30/10/2017 Beyond 100 Days

You're watching Beyond 100 Days.

He ran Donald Trump's

election campaign, now

Paul Manafort could go to jail.

He's been indicted by the special

prosecutor investigating Russia's

links to Trump on allegations

including conspiracy against the US.

The charges against Paul Manafort

relate to money laundering -

but what else does he know

about the Trump campaign and Moscow?

And that's not all.

A Trump campaign foreign policy

advisor has pleaded guilty to making

false statements to FBI agents.

The Russia probe is growing.

And the regional leader flees Spain,

as the country's chief prosecutor

wants to charge the people behind

Catalonia's independence

bid with rebellion.

Also on the programme: Kevin Spacey

apologises for an assault ona

on a 14-year-old boy he claims

he can't remember.

In the British Parliament one MP

warns there could be hundreds

of sexual abuse case we don't

yet know about.

The Prime Minister wants

a new code of conduct.

Get in touch with us using

the hashtag #BeyondOneHundredDays.

Hello and welcome -

I'm Katty Kay in New York

and Christian Fraser is in London.

Absolutely nothing to do with us -

that's the line from the White House

spokesperson tonight

after Special Counsel,

Bob Mueller, made dramatic moves

in the Russia investigation.

Mr Mueller handed down indictments

to two campaign officials -

Paul Manafort and Rick Gates.

He also released information that

a foreign policy advisor

to candidate Trump has pleaded

guilty to lying

about ties to Moscow.

Paul Manafort was the chair

of Donald Trump's campaign

for three months in 2016 -

count one of his indictment

is a charge of conspiracy

againt the United States,

he's also accused of tax evasion

and money laundering.

George Papadopoulos the campaign

foreign policy advisor -

hid his attempts to get dirt

on Hillary Clinton from

a Russian operative.

Mr Manafort and Mr Gates have just

pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Our North America editor Jon Sopel,

begins our coverage.

Paul Manafort, are you handing

yourself into federal

authorities today?

This is not how it was meant to be.

Mr Manafort has no comment.

Just over one year ago,

multimillionaire Paul Manafort

was Donald Trump's campaign

chairman, a figure

of huge influence.

Today he's been ordered to an FBI

field office to face

the gravest charges.

Normally talkative, today

much more tight-lipped.

The indictment runs to over 30 pages

and details of a complex web

of financial arrangements to keep

vast amounts secured

from US authorities.

It details how Paul Manafort

was working as an agent

for the pro-Russia party in Ukraine

from whom he received tens

of millions of dollars in payments

for decades until 2017.

of millions of dollars in payments

for a decade until 2017.

It is alleged he laundered

$18 million through various accounts

and companies and by any means.

Almost $1 million was laundered

through an antiques rugs store

in Alexandria, Virginia,

millions laundered through a men's

clothes store in New York.

It adds a substantial

layer of complexity,

just the Ukraine and Russia

connection could add months

to this investigation.

In response to the indictment

the president has treated angrily,

sorry but this is years ago before

Paul Manafort was part of the Trump

campaign, but why aren't crooked

Hillary and the Democrats the focus?

And another tweet on Russia.

Also, there is no collusion.

That is the line

taken by his lawyer.

The allegations in the indictment

are focused on their business

activities, not campaign activities,

not campaign events.

But today a separate,

deeply damaging disclosure.

This man, George Papadopoulos,

a foreign policy adviser

to the Trump campaign

who President Trump once described

as an excellent guide,

secretly pleaded guilty earlier this

month to lying to the FBI

about his contacts with Russian

officials during the campaign.

And this former state department

official and international

lawyer said that could be

much more significant.

Paul Manafort is a bigger figure

but we expected the charges

and indictment against him

to come out today.

This guilty plea by Papadopoulos

discloses facts of communication

between the Trump campaign

and Russia that we didn't know

about and that could be a much

bigger problem for Trump.

The charge sheet against

Papadopoulos says he is cooperating

fully with the authorities.

In other words, it looks like he's

prepared to reveal more information

as part of a plea bargain.

That could give other

White House officials

sleepless nights and cause

to engage their own

lawyers, and quickly.

Well, responding to the news,

the White House Press Secretary,

Sarah Sanders, addressed the media

a short time ago.

She attempted to distance the

president from the announcement and

play down his link to George

Papadopoulos.

Today's announcement has nothing to

do with the president, with his

campaign or campaign activity. The

real collusion scandal, as we have

said before, has everything to do

with the Clinton campaign, fusion

GPS, and Russia. This individual was

the member of a volunteer advisory

Council that meant one time over the

course of the year. He was part of a

list that was read out in the

Washington Post, I would hardly call

that some sort of regular advisor.

For more on these charges we're

joined by our political analyst

Ron Christie who served

as an advisor to president George W.

Bush and is in San Francisco today.

Lucky you! Far away from all the

action in Washington, DC. What ever

Sarah Sanders says, is not a great

day for the White House, is it, when

your former campaign chair and

deputy chair are indicted and the

four-man visor pleads guilty to

lying about ties to Moscow? --

former adviser.

Absolutely not. As a

lawyer, you can look at this and

say, there's really not that much

linking President Trump's campaign

to the indictment we saw with

Manafort, his former campaign

manager. As a political matter, this

is a bombshell. This is a really

difficult scenario for the White

House to try to navigate through.

Why? Because even though it was only

for three month period, Paul

Manafort was the top member of the

President's campaign to become the

next president of the US. There will

be a headache for the White House,

and I suspect we will have many

sleepless nights for White House

staff in the days ahead.

If ever I'm

in legal trouble, I am firing Sarah

Huckabee Sanders, she does not give

an inch. -- I am hiring Sarah

Huckabee Sanders. Judging by the

tweets over the last 24 hours, this

is causing a certain amount of

heartburn over there, isn't it?

Of

course. Any time you have an

individual turn themselves into the

FBI, one of our top law enforcement

agencies here in the US, who is the

President's campaign manager, that's

going to because of heartburn. From

a legal perspective, these

indictments, in my view, show that

the FBI and of course the special

Counsel office are probably going to

try to flip these two individuals.

They will try to find a way to find

someone further up the chain, much

closer to President Trump, than

these two. So yes, if I were a

lawyer associated with the president

or his White House staff, I might be

having a tough go of it today.

Let's

pull out a couple of bits from the

Papadopoulos indictments, because

Sarah Sanders they're saying there

was no connection to the campaign.

One of the most interesting bits on

page eight of that note, it goes on

to say that the government notes

that the official forward defendant

Papadopoulos has an e-mail to

another campaign official, in

cahoots with someone else's

campaign. This person from the

campaign said we need someone to

communicate that Donald Trump is not

doing these trips, it should be some

unknown level in the campaign, so as

not to send any signals. What do you

make of that?

I read that, and I

actually thought that's an

exhilaration of President Trump or

his staff, saying we had nothing to

do with Russia, there was no

pollution. If you look at that

footnote, it gives you the

impression that they don't want

their candidates to have anything to

do with this.

Not necessarily

meaning the campaign is not

colluding, though?

That's correct.

Again, that's from a legal

standpoint. From a political

standpoint, any time you have the

President's initials, his name or a

reference to the then candidate

Trump, that's going to give

ammunition to the Democrats and

those who are detractors of the

president to say, see? The special

Counsel, in his indictment, on

something in a footnote that

mentions President Trump by name.

That will give them ammunition and

certainly fuel for the the days to

come.

Good to get your thoughts.

Thanks. We will just show you a

picture of the court outside the

court, the microphones are there. We

hope someone connected to Paul

Manafort, maybe the man himself,

will come out and speak. We are

hearing from Reuters that the judge

in that case, this is an arraignment

at a District Court, he has ordered

Paul Manafort and Rick Gates to home

confinement. Let's get a bit more on

it from Washington.

Joining us from Washington

is Jonathan Turley -

a law professor at George Washington

University.

What do you think is more

significant today, the indictment

against Paul Manafort all the -- on

the George Papadopoulos indictment?

Probably the latter. The Manafort

indictment does not mention the

campaign, all really President

Trump. The centre of gravity of

those crimes still removed from the

White House. The plea of guilty

really is pleading guilty to a crime

committed by the individual, he lied

to the FBI, it's not establishing a

crime committed by the campaign or

by the President's staff. I think

both sides have good arguments to

make here. The White House is

probably relieved that the main

indictment against Manafort and

Gates is somewhat removed from the

campaign. But there is no denying

that the second shoe to drop may

make more noise in the White House.

Jonathan, it's catty. We spoke

earlier. I asked you if this would

be a mountain or a mole hill. I want

a reprise that question.

Specifically on George Papadopoulos

who has been operating ever since --

cooperating ever since he was

arrested back in July, a phenomenal

job of keeping this secret by the

way, what might he have been doing

ever since July in way of

corporation on my concern the White

House?

That's what everyone wants to

know. He clearly has flipped. The

question is how much does he know?

Usually when you reach some type of

plea, someone is bringing something

of value. Some deliverables. Now,

what those are is still something

that nobody has an inkling about.

The array of charges against

Manafort and gates, I think was

meant to send a message to other

witnesses. This witness clearly was

going to make people feel

uncomfortable. But among this, there

is this weird array against Manafort

and Gates, very serious crimes like

money laundering and tax fraud, then

these very minor offences like fair

violations, which is registering as

a foreign agent, like being chased

by Rottweilers and a Chihuahua. You

are not quite sure why it's in

there.

Sorry to interrupt you, we

are just going to go to the

courthouse because they have come

out of the District Court and

speaking to reporters. Listen.

This indictment that I myself found

ridiculous, maintaining that

offshore accounts to bring all your

funds into the US as a scheme to

conceal from the US government, is

ridiculous. Thank you.

Just missed the end of that. We will

try to see if we can get a replay of

that. Sorry, I did interrupt you

there. Let me ask you about Mr

Trump. I presume his fallback

position will be, I did not know

anything about this, if people in my

campaign was speaking to the

Russians that's nothing to do with

me.

That may be true. There is no

evidence that he knew of this type

of influence. The thing that worries

me about the indictment against

Manafort is that this is the lot of

alleged, illegal conduct. When you

are engaged in that, if you are

engaged in that, you give someone a

average if they know about it. These

people he was involved with just

happened to be fairly shady

characters. People associated with

Russia and the Ukraine, so I think

what the investigators are probably

going to look at is whether there

was Lethbridge here. Even now it's

disconnected from campaign, it does

not mean that it did not have some

influence that produced results with

regards the campaign. It's a very

unlikely that these are the charges

that they will face, prosecutors

often bring a superseding

indictment, so they could face

twice, three times the number of

camps by the time they go to trial.

This is just the start for them and

others. The one guy I think is most

nervous today is general Flynn.

Those fair violations, you could

simply wiped out Manafort's name and

put in Flint's and the facts would

be the same.

That holds obligations

for Michael Flynn but may be Jared

Kushner as well, the son-in-law?

Krishna, but also people have

suggested, Tony Podesta, connected

on the Democratic side, people who

were not registered. This is a crime

that is almost never prosecuted.

What Mueller is indicating it he

will charge anyone for anything

within the scope of his mandate.

Very interesting. Really good to

have you with us. I was looking at a

Wall Street editorial last week,

lots of pressure on Bob Mueller,

lots of flak from the Republican

side about Hillary Clinton, uranium

one, then this from the Wall Street

Journal saying the best thing he can

do is probably stand aside, resigned

to prevent further political turmoil

over his convict of interest, the

suggestion that some on his team had

been donors to the Democrats. Did

you get a sense today from Sarah

Sanders that maybe Bob Mueller's

position is a lot safer than it was

last week?

There are two camps in

the White House, from my

understanding of people I have

spoken to. One camp that has tried

to put pressure on the president of

Fire Bob Mueller, another that has

said this would look terribly bad. I

think today, after these indictments

and after we had Papadopoulos

pleading guilty, it would look even

worse if the president might turn

around and fire Bob Mueller. That's

what you had Sarah Huckabee sound is

coming out and pouring cold water on

that idea. This investigation will

continue. The other interesting

thing she said in a press conference

was that their understanding in the

White House is that this is nearly

wrapped up, the Mueller

investigation. I don't see how

that's case. It's going to be months

of preparation for the trials of

Manafort and Rick Gates, I think we

are clearly at the beginning of the

movement in the Mueller operation,

the beginning of indictments, but

there could be several more to come.

He still has people he wants to

interview. Not wrapped up, even

though the White House clearly would

love that to be the case.

Very

quickly, the idea would be to put as

much pressure as you can on these

two men and hope you can flip them.

Flip them.

Yeah, interesting.

Spain's chief prosecutor has called

for charges including rebellion

and embezzlement to be brought

against Catalan leaders

following the region's

declaration of independence.

It comes as Spain moves to take

direct control of Catalonia,

including replacing the region's

civil servants with

Spanish officials.

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont

is in Belgium with several other

members of his sacked

administration.

Without resistance, Spain's national

governance has taken over

the running of this,

the Catalan region.

Sacked ministers and

pro-independence activists

have retreated for talks

in crowded party offices.

One sacked Cabinet member

faced a walk to his car

without his police bodyguard.

Are you still a minister?

This morning, the sacked Catalan

deputy president appeared unworried.

A short time later, the prosecutor

in Madrid announced serious charges

against him and others.

TRANSLATION:

In order to uphold

the law, this office has five

charges of rebellion,

sedition, and misuse of funds

against the main Catalan leaders.

But the deposed Catalan President,

Carles Puigdemont,

seen here on Saturday,

has chosen to escape

before facing arrest.

Where is he?

I don't know.

I cannot confirm you

where is the President.

I think the President's Office

should say where is Mr President.

All I can say is this weekend,

I have been in contact with him,

I have been speaking with him

and he is fine but

he's our president.

President Puigdemont

and our ministers, and our

government are our government.

Carles Puigdemont's

supporters may insist

that he is still their president

but right now it is hard to see how

he can attempt to lead

from outside Catalonia.

Right here, Spain's

national governance appears

to be in full control.

Our colleague Tim Willcox

is in Barcelona.

The cat and mouse game goes on. Do

we presume, given that Carles

Puigdemont is in Brussels, that he

has fled?

Well, I'm not sure. This

story is changing by the hour. At

one stage it seemed like it was a

European screenplay version of Catch

Me if You can. A normal working day

was the Instagram put up today I

Carles Puigdemont, but about an hour

or so later we heard from the

Attorney General filing those

charges of rebellion, sedition and

abuse of public funds, at the same

time we heard that Mr Puigdemont was

not actually here but on his way to

Marseille airport to take a flight

to Brussels. There's a lot of anger

among his hard-core supporters here

that he may have done a runner, and

just due actually enforce that point

or underline that point, we now here

he is talking to a very prominent

Belgian lawyer, who actually

represented two alleged members of

the Basque nationalists group back

in the 90s. To prevent them being

extradited back to Spain. It's not

clear if he is planning to come

back, but if he does, he could be

arrested, he could be asked to

testify before a court, and those

charges of rebellion and sedition

carry a potential maximum sentence

of 30 years.

What happens now to Mr

Puigdemont's party and his movement?

Elections are in December, how does

this play out for independence, the

independence bid, in Catalonia? Is

that over?

It's another climb-down.

I've just been speaking to a member

of one of the civil action groups

who have been a strong supporter of

Mr Puigdemont, we have heard his

party have said they will take part

in these elections on December 21,

which again is a climb-down as they

are saying, hang on, we declared

independence and now we are going to

take part in elections dictated by

Madrid. I think you will not do the

same coalition forming, if all these

bodies do agree to take part in the

elections, there will be a split. Mr

Puigdemont himself has said he is

not in it for the long one, he wants

to bring this region to

independence. He does not want to

stand as a political figure. We can

take him out of the equation, but

when it comes to the other

independent separatist parties, they

will try and form a new coalition.

But, the latest opinion poll in the

last three days, albeit by a Spanish

newspaper, is saying that the

feeling for staying unified with

Spain is still very high here. If

there is the selection on December

21, it does not appear the

nationalists, separatist,

independents are going to have a lot

of support in this region.

Thank you

very much. Before I bring you some

of the news, just to say the judge

in the case in Washington has set by

the conditions of 10 million

unsecured bond for Paul Manafort, 5

million unsecured bond for Rick

Gates.

The amount of carbon dioxide in the

earths atmosphere surged to a record

high in 2016. It has been put down

to a combination of human activities

and the El Nino weather condition

which has encouraged droughts and

restricted funds from absorbing --

plants from absorbing CO2.

It may be one of the world's

most advanced economies,

but America has historically high

numbers of people who

can't read and write.

Illiteracy levels are more than 8%,

nearly double the rate in the UK.

That means there are 16 million

people in the US who can't read

Michael Johnson says not being able

to read left him an outcast for much

of his life. It affected his ability

to do even the simplest of tasks at

work.

My employer told me to go and

locate this box that had a certain

writing on it. I would not know how

to locate that box, because I would

not know how to correlate the

writing to the box. I would know it

was letters on the box but I would

not know how to read the letters.

It's not that Michael did not go to

school, he did. But what he faced

decades ago are still affects so

many children in America today.

Right across this country, there are

an astonishing number of people who

go right through the school system,

even graduating from high school,

without ever learning to read. There

are now more than 60 million

American adults who are functionally

illiterate, a proportion of the

population compared at to other

developed nations. But why? There is

huge inequality when it comes to

education standards in America. With

rich districts and poor ones often

having startling differences in

school resources.

There is a

rectangle where ever you look...

For

Peggy, who is now learning to read

to help her children, there were

other factors as well. What stops

you from learning to read?

My

parents, and the schools. They did

not want to help me get more

learning, so they sent me in special

aired. They thought that would help

but it did not.

It's a common

complaint here that the system does

not deal well with those who need a

little extra help.

Sometimes we soft

and our expectations and think

that's doing service to the child.

But in reality, what we are doing

is, why might build their

self-esteem for while, it does not

really help member, contributing

member of society.

To this day in

America, someone's economic

background, which can often mean

race and learning difficulties,

still plays a massive part in

whether they get so starkly left

behind.

What's depressing about these

numbers is they have barely barged

in America, education here is a huge

topic of conversation, in politics,

in budgets, but they cannot seem to

lift the bottom levels of the

education system up. If you come to

America and you go to the top level

of education, those top universities

that people come from around the

world to go to, it's excellent. You

will get a better education than

anywhere else in the world, but this

top and bottom layer of education

which as Eileen was suggesting is a

lot about race, that just does not

change, and people are learning.

It's a good series, this, plenty

more to come on it. We will talk a

lot more about Paul Manafort and the

indictments today, that's all coming

up.

Coming up for viewers on the BBC

News Channel and BBC World News,

more on the scandal that has whipped

Washington into a frenzy as Paul

Manafort is charged with conspiracy

against the United States.

And we speak to the journalist

who broke the story

about Kevin Spacey and those

allegations of sexual advances

towards a 14-year-old boy in 1986.

That's still to come.

That first proper autumn chill only

lasts a day. Here is the cloud

coming over the Atlantic, spilling

over the top end of the pressure

from the south. Northern areas will

see the clownfish in overnight,

outbreaks of rain coming and going.

It will turn misty around western

parts of Scotland, more of a breeze.

But the South, clearer skies.

Temperatures will drop well down

into single figures, but a much

milder starter tomorrow morning

across parts of Scotland, Northern

Ireland and northern England. It

will be a much more grey start, in

misty start around the hills,

outbreaks of rain and drizzle for

western Scotland, the odd patch

further east, maybe a few spots of

light rain squeezed from the cloud

in northern England and Ireland.

Most will dry. Gwynedd and Anglesey

will have the odd spot of rain, but

much of central and southern England

will start dry. Some hazy sunshine.

A little on the cool side but not

the extensive Frosty saw this

morning. Across the South, other

than the odd spot of rain coming

from high cloud, most will stay dry

through the day. In the north,

cloudy, grey, particularly in the

West. Temperatures around where they

should be for this time of year, 11

to 14 degrees for many. It will

probably feel a bit more pleasant

with the sunshine in the South. That

split continues on Tuesday and into

Wednesday. Further rain mounting

across the hills of western

Scotland, whereas further south it

stays dry. Perhaps a greater chance

of one or two mist or fog patches

into Wednesday morning. The

brightest of the weather, driest

weather to be found across southern

parts of England and Wales. The

cloud ships north, more sunshine to

the north of Scotland, in amongst

one of two showers, dampest all

parts of Central south-western

Scotland and Northern Ireland. A

fairly weak weather front which

will, through Wednesday, drift

south. It allows cold air to push

back into northern Scotland, a

chance of frost on Thursday morning,

more in the way of mist and fog

parts of UK. A thin band of patchy

rain working its way south through

the day. Much brighter conditions on

Thursday. In the Northern Ireland.

The Caldaire will be back as we head

into the weekend, thanks to the

developing north-westerly winds.

More on that later.

Donald Trump's

Donald Trump's former campaign

chairman and one of his business

partners charged with laundering.

George Papadopoulos, a former

foreign policy adviser to the Trump

campaign, pleads guilty to lying to

the FBI.

Coming up in the next half-hour,

Kevin Spacey apologises after a

child actor says he made a sexual

advance on him when he was just 14

decades ago. And it was the

revolution which led to the rise of

the soviet union, we look back at

the impact from Saint Petersburg.

Let us know your reaction with the

hashtag Beyond 100 Days.

The White House is pushing back

towards moves by Robert Mueller. The

indictment of the former campaign

chairman, Paul Manafort, and the

guilty plea of a foreign policy

adviser, George Papadopoulos, have

nothing to do with Donald Trump. The

12 charges brought against Paul

Manafort on one of his business

associate include conspiracy to

launder money through their dealings

with Ukraine. George Papadopoulos,

meanwhile, has admitted to lying

about ties to Moscow.

In the last few minutes Paul

Manafort's lawyer has spoken outside

the court. Let's take this into the

statement.

I think you all saw today

that President Donald Trump was

correct, there is no evidence, that

Paul Manafort or the Trump campaign,

colluded with the Russian

government. Paul Manafort

represented pro-European union

campaigns to the Ukrainians. In that

he was seeking to further democracy

and to help the Ukraine come close

to the United States and the EU.

Those activities ended in 2014, over

two years before Paul Manafort

served in the Trump campaign. Today,

you see an indictment...

STUDIO: Let's take a closer look at

who these men are at the centre of

today's news. Before becoming his

campaign chairman, Paul Manafort

spent over a decade working for the

former Ukrainian president. He

joined the Trump campaign in March

last year. In June he became the

chair. In August 2016 he was forced

to resign over reports he had

received millions in illegal

payments from the pro-Russia

political party in Ukraine. He has

denied any wrongdoing.

Rick Gates was his protege, a

political consultant, they first

worked together in Ukraine. Paul

Manafort brought into the Trump

campaign. He became the deputy. He

did not leave when his boss did. He

was there is about the transition.

He also has ties with many of the

Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs

linked to Paul Manafort.

Then there is George Papadopoulos,

the more significant part of the

story, in March last year he became

a former foreign policy adviser. --

a formal. He met with a professor

with ties to Moscow who offered him

dirt on Hillary Clinton in the form

of thousands of e-mails. He lied to

the FBI saying he met the professor

before he joined the campaign. He

has pleaded guilty, remember, and

has been providing the FBI with

information.

Let's get an update from our North

American editor. Several times

during the press conference at the

White House today Sarah Huckabee

Sanders was asked what they said

about Donald Trump's ability to pick

the right people. We are not clear

what this means in terms of links

between the campaign and the

Russians. But we can make some

judgment, can't we, about the Trump

campaign's hiring of top

individuals.

Let's go right back.

Let's have a look at why Robert

Muller has been appointed. He is

there to investigate if there was

collusion between the Russians and

the Trump campaign. -- Robert

Mueller. There is still no further

evidence that is the case. However,

there are questions about the

behaviour of Paul Manafort and his

association with a pro-Russian

Ukrainian group and the millions he

made there. And the surprise

development, George Papadopoulos,

National Security adviser to the

Trump campaign, lying about his

meetings to the FBI and pleading

guilty. There are still questions

coming in. Probably one of the best

defence is the Trump campaign has

is, we didn't run a campaign like

other people ran campaigns, we

didn't do due diligence on everybody

we appointed, we didn't check the

backgrounds of everyone before we

gave them a key job. With hindsight

maybe we should have done, but we

were a bit slapdash. That's a pretty

good defence. But if they knew. If

they had had evidence as to what

Paul Manafort is alleged to have

done, as a result of what we've seen

in this indictment, then I think the

Trump campaign has more difficult

questions to answer.

Sarah Sanders

is saying nothing to see here. I'm

pulling bits out of the indictment

because it is interesting. George

Papadopoulos said in June he was

willing to make the trip come off

the record, if it is in the interest

of Trump and others. An adviser

wrote back, I would encourage you to

make the trip if it is feasible. How

was that not a campaign conspiring?

Again, their collusion? You might be

meeting the Russians, all sorts of

people... I am setting the bar what

Robert Mueller is investigating. Any

hopes that this White House had that

Mueller was, like, that's the end,

nowhere near that. There is an awful

long way to go with this

investigation. I am sure there will

be a defeat about how much they

would want Mueller to carry on this

investigation but I think he has a

long way to go. The other

interesting that had been talked

about is the possibility that not

only is George Papadopoulos helping,

he is actively helping. There is a

big difference between the two. Has

he worn a wire? Has he been actively

helping the FBI to try to get more

information? Maybe entrap people? We

don't know the answers to those

questions yet, but it makes you feel

there is still a long way to go, and

considerable anxiety, probably, for

some of the other people who George

Papadopoulos had been meeting with.

Thanks very much. A line to bring

you from the Senate. Mueller Should

be able to seek the answers to the

questions without interference from

the present -- from the president or

anywhere else. Why do you think he

is saying he is near the end?

It is wishful thinking on the part

of the White House. -- why do think

Sarah Huckabee Sanders is saying he

is near the end?

She was asked if she had specific

information to suggest that they are

near the end, and she was unable to

answer. But what this does

politically for the President? It

was just interesting, this was

wall-to-wall television coverage of

this story on cable channels today,

except Fox News. Fox News is pretty

representative of part of the

President's base, they were talking

about Hillary Clinton and her links

to Russia, and the line the

president was pushing this morning,

the idea that people should be

investigating the Clinton campaign,

knocked the Trump campaign. The

moment this probably doesn't make a

big dent for him politically.

This is a test, isn't it now, for

America? For the media, the court

system, for Mueller, and various

institutions in the US. Where do

they put the emphasis?

I do not think there is any

indication that the American system

is crumbling under the weight of

this story. Actually, the checks and

balances built into the system are

holding. James Comey was fired, the

head of the FBI, that was legal but

unusual. Then we had a special

counsel investigating this. The

moment the court system, the press

system, Congress, they are all

acting as they should be acting.

Let's talk about Kevin Spacey. The

Hollywood star has apologised after

he was accused of making a sexual

advance towards a child actor who

was 14 at the time. Kevin Spacey

said he was invited to a party, he

was drunk, and that is when the

alleged incident happened.

Kevin Spacey was 26 at the time. In

a statement he said I honestly don't

remember the encounter, but if I

behaved as he describes I only the

sincerest apology. -- I owe him the

sincerest apology.

Kevin Spacey is one of the biggest

names in show business.

A two-time Oscar winner,

currently starring in the Netflix

political drama House of Cards.

But his reputation is now

in jeopardy, because of allegations

that date back to Broadway in 1986.

# Gonna pay #...

Anthony Rapp, on the left

here in the musical Rent,

says Spacey invited him to a party,

carried him on to a bed,

climbed on top of him

and made a sexual advance.

Rapp, who was 14 at

the time, said he squirmed

away and left the house.

In a statement, Kevin Spacey

said he did not remember

the encounter, but if it happened,

it would have been deeply

inappropriate drunken behaviour,

for which he has now apologised.

He added, I know there

are stories out there about me,

saying "I choose now to live

as a gay man and I am

examining my own behaviour."

But that has provoked a backlash.

He is implying that, well,

because I have always

been gay, but never came

out, that is the sort

of thing that happens.

This lovely young man,

and it is alleged that he jumped

on top of this young man,

and the gay community is saying,

well, sorry, it's not

because you are gay.

No video things Kevin Spacey will be

the last big name to be ensnared in

the web of allegations that has spun

out after the Harvey Weinstein

affair. -- nobody thinks. Hollywood

is abuzz with gossip and rumour

about who is next.

James Cook BBC News, Los Angeles.

Adams spoke to Anthony Rapp and he

wrote the story about the

allegations against Kevin Spacey.

Why did Anthony Rapp speak out now?

He spoke out because he was very

moved by the multitudes of women who

were coming forward in the wake of

the Harvey when steam scandal. He

felt that this was a time that he

was awake to. And he wanted to

participate. He said it was a time

to listen to victims to really let

their stories be heard.

What it

Anthony Rapp tell you about the

incident in question? -- what did.

Everything that was in the report

covers it. He was invited to this

party at Kevin Spacey's apartment.

He was the only child there. He said

that wasn't unusual because as a

child actor he was used to being in

the company of adults. He always

felt safe in that. When he realised

that he was the only person left at

this party, again he just thought it

is time for me to go now, and that

is when Kevin Spacey allegedly made

his advance.

What do you make of

Kevin Spacey's excuse? The fact he

isn't able to remember it. Then the

excuse he has put forward, as if

being a game man in some way excuses

the behaviour, not to mention the

damage that does to game rights and

what he would lobby for as an actor.

--

making a sexual advance on a

14-year-old boy has nothing to do

with being a game man.

In fact, the

statement makes no mention of

Anthony Rapp's age. It is almost as

if he is pretending that part of the

story doesn't exist, where it is

actually the key part of the story,

the reason it is such a serious

allegation. That is why you are

seeing anger from so many people in

the LGBTQ community with how Spacey

has handled this allegation and in

his response.

Thank you. We have

seen it again, haven't we? The

apology that has a qualifier at the

end of it or some sort of caveat,

I'm sorry but. But for Kevin Spacey

that is causing a lot of kickback.

Yes, he is trying to blame secrecy.

The fact he was always secret about

his personal life...

But it reminds me of Harvey

Weinstein, saying that he did it

because he is addicted to sex. There

was always an excuse. But in this

case Kevin Spacey has been called on

it.

Staff in the British Parliament know

which MPs to avoid in the

Westminster bars, male and female.

They use what's up toward each other

about the so-called sex pest they

should avoid. The fact they need

such tools tell you how big this

problem is and how little protection

they have got. -- they use Whatsapp.

The PM wants a brand-new code of

conduct. Three years ago

Conservative MPs resisted such a

move by her predecessor David

Cameron who wanted them to sign up

voluntarily to a proper complaints

procedure. Earlier today, Andrea

Leadsom laid out the government's

response to the allegations.

The public rightly expects MPs to

display the highest standards. As

the Prime Minister outlined in her

letter yesterday, there can be no

place for harassment, abuse, or

misconduct in politics. Your age,

gender, or job title should have no

bearing on the way you are treated

in a modern workplace. And nobody is

an exception to that.

Sarah Champion

is a Labour MP and former Shadow

Secretary of State for women. She

joins us from Westminster. I was

reading comments from Katy Perry,

she said this information of what

MPs have been getting up to had been

kept away from the Prime Minister.

But not only that it had been used

to enforce party discipline. In

other words, the whips knew what

they had been doing in the bars and

it was a way of keeping them in

mind.

If that's true, I don't think

anybody in Parliament can fail to

notice there is a massive power

imbalance between the MPs, the

senior party officials, and the

interns, the young staff we have

there, and for me whenever there is

a power imbalance there is likely to

be abuse. If the PM at any MP is not

aware of that potential, I find that

shocking, if not deliberate wilful

blindness. In terms of the whips

being referred, I know that we have

a process. We would refer things we

are concerned about our whips. I

don't know if any action has been

taken from those referrals. But if

people were using it effectively

blackmail other people and not

protect the victims, then I really

find that quite a shocking

revelation.

You could go further,

you could say the information about

the abuse of women was being used to

the benefit of the party.

Absolutely. I would like to correct

you, this is not just women, this is

happening to women and men. If that

is the case, then it is concerning.

But it's not just Westminster, its

politics. The same as with

Hollywood, in politics you have a

limited number of people who are at

the top of the pile. And they have

all of the power and influence. They

make the decisions over your career.

You have thousands of people who are

desperate to get a career in

politics. All the way up from the

local party members, to the

councillors, to the MPs, there is

that potential for abuse of power

and physical, sexual, psychological

abuse to happen. We need not just

have died

-- we need not just to have

guidance, we need to look at the

cult of politics, spread it out

there, make sure there is

transparency, so everybody can have

a career if they want it. But these

dark corners that happen alongside

them, they need to be rooted out

once and for all.

Whether it is in

politics, journalism, as we've seen

in the US, Hollywood, as well, the

question is, how do we make it safe

for women to report? There are

procedures in place in Westminster,

Hollywood, and most companies. There

is often a conflict of interest. You

report to your HR department, that

department is looking out for the

company's interest more than it is

looking out for yours. How is it

possible to make it safe for people

to come forward and report

harassment?

You are right. In

Parliament you are employed directly

by the MP. If it's the NPU has

inappropriate behaviour towards you,

you must report it to them, which is

madness. If it is in the party

structure, you must report it to the

officials. -- if it is the MP who

has inappropriate behaviour. Rape

Crisis, we found them to take these

concerns forward and act as

advocates for the victims. To be

quite honest a lot of people just

want support at around them. They

might not necessarily want to press

charges or go to the police. But

there needs to be a completely

independent body that is just there

for the victims. Because if you

leave it to politicians to police

themselves it's not going to happen

with the best will in the world.

Thanks very much for joining us. My

Christmas wish is that it isn't just

a few famous people who were outed,

but this goes to the local

restaurant, the local post office,

the local pharmacy, where you know

people are suffering from

harassment, as well, but because

they don't have voice or power, they

rely on that job, it is difficult

for them to call out the manager

giving them a hard time. Let's hope

this goes beyond these few famous

names. This is Beyond 100 Days.

Coming up: 100 years after the

Russian Revolution, our man in

Moscow goes to see the impact those

events still have today.

In the UK, three children have

escaped from a house fire in Powys

where a number of members from the

same family, including children, are

believed to have died. Three

children aged 13, 12 and ten are

being treated after fleeing their

home just after midnight.

Total devastation.

This farmhouse was home

to a father and his children.

The remote property in mid-Wales

was already well alight

when fire crews arrived not

long after midnight.

Three children aged 13,

12 and ten managed to escape

but it's known that others

have died here.

Ronald Birchall is a neighbour,

who told me at least seven children

lived at the farmhouse,

the youngest aged around five.

Absolutely devastated.

We just cannot believe this has

happened and we don't know

why it has happened.

The house is hidden by trees,

but across the hillside,

wisps of smoke can still be seen.

20 members of the Brecon Mountain

Rescue Team were called in by fire

and ambulance crews and spent eight

hours helping search the surrounding

countryside in case others

had managed to escape.

There are a number of people

unaccounted for at this time.

We can confirm there

are known to be fatalities.

Due to the severity of damage

at the scene, we are unable at this

stage to identify any

of the deceased, or to confirm

the number of deceased.

Fire crews have been working

in the area for most of the day.

The family were well-known in this

small, rural community.

The children went to local schools

and were often seen out

and about in the village

with their father,

who is believed to be in his 60s.

Although the scene of this fire

is remote, the access road remains

blocked off while scientists

and fire officers carry

out their investigations.

The cause of the blaze

is still unknown.

They are looking for answers

but there are many questions

here from the local community.

Sian Lloyd, BBC News.

You are watching Beyond 100 Days.

Today, stories of Russia trying to

exert its influence is dominating

our headlines, but over 100 years

ago it would be the Russian

Revolution that defined the century.

How are things viewed now? That is

what our Moscow correspondent has

been looking to find out. He starts

his journey in the cradle of the

revolution, Saint Petersburg.

What happened here in Saint

Petersburg a century ago shook the

world. Soviet cinema would portray

it as Russia's Bastille moment.

The people led by the Bolsheviks

storming the Winter Palace

and creating the world's

first communist state.

The reality was rather different.

For a start, many of the Red Guard

revolutionaries who got

into the building that night had

slipped into a back door

which hadn't been locked.

There was no dramatic

storming of this palace.

As for the claims of a mass

uprising of workers

and peasants and soldiers,

well, today, that might be

referred to as fake news.

This had been a clue and one

party, the Bolsheviks,

had seized power in Russia.

But the revolution is fading

from Russia's collective memory.

There is little interest

here in the centenary.

There will be no commemorations

of the style or scale

of a French Bastille Day,

partly because a coup in 1917 is not

something the Kremlin 2017

wants people to remember.

The ideas of people taking guns,

making crowds and taking the police,

the idea of the revolution,

let's abolish private

property, completely alien

for the current regime.

And political discontent

is stirring again.

In St Petersburg, we sought this

anti-government protest.

It doesn't mean another revolution

is on the way but with real

incomes falling in Russia,

any signs of dissent makes

the authorities nervous.

Quite a day for George

Papadopoulos... No, not that one,

the financial plan and wall street

journal expert, who is from

Michigan. He was meant to be

enjoying a quiet holiday in Greece

today, but he spent the whole day

batting away a simple case of

mistaken identity.

Messages like this one.

As the day wore on and the messages

piled up, he seemed to see the

lighter side.

Will the real George Papadopoulos

please stand up! I followed him

today. During the course of the last

couple of hours I have done a tally.

He started out with about 7000

followers, he now has about 8500.

Why don't you call yourself Paul

Manafort on twitter! Great way to

get more followers.

CHUCKLES

Would you like to be with him in

Greece eating his mum 's food? It

sounds great.

CHUCKLES

Coming up: Outside Source. In the

latest headlines, no doubt about

that Paul Manafort story. We will be

here the same time tomorrow. Goodbye

for now.