support for it to pass.

Revealing and replacing the former administration's plan was a key

promise of President Trump and his party, where do they go from here?

Obamacare is exploding, with no Democrat support we could not quite

get there, small number of votes short. More arrests in connection to

the London terror attack, as police try to establish whether Khalid

Masood acted alone or not. Welcome to our viewers on public

television, in America, and also around the globe. It has been a day

of extraordinary political drama on Capitol Hill, as the Republicans

tried and failed to put their health care legislation to a vote, early

morning, the big question was, did they have the support to get the

bill across the line? After intense last-minute discussions between

speaker Paul Ryan and Donald Trump, just minutes before the planned

vote, the president called the speaker and told them to pull it. A

little earlier, Donald Trump had this to say: we had no Democrat

support, no votes from the Democrats, they were not going to

give us a single vote, so it is a very difficult thing to do. I have

been saying for the last year and a half, the best thing we can do

politically speaking is let Obamacare explode, it is exploding

right now. Many state have big problems, almost all states have big

problems. I was in Tennessee the other day, they have lost half of

their estate in terms of no insurance, that is happening to many

other places. I was in Kentucky's the other day, similar things are

happening. Obamacare is exploding. So, Obamacare has exploded. With no

Democrat support, we could not quite get there, we were a very small

number of votes short in terms of getting our bill passed. Up on

Capitol Hill, this is what the speaker of the house Paul Ryan had

to say. I will not sugar-coat this, this is a disappointing day for us,

doing big things is hard. All of us, all of us, myself included, will

need time to reflect on how we got to this moment, what we could have

done to do it better, but ultimately, this all comes down to a

choice, are all of us willing to give a little to get something done?

Willing to say yes to the very good, even if it is not the perfect? BBC

have been following all the developments up on Capitol Hill,

extraordinary day, President Trump effectively trying to blame the

Democrats but this is his Republican party at war with itself? After a

day of drama, a week of drama, after bringing the vote to the brink,

there is defeat and disappointment, both for the Republican party and

for the president themselves. For the Republicans, they have been

talking about repealing and replacing Obamacare for the last

seven years but in the end, they could not agree how they would

replace it, and what they would replace it with. Moderates said the

reforms went too far, leaving too many people without insurance. The

Conservatives believe that this bill did not go far enough. They wanted

more of the health care reforms brought in by Barack Obama repealed.

Brought back. The two sides could not find a consensus. It is an

embarrassing setback for the Republicans because at the first

time of asking, the first time they had a chance to put something

through the house, they have failed. And it is embarrassing for the

president, he may want to blame the Democrats, he is Donald Trump, he

wrote the art of the Deal, he prides himself on making deals, and when it

came to the first political deal, he has failed at it. -- The Art of the

Deal. Is that it as far as any health care bill will be promoted?

It seems they want to leave it in place for now, they will move on to

tax reform, to other things. Just as President Trump's ultimatum

promised, he said, vote for change or there will be no change. It seems

they will leave Obamacare in place. When it comes to that, Democrats are

scratching their head, they know and they have said that the bill needs

nurturing, not neglect. They know that there is problems within

Obamacare, for some, insurance premiums are rocketing, for others,

they are losing the joys of health care they would like. They know the

bill is not perfect, how both sides work together to find some way of

creating a health care that works for all, your guess is as good as

mine. For more on the politics at play here, I spoke a little earlier

to the Republican strategist, John Christie, former adviser to George W

bush. This was an organising principle of

the Republican Party, this was a campaign pledge by Donald Trump, how

much of a setback or disaster is this for him? It is a very big

disappointment for the president of the United States, who has

campaigned vigorously, and said that the first thing he wanted to do with

the Republican Congress was find a way to repeal the Affordable Care

Act. The signature legislation of Barack Obama. We have seen a flurry

of activity, up the last couple of hours, Republicans confident they

had the vote. Paul Ryan, at the insistence of the president, pulled

the bill. Big disappointment, no way to sugar-coat this, the Republicans

had seven years and today they blew it. It shows open warfare within the

party. Paul Ryan describes it as growing pains of being in

government, is that how you would describe it? No, I would call it a

disaster, what the Republicans were trying to do yesterday was the

seventh year anniversary of the day that Barack Obama signed the

Affordable Care Act into law, Republicans wanted to find a way to

put a bill in the House of Representatives floor to begin the

repeal process, what they forgot along the way is, in the art of

negotiation, The Art of the Deal, they needed to cobble together a

coalition of the most conservative members as well as some of the more

moderate members, people from New York City, Philadelphia, big urban

areas. The white and the house work focusing on Conservative members, at

their peril and at their neglect, they forgot you need 216 votes to

pass, unfortunately for them, they did not get enough Republicans,

knowing that no Democrat would join them. Who will take the rap? Can

Paul Ryan survived question not he is in great shape! He is the one

person more trusted than anybody else in the house of Representatives

by the Conservatives and the moderates and frankly even by the

Democrats, at the end, he is fine, his speakership is not in peril. If

I were to be a betting person and look down the line, the person right

beneath him, Kevin McCarthy, House Majority Leader, and right under

him, the house majority whip, the person in charge of counting the

votes, I think a lot of finger wagging, why couldn't the folks in

leadership whose responsibility it is to deliver the votes, why could

deliver? The money was going to be deliver? The money was going to be

saved and spent on other things, the tax reform as well, this does not

give any traction or momentum to the Trump administration. In fact they

were looking at $900 billion of revenue that they were going to

spend over the next ten is for Republican priorities in health

care. Now they have to go back to the drawing board, the question is,

when they get in the room, when they shut the door, when they lock the

door, what can they find consensus on, what can Republicans and the

conservative faction and the moderate faction and importantly

working with the Senate and the president come together and find a

consensus to bring to the President's signature, at this

juncture, I don't see that coming any time soon. Final question, what

would your advice be, now, then, to visit ministration? My advice is

simply this, the next time that Republicans seek to put a major

piece of legislation on the floor, let's talk with the entire caucus

first, talk with United States Senate members and see what is in

the realm the possible, what are they able to do, what horse trading

needs to take place, so that this kind of embarrassment and inability

to govern for the American people, because it looks bad from optics

perspective, does not happen again. Thank you very much. British police

say that they have made two more significant arrests as they try to

establish whether the man who launched the attack this Wednesday

in London was working alone or with others. 11 people have now been

arrested, detectives have also released the first image of the

attacker. 52-year-old Khaled Mashud. -- Khaled Mashud.

The face of Khalid Masood, the face that confronted police

The face that looked out of the car at pedestrians

The 52-year-old was known by a number of names.

Born Adrian Elms in Kent, by the time he was at this boys'

secondary school in Tunbridge Wells, he was called Adrian Ajao

School friends remembered him as a sporty pupil who liked

Adrian was a very nice lad, a fun guy, always laughing,

always joking, worked reasonably hard, good at sport,

But Masood was soon developing a reputation for violence.

In this sleepy Sussex village, where he lived in his 20s,

at the local pub he slashed a man in the face with a knife

Didn't have a very good reputation, definitely.

I remember he was a bit of a troubled character,

I think would be the way to describe it.

A family friend said this wasn't the only time he turned violent.

The chap was looking at him, and I was just sitting at the pool

table, and he took umbrage against the landlord

for looking at him like he was, and he flew over the bar,

he got a glass, he was going to do him.

Khalid Masood spent time in three prisons.

Around ten years ago, he worked in Saudi Arabia.

It's not clear when he converted to Islam, but he started

using the surname Masood at least 11 years ago.

His mother now lives in a remote farmhouse in Camarthenshire,

They haven't been in any sort of contact with their son

for well over 20 years, from what I understand.

And when it comes to terrorism, unfortunately, nobody can be

responsible for the action of their children.

Masood, we now know, launched his terror attack

after staying overnight at a hotel in Brighton.

untroubled by what he was about to do,

that he was about to leave his hotel room,

He was joking and smiling and friendly.

He was a lovely guest, and we even put comments

There was nothing in his conduct or demeanour that would have

given me a feeling that there was something weird about this guy.

And he's just on his way to commit mass murder.

Detectives have searched the hotel, and there have been

In Manchester, a car was taken away by police in Didsbury.

Two arrests described by senior officers as significant were made

The police are still trying to build a picture of the man who came

They say their main aim now is to try and work out

if he was acting alone, inspired by terrorist propaganda,

or if there are others still out there who encouraged him,

supported or even directed this attack.

But it's clear there are still gaps in the police's knowledge.

We are appealing to the public today to say, if even in hindsight now

you realise something about Khalid Masood,

something about his associates, his movements, his planning,

now is the time to come forward and speak to our officers.

A bright student, turned violent man, turned terrorist.

STUDIO: Still to come on tonight's programme: oil, Arabic issues and

the American way, how a new play at Washington's Kennedy Centre brings

these things together around a petrol station. It has been one of

the most contentious issues in Washington right now and multiple

investigations have been launched into alleged Russian interference in

the US residential election. Or the campaign chairman of Hillary

Clinton's failed bid, it is an issue that gets close to home. John

Podesta has accused the FBI of double standards, following the

agency director James Comey going public about his enquiry into

Hillary Clinton's hacked e-mails days before the vote without

mentioning any possible Russian role. We asked him if he was

suspicious during the campaign. Of course we thought that was going on

for some time! And we argued to the press that they needed to look at

that, they needed to dig into that and uncover it. But it was a

revelation that the FBI was looking at that as early as now evidently

they were. One more trip in something that I have been highly

critical of the bureau about, which is the double standard they applied

in this campaign. The intervention, the number of resources they spent,

scores of FBI agents that they had, poring over Hillary Clinton's e-mail

server, which the FBI director ultimately concluded was not even a

close call, nothing worth prosecuting; compare to the

engagement on the Russian side his intervention just 11 days before the

election, the Clinton investigation, total silence with respect to the

Russian intervention, and now, the potential collusion between the

Trump campaign and the Russian actors. That was really a double

standard that is still inextricable Tumi. You are very calm about this

but... No, I am very angry about it, I just learned to appear calm! -- to

me. In Syria, the military battle to

defeat so-called Islamic state in their home base of Raqqa is gaining

ground, earlier this month, Syrian forces backed by Russian and Iranian

allies recaptured pal Meera, for the second time in the past year, chief

international correspondent travels to the iconic city, to see the

aftermath of Islamic State. -- Palmyra.

VOICEOVER: Palmyra, Roman ruins, precious world heritage, I is has

occupied this site twice in the past two years, their last target, the

Roman theatre, a stage for grisly executions, slitting throats,

shooting soldiers and civilians here. -- IS. Islamic State has lost

this prize and ground beyond here to the Syrian military backed by its

allies. Palmyra matters, but the battles

which lie ahead, including Raqqa - the IS's self-declared capital -

matter more, and are And that's because confronting

IS in Syria means confronting Are the West and countries in this

region now willing to work with President Assad and his Russian

and Iranian allies to In the basement of a deserted

building we are shown what's called And the paper trail

of its brutal rule. were thrown from the top

of a building, The city of Palmyra next

to the ancient site is a ghost town. People fled IS and the ferocious

fighting here, including Syrian This is where some of

the displaced have taken refuge. including this woman

and her five children. She remembers the exact moment

when IS fighters came to her door. TRANSLATION: It was a quarter

to five in the morning. I opened the door and saw

men shouting at me. They came in and took

my husband and niece. I was told they chopped

off his head. They took my nephew,

who was only 15. She doesn't know how

her family will cope. IS no longer occupies their home,

but it's dark shadow STUDIO: You are watching BBC world

news America. A new play by one of the world's leading contemporary

Arabic makers is having a world premiere at the Kennedy Centre in

Washington. It is the story about migrants, statelessness, war,

refugees, and oil. The author, whose usual troupe of actors come from

actors that are part of the presidential travel ban, is using

American actors this time. I spoke with Sulayman al Bassam. .

It is a play set on a desolate border, the theme is Arabic but

performed by an all-American cast. When we appropriate the American

idiom through the company of American actors... It is not so far

away. These themes around migrant workers and borders and identity,

and power, power relations, take on a resonance that is very

contemporary in today's America. Onstage, two colliding worlds, this,

fighter, -- this is performed in the style of American gospel. So what is

the relevance of Arabic political theatre in today's America? I have a

great relationship with blacks... I think that the theatre, in these

Times has crucibles of dissent, and as crucibles of truth. -- and as

crucibles of truth. Arts organisations today fear to be

perceived as taking a position against the current administration,

that is palpable. Petrol station, intended by its

author to be theatre that challenges and explores the divisions and

similarities between America and the Middle East.

What a day of political back and forth it has been on Capitol Hill.

They have been talking about this for seven years, repealing

Obamacare, it should have been something that could unite the

Republican party, tearing it up root and branch, in the words of Senator

Mitch McConnell, but sending it to Barack Obama over the past few years

and having its veto, here was their chance, both chambers, the

presidency, this was their first hurdle to get it on the President's

desk, but they stumbled over it, fell on their faces, could not get

it through. At one stage, it looked like President Trump would tough it

out, that this road would happen and win or fail, we will have the vote.

Interesting strategy, something they started last night, basically

putting down a marker and saying, this will happen, a way of getting

the members of Congress who were wavering off the fence and committed

to it, they stuck by it thinking they would be able to push it

through, but the more they push and negotiate with the right-wingers on

one side and the moderates on the other, they kept pulling it farther

apart, and people broke. Barzagli, the president directly rings two

national newspaper reporter. The Washington post, Robert Cosco,

apparently, with no announcement, picked up his phone, had Donald

Trump on the other line, and he said, we have pulled the bill. Not

even through the switchboard, it was from his cell phone! He was dealing

what -- detailing what was being said, that this was the full that

the Democrats, that they did not work with them, even though there is

40 formal Republicans in the house, rather than Democrats. -- Robert

Costa. Maybe jumping the gun on Paul Ryan, who was about to have a press

conference. 64 days in, this was the main legislative thing that he was

going to do, plenty more down the line, the momentum, where is it?

It's definitely hurts momentum, undermines authority and reputation

as a deal-maker, he said that he was the close, his press secretary said

that he was the closer, coming in to seal the deal, he came in and said

that was going to happen. How many deals as he closed? As president, he

has not close any, this was his first big legislative test, where it

goes from now, he said in comments this afternoon that it is going to

be tax reform, that he wants to focus on that, that is more

complicated because there are tax components in health care reform

that have to be dealt with in order to deal with taxes as a bigger

package. America left with Obamacare. Thank you very much. That

is the end of today's show. You will find much more on the day 's news on

the website. Have a great weekend. We will see you on Monday at the

same time. Lets see what the weather is up to

over the next few days, and we have been promising fine weather this

weekend, and indeed, that