More information for your vacation planning is available at aruba. Com. And now, bbc world news. Laura this is bbc world news america. Reporting from washington, i am laura trevelyan. The head of the cia says russias interference in u. S. Elections isnt over, and leaves no doubt that his agencys tackling threats on multiple fronts. Mr. Pompeo we are the worlds finest espionage service. Im incredibly proud of that. We will go out there and do our damnedest to steal secrets on behalf of the american people. Laura the Deputy Director of the fbi, Andrew Mccabe, steps aside effective immediately. It comes after constant criticism from President Trump regarding the russia investigation. An art restorer for the modern age. How window washer cleaned up a mural by the graffiti artist banksy. Viewers onome to our Public Television in america and around the globe. The head of the cia warns that russia will try to interfere in americas midterm elections this november. That was one of the many topics mike pompeo addressed when he sat down with the bbc for his First International interview. He warned there were only a few months left to find a diplomatic solution to the north Korea Nuclear crisis. He had been speaking exclusively to our security correspondent gordon corera. Gordon it is one of the most famous and yet secret buildings in the world, the headquarters of the Central Intelligence agency. Showing me around is mike pompeo, who has just marked a year as its head. A tumultuous time around the world and in washington. He is not shy about the cias mission, saying he has unleashed the agency to take more risks. Mr. Pompeo were the worlds finest espionage service. Im incredibly proud of that. We will go out there and do our damnedest to steal secrets on behalf of the american people. Gordon in the room where americas most secret operations are planned, i asked him about russia and the claims it interfered in americas last election as well as in europe. Do you see signs that russian activity is lessening in terms of subversion in europe and the United States . Mr. Pompeo ive not seen a significant decrease in their activity. Gordon do you have concerns that they might interfere in the u. S. Midterms . Mr. Pompeo of course. I have every expectation they will continue to try and do that, but im confident that america will have a free and Fair Election that will push back in a way that is sufficiently robust that the impact they have on our election wont be great. Gordon do you find yourself having to walk a fine line with a president who has said that the talk about russian particularly collusion, is fake news, and an agency that said that there were attempts in 2016 to influence the election . Mr. Pompeo i dont do fine lines, to tell you the truth. We deliver nearly every day personally to the president the most exquisite truth that we know from the cia. Gordon what is he like in those meetings . He asked questions, he is inquisitive . Mr. Pompeo yes. He is very focused in the sense that he is curious about the facts we present. Gordon a recent book of which i am sure you are aware suggested that the president wasnt quite up to it, do not quite have the faculties. What is your response to that as someone who sits in the room with him many mornings . Mr. Pompeo it is absurd. It is just absurd. I havent read the book, i dont intend to. I have much Better Things to read. I actually have things to read that are accurate and truthful. The claim that the president isnt engaged and doesnt have a grasp on these important issues is dangerous and false, and it saddens me that someone would have taken the time to write such drivel. Gordon is it tricky for you when you have been in the briefings and then you mighmight come out and there might be some tweet on a Foreign Policy issue . When the president talked about rocket man, isnt there a danger that it is raising the temperature with Something Like north korea and could lead to escalation . Mr. Pompeo kim jongun has never appreciated the risk that he presents to the world in the way that he does today. And it is also our judgment that our partners who are also at risk from north korea have come to understand that it is kim jongun that is presenting this risk. And so when you see this language that the president chooses to use, there are many audiences for it, and i can share with your audience that i assure you kim jongun understands the message that america is serious. Gordon the cia director says his job is to find other was to other ways to stop america being at risk from the nucleararmed north korea, should diplomacy fail. Are there options available that are short of allout war . Because a lot of people think that option would cost massive disruption and lossoflife. Mr. Pompeo well, they are right about that. There is a set of military tasks that might have to be taken and they would cause enormous damage. Our president and our Senior Leaders are very mindful of that. But we are going to present the president a range of alternatives, other ways to assist in what the president has said in our policy. Gordon do you think it is possible to remove the ability of kim jongun to fire those missiles, to take him out or take out the ability to launch missiles . Mr. Pompeo many things are possible. Gordon how much time do you think there is . In the past people have talked about it as being an imminent threat. Mr. Pompeo we talk about him having the ability to deliver a Nuclear Weapon to the United States in a matter of a handful of months. Gordon stopping attacks and stealing secrets is the cias mission. The stars on this wall marking those who died carrying it out. The way in which the agency has gone about its work has always reflected the president it serves, and Donald Trumps cia under mike pompeo will be an agency that wont hold back, wherever that might take it. Laura and gordon joins me now. Toldn, the cia director you in in no Uncertain Terms that russia will try to interfere in the u. S. Midterm elections no matter what the president may think about it. The cia is a on red alert. Gordon absolutely, and he was clear that they are taking a number of measures to deter that activity. Trying to sort out where the information comes from, looking out for they could news, but he also talked about using intelligence to find who was behind subversive activities, and also using the tools and relationships of intelligence to deter russia from carrying out that kind of activity. Alert to thee is possibility that that kind of interference is going to be part of life in the United States as well as europe. Laura it is interesting, because here in the u. S. We hear all the time about russian interference. What did the cia director at the threat from china . Its interesting from which i about china that and whether in the context of north korea china was helpful in the crisis. But he also raised the issue of chinese influence, and the sense of if china was not just carrying out espionage in other countries but using power to covertly influence events, a bit like russia. His argument was that china has a bit more ability to do that because of its economic weight and the size of its economy. He was talking about people carrying out cyber espionage, but also the ability to use access to the Chinese Market as a way of trying to leverage certain policies and decisions in the interests of china, sometimes covertly. Clearly this is something very much on his agenda. Laura its interesting, because you got to spend quite a lot of time with the cia director. What struck you the most about mike pompeo . Gordon he is clearly a confident character, a forceful character. He wants to have that sense of the cia being on the front foot. Its interesting, having interviewed the previous director, john brennan, who was perhaps a more cautious character at least in his public pronouncements, you could sense that mike pompeo wanted to project an image of the cia, in his words, as an aggressive agency, one that was out there and was not shy about saying it was stealing secrets, and yes, he needed to do better protecting its own secrets, but it is that sense of him whining and agency which mirrors and reflects wanting an agency which mirrors and reflect the president he serves, President Trump, a forward leaning cia willing to take risks and is in some sense unleashed. Laura gordon corera, thank you for joining us. From one Intelligence Service to another, this morning he was the number two man at the federal bureau of investigation, but now Andrew Mccabe is out. Mr. Mccabe had come under intense scrutiny from President Trump and his republican allies for what they claim was political bias with hillary clinton. Jon sopel joined us from outside the fbi a short time ago. Jon well, laura, on one level you can say Andrew Mccabe, what is the big deal . He was due to retire in march, its only a few weeks early. But it is a big deal because of the sustained political pressure from donald trump in a series of tweets broadly focusing on one fact, that his wife had stood in stood for the state senate in virginia as Democratic Party candidate. That infuriated donald trump, it made him believe that somehow mccabe was biased against them him in the russia investigation. This comes after the firing of james comey, the boss of the fbi, last year. And then you pay your political money and you makes your choice. Do you believe the democrats, who say this is a systematic attempt to undermine the independence of the fbi and the Justice Department and to hobble the russian investigation, or do you believe the republicans who say there is bias in the fbi and they are calling for the release of what is said to be an explosive memo written by the house chair of the Intelligence Committee apparently alleging all sorts of corruption in the Mueller Investigation . There are very few facts, but an awful lot of allegations swirling around. The facts are that mccabe stood down. That is about as much as we know definitely. Laura jon sopel outside the fbi, thank you. In other news from around the world, the German Government has strongly condemned a series of car emissions tests in which humans and monkeys were exposed to diesel exhaust fumes. The experiments were conducted by a Research Group funded by three car companies, including volkswagen. The chairman has described the tests as totally in comprehensive will. Been bannedm has from competing in the Winter Olympics in south korea over doping allegations. The International ParalympicCommittee Says 35 athletes will take part. It is the second time russia has been excluded from the paralympics. Afghanistans capital has severed its fourth deadly attack in just over a week. 11 soldiers were killed in an assault on the military base. 60 others were injured. Socalled Islamic State took responsibility for the killings, which comes days after a separate bombing killed more than 100 people in a popular shopping area. For more on these, i spoke with a former state Department Official who is now a senior fellow at the center for american progress. This attack in afghanistan is the fourth major one in a nineday period. What is driving this violence . Honestly, i dont think we know. Some say it is the tough line on toistan, meeting pakistanibased extremists taking militant actions. Some are saying that the taliban and isis have decided to focus on the highprofile nature of attacks against aid agencies, against hotels in the capital, things like that, to get a lot more attention. The bottom line is the deep a deep sense of insecurity, and it is a devastating set of attacks. A hotel, a market, a military training facility, and save the children. These know no bounds of humanity. I think that is bound to unsettle afghans and the country is trying to help afghanistan. Laura in todays attack, the Islamic State claimed responsibility, but we have had the taliban claiming responsibility for previous attacks, and others blaming the Haqqani Network. What are we to make of the competing claims, or are they necessarily competing . Vikram we cannot devote too much energy to trying to suss out the details. Authorities and Coalition Forces are going to try to figure that out, but at this point, the Haqqani Network and the taliban are quite integrated. They have shared commanders at this point. Isis has got a foothold and is doing operations and is almost certainly the one that did the save the children attack. But the real question is what can be done to help better secure the afghan people, who are ultimately suffering . Laura right, well, the u. S. Will enter into its 17th year in afghanistan at the end of this year. President trump has yet another strategy for afghanistan as american residents have before him, he is sending more troops. Is that the answer . Vikram i dont have a lot to complain about in terms of providing additional security for afghanistan and assisting and advising and training. Those are helpful. I think of the critical capabilities that went away as the United States drew down, the intelligence and surveillance capabilities that help to disrupt attacks, critical air support and casualty support for afghanistan forces, those sorts of things, i think are important, and as long as the International Community and the United States are willing to provide them, they make a big difference. But ultimately it is a very militaryfocused strategy. It doesnt really have a big focus on the political component. In fact, today President Trump said there is no intention of talking to the taliban. At some point we need to integrate whatever our military effort is with whatever the political effort led by afghans is going to be, and we have struggled to do that year in and year out. Laura thank you very much for joining us. Vikram thanks a lot. Laura you are watching bbc world news america. Still to come on tonights program, the state of the unions infrastructure. As President Trump plans to deliver his major speech, we will size up the task of fixing americas bridges and roads. The river saint in paris has to get four meters above its normal level as the city deals with the aftermath of weeks of heavy rainfall. Hundreds of people were moved from their homes. Relentlesseeks of rain and one of the wettest januarys on record has seen the muddy waters of the river seine swell. For hundreds of years, version says that persians have measured the level of the river by measuring the statue marking the crimean war. This time it stopped and its sides. Are attractingrs locals and tourists alike. Yes, it is true that there are people affected by the floods, but at the same time, it is true that it is an amazing site. ,ormally there is garden below a small part. It is flooded, its true. It is a change in the landscape. Water level actually attacked here but it doesnt matter because harris i feel so satisfied. Reporter the popular tourist becauseve been moored they wont be able to fit onto bridges. Only Emergency Services are now allowed on the river. Commuters have also suffered. Seven metro stations along the seine have been closed until next week, and some roads have been shot. The lower level of the louvre, home to some of the worlds most priceless artworks, has also been closed to visitors. It is People Living on the outskirts of paris which have been most affected by the flooding. Around 1500 homes have been evacuated. Some have been destroyed. The waters are expected to begin receding tomorrow, and in the huge cleanup can begin. And then the huge cleanup can begin. Laura tomorrow, President Trump will deliver his first state of the Union Address, a chance to outline to congress and the American Public what he hopes to achieve in the year ahead. From immigration to Foreign Policy, it will cover many topics, but what tone do we expect the president to take the . That is a question i put to our political analyst ron christie a short time ago. Ron i expect the president from davos. I think a lot of people assume he will be bombastic and combative. From what i have heard from my sources in the white house, they are saying the president wants to start a bipartisan tone, talk about infrastructure, talk about immigration, issues important to democrats as well as republicans, and find common ground. Laura it sounds like he will make a speech not at all like the american carnage inauguration one but one that attempts at least to reach out beyond his face base to those who are skeptical of him. Ron no question. Donald trump the candidate has recognized the severity of his office from donald trump the president. There are more than 320 million american citizens who want to know from their president how will you govern, how you will work with the congress, and why we should follow your lead. Laura this is a big opportunity for the president. The economy is looking good and the midterm elections are on the horizon. He has a story to tell after the tax cut. Teleprompter trump or twitter trump . Ron [laughter] i think you will