12/07/2017 100 Days+


12/07/2017

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Hello and welcome to One Hundred Days Plus.

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The President says his son is innocent and transparent -

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but Donald Trump Jr's incriminating email chain leads

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And now even Republican lawmakers normally loyal to the White House

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are pressing for answers on why these Russia disclosures

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The president's son says he should have done things differently

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but he denies there's any big deal about meeting a Russian operative

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Far from Washington - those who voted for Donald Trump

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are riding out this latest controversy and still like

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He's a good businessman and that's what the country needs -

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get people working and I think that is what he is doing.

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President Erdogan tells the BBC that membership of the European Union

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is not indispensable for Turkey and that the bloc wastes

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Kazakhstan, our latest stop along the new silk road.

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Chinese companies are pouring workers into the country -

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it leaves the locals wondering what the benefit is for them.

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Plus what happens when a teenager takes over

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Well here in the UK those usual complaints have given way

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

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The President insists the White House is great shape

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We are focused on healthcare, tax cuts, reform and many other things.

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Behind the scenes the President, his administration and now his

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family are dealing with dramatic developments in the Russia

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investigation - which continues to overshadow the rest

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Republicans are openly expressing dismay at the conflicting stories,

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the indications of collusion with Moscow and the incompetence

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The normally loyal New York Post put it more bluntly,

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today accusing the President's son, Don junior, of "stupidity."

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Last night Don Jnr gave his side to the story.

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I probably would have done things differently. This is before the

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Russia mania before they were building up in the press. For me

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this was opposition research and I wanted to hear it out. But it went

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nowhere and it was apparent that was not what the meeting was about. Did

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you tell your father anything? It was such a nothing there was nothing

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to tell. The White House has said very

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little on these emails. The spokesperson says

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she is now referring all questions on the matter

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to Don Junior's own lawyers. The president has had no public

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engagement for three days but he did tweet following that

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Fox news interview. My son Donald did

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a good job last night. He was open, transparent

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and innocent. This is the greatest Witch Hunt

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in political history. I spoke with Democrat Congresswoman

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Jackie Speier who sits on the House So, Congresswoman, the president

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tweeted today that his son is open, transparent and innocent

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and that the Democrats are guilty of conducting

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a witchhunt, as is the press, Are you Democrats on a witchhunt

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against this president First of all, it is an investigation

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that is being undertaken We have a bipartisan investigation

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going on in the Senate, a bipartisan investigation

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going on in the house, And now you have got

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the new FBI director who the president appointed,

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testifying before the Senate today Furthermore, the fact that his son

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disclosed the e-mail chain was done only because it was about to be

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released by the New York Times. So that is not so much

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transparency as it is trying Is he innocent, though,

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of any legal misdemeanour? There seemed to be quite

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a few lawyers saying there was actually nothing illegal

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in what Donald Jr did. So the FEC is very clear that no

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candidate or operative can receive anything of value

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from a foreign national. Value is not determined by money,

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it is determined by something of value, getting dirt

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on Hillary Clinton would be It is the equivalent of off

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research, but you're not getting it from someone in the United States,

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you're getting it from foreign That would subject him

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I believe to an SEC action. You sit on the intelligence

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committee, do you have anything else in terms of communications,

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that the public does not yet know I would not be able to disclose that

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to you, but I can assure you that Donald Trump Junior is going to be

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someone that I want to see come before our committee

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and be questioned. Congresswoman, you have

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said that the Russians are experts at compromise,

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I'm sure this is what is preventing You do not know that, do you,

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you do not know the Russians have compromising material

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on this president? No, I do not have any

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official documentation. We certainly have the dossier that

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Christopher Steele provided that has And so far from what I have been

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told, there has not been anything that has been checked out about that

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dossier that has not So he does in terms of compromise

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talk about videos and the like, I do not know if they exist,

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I do not know if it is even true, but so far the dossier has

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proven to be accurate. Are you convinced that there

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will emerge during the course of Bob Mueller's investigation

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or the House or the Senate investigations, more evidence that

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reveals that the Trump campaign colluded in a way that was illegal,

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with the Russian government? And if breadcrumbs actually give

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you a pathway to a certain end, And there are so many breadcrumbs

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that have been dropped by the president himself on any

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number of occasions, on a number of different issues as it relates

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to this investigation, that I believe personally,

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this is me personally, not based on what I'm seeing

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in the intelligence community, I think that there was

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collaboration, coordination Congresswoman Jackie Speier,

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thank you so much for joining us. It's not just Democrats who are fed

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up with the Trump team failing to report these contacts

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with the Russians. Republican Congressman Trey Gowdy,

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is a fierce critic of Hillary Clinton, but here's his advice

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for the White House. Someone close to the President needs

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to get everyone connected with that campaign in a room and say,

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from the time you saw Dr Zhivago until the moment you drank vodka

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with a guy name Boris, you list every single one of those

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and we're going to turn them over to the special counsel because this

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drip, drip, drip is undermining the credibility

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of this administration. Just for full disclosure I have

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watched Doctor Zhivago twice. Trade dowdy is not someone, let's just

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talk about him, is someone who has stuck up for the White House all

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along and if he is saying things like that it suggests to me the

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Republicans are concerned. Just in the last couple of minutes I've

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heard from a couple of Republicans who had said to me before that they

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did not think there was anything in the Russian investigation and now

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they are leaning towards thinking investigation has to be conducted

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fully by Bob will because they start to think perhaps there is something.

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I cannot explain otherwise why Donald Trump has repeatedly backed

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away from being tough on President Putin and it is putting those things

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together that is leading them to think there is something that there

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is far behind all this smoke. They also watch the White House change

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the goalposts, initially at the White House said, John -- Donald Jr

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said the idea that they had cooperated with the Russians was

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disgusting. Now they're saying there may have been some kind of

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cooperation but it was totally legal. We do not know what happened

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after the meeting because everyone in the media has reason to say

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nothing happened. On the problem is when you look at what was in the

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e-mail, he says you know, I love it. There is no pause, he does not think

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this is concerning, maybe I should report this and that is what is

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raising concerns with Republicans. Exactly that, the White House does

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not seem to think it was a problem meeting Russians to get dirt on

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Hillary Clinton. Well as was mentioned they're President Trump,

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his nominee to be the next FBI director was grilled by Senators

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today. Christopher Wray is up

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to replace James Comey, who you'll remember was fired

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by Mr Trump in May because of Mr Wray promised he would insulate

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the bureau from any outside, But he was also pushed

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for his thoughts on Don Jr's meeting Republican Senator Lindsey Graham

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wanted to know what the President's You're going to be the Director

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of the FBI, so here's what I want If you get a call from somebody

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suggesting that a foreign government wants to help

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you by disparaging your opponent, To the members of this committee,

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any threat or effort to interfere with our elections from any nation

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state or any non-state actor is the kind of thing

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the FBI would want to know. That is reassuring for those people

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on the committee. But what I want to know, you could say Donald Jr is a

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private citizen, Jared Kushner, who is copied on these e-mails is a

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special adviser to the White House, as close as you get to the president

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and he knew what was in the e-mail. So how come his position is not

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hanging by a thread? The question is does he keep his security clearance,

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I do not think anyone is saying he will be fired from the White House

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but Republicans and Democrats are saying he should not have security

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clearance because of that meeting he had. There is the e-mail directed to

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him which specifically said Russia, Clinton, meeting. He cannot have

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ignored that. So - far from Capitol

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Hill and the feverish atmosphere of Washington -

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what kind of effect is this having on the President's popularity

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around the country? Today he has a 40

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percent approval rating. Down 5 points since

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he came to office. But of course - and we have

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said this many times before on this programme -

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that only tells part of the story. His support within

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his base is solid. 85 percent of Republicans

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are still behind this president. We have sent Nick Bryant to Nebraska

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- a state that has voted Republican In the rollicking ride

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of the Trump presidency, you often wonder how long he'll stay

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on the horse. Every day seems to bring

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a new wrestle in the mud. With the media, Congress,

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international leaders. But here in Nebraska,

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a Trump state at the election, there is still strong support

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for his presidency. Despite the attempts

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of opponents to ensnare him. Are you happy with

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the job he is doing? I think he's doing all

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right he has some flaws, but like any president,

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you know, they have I think he needs to

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lay off the keyboard. He is a good businessman

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and that is what the country needs. Get the country back out of debt,

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get a lot of people working. On the night that Donald

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Trump Junior's bombshell e-mails were released,

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the pigs were more No-one we spoke to at this county

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fair was in the least bit concerned that team Trump might have been

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telling porkies about its contacts They echoed the White House line,

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that the controversy The media has taken

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it out of proportion. I don't know, I haven't followed it

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for awhile now because of that. I think it is just spun

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by the left because they lost. What is noticeable about coming

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to the heartland is that people are not glued to their smartphones

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all the time. They're not following this

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presidency, minute by But you do get the sense that some

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people feel Donald Trump is fixated That is the concern of the local

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Republican mayor, Josh Moni. What I hear from people is less

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tweeting and more doing. I think there is kind

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of bewilderment about the compulsion to tweet

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about anything and everything. I think people like to see him focus

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more on working on some In America's fiercely

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patriotic heartland, it seems anomalous that voters

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aren't concerned They seem more mistrustful

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of the media than Moscow. Another indication of the polarising

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effect of the Trump presidency. Of how the United States

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increasingly sounds It's our penultimate

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show on 100 Days+. All our friends

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are back with us this week. Scott Shellady, Managing Director of

:14:24.:14:25.

the stockbrokers TJM Europe is here. The cow man! He is back. You watch

:14:26.:14:40.

that video, people in Nebraska asking why you keep going on about

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the Russia thing. Even if you take Donald Jr out of this, let's say he

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is a political novice, there is still in the e-mail thread showing

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that Russia wanted to interfere in the election. Surely worthy of

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reporting. But they have tried to get involved in other elections

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around the world, that is what they do. It is nothing new, it is old

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news. It is just a fact that those who who did not get their candidate

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elected are apoplectic and cannot deliver the fact that Donald Trump

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beat their candidate. But we just heard from Republicans and they're

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worried in Congress that this is constantly overshadowing the agenda,

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it has been shoved down the line, there's not on health care, tax

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reform, infrastructure. And it is Russia always at the forefront. Well

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the media are putting rush at the forefront and that is slowing down

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his agenda. It is an obstruction. But I would add that his own friends

:15:43.:15:47.

in Congress, other Republicans re-elected with him, have not

:15:48.:15:52.

behaved well either. So here's the swamp which he thought would be the

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Liberals or Democrats, is turning out to be the entire Congress. They

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want to keep it the same as it was and do not want to rock the boat.

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That is causing problems for him. He is a guide that may go down in

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history as being the first president that is going to try to do what he

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said he was going to do and his own party might even stop him. I've

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heard that argument before, if it is not Russia it is the press and even

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possibly the Republican party obstructing this president but one

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of the things that supporters liked about him when he ran in the

:16:26.:16:28.

election was he was the guy that was going to do deals and get things

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done in Washington. Specifically on jobs and the economy. But

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infrastructure, that tax reform Bill. But we have nothing big on the

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economy that he has done. Absolutely right and that has been his biggest

:16:43.:16:47.

mistake so far, he has not been able to heard the kittens. But his own

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party is stabbing him in the back and grandstanding. They have had

:16:51.:16:56.

seven, eight years to put something together that would be better than

:16:57.:17:00.

what we have today and they puff out their chest and said I do not like

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this or that. It is bad timing and the hardest thing to turn around in

:17:06.:17:08.

an economy is sentiment and confidence. He has been able, he has

:17:09.:17:13.

turned that around without telling anything else around. He needs to

:17:14.:17:17.

see the economic indicators coming in in support. Confidence is also

:17:18.:17:24.

slipping in the UK, you think Brexit is a good thing, you still think

:17:25.:17:29.

that? I do, you see so many cranes from here in the studio, still a lot

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of building and that is a good economic indication. I will never

:17:36.:17:40.

accept that if I want to take my ball home and leave the club I would

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be penalised for doing that. I do not get that.

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I think you're in so much trouble, Christian, you have gone over time

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again! Fascinating. I keep hearing it again and again, it is the

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Republicans, the press, the Russian investigation. Some supporters have

:18:08.:18:10.

a lot of tolerance for his inability to get things done. Let's move on.

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In just a few hours President Trump leaves for Paris where he will be

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The purpose for his visit is to celebrate 100 years years

:18:16.:18:19.

since US troops entered the First World War on the side

:18:20.:18:21.

of France and Britain - but it's hard to believe politics

:18:22.:18:24.

Perhaps one of the greatest divisions comes on the Paris Climate

:18:25.:18:29.

Accord which Mr Trump recently pulled the US out of.

:18:30.:18:31.

A brief time ago I spoke with Lord Stern - one of the leading

:18:32.:18:35.

climate change experts who helped advise the French government

:18:36.:18:37.

I put it to him that President Trump believes upholding the accord could

:18:38.:18:48.

risk jobs and other countries might not keep their side of the bargain.

:18:49.:18:50.

Since Paris, country after country has upped its ambition

:18:51.:18:52.

and is over performing, so other countries are

:18:53.:18:54.

The United States made a reasonably modest commitment in Paris to reduce

:18:55.:18:59.

by 26% to 28% measured from 2005 to 2025.

:19:00.:19:07.

It could well do that without the commitment

:19:08.:19:10.

of President Trump because a dozen states, 350 cities, a whole bag full

:19:11.:19:13.

of big firms are all committed within the United States.

:19:14.:19:29.

But there is one side of America, I mean we've heard in our programme

:19:30.:19:35.

today from people in Nebraska, and they don't feel

:19:36.:19:38.

as committed to climate change as they do to job creation.

:19:39.:19:40.

Yes, and he's obligated, in my view, to put serious economic arguments

:19:41.:19:44.

in front of them and there are big job opportunities in

:19:45.:19:47.

The United States is a great leader in innovation

:19:48.:19:50.

So it's very important that the economic arguments are laid

:19:51.:19:53.

out properly and not offering people false promises and false arguments.

:19:54.:19:59.

He's not going to presumably do that because the man

:20:00.:20:02.

who is the Environment Secretary, Scott Pruitt, is actually

:20:03.:20:04.

I mean, I'll read you something he said.

:20:05.:20:09.

"I think that measuring with precision human activity

:20:10.:20:15.

on the climate is something very challenging to do.

:20:16.:20:17.

I would not agree that it's a primary contributor

:20:18.:20:20.

Well, if Mr Pruitt has new scientific results,

:20:21.:20:24.

The scientists would be very interested in seeing them.

:20:25.:20:27.

You've got 200 years of climate science, clear and strong, that

:20:28.:20:30.

But if you look across the administration at the Secretary

:20:31.:20:36.

of State, Mr Tillerson, if you look at Treasury,

:20:37.:20:40.

if you look at Defence, you'll find quite a lot of people

:20:41.:20:46.

in the administration who are absolutely not climate

:20:47.:20:49.

deniers and recognise the importance of action.

:20:50.:20:55.

The Paris Accord was hailed as this landmark achievement,

:20:56.:20:58.

but how watertight is it if a country the size

:20:59.:21:01.

of the United States can just walk away without any repercussions?

:21:02.:21:05.

Actually, the United States cannot withdraw for three years,

:21:06.:21:09.

that was part of the Paris Agreement.

:21:10.:21:12.

At the end of that three years, you have to give a year's notice.

:21:13.:21:16.

Donald Trump's going to sit down with Emmanuel Macron over the next

:21:17.:21:18.

couple of days and I'm sure there's going to be some arm twisting

:21:19.:21:22.

in the background about climate change.

:21:23.:21:25.

If you were sitting in front of him, for the next two-days,

:21:26.:21:27.

I'd be very happy to sit before him and I would make the case

:21:28.:21:33.

that the route to the low-carbon economy is enormously attractive,

:21:34.:21:35.

in terms of jobs, growth itself, cities where you can move,

:21:36.:21:39.

cities where you can breathe, cities where you can be productive,

:21:40.:21:41.

eco systems which have some chance of survival.

:21:42.:21:47.

It's completely false to portray it as climate

:21:48.:21:53.

responsibility versus growth, that's just to get it wrong.

:21:54.:21:57.

We've seen that around the world in China now, in India,

:21:58.:22:00.

in the kind of objectives that President Macron himself has.

:22:01.:22:06.

What we've done in the UK, where we've cut emissions by 40%

:22:07.:22:09.

This is the growth story and it's a very attractive one and that's

:22:10.:22:16.

the most important point I think to get across.

:22:17.:22:25.

Some interesting thoughts. A quick take from that which is keen to get

:22:26.:22:31.

across, first America was not forced into this and second-best they said

:22:32.:22:35.

they were on target. The target was not imposed on them as President

:22:36.:22:39.

Trump seems to suggest and thirdly within the Paris agreement they can

:22:40.:22:43.

change the targets. So why pull out of it. That was the argument of

:22:44.:22:48.

Barack Obama and when he pulled out they said it is crazy, we could have

:22:49.:22:54.

been negotiated the existing deal. I think Donald Trump did not want to

:22:55.:22:58.

be part of that big international deal, he does not like that kind of

:22:59.:22:59.

international pact. I spend a good deal of my day

:23:00.:23:01.

watching the Twitter But yesterday -

:23:02.:23:04.

competing for attention - was the twitter feed

:23:05.:23:08.

of Southern Rail, not a twitter handle I normally follow -

:23:09.:23:11.

but yesterday the company left it in the hands of a 15

:23:12.:23:13.

year old student. Here on Work Experience and ready

:23:14.:23:23.

to answer your questions! Would you rather fight 1 horse sized

:23:24.:23:28.

duck or 100 duck sized horses? Now I don't know if you have tried

:23:29.:23:37.

these feeds in the past. And certainly not to

:23:38.:23:40.

a question like that. Eddie is that guy that

:23:41.:23:44.

goes the extra mile. A horse-sized duck

:23:45.:23:50.

would be pretty scary! And with that the hashtag

:23:51.:23:57.

'Ask Eddie' was born. And he answered every

:23:58.:23:59.

question they had. People asking for

:24:00.:24:03.

dinner suggestions. If he would rather have rollerblades

:24:04.:24:13.

on his feet or chopsticks for fingers. He answered every single

:24:14.:24:17.

one. I tried to get on the programme and he's not responding. He has been

:24:18.:24:23.

taken out of circulation! That is because they brought him back again

:24:24.:24:27.

at Southern Rail. They put up a photograph of him and he is back on

:24:28.:24:33.

that Twitter feed. I do not know what kind of summer jobs you had,

:24:34.:24:40.

Christian, I do not know many 15-year-olds who have such excellent

:24:41.:24:45.

work experience. He is going to be inundated by job offers. Just to say

:24:46.:24:52.

one thing, you are a useless Twitter feed editor, you need to find

:24:53.:24:56.

something else. You missed the best of all, at one stage he was asked

:24:57.:25:01.

whether a boy can swim faster than a shark. Here is what he replied. I do

:25:02.:25:07.

not think so, but you never know. There could be a girl. All the girls

:25:08.:25:19.

following Eddie! Hopefully all the boys as well and learning a thing or

:25:20.:25:23.

two. We will see if we can get him on the programme tomorrow.

:25:24.:25:26.

You're watching 100 Days Plus from BBC News.

:25:27.:25:31.

Still to come - Donald Trump calls the Russia investigation a witchhunt

:25:32.:25:34.

- the same term used by Nixon during Watergate.

:25:35.:25:38.

We'll hear from William Cohen who was a Republican Congressman

:25:39.:25:40.

And our journey continues on the New Silk Road -

:25:41.:25:45.

with a stop in Kazakhstan - where people feel squeezed by their

:25:46.:25:48.

That's still to come on 100 Days Plus, from BBC News.

:25:49.:26:09.

For most of us a beautiful day today. Lots of sunshine. Take a look

:26:10.:26:19.

at this picture from yesterday. A different story. This is in London.

:26:20.:26:26.

And today sunny skies in the north and south. So a very different day

:26:27.:26:31.

today across the south of the country with that rain pushing out

:26:32.:26:35.

into the continent. We are under the influence of high-pressure bust up

:26:36.:26:39.

it started off cloudy across the south and then just some fair

:26:40.:26:44.

weather cloud is pretty much it. So for this evening we have the

:26:45.:26:50.

high-pressure over us, a light wind and it is going to turn quite cold.

:26:51.:26:56.

In the middle of city centre is not especially cold but in rural areas

:26:57.:27:00.

just take a look at the difference. Four or 5 degrees across some

:27:01.:27:08.

northern areas. Thursday another fine day, the high-pressure

:27:09.:27:10.

dominating much of Western Europe. We have a weather front approaching

:27:11.:27:14.

the north-west, so perhaps thickening cloud and some spots of

:27:15.:27:19.

rain. Also just the chance of summer showers around across the Midlands

:27:20.:27:24.

and South West. But for most of us it is dry. So very hit and miss and

:27:25.:27:33.

for most of us another fine day. Low 20s in the south, around the 20

:27:34.:27:37.

degrees mark or high teens in the North. The greater chance perhaps of

:27:38.:27:45.

catching a few spots of rain across the north-west of the country. So

:27:46.:27:50.

there is fine day all in all and a good evening as well. From Friday

:27:51.:27:54.

onwards we see the wind picking up a little bit and pushing in some cloud

:27:55.:28:00.

from the Atlantic. So turning cloudy across some of these western areas

:28:01.:28:04.

and overall what is going to be happening through the course of

:28:05.:28:08.

Friday, weather systems coming in, bringing outbreaks of rain. That

:28:09.:28:14.

means Wimbledon is looking cloudy, and warm, actually really muggy

:28:15.:28:19.

during Saturday and Sunday for the finals. So this weekend, cloudy and

:28:20.:28:26.

muggy in the north-west in particular, and warmest across the

:28:27.:28:27.

South. I'm Katty Kay in Washington?

:28:28.:30:07.

And I'm Christian Fraser in London. Our top stories - Donald Trump

:30:08.:30:15.

defends his son over a meeting with a Russian lawyer

:30:16.:30:18.

during his Presidential campaign saying he's

:30:19.:30:21.

innocent and transparent. His son disclose the e-mail chain

:30:22.:30:35.

was done only because it was about to be released by the New York Times

:30:36.:30:39.

so that is not so much transparency as it is trying to get the upper

:30:40.:30:40.

hand. Turkey's President tells the BBC -

:30:41.:30:41.

the EU is wasting his country's time and that his country would find it

:30:42.:30:44.

"comforting" if the EU said it The Kremlin today insisted it was in

:30:45.:30:48.

no way linked to the meeting between President Trump's son

:30:49.:31:04.

and a Russian lawyer. And on Twitter Mr Trump again

:31:05.:31:07.

said the current news cycle is a witch hunt.

:31:08.:31:10.

It is the same term by the way that Richard Nixon used

:31:11.:31:14.

nearly 45 years ago. The cases are different but maybe

:31:15.:31:16.

there are some lessons from history. Back then, William Cohen was a young

:31:17.:31:22.

Republican congressman from Maine who would go on to become a Senator

:31:23.:31:25.

and later the American Secretary He's been a regular guest on this

:31:26.:31:28.

programme and joins us again today. When you look at what has happened

:31:29.:31:45.

over the last 48 hours with Donald Trump, the revelations of Donald

:31:46.:31:49.

Trump Jr's meetings with Russia and the solicitation shown in those

:31:50.:31:52.

e-mails, how normal is that in the context of American politics because

:31:53.:31:55.

that is what some people around the White House seem to be saying. It

:31:56.:32:01.

was not just opposition research, when it comes to a foreign

:32:02.:32:05.

government. This is something that has the sink into the American

:32:06.:32:09.

people, that the Russian government according to all of our intelligence

:32:10.:32:16.

agencies, in fact did meddle in our last election. They did interfere,

:32:17.:32:21.

they did try to impede Hillary Clinton in terms of her quest for

:32:22.:32:26.

the presidency. Our intelligence agencies say that. The KGB and

:32:27.:32:30.

President Trump are denying this. It brings into focus the statements

:32:31.:32:33.

coming from the President that none of his staff, his associates had

:32:34.:32:39.

anything to do with the Russians. We are starting to see that is not

:32:40.:32:44.

quite true. We saw with General Flynn, we see with the President's

:32:45.:32:49.

son-in-law. It raises the whole issue of truth and the search, not a

:32:50.:32:56.

witch hunt, it is they hunt for the truth. Once we start it, we have to

:32:57.:33:01.

carry it out. I want you to take me back because one of the things we

:33:02.:33:04.

heard earlier in the programme from some of Trump's and supporters, it

:33:05.:33:09.

is all about the press conducting this investigation and no one else's

:33:10.:33:13.

very interested. Pickers but the Watergate because my understanding

:33:14.:33:17.

is that for the first year of that, people around America would

:33:18.:33:22.

interested in the Watergate investigation. I think that was

:33:23.:33:28.

true. The President tried to say this is simply a break-in, I had

:33:29.:33:33.

nothing to do with it. The Democrats are simply trying to reverse the

:33:34.:33:36.

election, which they lost. Sounds familiar! But there is something

:33:37.:33:44.

else involved. I believe it is important that those who have

:33:45.:33:49.

business interests not be engaged in the White House. This is for family

:33:50.:33:53.

members and non-family members. Anyone who has a security clearance

:33:54.:33:58.

and is also working in the White House, anyone doing business as

:33:59.:34:01.

Sidey whiteheads, but is reducing the White House to the Camilla

:34:02.:34:10.

commercialisation. This is all tied up in who we believe, why are they

:34:11.:34:17.

getting security clearances? This is the branding of the President but

:34:18.:34:23.

not of America. People have to wake up and say, this is serious, not

:34:24.:34:29.

simply an issue of what people said. Our intelligence community believes,

:34:30.:34:32.

we have absolute evidence the Russians tried interfere. The

:34:33.:34:37.

President needs to put that down to the Russians saying, you can't do it

:34:38.:34:40.

again we're not going back to reset until you stop doing what you have

:34:41.:34:47.

doing with us. I know you have been travelling, what did you make of the

:34:48.:34:52.

way he approached the Putin meeting and what was said and the readout we

:34:53.:34:58.

have had since? I want to have better relations with the Russians,

:34:59.:35:02.

I think we need that. But not on the terms. Let's just start over and go

:35:03.:35:09.

forward, forget about Crimea, Ukraine, what we have done in terms

:35:10.:35:14.

of the elections. Let's start from scratch and move forward? No. If you

:35:15.:35:22.

violated a national law, occupying a country, destabilising Ukraine,

:35:23.:35:23.

interfering in our system, we don't go back to square one, we have to

:35:24.:35:28.

hold you accountable and we will and once we get reset with you on a

:35:29.:35:32.

proper basis, then let's go forward and have a proper relationship.

:35:33.:35:33.

Thank you. It's one year since a faction

:35:34.:35:39.

of the Turkish army said it was seizing power to protect

:35:40.:35:41.

democracy from President But without public support

:35:42.:35:44.

or wider military backing, the botched coup attempt

:35:45.:35:50.

was soon over. Today, Mr Erdogan remains a divisive

:35:51.:35:53.

figure in Turkey but he now appears stronger and more

:35:54.:35:56.

confident than ever. He sat down, for an exclusive

:35:57.:35:59.

interview with Zeinab Badawi for HardTalk and she gave us this

:36:00.:36:01.

preview of their discussion. Turkey is a pivotal nation and it

:36:02.:36:12.

operates in a tough neighbourhood. President Erdogan says he wants to

:36:13.:36:18.

retain ties with Turkey. There has been a lot of criticisms

:36:19.:36:29.

about his style of leadership, his clamp-down on press freedoms,

:36:30.:36:33.

particularly we have heard that from the European Union leaders who say

:36:34.:36:36.

this is another reason why we cannot allow Turkey to become a member of

:36:37.:36:42.

this Democratic club, because frankly, it does not possess the

:36:43.:36:47.

right democratic credentials. I put to President Erdogan that he really

:36:48.:36:50.

has particularly in the last years since that failed coup, really

:36:51.:36:56.

clamped down on press freedoms. Turkey now imprisons more

:36:57.:36:58.

journalists than any other country in the world. TRANSLATION:

:36:59.:37:03.

Opposition journalists write a lot of insulting articles about me.

:37:04.:37:08.

Those insulting articles are still out there. Those people who are

:37:09.:37:20.

inside jail, they are not journalists, some of them

:37:21.:37:23.

corroborated with terrorist organisations, some had possession

:37:24.:37:28.

of firearms. They have a journalist Badgebup this is not the official

:37:29.:37:33.

press guard. They claim to be journalists. On the European Union,

:37:34.:37:39.

I asked him what he personally thought about membership for the EU

:37:40.:37:46.

and he expressed his frustration but at the same time, it was a nuanced

:37:47.:37:50.

response because he said nevertheless, Turkey is still

:37:51.:37:55.

committed to the accession process. TRANSLATION: We are loyal to our

:37:56.:38:03.

worth, if the EU bluntly says we will not be able to accept Turkey in

:38:04.:38:08.

the EU, this will be comforting for us. We will then initiate plan B and

:38:09.:38:10.

see. The European Union is not

:38:11.:38:24.

indispensable for us. Turkey is able to stand on its own two feet.

:38:25.:38:27.

The full HardTalk interview with Turkey's President Erdogan

:38:28.:38:30.

will be broadcast here on BBC News on Friday.

:38:31.:38:36.

Now if you have been with us through the week,

:38:37.:38:39.

you've our journey along China's new Silk Road.

:38:40.:38:43.

It includes a rail route across three continents

:38:44.:38:45.

which will cost the Chinese government almost a trillion

:38:46.:38:48.

Our China Editor Carrie Gracie is travelling the 11,000 kilometre

:38:49.:38:54.

And as the Silk Road reaches Central Asia,

:38:55.:38:59.

she has been looking at China's challenge to Russia.

:39:00.:39:02.

For two centuries, central Asia was Russia's backyard.

:39:03.:39:06.

Kazakhstan got its independence when the Soviet Union collapsed

:39:07.:39:09.

but Russia remained the language of business until now.

:39:10.:39:15.

This is China's new Silk Road in action.

:39:16.:39:19.

The economy is slowing back home, state construction

:39:20.:39:22.

Master builders delivering a cutting-edge urban railway.

:39:23.:39:35.

TRANSLATION: China's advanced technologies bring convenience

:39:36.:39:38.

and more comfort and safety for travellers in Kazakhstan.

:39:39.:39:41.

If this project goes well, it will serve as a model for others.

:39:42.:39:45.

China says its plans offer something for all.

:39:46.:39:52.

But most jobs here will go to Chinese workers and the loan

:39:53.:39:56.

It is not just building across central Asia,

:39:57.:40:04.

China's buying into banks and oil fields as well.

:40:05.:40:08.

In one village, a kindergarten has become a hostel for Chinese workers.

:40:09.:40:17.

This woman complains of pollution and jobs going to outsiders.

:40:18.:40:26.

TRANSLATION: The Chinese have done nothing.

:40:27.:40:29.

There is a huge oil industry here but no jobs

:40:30.:40:33.

or facilities for young people. We want to live decently

:40:34.:40:36.

so that we won't be ashamed of our village.

:40:37.:40:41.

Government intimidation makes many Kazakhs cautious on camera.

:40:42.:40:46.

But privately, several accused Chinese companies

:40:47.:40:48.

China says its presence abroad is a win-win,

:40:49.:40:56.

a win for China and a win for the people in its path.

:40:57.:41:01.

They say their oil wealth is going elsewhere.

:41:02.:41:12.

And that win-win means China wins once and then China wins again.

:41:13.:41:16.

Back at this cathedral, this man says the nations of central

:41:17.:41:20.

Asia are like billiard balls in a game between the big players -

:41:21.:41:24.

China, I believe will be some threat for our independence.

:41:25.:41:30.

Because for China, Kazakhstan is not an equal partner.

:41:31.:41:37.

For China, Kazakhstan only is like one of the players

:41:38.:41:40.

That game stretches far beyond these mountains.

:41:41.:41:50.

But already, it is changing lives, shaping the destiny of young nations

:41:51.:41:55.

We are sharing the air miles from this trip. It is only fair since we

:41:56.:42:13.

have been promoting it! Tomorrow is our last show. Cathy wants to go on

:42:14.:42:19.

holiday, I would work through but Cathy wants to go on holiday! What

:42:20.:42:25.

have we got on the show? I think you are a slave driver! Just one

:42:26.:42:30.

question, one tweet, Donald Trump senior called Donald Trump Jr a

:42:31.:42:34.

high-quality guy and I just want to know whether anyone has ever called

:42:35.:42:40.

you that. No but I know Melania Trump is a very high quality person

:42:41.:42:46.

and I think you are as well. 175 days. I am still standing! Or

:42:47.:42:57.

sitting! I am feeling 125 years old! We will be back tomorrow for the

:42:58.:43:03.

last show for 175 days, do join us for that, goodbye.

:43:04.:43:08.

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