:00:08. > :00:12.Vladimir Putin says the Russians wouldn't have been
:00:13. > :00:17.so childish as to interfere in the French election.
:00:18. > :00:19.In the gilded halls of Versailles, the Russian leader
:00:20. > :00:28.President Macron seems less convinced.
:00:29. > :00:34.Russia and sputnik at the organs of influence through this campaign and
:00:35. > :00:38.have treated counter stories about me and my campaign. This doesn't
:00:39. > :00:39.mean we try to influence the election and would have been
:00:40. > :00:40.impossible as well. Angela Merkel doubles down
:00:41. > :00:42.on criticism of Donald Trump - she says it was right not to gloss
:00:43. > :00:46.over her differences with the US. The President says his son in law
:00:47. > :00:53.is doing a great job amid reports the 36-year-old is under
:00:54. > :00:55.investigation over ties to Russia. And on what would have been
:00:56. > :00:58.John F Kennedy's 100th birthday, we look back on the enduring legacy
:00:59. > :01:15.of America's 35th President. I'm Katty Kay in Washington,
:01:16. > :01:20.Christian Fraser is off this week. He's in France but he's not hanging
:01:21. > :01:23.out with the new French President - that's what Vladimir Putin's
:01:24. > :01:25.been doing today. The two leaders had
:01:26. > :01:26.a get-to-know-you And you really have to wonder how
:01:27. > :01:31.cordial it was given that days before the French election Mr Macron
:01:32. > :01:33.accused Moscow of At a tense press conference,
:01:34. > :01:36.Vladimir Putin insisted any implication of Russian
:01:37. > :01:51.meddling was rubbish. Despite the sweltering weather, this
:01:52. > :01:56.meeting held a touch of Frost from the start. At the entrance to
:01:57. > :02:01.France's Versailles Palace, the two leaders greeted each other with
:02:02. > :02:06.brief handshakes and small grin smiles. Two hours later after their
:02:07. > :02:11.first meeting, the mood was, if anything, even cooler. France and
:02:12. > :02:14.Russia have backed different groups in the Syrian conflict. Emmanuel
:02:15. > :02:16.Macron said that while France did not want to destabilise the Syrian
:02:17. > :02:22.state they were red lines that must not be crossed. I stress in my
:02:23. > :02:28.meeting with President Putin are firm rejection there is a clear red
:02:29. > :02:32.line that exist on our part, the use of chemical weapons by whoever it
:02:33. > :02:35.may be. The use of chemical weapons will be the object of immediate
:02:36. > :02:39.retaliation on the part of the French. The two leaders are also
:02:40. > :02:42.divided over the situation in Ukraine with the Russian president
:02:43. > :02:48.condemning the sanctions imposed on his country as a result of the
:02:49. > :02:52.crisis the sanctions against Russia are not helping to find a solution
:02:53. > :02:56.to Ukraine. We must fight to list these economic restrictions. This is
:02:57. > :03:03.the only way we can be more free and be able to restore peace in the
:03:04. > :03:11.region. Mr Putin also denied any interference in France's
:03:12. > :03:23.presidential race despite accusations by Emmanuel Macron.
:03:24. > :03:24.TRANSLATION: he banned to Russian agencies covering his campaign,
:03:25. > :03:34.calling them of propaganda. There is an exhibition on 300 years
:03:35. > :03:37.of France and Russian ties here was meant to highlight the relationship
:03:38. > :03:38.between the two countries. more recent events have made this a stiff
:03:39. > :03:47.and awkward meeting and it showed. Joining us now from London
:03:48. > :03:50.is Andrew Jack, a journalist with the Financial Times,
:03:51. > :04:03.who was the paper's Moscow bureau You looked at that press conference.
:04:04. > :04:07.How tense didn't seem when they got onto involvement in a French
:04:08. > :04:12.Pretty frosty. We had handshake diplomacy and this time around there
:04:13. > :04:17.was a little bit more assertiveness than the famous handshake between
:04:18. > :04:22.Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump but Emmanuel Macron did his best to hold
:04:23. > :04:28.his ground and draw a number of distinctions on Syria but also the
:04:29. > :04:33.question of the elections and his justification of the decision to ban
:04:34. > :04:40.a couple of Russian media outlets. I know after the election there was a
:04:41. > :04:44.lot of heated rhetoric from Emmanuel Macron's camp. Do Russia and France
:04:45. > :04:48.need a reset on their relationship? We have to work on some issues like
:04:49. > :04:52.Ukraine but with so much political mistrust because of interference in
:04:53. > :05:02.the vote, how much can they actually achieve on other things? This is a
:05:03. > :05:07.good initiative. Angela Merkel knows Emmanuel Macron very well and those
:05:08. > :05:10.who stalemate in relations. It needs formal and informal contact so
:05:11. > :05:16.Emmanuel Macron really took the lead to leap ahead of Putin's meeting at
:05:17. > :05:20.the T20 and develop a relationship that had got very cold under his
:05:21. > :05:24.predecessor Francois Hollande including after the bombing of
:05:25. > :05:28.Syria, the use of chemical weapons and the decision at that point in
:05:29. > :05:34.October to cancel a previous visit by Vladimir Putin to Paris. I was
:05:35. > :05:38.struck by something the Russian ambassador to Paris said ahead of
:05:39. > :05:44.the meeting. He seems to suggest he got Emmanuel Macron would be more
:05:45. > :05:48.flexible on the issue of Syria. You heard Emmanuel Macron say there were
:05:49. > :05:51.red lines that chemical weapons and France wouldn't hesitate to
:05:52. > :05:56.intervene if Syria crossed them will stop what did the Russian ambassador
:05:57. > :06:04.mean by that? What is President Macron prepared to give on to Russia
:06:05. > :06:08.on Syria that he wouldn't have done? Both sides are trying to create
:06:09. > :06:14.opportunities for negotiation and flexibility. The red line seems to
:06:15. > :06:21.be on chemical weapons. The shock and disgust that even change Donald
:06:22. > :06:24.Trump's opinions for the current regime but prior to the French
:06:25. > :06:29.presidential elections, Emmanuel Macron seemed more open to the idea
:06:30. > :06:33.of new routes towards easing sanctions against Russia for
:06:34. > :06:38.example. It's not quite clear what his stance is on continuing to
:06:39. > :06:43.cooperate with Assad or if there is some possibility for discussion to
:06:44. > :06:52.take place before Assad's departure which previously was being pushed
:06:53. > :06:55.for. Kristian is off this week, but I'm happy to see our political
:06:56. > :07:00.analyst is going to be with me for the next four days. Ron, you heard
:07:01. > :07:04.Andrew Jack talking about President Putin's involvement in the French
:07:05. > :07:06.election, I imagine coming out of the American election you might have
:07:07. > :07:12.some questions for the Russian leader. No question about it. Good
:07:13. > :07:15.afternoon, we're going to have fun this week! There is no doubt
:07:16. > :07:19.Vladimir Putin has had a strong hand in influencing the election here,
:07:20. > :07:24.the hacking of the DNC, of Hillary Clinton's campaign manager. The
:07:25. > :07:27.question for me when I look at this is, where else is likely Putin
:07:28. > :07:33.trying to destabilise the region in Europe and elsewhere and why? one
:07:34. > :07:38.area will be looking at is Germany and Angela Merkel I'm sure is
:07:39. > :07:39.watching that, too. She is fast emerging as a European thorn in
:07:40. > :07:41.Donald Trump's side. She doubled down today on criticism
:07:42. > :07:43.of America's President The German Chancellor has dumped
:07:44. > :07:49.diplomatic niceties since the tense Today she said it was right not to
:07:50. > :07:54.gloss over differences with the US, which follows her weekend comments
:07:55. > :08:09.that Europe could no longer TRANSLATION: We Europeans must
:08:10. > :08:16.really take her feet into our own hands, in friendship with the United
:08:17. > :08:20.States of course -- our fate, and with the United Kingdom and even
:08:21. > :08:24.with Russia but we have two now we must fight for our own future on our
:08:25. > :08:30.own, for her destiny as Europeans and that's what I want to do,
:08:31. > :08:32.together with you. -- for our destiny.
:08:33. > :08:33.So, how are Chancellor Merkel's comments going
:08:34. > :08:37.I'm joined now by William Cohen, former US Defense Secretary under
:08:38. > :08:41.President Clinton and now a BBC world affairs analyst.
:08:42. > :08:47.When you listen to what Angela Merkel has said and her take on how
:08:48. > :08:51.the G-7 meetings went and Donald Trump's trip to Europe, what do you
:08:52. > :09:00.make of it? How do you compare it to his visit to Saudi Arabia? He was
:09:01. > :09:03.well received in Saudi Arabia. His trip went quite well throughout the
:09:04. > :09:09.rest of the travel schedule except when it got to Brussels and there he
:09:10. > :09:14.made a mistake in my judgment in not reaffirming America's commitment to
:09:15. > :09:16.article five of the Nato treaty. That was something the Europeans are
:09:17. > :09:25.anxious to hear because they have had from spokesmen they're
:09:26. > :09:31.spokesmen, vice president pence during the conference in Munich, but
:09:32. > :09:35.they were unsure of what the president himself felt. He more or
:09:36. > :09:39.less reaffirmed their doubts and scepticism during that meeting,
:09:40. > :09:46.pointing out that they had to pay up there do is and that's not something
:09:47. > :09:50.anyone would disagree with, but that was not the place to do it, in a
:09:51. > :09:53.public forum, to focus on what they have not done as opposed to what
:09:54. > :09:59.they are doing today and what will hopefully do tomorrow so I think he
:10:00. > :10:03.upset the Europeans and I think that contributed to Angela Merkel's
:10:04. > :10:06.statement that they had to go out on their own. The only people who could
:10:07. > :10:10.take any kind of joy in that is President Putin and I'm sure he's
:10:11. > :10:14.breaking open the vodka as we speak because this is something he has
:10:15. > :10:18.longed to do, break the transatlantic connection between the
:10:19. > :10:22.United States and our European friends. You make the point that the
:10:23. > :10:25.Europeans carry some of the burden of this and should have paid more of
:10:26. > :10:34.the defence budgets into Nato's coppers. Is it alarmist at this
:10:35. > :10:37.stage in President Trump's presidency to suggest the post-2nd
:10:38. > :10:40.World War order, the alliances that we have grown used that that
:10:41. > :10:45.produced stability on both sides of the continent, are up for review at
:10:46. > :10:53.the moment? Are we looking at a shake-up of that order? Is to be
:10:54. > :10:56.determined. -- it is to be determined. It is important for the
:10:57. > :11:03.US to reaffirm the transatlantic bond and for anyone to suggest that
:11:04. > :11:10.it's no longer as relevant or needed, the notion that we are a
:11:11. > :11:14.mess and I -- mercenary military, like its a fee, you pay up and get
:11:15. > :11:19.protection, that to me is undermining not only European
:11:20. > :11:23.security but American security. I don't want to see us take the
:11:24. > :11:26.position of America first and America alone. No one wants to see
:11:27. > :11:30.America is second, but we can only be first if we have the support of
:11:31. > :11:33.our allies and to the extent you take any action, see anything that
:11:34. > :11:39.undermines that link, and you're painting us at greater risk as well
:11:40. > :11:44.as our allies. I'm sure it's a maximum of American Republicans that
:11:45. > :11:48.when they're together, they will talk.
:11:49. > :11:52.I'm very curious, you were one of the erased Republicans during the
:11:53. > :11:58.Watergate scandal to call for the impeachment of President Nixon. Some
:11:59. > :12:03.are talking about impeachment and starting the process. Other any
:12:04. > :12:07.parallels you can drop between what happened in the 70s to what we're
:12:08. > :12:14.seeing with President Trump and the calls for the Democrats calling for
:12:15. > :12:16.his impeachment? First, it is premature for anyone to talk about
:12:17. > :12:21.impeachment. There are certain parallels that have been taken by
:12:22. > :12:26.this administration and what the Nixon administration did but there
:12:27. > :12:31.are also closer parallels to the Iran-Contra scandal, which I was
:12:32. > :12:37.involved in, too. The issue for me in terms of the potential abuse of
:12:38. > :12:44.process or the covering up of presidential staff activity is of
:12:45. > :12:47.concern. For example, President Trump has fired three of the top
:12:48. > :12:51.investigators looking into the Russian connection. Three of his
:12:52. > :12:57.closest advisers have failed to disclose that they had any
:12:58. > :13:00.connection, any conferences with the Russians. That would include the
:13:01. > :13:06.Attorney General, it would include Mr Kushner and also includes General
:13:07. > :13:13.Flynn, so those three individuals all fields to acknowledge they had
:13:14. > :13:16.met with Russians -- all of them failed to acknowledge they had met
:13:17. > :13:20.with Russians. There is nothing wrong with setting up a separate
:13:21. > :13:25.channel to communicate with the Russians. The problem is, there is
:13:26. > :13:30.so much doubt hanging over what the Russian influence has been. We know,
:13:31. > :13:33.our intelligence agencies have certified, they have tried to
:13:34. > :13:38.influence and attacked our democratic system. We know that. We
:13:39. > :13:42.should lease acknowledge that from the highest levels including the
:13:43. > :13:46.president so the question is, what was really being communicated? What
:13:47. > :13:49.will be trying to do with the Russians that couldn't wait until
:13:50. > :13:55.after the president was sworn in and why did we have to go to the
:13:56. > :14:00.Russians and easily -- use their encrypted communication facilities?
:14:01. > :14:03.Those questions cast a cloud over the administration and its not going
:14:04. > :14:09.to go away until we have much more forthcoming information. Don't about
:14:10. > :14:15.impeachment, don't talk about scandal, led the special council do
:14:16. > :14:20.their work. Thank you very much. The secretary was referring to these
:14:21. > :14:23.latest reports that Jared Krishna, the son-in-law of the president,
:14:24. > :14:28.went to the Russians and said could he set up a private communications
:14:29. > :14:33.channel with Moscow during the transition and that has put the
:14:34. > :14:36.spotlight again on ties between Russia and the Trump White House so
:14:37. > :14:42.I guess the question for you is, how serious is this for the president?
:14:43. > :14:45.We know that Mr Trump releases statement in support of his
:14:46. > :14:48.son-in-law and said he is total confidence in him, adding that he is
:14:49. > :14:54.doing a great job for the country. What are you hearing from the White
:14:55. > :14:57.House about this? And healing is very serious. I spoke to number of
:14:58. > :15:02.officials and the White House week behind closed doors and will tell
:15:03. > :15:06.you it is creating a cloud of suspicion over the White House but
:15:07. > :15:08.they're worried about Mr Kushner's rule. There is a very broad
:15:09. > :15:14.portfolio in the White House and I've heard he walks in the room and
:15:15. > :15:17.since he is the master of everything but has never served in Government.
:15:18. > :15:22.Witnesses knowledge base coming from how to act to navigate these very
:15:23. > :15:31.tricky waters? I look at the support and it's not good. -- these reports.
:15:32. > :15:34.After a successful foreign policy trip, they don't need to come home
:15:35. > :15:40.and deal with these domestic issues, who's doing what with the Russians
:15:41. > :15:42.and why? As a waitress giving you any explanation as to why Jared
:15:43. > :15:49.Krishna would want to setup back communications with Moscow other
:15:50. > :15:55.than the want to avoid being targeted by US intelligence? No one
:15:56. > :15:58.really wanted to talk about as to why he was trying to have those
:15:59. > :16:03.channel communications but certainly having worked in the White House for
:16:04. > :16:05.four years, I can tell you that during the transition, you are
:16:06. > :16:08.trying to bring the administration up to speed so that on January 20,
:16:09. > :16:13.you can hit the ground running. What is the need to have those back
:16:14. > :16:17.channel communications with the Russians that are off the grid,
:16:18. > :16:21.unless of course maybe you don't want our Government to officially
:16:22. > :16:23.nor those contacts? There's going to be a lot more questions about that.
:16:24. > :16:25.It is Memorial Day here in America, a public holiday
:16:26. > :16:32.President Trump went to Arlington Cemetery to lay
:16:33. > :16:35.It's his first public event since he got back
:16:36. > :16:41.Here that this hallowed shrine, we honour the most noble among us, the
:16:42. > :16:48.men and women who paid the ultimate price for victory and for freedom.
:16:49. > :16:53.We paid tribute to those brave souls who roared into battle and ran into
:16:54. > :17:02.hell to face down evil. we wanted to give to the state of
:17:03. > :17:06.the US military. In Iraq nearly 4,500 US
:17:07. > :17:09.soldiers have been killed And the number of US military deaths
:17:10. > :17:13.in Afghanistan stands at over 2,000. And here's a look at how much the US
:17:14. > :17:17.- and some other countries spent The US committed $611 billion
:17:18. > :17:24.to military spending in 2016, 15 billion more
:17:25. > :17:26.than the previous year. China was quite a way
:17:27. > :17:28.behind the US, but still Then there's a big drop to Russia,
:17:29. > :17:35.which spent a total of $69 Saudi Arabia spent almost
:17:36. > :17:38.$64 billion, which was 23 And in 2016 the Uk's military
:17:39. > :17:48.expenditure was 54 billion dollars. Something we have talked about that
:17:49. > :17:54.is interesting is the size of America's military budget and the
:17:55. > :17:59.fact that between us, we almost know no one who serves on it. It's
:18:00. > :18:03.remarkable. At the head of World War II, 12% of the US population was
:18:04. > :18:09.serving in the armed forces. Today it is less than half of 1%. So many
:18:10. > :18:13.people serving our military in America yet so few people it seems
:18:14. > :18:16.in the circles that I'm moving know who they are. I have a handful from
:18:17. > :18:20.high school and one from law school and that's it. As we look at the
:18:21. > :18:23.fallen and look at the people who are willing to give the ultimate
:18:24. > :18:28.sacrifice, it seems to me that a lot of people here in Washington, DC
:18:29. > :18:33.don't know who they are, don't know their name and don't understand the
:18:34. > :18:34.value of the service. That is definitely a disconnect worth
:18:35. > :18:37.thinking about on this Memorial Day. The British intelligence service,
:18:38. > :18:40.MI5, is to review the way it deals with information from the public,
:18:41. > :18:42.in light of warnings ahead of the Manchester suicide bombing
:18:43. > :18:45.carried out by Salman Abedi. British police released a picture
:18:46. > :18:49.of Abedi that showed him wheeling a blue suitcase on the day
:18:50. > :18:54.of the suicide attack last week. This CCTV shows Abedi buying food
:18:55. > :18:57.and cleaning products just Police are asking the public to come
:18:58. > :19:04.forward with information about his whereabouts in the four
:19:05. > :19:09.days before the attack. North Korea has launched
:19:10. > :19:11.a short-range ballistic missile into the sea inside Japan's
:19:12. > :19:14.exclusive economic zone. It was the North's third ballistic
:19:15. > :19:17.missile test in as many weeks. The launch comes in fresh defiance
:19:18. > :19:20.of tough talk from Donald Trump, who promised last week at the G7
:19:21. > :19:23.summit that the "big problem" There's just over one week to go
:19:24. > :19:31.before the UK election and although campaigning
:19:32. > :19:33.was suspended following There's been quite a lot
:19:34. > :19:36.of movement in the polls. This is how the BBC poll of polls
:19:37. > :19:40.looked over the weekend, with the Conservatives trending down
:19:41. > :19:42.and Labour making gains. And to show you how big this shift
:19:43. > :20:06.is, this is the latest from YouGov. What's going on? I thought this was
:20:07. > :20:12.meant to be queried for Theresa May? -- a clear lead. This election is
:20:13. > :20:17.proving more volatile than many thought it would be there for weeks
:20:18. > :20:22.ago and at that point, Theresa May had a 20 plus point lead in the
:20:23. > :20:26.opinion polls but they have tightened, no question about it,
:20:27. > :20:29.don't perhaps seven or eight points in recent polls. That would still
:20:30. > :20:34.suggest a Conservative win but not as emphatic as those earlier polls
:20:35. > :20:37.suggested so perhaps the British electorate is looking again at both
:20:38. > :20:43.Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, and having a think.
:20:44. > :20:47.It's a strange atmosphere here because this campaign was in full
:20:48. > :20:52.swing up until that dreadful terror attack in Manchester last Monday.
:20:53. > :20:55.After that there was a pause for almost a week and I think there is a
:20:56. > :20:59.big TV debate which I'm covering tonight here, hosted by sky TV,
:21:00. > :21:04.which will be the first big television debate of this campaign
:21:05. > :21:08.and potentially could be a bit of a game changer. It's the first time
:21:09. > :21:12.that these are me and Jeremy Corbyn the Labour leader are going to be
:21:13. > :21:15.facing questions live on camera from a studio audience. That is was
:21:16. > :21:19.unpredictable and there just ten days until polling day. They're not
:21:20. > :21:27.going to debate each other though, just taking questions from
:21:28. > :21:30.reporters, voters. What responses are you looking for to see a Theresa
:21:31. > :21:38.May can change what seems to be a slide in the polls for her? Jeremy
:21:39. > :21:40.Corbyn was desperate for a head-to-head debate with Theresa May
:21:41. > :21:43.and she was emphatically does not going to happen so this is a
:21:44. > :21:46.compromise they have come to, they will take it in turns to take
:21:47. > :21:49.questions from the audience then they will both be killed by an
:21:50. > :22:02.interviewer. They will both be put on the spot but not at the same time
:22:03. > :22:08.-- both the grills -- both be grilled by an interviewer. They are
:22:09. > :22:20.forced to clarify how it might work in the future. There was a dip in
:22:21. > :22:23.the polls and so Theresa May is certainly going to want to do's
:22:24. > :22:27.debate to calm things down for her party and get back on the front foot
:22:28. > :22:30.and return to the subject she's desperate to talk about, the
:22:31. > :22:37.question of leadership and the main key issue after polling day which is
:22:38. > :22:40.how Britain takes itself out of the European Union, the Brexit
:22:41. > :22:46.negotiations. That's the message she will want to be driving home today.
:22:47. > :22:55.Looking to next week, how much of a game does she have to make to see it
:22:56. > :23:00.was worth calling the snap election? Good question! I think she probably
:23:01. > :23:10.needs to add dozens to her majority. Come on, one or two or three? I
:23:11. > :23:13.think she needs perhaps 40 or 50 two think this was worth the gamble.
:23:14. > :23:17.When she called it, it looked like she was going to romp home with a
:23:18. > :23:22.three digit landslide majority. That looks a lot less likely now but this
:23:23. > :23:29.is a very volatile, peculiar election and a lot can happen in the
:23:30. > :23:33.last ten days. Then add the debate, thank you very much.
:23:34. > :23:35.It's 100 years ago today that John F Kennedy was born.
:23:36. > :23:38.The young and charismatic politician was 46 when his life was cut short
:23:39. > :23:41.While he only served two years as president,
:23:42. > :23:44.he is clearly identifiable by just three letters - JFK -
:23:45. > :24:03.Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your
:24:04. > :24:07.country. I believe that this nation should
:24:08. > :24:11.commit itself to achieving the goal before this decade is out of landing
:24:12. > :24:26.a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth.
:24:27. > :24:32.The present's car is now turning onto Elm Street.
:24:33. > :24:33.President Kennedy has been assassinated. It is official, the
:24:34. > :24:58.president is dead. Remembering JFK. Ron, I wanted to
:24:59. > :25:01.ask you before we go as an American who covers American politics and a
:25:02. > :25:07.Republican who has served in the White House, the building behind
:25:08. > :25:11.you, what does JFK mean to you? He means a lot to me. He means so much
:25:12. > :25:17.when you look at the Civil Rights act of 1964 and a voting rights act
:25:18. > :25:22.of 1965. If it wasn't for President Kennedy having appointed his brother
:25:23. > :25:25.Bobby to the Attorney General, no previous administration had phoned
:25:26. > :25:31.the enforcement ability to bring these important statutes to life --
:25:32. > :25:33.found the ability. It gives someone like me who dreams of working in
:25:34. > :25:38.that building behind me, the opportunity to go to law school and
:25:39. > :25:42.college and achieve the American dream so he means so much to me for
:25:43. > :25:44.what he was able to do to really free so many people of colour in the
:25:45. > :25:52.United States at the very volatile time in our history. Thank you very
:25:53. > :25:54.much. We would say happy birthday Mr President. 100 years since JFK's
:25:55. > :25:55.birth. You're watching 100
:25:56. > :26:00.Days+ from BBC News.