:00:00. > :00:12.The Russia investigation takes a dramatic turn
:00:13. > :00:17.when President Trump's son admits to meeting a Russian operative.
:00:18. > :00:20.Donald Trump Jr changed his story about the 2016 meeting but now says
:00:21. > :00:22.he had hoped to find compromising evidence on the
:00:23. > :00:33.It's the first admission of it's kind, but is it collusion?
:00:34. > :00:36.Donald Trump Jr met the Russian lawyer in order to get the dirt.
:00:37. > :00:40.Jared Kushner and Trump's campaign manager also sat in.
:00:41. > :00:44."Close to the dumbest idea I've ever heard" -
:00:45. > :00:47.that was one Republican senator's reaction to President Trump
:00:48. > :00:51.exploring a joint cyber task force with Putin.
:00:52. > :00:55.The Iraqi government declares victory in Mosul.
:00:56. > :00:59.There are celebrations in the streets as word spreads
:01:00. > :01:01.the city has been liberated from so-called Islamic State.
:01:02. > :01:08.But the battle has come at a terrible cost.
:01:09. > :01:15.Look at the devastation around here, the heavy fighting, pretty much
:01:16. > :01:17.every car and every building has been wrecked.
:01:18. > :01:19.Travelling the route of the New Silk Road.
:01:20. > :01:23.We have a special report on the trillion dollar project
:01:24. > :01:29.With no other country offering a big idea right now,
:01:30. > :01:44.this is the most ambitious bid to shape our century.
:01:45. > :01:47.Hello, I am Katty Kay in Washington, Christian Fraser is in London.
:01:48. > :01:53.Donald Trump's son, his campaign manager and his son in law,
:01:54. > :01:56.talked to a well-connected Russian in a meeting billed as a chance
:01:57. > :01:58.to get damaging information about Hillary Clinton.
:01:59. > :02:00.The June 2016 meeting is the first evidence that people
:02:01. > :02:03.in Donald Trump's inner circle did talk to Russians with the intention
:02:04. > :02:09.Donald Trump Jr has now confirmed both
:02:10. > :02:15.So is this meeting evidence of collusion?
:02:16. > :02:18.Or was it simply a chance for some legitimate opposition research?
:02:19. > :02:20.And how damaging is it to the President?
:02:21. > :02:22.All questions for Congress and the Special Prosecutor
:02:23. > :02:24.who are investigating ties between the Trump
:02:25. > :02:30.It doesn't help the Trump family that the meeting is only coming
:02:31. > :02:33.to light now because of press reporting, and that Donald Trump
:02:34. > :02:49.junior had to change his story about it over the weekend.
:02:50. > :02:55.key initially said it was about an adoption meeting but then change the
:02:56. > :03:05.story to say it was about this information.
:03:06. > :03:12.He said, we had a meeting in June 2016 and the woman said she had
:03:13. > :03:16.information about Mrs Clinton. So far five people have been forced to
:03:17. > :03:23.change the statements who are connected to Donald Trump. Trump the
:03:24. > :03:25.right, his son, Donald Trump Jr, the Attorney General Jeff Sessions,
:03:26. > :03:32.son-in-law Jared Kushner, for national security and -- national
:03:33. > :03:36.security adviser and then his former campaign manager Paul Manafort.
:03:37. > :03:39.At the G20 - and in various tweets over the weekend -
:03:40. > :03:41.the President continued to equivocate on whether Russian
:03:42. > :03:45.He even went so far as to suggest forming a joint cybersecurity
:03:46. > :03:47.unit with the Russians, to defend against election
:03:48. > :03:50.That idea brought this response from Republican Senator Lindsay Graham.
:03:51. > :03:57.When it comes to Russia he's got a blind spot,
:03:58. > :04:00.and to forgive and forget when it comes to Putin regarding cyber
:04:01. > :04:03.attacks is to empower Putin and that's exactly what he's doing.
:04:04. > :04:07.I am dumbfounded, I am disappointed, and at the end of the day he's
:04:08. > :04:09.hurting his presidency by not embracing the fact that
:04:10. > :04:12.Putin's a bad guy who tried to undercut our democracy and he's
:04:13. > :04:16.Also voicing concern was US Republican Senator
:04:17. > :04:35.Joining us now is Former National Security Advisor
:04:36. > :04:45.I will assume when you were national security adviser to President George
:04:46. > :04:52.Bush who and like this in the White House? We are an unprecedented space
:04:53. > :04:55.in so many respects. This is a president who ran as a political and
:04:56. > :05:01.surgeon to shake up Washington and that is what he is doing.
:05:02. > :05:07.How damaging is this to national security in America? We are an early
:05:08. > :05:14.days in this administration and they have clearly put down some markers
:05:15. > :05:18.about trades, about climate, the Bush administration in its opening
:05:19. > :05:25.day is pulled out of the Kyoto protocol which had been reached by
:05:26. > :05:31.the Clinton administration and we received a lot of criticism for
:05:32. > :05:35.that. I think we are early days and the question is on issues of trade
:05:36. > :05:39.and climate, what is the Trump administration going to do in place
:05:40. > :05:45.of that. You were at the G20 meetings in
:05:46. > :05:48.Warsaw and on this latest indication there were meetings between Donald
:05:49. > :05:51.Trump Jr and Russians operatives that have not previously been
:05:52. > :05:57.disclosed, why do you think this White House has not said to its
:05:58. > :06:02.members, every single meeting with a Russian operative must be disclosed
:06:03. > :06:07.now. Two reasons. One this is a up early
:06:08. > :06:15.on in the administration before has organised itself and secondly, the
:06:16. > :06:20.President's attitude is this is an unfair investigation and he will
:06:21. > :06:24.fight it at every step. An alternative approach is what
:06:25. > :06:29.President Reagan dead in Iran-Contra and seek this is a problem and I
:06:30. > :06:34.will get all the information out and get everyone to co-operate. I think
:06:35. > :06:36.the latter would be the better approach.
:06:37. > :06:43.Donald Trump spoke about the meeting with President Putin in Hamburg and
:06:44. > :06:47.said he pressed President Putin about Russian meddling in the
:06:48. > :06:49.election and said he denied it. You have lots of experience sitting
:06:50. > :06:57.opposite President Putin. What did you make of the meeting and what we
:06:58. > :07:02.have seen since? I think that part was pretty predictable, it's a good
:07:03. > :07:08.thing President Trump bracelets, it is not a surprise Putin would deny
:07:09. > :07:13.it, he done so consistently. The rest of the meeting was positive. I
:07:14. > :07:17.do not think the president made any mistakes. They have a narrow focused
:07:18. > :07:21.agreement on Syria which I think is a good thing, they apparently agreed
:07:22. > :07:26.to set up something of a working group to address other issues,
:07:27. > :07:30.including issues of them about Ukraine. Now a special envoy to deal
:07:31. > :07:36.with Ukraine. I think they are off to good start. Rex Tillerson did a
:07:37. > :07:42.good job and I would say it's a good start, incremental progress and no
:07:43. > :07:48.major mistakes. Well you are here, the other story of the day is the
:07:49. > :07:50.Iraqi Government declaring victory in Mosul. You were national security
:07:51. > :07:58.adviser and saw the demise of Al-Qaeda in Iraq which of
:07:59. > :08:04.course emerged again as Isis. Are you worried it might happen again?
:08:05. > :08:09.The most important thing now is what comes in behind Isis. Is there an
:08:10. > :08:13.effort to stabilise the situation and provide humanitarian assistance
:08:14. > :08:18.and get good local Government in place, get the economy going, jobs,
:08:19. > :08:23.if you do not do that, also addressed the sectarian tensions and
:08:24. > :08:28.get the differing groups talking. The risk if you do not do that is
:08:29. > :08:33.discontent continues and it will be a recruiting ground for Isis 2.0
:08:34. > :08:43.which will be even more brutal than Isis. Thank you for joining us. We
:08:44. > :08:52.will have more later on on the victory in Mosul the Iraqi
:08:53. > :08:59.Government is the clearing. On the Donald Trump Jr story, it is
:09:00. > :09:00.not unusual for digging an opposition politicians.
:09:01. > :09:04.Obviously I'm the first person on a campaign to ever take a meeting
:09:05. > :09:18.How bad do you think this is for the White House? Does this leads from
:09:19. > :09:24.this story to impeachment? No, certainly not. It's the first time
:09:25. > :09:29.that somebody close to Donald Trump was prepared to talk to the Russians
:09:30. > :09:33.about the campaign and information on Hillary Clinton. It does not look
:09:34. > :09:41.good for the president, izzard collusion? That will be the purview
:09:42. > :09:45.of the investigator. It is more ammunition for the investigations
:09:46. > :09:51.into the Trump Campion and their ties with the Russians. The house of
:09:52. > :09:56.representatives and Senate will not impeach at the moment. On Sunday the
:09:57. > :10:00.statement said, I went along to try and get dirt and she did not supply
:10:01. > :10:03.and therefore no story but in some measure it shows they were trying to
:10:04. > :10:09.potentially collude with the Russians.
:10:10. > :10:12.It seems to show they were trying to get information and that is what
:10:13. > :10:16.Donald Trump Jr went to that meeting for. The other question is how could
:10:17. > :10:20.he possibly have forgotten the meeting and why did it not,
:10:21. > :10:21.previously. The Trump administration seems
:10:22. > :10:28.unable to escape this Russian story. Yes, the next three
:10:29. > :10:30.weeks is supposed to be health care legislation passed,
:10:31. > :10:34.and even move on to tax reform. But right now prospects
:10:35. > :10:36.are looking pretty bleak. Joining us now is Republican
:10:37. > :10:50.political analyst Ron Christie. I was hearing a Republican senator
:10:51. > :10:54.this morning sending we can get on the health care and tax reform and
:10:55. > :10:59.the Russian investigation is separate. What do you think? I think
:11:00. > :11:03.they can but the Republican caucus is an somewhat of a disarray. You
:11:04. > :11:06.would think after eight years of being a political wilderness and not
:11:07. > :11:13.having the White House or Congress Senate Republicans would have a
:11:14. > :11:18.coherent message and legislation to what to do about health care and
:11:19. > :11:22.become less weak and they are in a rush, they go out again in a couple
:11:23. > :11:27.of weeks for a month so you think they would have something concrete.
:11:28. > :11:30.I am cautiously optimistic me Senate will put forward legislation but the
:11:31. > :11:33.question is whatever the Senate does can pass the house of
:11:34. > :11:37.representatives which is much more conservative than the Senate.
:11:38. > :11:45.How serious is this Donald Trump junior Russian story is? Not so
:11:46. > :11:52.important. I worked on several campaigns and if someone told me we
:11:53. > :12:01.have dirt on opponents. Would you like to meet, of course I would say
:12:02. > :12:06.that meeting. If a Russian said that to you? I think the interest here
:12:07. > :12:11.anything attached with Russia plus Donald Trump is collusion or
:12:12. > :12:15.obstruction or is illegal. I think that is a fallacy. We have had
:12:16. > :12:18.strong disagreements on this programme and I have been leading
:12:19. > :12:23.the charge about what the president is doing but just by the fact Donald
:12:24. > :12:30.Trump Jr happy meeting with someone he did not know and succeeded in
:12:31. > :12:35.cremation -- had information on the secretary of state, I don't think
:12:36. > :12:40.that is a problem. If he knew he was meeting a Russian, that is more
:12:41. > :12:45.problematic. It is not. You're talking about someone who was not
:12:46. > :12:49.paid employee of the campaign and just because someone from a foreign
:12:50. > :12:53.country asked to meet does not make it illegal. I met with several
:12:54. > :12:58.officials from foreign governments who sought my opinion on a variety
:12:59. > :13:00.of issues and just because they are from a foreign Government or a
:13:01. > :13:06.foreign citizen does not necessarily make them illegal or make this
:13:07. > :13:10.collusion or anything other than trying to have a business
:13:11. > :13:16.transaction, in my view. Let me take you back to the programme in
:13:17. > :13:19.Congress because it seems to me Donald Trump is the one who keeps
:13:20. > :13:23.saying health care reform will be coming and is putting pressure on
:13:24. > :13:25.himself and legislation like this does not take a long time to push
:13:26. > :13:26.through. It took Ronald Reagan 5 years and 9
:13:27. > :13:30.months to pass his Tax Reform Act - the more significant step
:13:31. > :13:32.in the creation of Reagonomics. Bill Clinton campaigned to change
:13:33. > :13:35.parts of that legislation - it took him 203 days to raise taxes
:13:36. > :13:38.on high earners and cut some And the Affordable Care Act
:13:39. > :13:45.took 426 days to pass. Which is perhaps the most
:13:46. > :13:47.relevant time scale - this after all is the legislation
:13:48. > :14:01.Donald Trump wants to We other currently 171. Why is he
:14:02. > :14:07.putting so much pressure on Congress? I think he believes he
:14:08. > :14:12.needs a legislative victory. This is as much about optics as anything
:14:13. > :14:18.else. In the Bush administration it took ayes over one year to get his
:14:19. > :14:23.signature no Child left behind legislation done. If you will pass
:14:24. > :14:26.something to really revamp one sixth of the American economy I say don't
:14:27. > :14:33.do it right and be very measured and let's make sure we get some
:14:34. > :14:40.bipartisanship to do this right. -- I say we do this right. I think to
:14:41. > :14:46.rush this through his misguided. They need to do it all right if they
:14:47. > :14:53.are going to get it done. -- do it right.
:14:54. > :14:55.The Iraqi government is declaring victory in Mosul,
:14:56. > :14:57.the largest city under IS control, after nine months of fighting.
:14:58. > :14:59.The prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, visited the city
:15:00. > :15:19.Our victory today is a victory against darkness, brutality and
:15:20. > :15:24.terrorism. I declare from this place, I declare to the whole world,
:15:25. > :15:28.the end and the failure and the collapse of the so-called caliphate.
:15:29. > :15:30.Our correspondent Jonathan Beale is in the city where troops this
:15:31. > :15:32.morning were still dealing with the last few pockets
:15:33. > :15:53.We are at the front line of one of the last pockets, we are told, of
:15:54. > :15:57.resistance. There are snipers up there, 200 to 300.
:15:58. > :16:00.But you can see the devastation around here from the heavy fighting.
:16:01. > :16:05.Even though the Iraqi Prime Minister said they are on the verge
:16:06. > :16:08.of victory, in his words, there is still a battle ahead,
:16:09. > :16:12.there is still IS fighters out there and the battle for Mosul
:16:13. > :16:33.Let's speak to the head of American troops in Iraq and Syria. Thank you
:16:34. > :16:41.for joining us. There is a big delay on the line. Thank you. Actually I
:16:42. > :16:47.am the head of all coalition troops. There is a long delay on the line.
:16:48. > :16:59.You one Mac the war but securing the peace will be much more difficult.
:17:00. > :17:03.Well, I think I take exception we have won the war. I would like to
:17:04. > :17:10.offer coalition's congratulations to the Iraqi Prime Minister and the
:17:11. > :17:16.Iraqi security forces on their historic victory. They also made
:17:17. > :17:21.some extraordinary efforts to safeguard civilian lakes. I would
:17:22. > :17:27.say the war is far from over, this is one major battle has concluded.
:17:28. > :17:31.There are a number of Isis fighters still left in Iraq that will have to
:17:32. > :17:36.be defeated before we have won the war. Lots of little towns where you
:17:37. > :17:41.will have to fight between Mosul and Baghdad but if and when the fighting
:17:42. > :17:47.is over, talking about that piece, I read today there are 25 million
:17:48. > :17:51.Sunnis between Baghdad and Damascus whose governments have failed them.
:17:52. > :18:02.What do these governments have to do to make Sunnis feel part of the
:18:03. > :18:07.country they live in? I think you hit on the essential
:18:08. > :18:16.issue which is the cause of Isis in the first place. The Government of
:18:17. > :18:20.Iraq did not make the SUNY people feel as if their Government
:18:21. > :18:29.represented the interests and fell prey to Isis. And if we are to keep
:18:30. > :18:36.Isis, the next Isis, from emerging, we will have two, the Iraqi
:18:37. > :18:40.Government will have to do something significantly different and reach
:18:41. > :18:44.out and reconcile with the Sunni population and make them feel like
:18:45. > :18:51.their Government in Baghdad represents them.
:18:52. > :18:56.You today said make no mistake, this victory alone does not eliminate
:18:57. > :19:01.Isis and there is still a tough fight ahead. What have you learned
:19:02. > :19:07.from fighting, both the coalition and the Iraqi forces, learn from
:19:08. > :19:20.fighting Isis in Mosul that will be useful in ...
:19:21. > :19:27.This is a brutal, evil enemy. A very determined one. So one of the things
:19:28. > :19:35.I learned is this fight will take longer than we anticipated. All sort
:19:36. > :19:40.that fighting in cities, I already knew this as a professional soldier,
:19:41. > :19:43.how difficult it was to fight in urban areas, but I never saw
:19:44. > :19:51.fighting on this extend the duration and scale. We are applying all those
:19:52. > :19:56.lessons to the fight we are already engaged in the global capital of
:19:57. > :20:00.Isis in Syria. It was the American decision under
:20:01. > :20:07.President Obama to pull American forces out of Iraq that enabled Isis
:20:08. > :20:13.to grow in the region, in part, will American forces now keep a presence
:20:14. > :20:24.in Iraq for longer, to stop Isis 2.0 from re-emerging?
:20:25. > :20:30.I think so. Those decisions have yet to be made. However, there is an
:20:31. > :20:36.ongoing dialogue between the Government of Iraq, the Government
:20:37. > :20:41.of the USA and the governments of other coalition members nations. To
:20:42. > :20:45.have a continued coalition presence here after the defeat of Isis, and I
:20:46. > :20:49.think that is exactly one of the things we need to do to keep that is
:20:50. > :20:57.going down the right path in the future. Thank you very much for
:20:58. > :21:01.joining us. Even on the state when you have the
:21:02. > :21:07.Iraqi Government declaring victory in Mosul, everyone is being
:21:08. > :21:11.cautious. Both our guests being cautious, they are all aware of
:21:12. > :21:16.history and the risks of repeating itself, and the complications of the
:21:17. > :21:20.politics of this and the need to make sure all the different
:21:21. > :21:24.sectarian groups feel vested in these countries and do not turn
:21:25. > :21:32.against their governments and enable a future Isis to re-emerge.
:21:33. > :21:37.They fought and defeated Al-Qaeda in Iraq and out of that has come
:21:38. > :21:44.so-called Islamic state. The Prime Minister of Iraq, who the Americans
:21:45. > :21:50.do like, I believe, spoke about how the effective federalism, devolving
:21:51. > :21:54.power to Sunnis and also to Kurds, who have taken a lot of ground in
:21:55. > :22:01.this site that they are reticent to give up. All the sides in this one
:22:02. > :22:04.clear and straight and after their security and security and education
:22:05. > :22:08.and policing so they will have, if they want to secure a peace, they
:22:09. > :22:14.will have two devolve more power from Baghdad. The question, as
:22:15. > :22:21.Stephen touched on, it's how much appetite isn't there in America
:22:22. > :22:25.politically to keep an American force of several thousand,
:22:26. > :22:29.presumably, in Iraq in the long-term." President Obama was to
:22:30. > :22:35.remove those trips and how much political support got for that. Are
:22:36. > :22:40.Americans prepared to say this is a long-term fight, even after Mosul
:22:41. > :22:46.has fallen and it looks like Isis has been rolled back.
:22:47. > :22:51.I'm sure there will but what we do not talk about is the rebuilding
:22:52. > :22:54.effort. There are around 60 countries with the UN who have
:22:55. > :22:57.contributed money to rebuild in places like Mosul and that will be
:22:58. > :23:04.the first challenge, making sure people feel safe enough to come
:23:05. > :23:07.back. Looking at the report we saw of the
:23:08. > :23:11.sort of destruction and devastation in Mosul that will be no easy thing
:23:12. > :23:14.to secure. Lots to do in Iraq. The UN envoy to Syria says
:23:15. > :23:17.a ceasefire in the southwest of the country has held quite well
:23:18. > :23:20.since it went into force on Sunday. It's hoped the truce might give
:23:21. > :23:22.the negotiations some momentum. Staffan De Mistura said
:23:23. > :23:25.the de-escalation of the conflict in south-western Syria should be
:23:26. > :23:27.a stage on the path A judge at the High Court in London
:23:28. > :23:34.says he will reconsider on Thursday the case of Charlie Gard,
:23:35. > :23:37.the terminally ill baby, who has been offered treatment
:23:38. > :23:41.in the United States. The 11 month old boy has a rare
:23:42. > :23:44.disease and is being kept Charlie's parents want the judge
:23:45. > :23:51.to evaluate an experimental treatment which they believe
:23:52. > :23:53.could improve their son's Meanwhile, the High Court has
:23:54. > :23:59.rejected a case brought against the British government
:24:00. > :24:01.claiming it's arms sales The case was brought by human rights
:24:02. > :24:05.campaigners who argue the UK is breaking international laws
:24:06. > :24:07.by selling weapons that have The Saudis have been conducting air
:24:08. > :24:22.strikes against the Houthi rebels We have had a lot of CBS News today
:24:23. > :24:27.around the world but we just have time for a video of Donald Trump and
:24:28. > :24:32.his good deeds of the day. While returning from T20 meetings in
:24:33. > :24:37.Germany here he is boarding Marine one but the wind was clearly blowing
:24:38. > :24:42.up a deal but lights on his feet, the president receives the marine's
:24:43. > :24:48.cap and places it back on his head, only for it to blow off again. Not
:24:49. > :24:57.to be defeated, the president chases at once more. Windy days and hats.
:24:58. > :25:04.I've noticed the presidential tie was also flapping.
:25:05. > :25:07.I thought that was a really nice gesture. There is the Marine
:25:08. > :25:12.standing stiff as a board, not allowed to move.
:25:13. > :25:18.Nice touch from the president on his way back to the White House.
:25:19. > :25:21.Plenty more to come. You are watching 100 Days Plus from BBC
:25:22. > :25:28.News. Still to come, Ukraine says it will
:25:29. > :25:33.begin discussions to join Nato. We will try and find out how Russia
:25:34. > :25:38.would feel about that and whether Nato is on board with the timetable.
:25:39. > :25:43.We will talk about the new silk Road. We have spoke a lot about
:25:44. > :25:48.globalisation in recent weeks but what about the new globalisation, a
:25:49. > :25:53.report on the trillion dollar real project between China and Europe.
:25:54. > :26:10.That's all still to come here on 100 Days Plus on BBC News.
:26:11. > :26:16.It has been a day of mixed fortunes today. Some sunshine in the
:26:17. > :26:24.south-east and Beeson spelt further north. Glorious pictures sent in
:26:25. > :26:33.from the Highlands. Also some sharp thundery downpours. Those showers
:26:34. > :26:37.are drifting into the North Sea was some still remaining in northern
:26:38. > :26:43.England and Scotland. We end the day in southern England with decent
:26:44. > :26:48.sunshine. Highs of 27 Celsius. Things will start to change through
:26:49. > :26:52.tonight as cloud and rain gathers in from the West and particularly in
:26:53. > :27:01.Wales and south-west England. Not as humid as previous nights. We start
:27:02. > :27:04.off with some rain across England and Wales and more significant wet
:27:05. > :27:09.weather arriving later in the day affecting England and Wales and
:27:10. > :27:14.certainly affecting Wimbledon throughout the afternoon. Some rain
:27:15. > :27:20.turning quite heavy. A brief role in the middle of the day so not bad for
:27:21. > :27:25.the courts early on but more significant rain arrives. For
:27:26. > :27:30.Scotland and Northern Ireland, not too bad and northern England with
:27:31. > :27:32.sunny spells and scattered showers. Perhaps Northern Ireland will see
:27:33. > :27:40.the best of the weather throughout the day. Temperatures way down on
:27:41. > :27:45.what we have seen for southern England. Showers turning heavier and
:27:46. > :27:53.more persistent throughout the afternoon into the south-west. That
:27:54. > :27:58.rain pushes steadily eastwards through the night, some heavy,
:27:59. > :28:03.welcome news for the gardens. Behind that area of low pressure the winds
:28:04. > :28:07.swing to a northerly making it feel noticeably fresher on Wednesday.
:28:08. > :28:15.Despite a good deal of dry weather on Wednesday with sunny spells. The
:28:16. > :28:19.quieter theme looks set to continue Thursday into Friday, a good deal of
:28:20. > :28:24.dry weather, scattering of isolated showers. Not all doom and gloom but
:28:25. > :28:28.certainly feeling noticeably fresher and there will be rain at times but
:28:29. > :30:19.also some sunny spells. The welcome party plus. Our top
:30:20. > :30:24.stories: The Russian investigation takes a dramatic turn in Donald
:30:25. > :30:32.Trump as Nixon admits to reaching special meeting a Russian. I think
:30:33. > :30:35.the President's attitude is that this is an unfair investigation
:30:36. > :30:40.commies going to fight it at every step of the way. President Trump has
:30:41. > :30:44.ruled out exploring a joint cyber task force with Russia, a backdown
:30:45. > :30:45.on the idea after one Republican senator described it as close to the
:30:46. > :31:02.dumbest idea I've ever heard. Today, Ukraine's president said that
:31:03. > :31:06.Nato has agreed to begin talks over joining the alliance. Speaking
:31:07. > :31:09.alongside Nato's Secretary General, the president said he would
:31:10. > :31:14.implement the reforms necessary by 2020. It comes as Ukraine continues
:31:15. > :31:19.to fight a Russian backed insurgency in the east of the country.
:31:20. > :31:22.Moscow responded today by saying Ukraine's potential ownership in
:31:23. > :31:27.Nato would not boost security and stability in Europe. We are joined
:31:28. > :31:32.by a former senior director for Russian affairs at the UN Security
:31:33. > :31:34.Council in the Obama administration. It's interesting, mail, from the
:31:35. > :31:40.Ukrainian Government, we have heard from Moscow, but I haven't heard
:31:41. > :31:43.anything publicly from Nato. It is Ukraine driving the timetable on
:31:44. > :31:49.this, is Nato fully on board? I think it remains to be seen exactly
:31:50. > :31:53.what was agreed to. Ukraine has an interest in leaning forward a bit
:31:54. > :31:57.and talking about membership. From Nato's perspective, from the
:31:58. > :32:01.perspective of key allies including Germany and the United States,,
:32:02. > :32:04.membership of Ukraine is not on the cards at this point. A close
:32:05. > :32:10.relationship is, help with defence and military assistance, but I think
:32:11. > :32:14.we're at the beginning of a conversation about what relations of
:32:15. > :32:16.Ukraine will have up with Nato over the long run. Polls in Ukraine show
:32:17. > :32:21.that ever since the Russian intervention in the east of the
:32:22. > :32:25.country and in Premier, there is much more support in favour of
:32:26. > :32:31.joining Nato membership in Ukraine than they used to be. -- and in
:32:32. > :32:36.Crimea. But Russia says it won't increased about it, this is kind of
:32:37. > :32:40.a red rag to Moscow, isn't it? Russians have objected to the Madrid
:32:41. > :32:48.of Nato from the get go, going back to the early 1990s. -- to the
:32:49. > :32:58.embodiment of Nato. But Britain come in some ways, is responsible -- pleb
:32:59. > :33:09.won is responsible, for this U-turn in foreign policy. But again, and we
:33:10. > :33:12.are the very beginning of a conversation, and it may well be
:33:13. > :33:15.that we have to wait for several years before we get a better sense
:33:16. > :33:24.of whether Ukraine has a serious chance of becoming a member. We had
:33:25. > :33:28.on the show last week, very timely, the man who has been named as the
:33:29. > :33:33.special Robson to do to Ukraine. It is has been said is a hardliner when
:33:34. > :33:37.they comes to matters in Kiev. -- the special representative to
:33:38. > :33:42.Ukraine. In terms of the Russian investigation, it's very difficult
:33:43. > :33:45.to know,? Of weird habits conversation earlier in the year, I
:33:46. > :33:49.would have said that the cupboard Ministry 's and seems to be doing a
:33:50. > :33:55.somersault on Ukraine -- the Trump administration, he had talked about
:33:56. > :33:57.three Ukraine under the bus, recognising Crimea, dropping
:33:58. > :34:04.sanctions, but since then they have tax towards a more conventional
:34:05. > :34:08.position. The President made a point of meeting with the Ukrainian
:34:09. > :34:14.president, he flew to Poland, which is on the survival of Nato, the US
:34:15. > :34:18.has said that sanctions that are at least van Gogh Nato, yes said that
:34:19. > :34:23.sanctions will remain in place. So they are now at the point of saying
:34:24. > :34:33.that pulses looked huge remain in place, and it is now up to us see if
:34:34. > :34:39.we can't get Dunn it's essentially up to the Russians to agree together
:34:40. > :34:42.troops out and stop the separatism rebellion, and in return, Ukraine
:34:43. > :34:52.grants the region at high level of a tummy. -- autonomy. On the show, we
:34:53. > :34:55.spend a lot of time exploring common themes across the abundant. Tonight,
:34:56. > :35:02.we have an author who makes the case for us in his new book. He makes the
:35:03. > :35:08.case for white prince. Democracy are under threat.
:35:09. > :35:13.He says that America has been ceding its role ever since the invasion of
:35:14. > :35:18.Iraq and that China will inevitably fill the global power vacuum. Ed,
:35:19. > :35:22.thank you very much for coming into the studio. Donald Trump, Brexit,
:35:23. > :35:25.the populism that we have seen in other countries in Europe, the
:35:26. > :35:29.symptoms of what you're talking about or are the also causes of it?
:35:30. > :35:36.I think they're about. But this has been a long time in coming. There
:35:37. > :35:39.has been a source of... Perhaps self soothing interpretation of 2016
:35:40. > :35:45.Brexit and Trump is just being the weird, volcanic eruptions in the
:35:46. > :35:48.other rows dormant range of Western liberal democracy and that would be
:35:49. > :35:51.a serious up misreading of how deeply rooted and structural the
:35:52. > :36:01.middle of our middle economy is our feeling. The middle of the economy
:36:02. > :36:04.has an impact on politics. If you're looking for an optimistic, feel-good
:36:05. > :36:10.beak Street, I'm guessing this is not really. But how bleak are you,
:36:11. > :36:15.how bleak do you feel about the prospects for the Western liberal
:36:16. > :36:19.democracy? Is it really price point? Its crisis point, but maybe it is
:36:20. > :36:22.called the retreat, and my publishers wanted it to be called
:36:23. > :36:27.the collapse of Western liberalisation, and I argued against
:36:28. > :36:31.that, because retreat implies the possibility of regrouping to stop
:36:32. > :36:36.what we have seen in France with Emanuel Macron's victory, and Angela
:36:37. > :36:42.Merkel trying to revive the Franco German motor, that is definitely a
:36:43. > :36:46.glass of champagne half full. And in context, the rest of the world, the
:36:47. > :36:49.non-Western is falling out of poverty at a faster rate than ever
:36:50. > :36:59.before in team in history. That is good news. Our ability to cope with
:37:00. > :37:02.the jubilant impact of that is not something that fills me with
:37:03. > :37:08.optimism there. -- the geopolitical impact. It has been said before that
:37:09. > :37:12.things will be better for children than for us, but that has stopped,
:37:13. > :37:16.that is driving some of the resembled politics. There is, I
:37:17. > :37:20.think, a Champagne moment in Europe with Emanuel Macron and that is
:37:21. > :37:26.driving a rapprochement between Germany and France. But I wonder how
:37:27. > :37:28.long that will last? Because you can't tell me that those elements
:37:29. > :37:32.that were there, that were supporting the front National and
:37:33. > :37:39.supporting the far left, they have not disappeared, have they? They
:37:40. > :37:47.haven't. And it is troubling to see that e-mail Macron's victory was on
:37:48. > :37:51.a historic low turnout, it's a really thin mandate that he has. And
:37:52. > :37:57.of course, his plan is to get the Germans to relax, they are very,
:37:58. > :38:03.militaristic fiscal rules. The Germans committed in their DNA to do
:38:04. > :38:09.this. Unless he can persuade angler Marco -- angler Marco -- Angela
:38:10. > :38:16.Merkel that it is in their interests to do this, the suffering parts of
:38:17. > :38:19.the European Union are going to get more populous and resentful. I
:38:20. > :38:24.surely caution implicit in your question. I wish we could top more
:38:25. > :38:28.about it, we are running out of time. Thank you for coming on and
:38:29. > :38:34.talking about your book. The agents at road was the world's
:38:35. > :38:40.first superhighway. -- the ancient silk Road. Now, China is hoping to
:38:41. > :38:43.recreate that route. The critics say Beijing is trying to exert its
:38:44. > :38:51.influence on all 60 countries that are investing in it, but Mel -- many
:38:52. > :38:55.could well be indebted for decades. Starting in China, the route winds
:38:56. > :38:59.its way past Indonesia, Sri Lanka and ends up in Europe. At the same
:39:00. > :39:08.time and that there will be a land-based networks making west
:39:09. > :39:15.through central Russia. They call them the ships of the
:39:16. > :39:21.desert. For centuries, the camel trains of the silk Road dominated
:39:22. > :39:34.trade between China and the west. Now, China wants to recreate the
:39:35. > :39:39.silk Road. This time, by train. When this man started here, 34 years ago,
:39:40. > :39:45.China sold the role next to nothing. Now, he is a foot soldier for a
:39:46. > :39:55.trading superpower. I asked how that had changed him. TRANSLATION: We are
:39:56. > :40:00.under a lot of pressure. Expectations are high but there is
:40:01. > :40:05.also a lot of hope. We need the training to develop faster and
:40:06. > :40:14.better. The pressure is coming from the top. Not led by merchants... But
:40:15. > :40:19.by a president. Chinese emperors once claimed to rule all under
:40:20. > :40:25.heaven. With the United States no longer leading on trade, the
:40:26. > :40:39.president has seized his chance. He calls his vision... His vision may
:40:40. > :40:43.be so vast that it may be so decades until we can tell whether it is a
:40:44. > :40:46.successor to the entrance will grow. But we can say that with no country
:40:47. > :40:55.offering a big idea right now, that this is the most ambitious bid to
:40:56. > :41:02.shape our century. Already, Chinashapes our material lives. But
:41:03. > :41:05.selling abroad and building at home is no longer enough to keep the
:41:06. > :41:13.strange economy growing. Now, it plans to build a broad two. A
:41:14. > :41:20.win-win for all, says China. But when the talking is done, Chinese
:41:21. > :41:26.traders drive a hard bargain. ,, for an old friend. The world by much
:41:27. > :41:32.more from them than the other way round. Red tape can make importing a
:41:33. > :41:38.nightmare. The Government can change the law at any time. So there is no
:41:39. > :41:44.real concrete law. There is no grey area at the moment. -- there is a
:41:45. > :41:48.grey area. If the Government made it more clear, it would be easier. But
:41:49. > :41:54.the new Silk Road is China solving China's problems. Money and muscle
:41:55. > :42:06.heading west. On a journey across three continents. Bidding to redraw
:42:07. > :42:13.the map and command the century. It's strange to think isn't it, that
:42:14. > :42:18.the old Silk Road, 2000 years ago, was the first ex-parent and
:42:19. > :42:23.globalisation. -- the first experiment. And now they are
:42:24. > :42:27.recreating it. And we have talked a lot on this programme, if America
:42:28. > :42:37.loan, China is well prepared to step into this vacuum. -- if America
:42:38. > :42:40.first means America alone. We have really enjoyed doing this
:42:41. > :42:47.programme, behind the scenes, of course, there's a fantastic team who
:42:48. > :42:50.have really helped us. We would like to say happy birthday to our editor,
:42:51. > :42:54.Kate. There was chocolate cake as well. I
:42:55. > :42:58.didn't get any chocolate cake, here in Washington. None.
:42:59. > :43:02.We will see you tomorrow, do join us tomorrow.