18/12/2017 Beyond 100 Days

You're watching Beyond 100 Days.

Echoes of the Cold War and a clash

of global superpowers in America's

new national security strategy.

President Trump will lay

out his vision for America's global

role in the next few minutes -

with a focus on China and Russia.

This is the scene at

Washington's Ronald Reagan building

You can see Mike Pence, and he is

like to introduce Donald Trump, who

will expand on his policy of America

first.

Another big story this hour,

a horrific train crash

on the US West Coast.

Several people are dead after

the train came off the tracks.

Get in touch with us

using the hashtag #Beyond100Days.

Hello and welcome -

I'm Katty Kay in Washington

and Christian Fraser is in London.

President Trump is getting ready

to explain his vision

for America's role in the world.

He will present what's known

as his national security strategy

in the next few minutes

live here in Washington.

This foreign policy review has been

mandated by Congress since 1986.

It's meant to be a regular update

given by the White House

on how the administration

views global threats.

This is Mr Trump's first such

strategy announcement.

According to the briefing,

the President will refer to Russia

and China as revisionist powers -

two countries that are aiming

to change the status quo.

He will revive America First,

stressing US borders,

and projecting US strength abroad

and pursuing favourable

trade policies.

He'll also address protecting

America from cyber attacks.

But we expect little

mention of Russian meddling

in the 2016 elections.

And in a marked change

to the Obama administration,

today's strategy is expected not

to recognise climate change

as a national security threat.

And joining us now is retired

general David Barno.

Also Jon Sopel, the North America

editor. David Barno, we hear this is

going to lay out a four pillar

strategy, defending the US homeland

and prosperity, advancing America's

influence around the world and peace

through strength, the kind of thing

almost any President could say?

I

think it is a, nation continuity,

the administration will be keen to

distance themselves from any

continuity with the Obama

administration, but there is a great

deal of continuity, and changes

which are the emphasis of Donald

Trump. We can see his fingerprints

on many places in the document.

After all the friendliness with

China previously, this is returning

to more like what we saw on the

campaign?

And two phone calls with

Vladimir Putin, where there seemed

to be mutual backslapping going on.

Talking about how those countries

are economic and ideological

competitors, trying to grow their

military, make their economies less

free and repress their societies.

That is not the rhetoric of a man

trying to cosy up. I think it is

underlining the differences and many

people will welcome it.

The

President has just walked on the

stage and is beginning to speak.

Let's listen to President Trump.

APPLAUSE

Thank you very much. Thank you,

please. I want to thank Vice

President Pence, along with many

members of the cabinet along with us

today. The dedicated professionals,

military, civilian and law

enforcement who devote their lives

to serving our nation, in particular

I want to recognise General Dunford

and the members of the Joint Chiefs

of Staff. Thank you.

APPLAUSE

In addition, we are honoured to be

joined by House Majority Leader

Kevin McCarthy, homeland security

chairman Mike McCall and Senate

Majority Whip Jon cordon. Thank you

very much. Thanks for being here.

Let me begin by exposing our deepest

sympathies and most heartfelt

prayers for the victims of the train

derailment in Washington state. We

are closely monitoring the situation

and coordinating with the

authorities. It is all the more

reason why we need to start fixing

the infrastructure of the United

States. We are here today to discuss

matters of vital importance to us

all. America's security, prosperity

and standing in the world. I want to

talk about where we've been where we

are now and, finally, our strategy

for where we are going in the years

ahead. Over the past 11 months, I

have travelled tens of thousands of

miles to visit 13 countries. I have

met with more than 100 world

leaders. I have carried America's

message to a grand Hall in Saudi

Arabia, a great square in Walsall,

to the General Assembly of the

United Nations and the seat of

democracy on the Korean peninsula.

Everywhere I travelled, it was my

highest privilege and greatest

honour to represent the American

people. Throughout our history, the

American people have always been the

true source of American greatness.

Our people have promoted our culture

and promoted our values. Americans

have fought and sacrificed on the

battlefields all over the world. We

have liberated captive nations,

transformed former enemies into the

best of friends and lifted entire

regions of the planet from poverty

to prosperity. Because of our

people, America has been among the

greatest forces for peace and

justice in the history of the world.

The American people are generous.

You are determined, you are brave,

you are strong and you are wise.

When the American people speak, all

of us should listen. Just over one

year ago, you spoke loud and you

spoke clear. On November eight,

2016, you voted to make America

great again.

APPLAUSE

You embraced new leadership and very

new strategies, and also a glorious

new hope. That is why we are here

today. But to seize the

opportunities of the future we must

first understand the failures of the

past. For many years, our citizens

watched as Washington politicians

presided over one disappointment

after another. Too many of our

leaders, so many, who forgot whose

voices they were to respect, and

whose interests they were supposed

to defend. Our leaders in Washington

negotiated disastrous trade deals

that brought massive profits too

many foreign nations, but sent

thousands of American factories and

millions of American jobs to those

other countries. Our leaders engaged

in nation-building fraud, while they

-- in nation-building abroad, while

they failed to build up and

replenish our nation at home. They

undercut and short-changed our men

and women in uniform, with

inadequate resources, unstable

funding and unclear missions. They

failed to insist that our often very

wealthy allies pay their fair share

for defence, putting a massive and

unfair burden on the US taxpayer and

our great US military. They

neglected a nuclear menace in North

Korea, made a disastrous

neglected a nuclear menace in North

Korea, made a disastrous, weak and

incomprehensible is bad deal with

Iran and allowed terrorists such as

Isis to gain control of vast parts

of territory across the Middle East.

They put American energy under lock

and key. They imposed punishing

regulations and crippling taxes.

They surrendered our sovereignty to

foreign bureaucrats in far and

distant capitals. Over the profound

objections of the American people,

our politicians left our borders

wide open. Millions of immigrants

entered illegally. Millions more

were admitted into our country

without the proper vetting needed to

protect our security and our

economy. Leaders in Washington

imposed on the country and

immigration policy that Americans

never voted for, never asked for and

never approved. A policy where the

wrong people are allowed into our

country and the right people are

rejected. American citizens, as

usual, have been left to bear the

cost and to pick up the tab. On top

of everything else, our leaders have

drifted from American principles.

They lost sight of America's destiny

and they lost their belief in

American greatness. As a result, our

citizens lost something as well. The

people lost confidence in the

government and eventually lost

confidence in their future. But last

year, all of that began to change.

The American people rejected the

failures of the past. He

rediscovered your voice and reclaim

ownership of this nation and its

destiny. On January 20, 2017, I

stood on the steps of the Capitol to

herald the day the people became the

rulers of their nation again.

Thank you.

Now, less than one year later, I am

proud to report that the entire

world has heard the news and has

already seen the signs. America is

coming back, and America is coming

back strong. Upon my inauguration, I

announced that the United States

would return to a simple principle.

The first duty of our government is

to serve its citizens, many of whom

have been forgotten. But they are

not forgotten any more. With every

decision and every action, we are

now putting America first. We are

rebuilding our nation, our

confidence and our standing in the

world. We have moved swiftly to

confront our challenges and we have

confronted them head-on. We are once

again investing in our defence,

almost $700 billion, a record, this

coming year. We are demanding

extraordinary strength, which will

hopefully lead to long and

extraordinary piece. We are giving

our courageous military men and

women the support they need, and so

dearly deserve. We have withdrawn

the United States from job killing

deals such as the Trans-Pacific

Partnership and the very expensive

and unfair Paris climate accord. On

our trip to Asia last month, I

announced we will no longer tolerate

trading abuse. We have established

strict new vetting procedures to

keep terrorists out of the United

States and our vetting is getting

tougher each month. To counter a

run, and block its path to a nuclear

weapon, I sanctioned the Islamic

Revolutionary guard for its support

of terrorism and I declined to

certify the Iran deal to Congress.

Following my trip to the Middle

East, the Gulf States and other

Muslim majority nation is joined

together to fight radical Islamist

ideology and terrorist financing. We

have dealt Isis one devastating

defeat after another. The coalition

to defeat Isis has now recaptured

almost 100% of the land once held by

these terrorists in Iraq and in

Syria. Great job. APPLAUSE

Great job. Really good. Thank you.

Thank you. We have a great military.

We are now chasing them, wherever

they flee and we will not let them

into the United States. In

Afghanistan, our troops are no

longer undermined by artificial

timelines and we no longer tell our

enemies of our plans. We are

beginning to see results on the

battlefield and we have made clear

to Pakistan that, while we desire

continued partnership, we must see

decisive action against terrorist

groups operating on their territory.

We make massive payments every year

to Pakistan. They have to help. Our

efforts to strengthen the Nato

alliance, set the stage for

significant increases in member

contributions, with tens of billions

of dollars more pouring in because I

would not allow member states to be

delinquent in the payment while we

guarantee their safety and are

willing to fight wars for them. We

have made clear that countries that

are immensely wealthy should

reimburse the United States for the

cost of defending them. This is a

major departure from the past, but a

fair and necessary one. Necessary

for our country, necessary for our

taxpayer, necessary for our own

thought process. Our campaign of

maximum pressure on the North Korean

regime has resulted in the toughest

ever sanctions. We have united our

allies at an unprecedented effort to

isolate North Korea. However, there

is much more work to do. America and

its allies will take all necessary

steps to achieve a dear nuclearised

-- to achieve the nuclearised

-- denuclearisation. This situation

should have been taken care of long

before I got into office, when it

was much easier to handle. But it

will be taken care of. We have no

choice. At home we are keeping our

promises. We have created more than

2 million jobs since the election.

Unemployment is at a 17 year low.

The stock market is at an all-time

high and, just a little while ago,

it hit yet another all-time high,

the 85th time since my election.

We have cut 22 regulations for

everyone new regulation, the most in

the history of our country. We have

unlocked America's vast energy

resources, as the world watches. The

world is indeed watching. We are

days away from passing historic tax

cuts for American families and

businesses. It will be the biggest

tax cut and tax reform in the

history of our country. Thank you.

Thank you.

We are seeing the response we fully

expected. Economic growth has topped

3% for two quarters in a row. GDP

growth, which is way ahead of

schedule and my administration, will

be one of America's truly greatest

weapons. Optimism has surged,

confidence has returned. With this

new confidence, we are also bringing

back clarity to our thinking. We are

reasserting these fundamental

truths. A nation without Borders is

not a nation.

APPLAUSE

A nation that does not protect

prosperity at home cannot protect

its interests abroad. A nation that

is not prepared to win a war is a

nation not capable of preventing a

war. A nation that is not proud of

its history cannot be confident in

its future. And a nation that is not

certain of its values cannot summon

the will to defend them. Today,

grounded in these truths, we are

presenting to the world our new

national security strategy, based on

my direction, this document has been

in development for over a year. It

has the endorsement of my entire

Cabinet. Our new strategy is based

on a principle of realism, guided by

our vital national interests and

rooted in our timeless values. This

strategy recognises that

rooted in our timeless values. This

strategy recognises that, whether we

like it or not, we are engaged in a

New Year EU of competition. We

accept that vigorous military and

economic contests are now playing

out all around the world. We face

world regimes that threaten the

United States and our allies. We

faced terrorist organisations,

transnational criminal networks and

others that spread violence and evil

around the globe. We also face rival

powers, Russia and China, that seek

to challenge American influence,

values and wealth. We will attempt

to build a great partnership with

those and other countries, but in a

manner that always protects our

national interests. As an example,

yesterday I received a call from

President Putin of Russia, thanking

our country for the intelligence

that our CIA was able to provide

them, concerning a major terrorist

attack planned in St Petersburg,

where many people, perhaps in the

thousands, could have been killed.

They were able to apprehend these

terrorists before the event, with no

loss of life. That's a great thing.

It's the way it's supposed to work.

That is the way it's supposed to

work. While we seek such

opportunities of cooperation, we

will stand up for ourselves and we

will stand up for our country like

we have never stood up before.

APPLAUSE

Thank you, thank you.

We know that American success is not

a foregone conclusion. It must be

earned, and it must be won. Our

rivals are tough, they are tenacious

and committed to the long-term. But

so are we. To succeed, we must

integrate every dimension of our

national strength and we must

compete with every instrument of our

national power. Under the Trump

administration, America is gaining

wealth, leading to enhanced power

faster than anyone thought, with $6

trillion more on the stock market

alone since the election. $6

trillion. With the strategy I am

announcing today, we are declaring

that America is in the game and

America is going to win. Our

strategy... Thank you.

APPLAUSE

Our strategy advances four vital

national interests. First, we must

protect the American people, the

homeland and our great American way

of life. This strategy recognises

that we cannot secure our nation if

we did not secure our borders. So,

for the first time ever, American

strategy now includes a serious plan

to defend our homeland. It calls for

the construction of a wall on our

southern border, ending chain

migration and the horrible Visa and

lottery programmes, closing

loopholes that undermine enforcement

and strongly supporting our border

patrol agents, Ice officers and

homeland security personnel.

APPLAUSE

In addition, our strategy calls for

us to confront, discredit and defeat

radical Islamic terrorism and

ideology.

And to prevent it from

spreading into the United States. We

will develop new ways to counter

those that use new domains such as

cyber and social media to attack our

nation or threaten our society. The

second pillar of our strategy is to

promote American prosperity. For the

first time, American strategy

recognises that economic security is

national security. Economic

vitality, growth and prosperity at

home is absolutely necessary for

American power and influence abroad.

Any nation that trades away its

prosperity for security will end up

losing both. That is why this

national security strategy

emphasises, more than ever before,

the critical steps we must take to

ensure the prosperity of our nation

for a long, long time to come. It

calls for cutting taxes and rolling

back unnecessary regulations. It

calls for trade based on the

principles of fairness and

reciprocity. It calls for action

against unfair trade practices and

intellectual property theft, and is

calls for new steps to protect our

national security, industrial and

innovation base. The strategy

proposes a complete rebuilding of

American infrastructure, our roads,

bridges, airports, waterways, and

communications infrastructure. It

embraces a future of American energy

dominance and self-sufficiency. The

third pillar of our strategy is to

preserve peace through strength.

This is Beyond 100 Days. Viewers on

BBC Four can keep watching President

Trump on the BBC News Channel.

We

recognise that weakness is the

surest path to conflict and

unrivalled power is most certain

means of defence. For this reason,

the strategy breaks from the

damaging defence sequester. We are

going to get rid of that.

It calls for a total modernisation

of our military, and reversing

decisions to shrink the Armed

Forces, even as threats to national

security group. It calls for

streamlining acquisition,

eliminating bloated bureaucracy and

massively building up our military,

which has the fundamental side

benefit of creating millions and

millions of jobs. This strategy

includes plans to counter modern

threats such as cider and

electromagnetic attacks. It

recognises space as a competitive

domain and calls for multilayered

missile defence.

This strategy outlines important

steps to address new forms of

conflict such as economic and

political aggression, and our

strategy emphasises strengthening

alliances to cope with these

threats. It recognises that our

strength is magnified by allies who

shared principles and our

principles, and shoulder their fair

share of responsibility for our

common security. Fourth, and

finally, our strategy is to advance

American influence in the world.

This begins with building up our

wealth and power at home. America

will lead again. We did not seek to

impose our way of life on anyone.

But we will champion the values

without apology. We want strong

alliances and partnerships based on

cooperation and reciprocity. We will

make new partnerships with those who

share our goals, and make common

interests into a common cause. We

will not allow inflexible ideology

to become an obsolete obstacle to

peace. We will pursue the vision we

have carried around the world over

this past year, a vision of strong,

sovereign and independent nations

that respect their citizens and

respect their neighbours. Nations

that are thriving, Sun Corporation,

rooted in their histories and

branching out towards their

destinies. That is the future we

wish for this world. And that is the

future we seek in America.

APPLAUSE

With the strategy we are calling for

a great reawakening of America, a

resurgence of confidence and rebirth

of patriotism, prosperity and pride.

We are returning to the wisdom of

our founders. In America, the people

govern. The people rule and the

people are sovereign. What we have

built here in America is precious

and unique. In all of history, never

before has freedom reigned, the law

of -- rule of law prevailed, and

people thrived, as we have for 250

years. We must love and defend it,

we must guard is with vigilance and

spirit. If necessary, like so many

before us, with our very lives. We

declare that our will is renewed,

our future is regained, and our

dreams are restored. Every American

has a role to play in this Grand

National effort. Today, I invite

every citizen to take their part in

our vital mission. Together, our

task is to strengthen our families,

to build of our communities, to

serve our citizens and to celebrate

American greatness as a shining

example to the world. As long as we

are proud, and very proud of who we

are, how we got here, and what we

are fighting for to preserve, we

will not fail. If we do all of this,

if we rediscover our resolve and

commit ourselves to compete and win

again, then together we will leave

our children and our grandchildren a

nation that is stronger, better,

freer, proud and, yes, and America

that is greater than ever before.

God bless you, thank you very much.

That was President Trump, speaking

for almost half an hour, delivering

his security strategy, talking about

American national security. He talks

about immigration and trade issues,

making America strong again, a

greater reawakening of America, he

said, where there is going to be a

rebirth of confidence in the

country.

And joining us now is retired

general David Barno,

who formerly commanded US

and coalition forces in Afghanistan.

What did you make of the security

strategy?

It was a comprehensive

speech by the president. As we have

seen over the last year, sometimes

President Trump can be at his best

when speaking off the teleprompter

and not going off script. He stayed

on script today and as I looked

through the national security

strategy before our programme, I

think he covered it from front to

back competitively. Not much left

out. There were a few things in

terms of fiscal responsibility and

how the president achieves these

ambitious objectives, but I think he

did a competitive job of going

through details of this new national

security strategy.

In general, we are going to bring in

Jon Sopel, our North America editor,

who is back with us. Jon, there was

one bit which stood out for me when

he talked about American influence

in the world. He said that begins

with building up our power and

wealth at home. American influence

has been the big debate in this

first year of the Trump presidency.

Are they retreating? Do they have

the same influence that they once

had?

What you saw in the speech was

an attempt to say no, American

leadership will still play an

important part in the world. But you

are right to point out that focus on

economic security as part of

national security. We can't bargain

one away without bargaining the

other away. That sets the stage for

Donald Trump having this muscular

approach to trade deals and the

deficit that America has, most

notably with China. The president

was trying to define that as part of

national security in a way that

maybe previous leaders would not

have done. That was a striking part

of it. She was also trying to make

an argument about American

leadership and latterly trying to

get everyone to sign up to it, even

though the first part of the speech

was a real attack on his

predecessors about how they had let

the country down and only now is

America finding its way again.

He

raised the point that Isis has

suffered great defeats in the Middle

East, that Nato members are pushing

up their defence spending to 2% of

GDP, triumphs that he says he can

claim during his administration. You

mentioned the kind of American

carnage feel from his inauguration

address. But General Barno, in some

ways it seems to me that this speech

was a big divergence from the past

in rhetoric and tone, but if you

look at the specific national

security policies, there wasn't much

that previous presidents would not

have said either, was that?

A couple

of things were missing. There was no

mention of human rights or climate

change in the speech, both of which

were prominent features of not only

the Obama national security

strategy, but also featured in

President George W Bush's strategy.

Those are missing entirely. There is

a lot of talk about American values.

He did not use any language from the

previous national security strategy

about the idea of shared universal

values around the world and the

value of multinational institutions

and maintaining a liberal world

order, which for decades, not just

for Republicans, but for Democrats

in the White House as well, both

have shared this idea that the world

is a safer place because of the rule

of law and shared international

organisations and the US' role in

leading those organisations. There

was very little on alliances and

partnerships. Putting America First

is a striking feature of this

administration.

He said there was a

new era of competition among the

superpowers. "We Will seek a

partnership, but we will stand up to

them like we have never stood up to

them before". Wont many of his

detractors say, what about

interfering in our election?

That is

certainly the elephant in the room

when we talk about Russia. When this

administration talks about Russia,

it is ironic in some ways that

President Trump has spoken twice to

Vladimir Putin in the last week

about various issues including the

sharing of intelligence, and we have

heard nothing about this. American

intelligence agencies have said that

Russia played a role in interfering

in the American election and

bringing President Trump to power.

That is not a topic that gets

addressed too often. So the degree

to which the Trump presidency will

confront the Russians or the Chinese

is very conditional. It depends on

the dynamic in play. We may be

stronger on trade issues than other

issues. So that can be viewed with a

great deal of scepticism.

There had

been speculation that he might lay

out a tougher position on China, the

kind of angry heard during the

campaign, when he said he would call

China a currency manipulator and

that he would be imposing tariffs on

Chinese steel. Does this mark a

shift in American economic policy

towards China that will be more

robust?

Well, if you listen to what

Donald Trump said in his

inauguration, I travelled with him

when he was in Saudi Arabia and then

in Brussels when he spoke about

Nato, and if you listen to the

speech he made in Warsaw over the

summer, I don't think there were any

surprises in what he said. This was

a kind of distillation of what will

become known as the Trump doctrine

of America First but not

disregarding America's interest in

the rest of the world. This was a

bringing together of the different

strands. On the detail, I agree with

you. I think that actually, there is

more continuity that he would ever

want to acknowledge in a rhetorical

sense.

There was one country that

surprised me when it popped up in

his speech, which was Pakistan. The

administration has said it wants to

get tougher with Pakistan in the

fight against terrorism. As Isis

retreats from Syria and start to

look towards Afghanistan, do you

think this is them putting a line

down in the sand?

I was taken aback

by that as well. That was a strong

statement to make in a speech that

did not mention many nations around

the world. Though it clearly was a

signal to Pakistan that the US is

going to be very thoughtful about

how we spend American dollars for

foreign aid in Pakistan. There is an

expectation from the president of

what the United States would help to

see Pakistan deliver with regard to

security along the border with

Afghanistan.

General Barno and Jon

Sopel, thank you for joining us on

President Trump's security strategy

review. You can watch an interview

with the security advisor General

McMaster tomorrow. Other news now.

77 people have been taken to

hospital and a team of investigators

has been sent to Dupont, 37

kilometres south of Tacoma.

The BBC's James Cook has the latest.

It was the height of the rush-hour

on the busy I5 motorway and train

was reportedly travelling at more

than 80 mph. The local sheriff says

it came off the rails near the

bridge at 7.40 in the morning,

smashing onto cars and at least one

lorry on the road below.

Multiple

agencies are responding. When we got

to the scene, it was obvious that

there were some fatalities. There

were a lot of injuries and some

people were able to get off the

train.

Train 501 was being operated

by Amtrak, the major US rail

passenger company. It was travelling

from Seattle in Washington state to

Portland in Oregon, and Amtrak said

there were approximately 78

passengers and five crew members on

board. In a statement, the firm said

it was aware of the incident, but

gave few other details. Passengers

spoke of a rocking and creaking

noise as the train rounded a bend,

followed by crushing and screening.

Two escaped, said one survivor. They

had to smash windows of the doors

could not be opened. The governor of

Washington backed the emergency

services for their response and

urged Americans to pray for everyone

involved.

In the last few moments,

President Trump responded once

again to the derailment -

"Our deepest sympathies

and most heartfelt prayers

are with the victims of the train

derailment in Washington State.

We are closely monitoring

the situation and coordinating

with local authorities..."

Our correspondent Peter Bowes

is watching developments.

There was some reporting that this

train was on a new line, although

they could not confirm that. Do you

have any more detail?

Yes. This was

the first day of a new route for

this train, which had been talked

about a lot locally. Some had

expressed concern about the speeds

at which trains would be travelling

along this section of rail, a

section previously used by freight

trains. So that will clearly be part

of the investigation. The National

Trust quotation safety board, which

investigates accidents like this, in

the last few minutes has held a news

conference. There are sending

investigators from Washington, DC to

the scene of this incident to

establish what happened. In the

meantime, more than 70 people have

been taken to hospital to be treated

for a range of injuries. There are

reports that perhaps six people have

lost their lives. We heard earlier

that it seems as if most, perhaps

not all of those, were injured on

the train or in the carriages that

were derailed, as opposed to in

vehicles on the motorway below.

Peter, I guess because it was the

beginning of the journey, there were

not many people on the train. Only

78 in total. Because it is

high-speed rail and you know the

issues with high-speed rail in the

United States and with crumbling

infrastructure, the president

mentioned it in a tweet before his

national security address America's

national infrastructure does need

rejuvenating. But because it is

high-speed, I assume there would

have been test runs before people

were allowed on the trains?

Yes,

there have been many test runs.

Locally, this has been widely

reported over the last few months,

that they had been preparing for

this day. Amtrak felt it had done

all the safety testing possible.

Regarding what the president said

both in his speech just now and in a

tweet earlier, it was the first

thing he mentioned. His argument

shows that that perhaps is a need

for the crumbling infrastructure

around the United States to be

repaired. There is no indication yet

that crumbling infrastructure caused

this. Many issues will be looked at,

potentially human error. Yes, the

crumbling infrastructure, the line

and the engine itself, many

potential issues could have played

into this.

Peter, thank you. I was

just doing some very unscientific

research comparing our railway

system in the UK to the one in the

United States. The last irrelevant

in the UK was in 2002, the Potters

Bar accident. Since then, there have

been ten derailment accident in

America and 13 crashes. Obviously,

it is on a bigger scale, but it

still points to a problem with the

infrastructure? Yeah, and it is a

question of safety and speed. There

are too many crashes in this country

and trains are too slow. We just

don't have a system comparable to

Britain, France or Japan, where you

get super high-speed travel. It

takes almost four hours to get from

Washington to New York and it should

take about an hour and a half to do

that distance if you had high-speed

travel. The criticism of American

administrations in the past as well

as the current one is that there has

not been a big overhaul of US

infrastructure even though interest

rates have been low. They could have

borrowed money easily, but that

investment has not happened, often

because the Republican Party has

resisted any additional spending in

favour of more tax cuts.

Other news now.

The US has vetoed a UN

security resolution that

calls on President Trump

to reverse his decision to recognise

Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

The Council's 14 other members

all voted in favour of the motion.

It's the first time in nearly seven

years that America has used its veto

powers at a meeting.

In South Africa, the African

National Congress which has ruled

the country since the end

of apartheid has

elected a new leader.

Cyril Ramaphosa will

replace the controversial

Jacob Zuma as party leader.

Under Mr Zuma - who faces hundreds

of charges of corruption -

South Africa's economy has stagnated

and the political climate has

become more divisive.

Here's the BBC's Africa

Editor, Fergal Keane.

Cyril Ramaphosa campaigned

for the post of party president,

promising to root out corruption,

to restore the kind of moral values

associated with the party

of Nelson Mandela and those

great anti-apartheid campaigners.

You have to look at this result

and take into account the fact that

elected as his deputy president

is a man, David Mabuza,

who was a strong loyalist

of President Zuma.

So in some senses, his scope

for the kind of radical

attack on corruption

is going to be limited.

I have been watching Cyril Ramaphosa

since the 1980s here,

when he was a union negotiator,

and a very tough man them,

but also one who instinctively knew

when to strike a deal.

I saw him then help to negotiate

a new constitution for South Africa.

We also have to remember his role

in the Irish peace process,

where he was brought in to oversee

the decommissioning of IRA weapons.

In all of those roles,

he has had tact, patience and steel.

He is going to need all of those

in tackling South Africa's problems.

Police in Lebanon have arrested

an Uber driver in connection

with the murder of a 30-year-old

British diplomat in Beirut.

The body of Rebecca Dykes,

who worked at the British

embassy in the city,

was found beside a motorway

over the weekend.

Officers say she had been strangled

and sexually assaulted.

In a statement, her family said that

Rebecca was "simply irreplaceable".

From Lebanon, our Middle East

Correspondent Quentin

Sommerville sent this report.

Becky Dijks fell in love with

Lebanon. She was committed to her

work, helping the country cope with

the influx of refugees from Syria.

There was a colleague's leaving do

before she returned home for

Christmas. At midnight, she called a

taxi, and Uber, to help get home.

She was never seen alive again. She

was driven out of Beirut. Her body

was found by a highway the next day.

She had been strangled and sexually

assaulted. A 35-year-old Lebanese

man is in police custody. The

suspect is believed to be an Uber

driver. He has worked for the

company for a short period of time.

Here in Beirut, Google is generally

seen as a safe way of getting about

-- Uber macro. The company responded

in a statement, saying it was

horrified by the senseless act of

violence and that it is fully

cooperating with the police

investigation. Lebanon's dark days

lie mostly in its past. In these

neighbourhoods, there is now a

relaxed approach to personal safety.

This is not the first attack of its

kind, but they are here.

We all

drink in this area. We go out on

Friday and Saturday nights in his

neighbourhood, which is usually very

safe. So I think we are all just

deeply saddened that one of our

friends left by herself and didn't

come back.

At the British Embassy,

staff are heartbroken. The

ambassador took to social media and

said, the whole Embassy is deeply

shocked. It was a tragic loss.

Embassy staff are now providing

consular assistance to the family of

one of their own. Becky Dykes had

not been in Lebanon long, but she

had already made a big difference.

Her friends say that is how they

want to remember her, as someone who

cared, a bright star just beginning

her career, and a woman who had

already helped improve the lives of

the most vulnerable here in Lebanon.

One in eight people in the UK is

projected to live to 100 as older

people make up a greater proportion

of the population. Eight key goal

for society is how to spend those

extra years in better health. Our

medical husband has been to a centre

for research in California.

To me, aid is not a handicap. Why

not live?

Irena is 84. She makes old

age looked like an irrelevance.

Irene has been breaking world

records for four decades. It takes

effort when she is not claiming at

this track near San Francisco, she

is in the gym.

Her philosophy is

simple. Live the life you love, and

love the life you lead. A quitter

never wins, and a winner never

quits. And I want to be a winner.

We

are living in an ageing world. By

2050, the number of people aged 65

and over is projected to triple

globally to 1.5 billion. In the UK,

the number of people aged 80 and

over is projected to more than

double to 7.5 by 20 50. And the

number of centenarians to increase

sixfold to 94,000. So what can we do

to increase our chances of spending

those extra years in good health

like Irene? It's not just about

exercising the body, but also the

mind. That's because keeping the

brain active can lower the risk of

developing dementia. I joined a

French language class in Birtley,

across the bay from San Francisco,

where all the students are in their

70s.

My mother had Alzheimer's, so

part of me doesn't want that to

happen to me.

I do believe that

intellectual stimulation is

important.

And science may be able

to help. In the hills above Silicon

Valley sits the Buck Institute.

Researchers there are working on how

to delay the way our bodies age.

This could increase the healthy

years of life, free of conditions

like cancer, arthritis or heart

disease.

We predict that there will

be drugs that will treat ageing

instead of each disease

individually. People themselves

would be able to look forward to the

last decade of their life, still

being vibrant, engaged, healthy.

Just like Irene, who challenged me

to a friendly race. She can run 100

metres only seven seconds slower

than Usain Bolt. So despite my 27

year advantage, the winner was never

in doubt. That was fantastic. I have

just been beaten by an 84-year-old,

but I have been beaten by a

"superager". And that is pretty

inspiring. It is more than

inspiring! Didn't you see her go?!

Seven seconds slower than Usain

Bolt. My grandad used to walk miles

every day and he was in good health,

and the minute he couldn't get out

of a chair any more was the minute

he started to suffer with dementia.

It is only anecdotal, but exercise

is key. It was also interesting that

there has to be physical and mental

exercise. You have to keep your

brain and body in shape. Get

working! OK, I will walk home.

A lawyer nominated by

President Trump to serve

as a federal judge has

withdrawn his nomination.

It comes just days after

Matthew Petersen was seen struggling

to answer basic legal questions

from a Republican senator.

Video of the questioning went viral.

The White House says Mr Trump has

accepted Mr Petersen's withdrawal.

What is wrong with

the word vulnerable?

Or foetus?

Or transsexual?

They are three of the seven words

which the White House is reportedly

urging a top public health agency

not to use.

The Centre for Disease Control

and Prevention says it received

guidance that in future budget

documents,

it should find alternatives.

The question of how to address

sexual orientation, gender identity

and abortion rights -

all of which received

significant visibility under

the Obama administration -

have re-surfaced recently.

In March, the Department for health

and Human Services dropped questions

about sexual orientation and gender

identity in two surveys

of elderly people.

Since the weekend, the HHS has

issued a statement saying

the story has been overblown.

What word would you use instead of

foetus? Let me show you the

statement.

"The assertion that HHS has 'banned

words' is a complete

mischaracterization of discussions

regarding the budget

formulation process."

"HHS will continue to use the best

scientific evidence available

to improve the health

of all Americans.

HHS also strongly encourages the use

of outcome and evidence data

in program evaluations

and budget decisions.

Maybe we should not ban the word

goodbye.

Coming up next on BBC World News,

Karin Giannone is here

with Outside Source and for viewers

in the UK, we'll have the latest

headlines from Reeta Chakrabarti.

For now, from Katty Kay

in Washington and me,

Christian Fraser in London, goodbye.