07/06/2017 100 Days+

We have two important stories for you - in the UK campaigning

in the snap election ends today and the country prepares to vote.

And in Washington, intelligence officials testify in the Senate

refusing to say for now if Donald Trump interfered

Theresa May says the question now is the same as it was at the beginning

Who do you trust to actually have the strong and stable

leadership that is going to deliver the best deal for Britain in Europe?

than 80 rallies - he says Britain faces a clear

Five more years of Tory cuts, longer waiting lists,

underfunded schools in many parts of the country and

Washington serves up the prelude to former FBI director

At a Senate committee hearing - the director of national

intelligence said he had never felt pressured by the president -

but was he asked to intervene in the FBI inquiry.

Hello, I am Katty Kay in Washington, Christian Fraser is in London.

12 hours from now pollings stations will open in the UK.

It's an election the ruling Conservative were expected to win

But during the six week campaign the polls have narrowed.

We're going to focus first on the front runners. Theresa May has her

final event in Birmingham whilst Jeremy Corbyn has two events in

London before the campaign closes at midnight.

Here's our Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg.

She called it to win it, but it's not her choice.

A few hackles at 5:30am, following her trail like the missteps in the

last few weeks. Jolly photo ops aren't

quite her style, and there's not With security and tighter

terror laws on her mind. At eight o'clock in Glasgow,

Jeremy Corbyn enjoying With his long-held views

on security, cautious about the idea Our Human Rights Act

protects our rights. The way you deal with a threat

to democracy is not by reducing democracy, it's by dealing

with the threat. The day before the election, moving

his Shadow Home Secretary aside. Diane Abbott isn't well

and she's not campaigning. If that is unusual, much has been

about this campaign. Theresa May was knocked on social

care, a policy that might have caused alarm on many bowling greens,

before returning to script. It's about who people trust

to have the strong and stable leadership to get the best deal

for Britain in Europe. And who has the will and, crucially,

the plan to deliver an Brexit. Legions of Jeremy Corbyn fans

want something else. Opponents say his sums don't stack

up, but they love Labour's manifesto that promises more borrowing

and a much bigger state. The first time it's been

Jeremy Corbyn with full on socialism versus the Conservatives and it's

giving people a great opportunity. Theresa May doesn't care

about people like us. Vote Labour, for crying out loud,

to help this country get out of the mess we are in,

with this Tory government. The poor are suffering

in this blinking country. Our manifesto offers something

very, very different. They say well it's going

to cost a lot of money. But we are very clear about this,

we have fully costed it. 95% of the population

will pay no more in tax, no more in National Insurance,

no more in VAT. The two main campaigns

look so different It's not an election

where anyone can say politicians are all the same,

they have different visions Labour would tax more and spend more

on schools and hospitals. Under the Tories there

would still be cuts to keep trying They have very different takes

on the kind of country this is and what they want it to be,

and very different leaders who are trying to persuade

you to let them take us there. Campaigns are not a contest

of who covers more miles. Mrs and Mr May in

the Tory plane today. At the start of this journey she

seemed unassailable, not any more. We've set out in our manifesto

the challenges that we face as a country, and how

we as government would deliver How we would ensure

we were addressing those challenges. Isn't it the case, you didn't have

to call this election, and you're asking people to trust

you for five years after a campaign where the sense is you've said

as little as possible. What I have said to the British

people is to be open with them about the challenges

this country faces. But also about the opportunities

that we have in this country. I think that's absolutely

the right thing to do. The core, not the quality

of the campaign will see her home. My vote will be with Mrs May

because of her experience. I compare them, one is a lot more

qualified, in my opinion, for the job interview

on offer tomorrow. I think she's a ruthless

candidate who can get the country through Brexit,

which is what we voted for. Elections aren't straightforward

popularity contests. It's turnout tomorrow, not tonight,

that really matters. Elections are decisions on just one

day, a choice that changes Laura Kuenssberg,

BBC News, Birmingham. Now just to remind you there are 650

seats or constituencies The number required

for an absolute majority is 326. In 2015 the Conservatives

won 331 seats. Rob Watson has steered us

through the campaign these past weeks, he is in Westminster

for us tonight. Good evening. The final line in that

report was that this is a decision that will affect our lifetimes. And

this time around it is that profound because of Brexit and the direction

the parties want to take us in. That is one strange thing about this

rather strange election. That the stakes could not possibly be higher.

After all whoever wins the election gets to decide the path in the world

of the UK after being a member of the EU for more than 40 years. That

affects the place in the world, security arrangements, diplomacy,

economics, everything. But yet despite the stakes being so high it

is difficult to imagine a campaign that feels less like it is they

become to life. In part because of the tragedies of course of those two

attacks but on those key issues, what is Britain going to look like

after Brexit, what is going to happen to the economy, we have heard

precious little. It is always about the economy, stupid. Why have they

not been talking about that? I guess critics of Theresa May would say

that has been a mistake within a party that she should have been more

forceful in defending the Conservative government record. And

its record previously with the coalition. She has not done that and

I think if somehow she does not pull off the victory she expects, she can

expect more grumbling. Jeremy Corbyn has focused impact on and offered an

unashamedly socialist alternative. He has been on the far left fringes

of UK politics for a long time and has come out with a 90 austerity

message. Below many of his people think the media is hard on them

there has not been much examination of this manifesto partly because the

media concentrate on who they think is going to win which is Theresa

May. Just to pick up on something about how this fundamentally will

affect the path of the world for the UK, my understanding is that the

path was decided in the Brexit referendum last June and whoever is

elected Prime Minister it is still going to happen. So it is already

determined, and how does this election make a fundamental

difference to that? Absolutely, the big election was two years ago, or

the big vote. Now it is a question of how do the politicians in this

country make it work. And it is that bad but is uncertain, and the stakes

could not possibly be higher. Clearly Brexit, yes the UK is going

to be leaving the EU, but there are many different ways to do that. You

could have that hard Brexit where the UK would seek to be the single

market and Customs union or something which looks more like the

UK staying inside the EU. So a big vote two years ago but in a the

stuff that is now really important, other details. What will the UK do

about immigration policy, about trade with the rest of the world.

When it's somehow pivot away from the European Union and do more trade

with China for example or India. Thank you very much. All week we've

been looking ahead to the of former FBI director James Connolly. His

full opening statement has been published a day ahead of that. He

said during a phone call on the 30th of March President Trump asked him

what could be done to lift the cloud of the Russia pro. He has also said

Donald Trump told again during a dinner, I need loyalty. Laura Bicker

joins me now. Let's go to Michael Flynn and that

meeting in the Oval Office which has been much written about and whether

or not James Comey wrote a memo straight afterwards saying there was

pressure put on him by Donald Trump to drop the investigation into

Michael Flynn. Who of course was a former national security adviser and

had to be fired after his meetings with Russian ambassadors was

disclosed. Let's read some of the text from a meeting. When he leaned

over, he said that when it came to the study 14th meeting, he wanted to

talk about Flynn. This is Donald Trump talking about Flynn. He said

the president began by saying Clinton had not done anything wrong

in speaking with the Russians but he had to let go because he misled the

vice president. He said after a while, the president returned to the

topic of Mike Flynn think is a good guy and has been through a lot. He

repeated Michael Flynn had not done anything wrong but had misled the

president. Then he said I hope you can see your way clear to letting

this go. Letting the thing go. He is a good guy, I hope you can let this

go. The issue seems to be weathered Donald Trump somehow obstructed

justice and put pressure on James Comey to drop investigations and

from reading the statement, is James Comey going to say yes there was

obstruction of justice? I think he is going to fudge it a bit. In his

memo he writes I understood the president to be requesting bubble

drop in investigation of Michael Flynn in connection with false

statements about his conversations with the Russian ambassador in

December. I did not understand him to be talking about the broader

investigation into Russia. Then he goes on to say he kept it close

within his FBI team, he did not inform the Attorney General. This is

a fine line for the former director James Comey to plough because if it

is seen that he didn't know there was an obstruction of justice, and

then he failed to disclose that, then he failed in his duty as FBI

director. Some some ways what he's saying is it since President Trump

was implying he should let Michael Flynn, this investigation into him

go, not the broader investigation. Thank you very much. And we are

going to hear that test testimony from James Comey tomorrow and it

will be all but the question of whether President Trump obstructed

justice by asking officials not to investigate links with his campaign

to Russia. Today Senate officials refused to testify. Democrats were

pressed the Director of National intelligence Dan Coates on a simple

question, had the president asked him to intervene. As I responded to

similar questions during my confirmation in a second hearing

before the committee, I do not feel it is appropriate for me in the

public session in which confidential conversations between the present

myself, I do not believe it is appropriate for me to address that

in a public session. The director of National intelligence Dan Coats.

For more I spoke earlier with Republican Senator John Barrasso.

The defence chiefs in their testimony this morning I saying two

senators they do not want to play effectively whether President Trump

suggested that they should get the FBI investigation into links with

Russia dropped. Should they not be telling the American public that?

The American public want to know, we're going to have the former FBI

director James Comey testifying tomorrow. It is a bipartisan panel

asking the questions, Republicans and Democrats alike want the answer

is that the American people want as well. We want to make sure the

country is safe and secure and strong and if we cannot get answers

were not going to feel as safe and secure as we would like. Are you

concerned by the press report that the president tried to influence

some of his intelligence chiefs including director James Comey and

put pressure on them to get investigations dropped? We're going

to hear from James Comey tomorrow and what is important is the content

of what he tells us as well as the context and the town. For more

details are and what he tells us the president told him. That is what the

people want to know and I think were not going to rest, certainly this

bipartisan select committee is not going to rest until we get all the

answers specifically related to Russia. Yup Republicans and

Democrats alike who have no trust of Vladimir Putin, we know he is trying

to undermine our democracy and not just in the US, we see it in

elections in Germany, France and England are so you'd not be trusted

and we need answers. You have been a staunch supporter of the present but

when you look at what is coming out of the White House in the course of

the last week, are you concerned about the way this president is

managing the White House, managing relations with some of the closest

American allies? There is a lot of work to be done in Congress and I

think the tweeting detracts from what we're trying to do. In terms of

jobs in the economy, overall national security, the types of

things we're trying to do with infrastructure and health care. It

is almost impossible for Congress to get any of those things done, no

bills have been cast on tax or infrastructure jobs and partly

because of the chaos coming out of the White House. You have in the

past defended the president, would you urge the president now to change

the way he is running the country and his relations with Congress and

his allies? Well the president is most successful when focused on the

things the American people are focused on, and that is jobs and the

economy, the national security. Those are the things that are

winning combinations that things that people but -- that people are

caring about. As long as the focus is on that it is much better for

everyone. You're heading onto Wyoming, how concerned are people in

that state about the Russian investigation? People are focused on

getting their own lives under control in terms of jobs, getting

booed on the table, getting the kids off to school and having good jobs.

Certainly the concerned with Russia is real, it is all around the

country. We want to make sure our country is safe and strong, we worry

about terrorism, we need to focus on those goals moving forward and want

to make sure that we can get beyond the distraction is currently on the

table. Thank you very much. A bizarre state of affairs spelt out

by Senator McCain who said, I have the Washington report in front of

me, how the president is supposed to have approached Dan Coates and asked

him to help the FBI back. Yet there is Dan Coates in front of the

highest committee in the Senate and he cannot say anything. Or does not

want to. There was a lot of frustration in that committee

hearing that these poor intelligence directors had not come to the Senate

prepared with what they could answer and what they could not and what

they were going to answer. One of them was after you have a legal

reason for not answering the question of what the president asked

you or did not and he said I do not think I do but I do not feel it is

the right thing to do. Clearly they are frustrated and want answers. And

you would hear that. Someone like our guest was a staunch supporter of

Donald Trump saying this has to stop. He was asked if he felt

pressure and he replied no. But he was not asked the question about

whether he had been asked and that is a second thing. A separate thing,

yes. A month

ago President Trump fired the Director of the FBI -

today he announced a replacement. The process took longer

than the White House expected as a stream of candidates

were interviewed and then either rejected or pulled

themselves out of contention. Now Mr Trump has picked

a career prosecutor, someone known in fact

to James Comey. Wray, a man of impeccable

credentials, to be the new Interesting timing. Perhaps he

released this information ahead of the James Comey investigation. Many

of you will not have heard about him.

So what can we tell you about Christopher Wray?

Well the Yale lawyer was President George W

Bush's assistant attorney general from 2003 to 2005 -

while there he worked under James Comey at the

He ran the criminal division of the Justice Department,

dealing with fraud scandals that plagued the corporate world.

After his service he worked for a big private law firm,

specialising in white collar investigations.

Wray was also a lawyer for Chris Christie,

the New Jersey Governor - and Trump ally -

We will get to know him better. One thing that will bring up a lot on

the programme is the popularity of President Trump. And it means that

he can govern. But are his approval ratings on the wane? If we take an

average from the polling, his popularity rating at the moment is

39%. Not great numbers but here's some

context that might surprise you - On Day 138 of his presidency -

his figures are in fact better than the approval ratings

Bill Clinton had at this same stage. 138 days into Clinton's

adminstration just 37.8 percent of Americans approved of the job

he was doing. That surprised me because Bill

Clinton was a popular president. At stages through his presidency. What

went wrong at the beginning? Bill Clinton left office with a 66%

approval rating, the envy of most presidents. But at the beginning, it

was actually pretty chaotic with personnel upheavals and the kind of

things we're hearing bit about at the moment from the Donald Trump

White House. That dragged his ratings down. Here's what he did

about it, he brought in a grown-up, Leon Panetta, to be his chief of

staff. He shook up the White House and instilled a lot of discipline

and approval ratings began to go back up again.

I just want to bring this back to where things stand here with some

The poll of polls puts the Conservatives

While Labour is five points behind on 37.2%.

Tim Farron's Liberal Democrats are polling at 8.1%.

The polls have been completely up and down these last few weeks. One

poll put the Conservatives at one point above Labour and another as

high as 12 points. Looking back at the polling on the popular vote in

2015, the Conservatives with seven points ahead, so do you take other

side of that, if they were six points ahead do they lose some of

the majority, if conversely there over at April 12 points, do they

start to pick up seats tomorrow. I do not think you would bet the house

on it, it is up in the air. It is going to be fascinating what kind of

results we get. No one I do not think really knows. And what matters

most is how many seats the Conservative Party gets and how much

chicks that are majority. These polling members may not entirely

reflect that. Because vulture is of course divergent in various seats.

-- vote share. There are of course other parties

involved in the election. This is a parliament, 650 individual elections

Ruby and nine parties all looking for a stake in Westminster. Here's

what they had to say in the final push of campaigning. There are

challenges ahead, the Brexit negotiations, we need to get them

right. Brexit is the basis of everything. We need to secure our

economy for the future, make sure we have more and better paid jobs. You

have a choice, five more years of Tory cuts, longer waiting lists,

underfunded schools in many parts of the country, and hope under the

Labour Party. If you want to send a message to Theresa May that you are

not to be taken for granted, the dementia tax is not to be given the

all clear and cuts are not OK, the Liberal Democrats are the party to

get behind. She has come across as weak and evasive so it is possible

but Scotland could stop her getting a bigger majority. People are coming

onto the idea that Theresa May will not give us the Brexit want. What we

need to do is to have... There's no place for sexist remarks in

political leadership. We have a job to do to lead the way and set the

tone. We need a strong team of Plaid Cymru MPs to make sure that Wales is

taken seriously and not the Lord in the way it has been since the

referendum took place last June. We are at a fork in the road and if you

do not want to waste money on Trident and look at ideas to make

the country fit for the 21st century like a shorter working week, more

investment in the NHS, then vote for the Green Party. Plenty more to