And Christian Fraser is in london. The clock is ticking and President Trump has just one day to make an important decision on the iran deal. The trouble is that even at this late stage, no one knows whether hes going to bring back us sanctions against tehran tomorrow or not. In a deliberate display of unity, britain, france, germany and the European Union today all urged him not to blow up the deal. Its known as thejcpoa. British foreign secretary Boris Johnson went so far as to challenge mr trump to prove there was Something Better than the current iran deal. The eus Foreign Policy chief also stressed that the deal is working and iran is in compliance. The European Union remains committed to support the full and effective implementation of the agreement is, including to make sure that the lifting of Nuclear Related sanctions has a positive impact on trade and economic relations with iran, including benefits for the uranium people. For the iranians are people. For the iranians are people. The agreement has allowed for continuous dialogue with iran on all issues. I dont think anybody has so far produced a better alternative to the jcpoa. As a way of preventing the iranians from going ahead with the acquisition of military nuclear capability. I dont think anybody has come up with a better idea. I think it is incumbent oii better idea. I think it is incumbent on those who oppose the jcpoa to come up with a better solution, because we havent seen it so far. We know that it is absolutely necessary to have the signal that it is possible, by the dramatic approaches, to prevent the development of Nuclear Weapons, in a time when other parts of the world are discussing how to get Nuclear Weapons, and it would send a very dangerous signal to the rest of the world if the only agreement which prevents us from the proliferation of Nuclear Weapons would be negative effect. We very much agree on this point. They are all asking what america is going to do. And a brief time ago we got reaction from democratic senator chris coons, who sits on the Foreign Relations committee. What are the chances, realistically, that the president is going to defy all of the european expertise on this, as well as his own National Security team, and actually reimpose american sanctions on iran . That is one of the challenges we face with oui one of the challenges we face with our president. When he was a candidate, he promised he would be unconventional and unpredictable. He certainly outperformed in that tata group, so faras certainly outperformed in that tata group, so far as president. I am hopeful he will take seriously the advice of his National Security adviser, his secretary of defence and state, and the concerns and interests of our vital european allies, and that he will recertify oui allies, and that he will recertify our continued participation in the jcpoa. | our continued participation in the jcpoa. Iam our continued participation in the jcpoa. I am also hopeful he will announce new sanctions on iran that we can impose on their Ballistic Missile programme, on human rights violations, or on their support for terrorism in the region. Boris johnson, the British Foreign secretary, has challenged the white house to come up with Something Better than the existing deal. Is there something . There is nothing we are going to have enacted in the next few days. We need to continue this journey with our European Partners of constraining Irans Nuclear weapon programme through the jcpoa. But we can and should Work Together to address some of the future challenges we will face because of sunsets in thejcpoa. Some diplomats have suggested that they are hearing that iran is seriously considering walking away from this deal. If the president reimpose sanctions, is that they risk . Yes, if he were to reimpose Nuclear Related sanctions, they would be justified in Nuclear Related sanctions, they would bejustified in walking Nuclear Related sanctions, they would be justified in walking away from jcpoa, because we would be breaking one of the Core Principles of the deal. If the president imposes sanctions that are specifically targeted at the Ballistic Missile programme, for example, that is clearly permitted under thejcpoa example, that is clearly permitted under the jcpoa and example, that is clearly permitted under thejcpoa and clearly justified by irans ongoing aggressive behaviour and violation of Un Security Council resolutions. You and your colleagues on the Foreign Relations committee, your democrat colleagues, have gathered evidence from european allies about russian interference in democracies. You put out a report this week, 200 pages long, an extraordinary read. You documented evidence of Russian Operations in 19 european countries. Thats right. A stunning moment in our history as a nation. We have such a clear and well documented assault, not just such a clear and well documented assault, notjust on americas democracy, but on the democracies and the Electoral Systems of so many of our allies across europe and the west in the democratic world. Our president is failing to call this clearly for what it is. And organised Russian Campaign of aggression to undermine democracy. He is failing to step up and prepare the United States for its next election, and to come to the aid and support of vital allies in europe, as your elections continue to be threatened and undermined by this behaviour by russia, it is flabbergasting. It is a failure of leadership to protect notjust the United States and our homeland, but what makes us a democracy and our vital allies. What about the investigations . You also sit on the judiciary committee, the Intelligence Committee and the house Intelligence Committee and the house Intelligence Committee, they all have investigation is ongoing. You came out of Thejudiciary Committee and you said you are at an impasse, the politics is now getting in the way of the investigations. Explain . U nfortu nately, way of the investigations. Explain . Unfortunately, the republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee has been trying to move into a different direction, to investigate different things, either far past actions or actions somehow related to Hillary Clinton and her campaign, rather than working with the minority leader and focusing on supporting an Ongoing Investigation into russias meddling and oversight of the obstruction ofjustice allegations, where the firing of former fbi directorjim comey is one of the core issues. The Senate Judiciary committee is responsible for the oversight of the American Department ofjustice for the oversight of the American Department of justice and for the oversight of the American Department ofjustice and the federal bureau of investigation. It is in ourjurisdiction to bring in witnesses, hold testimony. Sadly, on a partisan basis, the investigation has ground to a halt. Thank you for joining us. If you are trying to bring north korea to the table, it sets a dangerous precedent if you walk away from a deal you have already signed with iran, particularly when youre trying to get korea to unilaterally disarm. When youre trying to prop up disarm. When youre trying to prop up the moderates, there are investors that want to go there, but they are nervous. Every time we get a rhetorical flourish from trump, they think, should we invest or might we lose money . You have heard there that they might be justified to walk away from a deal . |j there that they might be justified to walk away from a deal . I think thatis to walk away from a deal . I think that is part of the reason why people in iran have been frustrated, they say that they were promised so much from the sanctions relief, it did not come because there have not been foreign investors. Iran is the the reason that european diplomats feel that they have to find a way to work with this unusual administration. I spoke to a top european diplomat just this administration. I spoke to a top european diplomatjust this week that was saying that we dont know, so close to this deadline on the sanctions waver, we just dont know which way the white house is going to go. That is a problem, when they are trying to craft their own policies. Iran is a huge factor in americas relations with its european allies at the moment. As we have just heard donald trump has repeatedly insisted there was no collusion between his campaign and russia. He accuses democrats of carrying out a witch hunt and suggests republicans should take charge of the investigations. He also says it is Hillary Clinton who should be investigated not him. At a press conference yesterday, the president used the phrase no collusion seven times in just one answer. There has been no collusion between the Trump Campaign and russians, or trump and russians. No collusion. There is no pollution, there is no collusion. There was absolutely no pollution. But it has been determined there is no pollution. They have no collusion and nobody has found any collusion. No collusion. We can speak to the ceo of news max. Clearly, the president is frustrated by this investigation. You speak to donald trump on a regular basis. What does he tell you about it and what he feels about the investigation . He tells me there is no collusion i think he is exactly right in that. You know, they say, the president repeats himself a lot, there must be something wrong in the president , donald trump is a bit theatrical. He has a theatrical flairand he theatrical. He has a theatrical flair and he thinks that this is a way of reinforcing his message. He has been doing this for years where he repeats himself. There is nothing unusual. It is funny how i take it as normal and somebody else says it is strange that he keeps. He has a mantra, no collusion, because this president has been very cooperative, i think president has been very cooperative, ithinka president has been very cooperative, i think a lot more cooperative than i would ever advise them to be, certainly any other president under investigation, turning over documents, not exerting executive privilege, allowing key aides to be interviewed, opening himself up to questions, which i think he will be answering soon. I was not involved in the campaign, because i run newsmax and we are independent. I have always been a friend of the president , i know a lot of people involved, and i dont think there is any evidence whatsoever of collusion between the Trump Campaign and the russians. Youre right that it is effective, we picked that up and ran that for him several times in a row. Does he feel that this investigation, from capitol hill or the fbi, is overshadowing his presidency . Yes, i think he thinks it is being used as a blunt instrument against him, and certainly the media focus on it. You go on certain networks, which i will not name, cable news channels, all they do is talk about this. What i think is frustrating to him and his Close Friends and supporters is they have taken nothing and created it into something. Let me give you an example. If you look at this, this whole story, there is no evidence that there has been collusion with the russians. We have two indictments and two plea agreements from Robert Mueller, and there is no evidence there. A lot of it starts with the so called dossier, which comes to britain, because all hearsay, it was a a lot of garbage. We have ikea going to czechoslovakia, to prague, for a secret meeting with the russians, and he testified he has never been to czechoslovakia and have no dealings with this people. It was just a lot of hearsay and gossip in a report. To have a Major Investigation come out of gossip, it is very bizarre. Of course, chris, if we believe what is in Michael Wolffs group, steve bannon thinks the meetings between donald junior and the russians was treasonous. That aside, is it easier, with bannon out of the way, for the president to reach across the aisle and start to do some deals . Well, i disagree with steves treasonous, i dont think was not the way the meeting went down, but i think most campaigns would have taken the meeting in some shape or form. Campaigns would have taken the meeting in some shape orform. I dont think it was treasonous. I think bannon was a weight on the president and was preventing him from moving to the centre. I believe the president s success and importance for the United States is that he moved to the centre of things like immigration, infrastructure, education, even National Security issues. I think the donald trump i have known, i met him 20 years ago, will do that in short order. We are seeing signs of it. We are living through a very polarising period here. But it. We are living through a very polarising period here. But i think he is the guy that can break through. When you say you have known him for 20 years, do you think sometimes he is conflicted in the way that he has to appeal to his base . Sometimes, isuspect way that he has to appeal to his base . Sometimes, i suspect that his instincts are democrat . Well, i think he is more of a centrist. When i first knew think he is more of a centrist. When ifirst knew him, think he is more of a centrist. When i first knew him, he was a democrat. I would say a conservative business democrat, but a democrat. He is a unifying guy. He is not an ideologue, that is the important thing you have to know about donald trump, steve bannon is and was an ideologue. He is not rigid, he likes getting deals done, he is very pragmatic. He will look at an issue and say, we need infrastructure, the country needs this modernisation and we need to be competitive around the world, a conservative might say we dont have the money, the liberals say that the project should go for different things, trump is more about, lets get this done for the good of the country. Chris, when did you last speak to the president and what is his mood . I saw him about ten days ago, i guess, when he was down in florida. He was down here for that period of time over the holidays. He was happy, very gregarious. He had just gotten the tax bill through and he was looking forward to. In fact, he told me he thought he could do a lot of Bipartisan Legislation this year and that the democrats, he thought, were very open to working with him. 0k, thank you very much forjoining us, a lwa ys thank you very much forjoining us, always good to have you on the programme, please come back again soon. Programme, please come back again soon. Thank you so much. It is nice and sunny in florida, a lwa ys it is nice and sunny in florida, always interesting to get his thoughts, he is one of the people that has been close to the president for a long time. He downplayed it a little bit, but i know he speaks to him ona little bit, but i know he speaks to him on a regular basis. You know, to try to get a sense of how the president is feeling, sometimes we get the perception between the Michael Wolff book, the tweets about nuclear buttons, that there is a lot of stress being pent up in the white house. Interesting to see whether thatis house. Interesting to see whether that is being felt by his friends, and the degree to which they will tell us that. The thing for me, he talks about no collusion, i wonder if Robert Mueller has moved past that, he is looking at money laundering, he has two guilty pleas, he is looking at obstruction of justice, not just pleas, he is looking at obstruction ofjustice, notjust solely pleas, he is looking at obstruction of justice, not just solely about collusion. He has brought in a cyber expert we have heard. You wonder how ready donald trump to sit down with Robert Mueller. He said he was 100 ready to do it in summer, i am not sure he is 100 now. He kind ready to do it in summer, i am not sure he is 10096 now. He kind of urged that and so yesterday. He kind of fudged that answer. In california, rescue teams are searching for eight people who are still missing after the flash floods and mudslides on tuesday. 17 people are known to have died when a torrent of mud carrying boulders the size of small cars smashed through the town of montecito. 65 homes have been destroyed the area in Santa Barbara county was only just recovering from the recent devastating wildfires. Our correspondent james cook is there. Turn around the flash flood is right there get out of here, go this is the moment it began. Oh, my god and then panic. Close the door it was a million miles an hour in slow motion, if that makes sense. I clicked in survival gear, survival mode. Every second, it is just roaring and banging against the house and the most vicious and violent s