Transcripts For BBCNEWS 100 Days 20170302 : vimarsana.com

Are now the subject of criminal investigations. The new favourite, Emmanuel Macron, says he has a plan to clean up french politics. And, saddle up cowboy. The new us Interior Secretary arrives for the first day at the office on his horse im katty kay in washington, Christian Fraser is in london. Allegations of inappropriate links between the Trump Campaign and russia just dont go away. Today, president trumps Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, has been accused of lying under oath after he failed to disclose to the senate that hed had two meetings with the Russian Ambassador during the election campaign. A Growing Number of Senior Republicans are demanding Jeff Sessions withdraw himself from overseeing any investigation into the administrations links with russia, while democrats are calling for the appointment of a Special Prosecutor and even a criminal investigation. This is how this story unfolded. Mr sessions joined the Trump Campaign last february. Injuly, he attended a Heritage Foundation event on the sidelines of the Republican National convention where he spoke to a number of ambassadors, including mr kislyak. Then, in september the senator held a meeting with the ambassador in his office. After winning the election, donald trump nominated sessions to be his Attorney General. At his Judiciary Committee Confirmation Hearing injanuary, sessions was asked by senator franken about contact between the Trump Campaign and the russian government. Im not aware of any of those activities. I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign. Idid surrogate at a time or two in that campaign. I did not have communications with the russians. Im unable to comment. This morning, mr sessions again denied any wrongdoing. He says the meetings with the Russian Ambassador had nothing to do with the election campaign. I have not met with any russians at any time to discuss any political spain and those remarks are unbelievable to me and are false. I dont have anything else to say about that. So, thank you. Reporter what about the calls to recuse yourself from your agencys probe of the. Well, ive said that whenever its appropriate, i will recuse myself. Theres no doubt about that. A few hours ago, the Senate Minority leader, chuck schumer, called onJeff Sessions to resign. The bottom line is, we have an obligation to get to the truth. We must evaluate the scope of russias interference in our election and assess if agents of their government have penetrated to the highest level of our government. Nothing less than the sanctity of our dear democratic process, the primacy of rule of law and the integrity of our Executive Branch is at stake. We now know the only way that this will happen is if an independent, impartial, Special Prosecutor who has no attachment to this administration conducts this investigation. President trump has said he has total confidence inJeff Sessions. Our north america editor, jon sopel, is here. The president may have confidence, eight Senior Republicans say he must recuse himself from any investigation into the ties with russia. Hes unlikely to go, isnt he,jon . Russia. Hes unlikely to go, isnt he, jon . Yes. A long way between recuse and resign . A long, long way. Where we are, it seems to me, broadly there are three administrations. We will tough it out, carry on in the job, administrations. We will tough it out, carry on in thejob, he can oversee any investigation that is going on. I think that will pile up bad head leans. The other option is that he announces this kind of word, the word of the day, recuse himself. He withdraws from overseeing any investigation into the links between russia and their involvement in the last us president ial election. The most dramatic option, of course, is thatis most dramatic option, of course, is that is fired. That is not going to. Ha. I dont see unless there is new evidenced that he has been about his conduct. What there is a kind of curious lack of candour there. Is nothing wrong with him having meetings with the Russian Ambassador just as there was nothing wrong with Michael Flynn having meetings with the Russian Ambassador. That is what you do. You cant then not say what those can tacts were. That cost flynn hisjob. It is leading to a lot of pressure. It raises questions about what they were talking about . What is there to hide . Whether the Trump Campaign colluded with the russians to interfere in the american election, we still have no evidence that that is the case . We have absolutely not a sin till la of evidence they concluded and there was stuff going backwards and forwards. That is the big issue here. The administration is is making life more complicated for itself. When jeff making life more complicated for itself. WhenJeff Sessions was having the hearings it was clear that russia was a big issue. Why didnt he say i met the russian am was bass dosh ties in connection with the Armed Services committee, thatis with the Armed Services committee, that is it. There is conle text. Because 20 of the 27 members of the k Armed Services committee did not meet with the ambassador, that is including the chair of the senate committee. He had time to clarify in oral and written questions. He didnt take that option . After you have a record you are sent what you have a record you are sent what you have said. You can correct the record if you think that is ambiguous. Maybe i should clarify that. He chose not to. He was happy to leave it that he said he had no contact with the russians. The legal a nswer contact with the russians. The legal answer is is giving did you have contact with the russians about the campaign. No, he said, didnt have any contacts. He did have contacts. It was about something different. Maybe for the sake of clarpty and with perfect hindsight he would think more candour would have helped mea think more candour would have helped me a long way. Jon, thank you. We will talk to a lawyer in a few minutes and ask him whether he will stand by Jeff Sessionss minutes and ask him whether he will stand byJeff Sessionss dens if of all of this. Before we came on air, i spoke to democratic senator amy klobuchar, who sits on theJudiciary Committee which held that Confirmation Hearing with sessions. Senator klobuchar, whenJeff Sessions told your committee, in the senate, that he hadnt had contact with the russians during the campaign, did you believe him . Well, you must believe someone when theyre under oath. So this is, at its least, misleading and i believe he must come before the committee and we must get to the bottom of the fa cts. Because if he lied, then he must resign. There are many things, even beyond Jeff Sessions, that i want to hearfrom him. Did someone from the campaign tell him to meet with the russians . Did he report back to the campaign afterwards . What was the substance of those discussions . Because i think that takes this beyond just the realm of the Attorney General of the United States, to a much Bigger Picture because we see that flynn actually contacted the Russian Ambassador, right when President Obama put those new sanctions in effect. Guess what, this meeting with sessions, it took place only three days after President Obama, at the g20, had met with vladimir putin, had told him he wasnt rolling back the sanctions and had said the same Thing Ata Press c0 nfe re nce. Three days later, senator sessions, who by his own acclaim is chair of the campaign, is someone whos been a surrogate for donald trump, then meets with the Russian Ambassador. We have not seen a series of meetings going on that day from other senators. So the timing certainly smells. I believe we need to get to the bottom of that and the only way is by him coming back immediately before the committee to answer these questions. So to be clear, in terms of, kind of, priorities, youre biggest concerns, are they that he may have misled the committee or are they the content of those meetings with the Russian Ambassador . They are both. Of course, i want to know if he lied to the committee and then he should step down. But i also want to know, and i dont want to lose this opportunity to find out, what were his communications with the rest of the trump, now administration, and then campaign about these discussions . Because this is a pattern here. Manafort had to step down, flynn had to step down. I want to get to the bottom of the communications and the way you do that is under oath before the committee. It is the job of other ambassadors to washington to meet with senators such as yourself and such asJeff Sessions, it happens all the time. The British Ambassador does, it the french ambassador does it, even the Russian Ambassador does it. Are the democrats at risk here making a mountain out of a mole hill, this is what senators do, they meet ambassadors . For two reasons, no. Senators do meet with ambassadors, but for two reasons, no. Number one, did he lie to the committee . And then, number two, the pattern of this, where you see him meeting with him three days after the president of the United States has announced that theres going to be no roll back of the sanctions against russia. Why three days later wasJeff Sessions, who is one of the chairs of the Trump Campaign, meeting with the Russian Ambassador when wejust. Maybe the Russian Ambassador met with a number of people boy that, it sure hasnt come out yet and those are one of the many questions we want to get answered. To be clear, there has been a lot of Speck Speculation between links between the Trump Campaign and the russians. So far there is no evidence that anything was done, that the Trump Campaign was trying to influence the russians their interference in the us election . Well, first of all, we have the varying fact that 17 Us Intelligence agencies have undeniably established that russia was trying to influence our election. Right. Not that the Trump Campaign was dealing with them . Well, that we are trying to find out. That is why we need an independent commission. To have the Intelligence Committee finish its work. There are a lot of what we say looks like more than circumstantial evidence. You have the fact right after the access Hollywood Video came out, two hours later the emails are leaked. There are a lot of things that seem to coincide with actions with the Trump Administration or campaign and then things that happen that influenced the election. I dont have that evidence right now. But that is very clear with mark warner, who head up the Intelligence Committee in the senate, who say they will investigate the links between the campaign and the russians. That is a by partisan investigation. Thank you very much forjoining us. Thank you. With me now is ron christie, republican strategist and former white house adviser to george w bush. President trump, we are getting report from reuters agency, has said he does not think thatJeff Sessions should recuse himself from russian investigations. Do you think the Attorney General has compromised himself, either because of the meetings, or because of what he told the senate he can be trusted toover see an investigation into links with russia, between russia and the Trump Administration . These are two distinct questions. A political and legal question. From a legal question, has the Attorney General done anything that would trigger the independent counsel statute . The independent counsel statute . The independent council came in to look at white water, it there evidence that would indicate that he has broken the law or that there is evidence that will be forth coming that will show elicit conduct . At this point, no. From a little standpoint, however, the Trump Administration is in hot water. There are calls, we heard them today, we heard it from the Senate Minority leader thatJeff Sessions should resign he has compromised himself on the content he gave to the senate during his hearings. That is the bigger problem. How does he reconcile the fact he said there was no contact but he met with the Russian Ambassador twice when he was under consideration to be Attorney General. His defence is, i didnt have co nta ct general. His defence is, i didnt have contact and talk about the election campaign. Youre a prosecutor. Would you accept that as a defence . I would. Prosecutor. Would you accept that as a defence . Iwould. He prosecutor. Would you accept that as a defence . I would. He can come out and say, i was under oath, i testified under oath, under perjury i could be imprisoned on i had no conversations with the russians as it related to the campaign. This will play out in the long term. No one goes into a Confirmation Hearing poorly briefed and prepared. He would be briefed that rush ya was coming out. It was a big store ahead of his hearing. He knew it was going to come up. Why did he not answer truthfully that he had met the ambassador back in september . He truthfully that he had met the ambassador back in september . he could have spelt that out, couldnt he he could have. Its the lawyer in me that would come back to you and say, good afternoon first and foremost, his response would be as a member of the United States senate, as a member of the senate Armed Services committee i have legitimate contacts with the Russian Ambassador and other entities involved i should have been more transparent here i did not do anything untoe ward or anything that would have risen to breaking a legal standard, but honestly, you have touched on something here. Why wouldnt he have done that . If i was going to be the certificate pa, if you will, of bringing this cabinet nominee through the United States senate that would have been the second question i would have said have you spoken to any russians about anything, if so, lets get it out there. In a way, he is compromised. Chuck spelt out what the Department Of Justice compromised. Chuck spelt out what the department ofjustice guidelines are. There must be a Special Prosecutor when a standard investigation would present a Conflict Of Interest and it would be in the Public Interest to appoint a Special Counsel . I respond to senate who might have forgotten a thing or two from law school. After the Attorney General of the United States the next person is the deputy us Attorney General, there are 92 us attorneys here in the United States. This notion we should immediately jump this notion we should immediately jump toa this notion we should immediately jump to a Special Counsel, a Special Prosecutor, there are many more hurdles legally here in the United States that have not yet been existed. The big picture is the questions still lingering about Emmanuel Macron<\/a>, says he has a plan to clean up french politics. And, saddle up cowboy. The new us Interior Secretary<\/a> arrives for the first day at the office on his horse im katty kay in washington, Christian Fraser<\/a> is in london. Allegations of inappropriate links between the Trump Campaign<\/a> and russia just dont go away. Today, president trumps Attorney General<\/a>, Jeff Sessions<\/a>, has been accused of lying under oath after he failed to disclose to the senate that hed had two meetings with the Russian Ambassador<\/a> during the election campaign. A Growing Number<\/a> of Senior Republicans<\/a> are demanding Jeff Sessions<\/a> withdraw himself from overseeing any investigation into the administrations links with russia, while democrats are calling for the appointment of a Special Prosecutor<\/a> and even a criminal investigation. This is how this story unfolded. Mr sessions joined the Trump Campaign<\/a> last february. Injuly, he attended a Heritage Foundation<\/a> event on the sidelines of the Republican National<\/a> convention where he spoke to a number of ambassadors, including mr kislyak. Then, in september the senator held a meeting with the ambassador in his office. After winning the election, donald trump nominated sessions to be his Attorney General<\/a>. At his Judiciary Committee<\/a> Confirmation Hearing<\/a> injanuary, sessions was asked by senator franken about contact between the Trump Campaign<\/a> and the russian government. Im not aware of any of those activities. I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign. Idid surrogate at a time or two in that campaign. I did not have communications with the russians. Im unable to comment. This morning, mr sessions again denied any wrongdoing. He says the meetings with the Russian Ambassador<\/a> had nothing to do with the election campaign. I have not met with any russians at any time to discuss any political spain and those remarks are unbelievable to me and are false. I dont have anything else to say about that. So, thank you. Reporter what about the calls to recuse yourself from your agencys probe of the. Well, ive said that whenever its appropriate, i will recuse myself. Theres no doubt about that. A few hours ago, the Senate Minority<\/a> leader, chuck schumer, called onJeff Sessions<\/a> to resign. The bottom line is, we have an obligation to get to the truth. We must evaluate the scope of russias interference in our election and assess if agents of their government have penetrated to the highest level of our government. Nothing less than the sanctity of our dear democratic process, the primacy of rule of law and the integrity of our Executive Branch<\/a> is at stake. We now know the only way that this will happen is if an independent, impartial, Special Prosecutor<\/a> who has no attachment to this administration conducts this investigation. President trump has said he has total confidence inJeff Sessions<\/a>. Our north america editor, jon sopel, is here. The president may have confidence, eight Senior Republicans<\/a> say he must recuse himself from any investigation into the ties with russia. Hes unlikely to go, isnt he,jon . Russia. Hes unlikely to go, isnt he, jon . Yes. A long way between recuse and resign . A long, long way. Where we are, it seems to me, broadly there are three administrations. We will tough it out, carry on in the job, administrations. We will tough it out, carry on in thejob, he can oversee any investigation that is going on. I think that will pile up bad head leans. The other option is that he announces this kind of word, the word of the day, recuse himself. He withdraws from overseeing any investigation into the links between russia and their involvement in the last us president ial election. The most dramatic option, of course, is thatis most dramatic option, of course, is that is fired. That is not going to. Ha. I dont see unless there is new evidenced that he has been about his conduct. What there is a kind of curious lack of candour there. Is nothing wrong with him having meetings with the Russian Ambassador<\/a> just as there was nothing wrong with Michael Flynn<\/a> having meetings with the Russian Ambassador<\/a>. That is what you do. You cant then not say what those can tacts were. That cost flynn hisjob. It is leading to a lot of pressure. It raises questions about what they were talking about . What is there to hide . Whether the Trump Campaign<\/a> colluded with the russians to interfere in the american election, we still have no evidence that that is the case . We have absolutely not a sin till la of evidence they concluded and there was stuff going backwards and forwards. That is the big issue here. The administration is is making life more complicated for itself. When jeff making life more complicated for itself. WhenJeff Sessions<\/a> was having the hearings it was clear that russia was a big issue. Why didnt he say i met the russian am was bass dosh ties in connection with the Armed Services<\/a> committee, thatis with the Armed Services<\/a> committee, that is it. There is conle text. Because 20 of the 27 members of the k Armed Services<\/a> committee did not meet with the ambassador, that is including the chair of the senate committee. He had time to clarify in oral and written questions. He didnt take that option . After you have a record you are sent what you have a record you are sent what you have said. You can correct the record if you think that is ambiguous. Maybe i should clarify that. He chose not to. He was happy to leave it that he said he had no contact with the russians. The legal a nswer contact with the russians. The legal answer is is giving did you have contact with the russians about the campaign. No, he said, didnt have any contacts. He did have contacts. It was about something different. Maybe for the sake of clarpty and with perfect hindsight he would think more candour would have helped mea think more candour would have helped me a long way. Jon, thank you. We will talk to a lawyer in a few minutes and ask him whether he will stand by Jeff Sessions<\/a>s minutes and ask him whether he will stand byJeff Sessions<\/a>s dens if of all of this. Before we came on air, i spoke to democratic senator amy klobuchar, who sits on theJudiciary Committee<\/a> which held that Confirmation Hearing<\/a> with sessions. Senator klobuchar, whenJeff Sessions<\/a> told your committee, in the senate, that he hadnt had contact with the russians during the campaign, did you believe him . Well, you must believe someone when theyre under oath. So this is, at its least, misleading and i believe he must come before the committee and we must get to the bottom of the fa cts. Because if he lied, then he must resign. There are many things, even beyond Jeff Sessions<\/a>, that i want to hearfrom him. Did someone from the campaign tell him to meet with the russians . Did he report back to the campaign afterwards . What was the substance of those discussions . Because i think that takes this beyond just the realm of the Attorney General<\/a> of the United States<\/a>, to a much Bigger Picture<\/a> because we see that flynn actually contacted the Russian Ambassador<\/a>, right when President Obama<\/a> put those new sanctions in effect. Guess what, this meeting with sessions, it took place only three days after President Obama<\/a>, at the g20, had met with vladimir putin, had told him he wasnt rolling back the sanctions and had said the same Thing Ata Press<\/a> c0 nfe re nce. Three days later, senator sessions, who by his own acclaim is chair of the campaign, is someone whos been a surrogate for donald trump, then meets with the Russian Ambassador<\/a>. We have not seen a series of meetings going on that day from other senators. So the timing certainly smells. I believe we need to get to the bottom of that and the only way is by him coming back immediately before the committee to answer these questions. So to be clear, in terms of, kind of, priorities, youre biggest concerns, are they that he may have misled the committee or are they the content of those meetings with the Russian Ambassador<\/a> . They are both. Of course, i want to know if he lied to the committee and then he should step down. But i also want to know, and i dont want to lose this opportunity to find out, what were his communications with the rest of the trump, now administration, and then campaign about these discussions . Because this is a pattern here. Manafort had to step down, flynn had to step down. I want to get to the bottom of the communications and the way you do that is under oath before the committee. It is the job of other ambassadors to washington to meet with senators such as yourself and such asJeff Sessions<\/a>, it happens all the time. The British Ambassador<\/a> does, it the french ambassador does it, even the Russian Ambassador<\/a> does it. Are the democrats at risk here making a mountain out of a mole hill, this is what senators do, they meet ambassadors . For two reasons, no. Senators do meet with ambassadors, but for two reasons, no. Number one, did he lie to the committee . And then, number two, the pattern of this, where you see him meeting with him three days after the president of the United States<\/a> has announced that theres going to be no roll back of the sanctions against russia. Why three days later wasJeff Sessions<\/a>, who is one of the chairs of the Trump Campaign<\/a>, meeting with the Russian Ambassador<\/a> when wejust. Maybe the Russian Ambassador<\/a> met with a number of people boy that, it sure hasnt come out yet and those are one of the many questions we want to get answered. To be clear, there has been a lot of Speck Speculation<\/a> between links between the Trump Campaign<\/a> and the russians. So far there is no evidence that anything was done, that the Trump Campaign<\/a> was trying to influence the russians their interference in the us election . Well, first of all, we have the varying fact that 17 Us Intelligence<\/a> agencies have undeniably established that russia was trying to influence our election. Right. Not that the Trump Campaign<\/a> was dealing with them . Well, that we are trying to find out. That is why we need an independent commission. To have the Intelligence Committee<\/a> finish its work. There are a lot of what we say looks like more than circumstantial evidence. You have the fact right after the access Hollywood Video<\/a> came out, two hours later the emails are leaked. There are a lot of things that seem to coincide with actions with the Trump Administration<\/a> or campaign and then things that happen that influenced the election. I dont have that evidence right now. But that is very clear with mark warner, who head up the Intelligence Committee<\/a> in the senate, who say they will investigate the links between the campaign and the russians. That is a by partisan investigation. Thank you very much forjoining us. Thank you. With me now is ron christie, republican strategist and former white house adviser to george w bush. President trump, we are getting report from reuters agency, has said he does not think thatJeff Sessions<\/a> should recuse himself from russian investigations. Do you think the Attorney General<\/a> has compromised himself, either because of the meetings, or because of what he told the senate he can be trusted toover see an investigation into links with russia, between russia and the Trump Administration<\/a> . These are two distinct questions. A political and legal question. From a legal question, has the Attorney General<\/a> done anything that would trigger the independent counsel statute . The independent counsel statute . The independent council came in to look at white water, it there evidence that would indicate that he has broken the law or that there is evidence that will be forth coming that will show elicit conduct . At this point, no. From a little standpoint, however, the Trump Administration<\/a> is in hot water. There are calls, we heard them today, we heard it from the Senate Minority<\/a> leader thatJeff Sessions<\/a> should resign he has compromised himself on the content he gave to the senate during his hearings. That is the bigger problem. How does he reconcile the fact he said there was no contact but he met with the Russian Ambassador<\/a> twice when he was under consideration to be Attorney General<\/a>. His defence is, i didnt have co nta ct general. His defence is, i didnt have contact and talk about the election campaign. Youre a prosecutor. Would you accept that as a defence . I would. Prosecutor. Would you accept that as a defence . Iwould. He prosecutor. Would you accept that as a defence . I would. He can come out and say, i was under oath, i testified under oath, under perjury i could be imprisoned on i had no conversations with the russians as it related to the campaign. This will play out in the long term. No one goes into a Confirmation Hearing<\/a> poorly briefed and prepared. He would be briefed that rush ya was coming out. It was a big store ahead of his hearing. He knew it was going to come up. Why did he not answer truthfully that he had met the ambassador back in september . He truthfully that he had met the ambassador back in september . he could have spelt that out, couldnt he he could have. Its the lawyer in me that would come back to you and say, good afternoon first and foremost, his response would be as a member of the United States<\/a> senate, as a member of the senate Armed Services<\/a> committee i have legitimate contacts with the Russian Ambassador<\/a> and other entities involved i should have been more transparent here i did not do anything untoe ward or anything that would have risen to breaking a legal standard, but honestly, you have touched on something here. Why wouldnt he have done that . If i was going to be the certificate pa, if you will, of bringing this cabinet nominee through the United States<\/a> senate that would have been the second question i would have said have you spoken to any russians about anything, if so, lets get it out there. In a way, he is compromised. Chuck spelt out what the Department Of Justice<\/a> compromised. Chuck spelt out what the department ofjustice guidelines are. There must be a Special Prosecutor<\/a> when a standard investigation would present a Conflict Of Interest<\/a> and it would be in the Public Interest<\/a> to appoint a Special Counsel<\/a> . I respond to senate who might have forgotten a thing or two from law school. After the Attorney General<\/a> of the United States<\/a> the next person is the deputy us Attorney General<\/a>, there are 92 us attorneys here in the United States<\/a>. This notion we should immediately jump this notion we should immediately jump toa this notion we should immediately jump to a Special Counsel<\/a>, a Special Prosecutor<\/a>, there are many more hurdles legally here in the United States<\/a> that have not yet been existed. The big picture is the questions still lingering about Donald Trumps<\/a> relationship with russia. What could the white house do to clear this up once and for all . I would have done this much earlier. President obama looked at this last december and said the russian government has had no influence on the outcome of votes that were cast in ballots counted in the United States<\/a>. The notion that the United States<\/a>. The notion that the russians influenced our election is false. I would have put President Obama<\/a>s statement out to deflect what is going on with president trump. Thank you forjoining us there. While we are chatting about this. I want to talk more about it. If we dive into pictures. This is from tide water in virgina. The president due to turn up, newport news. Many of those are shipbuilding areas. He is pushing his campaign to rebuild the military. A lot of the money they targeted at the defence budget, 54 billion will go towards repairand budget, 54 billion will go towards repair and maintenance. They will see more work in the years. We will see more work in the years. We will see what reception he gets. We should talk about the story on the New York Times<\/a> today. They said in the last days of the Obama Administration<\/a> they tried to leave a very clear trail of intelligence. They sent documents and paperwork to members of congress trying to create this paper trail . I thought that was a fascinating story. The idea that the Obama Administration<\/a> wanted to make sure that future investigators would be able to connect the dots, if it was to be to do so, between what happened during the course of the election campaign, russia and then look at this question of any contact with the Trump Campaign<\/a>. The critical thing is what we talked about with ron and jon. There are so far no indications, there is no evidence, that the Trump Campaign<\/a> couuded evidence, that the Trump Campaign<\/a> colluded with the russians. There is evidence, according to Us Intelligence<\/a>, that the russians interfered. They may not have influenced the outcome but they did interfere in the american election. That is a serious accusation against the russians. What the Obama Campaign<\/a> was doing, in theirfinal day, the image of them running around these agencies hiding this evidence to make sure it was sprayed around, to make sure that story got told. Ron talked about if he was the sherpa he would have prepared Jeff Sessions<\/a> for what he was going to be asked. The Russian Ambassador<\/a> saw him because he was in the Trump Campaign<\/a>, it was very clear. He didnt see john mccain, campaign, it was very clear. He didnt seejohn mccain, the chair. Mr sessions would be nigh e not to understand why the Russian Ambassador<\/a> came to see him. The feeling was that he didnt fell speu feeling was that he didnt fell spell out in that hearing, i met him but ina spell out in that hearing, i met him but in a previous setting. He was asked in writing, did you have contact with russian officials. He said in writing one word. No. There is written evidence of his testimony as well. The feeling here in washington seems to be that he does have to recuse himself from any investigations but he probably wont have to resign. The democrats are going to make political hay out of this. They have nothing to lose by pushing this as hard as they can. Its a political point they are making, not necessarily a legal one. 0k. No sign of mr tufrp at the moment. We will go back to that as and when he appears. If you think theres a certain amount of chaos in washington these days, its mild compared to the French Election<\/a> where the far right president ial candidate, Marine Le Pen<\/a>, has lost immunity from prosecution for tweeting graphic images of atrocities carried out by the so called Islamic State<\/a> group. She had immunity originally because she is a european member of parliament. But eu lawmakers voted to remove her Legal Protection<\/a> in the case, which was opened by french prosecutors in 2015. In response, Marine Le Pen<\/a> has criticised the move as part of the system to derail her president ial bid. She is predicted to win the elections first round in april, but lose a run off in may. Well, her rival the centrist candidate, Emmanuel Macron<\/a> has set out his political and economic programme. That involves major reforms of the pension and unemployment benefit systems. Addressing a News Conference<\/a> in paris, mr macron said his project would also seek to address the changing nature of employment. Heres a little of his address. Translation we, in our project, have chosen first of all to look to the future. The transformation of the world of work, the transformation of our productive model, the Digital Transition<\/a> these are risk, but they are also brilliant opportunities. And so, at the heart of this project, there is the refusal to acknowledge defeat. I will not say, in this project, that we have already lost the battle over the nature of work. No, work is going to change and we will be part of that change. We will go with it and we will transform the balance of forces. Im right in saying he is at the moment the only candidate in the french president ial election that is not under some kind of official investigation, is that right . Of the front runners, yes. The front three. Remarkable. He is the only one that is not facing charges. While he was there, they have been raiding his house this evening, as pa rt raiding his house this evening, as part of this investigation into the falsejobs part of this investigation into the false jobs allegations. Also part of this investigation into the falsejobs allegations. Also his campaign is in all sorts of trouble. There was high level defections yesterday. One of his senior advisers walked away. People are walking off thejob in his campaign office. The people who book trains and arrange meetings. He will have a realjob i think persuading the republicans that he can carry on. Tell me more about the political impact on Marine Le Pen<\/a> of this investigation into her. Is it the kind of thing that some of her voters might be alarmed by . How much support is she managing to get from the more left wing candidates, for example . Well, i think the first thing to say, this is an election for the outsiders. They have got rid of two president s in hollande and sa rkozy. Of two president s in hollande and sarkozy. They have got rid of two, three prime ministers. Whoever wins it looks like it could be an outsider. As far as the allegations against Marine Le Pen<\/a> will not have any against Marine Le Pen<\/a> will not have a ny affect against Marine Le Pen<\/a> will not have any affect on her base. Her base will see it as an Establishment Rouse<\/a> to undermine her. The interesting thing is what happens in the second round of this vote. What Marine Le Pen<\/a> has been effective at doing is harnessing the dissatisfaction among Blue Collar Worksers<\/a> and rural areas. She has had good work there and won towns because of the disaffected youth. Its quite a strange thing, in this country, in britain, you have older people who are eurosceptic and are voting against the euro, the european union. In france, its the young people conversely who have a problem. She is doing pretty well among blue collar workers. It will be interesting to see what they do in the second round of the vote. Which is of course what donald trump did in some of those states in wisconsin, pennsylvania, he did it we didnt expect him in michigan, for example, to win people who voted democrat all their lives, blue collar, solid left wing voters for their working lives and decided to switch parties and vote for donald trump. We can go to newport in virgina and look at the picture on board this Aircraft Carrier<\/a>. Donald trump is about to be introduced. One of the issues he has, you talked about him wanting to expand the military. He has the cost of some of these big ticket projects and particularly Aircraft Carrier<\/a>s like this one. He wants to try and get the manufacturers of these, the defence contractors, to bring down the costs. Hes been proud of himself during the course of the last couple of the weeks of bringing down the cost of aeroplanes he wants to bring down the cost of these ships as well. He came here to boost the military, be the Commander In Chief<\/a> and do the deal and say by the way, this shouldnt cost us much . He is looking the party. He he is on the gerald ford. It has been down there for a refit. It has been down there for a refit. It was well behind schedule and over cost. Apparently, thats been one of the problems with naval spending. Its something that mr trump talked about, procurement and waste within the pentagon. He will talk about that. Many of the naval commanders said that the real priority is refitting some of these ships before they start rebuilding or building new ones. We will see what he has to say. Particularly, of course with regards to those allegations facing Jeff Sessions<\/a>. And skilled workers and our boundless energy. Your watching 100 days on bbc news. We arejust watching president trump, who is in virgina on board the gerard ford, an Aircraft Carrier<\/a>. He is about to speak to some of the troops and the shipbuilders down there as well. Lets just listen in for a second. Cheering and applause whether her mission is one of defence, diplomacy or humanity, this Aircraft Carrier<\/a> will command all admiration from some, caution from others and respect from all. So, ladies and gentlemen, to those who threaten our home land or our liberties, let the word go forth very soon 100,000 tonnes of the most powerful warship ever known will report for duty to her Commander In Chief<\/a>. Congratulations crew members and god speed. Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, as the ship sponsor of the uss Gerald R Ford<\/a> and behalf of the president of the United States<\/a> its a high honour to introduce and welcome to dads name sake Aircraft Carrier<\/a> the 45th president of the United States<\/a>, donaldj president of the United States<\/a>, donald j trump. Cheering and applause thank you. Thank you, thank you very much. What an honour. They just thank you, thank you very much. What an honour. Theyjust gave me this beautiful jacket. They an honour. Theyjust gave me this beautifuljacket. They said, here, mr president , please take this home. I said, let me wear it. Then they gave me the beautiful had hat. You know i said, maybe ill do that. Hat. You know i said, maybe ill do that. We have a make America Great<\/a> hat. I i have no idea how it looks. This is a great looking hat. This is great looking ship. Im privileged to stand here today with the incredible men and women of the United States<\/a> navy. American sailors are the best War Fighting Sailors Anywhere In The World<\/a> and its not even close. Sueson, im so glad you could be with us. I know how hard you work. 17 visits and she wanted things done right. I will tell you. They told me, she wanted this one done right in honour of both of her pa rents done right in honour of both of her parents who were great, great people. We wanted to introduce this beautiful vessel to the American People<\/a> and i wanted to be here. I wa nted people and i wanted to be here. I wanted to be with you. So susan, and to yourfamily, wanted to be with you. So susan, and to your family, unbelievable job. Unbelievable. Cheering and applause the soon to be commission Gerald R Ford<\/a>, uss, what a place. It really feels like a place. You stand on that deck and you feel like you are standing on a very big piece of land. This is better than land. It not only be a Great Symbol Of American<\/a> strength but a great legacy for your father and ourformer but a great legacy for your father and our former president , but a great legacy for your father and ourformer president , president ford was a navy man. By the way, he was also a great athlete, for those of who you didnt know. He saw action in the South Pacific<\/a> during world war ii. He served this country with honour, in the nil congress and the white house. Its a fitting tribute to gerald ford, the man and the president. Congratulations to all of the men and women who helped build it. This is american craftsman ship and its biggest, at its best, at its finest. American workers are the greatest anywhere in the world. This warship and all who serve on it should be a source of shared pride for our nation. Youd Better Believe<\/a> it, right . Applause cheering and by the way we are soon going to have more coming. Weve got more coming. Cheering cheering we arejoined we are joined today by general mattis, now secretary mattis. Where is he . Who will be charged with overseeing this great rebuilding of our military might. We will give the men and women of americas Armed Services<\/a>, the re sources that you need to keep us safe. We will have the finest equipment in the world. Planes, ships, and everything else. We are going to have very soon the finest equipment in the world. Cheering applause we will give our military the tools that you need to prevent war and if required, to fight war and only do one thing, do you know what that is . Win win cheering were going to start winning again. Admiraljohn richardson, chief of naval operations, is with us today as well. Great gentleman. Admiral we re as well. Great gentleman. Admiral were going to make sure that our navy has the resources, training and equipment, the kind of equipment that you need. So congratulations. A lot more is coming. Let me congratulate captain, richard mccormac. Commanding officer, this ship will make an extraordinary addition to the fleet. Like no other. Anywhere in the world, there is nothing like this. It represents the future of naval aviation. I have no greater privilege than to serve as your Commander In Chief<\/a>, and the Commander In Chief<\/a> of the men and women of the United States<\/a> military. Great people, great, great people. I salute you, and i salute our sailors, i will always support you, and your mission. I will never, ever let you down. And i also have two recognise, the president and ceo of Huntington Ingalls<\/a> industries along with the president of newport news shipbuilding. They wont let you down, either. Theyre not going to let you down either. To those who serve our nation in uniform, and to those who build the instruments of our defence, i thank you won the half of our nation. On behalf. Laughter iagree laughter i agree Power Carriers<\/a> are the centrepiece of American Military<\/a> might over sees, we are standing today on four and a half acres of combat power and sovereign us territory, the likes of which there is nothing to compete. There is no competition. To this ship. It is a monument to american might that will provide the strength necessary, to ensure peace. This ship will carry 4500 personnel, and 70 aircraft, and will be a vital component of our defence. This carrier and the new ships in the ford class, will expand the ability of our nation to carry out Vital Missions<\/a> on the oceans, to project American Power<\/a> in distant lands. Hopefully it is power that we dont have to use. But if we do, they are in big, big trouble. This great Aircraft Carrier<\/a> provides essential capabilities to keep us safe from terrorism. And take the fight to the enemy for many years in the future. The great admiral limits, who commanded the Us Pacific Fleet<\/a> through the second world war. One said, it is the function of the navy to carry the war to the navy, so that it will not be fought on us soil. True. And it was under Admiral Nimitz<\/a> commands 75 years ago this june, that the navy did just that. At the battle of midway, you all know about the battle of midway. Where the sailors of the us navy fought with a bravery, that will be remembered throughout the ages. Storeyed bravery. The backbone of the fleet at midway was three beautiful Aircraft Carrier<\/a>s, the yorktown, the enterprise and the hornet. All three were built with american hands, right here, at the newport news shipyard. At midway, america was greatly outnumbered, by i mean a lot. And its fleet badly damaged, but the heroic deeds changed the course of history. Many brave americans died that day, and through their sacrifice, they turned the tide of the pacific war. It was a tough tide, it was a big side, it was a vicious tide and they turned it. Cou ntless vicious tide and they turned it. Countless other americans in that war, some of them parents and grandparents to people in this room today, came home thanks to their very heroic deeds. The sailors at midway, are part of a long line of american heroes, Annan Broken Chain<\/a> of patriots from each generation to the next, who rose to defend our flag, and our freedom. The next, who rose to defend our flag, and ourfreedom. That legacy continues today as american warriors protect our people, from the threat of terrorism. On tuesday, in my address, to a joint session of congress, i asked congress to diminished the defence sequester and to support my request to a great rebuilding of the United States<\/a> military and the United States<\/a> navy. After yea rs of after years of endless budget cuts, that have been impairing out offences, i am calling for one of the largest Defence Spending Increases<\/a> in history. And by eliminating the sequester, and the uncertainty it creates, we will make it easierfor the uncertainty it creates, we will make it easier for the navy to plan for the future and thus, to control costs, and get the best deals for the taxpayer, which of course, is very important. Right . You have got to get a good deal. If we dont make a good deal we are not doing our job. The same boat for less money, the same ship for less money. The same aeroplane for less money. That is what we are doing. That is what we are doing. It means well go to get more of them that we can use them. How military require sustained sta ble them. How military require sustained stable funding, to meet the growing needs placed on defence. Right now the ageing front line strike and strike fighters, many aircraft, are often more likely to be down for maintenance, than they are to be up in the sky, the navy is now the smallest it has been, since believe it or not world war i. Dont worry. It will soon be the largest it has been. Dont worry. Think of that. In these troubled times and navy is the smallest it has been since world war i. Thats a long time ago. In fact i just spoke with navy and Industry Leaders<\/a> and i have discussed my plans to undertake a major expansion of our entire navy fleet. Including having the 12 carrier navy that we need. Cheering we also need more aircraft, to modernise capabilities and greater force levels. Additionally, we must lastly improve our cyber capabilities. This great rebuilding effort, will create many jobs capabilities. This great rebuilding effort, will create manyjobs in virginia. And all across america, and it will also spur new technology, and new innovation. America has always been, the country, that boldly leads the world into the future. And my budget will ensure that we do so and continue to do ensure that we do so and continue to d o exa ctly ensure that we do so and continue to do exactly that. American ships will sail the seas, american planes will soar the skies. American workers will build our fleets, soar the skies. American workers will build ourfleets, and americas military will ensure that even though the darkest nights and throughout, a bright and glowing sun will always shine, on our nation. And on our people. Our navy is great. The navy is great. Our people are great. Great. How republic will meet any challenge, defeat any danger, face any threat, and always seek, true and lasting peace. May god bless our military, may god bless our navy, may god bless the wonderful gerald ford family. And may god continue to bless the United States<\/a> of america. Thank you very much. Cheering music studio donald ford, speaking aboard the us Aircraft Carrier<\/a> gerald ford, promising to grow the military saying that the navy is at its smallest since world war i and that cant stand, he said, it is going to be the largest in the world. He also talked about the need to get a good deal. Cutting the prices of the Aircraft Carrier<\/a>s, and planes. He said, if were not getting a good deal, were not doing ourjob. That problem sums up donald trump. He came into office as a deal maker, to get a Better Dealfor The<\/a> came into office as a deal maker, to get a better deal for the american public. In the White Helmets<\/a> are the shipbuilders, whose companies are presumably going to go through the roof, a lot of money is going to be spent down there. 25 of ships built United States<\/a> are built down there in virginia. You can see day mingling among the crowds. Quite a ship, the gerald ford, it is one of the new super carriers. That by the way is marine one, the helicopter, it is only called marine one when the president is on it, he will fly back up to washington where he has to come back and deal with politics. As we spoke about it, the political fallout of his Attorney General<\/a> and whether he told the truth. To congress. Which the president has been addressing while he has been down in virginia. That is 100 days, ina down in virginia. That is 100 days, in a moment, we will be taking the questions live on facebook. Thanks for watching. You are watching bbc news, you have just seen addressed by the president of the United States<\/a> donald trump to navy workers. And Navy Personnel<\/a> in virginia. Girls go to our correspondent, who is in washington. We cant do that, we will hopefully go back to him shortly to bring you more on that. Let us move on, the race for the presidency in france is hotting up. The candidate that many see as the front runner, spoke about transforming frances rigid labour market. Meanwhile the centre right politician, has said he will continue to fight, earlier we spoke to the french journalist how pressure was mounting on mr pelaw. There is a large rally thatis on mr pelaw. There is a large rally that is planned for him francois fillon. But on sunday more and more people are saying no, were not going to show up and it looks like it is hurt and is this time. Lets go onto his challenger, emmacron ye has tried to give the impression that he is more substantive than he is given credit for. Emmanuel macron. |j is more substantive than he is given credit for. Emmanuel macron. Ithink he has aways been substantive in that he is a top mandarin comity iu ns that he is a top Mandarin Comity Runs<\/a> as an outsider but hes nothing like that at all. He was the","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"archive.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"800","height":"600","url":"\/\/ia801408.us.archive.org\/32\/items\/BBCNEWS_20170302_190000_100_Days\/BBCNEWS_20170302_190000_100_Days.thumbs\/BBCNEWS_20170302_190000_100_Days_000001.jpg"}},"autauthor":{"@type":"Organization"},"author":{"sameAs":"archive.org","name":"archive.org"}}],"coverageEndTime":"20240627T12:35:10+00:00"}