Nonstop flights are available from most major airports. More information for yourca on planning is available at aruba. Com. Announcer and now, bbc world news. This is bbc world news america, reporting from washington. Counting down to the state of the union. St hours from now, President Trump will deliverst h address against a background of political fights. President putin calls a list of oligarchs an unfriendly act, but falls short of calling for retaliation. And, taking their case to capitol hill. Gy aasts who spoke out again dr. Larry nassar are now calling for greater protection. Welcome to our viewers on publir television in a and around the globe. In just a few hours, President Trump will deliver hst state of the union address. In the chamber will be members of both parties. Millionsf americans will be watching at home. On the domestic front, expect the president to highlight the economy and immigration. When it comes to foreign policy, north korea and russia are key areas people will be listening for. Tonight we hear from both sides. ,we start with republican congressman scott taylor, who spoke with my colleague, james ryan, a short ti ago. Jane thank you for joining me. Who do you think the president oumost needs to reacto tonight . I think the president can and should speak to all americans, number one. I think there are a lot of things we have in common, whether it is infrastructure, defeating isis, things like that cathat democrats and repub agree on, he does need to speak to the other side and speak to those who see themselves as indendents, the fastestgrowing population, politically. It is important that he speak att to all americans, and certainly that popn. Host looking at this from the outside, it seems to be a very divided union at the moment. Do you think there is any chance all sides can come together on these issues such as immigration . It has just provoked a shutdown. I do. En ou look at the economy, the improving economy, and folks ving more money in their pockets, that is a bipartisan issue. That is one thing he can tout, talk about, talk about successes there and then talk about imgration. A lot of the public does want to see more Border Security and disincentives for illegal immigratn. At the same time, they want to deal with immiation and daca. I think we can come together for that. Rats shutid, the dem the government down over this, shut the american government, funding for troops and all of those things. It would be very disingenuous if ey did not come to the table. Now that the president has a serious proposal. I think we can come together and solve the immigration problem. Im host hortant is tone going to be . Extremely important, good question. When you are speaking to to thedents, speaking other side of the aisle, speaking about how we can move the country forward, tone is ry important. The president would do well to have a conciliatory tone. Host this is your first state of the uni as well. You have been there for a year. What surprised you the most about working in washington . Is it the gridlock . Is it the f bipartisanship . I try to have no expectations so that i would not be let down, but i am surprised by the divisiveness in the country ght now. I am from virginia. In virginia, we reach across the aisle to move forward. Il i am aary guy. In the military, you dont care if you are white, black, brown, gay, straight, rich, poor, you hold hands and get it done. I would like to see more of that washington. Host congressman scott taylor, thanks very much for joining me. Thank you. Host now to the democrats, who are livid about a republican vote to relee a secret memorandum said to accuse the fbi and justice dertment of misusing their authority in the russia investigation. By thmo was commissioned republican chair of the house intelligence committee. The president now has five days to decide whether to release it. Democratic congresswoman jacki spear sits on the committee. I caught up with her. He t e state ofnion is taking place tonight agai particularly dysfunctional backdrop, and the keyommittee that you sit on seems to be paralyzed by political, partisan deckering. Has trust betweecrats and republicans completely evaporated . It has. Regrettay so, because this committee was always bipartisan. It was always about protecting the security of our Intelligence Community to promote american safety, to make sure classified documents were maintained as classified, and that is all out of the window because of thisef rt by devin nunes and the committee to politicize the work. It shows us, unfortunately, that they are willing to walk down a path that expoassified hformation and accept what is being written th no merit, necessarily. Host lets talk about the isconsequences if that mem released, which republicans on the Committee Say is going to show some missteps by the fbi and department of justic what impact will it have . The biggest impact it will have is that our allies around the world are going to be less inclined to share intellence with us for fear we will not tain the classified nature of it. A all udden, the committee is becoming edward snowden, really. For a committee that lasg year was talkout how terrible unmasking was, they are now attempting to do so. Host you have been very outspoken in your criticism of the president and how he has been critiifl of the fbi. E was to try to fire robert mueller, the special counsel investigating the campaigns ties to russia, would you think that was grounds f impeachment . I absolutely would. Host would you be a minority of one . I dont think so. I think the American People recognize that you cannot tear down the institutions that havee them safe and free. Id the prt is attacking the media, the department of justice, the fbi, the judiciary. What more before we wake up and realize that our country is lpder attack from inside, by the russians . Host u and other Democratic Women are wearing black tonight in a protest against sexual harassment. If you had to sum up the mood the state of our union right now, how would you describe it . Divided and fractured. Which is not what the state of the union is normally all about. Its about unifying the country. Unfortunately, the president h shown over and over again that he is willing to tear it apart. Instead of build us up. Sparengresswoman jackie cash spear, jackie beer thank yofor joining us. The Trump Administration has decided not to slap new sanctions on those doing business with russia. What ty have done is to release a list of politicians and oligarchs seen as senior figures, a move the kremlin has described as an unfriendly act. Between on rations the two countries, ioi wasd by the chair of the Woodrow Wilson kanaan institute. What was the reason for leasing this list of russians . The list was mandatsl by leion passed by an overwhelming majority in both houses of Congress Last july and signed by the president , largelh becausmajority was vetoproof. There was nothing he could do about it. It mandated a report about which russians are close to putin, who among the oligarchs and other thites might be involved i illegal or nefarious activity. But it did not mandate sanctions. What the administration did was give a list that was almost downloaded from the internet. These are e richest russians and we are not going to sanction them. Host they could be sanctioned in the future . I see two sides. One is the administration is no sanctionsy have planned. D,on the other hhey are saying if we do sanctions, anybody is fair game. They are not saying anybody is protected. Inst meanwhile, the administration sthey will not impose sections on those doing business with Russian Defense and intelligence firms, but congress is saying it should. Why t . These are thirdparty companies or countries they are saying should be punished. If you think about the america first, probusiness, proeconomic Development Philosophy of the administration, theyre not finding that to be to their benefit. They are getting a lot of folks knocking on the door saying hey, this is bad for business. Th message has been look, we have signaled to the russians we dont like what they are doing. Weve already punthose who need to be punished. Host democrats are saying this is an example of him being soft on russis, in some where was no way the president would escape that criticism. Especially if he interpreted the more as it wasn drafted, which did not require sanctions. He would have had to have gone above and beyond and do something beyond what the legislation required to reassure those on the hill who are making that argument. E cia the director of has told the bbc he fully expects russians to try to intervene in midterm elections. So its not going to go away. The issue of perhaps trying to sanction the russians. The u. S. Russia conflict is not going anywhere, in terms of election interference, in terms ofkraine, syria, issues on which we have disagreements with cue russians, up to and including nuclear ty. We are accusing them of violating a fundamental treaty in u. S. Russia relations. That is not going anywhere. E problem is the ministration is severely hemmed in politically in being able to conduct negotiations. At the e of the day, we are not going to defeat these people militarily. We have to talk to them. Caltodays poli environment, that is difficulty. Very much foru joining us. In afghanistan, attacks by Islamic State in the taliban have soared to this month. The u. S. Is planning to send more troops to afghanistan this year. A new report by the bbc shows the scale of e challenge they face. The taliban is now active in 70 of the country. This is malik he is 11, and too traumatized to speak to us. He was playing in his garden when he lost his legs and his best friend to a taliban. Andmine today, malik is walkinfor the firs time since the explosion. Go througher fear night. It is a horrific life. It is so volatile that we live by hours and minutes. We are a living death. Reporter last year, doctors at this red cross clinic an treated all 1000 people without the very old to the very young. The violence does not discriminate. H province,l hundreds of soldiers died to defend the streets, but since their retreat, the violenc is spreadin just 10 minutes from the hospital, the front line. It is very rare for International Journalists to come this far. The soldiers say the milseants are so cthey exchange insults. Today, swearing it enough. Red at by the liban from that direction, and now the police are returning fire. Is is their front line. T shows how volatile it is this is normally quiet during shootingbut this proves otherwise. Danger, defending tharea is crucial. If the city falls, so does the whole of helmand. It is a responsibility the commander of this battalion takes seriously. The man tlyy affectionaall the terminator. Underneath his uniform, half machine. The back of my head was blown off by a rock. Soldiers reported that i was dead on the spot. Emy brother c to collect my body. But doctors realized i wasnt dead. They patched up my skull with a metal plate. Not long after, i stepped on a landmine and lost both my legs. Afghanistan right now, it is not fit for an active commander to sit at home. This war has continued for 15 years. Helmand is bleeding, and its people feel forgotten. Bbc news, helmand province. Host so much difficulty still there in afghanistan. You arec watching world news america. Still to come on tonights program, the president isnt the only one with a high profile speech tonight. E could this kennedy be ture of the Democratic Party . Will ld ad referend in may about one of its most historically contentious issues, abortion. The republic of ireland currently has a near tol ban on terminating pregnancies, except when doctors consider a womans life at risk. The archbishop has encouraged ministers not to become oiemd in attacks during the referendum. The staunchly catholic country already permits samesex marriage. Here is andrew. It is an issue that polarizes opinion in ireland, now subject to be set in a ferendum now set tbe the subject of a referendum. Ireland has a near total ban on abortion, even in cases of rape or incensed, or if the fetus has no chance of survival. Currently, thousands of women travel overseas for abortions each year, or order pills online that are not prescribed by a physician. Now, ireland will hold a referendum on whether laws on abortion should be changed. We already have abortion in ireland, but it is unsafe, unregulated, and unlful. In myt opinion, we can continue to export our problems and import our solutions. As a former minister f health, i dont believe we can proceed with a situation whereby women in crisis areisking their lives by using unregulated medications. The campaigners want to see it it criminalized, and polls suggest most people would vote to change the law and make abortion legal in some circumstances. Now, irelands healthinister willraft a law to amend the countrys constitution in time for a vote at the end of may. Bbc news. Host governing bodieseu for amathletics could soon be required by law to promptly report sexual ase claims thanks to a bill that is making its way through congress. This follows the case of dr. Larry nassar who last week was sentenced to 175foears in prison abusing over 150 women and girls. Today, se of the women who stood up in court joined senator Dianne Feinstein in washington. Among them was jamie, who explained how empowered s felt by telling her story. I have never really been able to be proud of my elite career or speak the truth about how hard, how intense, how abusive it really was, because nobody would listen. So, to speak up and finally havo not on person listen, but to have so many people supporting us and on our side, i finally feel proud. Host she was speaking to the bbc reporter who covered the nassar trial for us and o joined us a short time ago. We just heard fr one of the gymnasts you have been speaking to. What does it mean to them to come to the corridors of power and share their stor it is part of a long journey that saw the moving and powerful testimony that those gymnasts delivered in the courtroom. But they have been calling for this law to be brought in far before those hearings. Even a year ago, working with o nator feinstein and other politicians to tryke sure that institutions governing the bodies of sport e held to account. That is what they hope this will bring about. Host its interesting, the trantion those women are making. First so long, they were abused by dr. Nasser. Were silenced. Now they have become this powerful voice for change. Itwhat iike for them . I dont think they realized it was going to be as watched or as powerful as it turned out to be. If you were in the courtroom from day one, Something Like 90o n had signed up to speak or deliver written testimony. Co by day, day every morning, the clipboard would say more women had come o rward. They want to tryannel the movement they have created into something, activism. They are not sure at the moment, but they know something has changed around them. Host without the judge in that trial giving them the ability to speak, do they even feel they would be at this point . As we saw at the hearing, testimony after testimony began with them thanking her for giving them the opportunity. Certainly, that helped them have their voice. Jamie was one of the first toea out. Rachael was meant to be there. At unforty, she was sick. She was the first one to speak out after the indianapolis start investn. A few of them did speak out. So many more behind them didnt edve the courage or felt they werent belind thats why they couldnt be more open. They certainly hope th that by Holding Institutions to account, things will change going forward. This is not just about the world of gymnastt s. This is aborts altogether, young, Vulnerable People put in compromising positions. They just dont know what to do. Host thank you for joining us. State of now to the iothe a dress, which President Trump will deliver in. Ust a few hours time as well as substance, everyone is trying to guess what the tone will be. And of course, the president wont be the only one giving a speech tonight. Joined now by anthony. What kind of tone do you think he is going to strike tonight . It is supposed to be upat. Lastar year, we a lot of bold promises, things like health care, infrastructure, taxes. They got taxes, but a lot of the other stuff, immigration, that didnen. We may see those rolled out again on the parade route, but the test the months ahead. Ns in host is this an opportunity for the president to craft a message he then country during midterm leading up to the midterm elections without distracting with tweets . Exactly. He can deliver a teleprompter anspeechif he sticks to the lscript, it w be well received. Last year, after speech, he started tweeting after wiretaps a few days later. Esthe question is what he next. If he doesnt start tweeting about the special counsel investigation, he might find some success. But this is a g year. Elections. Term host lets turn to the crats and who they have chosen to deliver the response to the state of the union. Joe kennedy, grandson of robert kennedy, grandnephew of president john f. Kennedy, heobviously, are some concerns about dynastic emphasis after the clintons. Now the kennedys a back. Message the the democrats are trying to sell is young, charismatic, focusing on the economy. Be giving this speech in fall river, massachusetts, a bluecollar town. These is a mixed bag with responses. Some in the past marco rubio, the response has aicost them more than theyd. Completely fascinating. Thank youor so much that. Stay with the bbc throughout the night. I will be here on world news with special state of the union coverage. Our team will be providing full analysis online. Thanks so much for watching bbc ne world news america. With the bbc news app, our vertical videos are designed to work around your lifestyle, so you n swipe your way to the news of the day and stay uptodate with the latest headlines u can trust. Downad now from selected app stores. Funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, and vler foundation, pursuing solutions for americas neglected needs. Planning a vacation escape that is relaxing, inviting, an exciting is a lot easier than you think. Nd you can t here, in aruba. Families, couples, and friends can all find their escape on the island with warm, sunny days, cooling tradewinds, and the crystalblue caribbean sea. Nonstop flights are available from most major airports. More information for your vacation planning is available at aruba. Com. Bbc world news was presented by