:00:12. > :00:13.President Trump slams Germany in a tweet
:00:14. > :00:18.He says the relationship is Very bad for the US.
:00:19. > :00:21.The German Chancellor hits back - reiterating her claim that Europe
:00:22. > :00:26.must now take its fate into its own hands.
:00:27. > :00:28.In a morning Tweet storm, President Trump again
:00:29. > :00:30.defends his son in law Jared Kushner against accusations he had
:00:31. > :00:37.All of which may help explain why the White House Communications
:00:38. > :00:44.Is the big staff shake up about to begin?
:00:45. > :00:46.And Ariana Grande is heading back to Manchester this Sunday to honour
:00:47. > :01:02.She'll be joined by some of the music worlds biggest stars.
:01:03. > :01:08.It's not entirely clear why relations between Germany
:01:09. > :01:11.and America have deteriorated so fast this week, but there's
:01:12. > :01:18.Both Angela Merkel and Donald Trump today continued their war of words.
:01:19. > :01:21.For the American President, that meant taking to Twitter.
:01:22. > :01:24."We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany,
:01:25. > :01:27.plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO
:01:28. > :01:36.The German foreign minister wistfully suggested it
:01:37. > :01:38.isn't helpful for the two countries to be communicating with tweets -
:01:39. > :01:41.but his Chancellor restated her view that Europe now has to look
:01:42. > :01:56.TRANSLATION: Transatlantic ties are of paramount importance to us. The
:01:57. > :02:00.only thing I did was to say that the current situation gives more reasons
:02:01. > :02:02.for us in Europe to take our destiny in our own hands.
:02:03. > :02:04.So what is Germany and the rest of Europe making
:02:05. > :02:08.Joining me from Brussels is Elmar Brok - he is a German
:02:09. > :02:14.politician and Member of the European Parliament.
:02:15. > :02:27.Whose fault is this row? Thank you for calling me. Do you put the fault
:02:28. > :02:33.with Angela Merkel or Donald Trump that relationships have got so bad
:02:34. > :02:38.between them this week? We have to see that the American president has
:02:39. > :02:47.made accusations with no serious grounds. This is not a way to deal
:02:48. > :02:50.with partners. And it shows there is no reliability any more and I think
:02:51. > :02:55.that is another reason that we have to work with America, that Donald
:02:56. > :03:00.Trump is not all of America. That the United States and Nato are
:03:01. > :03:05.important for the collective defence of Europe but we must also look to
:03:06. > :03:13.our own interests and own safeguards. The Europeans do the job
:03:14. > :03:22.better. We complete the internal market is to strengthen economic and
:03:23. > :03:28.monetary union. If we strengthen friends again and have our own
:03:29. > :03:36.defence policy. That also makes Nato better. -- strengthen France. You
:03:37. > :03:42.know Angela Merkel very well and you are close friend of hers. She is not
:03:43. > :03:46.a who usually is prone to being quite so outspoken as she has about
:03:47. > :03:50.the relationship with America this week. What specifically did you
:03:51. > :03:55.think pushed her to say the things that she has said. Was it the manner
:03:56. > :04:02.of President Trump at the G-7 meeting and during his trip to
:04:03. > :04:09.Europe or specific policies? It might be a mixture. I was not
:04:10. > :04:12.sitting next to them in those meetings but also there are
:04:13. > :04:17.questions to do with climate change in which Angela Merkel is very much
:04:18. > :04:23.interested. If there is no joint policy on climate change we cannot
:04:24. > :04:28.solve problems in Africa, and fighting terrorism and have a
:04:29. > :04:32.solution to migration, if we have no understanding of international trade
:04:33. > :04:39.relations. We have to see that BMW sells more cars outside the United
:04:40. > :04:43.States spent to them. And these are crucial things that are not known.
:04:44. > :04:50.So I think that is a problem if it is repeated and repeated. You said
:04:51. > :04:54.Donald Trump has made false accusations about Germany. Are you
:04:55. > :05:03.referring to his Tweet this morning about the trade deficit? With the
:05:04. > :05:07.trade deficit he mentioned cars and that is true. But BMW and other
:05:08. > :05:14.German car-makers make so many cards in the United States. BMW sells more
:05:15. > :05:18.from the United States then in Germany and sent to the United
:05:19. > :05:22.States. Such things are not known. But there are other questions, what
:05:23. > :05:27.is the trade deficit between California and European countries.
:05:28. > :05:32.We talk about Microsoft and all those businesses. I think it is more
:05:33. > :05:36.complicated to look in one branch of business and make that an example
:05:37. > :05:40.for everything. I think it is much more complicated. If you assemble a
:05:41. > :05:48.parts come from for five different countries. What is the country where
:05:49. > :05:55.you have to ask that has a trade surplus. It is so complicated and if
:05:56. > :06:02.that is destroyed, it means there will be a loss of economic success
:06:03. > :06:09.for all of us. We will all lose. And we need openness from the United
:06:10. > :06:13.States and if we do not find a solution to these questions the
:06:14. > :06:14.Chinese will be the winners. And that cannot be in the American
:06:15. > :06:18.interests. Thank you very much. President Trump is not wrong
:06:19. > :06:20.when he says there's a trade Germany exports 114 billion dollars
:06:21. > :06:28.worth of goods to the United states. While the US export just 49 billion
:06:29. > :06:32.dollars worth to Germany. That's a trade deficit for America
:06:33. > :06:35.of 65 billion dollars. A lot of the trade comes
:06:36. > :06:40.from pharmaceuticals and cars. And a lot of those German cars
:06:41. > :06:46.are actually built in America. German car-makers employ 33
:06:47. > :06:48.thousand people in the US. And 77,000 more US workers
:06:49. > :06:51.are employed by German By the way BMW's largest
:06:52. > :07:15.factory in the world Ron Christie is with me. And your
:07:16. > :07:19.first car came from that factory. From South Carolina. Talking about
:07:20. > :07:23.the trade deficit, Donald Trump is angry about this and there is a
:07:24. > :07:26.trade deficit with Germany and many other countries have complained
:07:27. > :07:32.about Germany and their trade policies. Is this some fault on both
:07:33. > :07:36.sides? I think there is fault on both sides but this is not how you
:07:37. > :07:41.do diplomacy, not through Twitter. If the president of the US has a row
:07:42. > :07:45.with Angela Merkel I think they have a telephone and they should use
:07:46. > :07:49.that. They had a great opportunity at the G-7 last week to iron out
:07:50. > :07:52.some differences. The former president Obama had a great
:07:53. > :07:56.relationship with Angela Merkel and we saw them together at the
:07:57. > :08:03.Brandenburg gate. They have warm relations. So President Trump wants
:08:04. > :08:05.to find a way to reduce some of the rows we have with foreign allies,
:08:06. > :08:10.the way to do that is through personal diplomacy. Many questions
:08:11. > :08:15.about how he is creating a row with Germany and perhaps Moscow could
:08:16. > :08:17.benefit. And sitting in the Kremlin as Vladimir Putin today, I would be
:08:18. > :08:19.enjoying every moment of that. Senator John McCain certainly seems
:08:20. > :08:22.to think the Russia issue He's told ABC Australia that
:08:23. > :08:25.Russian President Vladimir Putin is a bigger threat to world security
:08:26. > :08:37.than the Islamic State group, I think he is the premier and most
:08:38. > :08:42.important threat, more so than Islamic State. I think Isis can do
:08:43. > :08:46.terrible things and I worry a lot about what is happening with the
:08:47. > :08:50.Muslim faith. I worry about a lot of things about that. But it is the
:08:51. > :08:55.Russians who are trying, who tried to destroy the very fundamental
:08:56. > :09:01.democracy and that is to change the outcome of an American election.
:09:02. > :09:03.And for more on the investigations into Russian interference
:09:04. > :09:06.we are joined now by James Woolsey, who formerly served as the Director
:09:07. > :09:19.Do you agree with Senator John McCain that the real concern and
:09:20. > :09:23.real threat at the moment for the United States National security is
:09:24. > :09:27.not so much Islamic State but Russia? I would say Iran and North
:09:28. > :09:36.Korea and Russia. Iran and North Korea both have strong elements of
:09:37. > :09:41.instability about them and ideology, who knows what the ideology is for
:09:42. > :09:47.North Korea. Iran it is Islamist terrorism. And that is a very
:09:48. > :09:51.serious problem. Russia, we're used to dealing with, we fought a Cold
:09:52. > :09:55.War against them for several decades and more or less prevail. And
:09:56. > :10:03.several times we almost came to nuclear war. But we got through it
:10:04. > :10:09.and part of that was because Russia has a certain element of stability
:10:10. > :10:14.about it in spite of its habit of wanting to capture its neighbours
:10:15. > :10:18.and whenever it is bordered seems to want to grab a neighbour. And that
:10:19. > :10:24.is not a good thing from our point of view. I think it lost a lot at
:10:25. > :10:28.the end of the Cold War and might want to get them back again for the
:10:29. > :10:33.President Putin reiterated his claim today that allegations that Assad
:10:34. > :10:37.had used chemical weapons were just that, allegations and put out as it
:10:38. > :10:41.distractions Western powers could put pressure on the Syrian
:10:42. > :10:45.government. It is almost a good example in the midst of these
:10:46. > :10:51.Russian investigations, of the kind of reality we're dealing with with
:10:52. > :10:59.with President Putin. Russians have a propensity for disinformation
:11:00. > :11:02.which is not just misinformation but a total and complete plan for
:11:03. > :11:11.constructing lies about almost everything. And their approach to
:11:12. > :11:15.our elections, and German elections, elections in Eastern Europe, has for
:11:16. > :11:22.decades been to distract democracy. That is what Russia does. It is not
:11:23. > :11:27.an exception but what is different is cyber war, you can do it in a lot
:11:28. > :11:31.of ways you could not before. You did at one stage advised the Donald
:11:32. > :11:37.Trump campaign, how concerned are you about all of these reports and
:11:38. > :11:41.the investigations into links, possible links between the Donald
:11:42. > :11:46.Trump campaign and must go and what that could mean for America? I think
:11:47. > :11:52.a lot of that is overblown. We have had informal back door contacts with
:11:53. > :11:57.foreign countries including some that were front and centre enemies
:11:58. > :12:01.for decades. And other countries do that as well. Often historically
:12:02. > :12:07.they've used intelligence chiefs to make private visits to another
:12:08. > :12:13.country and conduct negotiations. Here are sometimes they have and
:12:14. > :12:18.sometimes not. But I think a lot of this is really overblown. And people
:12:19. > :12:22.ought to calm down for a while and get their facts sorted out. Then we
:12:23. > :12:29.can see whether they should be upset or not. My question picks up on what
:12:30. > :12:34.we said a moment ago, so much of what we have heard, misinformation,
:12:35. > :12:40.about the Russians, has come through leaks. I wonder having run the CIA,
:12:41. > :12:43.how much of an impact does this have on our ability to collect
:12:44. > :12:48.intelligence and also, more importantly, these crimes being
:12:49. > :12:52.committed, can the CIA and intelligence gathering operations
:12:53. > :12:57.find these individuals looking this information? Unless it is coming
:12:58. > :12:59.from someone in the CIA which seems unlikely, these links are the
:13:00. > :13:04.business of the FBI and law enforcement. The CIA does not
:13:05. > :13:10.investigate Americans to find out who is leaking what. But I think the
:13:11. > :13:19.leaks themselves are extremely damaging to the country. They're
:13:20. > :13:24.verging on treason. And I think we need to let the FBI and other parts
:13:25. > :13:28.of law enforcement in the country do everything they can to find at least
:13:29. > :13:33.a few of the people doing this and prosecute them and have them
:13:34. > :13:36.punished severely. Because people now figured they go to lunch with a
:13:37. > :13:42.journalist and why not talk about what I heard yesterday in the
:13:43. > :13:46.office. Thank you very much. And clearly those leaks caused many
:13:47. > :13:48.problems between America and Britain after the Manchester bombing.
:13:49. > :13:51.Alleged US ties to Russia have barely been out of the headlines
:13:52. > :13:54.since Donald Trump took over as president almost four months ago.
:13:55. > :13:56.That's also how long his top communications
:13:57. > :14:00.That's Mike Dubke - who you may well never have heard,
:14:01. > :14:03.but don't worry you don't need to get to know him because
:14:04. > :14:06.Mr Dubke - who had the official title of White House
:14:07. > :14:08.communications director - offered his resignation earlier this
:14:09. > :14:11.month but said he'd stay on during President Trump's
:14:12. > :14:27.Is this the beginning of the great White House staff shake-up? It could
:14:28. > :14:30.be. When I worked there are chief of staff used as they use over the
:14:31. > :14:36.pleasure of the President for the time being. And both the privilege
:14:37. > :14:40.and the time being could end more quickly than you want. That is what
:14:41. > :14:44.we're seeing here. Interesting that it is the communications director
:14:45. > :14:47.suggesting that the White House or the president thinks he has a
:14:48. > :14:52.communications problem and not an issue problem. Absolutely, White
:14:53. > :14:59.House staff are to be seen and not heard. We hear all the time about
:15:00. > :15:05.this allegation, and it is not good for the agenda of the President. We
:15:06. > :15:16.need to focus on what his policies are. That might not be the fault of
:15:17. > :15:20.the communications or of Mike Dubke. That could be the fault of numerous
:15:21. > :15:21.people within the White House again looking to reporters and talking to
:15:22. > :15:22.them and a general sense of dissatisfaction of staff. The
:15:23. > :15:27.linking is coming from the staff and this White House, or they do is link
:15:28. > :15:31.something to the press. Ultimately the communications director must
:15:32. > :15:50.manage the internal process and say stop this, we are not disciplined,
:15:51. > :15:51.we're not talking about staff but policies. Sean Spicer is at the
:15:52. > :15:52.podium right now and we will go to him shortly. There he is, still in
:15:53. > :15:58.his job for the moment. German police have detained
:15:59. > :16:00.a 17-year-old Syrian suspected of planning a suicide
:16:01. > :16:02.attack in Berlin. Brandenburg police say
:16:03. > :16:03.the suspect was arrested Special forces raided a home
:16:04. > :16:06.for unaccompanied refugee children after the boy sent a message
:16:07. > :16:09.to his family telling them he had become a jihadist
:16:10. > :16:11.and saying goodbye. Officers are still searching
:16:12. > :16:14.the home where he's thought to have At least 26 people have been killed
:16:15. > :16:18.in two separate car bomb attacks The first was just after midnight
:16:19. > :16:22.on Monday at an ice cream shop in the Karrada district as people
:16:23. > :16:25.had broken their Ramadan fasts. Hours later the second blast went
:16:26. > :16:27.off a few miles away. The so-called Islamic state says
:16:28. > :16:30.it was behind both attacks which targeted "gatherings" of Shia
:16:31. > :16:31.Muslims. Police say Tiger Woods
:16:32. > :16:34.was "asleep at the wheel" of a stationary car, and didn't know
:16:35. > :16:37.where he was when officers woke him The golfer apologised
:16:38. > :16:41.after being charged with "driving under the influence" -
:16:42. > :16:43.he says he reacted to prescription Ariana Grande announced today
:16:44. > :16:55.that she will return to Manchester on Sunday for a benefit concert -
:16:56. > :16:58.it'll be less than two weeks after a suicide attack at her show
:16:59. > :17:02.in the city killed 22 people. She'll be joined by Justin Bieber,
:17:03. > :17:05.Coldplay, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus to raise money
:17:06. > :17:07.for the families of those who died and were injured at her concert
:17:08. > :17:15.in Manchester Arena. Our correspondent Roger
:17:16. > :17:27.Johnson is in Manchester. Ariana Grande had made it clear she
:17:28. > :17:31.wanted to return to the city after the attack at Manchester Arena last
:17:32. > :17:36.week. In a statement she said she would not let hate win. So on Sunday
:17:37. > :17:40.she will be joined by a number of international stars including Justin
:17:41. > :17:48.Bieber, and Coldplay. The proceeds of this concert will go to the One
:17:49. > :17:51.Love Manchester emergency fund set up by Manchester City Council and
:17:52. > :17:55.the British Red Cross. The total currently stand for that kind of
:17:56. > :18:00.around ?6 million. The British Red Cross today praised the singer and
:18:01. > :18:05.her gesture of solidarity stop the proceeds as I say will go to this
:18:06. > :18:09.fund and tickets for the concert will be on sale on Thursday. For
:18:10. > :18:13.anyone who attended the concert at the Manchester Arena there will be
:18:14. > :18:19.no charge. This show will also be broadcast live on BBC Television and
:18:20. > :18:25.BBC Radio as well as Capital Radio and streamed online on the intranet.
:18:26. > :18:30.Earlier today Greater Manchester Police had said they had been
:18:31. > :18:31.working with the management of the singer to ensure the benefit gig
:18:32. > :18:33.could take place. There's nine days to go now
:18:34. > :18:38.until the UK's general election. The supporters of the two main
:18:39. > :18:41.parties have both claimed victories after their leaders appeared
:18:42. > :18:45.on a live televised programme. And it was business as usual today
:18:46. > :18:48.with both candidates back out on the campaign trail trying
:18:49. > :19:05.to build on last night's momentum. You do not negotiate the right
:19:06. > :19:09.Brexit deal for Britain from a position of weakness but the
:19:10. > :19:13.position of strength. With the Prime Minister 100% committed to the cause
:19:14. > :19:18.and a strong majority government with a clear plan to see it through.
:19:19. > :19:22.And you cannot negotiate the right Brexit deal for Britain if you do
:19:23. > :19:29.not have confidence in our strengths and in all that we have to offer
:19:30. > :19:34.either. You can only deliver for Britain if you believe in Britain.
:19:35. > :19:36.And I do. And that is why I have been clear about my plan for Brexit
:19:37. > :19:38.at every stage. But things didn't go quite so well
:19:39. > :19:40.for the opposition leader. Jeremy Corbyn announced a new policy
:19:41. > :19:43.on extending free childcare But when quizzed by the BBC
:19:44. > :19:47.about how much that would cost the taxpayer he was unable
:19:48. > :19:57.to give an answer. How much will it cost? I will give
:19:58. > :20:03.you the figure in a moment. You do not know? You're logging your iPad.
:20:04. > :20:08.You have announced a major policy and do not know how much it will
:20:09. > :20:12.cost? Can I give you the figure in a moment? This is the issue with
:20:13. > :20:17.people and the Labour Party that we cannot trust you with our money. Not
:20:18. > :20:25.at all. You do not know the figure. All our manifesto is fully costed
:20:26. > :20:28.and examined. You're holding your manifesto, you have iPad and have
:20:29. > :20:31.had a phone call, you do not know how much it is to cost. Can we come
:20:32. > :20:34.back to that in a moment? Our political correspondent
:20:35. > :20:44.Rob Watson joins us live now Everyone seems to think Jeremy
:20:45. > :20:49.Corbyn had a good night at the debate but was it a problem that he
:20:50. > :20:56.could not enter basic facts are that interview? My favourite verdict on
:20:57. > :21:00.the debate came from a colleague who said everyone was a winner apart
:21:01. > :21:04.from the poor people watching. I think that was a reference to the
:21:05. > :21:10.idea that Theresa May had been having a bit of a wobble over the
:21:11. > :21:12.last week or so in terms of the Conservative manifesto. Nothing
:21:13. > :21:21.truly terrible happened to her in the debate, she is a bit wooden but
:21:22. > :21:26.she held her own. And expectations were quite low for Jeremy Corbyn,
:21:27. > :21:32.but again he managed to keep his humour and so in that sense everyone
:21:33. > :21:35.felt, the leaders, no one thinks they're great performers but they
:21:36. > :21:40.did OK. So therefore I think it was a bit disappointing for the Labour
:21:41. > :21:44.leader and his team to see that he was stumped on how much a key
:21:45. > :21:52.proposal would cost. It reminded me a little of that moment where George
:21:53. > :22:01.Bush, the first, did not know how much a pint of milk costs. This
:22:02. > :22:04.slide in the polls, how serious is it for Theresa May? I think it is
:22:05. > :22:11.immensely serious. At the start of this election she made the campaign
:22:12. > :22:14.about herself and leadership. The campaign which has been less than
:22:15. > :22:20.stellar, her ratings have gone down by half and perhaps more. I'm sorry
:22:21. > :22:28.I must interrupt to give way to Sean Spicer. He is at the White House.
:22:29. > :22:35.Jared Kushner has volunteered to share with Congress what he knows
:22:36. > :22:40.about these meetings. I'm not going to get into what the president did
:22:41. > :22:42.or not discuss. Your question assumes a lot of facts that are not
:22:43. > :22:50.substantiated by anything but anonymous sources being leaked out.
:22:51. > :22:56.You're asking if he approves of action but that is not a confirmed
:22:57. > :23:01.action. I think Secretary Kelly and general McMaster have both discussed
:23:02. > :23:06.in general terms back channels that are an appropriate part of
:23:07. > :23:15.diplomacy. Your question presupposes fact that have not been confirmed.
:23:16. > :23:19.Did the President, he tweeted an article this morning about that back
:23:20. > :23:24.channel based on a source that said there was an effort to set up a back
:23:25. > :23:32.channel and that it was the Russians who suggested that. And it was to
:23:33. > :23:38.talk about Syria. What I just said speaks for itself. But you said the
:23:39. > :23:43.article was based on anonymous sources. But the president tweeted
:23:44. > :23:50.something also based on anonymous sources. So why would that be more
:23:51. > :23:57.credible? I do not think, one issue is that the statement provided by
:23:58. > :24:05.the attorney of Jared Kushner and second, the dossier was largely
:24:06. > :24:10.discredited in the first place. Most publications refused to publish
:24:11. > :24:19.that. So there is an ongoing investigation and I'm not going to
:24:20. > :24:24.get into confirming stuff. First the president for the second time in one
:24:25. > :24:34.month tweeted his desire for the Senate to reduce votes to pass
:24:35. > :24:40.anything which would effectively stop the filibuster for legislation
:24:41. > :24:43.as for nominations. Is this something he discussed with the
:24:44. > :24:50.majority leader or any of the Senate leadership? I think the consent he
:24:51. > :24:54.had with the pace of the Senate are long-standing. The use of the
:24:55. > :24:58.filibuster and rules of the Senate are apt to Senator McConnell but he
:24:59. > :25:04.has had some frustration with the pace of legislation and obstructive
:25:05. > :25:11.tactics employed by the Democrats. That has been well documented. Sean
:25:12. > :25:15.Spicer at the White House. He gave a summary of how the trip had gone and
:25:16. > :25:19.said it had gone well for the president and then he was asked
:25:20. > :25:24.about these Russian allegations. He seemed to say he did not have much
:25:25. > :25:30.to say. The little we heard, what I found striking was all this was
:25:31. > :25:35.about Twitter. The presence tweeted this, this is the peril of using
:25:36. > :25:42.social media to get out the message. It shows what a mess he has made of
:25:43. > :25:46.his press relations. You think we're going to hear more of the president
:25:47. > :25:55.on twitter? Yes. Thank you very much.
:25:56. > :26:01.And you will hear more from the president tomorrow morning when he
:26:02. > :26:07.The weather is looking sunnier and warmer for tomorrow.
:26:08. > :26:09.The skies are already clearing across some
:26:10. > :26:14.northern parts of the UK, and tomorrow promises
:26:15. > :26:18.This is what it looks like, then, through this evening.