14/11/2017 Beyond 100 Days

You're watching Beyond 100 Days.

Downing Street has no evidence

that Russia successfully

meddled in the UK election,

but that doesn't stop

the Prime Minister from slamming

Moscow, accusing the Kremlin

of threatening Western democracies.

Theresa May makes her strongest

attack yet, saying Russia

is weaponising information

with the aim of sowing

discord in the West.

On the question of Russian

interference, the US

Attorney General suggests the Trump

campaign was so chaotic

that he just doesn't remember

what contacts there may have been

with Russian operatives.

House Speaker Paul Ryan

is the latest Republican to say

Roy Moore should step down

as a senate candidate

in Alabama after multiple

allegations of sexual abuse.

Also on the programme:

From EU rules on health

and safety to finance -

MPs debate a bill that aims to turn

them into British law.

This is the scene now

in the House of Commons.

For every winner there

has to be a loser.

As Sweden celebrates making

next year's World Cup,

there is disbelief in Italy,

who won't be going for

the first time in 60 years.

Get in touch with us

using the hashtag #beyond100days.

I'm Katty Kay in Washington.

Christian Fraser's in London.

On both sides of the Atlantic

they are talking about Russian

meddling in Western democracies,

but listen to the tone from 10

Downing Street and the White House,

it could not be more different.

Donald Trump says he believes

Vladimir Putin is sincere

in his denials of Russian

interference and suggests

Moscow should be given

the benefit of the doubt.

Here in London, Theresa May

is much more suspicious.

At a speech last night,

she accused Moscow of using social

media to undermine the international

order, promising to do

whatever it takes to protect

future British elections.

In a significant escalation

of the rhetoric, the Prime Minister

listed a string of other Russian

aggressions, including Crimea

and the Middle East.

It is seeking to weaponise

information and plant fake stories

and photosshop images in an attempt

to show discord in the West

and undermine institutions.

I have a very simple

message for Russia.

We know what you are doing

and you will not succeed.

For the first time, today Facebook

conceded that Russian operatives may

have used its site to influence

the Brexit referendum.

Damian Collins is the Chair

of the Digital, Culture,

Media and Sport Committee.

He has written to Facebook

and Twitter and is investigating how

far Russian interference

in the UK goes.

What is it you are seeking to get

from Facebook and Twitter?

We want

to know what activity took place in

the UK around the Brexit referendum

in particular that was linked to

Russian backed organisations. We

have seen evidence of this in

America and a growing amount of

evidence that in the UK, but we want

to know facts.

BuzzFeed is reporting

tonight that they have obtained the

statement from Facebook in which

they admit for the first time that

there were some Russian linked

accounts that may have used its

platform to interfere in the

referendum vote.

That's right. I

have written to Mark Zuckerberg

asking him to release to the

community all the evidence they have

of Russia backed activity promoting

messaging around the time of the

referendum and general election on

their site. This is information that

is held within the company and they

should provide it to Parliament.

The

big three have been hauled before

Congress to account for what

happened in the US election. Their

message seems to be, listen, we can

handle this ourselves.

Are you

satisfied that they can? No, I'm

not. Unless there is evidence of

Russian activity had been requested

from them we would not know about it

now. We are having to request the

same information about the UK, too.

This is information they could find

themselves presented a voluntarily,

but they haven't done it. They are

cooperating with the hearings we are

holding and they will be giving

evidence to our committee aurally I

hope as they have done in America,

but I feel they could be doing more

to voluntarily look for and release

the information.

What happened here

in the United States is that they

played into existing political and

social divisions, the Russians,

through social media platforms. Are

they the same kind of divisions have

played into in the UK, as far as you

understand?

I think that is exactly

right. They are looking to divide

communities, undermined

institutions. From a Russian backed

account we saw a fake image link to

the Westminster Bridge attack which

tried to suggest a Muslim woman was

indifferent to the suffering of

people on the bridge. That was

designed to divide communities and

incite hatred.

Is there any

information exchange between the

House of Commons and Congress and

doesn't undermine the investigation

when the American president is

saying he believes what the Russian

President is telling him?

There is

no formal link between the

parliaments but as part of our

select committee enquiry into fake

news we will visit Washington in the

early New Year, seeking to gain

inside information from people

involved in these investigations and

I think that is an important part of

our work. We are interesting in

learning from other parliaments

around the world as we look to deal

with this issue. This is one of the

biggest threats that democracy faces

and we need to get it right.

Mr

Collins, thank you for being with

us.

There seems to be a pattern

emerging, doesn't bear? The Russians

are trying to prove that they have a

sense of humour because they just

sent out this tweet from the

Ministry of foreign affairs.

I think that is called geopolitical

trawling of the first order, since

Crimea under international law does

not belong to Russia. That wine was

made by the Ukrainians before Russia

took over the Crimea. The timing is

interesting because Boris Johnson

goes to Russia before the end of the

year and the rhetoric has been

stepped up. Downing Street is saying

they are not reacting in relation to

any specific piece of news, there

has been a revelation, but there is

a growing body of evidence and

perhaps she putting down a marker.

In Downing Street they are saying

look, when it always -- as we have

always said when it comes to Russia,

be aware but engage. Downing Street

today said that they had no evidence

that they have successfully

interfered, but that doesn't mean

that they did not.

For some reason, the US

Attorney General has

a problem with his memory.

He just can't seem to remember key

events concerning Russia's contacts

For some reason, the US

Attorney General has

with the Trump campaign.

I lost count of the number of times

Jeff Sessions used the words

"I don't recall" in a hearing

in Congress today, but it was a lot.

Mr Sessions couldn't really deny

he had met George Popadolous,

the Trump campaign staffer who's

cooperating with the Mueller

investigation, because there

is a photograph of him sitting

in his company.

The President at one

end of the table, Jeff

Sessions at the other.

He was asked about his memory

of that meeting today by Democratic

congressman Jerry Nadler.

Let's try and correct the earlier

testimony for the record. Yes no,

Digi chair the March 31 meeting of

the National Security advisory

meeting? Yes I did. Yes or no. Was

George Popadolous at that meeting? I

asked for yes or no. There are

reports that you shut George dying

when he proposed that meeting with

Vladimir Putin, is this correct?

Yes, I pushed back.

Your answer is

yes. So you are obviously concerned

by George Popadolous's connections

and his possibly arranging a meeting

with Vladimir Putin.

So he did

remember pushing back and suggesting

to George Popadolous that meeting

with Vladimir Putin was not a great

idea for Donald Trump. After that,

he basically couldn't remember very

much at all.

much at all.

For more on Mr Sessions' testimony,

we are joined now from Capitol Hill

by Democrat Karen Bass,

who serves on the House Judiciary

Committee and was in that hearing.

How do you account for the fact that

temp one doesn't remember very much

about contacts that they have been

made by the Trump campaign with

Russians?

I absolutely think it is

very disingenuous. I could

understand that many months ago the

first time he was asked this, but

you would think somebody of his

stature would really have taken time

to re-examine everything in his

calendar, the meeting, talking to

other people, so I don't accept his

notion that he does not recollect

what went on. That was far too

significant for him not to remember.

His only excuse today seem to have

been that the campaign was very

chaotic.

Well, there is nothing new

about that, but like I said he was

asked these questions many months

ago so he has had plenty of time to

examine what happened in the past. I

think saying that he doesn't

recollect, the campaign is very

strenuous, they are excuse -- excuse

is that I think are very tenuous.

How much pressure are you under from

your Republican colleagues to wrap

up the committee's investigation and

Russian links?

I don't necessarily

feel any pressure specifically on my

committee. We need to do far more

investigating. I am glad that we had

Jeff Sessions today, but this is one

of the first hearings we have had. I

don't think there is pressure from

my committee, but the republicans

clearly can go so much further in

their investigation. It is nowhere

near over.

The Republican chair of

your committee will be pleased to

hear that the Attorney General has

directed prosecutors to look into

the Clinton Foundation and their

links to uranium.

I think it is a

complete their version. The Attorney

General will be under pressure to

please the president he has clearly

expressed on many occasions his

displeasure with him, so everyone

knows that if you want to please

president Trump just focus on the

Clintons, Barack Obama. It is absurd

to have an investigation like that

but I can't see him doing it so he

can keep his job.

I am digging out a

coat that he gave to a committee on

the 13th of June. He said I have

never met with any Russians were

foreign officials. I have no

knowledge of any such conversations

with anybody connected to the tramp

campaign, but he did admit today

that George Popadolous did discuss

it with him. Isn't the sailing tours

to perjury?

That is why I said it

was disingenuous. He was sworn in to

tell the truth to the Congressional

Committee. And he didn't.

What are

you going to do about it?

We will

have to see how it proceeds. I'm

sure my Republican colleagues will

not want to press the situation, but

on our side we will.

Talking about

the Facebook hearings, to what

extent does it make it difficult to

have these investigation when the

President of the United States seems

to be saying when he is abroad that

he accepts Russia's defence of

itself that it never interfered in

the American elections.

I just

consider it an embarrassment. I also

serve on the Foreign Affairs

Committee and they know people

around the world must be looking at

us and laughing. It is clear to any

head of state around the world that

if you want to have the president

changes mind, just invite into your

country, have a lot of pomp and

circumstance, have all the bells and

whistles and he was essentially

agree with anybody. I think it is

Barras and for him to be overseas

and say that he had a five-minute

conversation with Vladimir Putin and

that has more credibility than the

17 separate intelligence agencies as

a part of his United States

government, and he takes a

five-minute conversation with the

enemy above that. It makes us look

silly.

Thank you very much for

joining us.

The Iranian president has promised

government help to all those left

homeless by Sunday's powerful

earthquake which struck

the mountainous border region

between Iran and Iraq.

Hassan Rouhani was visiting the area

today hit by earthquake.

More than 460 people were killed.

Thousands more have been injured.

The ruling party in Zimbabwe has

accused the country's army chief

of treason after he challenged

President Robert Mugabe over

the sacking of the vice president.

Armed vehicles have been seen

on the streets of Harare,

though their presence is low key.

The ZANU-PF party said

in a statement that

General Constantino Chiwenga's

criticism was calculated

to disturb national peace.

The Lebanese politician Saad

al-Hariri, who resigned

as Prime Minister while in

Saudi Arabia, says he will return

to Beirut in the next two days.

Mr Hariri stunned Lebanon

when he stepped down in Riyadh.

Many believed the Saudis might be

manipulating and detaining him

as they try to re-shape

Lebanese politics.

Here in London, the House of Commons

has begun eight marathon days

of debate on the EU Withdrawal Bill

- a crucial piece of legislation

that will end the supremacy of EU

law in the UK after Brexit.

Nearly 500 amendments have been put

forward to the delayed bill,

just a handful of those will be

selected for votes.

If 20 Tory MP's were to rebel,

the Prime Minister would be

defeated, which some say

is a possibility.

One contentious amendment put

forward by the government

would enshrine the Brexit date

and time in law, at 23:00 GMT

on 29th March, 2019.

Labour and a number

of Tory MP's are demanding

the government withdraws it.

Vicki Young is in

Westminster for us now.

Vicki, any chance of that amendment

being withdrawn?

I think there is a

possibility of the government being

defeated on this, but confusingly,

although it is being debated today,

the vote will come until dates and

this is only day one. The tone of

the debate today, listening to

several Conservatives, they are not

happy about this idea of putting up

Brexit date in law in legislation.

They feel that it boxes in the

negotiators, the British government,

and you need to have a bit of

wriggle room. What do we get up to

that date and no deal has been done

but it is looking like it could be

on the cards. That would require all

27 of the other EU countries to

agree to it, but nevertheless they

feel it will let that -- it will

limit the government too much. There

is some anger here on all of that.

Tonight, I think it is unlikely to

be any difficulty for the

government. Eight days of this

detailed debate. At this moment they

are voting on whether to repeal the

1972 European Communities Act. That

is that tipped the UK into what was

the European Community. Still a

pretty significant moment.

When you

strip it down to the bare

essentials, this is about the

mandate of Parliament. What is the

timetable, the difficulties, the

practicalities? That is what they

are concerned about.

And it is a

very contentious thing. The British

people have voted to leave, but the

point being made by someone like

Kenneth Clarke, who all his life has

been very pro-European, his point is

that the referendum said the leaving

the EU. OK, he will accept that

reluctantly. His point is the

practicalities, even when we do it,

all of that detail, he said that is

up to this place, up to MPs and

peers to decide. They need to go

through that kind of detail because

frankly it wasn't discussed during

the referendum. Some of these issues

were touched upon by promises were

made by people not in government

now. The details of how we leave

still has to be thrashed out and

Parliament really want to have a say

on all about, particularly on any

final deal that Theresa May comes

back with from Brussels.

A rather

the Potters character was going back

and forwards behind you and Bobby

running after her.

Someone in fancy

dress? There are all sorts of people

who come to speak to their MPs. It

is democracy in action, Christian!

I

had no idea that the Houses of

Parliament to be so much fun!

This is the scene now in the House

of Commons where the debate

is underway and we'll be back

at Westminster later

in the programme to our Brexit duo,

the MPs Nigel Evans

and Seema Malhotra,

on today's events.

So, try figuring this out.

Five women accuse a US politician

of sexual harassment,

one of whom says she was just 14

at the time, and the politician is

still ten points ahead in the polls.

50 pastors have signed a letter

supporting him and an official

from his local Republican party says

that even if the allegations

are true he'd vote for him anyway.

Welcome to the extraordinary

story of Judge Roy Moore,

who could well be the next US

Senator for the state of Alabama.

A woman went on TV yesterday

with a detailed account of how

Mr Moore locked her in a car

and molested her.

The accusations have appalled many

Republicans in Washington

who want him to step down,

but he does still have the support

of his famous backer Steve Bannon.

Temp three reached over and began

groping me. I'm putting his hand on

my breasts. I tried fighting him off

while I yelled at him to stop. But

instead of stopping he began

squeezing my neck, attempting to

force my head onto his crotch. I

thought that he was going to rip me.

He said, you are just a child and he

said I have the district attorney

and if you tell anyone about this,

no one will ever believe you.

This

is absolutely false. I never did

what you said I did. I don't even

know the woman, know anything about.

This race just being 28 days off,

this is just political manoeuvre.

We

are looking at whether there is

someone who could run a writing

campaign successfully.

He should

step aside. These allegations are

credible. If he cares about the

values and people he claims to care

about, then he should step aside.

I'm joined now by our political

analyst Ron Christie -

a former advisor to

President George W Bush.

You have a host of republicans in

Washington saying that Roy Moore has

to go. The Washington Post has its

allegations. It seems that a lot of

republicans in the state of Alabama

believe Roy Moore over the

Washington post and republicans in

Washington.

I think that is all that

counts, the people of Alabama will

decide this case. What we should

have is Roy Moore for the better

part of his country, state and party

should step down, but he will do

that. Republicans are in a lose lose

situation. If the goes on to win

this, you have the senator in charge

of the campaign arm of the

Republican Party saying he should be

expelled. If he loses, the Democrats

have won more steep -- one more seat

in the Senate. In neither case, the

republicans are in a bad spot.

We

are not here to pass judgment on

whether these allegations are right,

but I'm sure how this looks around

the world. Why are people circling

the wagons and saying, we are going

to support our guide.

It is a very

conservative, religious state. When

he was expelled from being a Supreme

Court justice, he said I am standing

firm for the Ten Commandments, I

will not remove this memorial.

People loved him for that. The think

he is a folk hero dined there he is

standing for religion and

conservative principles.

Ordinarily

you would expect the president to

speak about this, because he has

compromised because they will say if

you believe that people who are

accusing him, why shouldn't we

believe the 13 women accusing you,

Mr Trump?

No question about that.

The White House doesn't want to wade

into this. He has focused all of his

time, attention and tweets to what

has gone on in his shirt. He has

deliberately avoided what is a

political landmine that we can

expect Mr Trump to see when he gets

back. The last thing he wants to

talk about his allegations of sexual

misconduct given some that were

lodged against him in the past. This

Roy Moore situation is a lose lose

for republicans and I don't see the

situation getting better whether he

stays in this race for drop side.

Thank you for joining us. And number

of the far right groups have gone

down to Alabama to dig around.

I am hearing this is going to get

more ugly. Breitbart, the far right

news organisation, headed by Steve

Bannon, has sent to reporters dined

there to try to dig up dirt on these

women who have accused him of sexual

harassment. There are other groups

that are also trying to dig up dirt

on these women, the marital history,

the boyfriends they have had, trying

to discredit the story. A story has

been running in the New Yorker

saying that Roy Moore was barred

from a shopping mall because he was

harassing teenagers. So, both sides

investigating this story and we will

see where it goes. And we will be

there for the boat when it happens.

Today is the 14th of November, an

important date because it is your

birthday! Have you still got Ron

Christie with you? Still here! He

did send me very kind birthday

wishes yesterday. Did you know it

was here!

He did send me very kind

birthday wishes yesterday. "But

Day-to-day? And look, she even has

the cards that they gave her.

Yours

is in the post! Ron Christie has

given me a birthday card...! Well,

yours might be in the post, we'll

see. Yours might be in the post

sounds like the kind of things that

Jeff Sessions might have said at the

Congressional hearing today. I'm so

sorry this isn't something I

recollected, I feel to remember.

Happy birthday to you.

Christian,

happy birthday to you. Thank you, my

good friend. Team the Scorpio on

this programme. A sting in the tail.

A sting in the tail.

This is Beyond 100

Days from the BBC.

Coming up for viewers on the BBC

News Channel and BBC

World News: Donald Trump Junior

releases his Twitter

exchange with Wikileaks -

we'll look at just how

damaging they are.

Sweden's footballers celebrate

in style as they make

it to the World Cup,

but I've spent the morning

with devastated Italians.

That's still to come.

Well, it has turned a little bit

mile right there. We have had a lot

of moisture and cloud that has been

drifting off the Atlantic and with

that comes a lot of damp weather for

tonight and into tomorrow. Mist and

fog could be a problem as well

anywhere across England and Wales,

so if you're travelling early in the

morning in England and Wales could

be tricky in some areas. It will not

be so foggy in Scotland. Here the

skies will be clearer tonight. There

will be some patches of barbecue and

there but I think a chilly, clear

night overall in the north whereas

in England and Wales, milder air and

the butchers of 10 degrees. Let's

have a look at this gloomy mark

first thing in the morning. This is

what it looks like around seven

o'clock. You can see bits of drizzle

in the site, drizzle in Lincolnshire

as well. This is just generally grey

skies with a bit of mist and fog.

Similar picture in Northern Ireland,

also a chance of fog patches. But in

Scotland it should be a clear start

of the day and we have a beautiful

sunrise on the way, as well. Not

much changes across the bulk of the

country tomorrow. There will be more

brightness developing in the

afternoon, but some of the grey

skies and missed to persist into the

afternoon. Temperatures getting up

to 13 degrees with a bit of

sunshine. In the north out of the

Calder starred in Scotland it will

get higher than 8 degrees in the

lowlands. For weapons in identifiers

to, change on the way. This low

pressure will send a weather front

racing across the UK and could be

heavy rain for a time. A brief burst

of heavy rain, then it clears up

across Scotland, northern England

and the cloud. Breaking up on the

site before that weather fronts

tweets southwards. Then this

clearer, fresher air mass out of the

north. So at crisp day. This Calder

error behind the front will not

stick around for very long because

them out there will move back in

again and low pressure will be

marching in, so the weekend will

eventually turn unsettled.

the country as a cold front sweeps

through the UK.

the country as a cold front sweeps

through the UK.

This is Beyond One Hundred Days,

with me Katty Kay in Washington -

Christian Fraser is in London.

Our top stories.

Theresa May accuses Moscow

of meddling in elections to sow

discord in the West.

Russian officials hit back saying

she is making of a fool of herself.

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions

gets a grilling before lawmakers

and what contacts the Trump campaign

had with any Russian operatives.

Coming up in the next half hour.

Contacts are revealed between

Donald Trump Jr and Wikileaks.

We speak to the journalist

who brought the story to light.

Plus, Sweden celebrate in style

as they make next year's world cup -

but Italy is in mourning

as they miss out for

the first time in 60 years.

Let us know your thoughts

by using the hashtag

'Beyond-One-Hundred-Days'.

New evidence has emerged that

Donald Trump Junior was in touch

with Wikileaks during the campaign -

an organisation US intelligence

believes disseminated

material hacked by Moscow.

Congressional investigators

already knew of Don Jr.'s

correspondence with WikiLeaks.

But now he himself

has published them.

The tweeted communications add

insight into the web

of communications linking the Trump

campaign, Russia, and

intermediaries like WikiLeaks.

It's worth looking at the timeline

to see how this may have

affected the election.

On 3 October 2016, WikiLeaks writes

to Donald Trump Junior,

attaching a link of Hillary Clinton

criticising Wikileaks

founder Julian Assange.

"Hiya, it'd be great

if you guys could comment

on/push this story,",

Wikileaks suggest.

Trump Junior responds

within an hour and a half.

"Already did that earlier today.

It's amazing what she

can get away with."

A week later, Wikileaks

gets in contact again.

"Hey Donald, great to see

you and your dad talking

about our publications.

Strongly suggest your dad tweets

this link if he mentions us" -

there was no response

to that message, but.

Just 15 minutes after the message

was sent, Donald Trump tweeted this

"Very little pick-up

by the dishonest media of incredible

information provided by WikiLeaks.

So dishonest!

Rigged system!".

AND Two days on from that

on the 14th October -

Trump Junior tweets out the very

link he'd been sent.

Donald Jnr could maintain he didn't

know that Wikileaks was offering.

But this was two months

after the FBI alleged -

in July 2016 - that they believe

Russian had hacked

the DNC computers.

Here's CIA director Mike Pompeo

on that in April this year.

It is time to call-out WikiLeaks for

what it is, a non-state hostile

intelligence service often abetted

by actors like Russia.

A short while ago we spoke to Julia

Ioffe from the Atlantic magazine -

the journalist who first broke

the story on Donald Trump Junior's

correspondence with Wikileaks.

The big question is how much closer

to these revelations that Donald

Trump Junior was in contact with

WikiLeaks take us to any sense of

whether the Trump campaign colluded

with Russia during the campaign?

I

think that is a question for a

lawyer to answer, I do not want to

venture into that territory or

speculate as to whether collusion

occurred. But we see WikiLeaks

actively trying to solicit the help

of the Trump campaign and asking

them for increasingly bold favours.

At the time as we know it was

working closely with Russian

intelligence.

That is what is

interesting, not just that WikiLeaks

was suggesting to Donald Trump

Junior that he disseminate

information and giving him steers

but also that WikiLeaks was making

asks of the campaign.

That is right

and later the administration asking

him to press for this training

government to make Julian Assange

the Australian ambassador to

Washington, asking them to release

the Trump tax returns, release

e-mails about the meeting that

happened in June 2000 16. So just

increasingly, first they start with

little things, have you seen this

story, take a look into this and

then it is can give us the tax

returns, can you make are Gueye the

Australian ambassador, can you get

as these e-mails.

So kind of

escalating. And what is interesting

is the response of the president

around the time when these sweet

messages were hitting the account of

Donald Junior.

That is right, on

October 12 you have WikiLeaks

writing to Donald Trump Junior

saying if you're, if your followers

have any time here is a link for a

search in all the documents pilfered

from, through Russian government

hackers. If your followers have time

to take a look at this. And by the

way we've just released the fourth

part of the e-mails of John Podesta,

who was of course campaign editor.

This message was five days after the

American Department of Homeland

Security and office of the Director

of National intelligence said this

is all part of a criminal

orchestrated campaign to influence

the presidential election.

Nevertheless within 15 minutes of

receiving the message Donald Trump,

then the Republican candidate,

tweeted out something about the John

Podesta e-mails. And two days later

Donald Trump junior tweeted out the

search link, which is not a

straightforward link at all but it

seems pretty clear where we got

that.

Thank you very much for your

reporting.

Moving from coordination, there

appears to be some that all the way

to collusion, that for Robert

Mueller to decide. But looking at

this, and all the things that we

have been talking about, the

campaign was open for business.

Yes

and I think that is where the

goalposts have shifted. When the

Trump administration was first

inaugurated way back in January the

idea that someone might Donald Trump

junior may have had a meeting in

order to get dirt on Hillary Clinton

or better campaign operative may

have had a meeting and suggested

that he could get something on

Hillary Clinton or in this case

WikiLeaks wishing out directly to

Donald Trump junior and saying we

have got stuff on Hillary Clinton. I

think we all would have said that

kind of structure the realm of

fragility and that possibly we would

have said that definitely would be a

definition of collusion. But this is

the new normal, an indication of how

things have shifted since the Trump

administration has been inaugurated

and now we define things differently

and go getting more indications but

as you said it is up to lawyers to

decide whether this is any breach of

American Law and whether this

actually is a quid pro bowl which

would be collusion. Back to British

politics.

MPs today began their line-by-line

scrutiny of the EU Withdrawal Bill,

the central piece of

Brexit legislation.

Hundreds of amendments have been put

forward by MPs who want changes

to the bill before it becomes law.

Remember - the aim of the EU

Withdrawal Bill is to bring

all existing EU law into domestic UK

law, to try to ensure a smooth

transition on the day after Brexit.

Yesterday, Brexit Secretary David

Davis made a surprise concession,

promising MPs would be given

a take-it-or leave-it vote

on the final Brexit deal.

Some Tory rebels say that could mean

a chaotic exit from the EU -

if a deal was reached at the last

minute - or if there was no deal.

Here's a reminder of what

the Withdrawal bill intends to do.

To help us pick our way through that

- and to for a catch up -

because it's been a while -

we're joined now from Westminster

by two familiar faces -

Seema Malhotra and Nigel Evans.

Great to see you both. Let's talk

about the amendment which would set

the date and time of departure. Take

it from me, someone who has sat

through all these Brussels meetings

in the past, if you give the EU time

they will fill it. So why not just

give them a deadline?

It is not

about the EU actually, it is about

the UK and about how we make sure we

have the best chance of the best

deal and orderly Brexit. I think the

best quote today came from a senior

Conservative MP who said he was

voting against own side if it came

to vote and said it was mad

amendment and done without

collective authority. Pretty

staggering from a former Attorney

General. The reason being we want to

make sure when we have a deal, when

we finally leave the EU that we do

so with the security about what

comes next and not but would fall

off a cliff edge or that we

challenge the legal basis on which

we continue to transact. What he

said today was important, that

putting that date on the face of the

bill in this way would actually

challenge all the transition deal

arrangements that have also been

talked about by the prime Minster so

that we continue to trade when we

leave, but the key thing is if it

jeopardises that it could lead to a

hard Brexit which will be would be

devastating and semi-catastrophic as

one leading car manufacturer said

today.

Nigel, Anna Soubry told us it

was a stormy meeting last night when

they got together with the party

whips. If 20 defect to the Labour

side doesn't mean the Prime Minister

might be brought down?

I have got

the scars of the Maastricht Treaty

still on my back in 1992 and

remember... I do not take my shirt

off any more! I remember being

dragooned at three o'clock in the

morning and five o'clock in the

morning to vote for aspects which I

did not think win the best interests

of the country. But overall I

supported John Major and that is

what I would hope that Anna Soubry

will do in supporting Theresa May as

well. Unless we set the date then

all of a sudden people in the

chamber still talk about if we leave

the EU but you know what we are

leaving because over 70 million

British people voted to leave.

But

the confusing thing is we are

already living on that date

according to Article 50 so the

question is why the government wants

to do this now, what game are

displaying and who it is doing it

for.

It is not the British people.

The Brexit minister talked about us

becoming a third country on the day

we leave. So there's not going to be

an extension so Brussels can still

pad out the discussions and

negotiations that are happening.

David Davis is going in there and

negotiating, preparing to concede on

the rights of EU nationals living in

the UK and even on the transit

period that we could have another

two years before we leave. And yet

Michel Barnier says it is not

enough.

Sick and tired of it is not

enough. I do not think that is the

reality of how things are going on.

I think in fact people are starting

to realise that it is this

government mishandling the

negotiations.

I think I understood

most of the process, or some of it,

but you voted remain, is there any

way you would vote to support the EU

withdrawal bill whatever it ends up

as, however the amendments go down,

you're going to say no?

I think it

depends on what was safeguards are

that are put in place. I'm not on my

own in that, you can see on the

government side... So you could vote

yes to it. I could if I thought

safeguards were there on the powers

that ministers are giving

themselves. Do not hold your breath!

If they changed the way they

sidelined Parliament all through the

process. The amendment again was

about making sure that the

government has the right to proceed

to no deal without having to come

back to Parliament. And Parliament

standing at the ground today, I was

proud to be in the chamber. But what

is important as well is that we have

a vote in parliament, say about how

to move forward and also the risks

of us leaving and the way we leave,

making sure we safeguard British

businesses, jobs. That is what this

is really all about.

I'm with James

Dyson on that. We have to leave it

there. I will leave it to you to

continue this because I think your

colleague has just accused you of

being disingenuous!

I do not think

so. And we have got a long night to

go!

And another seven sessions!

Lucky you!

This weekend the New York Times

reported the State Department

is offering twenty five thousand

dollars in redundancy money,

to any staff members

who want to move on.

All part of Secretary Tillerson's

plans to streamline the way

the State Department operates.

But is it root and branch reform -

or is it more something akin

to corporate vandalism?

There are plenty who are connected

with the State Department who say

its role is being sorely

undermined, and its expertise

ignored by the White House.

I am joined by David Rank

who spent 27 years

at the State Department

as a Foreign Service Officer.

You five American president is

Republican and Democrat but Roger

letter saying you would resign from

the State Department.

Why would you

not serve under Donald Trump? It was

not but I would not serve under

Donald Trump but the policies that

he was implementing I think were bad

for the US, bad for my kids and kind

of bad for myself.

Which policies in

particular pushed you out the door?

It was the decision to leave the

Paris minor change agreement. I

think if you look at what happened

this week in Germany, 200 countries

on one side and the United States on

the other. It used to be that people

would look to Washington for

guidance. -- climate change

agreement. And now we are the

subject of derision if you look at

what happened.

You served 25 years

but you think this is quantified be

different?

Absolutely, what we had

in leaving the Paris agreement, I

think the one agreement that unifies

the rest of the world and literally

unifies the rest of the world and

unifies the partners, the EU, Japan,

Australia, really the backbone of

American diplomacy for the last 70

years.

I think just a terrible

decision. How is morale in the State

Department when you talk to your

colleagues?

Well it is pretty bad.

Just like anywhere else, you want to

work for you feel you're on the

asset side of the ledger, these are

people who have devoted their lives

in many cases, spent years and years

away from family and in really tough

situations. They have spent a lot of

time developing expertise in areas

and it is difficult not to not get

the final say but not even have a

voice as policies are being

developed, not being listened to.

It

is a tough environment. We spoke to

people on the first part of the Asia

trip this week and the feeling was

there were some big deals in the

pipeline but they had been side

ahead of time anyway. There was no

real strategy over what the

president wanted to achieve in

China?

I will try to... I assume the

White House will put forward a

strategy but if you look at the

deals, we sell a lot of Boeing

aeroplanes most years, there was the

language of as much as, I'm

sceptical having use that language

myself in a previous career when you

set up to, there is the possibility

of not up to.

You served six times

when you are in the foreign service

in China and you write in your

letter that there is a risk that if

America withdraws its global

leadership other countries will step

in. If you look at what happened in

the Asia trip have already got

evidence that China is taking

America's place in the world?

To

some degree, China of course

delighted to have the chance without

really having to raise its game or

put more on the table, to step

forward as a global leader but on

the other hand I think there's not a

substitute for American leadership

out there. I think China does not

have the instincts to be a global

leader, I do not think they have the

experience to be a global leader.

And I think certainly countries in

the region, and many around the

world look at what Chinese

leadership might look like and I do

not think they are comfortable with

that either.

Do you think it is

generally a suspicion about civil

servants, conservative politicians

do not believe that civil servants

are acting in their interests and

they see them as part of the

establishment?

Civil servants are

part of a political establishment in

the sense that they work from one

administration to the next. When I

left I was accused of being an Obama

administration holdover but you

could call me of George W Bush

holdover, I began my career more

than two decades prior. We are in

institution, that works for the

American people or the British

people or the people of the country,

the countries they represent.

Thank

you very much.

This is Beyond One Hundred Days.

Still to come.

Mamma Mia - Italian football fans

are drowning their sorrows

after their team misses out

on the World Cup.

Christian goes to find out how.

Motorists should be forced

to have their eyes tested

every ten years according

to the Association of Optometrists.

They say too many people

with poor eyesight -

are still driving.

Their campaign is backed

by the family of Natalie Wade,

who was killed by a partially

sighted driver.

Ali Fortescue reports.

If she walked into a room,

as the saying goes, she lit it up.

She enjoyed every moment

and was so looking forward

to getting married.

28-year-old Natalie Wade died

on her way to buy a wedding dress.

She was hit by a 78-year-old

driver with poor eyesight.

There's always an empty chair,

and Christmas, birthdays,

the day she would have been married,

they are still very painful.

The driver who killed Natalie

was blind in one eye and partially

sighted in the other,

but he died before being tried

for dangerous driving.

But Natalie is just one of 70 people

who are killed or seriously injured

in similar incidents involving bad

eyesight last year.

The legal standard for eyesight

involves being able to read a number

plate from 20 metres,

but that's something that's

only tested when you

first take your test.

At the moment, everyone needs

to fill out a form like this every

ten years to renew their driving

license and that involves answering

a question about their eyesight

and if you're over the age of 70,

you have to fill out

a slightly more comprehensive

form every three years,

but it's still a question of just

putting a tick in a box,

there's no requirement to take

an actual eye test.

The mechanism of self reporting

isn't always reliable.

We know that vision can change

gradually over time,

so drivers might not be aware

of a deterioration to their vision.

The Association of Optometrists

don't have a legal requirement to do

anything if they're concerned

about a patient's driving -

it's down to the driver.

More than one in three

of their optometrists surveyed have

seen a driver in the last month

who continues to drive

despite being told their vision

is below the legal standard.

Nine in ten of them

believe the current sight

tests are insufficient

and they want to see a change

in the law.

The Department for Transport say

that all drivers are required by law

to make sure their eyesight is good

enough to drive.

They also say that if a driver

experiences any changes

to their eyesight or has a condition

that could affect their driving

they must notify the DVLA

and speak to an optician.

Ali Fortescue, BBC News.

You're watching

Beyond One Hundred Days.

Italy is in a state of shock.

For the first time in 60 years -

the national team will not be

at the World Cup finals.

Last night they lost a play off

to Sweden 1-0 over two legs.

And if you've ever sat

in an Italian restaurant

when the Azzuri are playing,

you will know this matters - a lot.

The country is in mourning.

Six times the finalists, four times

the champions. World Cup without

Italy is unthinkable, like a

cappuccino without the sprinkles or

an opera without the genie. The last

time this happened was 1958, Harold

McMillan was the Prime Minister in

the UK and Eisenhower was the

president in the US. So bad that it

was said this morning that it was an

apocalypse. If you want to talk to

Italians today you're going to need

one of these.

My husband cried.

I am

wearing my black tie. Is this the

worst thing that has happened? It

is, yes. You are Italian. Half

Italian. But also Scottish.

From

Glasgow. So you watch Scotland get

knocked out and now Italy. You will

have to watch England. I will watch

and see how it goes, if they win I

will be English for the next couple

of weeks.

How are Italians consoling

themselves?

Pizza? A good soup and

nothing else!

I have a quiz for you,

which is the only country in the

world ever to have been in every

single World Cup tournament?

I do

not know.

Who is it? Brazil. They

won five times and been in every

single tournament.

I did not know

that. I feel bad not to send you a

card but I got in touch with the

Washington team and they said can

you go and give me some reaction.

You feel strongly about what you

bring to this programme and local

wanted to get involved.

A total

star. Done an incredible job thus

far. Respected by everyone. Great,

great company. That is so nice. This

moment is your moment, it belongs to

you.

It belongs to you and not only

does he feel that way but you know

what, I said listen it would be

great if you could give us a card so

he took some time out. And look at

this. Happy birthday. Now I had my

eye on something for your birthday

of the in fact I had a bid on this.

Take a look at this. Producers tell

me that this is going to a higher

bidder. I was going to put in a bid

for you today. We have the pictures.

Here it comes. Here it is. This is

what I was going to bid for. This is

the largest flawless diamond that

has ever come to market and it was

on auction tonight in Geneva. It is

a necklace hanging on 5949 emeralds,

160 odd carrots and expected to sell

tonight in Geneva for more than £23

million. $30 million.

So you know

they say it is the thought that

counts? Exactly, the thought that

counts. In the case of that

particular necklace, not just having

the thought would have counted for

even more!

Just one of those roles!

Or even the little clasp on the

back! Well it is very pretty and I'm

so happy you have chosen to give me

that for my birthday. Thank you.

Have a good evening in Washington

wherever you're going.

We have got

rid of all the birthdays for