Trump: The Kremlin Candidate? Panorama

Was Donald Trump helped into the White House by Vladimir Putin? This

is clearly the most serious blow to our democratic system since Water

gate. A spy on the run, honey traps, cyberwar. The Kremlin has form.

Russia do this like bread and butter. Trump denies everything and

blames the CIA. That is something that Nazi Germany would do and did

do. We ask what does the Trump/Putin bromance mean for us. It is not

going to be business as usual. And what happens if the two leaders fall

out. They're behind us. In 2013, Donald Trump's biggest

worry was his golfing handicap. Hello Sir. I was making a film about

him and the murky characters he had been doing business with. I'm

playing in a big tournament. I met him in Bedminster in New Jersey. No

Russian spies here. I have been asking as many provocative questions

as possible. I know. I have seen him. He is very provocative. Do you

want to take me for a spin on the golf buggy. Experience the wall of

Trump charm. I'm glad you came out. I appreciate you taking the time.

I'm just worried about the driver! Bedminster projects the image of

Donald Trump that millions have bought into - the millionaire with

the Midas touch. They are gold. They're gold plated. 24 carat gold.

BBC health and safety will be watching. Since then, my golfing

partner has gone up in the world. And found a new buddie. If he says

great things about me I will say great things about him. Vladimir

Putin said Donald Trump is a genius. Why does Trump seem to admire Putin

so much? Under his watch countries have been invaded, a passenger jet

shot out of the sky and too many of his critics have ended up dead. But

for Donald Trump, he is full of compliments. TRANSLATION: Trump is %

very brighted a talent talented. How can we not welcome that. Michael

D'Antonio is fascinated by what Trump and Putin might have in

common. He lives in a world that he has described as a comic book. He

has said that I am the star of my own comic book and I'm the central

character of it. He believes in the superficial extreme images of life.

He believes he is superman? Or Batman? Or Trumpman. Yes or maybe he

is a villain in a story. If you think about Vladimir Putin, he is

also a comic book character. He is head of a country whose economy is

half that of the state of California. And yet, on the world

stage, he looms large, because he has huffed himself up and he is a

strong man and Donald admires strong men. He admires the exertion of

power and he admires the fact that Putin doesn't seem inhibited about

using it. In the past week the Trump man and the Vladiator have had to

deal with a grenade lobbed into their adventures, by a former MI6

officer. You couldn't make it up. The dossier reportedly written by

Christopher Steele claims Moscow armed Team Trump with information

about his opponent and says the Russians have Kompromat on Trump. In

English, we would call that blackmail. The dossier is

unverified, Trump denies everything and it furious it is out there. I

think it was a disgraceful. That the intelligence agencies allowed any

information that turned out to be so false and fake out. And that is

something that Nazi Germany would have done and did do. It is a

disgrace. Is the dossier fiction, fact or a bit of both. In the

shadowy world of free lance intelligence, that is unknowable for

now. In 2013 the Trump-owned Miss Universe circus rolled into Moscow.

Donald Trump had his own reasons to be excited. He had tweeted. Do you

think Putin will be going to the Miss Universe pageant. Will he

become my new friend. A meeting was reportedly set up, but it never

happened. But the leaked dossier said a number of prostitutes were

provided and hidden cameras recorded everything. Malcolm Nance used to be

an officer in US intelligence and has studied Russian spy craft. Most

of the rooms are wired for sound, even if they're not wired, they have

sophisticated enough collection systems to where they don't have to

be in the room. The intelligence service would have been part of the

analysis team that would have been watching him. To determine is Donald

Trump or anyone on his staff someone we could turn into an agent who

would work for Russia. Everything in that report fits with how Russian

intelligence works. That doesn't mean it is true. But Putin has form

for Kompromat. Back in 2000, Mikhail Kasyanov was Putin's Prime Minister.

They fell out. And Mikhail Kasyanov became an outspoken leader of the

opposition. Then last year, this video of the married man having sex

with his assistant was broadcast on state TV. Mikhail Kasyanov told us

about the latest allegations. I'm almost sure special equipment was

installed. There is no corroborating evidence

for the Kompromat and Trump said he would never have fallen for it. I am

careful I'm surrounded by body guards and I always tell them be

careful, because in your hotel rooms, and no matter where you go,

you're going to probably have cameras. Does anyone believe that

story? I'm also very much a germaphobe by the way. Believe me.

But Kompromat is not just about sex. It can be about money. Could the way

he does business make him vulnerable to blackmail? He has always wanted

to make it big in yaush since his first -- Russia since his first

visit in the 80s. But there a problem with business in Russia

today. Most money in Russia is connected to gangsterism. Not all of

it. But much of it and most of it. If you're doing business with any of

the big business groups in Moscow you might deal with people whoo were

part of -- who were part of international crime syndicates.

Donald Trump never got a hotel off the ground in Moscow. But Russian

money did ends up in Trump Tower. This is Felix Sater, a

Russian/American gangster. Before becoming an advisor to Donald Trump

in New York he had been to prison for stabbing a man in the face and

convicted for his part in a $40 million mafia scam on Wall Street.

Felix Sater escorted Donald Trump junior and Ivanka around Moscow no

2006. Why would Trump want him as a partner? Back in 2013, I asked Trump

about a property deal that he had did with Felix Sater's company,

Bayrock. Why didn't you say to him, you're connected with the mafia,

you're fired. First, we were not the developer. That was a licensing

deal. Your name is on it. I don't know. You're telling me things I

don't know about. You tell me about Felix Sater. I know who is. For a

year, you stayed in bed with Felix Sater and he was connected with the

mafia. Again, John, maybe you're thick, but when you have a signed

contract, you can't in is in country just break it and I hate to do this,

but I have that big group of people waiting. One last question please. I

have to leave. Felix Sater told us -- Felix Sater told us he is not and

never has been connected with the mob. But these associations leave

Donald Trump vulnerable to be be compromised. The leaked dossier

doesn't just suggested that Trump could be black haild. It detailed

election hacking and we know this much is now true. I'm in Washington

to see the evidence for myself. Welcome. This man's company were the

first to identify hostile code in the computers of Hillary Clinton.

Never never seen an operation like this conducted in the United States.

He classified foreign agents using animal names. Chinese are pandas,

Russian spies are bears. April 2000 16, Fancy Bear intrudes. That is?

Russian military intelligence. How was Crowdstrike so sure the spies

were Russian? What is their proof? This is the actual piece of code

deployed in the DNC. This is indications of internet connections

to the mothership. This is your equivalent of the burglar's foot

steps in the snow? Yes, looking at this evidence and how this code was

written and how we have seen in previous attacks, looking at it the

evidence in the course of investigation it gave us confidence

that this was indeed Russian intelligence. What is so

extraordinary is that during the campaign, Trump egged on the Russian

hackers. Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to

find the 30,000 e-mails that are missingching I think you will

probably be rewarded mightily by our press. Let's see if that happens.

That would be nice. There is no doubt that Russia was listening.

Welcome to the citadel of cyberwar. The people who directed the hacking

of American democracy are spread across Moscow and some are based

here, the headquarters of the the FSB. Which is the new name for the K

GB. Its former boss - Vladimir Putin. The party line in Moscow is

emfatty that rush -- emphatically that Russia did not hack the

election. This man is a Russian Senator. A lot of people in the

United States, including people in the CIA that say Russian ya hacked

America? As far as I read I, it does not point anywhere. Russia did not

hack American democracy full stop. Russia did not hack American

democracy full stop. But look at this press Conference last months.

Is that is wink from Putin that he did have a hand in Trump's victory?

TRANSLATION: No one believed he would win. Except for us! Donald

Trump is the most right-wing candidate of the Republican Party.

Alexander Dugin has been described as Vladimir Putin's philosopher

king. He also has his own pro-Clem -- Clem Lynne tooefr show. -

pro-Clem Lynne TV show. This shows that America is on brink of a

revolution. Was the election of Donald Trump to

do with Vladimir Putin? You overestimate our capabilities. We

are happy that American people has made such a choice, but I am

absolutely sure that our influence on the free choice of American

people was strictly zero. Absolutely zero? Zero. Some in Team Trump go

along with this. They deny the Russian hacking and blame US

intelligence for spreading the story: The CIA lied to us about

Benghazi. They lied about Vietnam. They lied to us about the Kennedy

assassination. Their spies, spies -- they're spies, spies lie. It is in

their interest to build up this bogeyman of Russia to legitimise

Donald Trump's presidency. For an incoming president to favour Russia,

the old Cold War enemy over the CIA, is unprecedented. One man who used

to run the agency thinks Trump may be naivement It could be that --

naive. There is the term of useful idiot that the Russians throw around

for someone who goes along with what they are trying to accomplish

without thinking very much about it. Whether or not there is any truth to

the dossier, the former spy master has a chilling warning for the new

president. They may have something that they've learned through cyber

espionage that is detrimental to him, his business dealings or his

personal standing. I would think it prudent to assume that is the case.

No computer is safe. I don't care what they say, no computer is safe.

Since his surprise election victory, Trump's been picking his Cabinet.

Some have been critical of Russia, but others have had curiously close

ties to the Kremlin. Number one, Trump's choice for Secretary of

State, Rex Tillerson. As head of Exxon he struck huge oil deals in

Russia and received the order of friendship from Putin in 2013.

Number two, retired general Michael Flynn, the new National Security

Adviser. He got paid for speaking at a Russia Today event and sat next to

Putin. Flynn has denied taking Kremlin cash

for his appearance. But a source told Panorama that a typical fee

would be tens of thousands of dollars. I didn't take any money

from Russia. Well then who paid you? My speaker's pure row. Ask them. --

bureau. Ask them. Number three, Steve Bannon, Trump's new chief

strategist and the former editor of the controversial right-wing website

Breitbart. He has sympathy with some of Putin's ideology, especially the

Kremlin's line on how to fight Isis. They have a Twitter account up today

about turning the United States in a river of blood and trust me, that is

going to come to Europe. On top of that, we're now, I believe, at the

beginning stages of a global war against Islamic fascism. Here's that

thought translated into Trump speak. I would bomb the hit out of them.

On Syria, throughout the campaign, Trump has more supportive of

Piutau's approach than Obama's. But the problem with fighting Isis the

Kremlin's way, in places like Aleppo, is that you end up bombing

civilians who have nothing to do with Isis. Putin's guru is delighted

with Trump's line on Syria. He see it's as part of a new global

movement. Trump is realist. Putin is realist. I think his election, it is

sign of the choice, historical choice of American people in favour

of realist attitude towards international relations instead of

liberal or globalist. Both Trump and Putin see themselves as strong

leaders who put national interests above all. The man Trump wanted as

our ambassador to the States has a handle on what's behind the new

world order. So, why do people on the right admire Vladimir Putin? I

think it's a question of people who believe in nation-state democracy

have admiration for Vladimir Putin. What we've had is decades of our

political leaders effectively trying to get rid of nation-state

democracy. What you saw in 2016 was nation-state democracy making a

comeback. Is Russia a democracy? Not properly, no. Is Russia is a

democracy? Not a proper democracy as we understand, it no. Democracy is

under fire in Russia. Since Putin came to power more than 20

opposition figures and journalists have been killed. If you care about

democracy this is an important place, the Kremlin is 100 yards away

and it was here almost two years ago that Boris Nantsov was shot dead.

People ask questions about Vladimir Putin's commitment to democracy. But

please be careful and you could not teach us democracy because you

trying to impose to every people, every state American system of

values without asking, it is absolutely racist. You are racist.

In Russia the pro-Kremlin camp doesn't like to be challenged. If

you're critical of Vladimir Putin you may end up dead. If you, for

example, if you are engaged in WikiLeaks, you can be murdered.

Julian Assange is dead, is he? Not, but - So hold on a second, please

tell me about Boris Nemtsov, he was murdered 100 yards... By Putin? He

was critical of Putin. Can you tell me, can you list the number of

American journalists who have died under Obama. It's completely stupid

kind of conversation. OK. Please, very nice to meet you, but I don't

like to continue. So do you think Mr Trump will make the world a safer

place? After he walked out of our interview Mr Dugin posted a blog in

which he accused me of making fake news. He called me a repulsive

bustard, utter cretin and globalist cien. Such is the new world order.

In America you can hear the echo of Russian politics. You are fake news.

I'd like to punch him in the face. Get him out. I don't know if it

would have gone well... I think democracy is in trouble. I think the

example Trump set in the way he conducted and ran his campaign, his

use of open lies, fake news, the hint of violence, I think all of

this was incredibly damaging to democracy. They'd be carried out on

a stretcher folks. What's interesting about Trump is, one of

the great comments of the whole US campaign was that you should take

Trump seriously but not literally. That comes right through that

campaign. Trump may have his reasons for

playing nice with Putin. Here in Ukraine, you can see why Putin might

want to get along with Trump. After Russia annexed Crimea, part of

Ukraine, in 2014, the West imposed sanctions on Russia, which cost the

country $160 billion and hurt Putin too. But that didn't stop Putin

sending his ghost army into the east, soldiers disguised as

volunteers. Today, the war continues. How far is the frontline

from here? TRANSLATION: The enemy's on two

sides from us. They're close. Sometimes very close. Who's driving

this war? TRANSLATION: It's Russia controlling

them and they're Russia's pawns. Keep low, move fast. And we're

moving because there's a bit of a firefight behind us. Incoming, you

can hear the crack. The young have deserted the village of Vodinoe,

only the old remain. I asked this man what it's like living on the

frontline. TRANSLATION: My children will say

Russian fascists killed their Ukrainian father. Sometimes it's so

frightening. Two weeks ago, after artillery fire, my wife suffered a

stroke. Two years on, and nearly 10,000

dead. There's no sign to the end of fighting here in Eastern Ukraine.

The fear is, with Donald Trump in the Whitehouse, the prospects for

peace are even further away than ever. Does the Donald give a damn? I

don't like what's happening with Ukraine. That's really a problem

that affects Europe a lot more than us. They should be leading some of

this charge. You wouldn't allow Ukraine either? I would not care

that much to be honest with you, whether it goes in or doesn't go in.

I wouldn't care. Russia denies they're the aggressor in Ukraine. In

2014, I caught up with President Putin in Siberia and challenged him.

Do you regret the killings in the Ukraine?

TRANSLATION: The main problem is that the authorities in Kiev do not

want a political dialogue with the east of their country. In Moscow

today the line remains - Russia has done nothing wrong. There is no

Russian aggression. No agenda for a greater Russia? No agenda for

greater Russia. We want to have strong and self-sufficient country.

But there are no plans for any expansion of Russia. Will America

change tack on Ukraine? This week Trump has said in return for a

nuclear weapons deal he might lift sanctions. Trump has to be mindful

of Russia's very clear interests in Ukraine and how their politics

ultimately play out. I do think that there are some thorny issues

regarding Crimea, regarding Ukraine that Trump is going to have to work

through with Putin. They are within the sphere of influence of his

country. They're on his borders. He has every right to have concerns

about them and what we're doing in these regards. But if Donald Trump

turns a blind eye to Russian War mongering and lifts sanctions, the

Kremlin might see it as a green light to exert its power further

West. I haven't been sleeping well since the invasion of Crimea. I have

since then begun to worry about what Russia's aims are in Europe. And

about the possibility of a nuclear clash or conventional clash of an

incredibly dangerous kind in the Baltic states in Central Europe and

in Ukraine. Having Trump in the White House doesn't make me feel

better. Even if the dossier is a pack of lies, it could change

things. Trump is sounding tougher on Russia's actions in Syria. It can't

let it look like Putin has a hold over him. Do you honestly believe

that Hillary would be tougher on Putin than me? Does anybody in this

room really believe that? If Putin is blackmailing Trump that's no

basis for a stable relationship. If he's not, you still can't rule out a

clash. They both seem like rather Brittle personalities when it comes

to being challenged. We've seen that in Trump and we've certainly seen it

in Putin. So I think I would not want to see these two get into some

kind of a macho shootout. Whatever the truth, Trump's locked in a

strange embrace with Vladimir Putin. An ally who could so easily become

an adversary. If the bromance ends and President Donald Trump falls out

with President Putin then to put it mildly, that's not good. We face a

prospect of a brand new Cold War, colder than ever before.

That I will faithfully execute the Office...

And will to the best of my ability...

The Constitution of the United States...