:00:07. > :00:08.Hello and welcome to One Hundred Days.
:00:09. > :00:12.Just three weeks into the new US administration and there is already
:00:13. > :00:18.The National Security Adviser Mike Flynn did speak to the Russian
:00:19. > :00:28.And later withheld that information from the Vice President.
:00:29. > :00:33.The evolving and eroding the level of trust as a result of this
:00:34. > :00:37.situation and a series of other questionable instances is what led
:00:38. > :00:41.the president to ask for general Flynn's resignation.
:00:42. > :00:46.the White House last month that General Flynn had not told
:00:47. > :00:50.Why did the president sit on that information for three weeks?
:00:51. > :00:52.Democrats are demanding an investigation into
:00:53. > :00:55.President Trump's team and their contacts with Russia.
:00:56. > :00:59.We want to know, by what authority did General Flynn have these
:01:00. > :01:03.conversations and who did he report to after that?
:01:04. > :01:06.It's a story that points to confusion at the top.
:01:07. > :01:09.On Flynn, the White House advisor Kellyanne Conway gave us one story,
:01:10. > :01:15.So who really does speak for the President?
:01:16. > :01:17.And the Israeli Prime Minister arriving in Washington to start
:01:18. > :01:19.a new relationship with the White House.
:01:20. > :01:23.Iran, Hezbollah, Syria and settlements.
:01:24. > :01:41.This story begins at the end of December.
:01:42. > :01:44.President Obama had just imposed new sanctions on Russia
:01:45. > :01:46.in retaliation for Moscow hacking the election.
:01:47. > :01:49.Donald Trump's senior foreign policy advisor, General Mike Flynn,
:01:50. > :01:52.hopped on the phone with Russia's ambassador to discuss the penalty.
:01:53. > :01:56.Now US law bars any private citizen from conducting foreign policy.
:01:57. > :01:59.But the greater mistake was to mislead the Vice President.
:02:00. > :02:02.The National Security Advisor told Mike Pence that sanctions never
:02:03. > :02:09.came up in his calls with the Russian Ambassador.
:02:10. > :02:13.The conversation had been bugged by US intelligence, disproving
:02:14. > :02:18.In his resignation letter, Flynn sai, "Unfortunately,
:02:19. > :02:21."because of the fast pace of events, I inadvertently briefed
:02:22. > :02:24."the Vice President Elect and others with incomplete information
:02:25. > :02:33."regarding my phone calls with the Russian Ambassador."
:02:34. > :02:35.Not telling the truth exposed the President's highest security
:02:36. > :02:37.advisor to potential blackmail by the Russians.
:02:38. > :02:39.And the Justice Department said they warned the White House
:02:40. > :02:41.about Flynn's problem back in January.
:02:42. > :02:43.Well, in the last few minutes, the White House press
:02:44. > :02:51.secretary Sean Spicer has been taking questions.
:02:52. > :03:04.Do the president instructed to talk about sanctions? Absolutely not.
:03:05. > :03:14.The president had no problem with him attracting -- acting in
:03:15. > :03:19.accordance with his job. As has been noted, that is what the National
:03:20. > :03:23.Security Adviser does, they begin the process of preparing their
:03:24. > :03:26.incoming job by talking to counterparts and the blue previously
:03:27. > :03:30.held the job. If he had not done that, there would be questions as to
:03:31. > :03:35.its proper preparation on day one. The issue is not what he discussed,
:03:36. > :03:39.there has been a legal review of that and there is no issue. The
:03:40. > :03:42.issue isn't whether or not he failed to properly inform the vice
:03:43. > :03:46.president or not be honest with him or not remember it. That is the
:03:47. > :03:48.issue. When he lost trust with the president, that is where he asked
:03:49. > :03:51.for and received his resignation. Well, there is definitely a lot
:03:52. > :03:56.of damage control taking place Yes, but the administration may be
:03:57. > :04:00.better off without General Flynn - he's been a lightning rod
:04:01. > :04:03.for a while now. I've been taking a look at the road
:04:04. > :04:14.leading up to this resignation. A 25 in the first casualty of a
:04:15. > :04:17.trump White House scandal. Michael Flynn, a retired US Army three star
:04:18. > :04:21.general is no stranger to controversy. In 2040, president
:04:22. > :04:26.Obama fired him because of its extreme views on Islam. Flynn said
:04:27. > :04:30.it is rational for Americans to fear Muslims and called the Islamic world
:04:31. > :04:35.and epic failure. Before the election, the general made his views
:04:36. > :04:40.clear to me. Radical Islamism is like communism or Nazism. We are
:04:41. > :04:45.facing it right now, it is for real and we have seen it expand around
:04:46. > :04:49.the globe. He was one of the first and only senior national security
:04:50. > :04:55.figures to endorse Donald Trump. It earned him a lot of loyalty. Former
:04:56. > :04:58.director of the defence intelligence agency, Michael Flynn. The
:04:59. > :05:01.Republican national convention, Flynn gave one of the most
:05:02. > :05:11.red-blooded speeches, criticising Hillary Clinton. Yes, that is right.
:05:12. > :05:18.Walk her off. If I did a tenth of what she did, I would be in jail
:05:19. > :05:23.today. He hosted conspiracy theories on social media and compared Clinton
:05:24. > :05:26.to be Al-Qaeda militants in Iraq and Afghanistan. But what finally pushed
:05:27. > :05:31.him out what is too cosy relationship with Russia. General
:05:32. > :05:35.Flynn lied about his pre-inauguration discussions with
:05:36. > :05:38.the Russian ambassador. And then he put the vice president in the
:05:39. > :05:42.awkward position of also lying on national television. Never a great
:05:43. > :05:46.way to protect your job. The story of Michael Flynn suggests confusion
:05:47. > :05:51.in the White House. Over the weekend, the president said he knew
:05:52. > :05:54.nothing about it. His top policy adviser declined to say the boss
:05:55. > :05:58.still backed Flynn and then hours before he was kicked out, trump
:05:59. > :06:14.councillor Kellyanne Conway said this... He does it enjoyed a full
:06:15. > :06:16.confidence of this President's curious relationship with Russia and
:06:17. > :06:18.what it means for America. Our North America editor
:06:19. > :06:26.Jon Sopel is here. It is about personnel I want general
:06:27. > :06:31.Flynn said to the vice president. The story of loyalty from the
:06:32. > :06:33.president himself. Do you agree it is a style America was matter
:06:34. > :06:34.relationship with Russia and the White House relationship with
:06:35. > :06:47.Russia? One of the most striking things for
:06:48. > :06:53.me, is not what happened to Mike Flynn, it is the attempt to recast
:06:54. > :06:57.what Donald Trump's stance is toward Russia. Sean Spicer says no one has
:06:58. > :07:02.been tougher toward Russia. We have been really tough and yes, we want
:07:03. > :07:07.to have better relations below what we have done. Maybe I've not been
:07:08. > :07:13.paying attention and sometimes in classes, as a school boy I was
:07:14. > :07:18.guilty of that, but I can't help thinking of what? Sorry? Really?
:07:19. > :07:22.Have I missed all of this? And I think there was a recognition of so
:07:23. > :07:28.much of what Trump is doing is playing well with his pace, Mexico,
:07:29. > :07:34.the border, the travel ban, all going down grey. But cosying up to
:07:35. > :07:37.Russia? I suddenly felt the reverse thrust button being appalled at the
:07:38. > :07:42.White House today to recast our relationship. We do not know
:07:43. > :07:46.behind-the-scenes what has been going on between Donald Trump and
:07:47. > :07:50.the Russians. But let me ask you about the personnel issue and the
:07:51. > :07:55.question of judgment. Michael Flynn, and I've heard this on countless
:07:56. > :07:58.members of the national security advisers, had extreme views about
:07:59. > :08:02.Islam, was too friendly with the Russians are not very competent
:08:03. > :08:05.either. Was it a good idea for president Trump to bring him in and
:08:06. > :08:09.then keep him on the three weeks after the Justice Department said he
:08:10. > :08:14.could be blackmail by the Russians? Like you, I remember going to
:08:15. > :08:18.reception and there were a whole group of foreign policy experts and
:08:19. > :08:23.they were all saying Flynn? Really? Are you kidding me? Do they know his
:08:24. > :08:29.views and that is a conspiracy theorist? How will you temper that?
:08:30. > :08:32.But he had been as you said, the first senior national security
:08:33. > :08:36.person who backed him. There was loyalty. They thought alike and were
:08:37. > :08:40.ideological soul mates and Trump probably thought he gave him heft.
:08:41. > :08:45.But he was an insurgent, rescued from the outset and ultimately
:08:46. > :08:49.proved deeply damaging and therefore the decision... The other
:08:50. > :08:56.interesting thing was this morning it was being said that Donald
:08:57. > :09:00.Trump... That he resigned of his own volition, but it's become clear
:09:01. > :09:07.Donald Trump said you can go quietly or I push up. He was fired. He was
:09:08. > :09:11.fired. The other issue is that the illustration you for 17 days and we
:09:12. > :09:16.now hear that the transcripts were brought to the White House counsel
:09:17. > :09:20.with all the consequences are risks that it it entailed for Flynn. Yet
:09:21. > :09:26.when the president was asked about it, this was his answer. What you
:09:27. > :09:33.make about the general Flynn conversations with Russians about
:09:34. > :09:41.sanctions? I don't know about it. What report is that? I don't know
:09:42. > :09:47.anything about it. I haven't seen that. I will look at that. He
:09:48. > :09:54.doesn't offer any and so on the most important part of that question. He
:09:55. > :09:58.says he's talking about the Washington Post article. That was a
:09:59. > :10:02.piece of elegance footwork by Sean Spicer in the news conference. No,
:10:03. > :10:06.no, President Truman knew about the issue because we've just said we've
:10:07. > :10:10.been looking at it since it was brought to our attention adding
:10:11. > :10:15.acted in a general three weeks ago. But Trump was saying he wasn't aware
:10:16. > :10:19.of the article and his answer was solely related to the Washington
:10:20. > :10:26.Post article. They are difficult questions. He does look as though he
:10:27. > :10:30.was the lie that has cost Mike Flynn and his job, it is being found out.
:10:31. > :10:40.It is the 11th commandment that Moses carried down on the stone
:10:41. > :10:41.tablets, thou shalt not get caught. There are so many angles we need to
:10:42. > :10:42.get to. Let's bring in Olga Ivshina
:10:43. > :10:56.from the BBC's Russian Service. Yesterday, the spokesman for
:10:57. > :11:01.President Putin denied that Michael Flynn and the Russian ambassador had
:11:02. > :11:04.spoken about sanctions. And now we have Michael Flynn's resignation
:11:05. > :11:10.because he has spoken about sanctions. So the Russians were not
:11:11. > :11:16.telling the whole truth? Welcome to the club. They have quite a long
:11:17. > :11:20.record of that. One of the most famous examples is back in 2014 when
:11:21. > :11:23.the Russian president first said there is no Russian service
:11:24. > :11:26.personnel in Crimea and then he said, yes, of course there were.
:11:27. > :11:33.They were helping conduct the referendum. I guess that Moscow's
:11:34. > :11:38.lesson is that if you are lying, remember what you are lying about
:11:39. > :11:44.exactly and keep going. He refused to comment today and said it was an
:11:45. > :11:48.exclusively internal matter for the United States refused to comment.
:11:49. > :11:55.But he is still there, doing his business. It is interesting to note
:11:56. > :11:58.that the Russian Foreign Ministry has not commented. Some Russian
:11:59. > :12:03.officials and MPs ahead of the foreign committee on the upper
:12:04. > :12:09.chamber commented and used the Cold War language, saying it is a
:12:10. > :12:15.witchhunt, is Russian -- anti-Russian sentiment. Sean Spicer
:12:16. > :12:21.just said he was the problem about the discussion about sanctions, but
:12:22. > :12:27.the lack of trust. If sanctions had been imposed on November, would they
:12:28. > :12:31.have retaliated? Did they retaliate in the past when sanctions were
:12:32. > :12:36.introduced and why not this time? It is a good question. We don't know
:12:37. > :12:43.the answer. From Mr Putin's points of view, it was quite unexpected,
:12:44. > :12:48.because he usually follows a hard-core policy. This time, yes, he
:12:49. > :12:58.said no, we are not retaliating or sending out diplomats. We don't know
:12:59. > :13:01.what made him think so. Maybe on the other hand he is known for
:13:02. > :13:09.interesting steps and he does like to get Trump cards out of his
:13:10. > :13:12.sleeve. Well, now, he is probably waiting for signs from the Trump
:13:13. > :13:18.administration, because at the moment, the signals which Moscow has
:13:19. > :13:26.received were conflicting. Thank you. I would love to know whether
:13:27. > :13:29.the Russians agree with the idea that this administration has been
:13:30. > :13:29.tough on Moscow. We will return to that.
:13:30. > :13:32.Let's go to Capitol Hill now and speak to Congressman Adam Kinzinger,
:13:33. > :13:35.a Republican from Illinois who sits on the Foreign Affairs Committee
:13:36. > :13:48.How seriously are you taking all of this from a national security point
:13:49. > :13:52.of view? It is serious. I think the question of what conversations did
:13:53. > :13:55.he have is important to answer, but I think general Flynn and the
:13:56. > :13:58.president today did the right thing by saying you have become a
:13:59. > :14:04.distraction than it is time to resign. And that is where we are at.
:14:05. > :14:08.I think having discussions is an incoming ministration with the
:14:09. > :14:13.future could you going to be working with is not improper in itself.
:14:14. > :14:16.Weather was an proprietor is in try to talk about our ministration under
:14:17. > :14:18.Barack Obama that will implement sanctions, let us talk about what
:14:19. > :14:23.looks like and the next administration. I think when he lied
:14:24. > :14:27.to Vice President spends about it, he went out on Sunday shows and
:14:28. > :14:31.defended him and became a major distraction and he did the right
:14:32. > :14:35.thing and the president did so in asking for his resignation. You
:14:36. > :14:38.served to macro terms in the Iraq war as an American military service
:14:39. > :14:40.member. Users in the Iraq war as an American military service member.
:14:41. > :14:42.Users on the Foreign Affairs Committee and I'm agitator
:14:43. > :14:47.relationship with Russia very seriously. Will you and your fellow
:14:48. > :14:51.Republicans push for an investigation into what happened
:14:52. > :14:58.with Michael Flynn and more generally, into the Trump team's
:14:59. > :15:02.relationships with Moscow? There's the oversight committee who are
:15:03. > :15:07.investigating the idea of what do Moscow do in the campaign. To the
:15:08. > :15:11.extent there is relationships in the administration we even knew this.
:15:12. > :15:16.Many are saying we need to call for a massive investigation. The reality
:15:17. > :15:19.is, what he did was wrong. It was arguably illegal, based on this
:15:20. > :15:23.Logan act which has not been enforced yet and then he resigned
:15:24. > :15:27.and he is done. The question from now is, the broader issue is what is
:15:28. > :15:33.this administration doing about Nato and Russia? What we have seen us
:15:34. > :15:36.been solid. Mike Pence will be in Germany this week reassuring Nato
:15:37. > :15:42.allies and challenging them to me that 2% commitment to GDP. Nikki
:15:43. > :15:46.Haley said we will not really sanctions until you get out of
:15:47. > :15:50.Crimea. Directions have been solid. Some will say we need to investigate
:15:51. > :15:56.every infraction, I think that is a bridge too far. The president has
:15:57. > :15:59.also said that America is no more guilty than President Putin when it
:16:00. > :16:02.comes to the issue of murder. It is not true what Sean Spicer just said
:16:03. > :16:11.in the White House, that the president has been tough on Russia.
:16:12. > :16:16.Right. Well, look. I think the administration is being tougher now.
:16:17. > :16:21.I've been critical of the somehow moral equality between the US and
:16:22. > :16:25.Russia. We will be critical when those comments come out and I think
:16:26. > :16:31.they are damaging. But on the broader scale of reassuring Nato and
:16:32. > :16:36.the European initiative and in terms of calling for liberation of Crimea
:16:37. > :16:41.and a return to the Ukrainian people, this has been very much a
:16:42. > :16:44.departure for the last administration. Where there is
:16:45. > :16:48.involvement we will find out, but in terms of saying we need to launch
:16:49. > :16:51.major investigations every time someone resigns as it will paralyse
:16:52. > :16:56.this administration from going on and doing what we need to do to
:16:57. > :17:01.restore the West's role in the world. Part of a problem yesterday
:17:02. > :17:05.using one story from Kelly and Conway -- Kellyanne Conway and then
:17:06. > :17:10.another story from Sean Spicer and then at the end of the day, we get
:17:11. > :17:17.the resignation. It looks chaotic. Like they are always on the back
:17:18. > :17:20.foot. Yes, it does. And with conflicting messages, it is very
:17:21. > :17:25.bad. But there is there something in mind. This is a new administration.
:17:26. > :17:28.If you look at the Obama administration and the Bush
:17:29. > :17:31.administration and any administration prior, there are
:17:32. > :17:37.hiccups. Is an entirely new Government. 5000 new employees.
:17:38. > :17:40.There will be difficulties. Right now, there are problems in the
:17:41. > :17:46.national security council. My hope is now the Flynn has resigned and he
:17:47. > :17:50.is a very honourable man, I disagree with him Russia, but he did a great
:17:51. > :17:52.job in Iraq and Afghanistan, the now they're ministration should take a
:17:53. > :17:59.deep breath and hopefully we will see that. But you keep saying that.
:18:00. > :18:01.You said the distractions, many self-inflicted, could well help the
:18:02. > :18:04.President's ability to move forward with a new agenda. And here we are a
:18:05. > :18:13.fortnight later saying the same thing. Yes, I agree. And I would say
:18:14. > :18:17.what I said there, too. But again, no matter how far we are into the
:18:18. > :18:21.administration, it is still early days. I hope the communications team
:18:22. > :18:26.gets together with their message and get straightened up in the process
:18:27. > :18:29.and the actions we have seen and the people we see in these positions,
:18:30. > :18:33.with the exception of the general Flynn, are outstanding. When the
:18:34. > :18:38.message gets tied together and we get past these hiccups, either you
:18:39. > :18:41.will see a very strong USA and a strong president trying to regain
:18:42. > :18:43.the lesser role in the world which has been lost frankly over last
:18:44. > :18:45.eight years. Thank you. Let's get more from Ellen Nakashima,
:18:46. > :18:48.the National Security Reporter from the Washington Post and one
:18:49. > :19:02.of the journalists who broke I wanted to ask you is something on
:19:03. > :19:07.the actual phone call itself. How much do we know about what general
:19:08. > :19:16.Flynn talked... Talked about with the Russian ambassador? We know that
:19:17. > :19:20.the general outlines of the phone call, on about December the 29th,
:19:21. > :19:24.the day the Obama administration imposed economic sanctions and the
:19:25. > :19:31.punitive measures against Russia for its interference in the 2016
:19:32. > :19:38.presidential election. There was a summary of the calls and the content
:19:39. > :19:40.of them prepared by the FBI and circulated along the top national
:19:41. > :19:48.security officials in the Obama administration. That indicated the
:19:49. > :19:54.contents and the nature of the call but not the bait in the transport --
:19:55. > :20:01.transcript. Speaking to former senior officials who have seen the
:20:02. > :20:12.summary, we understand that general Flynn, while he may not have
:20:13. > :20:18.given... Made it clear that he felt Russia should not overreact to the
:20:19. > :20:21.sanctions imposed, because the incoming Trump administration would
:20:22. > :20:28.handle it when they took over. So there was a suggestion that they
:20:29. > :20:32.would somehow ease up on Moscow wants the Trump administration came
:20:33. > :20:36.in. The idea is that there would have been a recording of these
:20:37. > :20:39.conversations as will other Russian side and they were concerned, the
:20:40. > :20:43.intelligence agencies, that if he was lying and trying to cover his
:20:44. > :20:48.tracks, then he would be or could be blackmailed by the Russians at a
:20:49. > :20:55.later date. He had been compromised. That's right. And not only that is,
:20:56. > :21:00.but the ambassador sent a cable or a ripple back to Moscow summarising
:21:01. > :21:05.the contents of the call. So they did know what was discussed and
:21:06. > :21:08.other topic of sanctions came up. It was a main topic of the call, not
:21:09. > :21:15.just something that came up in passing. Do we think it talks to the
:21:16. > :21:20.ambassador with the authority of the best of the transition team if it
:21:21. > :21:28.was the bulk of the conversation? I believe Sean Spicer said today that
:21:29. > :21:32.President Trump did not direct him to make the call, but he would
:21:33. > :21:39.certainly know generally the outlines of the foreign policy and
:21:40. > :21:41.as you've been discussing, its friendliness towards Moscow and
:21:42. > :21:48.desire to get on a good footing with the Kremlin. So whether or not he
:21:49. > :21:57.did this expressly at the directional President Trump, there
:21:58. > :22:02.is no evidence of that. Thank you. Fascinating. The bulk of the call
:22:03. > :22:03.was the issue of sanctions, and it's hard to see how general Flynn could
:22:04. > :22:04.forgotten that. Some of the day's other key
:22:05. > :22:07.developments: The UK Government has rejected a petition calling
:22:08. > :22:11.for Donald Trump's state visit It said it recognised the "strong
:22:12. > :22:15.views" expressed, but looked forward More than 1.8 million people
:22:16. > :22:18.signed the petition, which said a state visit would cause
:22:19. > :22:21."embarrassment" to the Queen. A counter-petition calling
:22:22. > :22:23.for the visit to go ahead attracted The European Union's Brexit
:22:24. > :22:27.Negotiator has called for profound reform of the organisation,
:22:28. > :22:29.saying it always delivers Guy Verhofstadt, who used to be
:22:30. > :22:35.Prime Minister of Belgium, said the union had failed to tackle
:22:36. > :22:38.issues, including the migrant crisis He also said Brexit,
:22:39. > :22:41.Presidents Trump and Putin Around 200,000 people living close
:22:42. > :22:52.to America's tallest dam have been told it's still not
:22:53. > :22:56.safe for them to return home. The area around the Oroville Dam
:22:57. > :22:58.in northern California was evacuated after a hole was found
:22:59. > :23:01.in one of its emergency overflow channels, prompting fears
:23:02. > :23:03.that it could collapse. Authorities have managed
:23:04. > :23:04.to lower the water levels, but they don't know how long it
:23:05. > :23:07.will be before residents The half-brother of the North Korean
:23:08. > :23:12.leader Kim Jong-un is reported to have been killed
:23:13. > :23:13.with poison in Malaysia. South Korean media sources say
:23:14. > :23:16.Kim Jong-nam, who was 45, was targeted at the airport
:23:17. > :23:18.in the capital, Kuala Lumpur. The late Kim Jong-Il's eldest son
:23:19. > :23:21.is thought to have fled North Korea after being passed over
:23:22. > :23:38.for the leadership. I guess general Flynn got it easy,
:23:39. > :23:39.right? Yes, they were differently in other countries.
:23:40. > :23:42.Let's take a quick look at one of the President's tweets the two
:23:43. > :23:44.of us had been talking about before we came on air.
:23:45. > :23:47."The real story here is why are there so many illegal leaks
:23:48. > :23:56."Will these leaks be happening as I deal on N.Korea etc?"
:23:57. > :24:01.It got me thinking. You can come to Washington as a disrupter and
:24:02. > :24:05.threaten to pull down the establishment and go on the
:24:06. > :24:12.offensive with the intelligence agency, but at some point, it come
:24:13. > :24:16.back to bite you. Interesting. Sean Spicer also raised this issue of the
:24:17. > :24:20.leaks as the president is concerned about it. What happens if he's on a
:24:21. > :24:25.major call with a foreign leader and that is leaked? This is a question
:24:26. > :24:27.of loyalty. There are people in the President's inner circle who are
:24:28. > :24:31.prepared to talk to journalists when they feel things are not going as
:24:32. > :24:36.they should or that there is a story they want to get out there. If your
:24:37. > :24:49.team is loyal, they do not leak. Someone, somewhere in the White
:24:50. > :24:51.House feels they have more to gain by giving the story is out. There is
:24:52. > :24:53.also the issue of friends. You attack everybody and general Flynn
:24:54. > :24:56.attack the intelligence agencies, the president has also done that, if
:24:57. > :24:59.you like that with everybody, at some point, you have no friends. And
:25:00. > :25:01.in this time, if you take on the intelligence agencies, they will
:25:02. > :25:07.come back to bite you. That is what we have seen in the Flynn story.
:25:08. > :25:11.Lots going on an investigation is still pending into those leaks. Sean
:25:12. > :25:12.Spicer saying he was very, very worried about the leaks.
:25:13. > :25:18.You're watching One Hundred Days, from BBC News.
:25:19. > :25:22.Still to come for viewers on the BBC News Channel and BBC World News -
:25:23. > :25:25.is America's relationship with Nato up in the air and was Donald Trump
:25:26. > :25:30.right to criticise fellow members for not paying their share?
:25:31. > :25:32.We'll speak to the former secretary-general to find out.
:25:33. > :25:34.And the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
:25:35. > :25:40.peace process have now with Donald Trump
:25:41. > :26:13.That's still to come on 100 Days, from BBC News.
:26:14. > :26:21.It is milder this week. A bit of rain around. Various cloud coming in
:26:22. > :26:26.off the Atlantic. No great amounts. One area of cloud will produce some
:26:27. > :26:31.drinks and drugs moving south to north overnight tonight. Many places
:26:32. > :26:37.of avoiding that. It will be a murky night with fog, too. More rain in
:26:38. > :26:43.the far south-west by the end of the night. Not particularly cold. 5-7d
:26:44. > :26:48.typical first thing in the morning. Wet across parts of Cornwall. Rain
:26:49. > :26:55.pushing it a Somerset, Wiltshire, south-western parts of Wales at 8am
:26:56. > :27:01.tomorrow. Further east and north, it will be a slow start. Grey and
:27:02. > :27:06.misty. Not dreadfully cold. None of the fog will be too widespread
:27:07. > :27:11.audience. Shari bursts in Northern Ireland. Scotland looking dry. The
:27:12. > :27:16.best of the sunshine as we go through the day on Wednesday.
:27:17. > :27:23.Elsewhere, the struggle to brighten things up for some of us. The rain
:27:24. > :27:28.pushes northwards. Some places seeing sharp bursts, others not
:27:29. > :27:32.much. But in the south-western parts of Scotland, something a bit
:27:33. > :27:38.brighter following. A milder one and double figures in a few spots. That
:27:39. > :27:42.feature wanders away and we look to the north for low pressure and some
:27:43. > :27:46.blustery showers as we get into Thursday, particularly for Scotland,
:27:47. > :27:51.Northern Ireland and the far north of England. Further south, things
:27:52. > :27:58.settle down. Nice on Thursday. Mr and fog first thing. Sunshine also.
:27:59. > :28:09.Temperature is doing pretty well Friday, high pressure. Normally
:28:10. > :28:17.means dry. Could be faulty. -- could be faulty.
:28:18. > :28:26.The best of the sun in the East. Thickening cloud and increasing wind
:28:27. > :30:05.and rain knocking on the door of the West.
:30:06. > :30:08.Just three weeks into the new US administration and already
:30:09. > :30:11.the President has had to sack some one.
:30:12. > :30:14.The National Security Adviser, Mike Flynn did speak to the Russian
:30:15. > :30:22.And later with-held that information from the Vice President.
:30:23. > :30:25.The evolving and erroding level of trust as a result of this
:30:26. > :30:28.situation and a series of other questionable instances is what led
:30:29. > :30:35.the president to ask for General Flynn's resignation.
:30:36. > :30:37.And we speak to the former NATO chief about the future
:30:38. > :30:41.of the alliance and if Donald Trump is right to demand more money
:30:42. > :30:54.The principle of collective defence is the very heart
:30:55. > :30:58.It binds the 28 members together, an attack against one ally
:30:59. > :31:02.is considered an attack against all allies.
:31:03. > :31:04.But does that solidarity still exist?
:31:05. > :31:09.On the campaign trail Donald Trump didn't sound all that convincing.
:31:10. > :31:10.That makes America's NATO allies nervous -
:31:11. > :31:14.as does Mr Trump's warmer relationship with Moscow.
:31:15. > :31:17.Appeasement might bring some short term stability but what about
:31:18. > :31:22.Here's a tweet from the former NATO secretary general
:31:23. > :31:36."Giving up #Russia sanctions unconditionally will embolden #Putin
:31:37. > :31:37.and undermine security of Europe #dontbetrayukraine @POTUS
:31:38. > :31:45.And I am pleased to say Mr Rasmussen joins us from Copenhagen.
:31:46. > :31:52.The me ask about the events today. Does it worry you that even in
:31:53. > :31:54.transition, Michael Flynn was soft-pedalling on Russia are
:31:55. > :32:02.reassuring the ambassador to Washington that Donald Trump would
:32:03. > :32:08.perhaps go soft on sanctions? Well, first of all, I would like to thank
:32:09. > :32:13.Michael Flynn for his service, many years of service to his country, but
:32:14. > :32:25.obviously, this conversation raises a lot of questions about the Trump
:32:26. > :32:32.Administration is with Russia and taking into account Mr Trump's
:32:33. > :32:39.statements during the campaign and this has raised a lot of concerns in
:32:40. > :32:45.Europe. Back in January, you said that you had been encouraged by the
:32:46. > :32:50.Trump transition team and you felt it was an administration that was
:32:51. > :32:57.going to be more pragmatic when it came to issues like Nato and Russia,
:32:58. > :33:01.do you still feel that way? Yes, absolutely. I think Mr Trump has
:33:02. > :33:12.appointed some very good people in the security team. The Secretary of
:33:13. > :33:22.State of the secretary of defence, also the CIA director, all of them
:33:23. > :33:28.have made very reassuring statements on the US commitment to collective
:33:29. > :33:33.defence. Based on that, I am confident that when Nato will have a
:33:34. > :33:41.summit in May, it will be a summit that will send a very clear message
:33:42. > :33:45.to who is a concern, that the article five commitment, the
:33:46. > :33:51.commitment to defend all allies, is strong and unchanged. It is
:33:52. > :33:55.important that, because I am just reading here, are breaking news
:33:56. > :34:03.Lang, the Russian military aircraft came close to the US destroyer last
:34:04. > :34:07.week. The aircraft overflying a US warship, they feel emboldened in the
:34:08. > :34:14.east of Ukraine and in the east of Europe and it is important that Mr
:34:15. > :34:25.Trump stands behind Nato. Yes, absolutely. It is important that any
:34:26. > :34:29.doubts after their statement that Nato is obsolete, that any doubts
:34:30. > :34:37.are eradicated and I think that should be the main purpose about the
:34:38. > :34:43.upcoming Nato summit, to send two messages, firstly our commitment for
:34:44. > :34:52.collective defence is unchanged and secondly, the Allies, the 28 allies,
:34:53. > :34:55.seal committed to increasing defence investment. Let's talk about that.
:34:56. > :35:01.to you which I'm sure you're aware of - but for the benefit
:35:02. > :35:04.of our viewers, Nato members have agreed to spend 2% or more
:35:05. > :35:07.of their GDP on defence by 2024 - and these countries do: the UK,
:35:08. > :35:09.Estonia, Poland, Greece and of course, the US.
:35:10. > :35:12.However of the 28 Nato members, 23 don't spend as much
:35:13. > :35:15.on defence as they should - and there are a few surprises...
:35:16. > :35:16.Most notably, France, Germany and Canada -
:35:17. > :35:25.among the world's biggest economies and all in the G8.
:35:26. > :35:29.You are sounding confident about Donald Trump's commitment to Nato
:35:30. > :35:36.but you know and we have spoken about this before and during the
:35:37. > :35:41.course of this campaign, he tied commitment to article five, two
:35:42. > :35:44.countries spending that 2% of GDP on defence spending. This suggests that
:35:45. > :35:54.if they did not, he was not going to stand by article five. In I fully
:35:55. > :36:01.agree that European allies should invest much more in defence and it
:36:02. > :36:05.is embarrassing for the Alliance Toad in the Hole that's not the
:36:06. > :36:13.question. The question is does article five depend on them spending
:36:14. > :36:19.that money? No. That's important to send a very clear message to
:36:20. > :36:22.Vladimir Putin and who it may concern, that the commitment to
:36:23. > :36:27.collective defence is unconditional. It cannot be made conditional on
:36:28. > :36:36.financial contributions but having said that, in Wales, in 2014, Nato
:36:37. > :36:43.had a summit, in which we decided that within the next decade, all 28
:36:44. > :36:48.allies will live up to the 2% defence investment and I think, we
:36:49. > :36:53.should speed up that process, taking into account the new security
:36:54. > :36:57.situation in Europe. Can I take you back to Michael Flynn? From what
:36:58. > :37:01.Sean Spicer has been saying in the last hour or so, we cannot rule out
:37:02. > :37:04.that he was acting with the knowledge of others in the
:37:05. > :37:10.transition team when he was talking about sanctions and going soft on
:37:11. > :37:13.sanctions. Do you hope that this sends a warning signal to the
:37:14. > :37:22.administration that it might just change its tune on Russia? Yes. In
:37:23. > :37:31.my opinion, sanctions should be maintained. As a pressure on Russia,
:37:32. > :37:38.as long as Russia does not fulfil its commitment within the so-called
:37:39. > :37:43.Minsk agreements and as long as Russia continues to destabilise the
:37:44. > :37:48.situation in the east of Ukraine, we should maintain sanctions, if
:37:49. > :37:52.sanctions were lifted, we would lose the only possibility to put pressure
:37:53. > :38:04.on Russia that we do have. And I feel confident that if the President
:38:05. > :38:07.intends to lift the sanctions, then the US Congress would pass
:38:08. > :38:13.legislation that would maintain the pressure on Russia via sanctions.
:38:14. > :38:14.Thank you very much for joining us from Copenhagen.
:38:15. > :38:17.Let's turn our attention to the Middle East now and it's
:38:18. > :38:19.clearly on President Trump's agenda this week.
:38:20. > :38:21.He's due to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
:38:22. > :38:25.So, we thought we'd ask our Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen,
:38:26. > :38:27.to share his thoughts on the relationship of the two
:38:28. > :38:30.allies - and in particular, the contentious issue of Israeli
:38:31. > :38:42.The people who own this house have all sorts of problems because of
:38:43. > :38:47.where it is. That way there is Jerusalem and that way there is a
:38:48. > :38:53.Jewish settlement and over that way, on the other side of that wall, part
:38:54. > :39:00.of Israel's so-called separation barrier, is a Palestinian town of
:39:01. > :39:04.Bethlehem. All these problems, 20 or 25 years ago, were supposed to be
:39:05. > :39:11.sorted out by the so-called peace process. But there were years of
:39:12. > :39:13.negotiations and they all failed. So the question is will Donald Trump in
:39:14. > :39:17.the White House change things? Will he make a difference? He is an
:39:18. > :39:23.unpredictable man and the comments he made when he was running for
:39:24. > :39:28.office suggested that he would be a big supporter of the Israeli right
:39:29. > :39:33.and in Israeli political terms, right wing it means people who
:39:34. > :39:38.support hanging on to some or all of the territory that was captured by
:39:39. > :39:43.Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, 50 years ago. Since then, since he
:39:44. > :39:49.entered the Oval Office he has changed his tune a little bit. He is
:39:50. > :39:54.showing signs that what he wants to be is the big deal maker and that is
:39:55. > :39:56.how he sees himself. He says that a deal between Israelis and
:39:57. > :40:02.Palestinians as possible and it would take concessions by both
:40:03. > :40:07.sides. That is the deal that evaded all his predecessors and so, he
:40:08. > :40:09.might see himself, Donald Trump, President Donald Trump, the
:40:10. > :40:16.deal-maker as the only man who can do it. We might have clear
:40:17. > :40:19.indications of what is happening after President Trump meets Binjamin
:40:20. > :40:24.Netanyahu in Washington. When they talk, it could be that they spend
:40:25. > :40:29.much more time talking not about this place, but about Iran. Both of
:40:30. > :40:33.them have said that Iran is a big threat to peace in the Middle East
:40:34. > :40:36.and a big cause of war. It could be that that is the area they will
:40:37. > :40:42.concentrate on and that is the area they will talk about most. We will
:40:43. > :40:46.see. Jeremy Bowen report Imer and news coming in from the White House.
:40:47. > :40:49.We will get a press conference after that meeting between Binjamin
:40:50. > :40:54.Netanyahu and President Trump and I am willing to bet that another issue
:40:55. > :40:59.of personnel is going to come up because this is just coming into us,
:41:00. > :41:05.that the office of government ethics has sent a letter to the White House
:41:06. > :41:16.saying that it will investigate Kelly Anne Conway, do you remember,
:41:17. > :41:19.she said about Nordstrom, people should not buy the clothes after it
:41:20. > :41:27.was dropped. They have said it is a clear breach. She has -- here is
:41:28. > :41:32.another personnel issue. It is this feeling that Donald Trump is
:41:33. > :41:38.constantly firefighting. They are still to fill key posts at the White
:41:39. > :41:41.House, including medication 's director, scores of embassies are
:41:42. > :41:45.still waiting for their ambassador, it is all looking as though they are
:41:46. > :41:50.putting out fires and they cannot concentrate on what matters. That is
:41:51. > :41:56.the problem. They have got to fill these positions, it is not just that
:41:57. > :42:00.they -- there is personnel mis-management. We will see whether
:42:01. > :42:04.this ethics office investigation leads to. He has to fill these
:42:05. > :42:10.posts. It is like trying to run a company but you do not have the CFO,
:42:11. > :42:16.he has to get those people into position. We will see what we get
:42:17. > :42:20.tomorrow at the press conference. That will be quite an important
:42:21. > :42:25.relationship. They have talked about moving the embassy to Jerusalem. He
:42:26. > :42:29.did not have a particularly good relationship with President Obama.
:42:30. > :42:34.The Israelis are hoping that this will be a better relationship, but I
:42:35. > :42:38.think there will be some wariness because President Trump has rowed
:42:39. > :42:42.back on the Israeli settlements and warned him about them. Just one of
:42:43. > :42:47.the foreign policy issues Iran, China and Israel, he has already
:42:48. > :42:51.gone back on it. He is getting a dose of diplomatic reality. That is
:42:52. > :42:55.all from us for today. We will be back at the same time tomorrow and
:42:56. > :43:00.meanwhile you can follow us on social media. Goodbye for now.